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

I have my calendar circled for Nope

New big bad is named Vecna, apparently after the lich from D&D. Cowards wouldn't go with the gelatinous cube.

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/stranger-things-big-bad-vecna-dungeons-dragons/

Yeah, I saw the picture of the lich on twitter yesterday and got pretty bummed that they spoiled that for us. I'll remove bookmark from this thread as well, for now.

Oh shit, sorry! I figured since it was so prominent in all these articles and they released the name they weren't even trying to keep it secret, so I didn't even consider it a spoiler.

well, YOU didn't spoil it. I just think it would have been cooler if the dork-asses at Netflix would have saved the big bad reveal for the show. I dunno though, I'm on new medications this week, so possibly twitchy about things that don't really matter.

I'm not even deeply emotionally invested in Stranger Things anymore. It has been a while since the previous installment. But I'm still looking forward to it, in a ritual sense.

Also, my daughter's playing DnD with her friends now, so there's a nonzero possibility that one or more of them will influence her to get interested in it. I am holding out hope for that because it would mean that she is watching a tv show with a story/plot rather than just Five Nights at Freddy's/SIMS/Minecraft YouTubers yelling at the screen, etc.

(I did show her the S1 opening D&D scene when she first started playing, but she wasn't interested beyond that)

I’ll keep watching out of a sense of completism.

Yeah the only reason I'm remotely interested in S4 is that we've been watching (most, there has been some judicious scene skipping - but more often to do with the weird Billy/Mrs. Wheeler subplot than scares) it with our son and he's super excited for it.

I haven't really liked this show since S1 and I should just jump ship. If it was the final season, I might watch for completism - e.g. I plan to finish Killing Eve despite it following a similar track to Stranger Things quality-wise

This sounds ridiculous:

You’ll find awesome merch and photo ops, as well as realistic Hawkins hotspots like the palace arcade, the beloved Scoops Ahoy, and even the Bayers’ living room to name a few. And once night falls, you better “hold onto your butts muchachos!”

the final episode of this season is two and a half hours long lol

i have read that it leans further into the dread/horror aspect which was what turned me off last season so i doubt i'll be checking this out, as much as i loved those stupid sailor outfits

Don't have Netflix anymore, so I'd presumably have to acquire it by other means and that feels like too much work.

lol at “6 months later” and half the kids look like they aged 4 years.

Really trying to decide if I’m up this, or am more inclined to experience this through podcast recaps

the final episode of this season is two and a half hours long lol

― Number None, Friday, May 27, 2022 5:26 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Last episode is not 2 hour 30 min, it is 1 hour 40 min.

there's two more episodes being released in July

I do not care enough about these characters to spend this much time with them.

Don't have Netflix anymore, so I'd presumably have to acquire it by other means and that feels like too much work.

First episode dragged pretty hard setting up where everyone's at. Some good spooky moments but 'I don't care enough about these characters' OTM.

I have to keep watching though because it's one of the shows my mom picked to talk about this time. At least it's not ST: Discovery.

I may have said this upthred for previous seasons but ur enjoyment of this season will depend heavily on ur desire to hang out w ur TV friends and your enjoyment of the actors who portray them.

It’s fun and dumb! It always was!

I think I'm going to pass. I started watching the first episode and quickly realized a) I remember virtually nothing from S3, b) which I didn't like anyway, and c) don't want a rerun of Killing Eve, where I watched four or five episodes of the final season and just haven't gone back.

Holy shit episode 2 is bad.

Every scene of every episode of this season just goes on sooooo much longer than it needs to, reducing both the scares (spooky) and comedy (not funny) to camp at best. The scene where a character unfurls an epic letter to read at a grave? My kid exclaimed "oh my gaaaawwwwwd" and I could hear her eyes roll.

read that Netflix spent almost $30 million per episode in this season while proclaiming that it will stop green-lighting expensive vanity projects like The Irishman. don't know if that is true, but if it is- ugh

This season took the wrong lesson from " The Irishman," because every episode feels like it's four hours long.

“This tendency to do anything to attract talent and giving them carte blanche is going away,” says one source. Talent be damned

I liked it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I may have said this upthred for previous seasons but ur enjoyment of this season will depend heavily on ur desire to hang out w ur TV friends and your enjoyment of the actors who portray them.

this basically. i like the characters. it was fun to see them do their thing. yeah it's funny because they are all 4 years older than last time

So much Russia stuff.

This season is almost as bad as the last "Halloween" movie.

Every time someone says "guys," take a shot.

Every character except maybe Dustin seems to be utterly lost and blank, it feels like most of them just stand there and don't even say anything? And all the drama arises from nobody saying anything they are thinking to anyone else? Will and his older brother don't ever do anything? The entire Russia subplot is comically stupid and also boring. The only good scene was when Eleven clocked her bully with a skate, but then they immediately went back to everyone standing around not doing anything.

Not doing anything in windowless rooms/sets.

Like they seriously spent $30 million on each episode in this season? That is fucked up.

The money's not going to CGI, hope Winona's getting $8mn per episode.

when I used to play D&D as a teenager one thing I remember is the beginnings of campaigns were always a lot of fun because of all the unanswered questions and fun threads of mystery, whereas the middles/ends where you finally get to the "big plot" are always kind of a drag

they’re spending that much because Stranger Things is one of their few big reliable worlwide hits.

The form is definitely down this season. Just finished episode 2, eleven plot utter garbage, Russia plot annoying, Nancy and co plot boring, Vecna + Eddie/dusty/Steve/max/Robbin surprisingly pretty great? I think much of its greatness is in it being a reprieve from the monotony of the rest of the show, helps to get over it campiness.

Despite my complaints, I’m in for the ride, already three seasons invested and I don’t disrespect the sunk cost fallacy

This season is as good as all the other seasons. Which is to say: middling-to-decent. The show has never been much more than a genre/era pastiche with a sprinkling of decent horror elements. I still like watching Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour and Gaten Matarazzo and Joe Keery (I would honestly just as soon watch a Hangin' With Steve & Dustin spinoff tbh) do their thing, and Maya Hawke and the new metal dude have potential, so even if most of the rest of the cast is less compelling and even when the plot feels a little redundant, it's still a solid C+ vibe like it's always been.

I'm not sure if I want to continue and see if it improves any.

Totally agree with f.hazel too

I can only take so much John Hughes teen angst. Much of what I've seen so far comprises too-long scenes of unspoken tension/one-sided argument/sullen miscommunication, it's pretty enervating to watch.

A lot of the time, nobody seems to be able to get a simple point across without an argument or moment of conflict, it's like watching Hollyoaks but with a bit more murder.

That little Netflix 10sec zip-ahead button is coming in really handy.

i still think the first season was basically brilliant. yes because of the novelty but it was also efficient and genuinely suspenseful.

i thought the season was overstuffed and mostly agree with josh's point that each scene goes on for way too long, and the russia plot was entirely pointless. but the stuff that worked really worked—the hawkins stuff in general was on par with season 1, imo. and the cast is incredible.

not exactly looking forward to the two jumbo episodes that will close out the season, but this is my wife’s absolute fav show so i’ll be watching regardless

I really liked the first three seasons!

I am enjoying this now (halfway through episode 6). I think what annoyed me most was the school scenes. The El getting bullied was unbearable (not because of sympathy, because of how stupid and contrived it was). I’m even liking the Russia stuff after it went unexpectantly off the rails. It just started with two weak episodes.

If nothing else, I'd think y'all would appreciate the scene where a Kate Bush song literally saves a character's life.

Would have been better if it was something like Eddie Murphy's "Party All the Time."

Saw the last ep of this batch. Too long. Too much talking. Too much Russia. Too silly. Not silly enough. And now Voldemort, too.

this season seems fine (I've watched one episode) you are all a bunch of whiners

https://i.insider.com/629699353050690018311c4b?width=1300&format=jpeg&auto=webp