EarlGreyTea

This season cemented the reason why the cast won the SAG award, even against more critically acclaimed shows. Cast chemistry is invaluable. I recently watched another Netflix original, Friends from College, and the cast is completely devoid of any kind of chemistry and as a result, the show doesn't work at all. The actors try too hard to sell it; you don't buy that those characters have been friends for 20 years. But not this show. You can completely buy that these kids are friends, even newbie Max. Even their arguments and squabbles are rooted in realism. It helps enormously that the kids are friends in real life. Even the kids' families work for me. Lucas' family was a pleasant surprise, and of all the parents, I liked them the most and they seem to be the most attentive. Although that's not saying much. Give the casting director a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Holy shit! But she surely Max would have had a number tattooed on her, no? I actually was really confused by that whole scene, because there seem to be at least 5-8 years between Eleven and the actress playing Kali, and the two kids in the rainbow room looked to be the same age. Maybe that's a clue.

No, IT wrapped in summer 2016, and ST season 2 began filming in October 2016. It's possible he was busy with reshoots, but as far as I know, the main filming was done by that time. Speaking of filming, seems possible we won't be seeing season 3 until 2019, since it looks like they're nowhere near ready to begin even pre-production for season 3.

Agreed, but I think it's established that the mom and aunt live a good distance away, so not good for a commute. No way are they letting Eleven leave Hawkins away from the storyline action (or at least, they better not). Ideally, the aunt and mom would have the resources to move to Hawkins and they could work out some shared custody deal with Hopper, although I can't imagine him not allowing her to visit. I already mentioned my dislike of the Hopper/Eleven storyline, so maybe I'm being unreasonable, but I didn't like how the aunt wasn't mentioned at all re: adoption in this episode. Hopper is barely home as it is, with more issues than Reader's Digest to boot, so I hope they work something out. The actress playing Becky, the aunt, was so good. She brought some depth to the role and helped us understand how much that family has lost. She even offered to take Eleven in, so skating over that in this episode was kind of annoying. I still kind of miss Mike's idea of letting Eleven move in with him, even giving her his bedroom, but that was always a pipe dream. No way those absentee parents can handle another kid, and one who's romantically involved with one of their own kids at that.

I like how so much of the show is informed by the actors. Bob was supposed to be a jerk, as mentioned. But they loved Sean so much that he was re-tooled. Same with Joe Keery/Steve in season 1. I had no idea they were still writing episodes even while filming the early stuff. I guess it makes sense and is probably the M.O. for a lot of shows, I was just surprised. I thought they ran a tighter ship. But I'm glad to know their plans aren't set in stone and can be changed based on circumstances. They never mentioned it, but I seriously wonder if Eleven was supposed to be a one-and-done character after season 1 in the early stages. They certainly could have gone that way with how the finale went. But the insane popularity/talent of the actress made that impossible. Topped only by the first episode where Millie is describing her emotional scenes and Finn is fidgeting with the game pieces on the table, to the point where she interrupts him to knock it off, lol.

I bought Eggos for the first time in about 15 years. Whatever Three Musketeers and Eggos are paying for the exposure, it isn't enough. The show is a phenomenon. I wonder if anyone else turned them down a la M&Ms in E.T. Did anyone else notice Will drew a picture of Bob in a superhero costume in this episode, hanging on the wall? Adorable.

Did you all notice in the last episode that Joyce was sewing a Ghostbusters costume? When they all appeared together in costume this episode I kept wondering why Will’s looked like a different color. It’s because Joyce probably couldn’t afford to buy the costume. It was a nice touch. I also missed seeing Will on a bike with the other kids and kept wondering why, but it’s because Joyce drives him everywhere now. Another nice touch.

I present the season 2 playlist on Spotify, for those who were digging this season's music (I think it's unofficial, but it looks like it has most of the music). I will say it's obvious that their budget has exploded, and that 1980s bands are probably tripping over themselves to get their music into this cultural zeitgeist. The Duffers said that the music budget was spent mostly on the final episode. Rock You Like a Hurricane for the introduction of Billy and Max was probably my favorite. One of my all-time favorite character introductions for the music alone.

Was Steve wearing a Members Only jacket for the last few episodes? I wish those would make a comeback, because he looked really hot wearing it. Hilariously spot on! I was born in the late 1980s, so I can't speak to this, but can someone else talk about when Members Only jackets came into style? Did they get it right with the timeframe? Also I loved that Lucas' sister was named Erica. Assuming she was born in the mid 1970s, when All My Children and Erica Kane were in its heyday. I think the name was super popular during that time period.

Yeah, what was that all about? The entire thing seemed like the beginning of an 80s porno! Was it just to give Cara Buono something to do this season? It was really jarring. As for Mike's dad, to roughly paraphrase a line from the Big Bang Theory, you know she's been responsible for her own orgasms for the entirety of the marriage.

I thought the photo of Barb in the bathroom was weird too, until I mentioned it to my mother who said, "People grieve in strange ways." Then I got it, kind of. It was still a bit too convenient for Nancy to see while she was there, though. Maybe it was Barb's bathroom exclusively and her parents wanted to keep it as a shrine until she returned. Speaking of Barb's parents, they broke my heart. I loved that it seemed that Nancy and Steve were eating with them on a regular basis. The dad being gruff, the mom smiling through her tears - my God. The casting director already deserves a medal, but they continue to earn the hell out of their paycheck in the casting of the smaller roles. As for Mike, I was watching the Beyond Stranger Things aftershow - a must when you've finished the season- and Finn said they called him Emo Mike on set. He explained Mike's motivations going into the season as: he's lost his identity. Much of his identity was in saving Will, and then saving Eleven. Keeping the group together, basically, and being the leader. But he's got no one to impress anymore, since the girl he liked is gone. And now his friends are into video games instead of D&D, so the time he would have spent creating scenarios is gone. So he's taking it out in other ways - his mom listed his various misdeeds in this episode. His decidedly cool stance on Max illustrates this. Did you all notice one of the toys Mike saved was the dinosaur he showed Eleven back in season 1? Nice callback there. Kid is totally sprung on her. She wasn't even all that impressed by it!

I'm through the first episode and a half and my favorite tidbit is the Mike/Eleven kiss, where apparently Finn said to Millie, without moving his lips (she described it like he was a ventriloquist), said "I'm coming in" before doing the kiss. Hilarious! They said it's actually visible onscreen in the final take, but either that's wrong or Finn is a better ventriloquist than he has been given credit for, because I didn't catch it on rewatch. Because he was able to let her know when he was coming in, they only had to do it twice or so. Contrasting it to the Lucas and Max kiss, where they couldn't get the timing and reaction shots right, the poor kids had to do it like 10 times. Apparently it wasn't even in the script, but one of the Duffers heard Sadie was nervous about it when he was only joking about them having to kiss, that he made them do it. I really like the host of the aftershow. He had some great questions to things I'd been wondering about, and he isn't overbearing. He lets the cast do most of the talking.

Good point. I almost skipped this episode entirely because of how the previous episode ended on such a cliffhanger, and it became apparent that we'd hit pause on the events in Hawkins. It was really jarring. I wanted to know what the hell was going on in Hawkins! Had the episode been flipped, it would have flowed better. I did, however, enjoy the theme of home in this episode. Eleven did have a number of choices for home, but I'm glad she was able to come to the decision on her own that Hawkins was her home. There's something really beautiful about this ragtag band of kids who created such a sense of safety and kindness for Eleven that she considered them her home over Kali and even her own mother and aunt. Season 1's little moments of Mike making Eleven feel at home - showing her around his house, bringing her food, inviting her into their group - paid off majorly in this episode, like a slow burn.

I'd bet good money this will be answered in the finale, a la Cheyenne's green hair thingie. It's totally going to pay off.

I hope Billy has a larger purpose than looking like Jared Leto's greasy younger brother. I kept trying to see if he had a number tattoo on his wrist or something. He better be a genie out of the bottle of epic proportions to justify so much screentime this season with so little payoff. If his sole purpose was to make Max more sympathetic, it worked, but in that case, some major trimming of his scenes would have been nice. Speaking of Max, her introduction as the female replacement in the group was pretty gracefully done, I thought. She wasn't shoved down our throats, brought legit skills to the group, and her general kicked-around puppy life was pretty sympathetic. I liked that there was friction on Mike's part, probably because he did like her just fine as a person and felt guilt about that because of Eleven's absence. I saw his chilliness toward her basically misplaced anger that she wasn't Eleven. Babysitter Steve was a stroke of genius. He had no storyline after Nancy ditched him, so this was a good way of keeping him tied to the main plot, and pairing him with the most likeable kid did a lot for his character. He has great chemistry with the kids, and getting him away from Nancy did wonders for him. I dunno man, for all that Nancy and Jonathan are a great couple, I'd have stayed with Steve after all.

Get Eleven back into the main storyline already! This is ridiculous! The whole reason many of us (well, me) looked so fondly upon season 1 was the insanely sweet chemistry between the kids. I understand the need for an origin storyline, but couldn't that have waited until season 3? It's starting to look like we're only going to get two measly episodes of Eleven with the other kids. I might have been okay with it had this season been longer (say, 13 episodes), but with only 9, it's a waste of precious screen time, IMO. Having whined about all that, I did really like Callie (Kali?). It might have been easy to make her cartoonish or a villain, but they hit some great notes making her caring yet out for revenge. But I also liked that she helped Eleven realize her gravitational pull has always been towards Mike, Hopper, and the other kids. Hilarious that one of Eleven's anger triggers was Max merely talking to Mike. Kid's already turning into a normal tween. And thank the Lord they styled Eleven's hair. Kid looked like Little Orphan Annie before. And finally, this episode confirmed Millie is the real deal. I had wondered since last season whether it was a fluke, whether having more dialogue and more to do would change how Millie portrayed Eleven. Sometimes child actors grow up and lose some of their talent, or try too hard, but it has not happened with her.

Great post, and I'll also add: David Harbour brings out the best in these child actors. The scene where Hopper and Mike fight was probably one of Finn's best scenes in the whole series. It's often hard for child actors to express strong emotion, but I believed every word of what he was saying. I might also add that I'm really relieved he didn't blame Eleven for not contacting him. A lesser show might have done so. It also showed the depth of his feelings for Eleven. I'm glad the child actors in particular got to stretch their wings more. Finn got meatier scenes like the one I mentioned; Millie, goes without saying; Caleb, finally a tangible and amusing storyline with Sadie; Gaten getting to hone his comedy chops.

I feel bad and, I'm sure, part of a tiny minority when I say that I just don't like the Hopper and Eleven storyline, for the reasons you mentioned. I get it, I get that he needs to keep her safe and that's it's really dangerous out there. I also think he brings out the best in Millie, acting-wise (along with Finn, Winona, and Modine), so the scene where they fought was a pleasure to watch. Having said all that...I'm just not a fan of how isolated she was, like you mentioned. Had I stumbled onto this show randomly, I'd have thought he was holding her as a kidnapper. I realize Hopper is far from a kidnapper and had few choices, but I just couldn't help feeling uncomfortable at the whole dynamic. The kid's just had the absolute shittiest, isolated life and now she's stuck in a cabin instead of enjoying her newfound freedom and growing closer to the friends she made. Her separation from Mike is particularly hard to watch (and frankly, a pretty flimsy excuse to keep them apart).

Yeah, I didn't think the casting for El's aunt wasn't all that great, resemblance-wise, until a moment in this episode where both El and her aunt are in the same shot, and for a second they did look related. It was a great bit of casting after all. I'm disappointed in Mike's mom. Cara Buono hasn't been given much to do this season. She had some great little scenes last season that showed more depth than the character probably deserved. Disappointed that those nuances aren't on display this season either. But in order for the storyline to work, Mike's parents have to be largely ignorant about what he's doing.

For real. Biggest payoff of the entire season for me. It was also criminal to keep them apart this damn long, and on pretty flimsy pretext too. I understand it's a big moment that belongs near the climax of a season, but come on. This moment cemented for me that Mike and Eleven are the emotional center of the show (for me, at least). I'm really annoyed that we missed out on the development of Eleven's relationship with the other kids as well. That was the one dynamic that I was really looking forward to this season. Finn has a future as a romantic lead. He consistently hits all the right notes as a kid experiencing first love. Goes without saying that Millie is extremely talented as well. They have chemistry that many onscreen adult couples don't.

I don’t know. I echo what has been said regarding keeping El so sidelined this season. It’s what I feared would happen back when season 1 ended, and that’s what indeed happened. I’m pretty peeved, actually. To me, the Demagorgon and the UpsIde Down is a mere plotline. What kept me watching was the kids’ friendship. I absolutely loved El discovering friendship last season and her relationship with Mike. I was hoping we’d get a whole season of her learning how to be a normal girl, but apparently that’s for season 3. Speaking of Eleven and Mike, I ship them like crazy and I feel guilty about it since they’re so damn young. But Finn and Millie really sell it and have such great chemistry. His reaction to seeing her again and at the Snow Ball was great. Kid’s got a future as a romantic lead. For me, Eleven and Mike are the emotional center of the show, and to see that sidelined was disappointing to say the least. Love that Lucas, who was so poorly developed last season, got a plotline and got the girl. I hope El gets over her dislike of Max, but it was hilarious watching her brush right past her disdainfully. I will probably be in a very, very small minority, but I did not like Hopper and Eleven at all. It didn’t feel organic to me, although I realize they shared a ton of scenes. He did start to get a bit creepy and controlling to me, and he DID sound like Modine at times. I didn’t care for Hopper much in season 1, either, so that compounded my dislike of their storyline. He did make up for it in this episode, though. Basically my dislike of the storyline boils down to not being crazy about the Hopper character and resenting that she got more screen time with him rather than with the other kids.

I think they've escalated her meddling up a notch, but overall I personally think they're being consistent with her characterization. Amy DOES stick her nose in where it doesn't belong or screws up to the point where it gets way out of hand. Like: 1. Hiding Marcus' thumb in the guacamole 2. Spreading the rumor that Sandra was pregnant/going to have an abortion 3. Chastising another employee for using a fake accent to sell salsa, then using one herself and forcing everyone to watch a video on racism 4. Getting Myrtle sexually harassed because she takes it upon herself to fix her up with that other old guy I like that they make her screw up a lot. She is the straight man of the show, and usually it's a thankless role, but once in a while they make her the cause of the problem and it all comes down to the fact that she's just a busybody at heart, but still cares about her coworkers.

They outdid last year's episode with the costumes. Amy as Selena made my year. And her nametag said Selena, heh. I was about to roll my eyes when Kelly said she thought she was J.Lo, then remembered she played her in the Selena movie, so technically she was right. And went right back to the eyeroll at the Selena Gomez line. Dina WOULD wear the same costume as last year. I loved Mateo's adorable milkman costume! And Glenn as the cowardly lion! Brett in lederhosen! Jonah out-doing his own pretentiousness, although I didn't think it was as clever as last year's Brexit. Nice touch bumping off Sal, another background character who had some lines but was by no means likeable. So gross! If they redid the building, why on earth was Sal still stuffed in there? Are they trying to say that a year has passed since the tornado? I'm confused. Love that Cheyenne is learning special effects makeup. While I do like that Cheyenne and Mateo are paired up a lot, I really want them to be matched with others sometimes. I love Jonah/Mateo and Amy/Cheyenne. The gag with the clown jumping at the customer had me rolling. As did Amy and Garrett freaking out at Kelly stabbing Jonah.

Derick is a sad, sorry excuse for a millennial. Any millennial worth their salt would know that for food pics, you put it on a proper plate, ditch the baggie, and ditch the toothpicks for the photo. And possibly pair it with a cup of coffee for presentation's sake. It's not like he's in a rush to go to work. Signed, A Millennial

Damn, now THERE'S a missed opportunity if ever I heard one. I know JD is kind of weird, but in other ways he is very much a good catch. Handy, can fix anything. Has a legit job and legit marketable skills. Not as sanctimonious as some of his relatives. Seems over the entire circus. Is one of the few Duggar kids who could write a real tell-all, since he's been around so long. And, most importantly, no longer idolizes Josh. Tabitha ostensibly knows him well from hanging around the family so long, too. It would have worked. You could argue there was never a spark, but screw sparks over being stuck with a rapist!