• This crossover always had the right pieces. It just needed to move like a film. The structure was the biggest issue. Four episodes stitched together meant constant resets. Scenes would build momentum, then stop, then restart with the same information. The goal here was to remove that friction and let the story move forward without interruption.

• A lot of the original material leaned into side conversations and character detours. Those moments weren’t always bad, but they slowed the story down and pulled attention away from the threat. Trimming those out kept the narrative centered on what was happening, not what was being discussed around it.

• The villain structure was reworked to hold back information. Originally, the audience was ahead of the heroes. Identities were revealed early, and later scenes were just waiting for the characters to catch up. That tension was rebuilt by delaying those reveals, letting the audience learn things at the same time as the heroes. That change alone gave the story more weight. The confrontations feel like discoveries instead of confirmations.

• The ending holds onto that tone. Less noise, more resolution. At its core, this edit is about letting it play out clearly, without interruption, and with the right moments given the space to matter.

• The biggest challenge was converting episodic structure into a continuous film. Each episode was built around commercial breaks. A lot of the work went into identifying those seams and removing them without breaking continuity. In many cases, scenes were duplicated across episodes with slight variations. These were trimmed so that information was only delivered once.

• Removing every transition wasn't possible as in some cases time jump was baked into the scenes, so those moments were treated as narrative bridges. 

• The “lights out” subplot at STAR Labs was completely removed. It stalled the story, added runtime without payoff, and ultimately returned the narrative to the same point it started from. Cutting it allowed the infiltration sequence to move forward without interruption.

• Particular attention was given to trimming CW-style melodrama. Some of it could be removed cleanly. Some was embedded too deeply in the structure to extract without rebuilding entire scenes. In those cases, it was reduced where possible and left intact where necessary to preserve continuity.

• Music was used sparingly. Song for Zula (instrumental), This Time Around (instrumental) and Ride (Cary Brothers). "Ride"
  was introduced early in a stripped-down form and later paid off in the final wedding with the Tiësto mix. That early use of “Ride” establishes a subtle musical thread that carries into the ending.

• Color grading was adjusted globally to reduce the “TV look”:

  • Reduced green bias

  • Slightly warmed highlights

  • Increased contrast for depth

  • Lowered saturation for a more controlled palette

When All is Lost | Secession Studios

Opening scene with the Rebels

Song For Zula [Instrumental] | Phosphorescent 

Pre-Wedding Montage

Ride [Instrumental] | Cary Brothers

Oliver/Felicity wedding talk

IO [This Time Around] | Helen Stellar

Post-Stein's death Montage

Eulogy [Epic Version] |  SWJonesMusic [Stranger Things OST]

Dr. Stein's Funeral

Ride [Remix] | Cary Brothers ft. Tiësto

Final wedding scenes and end credits