Television Stranger Things 4 out now

[Brick]

5 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

The creators, the Duffer Brothers, have said that they are going to do a bigger time jump than originally planned to assist with that. Having now seen the final two episodes, it was mostly great - really enjoyed. Sometimes maudlin and melodramatic, but this was a very well made and tightly plotted season of Stranger Things, even with the mostly dumb Russia plotline. 

 

Also, anyone else wondering what happened with the Russian prison guard turned prisoner guy and the high school athlete/jock guy? Unless I missed something, we last see Russian guy flying the group out with the annoying as hell pilot, and the last we see of the high school guy he's knocked out after his fight with Lucas. Those two things were weird, I dunno.

 

Jason got ripped/burned apart by the fissure. Gruesome way to go. 

[Greatoneshere]

2 minutes ago, Brick said:

 

Jason got ripped/burned apart by the fissure. Gruesome way to go. 

 

Makes sense, I must have completely missed it. Weird there didn't seem to be any remarking on it by the main characters, unless I missed that too?

[Phaseknox]

18 minutes ago, Brick said:

Can we talk about how weird it was though that some kids barely even out of high school, and some still in high school, were able to go buy guns, and bring them home the same day? No background checks back in the '80s?

What was weirder to me was how everyone just happened to be at the same store on the same day at the same time. But yeah, I was also thinking the same thing that you were about all of the teens buying guns. I was also thinking where did the main characters get the money to buy all of the stuff that they were buying.

 

[Moa]

The finale felt pretty by the numbers compared to the start of the season. 

[SuperSpreader]

I wanted the jock cop-wannabe kid to go in a more slow painful way. He was exactly like some cops I've met in their personal lives. 

[skillzdadirecta]

The Duffer brothers defended themselves after 'Stranger Things' star Millie Bobby Brown called them 'sensitive Sallies' for not killing off more characters

WWW.INSIDER.COM

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The Duffer brothers pushed back on Brown's claim that they were "sensitive Sallies" for not killing more characters in "Stranger Things."

I'm gonna go ahead and agree with the Brothers on this one. 

[Brick]

She was clearly joking around with that. What a sensationalist headline.

[best3444]

5 hours ago, Brick said:

She was clearly joking around with that. What a sensationalist headline.

 

Exactly. So stupid.

[Greatoneshere]

The article is dumb but I was talking about this with my wife recently - since season 5 is the end of the show, barring spin-offs, I knew they weren't going to kill anyone too important in these first four seasons, relegating deaths to villains or supporting characters like Barb, Bob, Billy, and Eddie. But for season 5 there has to be some deaths or major consequences, and I was wondering if the audience will even be able to handle killing off any of the main kid characters particularly. I don't think audiences will be able to take it, so now I'm not sure the Duffer Brothers will go that route with any character. They really handicapped Max so maybe they will, I dunno. This is also proof that the Hopper death fake out was stupid, and how they showed he lived is even dumber. It's clear they were never going to kill him off, so not sure why they bothered. His fake out death forced Hopper's entire plotline in season 5 to be stuck in Russia as a result, which sucked.

[Moa]

Not every show needs to be about guessing which major character is going to die next.

[Brick]

The biggest problem with the Hopper story this season is that it didn't impact anything going forward in terms of the main story and threat of Vecna and the Upside Down. You could have cut that entire story, either by not keeping David Harbour and having him stay dead, although that would give Winona Ryder nothing to do this season, or by never killing him off in the first place, keeping him in Hawkins, and the outcome and revelations would have stayed the same. They should have had the Russian demogorgon and other creatures offer something that would have connected what the kids were doing with Vecna. Felt like a side quest in an RPG video game. 

[Kal-El814]

2 hours ago, Brick said:

The biggest problem with the Hopper story this season is that it didn't impact anything going forward in terms of the main story and threat of Vecna and the Upside Down. You could have cut that entire story, either by not keeping David Harbour and having him stay dead, although that would give Winona Ryder nothing to do this season, or by never killing him off in the first place, keeping him in Hawkins, and the outcome and revelations would have stayed the same. They should have had the Russian demogorgon and other creatures offer something that would have connected what the kids were doing with Vecna. Felt like a side quest in an RPG video game. 

 

The stuff they did in the prison directly affected the Upside Down and Vecna in this season. If they didn't kill the demogorgons and deal with the particles, Vecna wouldn't have been weakened enough for Eleven to do what she did.

[Brick]

48 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

The stuff they did in the prison directly affected the Upside Down and Vecna in this season. If they didn't kill the demogorgons and deal with the particles, Vecna wouldn't have been weakened enough for Eleven to do what she did.

 

Wait did it? Jesus, how do I not remember that?

[Spork3245]

4 hours ago, Brick said:

 

Wait did it? Jesus, how do I not remember that?

When Hopper and company set fire to the upside down creatures at the prison, because it’s a hive-mind, it caused Vecna and all other upside down creatures to feel the pain (I assume since so many were hit at once and burning) to the point all the bat-creatures dropped from the sky and those tentacles let go of Steve/Nancy/Robin.

[Brick]

Right. Jesus this is the problem with binging, I don't retain this kind of important info. Still they probably could have done more with the Upside Down stuff from the Russians, like steal important research or something. 

[SuperSpreader]

4 hours ago, Spork3245 said:

When Hopper and company set fire to the upside down creatures at the prison, because it’s a hive-mind, it caused Vecna and all other upside down creatures to feel the pain (I assume since so many were hit at once and burning) to the point all the bat-creatures dropped from the sky and those tentacles let go of Steve/Nancy/Robin.

 

Makes you wonder if the Russians caring for the creatures was helping Vecna get stronger. If they were roaming around Siberia they'd eventually run out of gas and die. 

[Spork3245]

2 hours ago, SuperSpreader said:

 

Makes you wonder if the Russians caring for the creatures was helping Vecna get stronger. If they were roaming around Siberia they'd eventually run out of gas and die. 

 

TBF, I'm not even sure they need to actually eat. Before Vecna got to the upside down, it looked like the world was more-or-less nothing except for a handful of the creatures and that black-cloud/particles.

 

2 hours ago, Brick said:

Right. Jesus this is the problem with binging, I don't retain this kind of important info. Still they probably could have done more with the Upside Down stuff from the Russians, like steal important research or something. 

 

Yea, I mean, the hive mind thing in regards to burning them all to weaken Vecna felt shoehorned in so there was an actual purpose/connection with the Russia stuff.

[ort]

Yeah, I mean, it did weaken Vecna... sure... but they could have just as easily not done any of it, and had it not weaken Vecna and it would have had zero effect on the story.

[skillzdadirecta]

19 hours ago, Moa said:

Not every show needs to be about guessing which major character is going to die next.

That was the Duffer Brother's point in that article and was what they were responding to whether Millie was serious or not. Like they said in the "dumb" article "This is Hawkins not Westeros." The appeal of Stranger Things is primarily nostalgia. It's a fun show with lovable characters that takes people back to their childhoods. It's also a much needed escape from some pretty bleak times we are living in. People need that and it's why this show and the Marvel movies are so popular. It's why that Max episode was so effective and resonated with audiences so much. Folks want to see the good guys win FOR ONCE. I think the Duffer brothers understand that if you start killing these kids off wantonly, you're gonna lose some of your audience and also ruin what makes the show special in the first place. Will they kill one or two by the time the series ends? Probably...

Spoiler

I can totally see Eleven sacrificing herself to save her friends

 

but I don't expect any Red Wedding style massacres on this show because this just isn't the show for that. On a side note, I think this is part of the reason why the ending for Ozark was so controversial... that show ended on such a downer and the "bad guys" basically won with no consequences. Too close to reality for a lot of people. 

[CitizenVectron]

6 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Which was the Duffer Brother's point in that article and was what they were responding to whether Millie was serious or not. Like they said in the "dumb" article "This is Hawkins not Westeros." The appeal of Stranger Things is primarily nostalgia. It's a fun show with lovable characters that takes people back to their childhoods. It's also a much needed escape from some pretty bleak times we are living in. People need that and it's why this show and the Marvel movies are so popular. It's why that Max episode was so effective and resonated with audiences so much. Folks want to see the good guys win FOR ONCE. I think the Duffer brothers understand that if you start killing these kids off wantonly, you're gonna lose some of your audience and also ruin what makes the show special in the first place. Will they kill one or two by the time the series ends? Probably...

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I can totally see Eleven sacrificing herself to save her friends

 

but I don't expect any Red Wedding style massacres on this show because this just isn't the show for that. On a side note, I think this is part of the reason why the ending for Ozark was so controversial... that show ended on such a downer and the "bad guys" basically won with no consequences. Too close to reality for a lot of people. 

 

Exactly. Like, I can guarantee that the final climax to S5 will involve people working together for a common goal and having them reach that goal all at the same time (with teamwork), and it being set to a song from the 80s. All fiction is about promises and payoffs (in theme, genre, plot, etc). ST has promised us nostalgia-driven, 1980s-style adventure with fun and satisfying climaxes where the good guys win. It's not trying to destroy any tropes or have twists that shock us. And that's okay!

[skillzdadirecta]

4 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

Exactly. Like, I can guarantee that the final climax to S5 will involve people working together for a common goal and having them reach that goal all at the same time (with teamwork), and it being set to a song from the 80s. All fiction is about promises and payoffs (in theme, genre, plot, etc). ST has promised us nostalgia-driven, 1980s-style adventure with fun and satisfying climaxes where the good guys win. It's not trying to destroy any tropes or have twists that shock us. And that's okay!

This... all of this. Shit you still have people upset about Barb's death from season one! This show is a take on every teen adventure movie from the 80's where kids did impossible shit but you bought into it because it was FUN! From The Goonies, to Wargames, to D.A.R.R.Y.L. to Firestarter and a HOST of others... this show is ultimately a tribute to those films and that decade.

[Greatoneshere]

Anyone wanting or expecting Game of Thrones in Stranger Things is watching the wrong show. That'd be a very different show.

[skillzdadirecta]

2 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

Anyone wanting or expecting Game of Thrones in Stranger Things is watching the wrong show. That'd be a very different show.

From the "stupid article nobody here bothered to read apparently.

 

Quote

In a May interview with The Wrap, Brown and her costar Noah Schnapp said that while they were afraid of one of their characters dying, the show needed to kill off some people because the cast had gotten "way too big." Schnapp suggested a "massacre scene" to kill off half the cast, while Brown called the Duffer brothers "sensitive Sallies."

 

"We need to be 'Game of Thrones,' we need to have the mindset of 'Game of Thrones,'" she told The Wrap.

 

[Greatoneshere]

3 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

From the "stupid article nobody here bothered to read apparently.

 

 

 

I did read the article, I only thought it was dumb because the article seemed to be trying to sensationalize a whole bunch of nothing. I'm not sure if Millie Bobbie Brown was being serious or not, but the fact they even have to address the difference is stupid, because Stranger Things is obviously not Game of Thrones. It's not dumb because of the Duffer Brothers, the article's point is dumb, I thought. I get why they're addressing it, but the article is still silly.

[skillzdadirecta]

Just now, Greatoneshere said:

 

I did read the article, I only thought it was dumb because the article seemed to be trying to sensationalize a whole bunch of nothing. I'm not sure if Millie Bobbie Brown was being serious or not, but the fact they even have to address the difference is stupid, because Stranger Things is obviously not Game of Thrones. It's not dumb because of the Duffer Brothers, the article's point is dumb, I thought. 

The article was pointing out what actually happened. They didn't sensationalize anything... Millie Bobby Brown made a statement and The Duffers responded defending themselves. What's sensational about that? One of them literally says he's defending himself against being a "sensitive sally" as she put it.

 

Quote

"This is me basically defending myself against these Millie Bobby Brown accusations that I'm a sensitive Sally and explaining there's logic behind it and has nothing to do with my sensitivity," he said. "So there you go, Millie."

 

All the article did was summerize the back and forth. What would have been sensational was if the article said or implied there was some bad blood between them which is not what it did at all. I'm not even sure the article HAD a point... it was simply saying "this happened, then THIS happened"  

[Phaseknox]

4 hours ago, Spork3245 said:

Yea, I mean, the hive mind thing in regards to burning them all to weaken Vecna felt shoehorned in so there was an actual purpose/connection with the Russia stuff.

3 hours ago, ort said:

Yeah, I mean, it did weaken Vecna... sure... but they could have just as easily not done any of it, and had it not weaken Vecna and it would have had zero effect on the story.

I agree, it’s like they had to come up with a way for Hopper, Joyce and Murray to help the kids even if they were in Russia. It definitely felt like a tacked-on concept.

 

3 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Will they kill one or two by the time the series ends? Probably...

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I can totally see Eleven sacrificing herself to save her friends

 

How is that a spoiler when it’s just a speculation of what could happen? 

[skillzdadirecta]

31 minutes ago, Phaseknox said:

I agree, it’s like they had to come up with a way for Hopper, Joyce and Murray to help the kids even if they were in Russia. It definitely felt like a tacked-on concept.

 

How is that a spoiler when it’s just a speculation of what could happen? 

 

Hey you never know 

[TheLeon]

Skillz is the third Duffer Brother.

[ort]

It's a tricky pickle with killing off characters. I know that they are going for a whole 80s movie vibe and that all the true main characters have that "Plot Armor" or whatever you want to call it... but it really crossed over into silly territory a long time ago. Every one of these characters, playing by the rules established in the universe they created should be dead like 10 times over. You have to build a Golden Gate Bridge sized suspension bridge of disbelief  just to accept anything that is happening... I mean, that's the tone they've set and I do really enjoy the show... but at the same time, it's hard to get a finger on where the danger levels should be. The danger doesn't really feel real for any of the protagonists.

 

This is one of the main things they've gotten away from that they did so well in the first season. The first season, while still a TV show playing by TV show rules... felt way way way more realistic, plausible and grounded. It felt like we were watching a fantastical story of pure fantasy, but one with fairly realistic rules and very believable characters and believable character choices with realistic consequences for those choices. That ship has long since sailed off into the sunset. It went from being a strength of the franchise to one of it's biggest weaknesses as far as I'm concerned...

[Phaseknox]

3 hours ago, ort said:

It's a tricky pickle with killing off characters. I know that they are going for a whole 80s movie vibe and that all the true main characters have that "Plot Armor" or whatever you want to call it... but it really crossed over into silly territory a long time ago. Every one of these characters, playing by the rules established in the universe they created should be dead like 10 times over. You have to build a Golden Gate Bridge sized suspension bridge of disbelief  just to accept anything that is happening... I mean, that's the tone they've set and I do really enjoy the show... but at the same time, it's hard to get a finger on where the danger levels should be. The danger doesn't really feel real for any of the protagonists.

 

This is one of the main things they've gotten away from that they did in the first season. The first season, while still a TV show playing by TV show rules... felt way way way more realistic, plausible and grounded. It felt like we were watching a fantastical story of pure fantasy, but one with fairly realistic rules and very believable characters and character choices. That ship has long sailed off into the sunset.

You’re right, and I think that’s why seasons 1 and 3 are my favorites. Season 1 despite the supernatural stuff felt more grounded and plausible like you said, while season 3 just kind of ran with the whole 80s cheese and silliness without giving zero fucks about being grounded and plausible which as a fan of 80s movies I liked as well. Seasons 2 and 4 kind of tried to mix the two, and they didn’t work quite as well for me for that reason. All of the seasons have been good of course, but seasons 1 and 3 are the standouts for me.

[ort]

Season 2 was a huge letdown for me. I recently rewatched 1,3 and 4... I should go back to 2 and see if it's as "bad" as I remember it being, or if it was just me being turned off by the giant shift in tone. Season 1 felt like a loving tribute to 80s movies and 80s culture, whereas season 2 felt like it took place inside of an 80s movie with volume turned up to 11. Seasons 3 and 4 took off in that direction even harder and they either pulled it off better or I had better accepted the new direction... or possibly both...

[skillzdadirecta]

Damn you guys must have really hated The Goonies... and The Lost Boys... or pretty much any 80's movie 

[Phaseknox]

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Damn you guys must have really hated The Goonies... and The Lost Boys... or pretty much any 80's movie 

When you say “you guys” am I one of the guys that you’re referring to, because if so I don’t know how I gave off that impression. I’m the guy who loves Cocktail, remember?  I freakin’ love 80s movies, The Lost Boys is one of my all-time favorite movies. I grew up in the 80s, they were some of the best times that I had. I still watch movies and listen to music from the 80s to this day.

 

The reason why season 3 of Stranger Things is one of my favorites is because it’s a lot like an 80s movie, even more so than any of the other seasons. I love the whole campy, cheesy and silliness of it. It’s borderline comedy compared to the other seasons, and that’s what I like so much about it. I also like darker and more serious fantasy/horror too which is why season 1 is one of my favorites as well. Seasons 2 and 4 couldn’t seem to really decide what they wanted to be by kind of combining the two with somewhat mixed results IMO. I feel like seasons 1 and 3 nailed the whole 80s movie vibe better than seasons 2 and 4 did, and that’s part of why they’re my favorites.

[TheLeon]

30 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Damn you guys must have really hated The Goonies... and The Lost Boys... or pretty much any 80's movie 

The Goonies didn’t spend years fighting interdemensional monsters that can break people apart with ease. If they did, I might have expected a slightly higher death count. 
 

I don’t particularly care one way or the other on this, honestly. I get that “it’s not that kind of show” that’s going to kill off a bunch of its main cast for whatever reason. Since they have to keep the stakes high, they can just write in new characters that can die whenever they need a little juice. 

[skillzdadirecta]

9 minutes ago, TheLeon said:

The Goonies didn’t spend years fighting interdemensional monsters that can break people apart with ease. If they did, I might have expected a slightly higher death count.

The kids from the Goonies also didn't have one of the freaking Xmen on their side either while they fought a bunch of murderous bank robbers. The dudes from lost Boys should be all dead too by you guys' estimation. Deadly vampires vs a bunch of teenaged nerds armed with water guns and balloons. It's all silly which kinda the point and in spirit with the decade they are drawing from.