What Is The New 'Stranger Things 4' Teaser Trying To Tell Us?

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What Is The New 'Stranger Things 4' Teaser Trying To Tell Us?

Is there anything creepier than a sterile white room full of small children dressed in hospital gowns and "playing" in silence? This total nightmare makes up the bulk of the new Stranger Things 4 teaser, but, if you can get past the creep factor — those two kids chasing toy cars on the rainbow is especially disturbing, as is the disembodied laughter — there's a lot to learn from it.

The teaser, released Thursday, May 6, takes us back to Eleven's childhood at the Hawkins National Laboratory with her "Papa," aka Season 1 villain Dr. Martin Brenner. And if you hated him before...just wait, because this clip is full of glimpses at the torture he put Eleven and other children through and it is a horror show. Terrifying highlights include:

  • Two identical looking children wearing only hospital gowns and socks chasing toy cars on a painted rainbow on the floor.
  • Older kids (tweens, perhaps), playing chess in silence — also wearing hospital gowns.
  • A close-up of a Magic 8 Ball reading "Signs Point To Yes" as a kid laughs in the background.
  • A chorus of kids greeting Dr. Brenner in unison, "Good morning Papa" — a sound sure to send shivers up your spine.
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Now that we've established that child experiments will never not be absolutely chilling, let's get into the trailer. In addition to teasing flashbacks to Eleven's time at the Hawkins National Laboratory, the footage also hints that Season 4 will finally introduce other children who were victims of Dr. Brenner, and who might have powers that can help defeat whatever evils the Upside Down has coming next. But to really get into what the teaser is getting at, we have to look at the numbers.

Numbers have always been important in the Stranger Things universe — one of the main characters is named Eleven, after all — and they are front and center in this teaser. First, the clip opens with a close-up of a clock reading 3:00. Then, in the recreation room (if you can call it that), there's a game that reveals the numbers 3, 5, and 6.

Image: Stranger Things/YouTube
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