S04.E02: Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse

[paulvdb]

Quote

A plane brings Mike to California and a dead body brings Hawkins to a halt. Nancy goes looking for leads. A shaken Eddie tells the gang what he saw.

[Spartan Girl]

So that’s how Hopper survived and wound up in a Russian camp. I had to fast forward through the torture scenes, they were awful.

Murray may be a nut, but he’s a nut you want on your side.

As much as I would have loved Eleven to go full blown Carrie White at the roller rink, hitting Angela in the face with the skate was equally satisfying. Yeah, yeah, assault is wrong, but still…

Did she really kill all the everyone in the lab flashback? I’m a little dubious. Nothing is ever as it seems on this show.

God, poor Fred. The body count is piling up and it’s only episode 2…

[Thalia]

Did anyone else notice the resemblance between Fred and Barb?  I guess there is no real point to it; they just had similar hair cuts and eyewear.   But I had turned my head for a minute before they showed him walking through the woods midway through the episode, and ended up rewinding because I was positive it was Barb.  

Yeah, while I hope El doesn't end up in San Quentin for A & B, that was more satisfying than an exploding Orange Julius.  

[Harvey]

I felt so bad for Will when he tried to hug Mike but he just patted him on the back. Poor baby 🥺.

[tennisgurl]

They sure weren't kidding when they said this season would be the scariest yet. Its a different kind of scary then last seasons body horror, but its creeping me out even more, as nasty as last season got. Poor Fred, that was horrifying, although kudos to the show and actors, we've only just been introduced to Fred and Chrissy but I cared out them after just a few scenes and feel sad about them dying. I have a bad feeling that the jocks looking for Eddie are going to show up at the absolute worst possible time to screw things up. 

Murray adds so much manic energy to the show, and that comic relief is especially needed now that things have already gotten so intense. Good news is that we have now confirmed that Hopper is alive and Joyce/Murray are already trying to save him, bad news is that he is having a really hard time, being tortured in a Gulag. Not a great place to wake up.

Poor Steve, its only episode two and he about gets his throat slit with a broken bottle, the guy just cannot catch a break. 

I thought that El might get her powers back just in time to fling that awful girl across the rink, but a skate to the face works too. Yeah violence is bad and all, but I mostly just feel bad that El could get in trouble for this after everything. I also felt really bad for Will, he clearly missed Mike so much but Mike is all about El, he hardly even got a hug.

It continues to be wild just how many D&D monsters are similar to actual monsters who live in a parallel hell dimension. Do Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson know something we don't?

Edited May 27, 2022 by tennisgurl

[bettername2come]

Eddie and Argyle both grew on me this ep. I loved Argyle's "Got me stressed out. It's not even my girlfriend!" I'm glad Jonathan finally made a friend after 3 years. And Eddie threatened by beloved Steve Harrington, and I still like him, so he's got something going for him. 

Yeah, I like this one more than the first one. I feel like the ball's starting to roll and the people groups are combining and interacting. I hate how they keep groups so separated till the end. I know the season would last like 3 episodes if they worked together from the beginning, but still. The friendships are the best part of the series. 

I loved that Mike brought El flowers because she said she missed the spring flowers last ep. 

Dang, El, I just wanted you to punch Angela. And the whole "snitch" thing really doesn't work when she didn't snitch on you! And how is the DJ in on this prank?

[nomodrama]

I adore Murray. He's the kind of crazy conspiracy theorist that you want on your side.

Arglye is growing on me. I love that he immediately told Jonathan that he shouldn't have lied to Nancy. I also like Eddie and feel awful that he had to witness Chrissy dying the way that she did, but it's convenient that he is a fellow D&D enthusiast so the explanations for this will be easy for him to get on board with. What I don't like is this half baked Jonathan....curious to see what this does to his character. 

The Vecna is so gross. It appears it feeds on people with trauma or guilt, because otherwise both Chrissy and Fred seemed like perfectly nice people. 

Getting the skate to the face is no less than Angela deserves. I honestly cannot stand watching this kind of bullying. It's hard enough watching one person be terrible to someone but the entire rink was in on it and not one person thought to put a stop to it. 

Of course the basketball team is going to go into revenge mode. 

[DearEvette]

Murray is fun.  I enjoy him on this and it always tickles me a little to know he used to be married to Janicza Bravo.

I am so glad Max seems to be out of her funk this episode and has something to do. 

Not really here for the basketball players being vigilante lunkheads.  But I am sure that will work its way around to some point when shit comes to a head.

Huh.  Didn;t see that with Fred coming.  Hiopefully that'll take some of the heat off of Eddie.

I was so happy for them to find Eddie at Reefer Rick's.  Also I just liked them saying Reefer Rick.  Heh.  And How they validated him and let him know he wasn't alone.

I know it is for drama etc. etc.  but come on show!  Everybody in the skating rink just stands around and laughs at a girl being completely bullied and humiliated?  Not one person in the crowd looks uncomfortable or condemning?  I know it was the 80s and anti-bullying wasn't quite the crusade it has since become, but people were still sympathetic to people being bullied.  I also found it equally unbelievable that those same people who just saw this poor girl humiliated and bullied would stand there in condemning silence when she cold cocked Angela with that skate.  I mean, law of averages, at least one random onlooker would have laughed or had a 'served that bitch right' smirk on their face.  But no they all just looked so flabbergasted.  I specifically looked and in each scene the background crowd were all giving off hive energy.  Just doesn't ring true with casual crowd dynamics, imo.

[Demian]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Not really here for the basketball players being vigilante lunkheads.  But I am sure that will work its way around to some point when shit comes to a head.

I've a feeling the Vecna's going to snap most of them in half.  Or, you know, into about a hundred different pieces.  Either way, there's no way B-Ball Blondie is making it out of this season alive.

9 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

As much as I would have loved Eleven to go full blown Carrie White at the roller rink, hitting Angela in the face with the skate was equally satisfying. Yeah, yeah, assault is wrong, but still…

In this instance, I'm not even willing to consider the fact that assault might be wrong.  Eleven needs to rip those little shits' heads off.

[krankydoodle]

Ha, I forgot John Reynolds was on this show. He's always fun to watch.

Benny deserves better than to have his diner trashed like that.

For a show that has fantastical elements, it's the bullying scenes that are really taking me out of it. Adolescent angst and the relationships between the characters are portrayed pretty well (apart from whatever was happening with Joyce and Hopper last season), so the over the top bullying rings false. El's reaction in these scenes also seems off to me.

[BlackberryJam]

The roller rink scenes were…less realistic than the Upside Down. How about you go into the circle instead of nag the DJ? Everyone’s reactions were wrong and I didn’t find El believable in the scene. And then when she came out and asked the girl to apologize? Silly. It was not a good scene.

Agyle’s wig is terrible. He’s like an extra from a Cheech and Chong film.

Jonathan looks like he’s aged 25 years. I don’t care about his angst.

Happy to see Joyce and Murray togther talking to the Faceless Man from Game of Thrones.

[Demian]

1 minute ago, BlackberryJam said:

The roller rink scenes were…less realistic than the Upside Down. How about you go into the circle instead of nag the DJ? Everyone’s reactions were wrong and I didn’t find El believable in the scene. And then when she came out and asked the girl to apologize? Silly. It was not a good scene.

The costuming's off this season as well -- no one was wearing all that neon crap (not to mention that hateful full-on acid-washed denim jumpsuit) at the roller rink in 1986.  It was jeans and button-downs (or band t-shirts).  Especially the jeans -- you really wouldn't want to be wearing short-shorts if you wiped out.

[BlackberryJam]

I always feel like this show is portraying the 80s from the POV of someone who learned about the 80s from watching TV and not from someone who actually grew up in the 80s. It’s frustrating. 

[Redrum]

Was it just me? In the scene where Max is watching tv with her mom and the electricity fritzed and demons were released on the earth, on the tv I am pretty certain they were watching Misfits of Science with Courtney Cox. I laughed :)

[Cranberry]

53 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

Agyle’s wig is terrible. He’s like an extra from a Cheech and Chong film.

That's Eduardo Franco's real hair! He looked the exact same in Booksmart (and on all the red carpets and so on).

[Demian]

47 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

I always feel like this show is portraying the 80s from the POV of someone who learned about the 80s from watching TV and not from someone who actually grew up in the 80s. It’s frustrating. 

Agreed, especially given this show's reported budget-per-episode.  They've got the money to get it right, and they just...don't.  Ever.

[Lady Calypso]

So, I just watched both episodes and I will say, they did up the horror elements, or I'm misremembering how disturbingly scary this show can be, because I'm genuinely unsure if I want to watch another episode tonight. I cringed at yet another ending. Not just the image but the sound of bones cracking is gonna stay with me tonight.

They did another good job at making me feel bad for Fred. Allowing some time spent on these one off characters would usually annoy me, but I do think it's helpful in terms of showcasing what torture these kids are going through before their deaths. 

And poor Eddie. You can really see how seeing Chrissy's death really shook him to his core. I hope he comes out of this alright. They really got me invested in Eddie, which is impressive. Now, Steve, Robin, Max and Dustin can clear Eddie from this with Fred's death, hopefully.

So, Jonathan wants to go to community college and hasn't told Nancy. Boy, listen to your friend Argyle, go tell your girlfriend!

Will/Mike seem to have fallen out a bit after last season. I mean, Mike isn't wrong in that their estrangement isn't all on him, but the way he's treating Will is really cold.

I knew El wouldn't get her powers back right then and there, but the hit with the skate on Angela was satisfying. Angela is absolutely awful.

So, I'm also glad they didn't draw out Hopper's fate (though, yeah, I wish they didn't spoil it) but I can't say I care about this Russia subplot. I know it ties in with the monster in Hawkins (or it will) but I just really hate how separated the cast is. 

But hey, Murray's great and him and Joyce teaming up should alleviate the darkness in everyone else's storylines.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

4 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I know it is for drama etc. etc.  but come on show!  Everybody in the skating rink just stands around and laughs at a girl being completely bullied and humiliated?  Not one person in the crowd looks uncomfortable or condemning?  I know it was the 80s and anti-bullying wasn't quite the crusade it has since become, but people were still sympathetic to people being bullied.  I also found it equally unbelievable that those same people who just saw this poor girl humiliated and bullied would stand there in condemning silence when she cold cocked Angela with that skate.  I mean, law of averages, at least one random onlooker would have laughed or had a 'served that bitch right' smirk on their face.  But no they all just looked so flabbergasted.  I specifically looked and in each scene the background crowd were all giving off hive energy.  Just doesn't ring true with casual crowd dynamics, imo.

As a victim of bullying in the 90s, I completely believe all of that.

[festivus]

I was in high school in the 80s and it was basically all about somebody thinking you wanted their boyfriend and wanting to kick your ass over it. The roller rink scene was just too over the top 80s movie and not the real 80s. Also, some of the clothes and hair are right on and some just aren't. I say if you want to really get the 80s look right you don't copy teen movies from then. Low budget horror movies show what we really looked like.

I really like the actor playing Eddie. He has presence.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Happy to see Joyce and Murray togther talking to the Faceless Man from Game of Thrones.

That’s who that is! I thought he looked familiar!

1 hour ago, Cranberry said:

That's Eduardo Franco's real hair! He looked the exact same in Booksmart (and on all the red carpets and so on).

Wow! That’s some freakin’ awesome hair! Love his reptile kid, too!

[thuganomics85]

Insert obligatory "Yeah, yeah, violence is wrong but Angela had it coming" comment right here.  Being a mean girl and a bully is bad enough, but flat-out mocking someone about her dead father?  That soiopthaic attitude needs to get roller-skated in the face!  That said, it's likely Eleven's going to get in trouble for this: especially since it seems like no one is on her side (outside Mike and Will), so Angela's friends are probably going to claim El attacked her unprovoked and make her come off like some kind of maniacal weirdo.  Eleven needs to get her powers back stat! 

Aww, Will is clearly not happy about being the third wheel here and feels like Mike doesn't care about him anymore since he focuses more on Eleven instead. Ah, the life of a teenager!  It's never easy!

Good news: Hopper is alive!  Bad news: He's been captured by the Russians and is in a Gulag now!  Good news: A guard is willing to break him out!  Bad news: he'll only do it if Joyce and Murray pay him $40,000 and meet him in Alaska.  Not sure if I trust that guy.  And not just because he's played by Tom Wlaschiha a.k.a. Jaquen from Game of Thrones a.k.a. the "Faceless Man."

And this is why streaming is making rental places obsolete: no one wants video store employees to pull up your records and assume you are a drug dealer because you rent the occasional Cheech & Chong film.  Even if they're apparently right about that...

Poor Eddie.  Not only is he likely a suspect in Chrissy's death, but he's now got a vengeful Jason and his basketball squad out for blood.  Don't see Lucas being able to keep the peace here!

New baddie already claims another victim: Fred, Nancy's fellow reporter, who might have been a bit obnoxious but still didn't deserve that.  But it sounds like he was blaming himself for some kind of accident?  Between that and Chrissy's flashbacks, I wonder if this villain is feeding off their guilt or something.  Curious to see how this all adds up.

[Demian]

6 hours ago, festivus said:

I say if you want to really get the 80s look right you don't copy teen movies from then. Low budget horror movies show what we really looked like.

Bingo.

[paulvdb]

5 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

And this is why streaming is making rental places obsolete: no one wants video store employees to pull up your records and assume you are a drug dealer because you rent the occasional Cheech & Chong film.  Even if they're apparently right about that...

Today Steve and Robin would be working for Netflix and looking at people's streaming profiles to find the drug dealer.

[Spartan Girl]

I LOVE Argyle/Eduardo Franco’s hair. I knew it was real.

[QuantumMechanic]

After this episode I’m kinda worried about

Max

. Back in the teaser trailer for the season there was a shot of

of her levitating in the air in front of Billy’s gravestone

just like what happened to Vecna’s victims so far. And

Max sure seems to have enough angst and depression for Vecna to have a way in.

[Redrum]

10 hours ago, festivus said:

The roller rink scene was just too over the top 80s movie and not the real 80s.

Yeah, like, bullying happened but it was not this over the top. In my school - admittedly a small high school - Angela would have been shut down by the teacher for the public ripping into of El's project, but I will be fair and say we didn't have a cheerleader culture at my school at all. 

The roller rink thing? Actively endorsed by the adult DJ complete with someone throwing a shake on El? Entered over the top never happened arena. My local roller rink just couldn't have afforded those shenanigans. 

And honestly I am kind of shocked that El wasn't in some sort of special ed setting

[libgirl2]

11 hours ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

As a victim of bullying in the 90s, I completely believe all of that.

I was bullied and mentioned to my husband (who is 4 years younger) that it wasn't that bad. He was and he said it was. 

[Blue Plastic]

58 minutes ago, Redrum said:

And honestly I am kind of shocked that El wasn't in some sort of special ed setting

Me, either. The way they are portraying her this season makes it seem like she really needs it. Like she can’t write very well and her “visual aid” project was a lot lower quality than mean Angela’s, not because she was slacking off but because that’s the educational level she is at.

The bullying scenes have been way OTT, as others have said. Not that bullying isn’t awful and damaging, but the whole school and even the DJ at the rink wouldn’t be participating. That’s just ridiculous.  Plus El seems pretty quiet and unobtrusive, probably not someone who would have caught Angela’s attention.

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, Cranberry said:

That's Eduardo Franco's real hair! He looked the exact same in Booksmart (and on all the red carpets and so on).

That's amazing. I was totally convinced it was a wig. Maybe because it wasn't all shiny and silky like in the link.

8 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Aww, Will is clearly not happy about being the third wheel here and feels like Mike doesn't care about him anymore since he focuses more on Eleven instead. Ah, the life of a teenager!  It's never easy!

...

New baddie already claims another victim: Fred, Nancy's fellow reporter, who might have been a bit obnoxious but still didn't deserve that.  But it sounds like he was blaming himself for some kind of accident?  Between that and Chrissy's flashbacks, I wonder if this villain is feeding off their guilt or something.  Curious to see how this all adds up.

As for Will, I can't help thinking about Season 3(?) when Mike yelled at him "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" For the reunion, Will painted a picture for him, and was jealous. I think he feels a lot more than friendship toward Mike. Given that we have a lesbian on the show who's been completely accepted by Steve,  I think we might seeing the more difficult side of the equation.

It does look as if it's feeding off of guilt. And who has a lot of guilt in the show - El (though she hasn't showed signs of being guilty, the show did start off with the massacre in the lab), Lucas (maybe, and he's closer to the monster), and Max. I wonder if it will target them.

1 hour ago, Blue Plastic said:

The bullying scenes have been way OTT, as others have said. Not that bullying isn’t awful and damaging, but the whole school and even the DJ at the rink wouldn’t be participating. That’s just ridiculous.  Plus El seems pretty quiet and unobtrusive, probably not someone who would have caught Angela’s attention.

All you need to come to a bully's attention is to be different. In my experience, most of the bullied people I've seen were quiet and unobtrusive.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Clanstarling

[festivus]

43 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

As for Will, I can't help thinking about Season 3(?) when Mike yelled at him "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" For the reunion, Will painted a picture for him, and was jealous. I think he feels a lot more than friendship toward Mike. Given that we have a lesbian on the show who's been completely accepted by Steve,  I think we might seeing the more difficult side of the equation.

Yeah, I'm thinking we might be going there. I was hoping to get asexual Will, we don't much representation with that. It would also fit with what we've seen so far. The jealousy could be explained by romantic relationships taking precedence over friendships.

[Thalia]

15 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

I always feel like this show is portraying the 80s from the POV of someone who learned about the 80s from watching TV and not from someone who actually grew up in the 80s.

Agree, I never saw anyone Karen's age with hair like that.  And the only person I saw in spandex and a headband was Olivia Newton-John in the Physical video.  (as an aside, I'm kind of surprised that song hasn't  popped up, but of course, this is a show created/produced by men, so that wouldn't have been their bag.) 

OTOH, I have a photo of myself (early 20s) wearing Nancy's jean jacket.  And I also owned (and looked darn cute in) El's season 4 romper.  

[libgirl2]

3 hours ago, Blue Plastic said:

Me, either. The way they are portraying her this season makes it seem like she really needs it. Like she can’t write very well and her “visual aid” project was a lot lower quality than mean Angela’s, not because she was slacking off but because that’s the educational level she is at.

The bullying scenes have been way OTT, as others have said. Not that bullying isn’t awful and damaging, but the whole school and even the DJ at the rink wouldn’t be participating. That’s just ridiculous.  Plus El seems pretty quiet and unobtrusive, probably not someone who would have caught Angela’s attention.

People like that are often the ones who attract that kind of attention. I know very well. 

[BlackberryJam]

My parents never left us at the roller rink without at least one set of parents to watch us and protect us from the obligatory pedophile at the rink looking for vulnerable kids. The parents were always there to buy us nachos and whole dill pickles.

I hate to harp on it, but that roller rink scene was just 80s movie and not 80s. 

[Brn2bwild]

9 hours ago, Demian said:

Bingo.

Also "You Can't Do That on Television."

[Noneofyourbusiness]

3 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

All you need to come to a bully's attention is to be different. In my experience, most of the bullied people I've seen were quiet and unobtrusive.

Exactly. If anything it makes us seem easier to bully.

[DoctorAtomic]

20 hours ago, DearEvette said:

  I mean, law of averages, at least one random onlooker would have laughed or had a 'served that bitch right' smirk on their face. 

That would have been me. I probably would have given El the skate. It is a bit of a stretch that there wasn't one adult there. That was a very elaborate tableau. What I actually liked was that El didn't need her powers. She just popped her. Girl could have just apologized and moved on. 

I'm not sure what the consequences are though. I mean like legal-wise. El certainly isn't going to become some school hero and will even be more ostracized, but are they really going to mess with her in school even more? It's a weekend and off school grounds. They're both minors. The bullying is well documented by literally everyone. El asked for an apology and got her 'deceased' dad thrown in her face. It's 1986; you get what's coming to you. I grew up then. It was 'don't start fights, but if someone starts with you, finish it.' 

I think it's kind of funny in a way because a boy getting bullied and then popping the bully and knocking him out wouldn't be considered any big deal. 

But I tend to agree that her being in mainstream classes seems a bit much, and frankly, in 1986, she'd be called way way worse than they're doing here on the show. And I don't mean 'stupid.' Maybe the consequence is pulling her out of class. 

[Blue Plastic]

I got bullied in first and second grade but never again throughout the rest of my school career, and I was very quiet, was fat, was tall for a girl, wore glasses, wasn't traditionally cute, etc.  I always felt my being quiet and staying out of the way protected me from anyone noticing me.  Not that anything the victim does brings it on, it's 100% the bully's fault, just that I felt at the time that I had lying low down to a science.

Regarding the clothes and hairstyles, maybe it is regional.  I lived in a small town in Texas in the 80s and I see some clothing and hairstyles in the show that are similar to what we wore.  But they are definitely exaggerating it IMO and making it more "80s teen movie style" as others have said.

[Mattipoo]

Love the gang getting back together again to look for Eddie. Dustin and Steve continue to be my favorite duo.

Other than Eddie and the Hellfire club guys, I am not liking the new characters, especially the stoner friend and the head basketball jock. Angela and her minions can also get off my screen now.

Erica is the MVP!!!

[SnapHappy]

WTF Will?  Can't you stand up for El for maybe 2 seconds?  She does live at your house.  No, she's not your sister, but you're about all she has. 

And Mike?  YOU didn't have to leave your home.  YOU didn't have to leave your friends.  YOU didn't have to move to a place where nobody gets anything about you & what you've gone through.  YOU are the douchebag.  Of course you love El, but jeez, spare a shred of consideration for a friend you've had all your life!  

I HATE how weak, needy and clueless they've made El.  They've made her look so much like Joyce, that's who I think I'm looking at most of the time!  El did NOT dress so backward and stupidly when she left Hawkins.  Max spent enough time with her to impart the teen girl requirements.  They've regressed El so far back in childhood, it's ridiculous.  

Grrr!  

I am still loving the styling of Nerdy Van Halen.  The hair is picture-perfect.  He's my new favorite, next to Steve. 

[foxfreakinmulder]

53 minutes ago, SnapHappy said:

WTF Will?  Can't you stand up for El for maybe 2 seconds?  She does live at your house.  No, she's not your sister, but you're about all she has. 

And Mike?  YOU didn't have to leave your home.  YOU didn't have to leave your friends.  YOU didn't have to move to a place where nobody gets anything about you & what you've gone through.  YOU are the douchebag.  Of course you love El, but jeez, spare a shred of consideration for a friend you've had all your life!  

I kept wondering why Will hasn't jumped in to help El too, he just stands there and watches her get bullied but I guess he's afraid so I'll give him a pass. But I haven't cared for Mike since season 1, he was so sweet in season 1 then IMO started acting like a jerk especially towards Will.

So the Russian guy sent a package to America not knowing when it would arrive or when or if the hidden message would be discovered with a phone number to a pay phone and what just sat there day and night for weeks waiting for it to ring? Didn't he have to report to work?

I'm enjoying the creepy creature this season but think this show dropped the ball not filming seasons back to back and letting the kids grow. It doesn't seem to have the same fun vibe with the kids as when they were younger.

I don't think El killed all those people she was looking at a broken window when Dr. Brenner walked in, so I think she had fought what ever creature it was and it escaped through the glass window? But I'm sure we'll get more flashbacks to tell us what really happened.

Murray's a gem but Steve and Dustin are still my favorites :-)

Edited May 28, 2022 by foxfreakinmulder

[Taryn74]

4 hours ago, Thalia said:

Agree, I never saw anyone Karen's age with hair like that.  And the only person I saw in spandex and a headband was Olivia Newton-John in the Physical video. 

I laughed so hard when Karen was onscreen. There's an age when you need to just move on, hon, and you've reached it. Especially standing next to her husband - who had the classic boring, dopey dad look going on - she just looked ridiculous.

[SnapHappy]

Karen's headband may have a bit too Olivia try hard, but her crunchy, blonde permed-to-within-an-inch-of-it's-life hairdo was dead accurate for that year! 

All the ladies then were doing Jazzercise, so workout wear and the appropriate hair & makeup were required! 

Edited May 28, 2022 by SnapHappy

[Thalia]

2 hours ago, SnapHappy said:

I HATE how weak, needy and clueless they've made El.  They've made her look so much like Joyce, that's who I think I'm looking at most of the time!  El did NOT dress so backward and stupidly when she left Hawkins.  Max spent enough time with her to impart the teen girl requirements.  They've regressed El so far back in childhood, it's ridiculous.  

When I first saw the previews, I thought "why are they still making her dress in flannel?  She's not living with Hopper anymore."  Then I remembered, oh right.  Joyce.  Sigh.  Poor El.  

[mledawn]

I'm all against bullying and Angela had that coming but sweet Jesus, El hit her in the face with a piece of metal! That's insane. How Angela was still standing, let alone conscious, is incredible. I do completely agree with what others have said that there would be a few people in the crowd who would back El - having everyone on board with the bully is unrealistic. But this is a science fiction show so my disbelief is suspended on several fronts.

Will is absolutely looking at Mike as more than just a friend, but the two of them just standing there while all the shit went down with El at the roller rink was a massive disappointment. I guess they're used to being outcasts, though, and were just frozen.

Love seeing Jaqen Haghar and Martin the asshole brother from Fleabag again. I'm here for the Hopper storyline so I need that plotline to get on the road already.

[PurpleTentacle]

9 hours ago, Blue Plastic said:

The bullying scenes have been way OTT, as others have said. Not that bullying isn’t awful and damaging, but the whole school and even the DJ at the rink wouldn’t be participating. That’s just ridiculous.  Plus El seems pretty quiet and unobtrusive, probably not someone who would have caught Angela’s attention.

I mean it's not the whole school. It's a few classmates and I assume they knew the DJ. I sadly can believe a bunch of people ganing up on one person like that all to well. I was on the recieving end. That was not in the 80s, but mit 90s, but that probably won't make that much of a difference.

[Arynm]

That bitch! I hope she has a huge scar right between her eyes.

Angela deserved that and hope if El gets her powers back she scares the hell out of Angela and throws her into next week. You do not mess with Eleven

[Blue Plastic]

1 hour ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I mean it's not the whole school. It's a few classmates and I assume they knew the DJ. I sadly can believe a bunch of people ganing up on one person like that all to well. I was on the recieving end. That was not in the 80s, but mit 90s, but that probably won't make that much of a difference.

I should have said "everyone at the skating rink" rather than "whole school."  It seemed like a lot of people to me, not just Angela and three friends or something like that.  Not sure why everyone in the building would just do Angela's bidding.  They couldn't all be her close personal friends.  Anyway, I would have believed that scene more had it been Angela and three friends and most of the other patrons of the skating rink just stood around and didn't help.

[Redrum]

15 minutes ago, Arynm said:

Angela deserved that and hope if El gets her powers back she scares the hell out of Angela and throws her into next week. You do not mess with Eleven

I'm actually going to argue that El is to a point the one with the really unpleasant tendency to fuck people up way out of proportion to the fucking she takes. 

She broke a kid's arm with her powers over teasing and made a kid pee his pants in public over the same. She tore her cabin with Hopper up because she got pissed over his discipline. As bitchy as I found Angela in the classroom and on the quad, when El shrieked her rage and held up her hand to do some powers shit, do we really think she was about to give Angela a love tap with her powers? I thought she was going to get all Carrie White on Angela's bitch ass.... The incident at the rink was humiliating but if we weren't watching a tv show, and this happened in real life, Angela the bully would likely be permanently disfigured and I don't think we'd be applauding a kid who did that. 

[Racj82]

I admit to being surprised at how many people are casually cool with a teenager girl nearly getting her head split open by a roller skate. I learn something new everyday.

I wanted to see her comeuppance for sure. But, there was nothing satisfying about that to me. 

[Racj82]

On 5/27/2022 at 10:33 PM, Demian said:

Agreed, especially given this show's reported budget-per-episode.  They've got the money to get it right, and they just...don't.  Ever.

I feel like there is far too much gatekeeping with these types of things. Even if you lived in the time period, you can't say how everyone dressed, styled their hair or whatever for everyone. 

Also, the reality is that a ton of things just migrate from decade to decade and that's just not as interesting visually. 

Bullying scenes are often weird to me. It's another thing that exists in entertainment that I just never saw growing up. People were bullied. I'm talking about the group humiliation. One person or a group obsessed with picking on one person. I'm sure it all happened to individuals. I just can't believe it's as common in real life. Not in this fashion. People often tend to crowd around for fights but not this elaborate pranking nonsense.

But, the show enjoys subverting and revealing in 80s cliches. Shitty 80s bullies do exist.

I think the skate to the head was the subversion. They knew people would be cheering for the takedown. I dont think they could of assumed that people would be cheering for that brand of assault. It was designed to be taken aback by it. 

That moment is usually followed by the reality that it was all in the protagonist head. But, this was just pure, unhinged El. 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Racj82