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

It took me all night last night to figure out the mayor was Cary Elwes.

i clocked it immediately
his makeup was v bad

Robin = Uma and Ethan's daughter?? 🤯

It took me all night last night to figure out the mayor was Cary Elwes.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 5 July 2019 22:41 (yesterday)

I knew he looked familiar! I'm 5 episodes in and I'm enjoying it but I enjoyed season 2 even though it was a bit of a rehash and I've forgotten it for the most part. I found the bit where Will smashes up the cubbyhouse affecting. He's still stuck on being a child but his friends have moved on and have girlfriends. Pretty much the same as myself at that age.

I'm easily fooled by a good bait 'n' switch but the jazzercise moment was a lol.

I really enjoyed this season, but I did think it went a bit heavy on the strobe lights. I'm not normally affected by stuff like that, but there were a few times where I had to look away because they were giving me a headache.
And the Neverending Story bit was a terrible interlude. But otherwise I thought it was really good.

Neverending Story bit was great.

This is where I'm beginning to lose faith in The AV Club's TV recap game.

Never ending story was great. Season on the whole enjoyable but I’d like more Eleven; she barely spoke in full sentences until end. I’m still not sure every plot point makes complete sense;what the hell is the monster, what’s it’s relation to the earlier monsters, why is it there and doing any of this,etc? Still good though. Hopper was ducking annoying this time around though. I’m sure he’s the American they mention in the end credits.

All I'm saying is that you could ghost a maths nerd for years, then ring them up out of the blue and say "hey, I can't remember [thing they have learned off by heart since childhood]" and they would parrot that thing back at you immediately and THEN ask you to explain your silence.

I love Neverending Story (both the film and the song), but that's probably the most awkwardly stitched in nostalgia nugget of the entire series so far. I didn't need to happen.

*It didn't

(though we could argue that I didn't need to happen either)

I just started the 3rd season and I appreciate The Gap 1980s storefront making an appearance. They will never be better than that.

Robin = Uma and Ethan's daughter?? 🤯

Wow, now that you mentioned it, it's hard to shake the family resemblance.

Thought this was really good - the first time all the 80s stuff didn't overwhelm the characters' growth and emotional arcs (even though there seemed to be even more 80s stuff than usual!).

All the new + expanded characters (Robin, Erica, Murray, Alexei (RIP)) were great. Winona finally got to be funny and smart, rather than stuck in the harangued mom mode she's been in since season 1. Hopper was kind of annoying this season, but the ending speech with his v.o. and everyone saying goodbye still got me a little teary.

I thought the Neverending Story bit was hilarious, and much needed to break the relentless tension at that point. I do wonder how many kids watching the show would be familiar with the song though - our 12yo had never seen it so she was mostly confused.

we just watched the first 2 eps, it's pretty good (and I love the mall set) but there's a huge "here we go again" vibe to all of it. like the instant Dustin reveals the giant radio you know exactly where its going

My knowledge of The Neverending Story is limited to the ads and posters for it I saw at the time, and Lionel Hutz' fraudulent-advertising lawsuit against the film.

Roz otm: it was hilarious and necessary for such a heavy episode.

this was ok, an improvement on last season imo. with how referential this thing is it seems churlish to get mad when some of the references are too on the nose but having a terminator-like russian guy and jim hopper (a name likely lifted from the movie commando) do a bit from die hard was a bit much for even me

would've liked the neverending story bit if it was just acapella ... maybe.

This season was a lot of fun. If I had a quibble it would probably be that the reunification of all the story threads at the end was extremely rushed. If I had two quibbles the second one would be that Billy gets a bit too much screen time for being a one-trick pony (glare! glare some more!). The neverending story bit led to an actual spit-take at my house, but I’ll concede it might have gone on a beat too long.

I don't remember the other two seasons leaning so heavily on 80s music? I prefer the original instrumentals.

There seemed to be a lot more diegetic music played on car radios.

And the fact that 1985 was a treasure trove: https://www.theringer.com/stranger-things/2019/7/9/20686821/music-1985-stranger-things-prince-madonna

guessing their budget for this season was huge which may explain it

I am halfway through and maybe it was just the first two episodes where it was super heavy that it was distracting.

I had fun with this season!

Agree Hopper actor was overacting and somewhat annoying as a result. He was too restless and over the top this time... like the whole bit about him being upset that they were kissing in the room. It was written so that the audience finds his discomfort funny, but he was so extreme about it that I almost thought I was missing something about why he was acting so upset and consumed in the first place, then so extremely happy when he successfully gets them to take a break. I asked myself "should I know why he is THIS happy about it?" but really it's just that he was overselling it and came off way too cartoony.

Only other parts that pulled me out of it for a moment was the fake laughter of the Hawkins Post bullies during the meeting(s).

Story-wise, I'm surprised there was little to no mention of the huge swath of people that died by becoming melted meat for the body of the mind flayer. I guess they eluded to the cover up being that they were the victims in the mall fire?

i must've disliked the second season quite a lot because when paul reiser showed up at the end of season 3 i forgot he was in this show

season 2 was really bad. halfway through this one and its better for sure.

Agreed this was better than last season, but I'm not fond of the escalating stakes/scope of the show. I prefer the lower key Stephen King horror mood of the first season one episodes to big action set pieces and secret Soviet bases. The Alien of Season 1 to the Aliens of 2 and 3, if you will. (I know the Soviets are The Enemy, but still odd how blasé everyone seemed about Hooper just mowing down five people).

It's enjoyable enough to hang out with the characters that I don't mind how the groups all seemed split off into their own bubble of a plot line -- I had to remind myself that Nancy and Mike were siblings, considering how little they mentioned each other. And geez, after they've all seen such weird shit, why is Jonathan still so skeptical, or Joyce doubted? At this point, freaky inter-dimensional doings should be everyone's first guess for every time the cable goes out or someone acts strange.

I thought then when all Dustin's toys started acting up. Wouldn't he just immediately go "ohh 11, you lil scamp!"??

yeah I think that's why the show can't really top the first season, you can't exactly put that toothpaste back in the tube. also felt the plotline revolving around a missing boy and his mother was a bit more intriguing than massive international conspiracies. though I will say this season goes bigger in a more successful way than S2 which was just "bigger monster, more action, same plot" though I see they still use the same plot device where the characters don't actually talk to each other so they can save them from entire episodes of fumbling around

I desperately hope Hooper didn't die but was instead kidnapped by the Jennings from The Americans. Joyce and Elizabeth can have a take-no-shit mom stand-off.

more than a little trepidatious anticipating the "breaking jim hopper out of secret demogorgon underground jail in the russian far east" plotline in s4

I'm going to guess El gets her powers back in time to "see" him and open a portal; all the kids will jump into the USSR and have lots of "in soviet russia" hijinks, hide among empty shelves in a government store, find out they really do love their children too. "Boy, if only Moscow had a McDonald's! Naw, it'll never happen..."

Dustin inadvertently helps end the cold war by incessantly talking about about Star Wars, Soviets misconstrue it to be the weapons program and start pouring money into defense budget...

Just watched the last two eps; sooo frustrating with all the stopping the action for arguing and heart-to-hearts and singing. About 20 instances of TOO SLOW NOW EVERYONE'S DEAD

Loved Erica, the Robin "reveal" in the toilets, Elle spying on the boys. Enjoyed the Fleabag guy and Alexei. The monster was pleasingly revolting.
Disliked the kids' wild speculation about what the monster is doing and what will kill it that happens to be right; would've been much better if they shut the gate and it just carried on. Agree re lack of Eleven.

Also how did the mayor's black eyes disappear in a few hours?

Makeup

I guess; seemed a bit unnecessary and confused the timeline a bit for me

Also how did the mayor's black eyes disappear in a few hours?

An after effect of the government project must be accelerated healing, considering Jonathan gets the shit beaten out of him at the hospital and, a few scenes later, is dashing around with a slight limp at best. Maybe that's why the shift to action movies and a more physical monster don't work for me; I never expect the giant goo monster will actually kill or even seriously harm any of the kids.

I got an unintentional chuckle from them seeing a creature the size of a building stumbling down the road, then deciding a couch against the door ought to be enough to keep it out.

they had a plank on the window too!

I liked the neverending story part but it was overly performative/long. Although, I feel like every time i've seen someone sing it in a bedroom is has been overly performative and long.

Bastian had a bowl haircut too.

Makeup

― rob, Thursday, July 11, 2019 6:09 PM (yesterday)

I guess; seemed a bit unnecessary and confused the timeline a bit for me

― kinder, Thursday, July 11, 2019 6:32 PM (yesterday)

to be more specific, there was a shot during the July 4 fair sequence where you could see that the character had applied makeup around his eyes and on the bridge of his nose, which makes sense given his vanity and the importance of the event. It was uncharacteristically subtle and hard to catch

He used the word "trope" and used a My Little Pony episode that had not yet been made as a signifier of nerddom. I am starting to hate this show.

yep "trope" really stood out

"trope" stuck out, and yeah, when he started talking about My Little Pony, I was like, wait, no, that was absolutely not a nerd thing in the '80s in any way.

But I loved how Dustin and Steve's Jerry and Dean dynamic was nicely ramped up this season.

It occurred to me that some of the weird energy and tone changes of this series are attempts to copy the weird cocaine-driven energy that made up a lot of the worst of 80s Hollywood, but does so as it were merely fun creative energy.

...does so as if.. sorry for the typo, I am full of cocaine.

definitely got the feeling that the writers stopped taking it so seriously around the midway point and instead just tried to hit as many tropes & create as many memes as possible. not sure if that's better or worse than what they were doing before - I did laugh at Lucas deciding to amass large amounts of fireworks, just to set up a final mall scene that's over the top colors and explosions...I admit it, that scene was cool. but there was like...no tension in this season. you pretty much always knew what was gonna happen..."okay, lets turn the keys together!! On the count of three!! 1...…………….!!!! 2...………………….! thrOH SHIT THE BIG RUSSIAN'S BACK!!"

also feels like they left a lot unsaid, not just deliberate cliffhangers about Hopper & Eleven, but stuff like...why did the Russians want to resurrect this monster? why are the Byers' moving after everything they've been through? why doesn't Jonathan, who is definitely an adult by now, just hang back to be with Nancy?

feel like Jonathan and Nancy, having paired up, would get the fuck out of Hawkins no matter where Joyce decided to go