Stranger Things (Netflix) [Spoiler Thread]

[RedEyedGhost]

1 hour ago, Corvinus said:

Random Girl B addressed Will as Zombie Boy when she asked him, so we don't know if she actually has an interest in him, or she did it on a dare, though either way Will has the appeal of being this strange guy, whereas Dustin doesn't have really have any appeal whatsoever. Also, he was the one who was really trying, so it is another classic trope that the guy who tries too much is the one to heave the least success. 

Wasn't that also the girl that was crying at his funeral? ie. not random at all.

[Fez]

On 10/29/2017 at 10:29 AM, Slurktan said:

I'm curious but why? I really liked that they had the other kids actually doing something to help (and Steve)this season but come on.  She is the only one with superpowers/the force.  She is going to save the day.

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm kind of hoping that the Mind Flayer still keeps coming to Will but more sneakily this time so it sets up him as an antagonist who also has powers. 

 

It'd just feel too rote if the structure of the seasons is the same three times in a row. El is the only one with superpowers, and it'd be beyond lame if any of the other main cast started to develop them too (except maybe Will), but I'd just like to see something different happen.

Upside Down creatures do seem weak to fire in a way that they aren't to anything else, so let Hopper, Nancy, and Steve do something impressive with flamethrowers/molotov cocktails to really make a dent next finale. Have Jonathan and Dustin rig up a bomb. I don't know, just something different. Or maybe have season three end with the military being super competent and saving the day, but then being the primary, rather than secondary, antagonist for season four.

[The Bard of Banefort]

*deep breath* Alright, here it goes.

I'll try to break this up by plot, but there's going to be some overlap.

Joyce/Bob/Will/Mike

• It was nice seeing some range in Joyce's emotions this time. Even though I liked her performance last season, there was something rather static about it. It was also nice to see her interact with characters who weren't in a similar state of panic. One thing about Joyce that I found a little strange, however, is that she had virtually no relationship with her oldest son this season. I guess that's just the price of having various separate plots operating at the same time, but the two of them interacted so little that you could almost forget that Joyce had more than one kid at some points.
• Mike was brooding and less likable this season, but at least in this case it's understandable. It shows just how deeply Mike feels though, that he would continue to try to reach Eleven for 353 days in a row - that type of persistence is pretty rare in middle-schoolers. I really liked the decision to have him be at the hospital with Will, as well. It gave him more to do than look sullen, and his devotion to his friend was really touching to watch.
• Bob was a breath of fresh air, and I liked that Joyce seemed genuinely into him, rather than having him be some placeholder for Hopper. Even though you could see his death coming from a mile away, I'm glad that Joyce and Hopper were there with him. It made his sacrifice resonate more with the audience, and I definitely preferred it to having Bob die alone while the rest of the group has to conclude on their own that he didn't make it out.
• As everyone else on the internet has said by now, Will's performance was terrific.
• Mike's parents were even more incompetent this time around than they were last season. 
• Dr. Owens turning out to be a good man was a pleasant surprise. 

Nancy/Jonathan

• Even though I understand the necessity of Justice for Barb - both because it makes sense for Nancy and because the internet is a bitch - the way they went about it didn't work for me. First off, Hopper is in league with the same people who were able to create a fake corpse of Will - why couldn't he just negotiate with them to make one of Barb so that her family could finally have closure? And the tape recorder seemed a bit far-fetched. They kept Nancy and Jonathan locked up in a detention center for who knows how long, but they didn't bother to check Nancy's bag?
• I though the scene where the two of them finally got together was really well done, very passionate, but the conspiracy theorist guy was a bit too on-the-nose for me. Audiences don't need to be told why they should ship people, especially by some creepy, albeit funny, balding man. Granted, this was still a lot better than all the ways D&D had characters tell us that we should ship Jonerys. . .
• A lot of people seem to find the teen romance cliche, but I didn't, and I think that's for a few reasons. One is that they built up to it for two seasons, so it didn't come out of nowhere. Another is that I didn't grow up watching 80s teen movies, so I tended to interpret the characters a bit differently than older fans do. Jonathan, for instance, struck me more as a dependable loner, ala Hunger Games, rather than some mopey third wheel (the fact that he focused on taking care of Will rather than go after Nancy reinforces my opinion on this). Also, from what little I know about Molly Ringwald movies, wasn't the basic premise usually the-unpopular-but-pretty-girl-falls-in-love-with-the-reformed-jock? Because that's pretty much what Nancy's situation with Steve was last season. Long story short, I think the trope-breaking on this show is more than a little overstated. 
• Speaking of Steve, as terrible as I felt for him when Nancy refused to say that she loved him, that drunken bathroom scene was pretty hilarious.
• The teens in general didn't get much to do this season. The plot was a little foggy as well. Based on a throwaway comment by that guy in the shower scene, I guess Steve and Nancy's fight was actually a break-up, even though that wasn't really clear when it was happening. 

Lucas/Max

• I really like Lucas, but I still don't find him particularly interesting. It was nice to see his family, though, and I'm glad he got to be more optimistic this season and less skeptical.
• Even though Max didn't contribute much to the plot, I was pleasantly surprised by her characterization. I thought she was going to be some sort of snarky, cool girl-tough chick, but she was much more multi-faceted than that. She had emotional vulnerability, and became a good friend to the other kids. I didn't like the way they had Eleven resent her, however. 

Dustin/Steve

• Definitely the funniest part of this season, hands-down. I read that the two were put together because the showrunners couldn't figure out what to do with Steve after he broke up with Nancy, and it was a good move.
• I found Dustin less likable this season, but he still had his moments.
• It was very frustrating how all the kids just stood there while Billy beat the crap out of Steve. There's five of you and one of him, guys. One of you jump on his back or something. 
• I said this in another post, but the possibility that Billy is in the closet and has the hots for Steve is really intriguing to me. It adds a whole new dimension to their interactions.
• It's clear that Steve loved Nancy, but I don't think he was necessarily happy with her, either. I hope this is the end of the love triangle, and that Steve can find happiness with someone else.
• I found the Snow Ball pretty cheesy. It was a great call-back to season one, but it was a little too saccharine for me. 

Eleven/Hopper

• I love both of these characters, but I didn't care for their arcs. It was great to see them come together again at the end, and the fact that Hopper is now her legal father is wonderful. However, I just didn't find their plot very interesting.
• I was proud of Eleven for defying Kali, letting that man live, and returning to help her friends. Watching her walk through the front door of the Byers' house was extremely poignant and moving.
• Episode seven wasn't bad so much as it was boring. And did anyone else find the girl with the afro more interesting than Kali?
• I was thrilled to see Eleven save the day, but it was also a bit redundant. Having her save everyone at the very end is a trick they've pulled twice now; hopefully they think of something different for season three.
• On the one hand, I loved having Eleven seek out her mother. On the other hand, now we have to go back and forth between calling her Eleven, Elle, and Jane. 
• I was under the impression that we were going to learn more about Hopper's daughter, Sara, this season, but that didn't end up happening.

If anyone chose to read this all the way through, I thank you. Overall, I liked this season. I saw someone else describe ST 2 as having "higher highs than season one, but also lower lows," and I think that pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter.

[the tower of albion]

So I guess I'm the only one (so far) to express disappointment in the second series? It felt lacklustre to me, struggling to find it's path from one off show to four season project. I mean where can they go with this that will still involve all the cast? They should of had the bravery to just move beyond the kids and town from season one and take Eleven and Hopper into the greater world. If they keep with the same characters each season will just be a sequel to a sequel - or maybe that will be the conceit of it? I don't know. I liked, it but it wasn't the great of season one.

It's like Ash V the Evil Dead. The second series stank as a retread of the first where as they could easily of had Ash V the Zombies of ...... or Ash V the Witches Coven of ...... or Ash V the Vampire Bikers from ....... etc etc etc.

Disappointment is my prediction for the Game Of Thrones follow ups as well. I am a pessimistic bunny.

[Trebla]

Another observation I forgot to mention was the nice use of The Police's "Every Breath You Take" in the final scene. That song has some infamy since people have treated it as a love song despite the fact that the lyrics make it plain that it's about a stalker. Sure enough, the kids slow dance to it at the end, all happy as can be. But then the camera rotates to the Upside Down and we see the Mind Flayer menacingly loom over the school.

"Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you..."

[The Bard of Banefort]

19 minutes ago, the tower of albion said:

So I guess I'm the only one (so far) to express disappointment in the second series? It felt lacklustre to me, struggling to find it's path from one off show to four season project. I mean where can they go with this that will still involve all the cast? They should of had the bravery to just move beyond the kids and town from season one and take Eleven and Hopper into the greater world. If they keep with the same characters each season will just be a sequel to a sequel - or maybe that will be the conceit of it? I don't know. I liked, it but it wasn't the great of season one.

It's like Ash V the Evil Dead. The second series stank as a retread of the first where as they could easily of had Ash V the Zombies of ...... or Ash V the Witches Coven of ...... or Ash V the Vampire Bikers from ....... etc etc etc.

Disappointment is my prediction for the Game Of Thrones follow ups as well. I am a pessimistic bunny.

There is something to be said for how season two ended with a sort of finality to it. A part does feel that filming a third (and presumably fourth) season will be akin to ripping off the band-aide and starting over again. 

[Pilusmagnus]

Season 1 was the most devastating work of art I've ever seen in my life because it messed with my childhood memories and traumas on a deep unconscious level.

So needless to say, although I didn't hate it, I was quite disappointed with this season. Spoilers all the way down.

I have three main reproaches:

1/ Too many parrallel plots. In episode 5 it goes up to seven plots going on at the same time I think. This leaves some characters with very little to do, mainly Nancy and Jonathan, who are part of a subplot and then just follow the rest, and also Mike who sticks with Will the all time, although I really liked that he showed how devoted he was to his friend. I also felt that Max and her brother were a bit underused.

2/ Eleven's story arc was really bad after she leaves Hopper's. I absolutely hated episode 7 and I thought it ruined her character. Maybe it's because I'm too afraid of change but I feel like making Eleven explicitly a "badass" destroys the aspect of her character that actually makes her a badass. I really don't want season 3 to be about this ridiculous group of punks, which by the way is so badly written that it's probably an insult to actual punks. The only way out of this would be to make them antagonists.

3/ The ending lacked the bittersweet quality of the Season 1 ending. Let's compare:

SEASON 1:
- The first group of characters must infiltrate the lab to free Will. They get captured so they have to make a deal with the bad guys, sacrificing the safety of Eleven to save Will. In the end, he is saved but remains infected and must deal with the trauma.
- The second group must kill the Demogorgon. They fail, and are only saved because Steve comes back. They survive but fail to get revenge for Barb and must deal with the trauma of her being dead.
- The third group of characters is attacked by the monster, and are only saved by Eleven's sacrifice. They survive and are reunited with Will but must live on without Eleven whom one of the characters fell in love with.

SEASON 2:
- The first group of characters must exorcise Will and they manage it.
- The second group must make a diversion and they manage it.
- The third group must close the portal and they manage it.

I know there are going to be later seasons in which they will be forced to turn into warriors again, but that ending still felt too Harry Potter-like easy for me.

 

But on a more positive tone:

- I really liked that this season adapted the codes of high fantasy. The antagonist being a mastermind that must be outwitted was very Sauron-like. Also the lab was set up as a kind of impregnable fortress ruled by evil mages that consider all surrounding peoples as their vassals. But mainly, I really felt that Steve was a kind of reversed Aragorn: A guy who lost his kingdom and his queen in season 1, so he turns into a ranger and protects Hobbits with his baseball/Anduril bat. I had serious Weathertop vibes from the junkyard battle scene in ep. 6, the best in the season.

- It is also very admirable that they spent the first half of the season dealing with the characters' traumas of last season. It really shows that they are devoted to staying true to the characters they've created and that is why although Season 2 is weaker narratively speaking, I am in the same state of depression as I was after season 1.

 

And of course, give Noah Schnapp an Emmy this instant!

[Slurktan]

1 hour ago, Fez said:

It'd just feel too rote if the structure of the seasons is the same three times in a row. El is the only one with superpowers, and it'd be beyond lame if any of the other main cast started to develop them too (except maybe Will), but I'd just like to see something different happen.

Upside Down creatures do seem weak to fire in a way that they aren't to anything else, so let Hopper, Nancy, and Steve do something impressive with flamethrowers/molotov cocktails to really make a dent next finale. Have Jonathan and Dustin rig up a bomb. I don't know, just something different. Or maybe have season three end with the military being super competent and saving the day, but then being the primary, rather than secondary, antagonist for season four.

The problem is that they have already shown that the military can't really do anything.  Sure guns seemed to work on the dogs this season but they 100% did not vs the Demogorgon and the dogs were just caterpillar versions of the Demogorgon's butterfly..  The fire burned the Demogorgon but it was still up to murdering a platoon of troops afterwards.  You could in effect say that they are taking from D and D and the Demogorgon is immune to regular weapons.  So basically if it is a bunch of them  that come around in season 3/4, it's 11 for the win, and that's pretty much it.

Unless they can get some shit enchanted.

[Slurktan]

13 minutes ago, Pilusmagnus said:

SEASON 2:
- The first group of characters must exorcise Will and they manage it.
- The second group must make a diversion and they manage it.
- The third group must close the portal and they manage it.

I know there are going to be later seasons in which they will be forced to turn into warriors again, but that ending still felt too Harry Potter-like easy for me.

 

Weird as I got a different vibe from the ending.  Sure everything seemed positive but was it?  There is nothing to say that the Gate had anything to do with Will and so the Mindflayer could just take over Will again.  The good team effectively did nothing but shut a door. They don't know anything of what the Mindflayer really wants or how it actually works other than it seems to use a hive mind and they don't really know what it is capable of.

Look at it from the other side as now the Mindflayer knows about Eleven and will likely work to removing her from the equation.  It knows their limitations, it knows their weaknesses and strengths.  It has a knowledge of how to attack other ways then physically (ie say it wants to go after Will, go after his mom first instead).  I'd say season 3 is not going to go well for the good guys after their "win".

[red snow]

On 29/10/2017 at 0:07 PM, Werthead said:

This was him a few months ago when he started training for Hellboy. So he's not quite as big as Hopper is in the show but he's not quite as ripped as Hellboy either (I suspect the Hellboy shots used CG or a full prosthetic body shot).

I guess they can do a surprising amount with shading when painting him red as well. 300 style.

Hope his training goes well as I guess he needs to look more like that photo come filming or a lot of the budget will be spent on photoshop

I'm on episode 6 now and I'm enjoying how this season feels a lot more at ease at being "stranger things" rather than "80s nostalgia".

[Pilusmagnus]

43 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

Weird as I got a different vibe from the ending.  Sure everything seemed positive but was it?  There is nothing to say that the Gate had anything to do with Will and so the Mindflayer could just take over Will again.  The good team effectively did nothing but shut a door. They don't know anything of what the Mindflayer really wants or how it actually works other than it seems to use a hive mind and they don't really know what it is capable of.

Look at it from the other side as now the Mindflayer knows about Eleven and will likely work to removing her from the equation.  It knows their limitations, it knows their weaknesses and strengths.  It has a knowledge of how to attack other ways then physically (ie say it wants to go after Will, go after his mom first instead).  I'd say season 3 is not going to go well for the good guys after their "win".

Well all these are things that may pop up in season 3, but not sacrifices that leave the characters with a bittersweet feeling of victory. That was what devastated me at the end of season one.

But sure, it is still possible that they can redeem this ending by making shit go really dark in season 3. But as I said, I am not completely confident with that, and the idea that they might go in the episode 7 direction really worries me.

18 minutes ago, red snow said:

I guess they can do a surprising amount with shading when painting him red as well. 300 style.

Hope his training goes well as I guess he needs to look more like that photo come filming or a lot of the budget will be spent on photoshop

I'm on episode 6 now and I'm enjoying how this season feels a lot more at ease at being "stranger things" rather than "80s nostalgia".

Well I always thought that the 80s nostalgia was secondary to the alchemy of Stranger Things. They sure borrowed a lot of their visuals from movies of that period, but as for the core of the story, the real influences are literary, and they are called Stephen King, Lovecraft and Tolkien. The choice of the eighties as a time period has less to do with nostalgia as it has to do with the fact that it's a period of Cold War, meaning that there can be battles of good versus evil which are not possible anymore in a post-9/11 society. And it's also the time when electronic appliances started to be democratized, and their novelty gave them a magical quality. That's why radios and TVs are depicted as magical artefacts throughout the series.

 

But you're right that season 2 moves further from these influences, and I will try to be vague as you are only on episode 6, but a certain event in episode 8 clearly conveys the message:
 

Spoiler

"This isn't the Goonies anymore"

 

[Kalbear]

I've been mulling this over a bit as I was disappointed in it too, especially compared to the general consensus of my friends and those whose opinion I respect. I think it boils down to a couple things:

• People were stupid this time. One of the best parts of the first season is that in general it's mysterious and weird, but people aren't doing explicitly stupid things. They're doing courageous things that are stupid because of their lack of information at times (such as Nancy and Jonathan going out in the woods), but much of their discovery is marked by  them being clever. The compass to find the lab, the Ouija board, Hopper's questioning of details that doesn't make sense,  how the kids protect Eleven  and how people trust each other and don't just hide things - and then their using of Eleven's powers. All of it was people being smart and occasionally losing anyway because the enemy was smarter.
  Season 2 starts with two episodes of Hopper being a total fucking idiot so that it strings the plot along. Seriously, how do you see those pumpkins and think for a nanosecond that it's natural, even before the events of Season 1? We then have Dustin miraculously being an incredible dumbass, though it was at least in service of an old 80s trope (complete with a Gremlins music riff as they look for Dart). We have basically no one talking to each other at all - no one knows about Eleven, no one knows about Will's stuff, no one knows about Dart - until it's way too late. This massively undermines the cleverness of the first season and the general horror aspect; horror is when you are smart and capable and strong and none of it matters. 
• There wasn't enough newness. A lot of ST1's appeal was everyone along with the audience discovering what was going on. We were just as clueless about what the Upside Down was, or what the Demogorgon was, or how Eleven worked, or the Hawkins lab, and that worked really well to put us on edge and confused. Joyce discovering the lights and using it was great on a lot of levels because of this. But this season we don't get a lot of that. We get a bizarre lifecycle of the Demogorgon, where apparently it starts as a slug and stays that way for almost a whole year, then rapidly develops all at once, and we get this Intelligence - but no motivation. We got a bigger portal, but we have no real reason to understand why it matters when so many other portals appeared around Hawkins - including the one Eleven comes out of later, or all the ones that the original Demogorgon appeared out of. The DemoDogs weren't particularly threatening or scary the way the Demogorgon was, nor were they all that new. We got a couple new characters who were basically killed off. And the only really 'new' storyline was both short and fairly dull - Eleven's counterpart, 8. 
• Finally, the Billy/Max storyline was flat-out stupid as shit. I kept hoping that Billy and Max had come to Hawkins because they were monster hunters or something, and Billy at the end would make some quip similar to Lost Boys about 'that's the problem with Hawkins - too many fucking monsters'. But Billy was just a waste of time. 

[Werthead]

Quote

 

We have basically no one talking to each other at all

 

I liked that, and Tor mention it in their review: in 1983 communication was non-existent compared to today. No cellphones, all communications were by landline and if the other person didn't have an answerphone and wasn't in or didn't here the phone, tough shit. The boys have their walkie talkies, but the producers made a decision to disable them halfway through the season and that led to the splintering of the gang until they got back later on. That was a more realistic take on the limits of communications than the original season which tried to get round it.

The failure to exchange information and keep everyone updated is a bit more frustrating, and Dustin not realising that the creature was from the Upside Down was a bit credulity-straining. Maybe in Season 1 that would have made more sense.

Quote

 

I kept hoping that Billy and Max had come to Hawkins because they were monster hunters or something, and Billy at the end would make some quip similar to Lost Boys about 'that's the problem with Hawkins - too many fucking monsters'. But Billy was just a waste of time. 

 

I thought their lack of special crazy stuff was a deliberate trope inversion: Billy is actually an arsehole because of his father and he takes out that abuse on Max. You feel sorry for Billy (every so slightly) without excusing his behaviour towards Max, the same shading and complicating they did to Steve in Season 1 (and continued this year) but whilst they redeemed Steve into a hero, they made Billy into more of a villain (and I suspect this will continue next year).

I think there was perhaps a bit too much obvious pipe-laying from Season 2 into Season 3. The link between Season 1 and 2 was much briefer and reduced to really just one scene at the end of the season, but it's clearer this is going to be more of a continuing story. Mind you, that's also a 1980s trope, where the first instalment of a series is very stand-alone and the sequels are much more serialised and run into one another (Star Wars, Back to the Future and so forth).

[The Monkey]

The show is certainly not without its flaws, but I think it's fucking delightful. The acting is all top-notch and the cinematography/art direction is extremely beautiful. So many shots that would've make excellent paintings. The cheesy moments feel very earned after the emotional turmoil the characters go through.

My main gripe with this season is its unnecessary use of flashbacks. The most annoying scene in this regard was when Will was recounting how the smoke monster entered him. The constant back and forth between Will and the scene from the previous episode was extremely useless and ruined a lot of the emotional potential in Will acting (which was great). I have no idea why they would think that was a good idea; the actors don't need any help  from cheap tricks like that to carry the scenes.

[Kalbear]

6 minutes ago, Werthead said:

I liked that, and Tor mention it in their review: in 1983 communication was non-existent compared to today. No cellphones, all communications were by landline and if the other person didn't have an answerphone and wasn't in or didn't here the phone, tough shit. The boys have their walkie talkies, but the producers made a decision to disable them halfway through the season and that led to the splintering of the gang until they got back later on. That was a more realistic take on the limits of communications than the original season which tried to get round it.

The failure to exchange information and keep everyone updated is a bit more frustrating, and Dustin not realising that the creature was from the Upside Down was a bit credulity-straining. Maybe in Season 1 that would have made more sense.

Yeah, I'm not talking about literal lack of phoning and the like - I'm talking about how Mike isn't telling anyone about Will, and Will isn't telling anyone at all, and Dustin is keeping a secret, and Hooper is keeping Eleven away from everyone and not telling anyone about the pumpkin patches, and Nancy and Jonathan just decide to tell everyone to fuck off and expose the conspiracy, etc. It means that the main tension isn't about the horribleness and what it might be doing - it's instead people not knowing what others are doing and then having to figure it out, which isn't nearly as interesting. 

Compare this to, say, how they didn't know what happened to Barb or how the conspiracy was deliberately giving them bad data on Will and they're having to crack it, and it's really very different. 

6 minutes ago, Werthead said:

I thought their lack of special crazy stuff was a deliberate trope inversion: Billy is actually an arsehole because of his father and he takes out that abuse on Max. You feel sorry for Billy (every so slightly) without excusing his behaviour towards Max, the same shading and complicating they did to Steve in Season 1 (and continued this year) but whilst they redeemed Steve into a hero, they made Billy into more of a villain (and I suspect this will continue next year).

Eh. It felt like a deliberate trope, not an inversion at all. Max being the feisty younger sibling who tells off her older sibling and gets them to change their ways is as much a trope as anything in the 80s ever was. Steve was a much better, more nuanced version of Billy; as far as I can tell Billy is simply a walking stereotype. The bullies in S1 were far more interesting as minor villains than Billy ever ends up being, especially since they vaguely drive something of the plot; cut Billy out and the only thing you lose is Steve getting his ass kicked and not being able to tell the kids 'no' when they go off. 

Him being more of a villain in S3 would be even worse, as he's just not that compelling.

 

[RumHam]

I don't really get how the thing with Max and Billy was supposed to work. When the sedative wore off wouldn't he just be more angry with her? It's not like she's always gonna carry around a hypodermic needle and a bat with nails in it. 

[mormont]

45 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Yeah, I'm not talking about literal lack of phoning and the like - I'm talking about how Mike isn't telling anyone about Will, and Will isn't telling anyone at all, and Dustin is keeping a secret, and Hooper is keeping Eleven away from everyone and not telling anyone about the pumpkin patches,

He's not not telling them. In fact he does figure it out fairly quickly and tell Paul Rieser. Hopper telling, say, Joyce or the kids wouldn't make sense: his character arc in this season is all about trying to be the protector for those characters.

[Kalbear]

9 minutes ago, mormont said:

He's not not telling them. In fact he does figure it out fairly quickly and tell Paul Rieser. Hopper telling, say, Joyce or the kids wouldn't make sense: his character arc in this season is all about trying to be the protector for those characters.

He doesn't figure it out until episode what, 3? And then he goes and tells the scientists, who apparently are barely able to pay attention to that at all. 

Again, after the events of S1 everyone should be on the lookout for weirdness and associate it with the lab. That should be the default. Especially Hooper, who knows that they're still dealing with weirdness. Hooper doesn't have to tell the kids, but as soon as he saw those pumpkins he should have hightailed it to the lab.

[JonArryn]

1 hour ago, Werthead said:

I think there was perhaps a bit too much obvious pipe-laying from Season 2 into Season 3. The link between Season 1 and 2 was much briefer and reduced to really just one scene at the end of the season, but it's clearer this is going to be more of a continuing story. Mind you, that's also a 1980s trope, where the first instalment of a series is very stand-alone and the sequels are much more serialised and run into one another (Star Wars, Back to the Future and so forth).

Interesting point, but I don't know if this is a deliberate move. And i definitely buy that about Star Wars, but Back to the Future? How are 2 and 3 more serialised? I think they all connect and are stand-alone in the same amount. Although I don't know if that's a trope as much as it could be about marketing reasons, and that the first installment in a potential series always has to gamble more and therefore sometimes need to have closure. 

[Pilusmagnus]

2 minutes ago, JonArryn said:

Interesting point, but I don't know if this is a deliberate move. And i definitely buy that about Star Wars, but Back to the Future? How are 2 and 3 more serialised? I think they all connect and are stand-alone in the same amount. Although I don't know if that's a trope as much as it could be about marketing reasons, and that the first installment in a potential series always has to gamble more and therefore sometimes need to have closure. 

The first Star Wars ended on a partial but decisive victory that allowed for more developments but still provided the film with a sense of closure, while Empire Strikes Back ended on a cliffhanger.

That's why the comparison doesn't work for me. Season one does have a New Hope Ending, but Season two has rather a Return of the Jedi ending and clearly does not end on a cliffhanger.