Stranger Things

Octo

KULT OF KERMITU
AKA
Octo, Octorawk, Clarky Cat, Kissmammal2000
I think I just shat myself and came simultaneously.
 

Tetsujin

he/they
AKA
Tets
298cff11be188a8830a2d9ea3a7aee3f--michael-jackson-thriller-yellow-eyes.jpg
 

X-SOLDIER

Harbinger O Great Justice
AKA
X
Season 2 just dropped at 1am.
It is now 8:30 am, and the missus and I finished it.
It is absolutely as spectacular as I could've hoped.
Will poast more when others have seen it and we can discuss things.





X :neo:
 

Cthulhu

Administrator
AKA
Yop
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I started the second season yesterday too, got to episode 2 I think :monster:.

I like the atmosphere, it's just so er, weird? Not sure how to describe it. 80's things and shit.
 

Keveh Kins

Pun Enthusiast
I've only just started watching this show and I'm about halfway through Season 1 and it is awesome.

I feel so behind the times :closedmonster:
 

Tetsujin

he/they
AKA
Tets
Finished season 2 and I wonder
what the point of Max' brother was. Thought he didn't add much to the story outside of his weird hair.
 

X-SOLDIER

Harbinger O Great Justice
AKA
X
I think that
he provides a foil to Steve, since Steve was the psuedo-jerk in S1, Having someone fully fill out the role of being the proper bully who isn't Steve's former jock friend was there to actively push him in a different direction and give him his own little bits of development that weren't revolving around his departure from Nancy. On top of that, it gives Max the motivations to not want to be home, and feeling like she doesn't fit in anywhere for a while, and having to deal with her own escapism (being kickass at DigDug), as well as the wanting to be a part of the group, bit also not wanting to be attached to them if they don't REALLY care about her. He is a bit one-note through most of the season, but the scene with his dad at near the end, and his overall behaviour sets up for some deeper developments with both of them as Max moves more into the center of things with everyone else.

On a different note, I loved the fact that
Bob wanted to move to Maine to get away from all the crazy things in Hawkins — since Maine is where a shitton of Stephen King's crazy shit happens.





X :neo:
 

trash panda

---m(O.O)gle---
AKA
Howl
Okay,
I thought this season was a little boring. Is it okay for me to say that? Am I out of the cool kids club? Was I ever in it? Life's big questions. :hohum:

First of all, what was the point of Billy AND Max? I didn't see a purpose for either of them.

Nextlyly, you do not introduce a character (who I happened to enjoy) only to have him move the plot along just far enough, then have him exterminated in the most I-saw-that-coming-from-a-mile-away scene in the show to date. We all know that Joyce and Hopper are going to bump uglies and that anyone standing between them is going to hell in a hand basket. It is ever so convenient that Bob showed up on the scene just long enough to share life-altering home-movies with Joyce, puzzle-wizard a map that wasn't really a map so the next scene could happen and then MS-Dos-wizard the team to safety so the next next scene could happen. :watchingu:

And, AND, why did the show derail for an entire episode to show us Eleven's sister and then not have her be significant in any way besides making me wonder things that are not relevant to this season's story line?

Also, why demodogs? Why are they dogs now?
EDIT: And what happened to the one in Joyce's freezer? Did they eat it?
EDIT EDIT: Okay, the internet actually gave me a satisfying-enough answer to my first question, which is that it probably did a thing like in Alien 3 where it used a dog as its host.


/angrynerd
 
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ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
Four episodes in: Please, without spoilers, someone tell me if the angst gets taken down a peg and the kids actually gel back together again. If I have to sit through another character having a moody temper tantrum, I'm giving up on season 2. Because the show feels like it's doing everything in it's power to drive these characters apart, and I'm already starting to hate
Mike and the Contrived Romantic Envy Misunderstanding cliche they're concocting between him and El. The show is quickly making the two characters I liked the most into the ones I like the least. I want resolution damnit
 

X-SOLDIER

Harbinger O Great Justice
AKA
X
@Howl: I have answers to ALL these things!!

Don't feel bad if it wasn't as much your jam. It's DEFINITELY not as pants-shittingly terrifying as the first season. It's a little bit more Aliens than Alien, and it's ok if you feel differently about those films and the first and second season. That being said – TIME FOR TL;DR!!!!

1) Billy AND Max come as a packaged duo for a few reasons. They represent the fact that, the main kids aren't ONLY facing supernatural issues, and both of them bring that out in a number of ways.

• Mike's still heavily reeling from connecting with Eleven and having her gone, and is extremely against trusting Max because of those feelings. This also comes up with Eleven feeling the same way, because she (mis)believes that she's being replaced when she sees the two of them in the gym together.
• Dustin & Lucas both like her, which gives the two of them a different dynamic to run into as they're doing the typical thing to try to impress her but not overstep boundaries with each other – which is something I especially liked (and follows through from her introduction, through to the dance scene with Dustin at the end).
• The issues that Max has to deal with aren't supernatural. This helps to ground her character as an outsider, but also present her with different, but relatable issues, that the others aren't facing. She has to deal with being a stranger – both to the town, to the group, and to the supernatural, in addition to the familial issues that she struggles with, which brings us to her brother.
• Billy isn't as heavily developed, but his character draws a lot of attention because of his role as the abusively overprotective step sibling, the newcomer, and the replacement Steve as the head jock badass. The kids aren't dealing with bullying after Eleven intervened last season, and with that status quo established, we're free to dig into Steve's place.
• Steve's role is no longer defined by his connection to Nancy, and he gave up his friendship with the other jerks last season as well, which leaves him in a limbo of discovering who he is. Defining Billy's stereotypical jackass attitude also helps to show that that's VERY much not who Steve is, despite him being a bit more like that in Season 1.
• Like with Lucas, Dustin, & Max – Jonathan, Steve, & Nancy there's a love triangle of sorts, but it's fairly clearly established where it exists in both cases, which pushes the development of Dustin and Steve together via their respective proxies of Max & Billy as the key motivating factors. That gives them similar but different things to relate to with each other, and also develops a closer interaction between the older and younger kids that doesn't otherwise exist aside from the sibling relationships of Nancy & Mike, and Jonathan & Will, which are going to be important in keeping them grouped together later on.
• Lastly, they point that there are still factors OTHER than the supernatural at play moving forward. Billy's dad is fucking abusive as hell to him, and the way that that plays out is going to create impacts within our group in the future. This is heavily juxtaposed when you look at the complete opposites of how Lucas' parents interact, and how Max's parents interact in the brief moments that we get to see them.

Hopefully that's a decent tl;dr of that bit.

2) Bob Newby is a Superhero.

3) The introduction of Eleven's sister is important for a few reasons.

• It explains a little bit about why she's eleven, and the scope of the project, especially since the current occupants of the lab are just attempting to clean up the mess that was left behind, and aren't the sort of sinister scientists masterminding the whole thing like they were last season.
• It establishes Eleven's priorities outside of what circumstances dictate for her. She has to want to stay, rather than go off on her own, and decide what matters to her. This, in combination with reflection about the time she murdered an entire middle school full of military people, and her psychic tantrum in the cabin helps her to understand the scope of her power in a way that she doesn't otherwise have.
• It gives Eleven perspective. Eleven's lived in a lab, and then has been contained in a cabin for almost a year. Her running off on her own has given her a chance to see the bigger picture completely free from the influential lenses of anyone else, and to see how someone else in a position similar to hers has had to cope with those issues. While it feels like a standalone episode, it's important that it was only Eleven going through all of that without anyone else there.
• Her sister's introduction is important because of the differences in her and 11's powers. The Demogorgon was capable of some limited telekinesis like Eleven (they've both unlocked the Byers' front door), whereas the Mind Flayer exists in Will's head, the way that her sister does. Their psychic abilities both being connected to traits we see of things in the Upside Down is important, especially given where we seem to've left things.
• Insofar as moving forward, Eleven can't help her mom, but her sister's power set MIGHT be able to, since her mom's mind is a veritable cornucopia of knowledge that's completely scrambled. Given that the Mind Flayer is physically trapped now that the rift is closed, it's seeming likely that the same way that Eleven originally opened the rift is likely going to be something that the Mind Flayer is attempting in the future.

4) Demodogs:

• It makes for probably the most excellent Alien to Aliens transition ever when Steve and everyone else tries to fight them. On that note, it allows for an escalation of scale without diminishing the original creature. The Demogorgon was taking out tons of military people in the school without slowing down, and there's no way they could've handled multiple ones of them at full scale.
• It could also be like how the Xenomorph in Alien³ had different features because of gestating in a different host. The Demodogs all SEEM to've undergone their metamorphosis on Earth, rather than developing within the Upside Down. Being as we don't know the origins of either the Demogorgons, OR the Mind Flayers, it's a bit difficult to tell how the Demodogs are different, only given their lifecycle up to the that point, because it's not clear that they WOULD or WOULDN'T'VE become proper Demogorgons over time. All we know for certain is that they go through a metamorphoses, and lose the tail and other reptilian / amphibian features as they get bigger. I'd fully expect the one that they stuffed into the Byers' fridge to be a central source of them attempting to learn more about the Upside Down since the rift is closed moving forward.

I might check a few more episodes of the after show at some point to see if they discuss anything about that, but they've been pretty specifically vague when discussing any of the creatures from the Upside Down.


EDIT: @Chip: Your angst can be taken down a peg. There're reasons for everything, and the show brings everything into place.





X :neo:
 

Purple

Charmed
Just finished season 2 and here are my thoughts:

I liked this season as a whole but felt it was slow on some parts but really picked up in the end.
There are a lot things I LOVED about this season but this post would be too long if I said it all so I'll just share my gripes LOL

Billy
I thought there was more to him than meets the eye at first, and I firmly believed for a while that he and Max have this ~mysterious~ past that was set to be revealed as the season drew to a close but they were just two step-siblings who didn’t get along well. We could’ve totally done without him or traded his life for Bob’s. And is he racist??

Max
I may be in the minority here, but I was meh about her character. The Variety review sums her up nicely: “It seemed like the idea behind Max was: What if we just created an amalgamation of every on-screen tomboy character ever — and just added a skateboard?” To me, it seems like she existed this season to

1. Set up this “love triangle” between her, Dustin and Lucas
2. Have Eleven be jealous in episode 3 so the Mike/Eleven reunion can be delayed until the very end of episode 8
3. Replace Will as part of the quartet while he was busy being possessed? LOL, IDK

Hopefully the writers would give her a better storyline next season.

Mike
It felt like he really didn't have much to do this season which was weird considering he was such a big part of season 1. Yeah sure, we saw more of him in the finale going into those huge tunnels but other than that I can’t really think of anything of note that Mike did in the other episodes. If I could summarize his story arc this season it would be this: mopes/broods over Eleven’s disappearance then proceeds to babysit/accompany Will during his possession phase where he basically was just…there? IDK then evenutally he reunites with Eleven.

And did any else find their "romance" a little over the top sometimes? I mean sure the Snow Ball dance was cute and all but at the same time I was like "jeezus you kids are only 12" specially on that scene where they were like "I can't lose you again!1!" "You won't, I promise etc etc" I mean, I understand they were each other's first crush so it maybe a normal reaction for kids their age?

Bob
At first I thought he was a spy because he was just too good to be fucking true. But when I realized he was just genuinely a nice guy I knew he was gonna bite the bullet. As soon as he decided to override the locks in the lab I knew he was done for. Don’t even get me started on the way he died, we DID NOT need that lingering shot of the demodogs eating him :(

Episode 7
I’ve been reading a lot of HATE for this episode. Well, I did not hate it in anyway but it did feel out of place. Midway through the episode I was like is this even the same show?? LOL

Quartet
Sure Will was sick, but the lack of Dustin, Mike and Lucas together for the bulk of the season was a little disappointing. I mean part of the charm of the first season was the chemistry between these characters. I needed more of their adventures together this season. Maybe the Duffer brothers wanted to try a new formula this season IDK. But I personally think these kids shine best when they’re together. PS Steve as their babysitter was the season’s highlight
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
I liked it as much as the first season, though the punky people felt a bit cliche.
I can imagine Kali's power coming into play next season if the mindfleyer can still see what Will sees.

I'll leave this here
 
When there were 2 episodes left, I thought I had been spoiled cause I saw a character called "werewolf" was in 2 episodes. So Bob's big sacrifice didn't mean anything to me, I thought he was gonna turn out to be a werewolf lol
 
I have not been this heartbroken by a character death in years.

It quite possibly ranks among my top three in the most devastating television character deaths of all time.

The character also ranks among the top in terms of likeableness.

I'm halfway through episode 8 and it's going to be difficult to power through the rest of it now that I am so negatively impacted.

This is me right now

The show made me genuinely invested in him. This is not the kind of death where I can derive satisfaction from having predicted it.

I am just hurt.

I can't remember the last time I liked a fictional character this much.

And they had to torture me with the shot of him being eaten.

No. NO! NOOO!!!



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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Fuck you Stranger Things I love you but I also hate you

fuck you I love you I hate you

eff u i <3 u but i also :ffuuu:cking h8 u

it is only because you made me love you that you can hurt me this much

Just...


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DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID, STRANGER THINGS?!

YES YOU DO!

YOU. KILLED. SAMWISE GAMGEE!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Geostigma

Pro Adventurer
AKA
gabe
^Here have a Stranger Things hug

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RE : MikexEL Melodrama.

Idk. I know PLENTY of dudes who for lack of a better term, put that pussy on a pedestal with their first big love etc. It doesn't really come off as unrealistic or forced to me.
Idk.

Mike and the Contrived Romantic Envy Misunderstanding cliche they're concocting between him and El.

Do you mean the part where El pushes Max on the ground in the Basketball court?
How is that contrived? She's for all intents and purposes an extremely maladjusted youth who grew up basically alone in a lab environment. Every male figure in her life has failed her up to that point (papa and hopper). Not knowing how to process seeing basically your boyfriend share a seemingly close moment with another girl is a pretty fair problem for someone in El's shoes...
 

Purple

Charmed
I have not been this heartbroken by a character death in years.

It quite possibly ranks among my top three in the most devastating television character deaths of all time.

The character also ranks among the top in terms of likeableness.

I'm halfway through episode 8 and it's going to be difficult to power through the rest of it now that I am so negatively impacted.

This is me right now

The show made me genuinely invested in him. This is not the kind of death where I can derive satisfaction from having predicted it.

I am just hurt.

I can't remember the last time I liked a fictional character this much.

And they had to torture me with the shot of him being eaten.

No. NO! NOOO!!!



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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Fuck you Stranger Things I love you but I also hate you

fuck you I love you I hate you

eff u i <3 u but i also :ffuuu:cking h8 u

it is only because you made me love you that you can hurt me this much

Just...


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DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID, STRANGER THINGS?!

YES YOU DO!

YOU. KILLED. SAMWISE GAMGEE!!!!!!!!!!!

That was my reaction too.
Maybe they could've kept him for 1 more season? His death was just too gruesome for a character as nice as he is :(
 

Geostigma

Pro Adventurer
AKA
gabe
^super cool. I got
"Demogorgon's Upside Downers
Death metal to turn that smile Upside Down, from your faceless neighborhood demon prince."

The background image is actually pretty frickin cool, idk if they vary or anything but heres the one on my page.

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All things considered it's actually pretty interesting that it would know I like metal and stuff, I almost exclusively use my Spotify account to listen to stuff like Chillhop and the Chrono Cross/Trigger OST covers from indie bands. I'm not exactly if I've ever put on some metal or hard rock on spotify. Hmm.


edit:

On the other hand the chillhop stuff and several of the Chrono cross covers can come off as either gloomy or very very mellow. Maybe it's giving me some high energy music to counter that lol.


Whelp ty Tetsujin and Stranger Things, just discovered a band that sounds really good so far thanks to that link xD

heres the playlist link if you wanna give it a listen.

https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX9Oqi0gBNbHz
 
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