Stranger Things Thread (Spoilers included)

[eddy]

General thoughts on the season:

Overall liked it, but:

- Are we to think Hopper got transported to Russia either physically or mystically after we saw the other soldiers disintegrate?

I always just assumed he went into the upside down to be protected from that. Also guess that is Dr Brenner in Russia.

[AuthorTony]

Call 618-625-8313

Did anyone do this? I think it's a pretty solid clue as the fate of one of the characters.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

I called, but apparently missed the clue

[genoscoif]

Just finished S3 and loved it! Much cheesier in parts than the first two seasons, but overall thought it was incredibly paced and delivered the perfect amounts of light and dark...and darker. Couple thoughts......

- Agreed with the sentiment that there were too many couples. It got to be a bit distracting.
- Agreed that the Hopper character was way over the top. It did provide some comic relief in spots, but overall felt forced the entire season.
- The Murray and Alexei characters and interactions were the best of the season. Alexei's death, although not a surprise, was tough.
- I actually liked Billy's redemption at the end. It's tough to make that big of a dbag somewhat likable, but the Duffners pulled it off...at least for me.

- The post credit scene was kinda meh. I thought I had it nailed as to what it was gonna be. I thought it'd be Eleven riding in the Byers car, eyes closed trying to sleep, clutching Hop's note, hum of the road and that...she gets a quick flash of Hopper in the upside down. Her eyes shoot open...cut to black. Was a little disappointed that didn't happen.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

[shmenguin]

No complaints about season 1. Season 2 had one dud and the rest was almost flawless.

There was a lot wrong with this season. I don’t think anyone is going to keep it in their top spot as the adrenaline wears off.

- The Topper and Joyce screaming comedy road show was awful. So bad that it makes me question her whole career. Honestly.
- Nobody wanted Erica to be this prominent.
- The action scenes in the middle of the season were absurd. Nancy can’t lift a fork but can beat a monster to death with a fire extinguisher. K. And the characters got the crap beat out of their brains all season. It was too much. This show is rooted in authenticity and they went waaaay over the top. Steve definitely has CTE now. And there was just so much “they should be dead but aren’t”
- Halfway thru the season they bailed on most of the story lines. Will no longer mopey. Jonathan and Nancy no longer fighting. The teen romance stuff doesn’t matter anymore. It was like why even start these plots if they can’t endure when the action starts? Just kind of a tonal mess - and this show usually balances that so well.


With that said, if episodes 5 and 6 were better, this could have been on par with season 2. The set up and the finale were top notch. The Duffers are so good with detail and character motivations and just making the story sing. The middle episodes just kind of sucked for some reason.

[shmenguin]

You also can’t do a cute interjection like the never ending story song if it directly leads to a main character dying, btw.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

You also can’t do a cute interjection like the never ending story song if it directly leads to a main character dying, btw.

That was one of the first thing that bothered me once the show was over. If they didn't spend all that time singing, they get the keys earlier, and fake terminator guy doesn't get there in time. No on seemed to be bothered by that one bit.

Of course, terminator guy should have killed hopper about 5 times before that, so perhaps it is a moot point.

[shmenguin]

Also question the ethics of hopper and mike courting mentally under developed females. Imagine Joyce IRL - you would think she had a head injury.

[shmenguin]

You also can’t do a cute interjection like the never ending story song if it directly leads to a main character dying, btw.

That was one of the first thing that bothered me once the show was over. If they didn't spend all that time singing, they get the keys earlier, and fake terminator guy doesn't get there in time. No on seemed to be bothered by that one bit.

Of course, terminator guy should have killed hopper about 5 times before that, so perhaps it is a moot point.

They wanted a terminator trope so they created a cartoon character.

They wanted a red dawn trope so they had a bunch of knuckleheads infiltrate an armed Russian base.

They wanted a romancing the stone trope so they made hopper and Joyce legit morons.

They wanted a “the thing” trope, so the action became way too violent for the tone of the show.

...it was a real ****, this one.

[RonnieFranchise]

I liked it because it was a fun ride. Agree with the '80s action movie comment above.

It was much goofier than the other seasons. Frankly if they do go 2 more seasons I can see it going downhill rapidly.

[shmenguin]

i think, next season, they actually need to explore the notion that these are traumatic events. these aren't resilient pre-adolescent kids anymore. they should now be able to understand the permanence of loss and how their development can be emotionally impacted by doing things like fighting monsters to save the world and seeing people they know die on an annual basis. they spent 30 seconds of real estate exploring Joyce and Bob, but i guess she got over that offscreen.

...but i don't think they do this, since it's important to have X amount of jokes per minute. i imagine they'll instead lean into the big dumb 80's movie approach, where it's going to be like a lighthearted rambo, as these kids blast their way through the russian camp with machine guns, reciting pithy one liners after going across the world through the portal like hopper probably did. though it actually would be a pretty funny gag if mike calls his absentee mom and asks her to get him a ride home - from russia.

[willeyeam]

I liked the season. Hot take incoming:

Seemed like they tried pretty hard to hit all the quotas for a 2019 production. New main character is a black female, Robin is lesbian, the scene where they explain to Mike how Eleven is a tough independent woman who can decide for herself. Not necessarily a complaint, just seemed pretty obvious as I was watching it.

[Gaucho]

"not necessarily"

[LITT]

i liked the season

[eddy]

I thought the season was the best yet. It's also not a real story about kids in the 80s fighting monsters with a girl who has superpowers so none of the stuff that didn't seem believable bothered me even just a little bit.

[willeyeam]

"not necessarily"

Lol the Eleven scene just seemed a little forced. But that's about it

[willeyeam]

You also can’t do a cute interjection like the never ending story song if it directly leads to a main character dying, btw.

assuming he's dead

[nocera]

I really loved the song. Sure, it's a "cute interjection" but it was also used as a brief montage showing where all of our main characters are as we go into the climax. Also it was funny and broke the tension while keeping with the tone of the show.

[shmenguin]

I really loved the song. Sure, it's a "cute interjection" but it was also used as a brief montage showing where all of our main characters are as we go into the climax. Also it was funny and broke the tension while keeping with the tone of the show.

I also liked the song. But the song directly caused hopper to “die”. It’s a story telling no no. Because in an authentically told story, Dustin is going to blame himself and his girlfriend for killing a man, and this would have immense character repercussions. This isn’t a “lol you’re looking for believability in a show about monsters” thing. It’s just a poor internal logic. Which is unacceptable in a documentary or a show about the supernatural.

[nocera]

Meh. It was light-hearted fun heading into what was a super depressing climax/denouement.

[shmenguin]

Meh. It was light-hearted fun heading into what was a super depressing climax/denouement.

then have her hand over the number and strong arm dustin into singing to make up for ghosting her. everyone still gets to listen and make groany faces, and this way, the story goes on in a much less shitty way.

they wanted to have their cake and eat it too here, at the expense of cogent plot.

[AuthorTony]

The song (which I thought went on 2 or 3x as long as needed) wasn't as much a factor in Hopper's death as his own dramatic pause when he and Joyce were standing there, with their hands on the keys, and we had to have "Turn on three. One. Two. Thr-- Oh darn, the Terminator dude has arrived!" moment.

[shmenguin]

The song (which I thought went on 2 or 3x as long as needed) wasn't as much a factor in Hopper's death as his own dramatic pause when he and Joyce were standing there, with their hands on the keys, and we had to have "Turn on three. One. Two. Thr-- Oh darn, the Terminator dude has arrived!" moment.

the song isn't inherently problematic, nor is its role in hopper's death. the issue is that we aren't going to get the scene where dustin considers his culpability. it's going to be glossed over as this goofy non sequitur and everyone moves on. but these kids aren't morons. they should abhor suzie for screwing around and dustin for indulging, considering the stakes. even if it's not completely rational, there would be major blowback.

the key turn was also dumb, but can be justified as 2 characters being nervous in the moment about things like, say, the laser gun exploding and obliterating them behind the glass. or simply taking an ill advised moment to acknowledge the gravity of what they're doing. it's also ok, since joyce wouldn't bear any guilt. hopper started the countdown. it was his own fault.

"but shmenguin - quit looking for holes. it's a fun show about 80's kids fighting monsters". well...except it's not. it's meant to be thoughtful. we should expect the writers to do their part.

[AuthorTony]

I understand where you're coming from, but there's plenty of blame to go around. Murray lied about knowing the number. All of the kids wasted time at one point or another. Hopper's own hesitance. Even if Suzie was partly responsible for Hopper's death, she's also wholly responsible for saving almost everyone else's lives.

Plus, I don't want to watch a group of kids (who really aren't the best actors) sit around and try to handle heavy scenes like mourning, self blame, etc.