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Stranger Things Season 2: Three Musketeers really are the WORST (Spoilers)


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19 minutes ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

Only request I have for ST3 is Will must absolutely get a new fucking haircut. Because I can't even with that thing on his head for one more damn episode.

Should they?  His look is very clearly inspired by Wormser from Revenge of the Nerds.  I'd miss it if it would go, almost as much as Steve's glorious hair.

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I enjoyed the central story of s2 just as much as s1 but found some of the diverging arcs less interesting and entertaining than others. While I felt Max was a good addition, Billy was pointless, even though I loved his meeting with Mrs. Wheeler. Eleven's arc, initially, was the dullest of the group. It improved in the final episodes, but those initial ones with her in the cabin were boring. Her trip to Dagobah Chicago in episode 7 felt really out of place. That pseudo A-Team she met in Chicago was ridiculous. And the showrunners really missed their chance to include a Mr. T cameo in 1980s Chicago. Shame. Will was great this season, loved his role in the story,  but man that kid has the worst luck. And yes, Steve and Dustin were great. I lost it when I saw his new do.

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2 hours ago, Astromech said:

Eleven's arc, initially, was the dullest of the group. It improved in the final episodes, but those initial ones with her in the cabin were boring.

I get that Eleven had nothing to do in the cabin and her side-trip gave her a chance to grow, but I felt the opposite. I could watch Elle and Hopper butt heads all day because their scenes had weight and emotion and the actors had chemistry together, The Chicago trip was the snoozer for me because Kali was so flat. I know Elle can't realistically stay in the cabin for the whole series feeling betrayed and eating Eggos, but damn if I don't wish they had figured out a way to do just that.

And yes, Ted Wheeler is useless. That's the only conceivable reason Mrs. Wheeler could be distracted by the mullet man.

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9 hours ago, JonArryn said:

Of course, it's been political and always will be. But not all art. My point is that not everything in society has to become politicized.

Whenever I read someone saying something to this effect, all I can hear is 'I don't really understand what politics is'. Because nothing in society can be separated from politics, or vice versa.

Everything is political already. Everything. You yourself go on to talk about how Hollywood is a 'cesspool'. Do you not understand that's a political statement? Do you not think that calling for people to talk about race less is a political statement?

So anyway, that's why it's a good thing that ST2 addresses an important part of Lucas' identity and the society he lives in, even in small ways.

7 hours ago, Gertrude said:

The Chicago gang wasn't really compelling for me. It was something for Elle to do and she grew from it, but I didn't find it interesting.

I was thinking about that this morning, and it seems to me the idea was to show a dark reflection of Eleven's life. Kali too has a gang, she too fights 'monsters', but it's all very different to what Eleven has back in Hawkins. It's what she could become, without the love she has there. Eleven's whole arc is about finding 'home', after all, so she needs to find an alternative 'home' so that she can reject it and come back to Hopper and the gang. It has to be away from Hawkins, and just finding her mother wouldn't be enough because it wouldn't provide that mirror.

Besides which, this may be a plot that comes back in season 3. (I actually wondered if Kali would become instrumental to defeating the Mind Flayer, but she didn't.)

7 hours ago, Gertrude said:

But I do have an actual question. What did Billy bring to the story that was worth having? Because I honestly hated every scene with him in it and only barely tolerated him when he played off Max. I didn't even find him attractive because I was skeeved out by that horrible mullet. This is coming from an 80's girl, so let me tell you what - that mullet was gross. So I guess kudos to the costume designer? 

Billy gave Max some dimensions beyond 'girl who does cool boy stuff'. He also gave Steve a sub-plot once he breaks up with Nancy: dark mirrors, again. It would be easy for Steve to go backwards after losing Nancy, but Billy reminds him what an asshole he used to be, which then leads to him taking care of the kids.

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8 minutes ago, mormont said:

I was thinking about that this morning, and it seems to me the idea was to show a dark reflection of Eleven's life. Kali too has a gang, she too fights 'monsters', but it's all very different to what Eleven has back in Hawkins. It's what she could become, without the love she has there. Eleven's whole arc is about finding 'home', after all, so she needs to find an alternative 'home' so that she can reject it and come back to Hopper and the gang. It has to be away from Hawkins, and just finding her mother wouldn't be enough because it wouldn't provide that mirror.

Besides which, this may be a plot that comes back in season 3. (I actually wondered if Kali would become instrumental to defeating the Mind Flayer, but she didn't.)

That's an interesting view on the episode and I will maybe take it into consideration when I rewatch it so I can maybe hate it less. It confirms my view that the gang must be turned into antagonists for them to work in season 3.

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7 minutes ago, Pilusmagnus said:

That's an interesting view on the episode and I will maybe take it into consideration when I rewatch it so I can maybe hate it less. It confirms my view that the gang must be turned into antagonists for them to work in season 3.

I think the most likely angle is that Kali and the rest blow Eleven's cover.

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5 hours ago, mormont said:

I think the most likely angle is that Kali and the rest blow Eleven's cover.

They already kinda did, no? I'm assuming that guy Ray they didn't kill would have contacted Brenner with the news that Eleven was still alive. Anyway I just don't wanna see the series turn into an X-Men type deal where all the different numbered kids come together to fight evil. 

5 hours ago, mormont said:

It would be easy for Steve to go backwards after losing Nancy, but Billy reminds him what an asshole he used to be, which then leads to him taking care of the kids.

I didn't have time to re-watch season one before this came out, but I don't remember Steve really being anywhere near as much of an asshole as Billy. The worst thing he did I think was stand by while his friend tagged the theater about Nancy. Which was awful but he was also really hurt I think because he thought Nancy was cheating on him. 

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I was thinking more of the 'home' angle with Kali, but I like the Dark Mirror angle with her gang of monster hunters. I'm still less than thrilled with the execution of that whole plot line.

 

5 hours ago, mormont said:

Billy gave Max some dimensions beyond 'girl who does cool boy stuff'. He also gave Steve a sub-plot once he breaks up with Nancy: dark mirrors, again. It would be easy for Steve to go backwards after losing Nancy, but Billy reminds him what an asshole he used to be, which then leads to him taking care of the kids.

 

I agree that I like the added dimension of Max, but disagree that Billy was specifically needed for that. Maybe the idea of Billy reminding Steve that he's not the same asshole would have been interesting, but it didn't seem to play out that way. It was really hamfisted the way Billy was gunning for King Steve from day 1 to take his spot. Steve never really seemed to care all that much other than a few 'this guy' looks. I don't think it would have been the worst crime to sideline Steve a little until he comes to Nancy with flowers. Honestly, I got the feeling that they used Billy for some sex appeal rather than a fully thought out addition to the cast. They used every opportunity they could to show off his body (which didn't work at all for me: see previous comments on skeevy mullet :p) That's probably coloring my perception of the character.

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Having finished it up I enjoyed season 2 and I'll definitely watch a third season but I'm in the it wasn't as good as the first series camp.

I think a lot of the magic of the first series was the various characters discovering what was going on and trying to address it and the very nature of a second series kind of lessens that. It also felt like there was a lot of filler for a number of the characters, notably Eleven wandering off and Jonathan and Nancy's multiple day trip to see a guy, who presumably lives locally given he's a regular visitor to the Sheriff's office, to come up with an unnecessarily convoluted plan to get Barb declared dead.

Also Steve's awesome and he's clearly too good for Nancy.

 

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28 minutes ago, RumHam said:

They already kinda did, no? I'm assuming that guy Ray they didn't kill would have contacted Brenner with the news that Eleven was still alive. Anyway I just don't wanna see the series turn into an X-Men type deal where all the different numbered kids come together to fight evil. 

I didn't have time to re-watch season one before this came out, but I don't remember Steve really being anywhere near as much of an asshole as Billy. The worst thing he did I think was stand by while his friend tagged the theater about Nancy. Which was awful but he was also really hurt I think because he thought Nancy was cheating on him. 

Brenner is dead. The demogorgon got him. I would hate it if they contrived to get him back, other than just the illusion El saw.

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20 minutes ago, Gertrude said:

 

 

I agree that I like the added dimension of Max, but disagree that Billy was specifically needed for that. Maybe the idea of Billy reminding Steve that he's not the same asshole would have been interesting, but it didn't seem to play out that way. It was really hamfisted the way Billy was gunning for King Steve from day 1 to take his spot. Steve never really seemed to care all that much other than a few 'this guy' looks. I don't think it would have been the worst crime to sideline Steve a little until he comes to Nancy with flowers. Honestly, I got the feeling that they used Billy for some sex appeal rather than a fully thought out addition to the cast. They used every opportunity they could to show off his body (which didn't work at all for me: see previous comments on skeevy mullet :p) That's probably coloring my perception of the character.

At times I was asking myself if Billy was included simply to add some 80s hair metal to the soundtrack. He was pointless. And agree that Billy wasn't needed to flesh out Max. A simple convo with Lucas discussing her family would've sufficed. Hell, we know more about Max's family than we do about the original characters from season 1.

12 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

It also felt like there was a lot of filler for a number of the characters

 

Agree. They didn't all need their own separate arcs. I felt Eleven was the only one who deserved her own due to the mystery surrounding her past and the Hawkins lab, but felt her arc was slightly disappointing until the end.

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31 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

Brenner is dead. The demogorgon got him. I would hate it if they contrived to get him back, other than just the illusion El saw.

Didn't Ray say that he was not dead? I know we don't have conclusive proof either way but there was an interview with the Duffer brothers between seasons where they pointed out that we never actually saw him die. 

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Shawn Levy confirmed that Dr. Brenner is alive:

https://screenrant.com/stranger-things-season-2-brenner-alive/

One thing I really want to see on the show now is a Russian character. Not necessarily a spy, but someone connected to whatever the USSR is doing on their own end about the Upside Down. It would also be an interesting perspective, to show what it was like to be a Russian living in America at the height of the Cold War.

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46 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

Well, WTF on Brenner being alive.

Oh come on, that's about as 80s a trope as you can get. We never saw him die. This is why they went to great pains to show us Bob's grisly death - so we aren't all going 'is he alive?' If you don't see the body in a horror movie it's not dead.

Chances are he's going to be like Will, partially infected by the Mind Flayer, and end up having powers to fight Eleven.

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20 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Oh come on, that's about as 80s a trope as you can get. We never saw him die. This is why they went to great pains to show us Bob's grisly death - so we aren't all going 'is he alive?' If you don't see the body in a horror movie it's not dead.

Chances are he's going to be like Will, partially infected by the Mind Flayer, and end up having powers to fight Eleven.

Another trope is seeing the asshole villain get tackled by the story monster, and you know that's the end for him. I suppose he really is El's nemesis.

18 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Now one thing they did do a good job with - expanding Dustin and Lucas' families. Dustin's mom was awesome, Erika was great, and all of that was just perfect. 

Yeah, I liked that part, too.

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