{"id":236,"date":"2025-03-25T02:52:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T02:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/abimorgue\/?p=236"},"modified":"2025-05-06T01:27:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T01:27:17","slug":"shot-analysis-the-destruction-of-castle-byers-and-elevens-intuition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/abimorgue\/2025\/03\/25\/shot-analysis-the-destruction-of-castle-byers-and-elevens-intuition\/","title":{"rendered":"Shot Analysis: The Destruction of Castle Byers and Eleven’s Intuition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stranger Things is a great example of a show that utilizes its environment to its advantage by having the characters\u2019 interactions with their surroundings used to their full potential. Whether it be a mall with a secret Russian base built underneath it or using a pizza freezer as a sensory deprivation tank for the climax of the season, the show makes sure to tie its set into the plot. One overarching theme that we can see referenced throughout the show in non-verbal ways is Will Byers struggles with depression, sexuality, and growing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


There are two scenes that I think are really powerful in conveying that, with the first one being from season three, episode three. Will returns from the Upside Down, which I\u2019ve previously discussed as being a metaphor for his depression, and he expects to come back to the world the same way it was when he left. He expects his friends to play Dungeons and Dragons with him only to find that his friends are more interested in girls at this stage in their lives. After repeatedly suggesting that the gang play D&D again, Mike and Lucas get frustrated with Will and tell him that it\u2019s no longer cool to play tabletop games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After the fight, Will rides his bike to their childhood hideout, a small structure built out of branches, lovingly titled \u201cCastle Byers\u201d on the outside. As he looks around the interior, flashbacks are shown from season one where all the boys were happily playing D&D together, completely innocent to the horrors that would soon unfold. This was a great choice to include flashbacks because it shows a side-by-side comparison of where the characters are now and where they started, as well as helping the audience empathize and understand that Will is reminiscing on better memories. He then picks up a photo of the gang on Halloween when they were all younger, and his chest begins to heave like the start of a panic attack before he rips the photo in half, showing the divide that has come between him and his friends. Being surrounded by all those memories and realizing that what once was would never come back, that everyone close to him has grown up, left him behind, and ridiculed him for still being in a stage of his life they deem immature, drives him to take a baseball bat and destroy the castle. Will is yelling, \u201cIt\u2019s all stupid!\u201d as heavy rain pours down on him and thunder is heard in the background until the audio begins to fade out, much like how hearing loss can occur during a panic attack. The camera shifts from being stagnant to following his erratic movements as he destroys the castle, adding more emotion to the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will lost multiple formative years to being trapped in the Upside Down, and as a result, he holds resentment that he didn\u2019t get the same experience growing up as his friends did. This closely aligns with how some people struggling with depression lose years of their lives consumed by their mental illness and end up lagging behind their peers. Everything about the destruction of Castle Byers represents the painful death of Will\u2019s once innocent childhood, the frustrations of years lost, and how he has become overwhelmed with the harsh realities of adolescence and growing apart from those closest to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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