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Some fans have identified in episode 6 of Stranger Things 4 a similarity with the beloved animated series Scooby-Doo!

Welcome to the Stranger Things meta-universe where the prefix “meta” takes on the original meaning of the Greek tradition as “together” or “in-between”. If we put aside for a moment the narrative aspects with its protagonists and the unfolding of the events, as well as the parallel dimension of the Upside Down and Eleven’s attempt to defeat evil together with his friends, the most original and interesting structure of the TV series emerges. conceived by the Duffer Brothers. 

Stranger Things is the incarnation of seriality that dusts off the culture of the Eighties like an old treasure hidden in the attic. There are music, fashions, furnishings, slang and atmospheres that return, but what recurs cyclically and predominantly is cinema. In particular, the tributes to the seventh art occur thanks to the metacinematographic practice. Here then is the explanation of the term “meta” at the beginning of the text. 

We are in the meta-universe to mean a cinema that returns, intertwines, is confused, hides and reveals itself. The meta cinema mentions paying homage and reworks the past together with the present and Stranger Things, born in 2016 and still in production today, is the godmother of this form of seriality.

Stranger Things 4: Scooby-Doo where are you? In the episode of Netflix’s most loved series!

The success of Stranger Things lies in attracting audiences from multiple generations. In some ways, the viewer’s taste for the plot is overshadowed and becomes a challenge for fans who want to recognize and see the era in which they lived or in which they wanted to be born come back to life. 

Repetitiveness and variation of the identical are the constitutive principles of the saga. In the Stranger Things audience, a sort of fetishism is established that wants to scrutinize every single detail to bring to the surface, from the metaverse of ST to reality, for example, the easter eggs, the gifts and the unspoken things.

Some fans have identified episode 6 of Stranger Things 4 as an episode of the entertaining animated series Scooby-Doo. On the other hand Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby turn in the Mystery Machine van in search of mysteries to solve and ghosts or supernatural entities to unmask similarly to the mission of Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will and Undi who must defeat the monstrous creatures that they inhabit the Upside Down and threaten the town of Hawkins.

In particular, in the Scooby-Doo scene (which you can see below) the protagonists are on a boat in the middle of an interdimensional sea. Shaggy screams frightened: “We are adrift between universes, guys, life is complete upside down” and Velma agrees with her usual composure: “Upside down”. After that, Fred puts his head underwater and notices the presence of an interdimensional gate, so he shows it to the others and Daphne explains that it is the Fourth Gate. 

The characters then decide to dive into the water to reach the portal and, once crossed, we see their heads emerge from the water, from top to bottom, basically with the shot upside down vertically. If you haven’t missed episode 6 of Stranger Things 4, you will confirm the great similarity between the two sequences.