A thread for Stranger Things, the "Goonies meets X-Files" new Netflix series (with SPOILERS!)

Yeah, I'm to the point where I always fret about kid actors and their futures. Justifiably so, sadly.

I thought the ending was pretty great. Look, man, this isn't high art. It did what it set out to do, it was well-crafted, pretty much everybody brought their A-game. I just can't find it in myself to gripe about folks who've smooshed Spielberg and King together so perfectly.

Dustin and Steve is such an inspired pairing. I hope we see more of that. Dustin's lil mini-arc in the last episode was legit affecting.

I also love Steve giving Dustin all his dumb PUA advice about negging girls and ignoring them, which ended up blowing up in both of their faces. Whereas Nancy was able to tell Dustin how to REALLY relate to girls.

hair advice was on point though

Yes to both. Dustin's gonna have a thing or two to teach Steve, I betcha.

Season 3 will focus on Steve learning how to play D&D

Dustin and Nancy are the biggest badasses on this show aside from Eleven, tbrr

that will be their nod to freaks & geeks.

x-post

steve's hair and jonathan's hair and billy's hair...man, we might need a poll. will's insane bowl too. and mike's black hole of darkness hairdo.

Season 4: Their parents demand they get out of the basement and force them to join little league, they suck but Billy comes in as the ringer, they play Demogorgons in the world series, many die

Cara Buono's hair FTW

my prediction is that Dart lives due to an infusion of nougat and it brings the doggygorgon in the refrigerator back to life and the two monsters end up the kid's pets AND they bring the kids to an alternate alien dimension for hijinx and thrills! i would totally watch that.

I would be cool with them moving on to a monster that isn't a -gorgon. There must be more than a variety of flower-faced toothbeasts and broody smoke cthulhus in the Upside Down.

Dart would be an easy way in. easy peasy.

ha I forgot about the one in the fridge! yeah, I bet we'll see it again.

and mike's black hole of darkness hairdo.

My favorite hair of the season.

The fridge thing looked like they were setting up for a gag where Winona opens it for a glass of milk and freaks out.

Pretty surprised they didn't follow up on it in any way.

that thing in the fridge is definitely coming back. it likes it cold!

So like, it lasts longer (despite already being dead) than everything else that died with the closing of the gate because it's being chilled? The shadow is hiding inside it or something? You're hoping the next season is possible in the same way having last week's Chinese food for dinner tonight is possible?

Also, it would be immediately removed. It's not like it'll be forgotten in the back next to the old pickles they were also supposed to throw out awhile ago.

Pretty sure the thing in the fridge, even if it did snap back, couldn't live long anyway because the link to the hivemind is closed off.

i keep telling you, Dart is going to reanimate the one in the refrigerator. and then take the kids to a secret world of dark wonder.

Yeah all the other demo-dogs died the second the gate was closed, it showed them all falling into the abyss. Of course as Scott says, one must consider the eldritch properties of nougat. Also the irresistible Ghostbusters reference.

Don't know how many times I've spent weeks getting stuff out of the fridge without ever really registering the massive demon alien dog corpse that's filling three-quarters of the interior and then suddenly being all like, what, how did I not notice this awful thing is still in here.

It's just human nature, man.

The stunt casting I really want to see for next season is Greg Evigan as Paul Reiser's husband

Oooo this is good, I hadn’t thought of this one

greg evigan hair would fit right in that's for sure.

he could totally be that mean kid's dad too when he had patented evigan mullet and beard.

I liked this season all right. I agree that ep 7 was a funny send-up of “urban” scenes from other 80s movies. Also was sure the demo-dog in the fridge was going to wake up.

However, I just do not give a SHIT about The Upside-Down. They need to figure out something compelling about it, or just find another baddie.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/stranger-things-best-new-character-lucas-sister-erica-1820091326

good news!

<3 Yes!

*sprays syrup over pancakes as everyone argues*

that character was excellent IMO, perfect comic relief

Well, of course she'll be back. She's a real find. I'd love to see her get pulled into the group on some level.

she'll somehow save their asses without learning anything about the supernatural crap, and call them all nerds, and it will be beautiful

First post here, too hard to read all previous comments.

I would of liked to see Max be more annoying to justify Mike’s reaction.

I liked that the conspiracy nut didnt’t die but came out on the top in the end because that was totally unexpected.

Super happy ending was nice (especially because Dustin). 10 minutes without supernatural stuff was nice.

8th episode made me cry. I wanted to cry. I was alone in my room with the lights off, had watched 4.5 episodes already that day, and was sleepy. The perfect storm.

I think Mike's reaction being unjustified is the point.

i just figured max's presence made him miss 11 and he resented max for being some sort of replacement for 11. which is kinda irrational, but understandable if you hang around human beings long enough.

Most characters seemed to think Max is annoying as well but maybe I’m reading too much into that. I like the scenes where the boys act stupid (“tubular”...) because it shows their age and makes the show real. That’s why I wanted to see more of Max being kinda annoying in particular. The last episodes seemed to fill Max with nothing more than one-liners and bad-assery; I wanted to see her flipside for balance’s sake. Basically I’m griping and wishing over minor details because the series is really good.

Max was just underdeveloped in general, they needed a female character but gave her a few generic qualities ie is good at video games & skateboards & then she just kinda was there, no personality or depth

well it was sad that she was obviously tormented/abused by her stepbrother. which is a little depth into her character. and her defensiveness/badassness.

I like the scenes where the boys act stupid (“tubular”...) because it shows their age and makes the show real.

See for example Dustin taking way too much time to explain his demodog nomenclature at a really urgent moment.

here comes my tl;dr hate train, so choogle on or skip across the tracks before the gates come down!

was the sound in the first season so constantly active and jarring? regardless of context, jump scares can and will at any moment, at a rate of at least 2 per minute, for 50 minute straight. dustin is reaching for a glass of milk but **JUMP--**what is thing moving in the background?!?! oh it's just his demogorgan creature, etc. i feel like whoever did the final sound saw the kudos received for the first season's sound design and responded by multiplying everything they had done before by 20. imagine watching this show without any music at all. it's like imagining the generator room at a huge industrial plant going totally dead. is it better this way, or just completely unthinkable given the BOOM!!!**--SCARE!!!**
(^seriously, i feel any video or audio pieces that discuss this show should be required by federal law to include dozens of sound transitions, and at a minimum 2 of those must be throat-seizing string stabs, interspersed throughout the rest of audio)

the chicago aspect of this show is like GoT's Dorne for me. seems like a totally different and worse show, and then when they go back to the usual world and characters you can't imagine the universe that contains them both.

i should say something positive here. my favorite parts of the show were generally the things that didn't involve the upside-down or eleven's crazy trip into town - i still really enjoy watching dustin and lucas and mike and find lots of relatable things about their characters, and i like the addition of max. i like how they kind of made generations of anger and dealing with that a theme with this season. i liked most of the slightly older kids storylines, too, although i wanted to scream at nancy and jonathan to run away from the isolated cabin of a guy in an open robe who keeps plying you with more alcohol than you know you should have (and realizing this even as a _teenager_, which suggests the quantities were extreme) and then initiates a conversation about sex. that was fucking weird and i felt like the parting comment the guy made after giving them a gift of more alcohol, something like "and never come visit me again!" was a last minute addition to the script, generated by lots of awkwardness about what they had filmed in the prior scene and trying to dispel any thoughts that they would ever see him again. anyway. steve became totally likable this year. good for steve! max's older brother is one of the worst characters i have seen on tv, both in general concept and also how underdeveloped he is. the actor actually did about as well he could, i think. max's older brother would fit it on a bad show. i don't understand what he's doing here (same with characters in Dorne, except the actors were not only poorly conceived but poorly acted).

i'm not really enjoying the upside-down storyline anymore, but i understand why it has to be there, and also can understand others who like it. for me the compelling part of the show is watching the characters interact with a persistent undertone of trauma, and seeing how they all respond to it. i don't find the upside-down/gov/secret stuff compelling, but at least it serves the function of giving the characters something in common to react against. i just wish that the horror, or allusions to its possibility, didn't jump in and out of each scene so frequently this season.

the last 20 minutes of the final episode were great. dit was almost a reward after everything else - bonus footage of these characters you like getting to talk for a few minutes without someone interrupting with a whoopee cushion (unless it's Dustin, because that sounds like something he would do).

https://i.imgur.com/WZ69Ol6.jpg

(same with characters in Dorne, except the actors were not only poorly conceived but poorly acted).

sorry, here i was using Dorne and Chicago as synonyms

just finished last night

https://i.imgur.com/tyAjtHu.gif

i was actually kinda surprised that the Chicago gang didn't show up at the last minute to help out. with lots of wide-eyed "who are THESE guys?" looks.

of course there are flaws but i just enjoyed the world and the characters as much as ever .

KM, I feel you 100% re: the lost weekend at Brett Gelman's place but I think the fact that it was Brett Gelman made me feel like they were ultimately safe. But then Brett Gelman kind of has that thing where he likes to lull you into a false sense of complacency and then drop the most fucked-up shit ever in your lap so maybe my instincts are off re: Brett Gelman.

Kali's Dream Warriors is the point where the show jarringly jumped from playful pastiche to something almost like Kung Fury-level parody, imo.

OL, stay away from Brett Gelman's house, i don't care what he told you or what tv shows films he has appeared in!

it did feel a little The Last Dragon but that ok xp

I appreciate this show much more when I keep in mind that the primary demo it's geared toward is probably kids around the ages of its main protagonists.

davey mentioned this upthread, and it mostly works until you remember some of the legitimately horrific and gruesome scenes, like the fate of rudy. sean astin will always be rudy to me.