It's like that in many rural areas of Carolina and Tennessee. You can barely leave the city and zilch! I live in a city on the main drag. I bought a new phone to have a local number, new service too. Data was terrible. Bought another phone and switched providers, still terrible. A couple of months ago, I was speaking to a local phone store. They told me how Verizon had bought both of those companies and how they restrict service. They told me that I could switch sims to another company that is also owned by Verizon but as of now, the service has not been restricted. I changed two months ago and my data service is fine now. This is after putting up with terrible service for three years, despite paying for an unlimited data plan. Because I had two different providers that used Verizon towers, I thought it was my location. After this last switch, I discovered that Verizon was deliberately restricting service. I really hate these companies, cable providers included!
Harry Melling on the other hand has been doing well after his bit part role in Harry Potter. (I've not really watched those films, so can't say what's screen time he had) There comes a point when the child actor has to start taking control of their career a bit more, which is especiaally hard if you're in a big budget franchise that tends to take control of your life and pampers you into submission. Melling has chosen to develop as an actor and disconnect from being associated with that breakthrough role.
Melling had no practical experience before taking part in the HP movies. He was 10 when he started in the first movie in 2001. In total he played in five movies, the last in 2010. His screen time was very limited, playing a Muggle. His scenes were only with the Dursey's. I imagine that left him with quite a bit of free time on his hands? Most every actor chooses to disconnect themselves from their previous roles. Kinda necessary to move on to other projects? Melling is now 34. So yes, his HP days are over and he has moved on. We might also note that Robert Pattinson went on to not only play in but starred in the Twilight Saga franchise. Leaving that behind, we have a new Batman. If you were in a successful series or nominated / won an Academy Award, you might be a hot property. Even then, that will only carry you for a short distance, career wise. Every actor must leave behind past projects and move forward... Melling got paid a cool $2M for his brief appearances in the HP movies, not too awful bad.
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood is classic book all about this. Amazon.com
I read it when it first came out, and bought it again as an Audible book last year (which had been revised) and found it engrossing to listen to.
And in the latest Stranger Things news, there's a rumor that they offered Millie Bobbie Brown a whopping $12 million dollars to come back and do 10 more episodes as a spinoff, but the writers are denying it... Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things Spinoff? Writers Reject Rumor - Variety
That's not that much money for a company like Netflix. ST was a phenomenal success for Netflix. She has to be the #1 draw for the company. I understand that she was made a producer and will have made $7M for Enola Holmes 2, a decidedly made for cable type of movie. Netflix would be happy to pay her $12M just to hold on to her!
I am actually surprised that they made it back and released a 4th season after taking that long hiatus for covid. Not a typical thing. As specially when growing kids are involved. Since 11 was supposed to be twelve at the beginning of the series, I noticed that in season four after Papa was shot, they very deliberately showed a shot of 11 from behind wearing the tight clothing she wore when she returned to Papa, showing that she now had curves to her body and obviously some time had passed.
Millie Bobbie Brown now looks like this: Which is far from the little bald girl in the show... No amount of makeup or post-production can compensate for a kid now being 19 years old.
Wasn't there a break of a year or two built into the story between 3 and 4. Its not unusual for 16 or 17 yr olds to pass for mid 20s and vice versa. Series 5 is all about a 25 yr olds being able to act like teens, which I'm pretty confident these guys can manage.
I'm hoping they just move up the timeline. What year were they in last? 1989 would be fine. Maybe Eleven becomes addicted to Married With Children.
Given what an ass Mike has been over the last couple of seasons, I can see her finding points of comparison...
They could probably explain it away by saying these kids have all endured so much life-changing trauma they've aged around 20 years. Except for Mike maybe, who is in-universe inexplicably probably the tallest schoolchild to have ever existed at his age.
The final episode of last season implies they have to do something right now, which I suspect is not gonna happen.
Still, if we look at how the series progresses, it begins with a nearly bald shaven twelve-year-old, who looks even younger than that. That is also the age that girls tend to sprout up faster than boys. Naturally, the series would have her gradually age and have her hair grow out. When the boys discover 11 or Ell as she is now named, they did put her in a dress with a wig as a disguise. Afterward, she wore mostly jeans and more unisex clothes. It was only until Max took Ell shopping at the Starcourt mall, that we finally see her brought out fully looking like a teenage girl. Still, her mall dress, was a bit large and not at all form fitting. They really did play down her figure. Contrast this to Max who wore cutoff jeans and halter tops which were close fitting, showing off her figure like a teen girl would. Even going through season four, the tendency was to play down the natural aging of all the kids. This would be very well expected as the audience would expect some continuity with the characters. I did not have Netflix before I watched the complete three seasons in 2021, just in time to rewatch it last year before the fourth season. If you watch it again, they down play Ell maturing. After the raid on the lab, they clearly shot she in a form fitting outfit from the rear to clearly illustrate she was no longer a child. As you say, this would be necessary because they do have to at least partially catch up with the chronological ages of the kids. They still will need to move forward from here.
I think it'd be okay to see what the world is like a couple years ahead of where they left us. There's also a good chance they were smart enough filming the last season to have them film stuff for Season 5 for flashbacks (if they did want to move up the timeline). If they do travel a little in time, maybe George Bush could say, "Read my lips, no more Vecna."
They did that as a tongue-in-cheek workaround around in Arrested Development when Netflix brought it back.
