Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer confirms that Kate Bush reviewed a key scene in the Season 4 finale that features “Running Up That Hill.”
This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4, Vol. 1.
Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer revealed that Kate Bush knows at least some of the answers to Season 4’s biggest secrets.
Duffer explained that Bush has reviewed every scene in the hit Netflix series that features her music, including “[a] really special spot in the [Season 4] finale,” in an interview with Empire. “She’s been nothing but cool,” he said. “We keep going back to her, like, ‘Can we use the song here? How about here?’ I hope we’re not being annoying!”
Bush’s 1985 pop hit “Running Up That Hill” played a pivotal part in Stranger Things Season 4, Episode 4, “Chapter Four: Dear Billy,” when Max (Sadie Sink) escapes antagonist Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). In the scene, Steve (Joe Keery), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) play the song to break Vecna’s hold over Max, and it serves as the soundtrack for her subsequent dash for freedom. Director and executive producer Shawn Levy recently opened up about how Stranger Things changed “Running Up That Hill” for “Dear Billy”. “It’s the Kate Bush song with layers of strings and orchestra because I wanted to take a phenomenal song that was known by so many and bump it up to a level of emotionality that would support and amplify the scene,” he said.
“Running Up That Hill” also plays over the new trailer for Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 2, which tracks with Duffer’s hint that the song will remain a factor in the season finale. The trailer teases the impending showdown between Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Vecna, and hints that not everyone will make it out of the fourth season alive. Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers, recently warned that more than one Stranger Things character could die when the show returns in July. “We can expect from Volume 2 — we’ve got some deaths coming and some gore,” he said.
Ross and Matt Duffer certainly have more than enough time to cull the show’s cast, as Stranger Things Season 4’s final two episodes are both movie-length. “Chapter Eight: Papa” clocks in at 1 hour and 25 minutes, while “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback” runs for 2 hours and 30 minutes. Levy previously explained why the fourth season was split in two, which he said was done to get the sci-fi/horror series back on screens as quickly as possible. “We always knew that if we could deliver the first seven [episodes], it’s such a satisfying breaking point and pay-off moment, that it’ll keep people fed for enough weeks so we can finish up Volume 2,” he said.
Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 1 is currently streaming on Netflix. Volume 2 premieres on July 1.
Source: Empire
Leon is an Associate News Writer at CBR. He reports on the latest developments in film and TV, covering everything from popcorn cinema to prestige mini-series. His previous freelance writing credits include articles on film, TV, comics, and video games for Screen Rant, Polygon, The Things, Cultured Vultures, and Taste of Cinema. Originally from Australia, Leon is currently based in the UK.
