Stranger Things

DoubleD

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Yes, this is a stranger things thread. Talk about season 1 or 2, or both here.

Any spoilers for Season 2 must be put in the spoiler quotes like so:
spoiler
 

ddæ

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season 2 was definitely inferior when compared to season 1 for a number of reasons, though there were definitely improved aspects and ideas carried on from season 1 like:

eleven gets more developed as a character, her vocabulary has actually improved since november of 1983 after all the time that she'd been living with hopper and it allows to show off how she feels and what she does with verbal reasoning to back it up

the head of hawkins lab is actually someone you can relate to for his goals, how human he is, what he cares for and how he goes about attempting to create leniency though the government is obviously forcing him to keep the kids, teens and adults who were involved with the upside down incident from talking to much

more hopper
more steve
more mike
more everyone else

focuses more on the development of lucas when he was just that kid in the group in season 1 that was there for the sake of being there and creating an opposition to mike's fondness and protection of eleven - this time it's actually shown what he cares for, how he's grown to protect eleven since 1983

returns to the woman who turns out to be eleven's mother, and shows what happens to her and how brenner covered up a mess that he created and blamed it on her experience with drug testing with lsd

steve actually turns into a more likable character this time, and it shows how he has some things in common when it comes to the younger kids - he's not some rich kid picking on jonathan this season; instead he's mixed in with the kids (dustin at first, the rest later) at the scrapyard when fighting the demon dogs and exploring the tunnels underneath hawkins with them all

hawkins lab is shown in a greater scape this time, showing how little the government are able to contain the upside down entrance in the lower levels when the lab inevitably turns into a murder space; the additional violence this season is most evident here, and a good payoff when it's shown - though this also plays in a different turn, showing how dr. owens differs greatly from brenner when he's willing to stay behind to save bob and guide the group inside to safety

hopper is shown with some vulnerability. he was one of the strongest characters in the show already, though this season cemented it to show his past, what he cared for, how he's unwilling to move on completely since his daughter's death and the extent that he's willing to go to if it can protect the kids, the teens and the adults alike. also a vietnam veteran if you read the boxes when it shows under the floorboards of his house

the ending twenty or so minutes where everything has been 'resolved' was paced much greater when compared to the ending christmas celebration sequence of the first season - much more enjoyable to watch and gives you a few smiles.

jonathan is fleshed out more and finally gets with nancy and feels it is his obligation to strike out against the government for what they have done to his brother and the pain him, will and joyce have to go through because of it. nancy also has her own motivations, such as the fact that the signing of documentation after 1983 forced her to have to continue a lie with barbara's parents about the fact that their daughter wasn't dead, though she of course she knows barbara is dead after eleven went in the upside down in hawkins high school and told the group

there's three or so 'main' stories running at once, with numerous semi-stories/events going on at the same time (dustin and lucas' attempts to get with max, hopper protecting eleven as best he can, mike attempting to communicate with eleven via radio in his basement, nancy and jonathan teaming up with murray to send out their recorded tape when brought to hawkins lab, eleven investigating her past, max and billy's domestic issues, et cetera). though it's all molded in a perfect and unique way so that one of the events will affect the other, which helps resolve another and brings characters together (most clear in episode 8 when steve and the kids follow the demon dog to hawkins lab, where they meet nancy and jonathan, where they meet hopper, joyce, will, mike and bob, where they escape to the byers household and create their plan of action for the climactic ending in the final episode) this was a nice break from the sluggish feel of season 1 at some points where it felt the only thing happening was joyce attempting to contact will in the upside down, with nothing else going on to keep the viewer entertained and other things.

though of course there are the bad things to season 2:

the literal gut-wrenching slow pace of episode seven with the stupid fact that they felt they needed to create the 'i have an edgy emo out of the loop fuck the government system' sister which amounts to have zero worth to it at all in the end because eleven leaves them to go back to the group in hawkins and never tells anyone that she met her

how horrifically contained the 'larger scape' of the upside down was. sure there were more locations, but it felt like the sole reason they were there was to show that will's condition was getting worse. why not do like they did in season 1? send some of the main characters in there, create a plot point and an interesting reason to go there - hopper and joyce went in at the climax of season one, and it was honestly one of the strongest and most captivating parts of the episode because we didn't know as the viewer that it was possible without dying and the reason they went in there was to rescue will - they thought they would die, but didn't care and acted selflessly for the idea that they needed to.

the climax of burning the 'hub' of the upside down tunnels underneath hawkins felt so safe. when compared to hopper and joyce in season 1, where they were clearly fearful and time was of the essence, this rendition slogged at a painfully slow pace. i didn't feel at all captivated, even when the demon dog was blocking their path, because i went 'oh, they cant kill the kids and steve because why would they do that?' and i was right. there was no tension and the buildup to it was too rushed; this version in season 1 was a tear-jerker because you though that will could actually die. he had been there for days, hopper and joyce were running out of time and there appeared to be a very slim amount of hope. there was no vulnerability to this version in season 2 and it didn't work nearly as successfully.

painfully boring main teen antagonist for this season, he honestly feels like the typical badly brought up teen who takes it out on the kids and acts like a bully, gets girls because he is the 'bad boy' etc etc. at least with steve you didn't expect him to be 'bad' per-say until he picked on jonathan and even then he redeemed himself to come back as good in the final episode after the teen fight in the byers' household. not much to say here, watch and you'll understand why billy is a terrible cliche

why isn't eleven introduced to mike etc. for essentially the whole season? it's a much more enjoyable experience to see the ensemble of cast mates acting together and another reason why the climaxes at the end of the season are so enjoyable to watch; but the cast also crossing paths at other points in the season (refer to the act where the teens and all the kids meet with the adults at the entrance to hawkins lab) - leaving her out of interacting with the other kids for eight episodes and then introducing her for the climax of the final episode creates a greatly rushed interaction with eleven and mike when you should be focusing on the destruction of the rift to enter the upside down, which is what the season was essentially centered on towards the final few episodes.

too many new characters are added, which creates underdevelopment and you care very little when the characters die or something good/bad happens to them. bob was the only new character that was pulled off well, which gave me a genuine shocker and created an air of helplessness to the characters when they realized that people they cared for would die

that isn't all in those spoilers, just what initially came to my mind.

tl;dr - it's good for a watch and a sure standout good season, but a few more logical leaps would've made it much more enjoyable imo. if you're coming off the enjoyment of season 1, prepare for a slight disappointment.
 
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21ml

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Seems like a pretty good show and I keep hearing good things about it so I'm gonna check out season 1.
 
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jarodine

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should i watch it? tbh some :heyzeus: on instagram spoiled
about some guy thats called "eleven" died or some shit