Stranger Things has made a habit of introducing young viewers to the musical hits of the 80s, with songs from The Clash, Kate Bush and more. Metallica is the latest band to join the list of legendary bands, with ‘Master of Puppets’ enjoying a new wave of popularity.
For the second half of season four, fan favorites Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn) are given the essential task of distracting the Demobats while the rest of the gang attempts to kill Vecna (Jamie Bell) before his plan falls through.
Although simple on paper, the members of the Hellfire Club take the most unconventional route imaginable: using music to lure protesters to a location.
As a result, fans revel in one of the most iconic scenes in the show’s history as Eddie sits on the trailer for him and strums and strums Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.”
The clips were already circulating on the internet before the release of the Volume 2 trailers. Many wondered what song it would play, while some suspected it was based on Quinn’s finger movements.
Once the scene was played, fans were in an uproar to cheer on the high school pariah.
Quinn’s overall performance was praised, and fan feelings skyrocketed at the start of the scene. Others noted that the song wasn’t released until two weeks before the events of the season, making Joseph Quinn’s character one of the most beloved of the series.
In addition to the positive reviews, the artists themselves took to Instagram to praise the sequence and performance. Metallica wrote:
“The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include “Master of Puppets” in the show, but to have such a pivotal scene built around it,” they wrote. “We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away… it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?”
“It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”
While Joseph Quinn’s performance has already earned him a place in the hearts of many fans, fans were even more impressed when it was revealed that the actor chose to play most of the scene on his own.
Quinn performed most of the guitar sequence on his own, while the showrunners had a spare guitarist onhand to solo the song.
“When I read the scripts, the next morning I went out and bought a guitar and manically started learning “Master of Puppets,” Quinn revealed. “On the day, me and Gaten just got up on top of the camper van, and just got into it. It was very fun. I played most of it.”
