Stranger Things

[Mayoush]

The entire plot of part 1 can be summarized in one line and this is the most ridiculous and stupid plot : "The guy who was raped as a kid by vecna is now able to kill the monsters because he saw by accident 2 mid girls kissing and heard a muh trust your feels generic motivation speech" I would think that watching his mom almost get killed by vecna will affect him the most but nah the power of 2 random girls kissing and being their true self is more powerful so stupid lol

seemingly forgetting about that after like 2 hours

Fr and they forced her to write information on pen and paper and caused her heart rate to spike

didn't untie them

hahahahah I swear I thought the same thing, the whole scene was messy how can this fat kid overpower these adults and attempt to escape was hilarious

they are strung out on drugs

everyone in hollywood is on the wicked diet

seemingly being okay with that

this was also the most absurd plot and how they are allowed to have a radio station where they send the most obvious hidden code while that guy is also a super genius and get them all they want and the military isn't aware of it

How about they dug up a tunnel in like an hour under a military base to smuggle the kids out they made the military so weak and stupid and made them die in the most gruesome way

The only good part is the reveal of 8 instead of vecna

 

[Devil's Avocado]

The only good part is the reveal of 8 instead of vecna

It would be pretty funny if they dragged her back into the show after 8 years just so she can be the one that gets killed/sacrifices herself during the final battle. Somebody has to die and no way they are going to kill off anyone from the actual main cast.

 

[Diabeetus69]

It would be pretty funny if they dragged her back into the show after 8 years just so she can be the one that gets killed/sacrifices herself during the final battle. Somebody has to die and no way they are going to kill off anyone from the actual main cast.

Not sure why they'd go to all that trouble. This is the last season...they could kill off all of them and it wouldn't matter...nobody is coming back.
My money would be on it being a joint sacrifice of Hopper and El. They kill Vecna, which would release his hold on Will and Max and eliminate the upside-down and everything would go back to "normal".

 

[Devil's Avocado]

I guess we'll find out in a month, but my feeling is all the cast survives and Max comes back (it's going to take a minor miracle to uncripple her though).
The reason being a business decision that they probably want to keep a door open for an inevitable revival including the OG cast in like 10 years when the franchise money starts drying up. Right now there's planned spin-offs and other media out the wazoo, but since it's by far Netflix's biggest show they probably want to have a break glass in case of emergency scenario card in their hand they could play if the franchise needs a serious cash injection.
I would love if they subvert expectations with it and actually kill some of the main cast off, but based on the past I just don't really see it. The only realistic options seem Eight or Holly, but I don't think they will go so dark that they kill of a 10-year old girl. Maybe just maybe it's going to be Eleven (or it's made seem like she died but is revealed in future that she actually didn't). In a way would make sense as it would allow for Mike to go gay for Will.

 

[Diabeetus69]

Oh please don't let there be any spin offs....
But we are talking about Netflix here.
<insert Witcher-meme of Henry Cavil saying "Fuck!" here>

 

[Devil's Avocado]

There's at least one in the pipeline already. An animated show of the original characters but they are voiced by different actors.
If Eight survives, I can also see her having a spin-off since they already tried to backdoor pilot it in S2 with that awful episode.

 

[Rusty Hinges]

I'm glad the team called ICE on Argyle. Still, I think a significant problem with the Duffer Bros. writing is that they consistently allocate special attention to characters who should be cameos or sideline roles.

It's not enough for the writers to have Murray play Q to the heroes' antics. Instead, they involve him in the action. Robin would have been better off staying at the station to keep up the facade and run communications, as opposed to contributing to Will's arc in a way better suited for Jonathon. Joyce also has very little to offer other than rare emotional beats, so she should have been relegated to odd jobs and planning. Erica? Who asked for her?

This habit steals from moments with people who are relevant to the story and contributes to a lack of focus. There's "tying up loose ends," and then there's stretching characters' purposes gratuitously.

 

[Kether]

I think everyone is bored but optimistic about this season, its been so long since the last one that it feels like a sequel series. people loved season 1 and each season since has been worse and worse, but this season they aren't even bothering with a new theme. season 2 had halloween/ghostbusters season 3 had the mall/4th of july. season 4 had california and heavy metal and there's nothing to paper over this crap.

The reason being a business decision that they probably want to keep a door open for an inevitable revival including the OG cast in like 10 years when the franchise money starts drying up

might as well get the ball rolling on that now, everyone already is in their mid 20s. a y2k episode seems like the obvious direction to take it in

 

[ArthuriusMartyrius]

Robin would have been better off staying at the station to keep up the facade and run communications, as opposed to contributing to Will's arc in a way better suited for Jonathon.

That really pissed me off especially since one of the few decent parts of season 4 was showing how much Jonathan cares for his bro and notices things about him that nobody else does. Robin really did end up being the worst character, they should've stuck to their guns and made her Steve's girlfriend like was originally planned. As a bonus then we wouldn't have the dumb Steve and Nancy will they/won't they theme sucking up valuable screen time.

 

[Rusty Hinges]

I think everyone is bored but optimistic about this season, its been so long since the last one that it feels like a sequel series.

They really needed to set season 5 in late 1989, and not 1987.

Holly's age would be consistent. The town and the military's mundane attitude amidst the circumstances would make more sense. The kids would be high school graduates, but the lockdown and their dedication to the mission prevent them from attending college. The end of the 80s and hype toward the 90s would be a great backdrop for the cast freeing themselves of old burdens, leaving their childhood homes behind, and moving on to the next stage in their lives.

 

[SouthernBitchBob]

I grimace every time some writer or actor bangs the "gay representation" drum. It's never a good look. It always comes with gross implications. I still remember Alan Ball's "the vampires in True Blood are a metaphor for gay rights!" You know. The inhuman psychotic murderers who reproduce through (frequently forcible) recruitment that anti-vampire bigots were completely correct about. Or "X-men was a metaphor for minority acceptance!" that quickly breaks down when, yeah, you'd be absolutely justified in distrusting and fearing a minority that can kill all of you with their minds.

Now we have "Will's gayness is a big plot element in season 5!" Oh yay, I can't wait to watch the kid who was *molested with a tentacle by an older man at age 10* use his coming out of the closet powers, wheeeeeee.

 

[Commander X]

A lot of people liked the first season but it's the only one that felt like it had any real creative passion behind it and after it became a hit it's been just one “the next installment in the hit Netflix™ original series” after another. Also it's really funny how absolutely over it most people seem to be.

 

[Diabeetus69]

So...regarding S5E1. What exactly was the purpose of "The Crawl"??

 

[Rusty Hinges]

As a bonus then we wouldn't have the dumb Steve and Nancy will they/won't they theme sucking up valuable screen time.

Jonathon has so little to do other than woo Nancy that there's no doubt that he will end up with her. It also makes the teenage boys seem uncharacteristically petty. They've fought aliens together since season 1, but they will get into a petty love triangle when the threat of the Upside Down is still at large.

 

[Commander X]

The core audience of the show has outgrown it due to every season taking three years, the actors visibly don’t care anymore, the plot got completely lost somewhere along the way, and they have a very multi-million dollar budget just for Marvel CGI and the outdoor lighting of the Wicked movies.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

I thought that the season was pretty good until the last… 20 minutes or so. It wasn’t perfect. The “kids” are jarring as fuck, considering they all look way older than they’re supposed to be. At the same time, they kind of don’t make them act like kids so you can kind of mentally think they’re actually 19-20 now and you just stop thinking about it. Except for Eleven, who looks like a rough 30 year old wine aunt.

And yes, the obvious afterschool special ‘If you believe in yourself, you’ll feel like you can fly’ in the tunnel where they both laugh was dumb, because it really boils down to ‘just admit to yourself you want to chug dick/muff dive and you’ll feel like a superhero is a retarded message that feels like it was written like 7 or 8 years ago. Which it probably was.

The execution, with the fucking cliche montage, was gay as fuck but, whatever, yes, him using his powers looked cool etc.. whatever.

The two problems are 1) the lead-up to it and 2) the major plot holes.

The attack on the military base felt like watching a video game cutscene. It felt like it would have been 100% at home in like a Last of Us game or something. The graphics were jarring, the acting was just… I mean, less is more. The CGI the rest of the show wasn’t that bad but clearly they had to rush the final scene to make it on time (lol)

The plot holes: Let’s say that Will isn’t about to see the guy he wants to tenderly ram his dick up his boypussy in front of him get killed, that other person is dead. All the friends in other places are dead. He would have been rolling and moaning on the ground crying for mommy and just let it all happen. It’s only because the guy who got his dick hard was about to get his ripped off that he discovered his ~queer powers~. Which is… fucking retarded.

But, what brings us to the biggest retarded plot hole (and the even more retarded explanation) is that Vecna doesn’t even kill him in the first place. Even if he feels he’s not a threat, then kidnap him. If you have no use for him, kill him. Why leave him alive. He’s sentimental because he’s your first?

No, he’s sentimental because he’s your first born. Will is Vecna’s son, that’s why Joyce is in the flashback and looks longingly at Henry when he walks by. They’re gonna retcon that somehow they had a one night stand, Will was born, that’s the reason why he kidnapped him, the reason why Will has powers, why he didn’t kill him, there’s gonna be a Star Wars ‘JOIN ME’ moment too, or something. Oh, and somehow, they never mentioned Vecna’s real name to Joyce, either.

Fuck that show.

 

[SouthernBitchBob]

I was also confused by the Vecna high school memories with Joyce flashback. Like...what? Doctor Brenner had his ass strapped to a table undergoing medical experiments and getting an antipsychic chip in his neck since age 10. He was legally declared dead. Don't tell me that mad scientist decided to send him to public school on a lark just so he could experience prom or something.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

They had no 5 year plan, they had no 2 year plan. They had one season, and made up shit as they went along. They had no idea how to finish it properly.

Or maybe they shit the bed in the last stretch as an homage to Stephen King.

 

[Commander X]

The show became successful, and like any successful "IP" these days it became just another franchise that a streaming service, or TV network, or production studio squeezes dry even well after they've gotten all the juice out of it they can.

The first season is the only season where it felt like "something happened". The other seasons meandered around, just wandering in the dark aimlessly.

Now, that happening to a lot of shows is one reason why I stopped bothering with streaming era series. They either keep going and going, strip-mined by the streaming service until they're cancelled or after a season or two are just cancelled with a big sequel hook that is never closed.

 

[Sasmate]

New season isn’t as horrid as I’m seeing others claim.

Pros:
-The high school dramatics has been present since season 1. Not jarring in my opinion. Mostly believable.

-The characters all seem consistent too, but definitely a more grim tone this season. Seems to be the trend with each season; it becomes darker. I didn’t mind it cause of course aging and exposure to crazy horrific shit will warp young minds.

-The CGI is fine, not a major improvement from S2, S3, or S4 but fine for what it is. Looked fine for Netflix.

-The demogorgon scenes seem to be a return to formula somewhat like season 1. Nothing ground breaking but comfortable to the normie audience (me).

Cons
-My main gripe is the storyboarders seem to have decided to make Vecna the ultimate big bad. Which is gay. I’m sick of seeing this Vecna faggot, I wanted more cosmic eldritch horror. If they make Vecna turn out to have been a puppet or even a powerful “general” of the mind flayer entity’s command, I’d be much happier. The Mind flayer felt much more looming, indescribable, and terrifying than Vecna. Vecna is just a textbook example of “idiot psychopath human is given lots of power” and that’s it. We have enough of these niggers in real life, I want something different.

-At times some of the emotional speech scenes can be a bit too long for my taste. Especially with characters that have had these interactions plenty of times already (Will and his mom is a good example).

-I don’t know if I just have some unexplained bigotry in general, but the gay sub-arcs for Robin and the heavy implication with Will is fucking dumb. I thought it was mildly annoying with Robin initially in S3, but now it seems like the show wants to explore both of the fag characters more. I generally dislike fag stuff in media but of all seasons, this was the one to NOT do it, what with the end of the world etc. I barely recall S4 enough to remember if they explored this but obviously not enough for me to recall.


6/10 it’s OKAY. Watchable and not unpleasant, but nothing to praise or be on the edge of your seat about throughout the season. You will most likely not be as engaged with the characters as you used to be, but this is likely because shows on streaming services like to be giant retards and release parts of their ongoing series fucking years from the initial season.

Improvements imo would be Vecna being a secondary antagonist like he was implied to be in the beginning of S4, and less fag/dyke stuff.