Television Stranger Things 4 out now

[TheLeon]

4 hours ago, legend said:

Finished what they have up. Very strong season so far and I'm really looking forward to the end in July. Hope they don't fuck it up!

 

 

Also (end spoilers)

 

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What I find interesting is I somehow hadn't pieced together than the assistant was 1 until the moment his chip was removed and he looked at it. The actor (and director) must have done a great job because just his expression -- even before he said anything else -- made it clear instantly.

 

Not sure how I missed it before that now though  Maybe a function of marathoning it without reflection.

 

Spoiler

I knew he was One as soon as he had the “you remind me of someone” talk with Eleven in episode 6. That’s classic villain shit. 
Still, pretty cool reveal, especially with how he ends up tying back to everything. 

 

[Spork3245]

2 hours ago, TheLeon said:

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I knew he was One as soon as he had the “you remind me of someone” talk with Eleven in episode 6. That’s classic villain shit. 
Still, pretty cool reveal, especially with how he ends up tying back to everything. 

 

My fiancée figured it out during that speech as well

[best3444]

I'm on episode 4 and was shocked to see

 

Spoiler

Robert Englund a.k.a. Freddy Krueger from the nightmare on elm Street series.

 

That's a pretty decent gig he got there.

[Greatoneshere]

The wife and I are on episode 5 right now, and so far it's been the strongest season since season 1. Thank god they don't have the kids directly fighting Russian military like in season 3. Keep the kid stuff to teachers, parents, home life, and school. Upside Down and government shit needs to come off as adult, serious stuff at all times. 

 

Anyways really good so far. Some dumb stuff but much better than season 3 (and season 2, which I liked). Also the first 4 episodes have all been 1 hour and 15 minutes approx., which is no big deal at all. A lot of shows have 1 hour or over 1 hour episodes. I thought the episodes were going to be much longer from what people made it sound like. Each hour and fifteen minutes has been great so far, no real issues. 

 

The Joyce/journalist plotline is kind of meh but otherwise all good. Also: 

 

Spoiler

Hopper living by simply jumping away and falling below the explosion only to be left behind? by Joyce and the US government for dead, but somehow Russian troops got to the Starcourt Russian lab/base and grabbed Hopper afterward? No one thought to look over the lip of the concrete floor holding up the machine to see if someone might be there first? The whole Hopper being alive thing is stupid, but I'm living with it. I just ROFLed that the way he lived was so simple and basic.

 

[Kal-El814]

8 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

The wife and I are on episode 5 right now, and so far it's been the strongest season since season 1. Thank god they don't have the kids directly fighting Russian military like in season 3. Keep the kid stuff to teachers, parents, home life, and school. Upside Down and government shit needs to come off as adult, serious stuff at all times. 

 

Anyways really good so far. Some dumb stuff but much better than season 3 (and season 2, which I liked). Also the first 4 episodes have all been 1 hour and 15 minutes approx., which is no big deal at all. A lot of shows have 1 hour or over 1 hour episodes. I thought the episodes were going to be much longer from what people made it sound like. Each hour and fifteen minutes has been great so far, no real issues. 

 

The Joyce/journalist plotline is kind of meh but otherwise all good. Also: 

 

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Hopper living by simply jumping away and falling below the explosion only to be left behind? by Joyce and the US government for dead, but somehow Russian troops got to the Starcourt Russian lab/base and grabbed Hopper afterward? No one thought to look over the lip of the concrete floor holding up the machine to see if someone might be there first? The whole Hopper being alive thing is stupid, but I'm living with it. I just ROLFed that the way he lived was so simple and basic.

 

 

Literally everything Hopper related strains credulity more than the Upside Down this season, lul.

[Greatoneshere]

9 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

Literally everything Hopper related strains credulity more than the Upside Down this season, lul.

 

It does, and I'm willing to go pretty far for two civilians being involved in it all. If they had just not bothered killing him off in the first place we wouldn't need this entire plotline now. At least it's two adults and not like, a bunch of kids getting captured and then being freed by more kids in an underground Russian base (cough season 3 cough).

[Kal-El814]

1 minute ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

It does, and I'm willing to go pretty far for two civilians being involved in it all. If they had just not bothered killing him off in the first place we wouldn't need this entire plotline now. At least it's two adults and not like, a bunch of kids getting captured and then being freed by more kids in an underground Russian base (cough season 3 cough).

 

Yeah. I mean I don’t care, it’s fun and Brett Gelman and Winona Ryder playing off one another doesn’t really get old. That in of itself is a wild sentence to type and I’m thankful for it! But it’s strong A Song of Ice and Fire vibes where it really feels like an, “oh shit, well, he’s on the other side of the world now so… I guess we gotta get him back somehow,” vibes.

[Jason]

Spoiler

Like, were they not sure if they would get Harbour back when the did the season 3 ending?

 

[Moa]

I’ve liked this season substantially more than 2 and 3. I think a little too much time was spent torturing Hop, but I kind of liked how the less interesting characters got abandoned in the California desert. The A and B plots of Hawkins and the lab were both great. 
 

Now I just need to catch up on Barry, Better Call Saul, and Atlanta, and get around to watching the Mandalorian and Inside. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

I think this show is proving that episode runtimes don't matter in the age of streaming. All are almost or fully movie-lengthed and feel just fine. Compare that to the latest est season of Better Call Saul which has to fill an hour time block but has felt bloated.

 

I think this season is firing on all cylinders and cementing it as one of my all time favorites. I'm just loving everything about the season that everybody has already mentioned. And the villain reveal in episode 7 was fantastic.

[Greatoneshere]

4 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

I think this show is proving that episode runtimes don't matter in the age of streaming. All are almost or fully movie-lengthed and feel just fine. Compare that to the latest est season of Better Call Saul which has to fill an hour time block but has felt bloated.

 

I think this season is firing on all cylinders and cementing it as one of my all time favorites. I'm just loving everything about the season that everybody has already mentioned. And the villain reveal in episode 7 was fantastic.

 

If episode runtimes don't matter, why do movie runtimes? So many were complaining about 3 hour movie lengths on streaming recently in The Batman thread and for like The Irishman on Netflix and movies initially in theaters that ultimately will be seen at home long term. You can always pause. I agree, runtimes don't matter, I just didn't think Stranger Things could pull it off, but they have so far.

[Kal-El814]

Just now, Greatoneshere said:

 

If episode runtimes don't matter, why do movie runtimes? So many were complaining about 3 hour movie lengths on streaming recently in The Batman thread (I can't remember which) and for like The Irishman on Netflix and movies initially in theaters that ultimately will be seen at home long term. You can always pause. I agree, runtimes don't matter, I just didn't think Stranger Things could pull it off, but they have so far.

 

For me it's not that runtimes matter insomuch as a lot of movies with long runtimes just don't warrant them.

 

I think there are exceptions when we get to extremes... it wouldn't make sense if Stranger Things 4 was an 8 hour movie, even if it was released only for streaming and you could pause whenever. Or a 9 hour supercut of Lord of the Rings would be weird even if I've for sure binge watched the series over the course of a day with buddies.

 

i don't know how to explain it in a cogent way, it's just a vibe check.

[Greatoneshere]

5 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

For me it's not that runtimes matter insomuch as a lot of movies with long runtimes just don't warrant them.

 

I think there are exceptions when we get to extremes... it wouldn't make sense if Stranger Things 4 was an 8 hour movie, even if it was released only for streaming and you could pause whenever. Or a 9 hour supercut of Lord of the Rings would be weird even if I've for sure binge watched the series over the course of a day with buddies.

 

i don't know how to explain it in a cogent way, it's just a vibe check.

 

I get what you're saying I think, but it sounds like people are overthinking it. Pace, flow, editing all matter of course to a film's plot and structure, some films can be intentionally languidly paced and great, and others not so much. Some movies don't warrant their shorter run times, they need more time to breath, more explanation, more arcs. Other movies don't justify their long runtimes. But people never get up in arms over a movie that's too short until after they see it and see it needs more time. But if a movie runs too long, suddenly it's an issue even before they've seen it, though the principle holds equally in theory both ways. And for TV or limited series or mini-series no one cares it seems. So it's a weird particularity to call out movie runtimes that are too long even before the film has shown you it justifies it or not but nothing else. 

[Kal-El814]

1 minute ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

I get what you're saying I think, but it sounds like people are overthinking it. Pace, flow, editing all matter of course to a film's plot and structure, some films can be intentionally languidly paced and great, and others not so much. Some movies don't warrant their shorter run times, they need more time to breath, more explanation, more arcs. Other movies don't justify their long runtimes. But people never get up in arms over a movie that's too short until after they see it and see it needs more time. But if a movie runs too long, suddenly it's an issue even before they've seen it, though the principle holds equally in theory both ways. And for TV or limited series or mini-series no one cares it seems. So it's a weird particularity to call out movie runtimes that are too long even before the film has shown you it justifies it or not but nothing else. 

 

A well paced movie is going to make a long movie feel great, I just don't know where the critical mass is. Maybe when the blood starts pooling in my ass and I get bed sores, who knows.   Regardless I feel like there are many more movies that are too padded than there are ones that are too lean. 

 

But The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur are probably in my top 10 movies so what the hell do I know. 

[legend]

1 hour ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

If episode runtimes don't matter, why do movie runtimes? So many were complaining about 3 hour movie lengths on streaming recently in The Batman thread and for like The Irishman on Netflix and movies initially in theaters that ultimately will be seen at home long term. You can always pause. I agree, runtimes don't matter, I just didn't think Stranger Things could pull it off, but they have so far.

 

My take is that runtimes do matter to an extent. Episodes with regular length mark clear boundaries to take breaks and let you plan around them, boundaries the creators deliberately worked things around to be a break point. 3+ hour movies are not great in that it's a much bigger commitment or even if you think you might stop early, you can't easily plan around when you'll stop because you don't know what might be natural points in the narrative to break apriori. 

 

Long movies in theater are an even bigger problem in this regard, because you can't choose to stop mid way through and now you're looking at a likely bathroom break without pause.

 

 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

Finished it but uh 

Spoiler

Did vecna really just “monologue” to Nancy?? Why is he showing her all of this?

 

[Jason]

49 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Finished it but uh 

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Did vecna really just “monologue” to Nancy?? Why is he showing her all of this?

 

 

Spoiler

Because deep down inside he's a horny incel?

 

[GeneticBlueprint]

I thought it was 1 monologuing to 11

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

6 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

I thought it was 1 monologuing to 11

But Nancy was 

Spoiler

Looking around the mansion in the 50’s after vecna said something along the lines of “you were so close to finding the truth “

 

[Spork3245]

3 hours ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

But Nancy was 

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Looking around the mansion in the 50’s after vecna said something along the lines of “you were so close to finding the truth “

 

 

Spoiler

Vecna was showing Nancy, 1 was monologuing to 11, and the show runners were combining the two.

 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

21 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

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Vecna was showing Nancy, 1 was monologuing to 11, and the show runners were combining the two.

 

I get that but I’m asking why he was showing Nancy. 

[Kal-El814]

47 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

I get that but I’m asking why he was showing Nancy. 

 

My guy was born to mansplain.

[Spork3245]

1 hour ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

I get that but I’m asking why he was showing Nancy. 

 

Why not? What difference would it make for him or his plans?

[Brick]

Finished it up last night. This is a strong season. 

 

I heard there will be a season 5, but I thought this was supposed to be the last season. Unless the guy who told me about a fifth season was wrong. 

[Greatoneshere]

46 minutes ago, Brick said:

Finished it up last night. This is a strong season. 

 

I heard there will be a season 5, but I thought this was supposed to be the last season. Unless the guy who told me about a fifth season was wrong. 

 

There will be a season 5. The Duffer Brothers always saw it as a 5 season plot.

[Brick]

Just now, Greatoneshere said:

 

There will be a season 5. The Duffer Brothers always saw it as a 5 season plot.

 

Oh. For some reason I had it in my head that this was the final season. I heard there will be a significant time jump from 4 to 5.

[Jason]

18 minutes ago, Brick said:

 

Oh. For some reason I had it in my head that this was the final season. I heard there will be a significant time jump from 4 to 5.

 

There's also two more episodes of this season dropping next month. 

[Brick]

3 hours ago, Jason said:

 

There's also two more episodes of this season dropping next month. 

 

That I knew, and am looking forward to it. Stranger Things movie basically. 

[Kal-El814]

It's been a while since I've watched Season 1, so I could just be remembering things wrong. But it felt to me like they softened Dr. Brenner quite a bit in this season? Obviously he's still having psychic kids Professor X Mortal Kombatting one another, but he seemed to have more genuine affection for 11 and the kiddos in this season than I remember him having.

[Greatoneshere]

Just now, Kal-El814 said:

It's been a while since I've watched Season 1, so I could just be remembering things wrong. But it felt to me like they softened Dr. Brenner quite a bit in this season? Obviously he's still having psychic kids Professor X Mortal Kombatting one another, but he seemed to have more genuine affection for 11 and the kiddos in this season than I remember him having.

 

They did seem to humanize him a lot more this season to me too. I'd also like to know how he survived the end of season 1? I assumed we were going to get an explanation and we didn't.

[GeneticBlueprint]

1 hour ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

They did seem to humanize him a lot more this season to me too. I'd also like to know how he survived the end of season 1? I assumed we were going to get an explanation and we didn't.

 

Off screen deaths don't count in anything. Stranger Things is no exception :P

 

1 hour ago, Kal-El814 said:

It's been a while since I've watched Season 1, so I could just be remembering things wrong. But it felt to me like they softened Dr. Brenner quite a bit in this season? Obviously he's still having psychic kids Professor X Mortal Kombatting one another, but he seemed to have more genuine affection for 11 and the kiddos in this season than I remember him having.

 

There was some stuff in season 1 that made him seem kind and loving towards Eleven, but I always interpreted it as manipulation.

[Greatoneshere]

13 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Off screen deaths don't count in anything. Stranger Things is no exception :P

 

I mean, it wasn't exactly off screen. The Demagorgon rampaged through the lab and jumped right on top of him, as I recall. And then we don't hear or see him again until season 4. It does appear he has a new scar on his face, but some explanation I believe is required.

[brucoe]

I totally got the seasons wrong on this show. Somehow, I missed season 3. So, I started watching it last night, convinced it was the new season that dropped (didn't realize I had missed a whole season), and it was only when I was talking to my sister on the phone, and I said "I just watched the first three episodes of the new season." She then asked me a question about the new season (as she had been watching it) and I had no idea what she was talking about. She then started laughing and told me that I was still on season 3 and it was season 4 that released recently.

[Spork3245]

I wish Vecna was actually Barb. There. I said it.

[Brick]

I really like Eddie and the actor who plays him. I hope he makes it out of this.