Jump to content

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


Trebla

Recommended Posts

I think I'm definitely enjoying this season more than S2, which I thought was a bit of a let down. S3 has really embraced the cheese and its full of 80's joy. 

I'm at the point where I would like the series to move away from these characters though. So far I'd rather watch any of the newly introduced characters such as Robin than the old crew. There is something unsettling about watching these kids go through that awkward puberty phase, and its not so cute any more. Plus I'm thinking my initial feeling about how great little actors they were has disappeared and it might be that actually they aren't all that good at all.

So why not a Stranger Things Anthology series. New plot, New Location each season?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/9/2019 at 4:39 AM, Nictarion said:

My mind is blown. :o

no wonder I liked her so much (I’m huge Uma Thurman fan). 

Heh, I wondered about that when I saw the name. And I'm a huge Ethan Hawke fan. :)

MBB's acting is unbelievable, she's clearly the best actress of the bunch. But overall I liked the season, even though the Russians plot might seem as a stretch.

Neverending Story was just brilliant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm guessing that the Upside Down is a kind of  underground extension of the Space Race. Something the movies never took note of was how the Soviets feared nothing more than the Americans, and the Americans feared nothing more than the Soviets (and judging by current events, that hasn't really changed). Exploration was more about trying to stop the other side from getting the upper hand than anything else. The irony, of course, is that we know now that the USSR was running out of funds by the time this season took place (which I guess was lampshaded with Erica's comment about people cutting corners when you pay them less), but to be honest, Stranger Things has always been pretty lenient with historical accuracy. 

To be honest, I found the stereotypical portrayal of evil Russians to be kind of eye-rolling. Even Alexei thought that his country was evil and wanted out. Why not ever show us Russians who wanted to change Russia for the better? Clearly those people existed, otherwise Russia would have never recovered  from the fall of the USSR. 

Regarding the kid actors, for anyone who watches Red Letter Media, there was a Plinkett review way back when they talked about how a lot of times talented kid actors don't transition to great adult actors. I don't think any of them are doing a poor job on this show, but some are clearly better than others. Millie and Gaten are knocking it out the park, and Sadie was already well into her teens when she was cast, so I think she's stayed pretty consistent. I always thought Caleb was a little weaker than the others, but I think he showed real improvement this season (the kid's got some incredible comedic timing). It's hard to tell with Noah, since he's younger and didn't really do anything this season. Finn was fine, but I personally find Mike to be kind of a wet blanket in general. 

I'm going to predict that season four will take place in late spring, since it will create a one-year gap, and it will mean all the older teens will be finished with high school at that point. Maybe a memorial day weekend release, to capitalize on the extended weekend? If so, we probably won't get it until 2021.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Heartofice said:

So why not a Stranger Things Anthology series. New plot, New Location each season?

That would be cool, they could do different time periods too.

I personally would like to learn more about the Upside Down and how and when it came to be. Like was it always there and when humans build something in our world it a corrupted version is created in the Upside Down? or was it created relatively recently in some experiment and that's why it has versions of a bunch of Hawkins's buildings in it? 

Also how did the Demogorgan come through Joyce's wall that one time? Though that's probably just a continuity mistake. But in season one it seems to be able to pop through to our world just about anywhere, rather than just through the gate. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Also how did the Demogorgan come through Joyce's wall that one time? Though that's probably just a continuity mistake. But in season one it seems to be able to pop through to our world just about anywhere, rather than just through the gate. 

It wasn't just the monster that did it. In Season one, Barbara ended up in the upside down by the pool and Nancy briefly went into it in the woods. My thought is that when the gate is open it weakens the barrier between worlds enough around that lots of mini-gates open up/have the potential to open.

That tracks with Season 3 as well. The Mind Flayer woke up in the steel mill at the moment the gate opened, nothing travel there to wake it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

That’s a shame because those kids are really starting to grate my gears 

I think Eleven and Will are still both really good. The others, less so; to varying degrees.

All the older teens and adults are all great, but they were less of a crapshoot. Natalie Dyer was the youngest when she was cast, but she was already 21 when filming season one and had being acting professionally for years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe it's because I was in college during the first and second seasons, but I've always been more invested in the older teens than the kids. Obviously Steve is a great comedic character, but while I know a lot of people haven't been crazy about Nancy and Jonathan, I think they're both really likable and have a lot of potential if the writers were willing to broaden their prospects a little. And of course, Robin was a great new addition. 

The adults are all great actors, but I really just did not enjoy them this season. The biggest reason for that is Hopper's anger problems, but Joyce freaking out over magnets just doesn't have the impact as, say, looking for your missing son. (They also created a weird juxtaposition where she is characterized as a tiger mom, yet she takes off for days at a time without telling anyone, and doesn't really know what her kids are doing when she's gone).

And I agree that the kids don't have the same spark that they used to. Dustin played a key part in their dynamic, and keeping him away from the group all season was a mistake. They kind of tried to compensate for him by turning Lucas into the comedic relief character, which is kind of odd, since he was always the serious one. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Episode 5....

The Russians got a fucking Terminator?!!

That likes to quote Die Hard?!!

A movie not even out yet!

Now I know what Mayor Wesley Kline meant when he told Hopper it was "Arnold Schwarzenegger".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

To be honest, I found the stereotypical portrayal of evil Russians to be kind of eye-rolling. Even Alexei thought that his country was evil and wanted out. Why not ever show us Russians who wanted to change Russia for the better? Clearly those people existed, otherwise Russia would have never recovered  from the fall of the USSR. 

 

Maybe because this is a cheesy/funny/creepy  show that has eight episodes per season and would lose 95% of it's audience if it wasted screen time trying to get us to see the softer side of the 1980's USSR, which has nothing to do with the plot?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Maybe because this is a cheesy/funny/creepy  show that has eight episodes per season and would lose 95% of it's audience if it wasted screen time trying to get us to see the softer side of the 1980's USSR, which has nothing to do with the plot?

Well, they did spend a lot of time trying to make us feel bad for Billy by using the age old his-dad-was-a-dick tactic, so I guess I don't find the idea of a non-cartoonish Russian all that excessive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, drawkcabi said:

Also The Princess Bride was more than 30 years ago, how the fuck does Cary Elwes look at the most maybe 10 years older?!!!

The really crazy thing is that 10 years ago he looked 20 years older than he does now. Compare what we looked like on the first couple episodes of Psych that he guested starred on to where he is now (in fact, he was on 5 episodes of Psych over several years and by the last ones he was already starting to look like he does now); he's done a lot to get in better shape, which I think is why he looks so much younger again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

And I agree that the kids don't have the same spark that they used to. Dustin played a key part in their dynamic, and keeping him away from the group all season was a mistake. They kind of tried to compensate for him by turning Lucas into the comedic relief character, which is kind of odd, since he was always the serious one. 

I felt like any charm the kids had in the past came about because they were kids, they were young and a bit goofy looking, it was kind of endearing. Now they are teenagers it all feels a little creepy. Why is Will wearing those freakin' shorts?! Feels like hes trapped in a paedos nightmare dungeon and forced to dress up. Why does Mike now look like he is doing a Dark Crystal Cosplay? Its just all a little odd now. 

It's only Lucas' sister that really stands out in terms of comic relief, she was someone I actually enjoyed watching, even though that 'sassy kid who talks back too much' schtick generally irritates me. 

 

9 hours ago, drawkcabi said:

Episode 5....

The Russians got a fucking Terminator?!!

That likes to quote Die Hard?!!

A movie not even out yet!

Now I know what Mayor Wesley Kline meant when he told Hopper it was "Arnold Schwarzenegger".

Stranger Things for me has always been at its worst when its referencing / totally ripping off famous 80's movies. Some people think its funny and enjoy that, I find it all a little obvious and lazy. Like you can capture the themes and stylings of 80's movies without outright pulling in direct shots from movies or characters. So this Russian Arnie guy really pulled me out of the show while he was onscreen. Its just the worst kind of homage.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

To be honest, I found the stereotypical portrayal of evil Russians to be kind of eye-rolling. Even Alexei thought that his country was evil and wanted out. Why not ever show us Russians who wanted to change Russia for the better? Clearly those people existed, otherwise Russia would have never recovered  from the fall of the USSR. 

Has it? Recovered I mean. The way I see it, and I see it just across the border, it is still an authoritarian country with an absolute leader close to being a dictator and a joke of a democracy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

Has it? Recovered I mean. The way I see it, and I see it just across the border, it is still an authoritarian country with an absolute leader close to being a dictator and a joke of a democracy.

From my understanding (and I admit that I am not an expert on Russia) there was a period between the fall of the USSR and Putin's second election where things were improving. You would probably know better than me, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was just rewatching episode 7 of season 2 with my son, and it was an episode I always liked. I was shocked to find out how bad it was by review sites after the fact, so watching it again, I found myself...still liking it. Plus, I think they set up "the American" from Season 3's ending. When El is about to kill that dude, he says Brenner is still alive and he knows where he is. The cops come, so no resolution comes from that. But...Brenner's most certainly alive, and it might make sense if he's the American. 

I also loved El's training scene of trying to pull the train car. And the gang were actually pretty likable.

That's all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...