S02.E09: Chapter Nine: The Gate

[Taryn74]

3 hours ago, ghoulina said:

And, let's be honest, with Mike's dad falling asleep in his chair every night after dinner, it wouldn't take much to charm Mrs. Wheeler. 

Heh.

I rolled my eyes straight out of my head at Billy's "you must be Nancy's sister......." line.  And she just lapped it up with a spoon.  

It did make me laugh though.

[Holmbo]

On 2017-10-28 at 6:26 PM, HollyG said:

I understand his reasoning for isolating her for her own protection, but mostly I feel like they kept 11 locked up in the cabin for far too long. Meeting her mom was great, but she should have been interacting with the rest of the cast much earlier. 

I agree. I expected her to get out there the second episode. I thought she was gonna defy Hopper and sneak out to go trick or treating as a ghost. It would have been better if she did that and her and Hopper's fight happened much sooner. She could have maybe gone to the boys then and they could have had the big You're-alive! reveal at mid season. But the she could leave because she didn't really felt like she belonged and wanted to find her mom.

[EarlGreyTea]

4 hours ago, Holmbo said:

I agree. I expected her to get out there the second episode. I thought she was gonna defy Hopper and sneak out to go trick or treating as a ghost. It would have been better if she did that and her and Hopper's fight happened much sooner. She could have maybe gone to the boys then and they could have had the big You're-alive! reveal at mid season. But the she could leave because she didn't really felt like she belonged and wanted to find her mom.

I, too, expected the reunion would happen by the first or second episode. By the time we hit episode three, though, I knew we were going to have to wait until the finale. It was too much of a buildup to happen mid-season. I was pretty peeved when it began dawning on me that we weren't going to get the Adventures of El and the Boys (with special appearances from Max).

I was going to say I couldn't picture Eleven willingly leaving Mike, but that's exactly what she did when she saw him and Max, so maybe it could have gone the way you mentioned.

Speaking of - since the next time we will see the kids most of them will be driving age - does this mean no more bikes?  Much of the charm was seeing the kids on their bikes. To see them in cars, natural progression though it is, will be really bittersweet.

[millennium]

On 11/7/2017 at 0:36 PM, The Companion said:

 

I felt horrible for poor Dart. He is a wild animal. He doesn't understand that the cat means anything. The cat is food and he must have been starving given the energy required for the rapid growth we saw. In the end, he did bond with Dustin and it was sad to see him stand down and then just shrivel up. 

Dart dying beside the Three Musketeers wrapper bothered me a lot.   He didn't mean to be a bad dog.    As LittleIggy said upthread, it was his nature.

I thought this series was better than the first, probably because Matthew Modine was absent for most of it.   The soundtrack was pretty good but the song clips were far too short.   If you're going to put "Whisper To a Scream" out there, you owe it to the audience to play more than just the first ten or twelve seconds.

As something to pass the time, Stranger Things is okay but I still don't get all the fuss about it.   Just not that special, IMHO. 

P.S.  That boring Kali episode in the city really screwed up the flow.

Edited November 18, 2017 by millennium

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 11/17/2017 at 5:59 PM, EarlGreyTea said:

since the next time we will see the kids most of them will be driving age - does this mean no more bikes?  Much of the charm was seeing the kids on their bikes. To see them in cars, natural progression though it is, will be really bittersweet.

If S3 takes place a year after S2, the kids will be in ninth grade (14 turning 15) so they can get their learner’s permits but not their licenses. That means one more year of riding their bikes around town! 

And even once they turn 16, that doesn’t mean their parents will necessarily give them cars. I could see Mike’s parents letting him borrow the car but he would have to duke it out with Nancy to get dibs. Joyce can’t afford an extra car for Will. Lucas and Dustin both live in nice houses but it seems like Dustin’s mom is a single parent so a car might not be in his future. I feel like we didn’t see enough of Lucas’s parents to figure out if they were the type of parents to give their kid a car. They might let him borrow the family car and since his sister is younger, he wouldn’t have competition for access to the car (unlike Mike).

[ghoulina]

^^^

Valid points. In ET, Mike and his friends are seen riding bikes with the younger kids, even though some of them can clearly drive. 

[blueray]

From the little bit of Lucas parents, I feel like they're the "you want a car, get a job" type of parents (so were mine). Mike's family seem like they are waiting maybe to they graduate, as Nancy doesn't have a car. And yes they would fight over who gets to drive the parents car. And I agree that that Dustin and Will (especially) can't afford cars.

[nodorothyparker]

If they only skip ahead a year again, most of the kids will only be 14ish, which can still be eighth grade and middle school.  Lots of middle schools then and now run 6th through 8th grades.  So they probably have at least another year or two of biking everywhere in their futures, and even then lots of kids then and now don't get a car or get to drive just because they turned 16.  Given how helicoptery decades before that will become a thing that Joyce was this season with Will, can you even imagine her ever tossing him car keys and telling him to go have fun?

Nancy mentioned at some point this season that she and Jonathan are juniors while Steve is a senior, making them seniors next season while Steve will have graduated.

[Mabinogia]

3 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

making them seniors next season while Steve will have graduated.

Steve better stick around, I promise to hand wave whatever reason they come up with. I LOVED Steve interacting with the kids, and his big brother bond with Dustin made this season for me. I know it's a year away but the idea of these kids being old enough to drive is hard for me to wrap my head around. They are still such kids to me. I wish the show could film faster because I'm going to miss them being kids. 

[AudienceofOne]

Finally got the time to sit down and watch this season. I thought it was fantastic.

Now, as a lot of people pointed out, it wasn't as good as last season. But I personally thought season 1 of this show was flawless so it would be hard to be as good. They mostly managed to keep the new storylines in check. Having said that, El should not have been in her own plotline for the entire show. I understand why they chose to do it this way; they wanted everyone to think she was dead and then have an Eleven Ex Machina in the final episode. But for me Mike and Eleven were my favourite relationship of the show and I wanted them to be together sooner. Also, I found the !Jealous! Eleven plot point they used to stop them reuniting earlier kind of contrived.

In terms of structure, it was ... odd ... to have the first scene of the season be about Eight and then merely toss her into a bottle episode at the end. But I suspect the writers are playing the long game with this character, as they are with Max's racist brother.

High points of the season for me were Bob and Steve. It would have been so easy for the writers to discount these characters as merely boyfriends but they gave them such depth. If you'd told me at the beginning that I'd be upset that Bob died I'd have laughed. I also appreciated that Steve's problem was that he and Nancy were genuinely not right for each other. It's not that he was a douche and she was unfaithful. It's just that they weren't right for each other. Steve's instinct was to create a normality bubble for her to live in. Jonathon understood instead that what she needed was somebody to support her while she acted. Having Steve realise this and ending things with such maturity was amazing. I too hope he sticks around and finds love.

Overall, this was a great season of television. Any criticism is of the "it's hard to follow perfection" type.

[J----av]

On 10/28/2017 at 11:58 PM, MisterGlass said:

 Steve has had a great character arc since the beginning of the show.

 

 Steve has become a very likable character, but his character arc is probably the worst thing the show has done. His character arc is basically just randomly turn him from a selfish ass hole to a great caring guy in the span of ONE scene. They just changed his character out of no where with zero set up. Its like the creators just randomly decided "hey let make Steve a great guy this episode". It reminded me of what TWD did with Carol 

[J----av]

On 11/20/2017 at 7:58 PM, AudienceofOne said:

 It's not that he was a douche

 But he was a complete douche until season 1 episode 8 when they randomly changed his entire personality

[blueray]

9 hours ago, J----av said:

 But he was a complete douche until season 1 episode 8 when they randomly changed his entire personality

It's more that in season 1 he was defending his "friends" to stay popular. He altermetly realized there was much more import things going on and that his friends are jerks (mainly after the whole movie theatre thing). Similar transitions with characters has been done before (Cardilia on Buffy and Kyle on Roswell).

[Mabinogia]

That's what I liked about Steve's arc. He was a jerk because he was a privileged, good looking kid in a small town. He was the big man on campus. His biggest concern in life was getting his hair just right. He's the kind of guy everything went right for. Then he saw some serious shit and had to actually do something. He grew up really, really fast. It was one of those defining moments. Does he go back to being Steve who never had to lift a finger and has this easy life, or does he open his eyes to what is happening and help people who need his help. It worked for me and didn't feel forced or rushed. His life changed quickly and he changed with it. 

[J----av]

11 hours ago, blueray said:

It's more that in season 1 he was defending his "friends" to stay popular. He altermetly realized there was much more import things going on and that his friends are jerks (mainly after the whole movie theatre thing). Similar transitions with characters has been done before (Cardilia on Buffy and Kyle on Roswell).

 

 There was literally nothing that showed that. People won't complain because he is likable now, but it was really poorly done. He was every bit the jerk his friends were. Maybe even worse. He was the ring leader. The best character transformations show they had that side of them all along and it just needed to be brought out. Like with Walter White, Jamie Lannister, Michael Corleone, Peggy Olson. You don't just go from a selfish ass hole to the worlds greatest, most selfless, kindest guy after one scene. That would be like if they turned Jamie Lannister into his season 7 self in GOTs right after he

Spoiler

got his sword hand cut off, instead of making it a realistic progression over 6 seasons

 

 Or if Walter White became 

Spoiler

his season 5a Heisenberg right after he found out he had cancer

 

 Or if Peggy Olson

Spoiler

became the confident leader instantly after Don promoted her

 

 I have never seem Buffy or Roswell, but if they really were great transformations i would bet there was some set up. Steve became a completely different character after one scene. I haven't seen a character transformation less believable since Carol on The Walking Dead

[J----av]

12 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

 He grew up really, really fast.

 

 By grew up, do you mean became a completely different person with no trace of his former self after getting beat up? This is a guy who didn't even show the slightest bit of concern over Barb diapering from his house. But now we are supposed to buy that he is the worlds most caring and selfless person? I would have less of a problem with his arc if they showed even a little bit of season 2 Steve before Season 1 episode 8. Or if this new perfect Steve had even a little bit of his former selfish self. You can't change a character completely after one scene and make it believable

[Clanstarling]

I personally thought they showed his growth well prior to episode 8. He was going to dinner at Barb's - that's a tough thing to get your boyfriend to do with your own parents, much less the grieving parents of a girl he barely knew. That's the biggest "specific" I can recall, but there were lots of scenes with him both being thoughtful and still a bit dickish. 

[Mabinogia]

It's been a year. Unfortunately, the way the show is filmed, we didn't get to see that year.  I didn't see El's hair grow out, but I see that it did, so I use what I know to assume that during the year we didn't get to see her hair grew. I didn't see Joyce and Bob get together, but there they were, together. I can reasonably assume that they met and we just didn't see it. Steve has had a year to process all that he saw. He saw a lot of shit that would make someone question their previously frivolous life. He's had a year to grow. He's not really a main character so we aren't going to get to see his arc the way we do say Will or El. There was a lot we didn't see happen but had to assume. If we had to see every moment of every characters growth this show would have to be aired 24/7. I have enough imagination to fill in the blanks and don't need to see every second of a story to know it happened. 

[Chaos Theory]

I am probably going to be in the minority but I thought season 2 was better then season 1.  Although I liked season 1 I didn't really understand all the acclaim for it.   I thought season 2 told a tighter story and I really liked the addition of the new characters.  I really liked Bob and Max.  And the watching the boys investigating new/old mysteries while watching them grow up was far more interesting then the nostalgia of season 1.   Even Steve's arc had some growth to it which was kind of absent during season 1.  He got the girl in season 1 even though he really didn't do anything to deserve it.   He's become a downright likable character this season.  

My guess is that Max's stepbrother and family at large is going to come into play more next season.  Max was the important character this season even if it was mainly as a love interest.   Next season will probably explain more about Max and my guess be more about Max and why her family is there to begin with,  

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I am probably going to be in the minority but I thought season 2 was better then season 1.  Although I liked season 1 I didn't really understand all the acclaim for it.   I thought season 2 told a tighter story and I really liked the addition of the new characters.  I really liked Bob and Max.  And the watching the boys investigating new/old mysteries while watching them grow up was far more interesting then the nostalgia of season 1.   Even Steve's arc had some growth to it which was kind of absent during season 1.  He got the girl in season 1 even though he really didn't do anything to deserve it.   He's become a downright likable character this season.  

My guess is that Max's stepbrother and family at large is going to come into play more next season.  Max was the important character this season even if it was mainly as a love interest.   Next season will probably explain more about Max and my guess be more about Max and why her family is there to begin with,  

I'll join you. I thought season 2 was better too. Which isn't to say I didn't like season 1, but it took me a while to get into the story.

[AudienceofOne]

On 23/11/2017 at 5:04 PM, J----av said:

 But he was a complete douche until season 1 episode 8 when they randomly changed his entire personality

Mileage varies but this is not how I saw it. I saw it as being more like:

On 24/11/2017 at 2:51 AM, blueray said:

It's more that in season 1 he was defending his "friends" to stay popular. He altermetly realized there was much more import things going on and that his friends are jerks (mainly after the whole movie theatre thing). 

And

On 24/11/2017 at 3:01 AM, Mabinogia said:

That's what I liked about Steve's arc. He was a jerk because he was a privileged, good looking kid in a small town. He was the big man on campus. His biggest concern in life was getting his hair just right. He's the kind of guy everything went right for. Then he saw some serious shit and had to actually do something. He grew up really, really fast. It was one of those defining moments. Does he go back to being Steve who never had to lift a finger and has this easy life, or does he open his eyes to what is happening and help people who need his help. It worked for me and didn't feel forced or rushed. His life changed quickly and he changed with it. 

I actually loved Steve's arc in Season 1 because he was introduced as this douche in a crew of douches and you thought he was just trying to get laid. Then it became clear he really liked the girl and his friends were perpetually giving him grief about it. Then you started to think, "I wonder what Steve would be like without these assholes" because his feelings at least were sincere even if he was getting the worst advice in the universe and was being egged on by two cynical assholes. 

You could see with that incident with the camera that he went too far and knew it but he needed the movie theatre incident to finally make him realise that his behaviour was out of line. Sometimes people need to go too far to realise they're wrong and this is one of those times. Until then he was a weak personality who was letting other people define him. That was the moment he finally stood up to the group and stopped trying to live by their standards.

When Steve went to the theatre and started cleaning it, I was like, "wow, guy has finally learnt his lesson, that's amazing". I loved it.

[Robert Lynch]

I could have sworn that the Billy character was more of a homage to Robe Lowe's characters throughout the 80s. At least, that was the Duffer brothers' intentions. I could be wrong, though. While the Top Gun scene seems to be the most with the gay overtones, Masquerade had a scene with Doug Savant and Rob Lowe that made Top Gun seem tame. Anybody remembers that film? It was released prior to Rob Lowe's controversial sex tape scandal in 1988. That line with Steve in the shower made me think if that was either more of a Masquerade homage than a Top Gun one. But then I wouldn't know. So who knows what they would do with Max's brother.

Edited November 26, 2017 by Robert Lynch

[Chaos Theory]

On 11/25/2017 at 11:54 PM, Robert Lynch said:

I could have sworn that the Billy character was more of a homage to Robe Lowe's characters throughout the 80s. At least, that was the Duffer brothers' intentions. I could be wrong, though. While the Top Gun scene seems to be the most with the gay overtones, Masquerade had a scene with Doug Savant and Rob Lowe that made Top Gun seem tame. Anybody remembers that film? It was released prior to Rob Lowe's controversial sex tape scandal in 1988. That line with Steve in the shower made me think if that was either more of a Masquerade homage than a Top Gun one. But then I wouldn't know. So who knows what they would do with Max's brother.

The show needs a villain and since Billy isn’t really a villain more like the jock from the breakfast club.  My guess is Max’s brother is being set up as a villain in the like of Biff Tanner or basically anyone played by Billy Zabka. Hell the brother could be a tribute to Billy Zabka.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[stealinghome]

On 11/25/2017 at 1:45 PM, Chaos Theory said:

I am probably going to be in the minority but I thought season 2 was better then season 1.

It's not just you--I finally had a chance to sit down and binge the season, and I thought it was better than S1. It just felt more grown-up and confident across the board. Even in the missteps, the show felt much more like it knew what it wanted to be, while in S1, it was still figuring its identity out.

Quote

I hope Nancy gets a storyline away from relationships next season. I liked how they continued the continunity with her being better with a gun but she still felt side-lined this season.

PREACH! Nancy became my stealth favorite by the end of this season. She is stone cold when sticking a hot poker into Will's belly, plotting with the crazy conspiracy theory guy against the government, or holding a gun ready to shoot some demons, and yet she's also capable of immense kindness and warmth. My heart just completely and utterly melted when she asked Dustin to dance. Her love life is easily, easily, easily the least interesting thing about her, so I'm really hoping that now that they've definitively broken her and Steve up and gotten her with Jonathan, they'll focus on something that's not her romantic life. Conspiracy Nut guy was right--she's a tough nut to crack, and a ton goes on behind those eyes. Let's delve into it. Also, can she and Hopper share scenes? I feel like that could be a great relationship!

Quote

Overall, I hated how much the group was apart so its no surprise this episode was my favorite. Everyone went on their own little journey this season, but I sure hope next season our six troublemakers actually get to have more than one episode together.

Yeah, episodes 8 and 9 really reminded me of how much I enjoy the ensemble when they're all together. I understand why they tend to get split up into various storylines--and this season it did serve a thematic purpose on top of the practical reasons--but I'm ready for the whole ensemble to share more scenes. One thing this season did well is show that a lot of the characters have chemistry when the normal pairs are mixed and matched--Dustin bounced very well off of Steve and Nancy both, Steve's Adventures in Babysitting were consistently incredibly entertaining, I still want Eleven and Joyce to really bond and also I want to see Mike and Eleven warm up to Max, etc--so let's see more of that!

Also for next season, I want

a) Will to catch a break and not be at the center of everything that happens (poor guy deserves some rest, and I want Winona Ryder to be allowed to play something other than frantic mother),

b) Eleven not to be isolated so much (I get that there would have been no storyline for the season had she been integrated into the action right away, but they kept her away from everyone else for too long),

c) Billy to die in a fire in the first episode and for Erica to get all his screentime (what a waste of screentime he was--the lolarious scene with Mike's mom almost made up for it, but not quite; alternately, Erica was a hoot and a half, what a hilarious character and talented child actress!), and

d) them to do more with Mrs. Wheeler (talk about having a Ferrari in the garage, Cara Buono is too talented to waste and I liked last season's hints that she had way more depth).

[VCRTracking]

43 minutes ago, stealinghome said:

It's not just you--I finally had a chance to sit down and binge the season, and I thought it was better than S1. It just felt more grown-up and confident across the board. Even in the missteps, the show felt much more like it knew what it wanted to be, while in S1, it was still figuring its identity out.

For me I loved Noah Schnapp just crushing it throughout the series, El and Hopper's relationship, Joyce and Bob, Steve interacting with Dustin and the kids and even though Mike and El didn't have that many scenes the ones they did have were satisfying and the endings for episodes 3, 4, 5 and 6 were the most incredible cliffhangers.

[aliferous85]

Loved the goggles and scarves improvisation for going into the tunnel. As opposed to sealed radation suits.

They put a random colourful band aid on one of Steve's facial wounds. I don't know why but that amused me.

Glad to see the Christmas lights re purposed. 

Billy is and was the most pointless character. They should have sheared off his ugly ass mullet as punishment.

Um, do the Wheelers realise that Mike and Nancy haven't come home for a week now? 

Did Time After Time come out in 1984? Genuine question, I thought it was late 80's/early 90's.

[Robert Lynch]

Time after Time came out in 1984, so that was correct. The only inaccurate song was Oingo Boingo's Just Another Day which came out in 1985 as oppose to 1984.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Robert Lynch

[J----av]

On 11/25/2017 at 6:20 PM, AudienceofOne said:

Mileage varies but this is not how I saw it. I saw it as being more like:

And

I actually loved Steve's arc in Season 1 because he was introduced as this douche in a crew of douches and you thought he was just trying to get laid. Then it became clear he really liked the girl and his friends were perpetually giving him grief about it. Then you started to think, "I wonder what Steve would be like without these assholes" because his feelings at least were sincere even if he was getting the worst advice in the universe and was being egged on by two cynical assholes. 

You could see with that incident with the camera that he went too far and knew it but he needed the movie theatre incident to finally make him realise that his behaviour was out of line. Sometimes people need to go too far to realise they're wrong and this is one of those times. Until then he was a weak personality who was letting other people define him. That was the moment he finally stood up to the group and stopped trying to live by their standards.

When Steve went to the theatre and started cleaning it, I was like, "wow, guy has finally learnt his lesson, that's amazing". I loved it.

 

  If you go from huge D-Bag to the worlds greatest guy in ONE EPISODE, thats bad writing. Fans have always been ok with rushed and unrealistic character changes as long as the character becomes more likable though. I could maybe buy it if it happened gradually over a few seasons or even a full season. But ONE episode? Season two Steve isn't just a guy who has learned his lesson. He is a completely different character.

On 11/24/2017 at 10:05 AM, Clanstarling said:

I personally thought they showed his growth well prior to episode 8. He was going to dinner at Barb's - that's a tough thing to get your boyfriend to do with your own parents, much less the grieving parents of a girl he barely knew. That's the biggest "specific" I can recall, but there were lots of scenes with him both being thoughtful and still a bit dickish. 

Season 1 episode 8. The dinner was season 2. After he got beat up he was an entirely different character and pretty much the greatest guy on the show (besides Bob) 

[truthaboutluv]

6 hours ago, J----av said:

Season two Steve isn't just a guy who has learned his lesson. He is a completely different character.

Fair enough but it is reasonable to think that it had to do with what happened at the end of Season 1 and what they all went through. After you've fought a real life supernatural monster, learned that some creepy supernatural underworld exists, have someone your age actually die because of this creepy monster, I can believe that that would give someone perspective to where suddenly being the asshole big man on campus didn't seem as important. 

I'm not denying that the writers did a 180 on the character since the Duffer Brothers essentially admitted this, acknowledging that it was because of how much they liked Joe Kerry (Steve) and the fact that he's such a nice guy apparently in real life. That said, I still don't think the shift was that swift and over the top. Steve was a tool and a popular jock bully yes, but I do think there were a lot of small moments prior to the douchebag friend beating him up that hinted at his not being an entirely awful person. At least not as awful as those friends he had. 

I also thought it was always clear how much he really did like Nancy. I remember watching the first season and dreading the party, assuming they were going to make him the sexual predator popular jock where he would force Nancy to do something she didn't want to do. But I thought they made it very clear that Nancy was the one who decided to move things pretty fast with Steve. Yes, she clearly looked like she regretted it when she left but she's the one who followed him to his room and made the first move and Steve actually seemed surprised. 

The movie cinema message about Nancy was inexcusable and completely dickish, even though it was obvious that he did out of jealousy because he thought she was hooking up with Jonathan. But I think they did do a good job of showing that he regretted his actions after Nancy confronted him which later led to the confrontation with the friends and then scrubbing the sign. But even then, I don't agree that he suddenly became Mr. Perfect. He came over to Jonathan's to apologize for breaking his camera, but as soon as he saw Nancy was there, he went into jealous mode and started being mean to them. It's when the very real monster showed up that suddenly all that petty stuff went out the window. 

I just think, as I wrote above, that Season 2 Steve was a product of what happened in Season 1. He was still to my observation the popular party boy who wanted life to be as it was before they encountered a real life monster but realized later that things couldn't. 

[TwistedandBored]

Finally watched the second season. It took a long time to finish because I was kept getting bored. I did enjoy Noah's performance. What a great kid actor. 

On 11/5/2017 at 4:42 PM, Littlebitofcheese said:

Loved season 2 ! Really thought the ending was well played out. Millie and Finn have good chemistry both when they reunite and at the dance. Does anyone else think Max and Lucas feels forced rather than natural ?

I think the two kids had chemistry but I also think both couples are two young for this kind of love at this time in their lives. 

[EyewatchTV211]

I just got into this show. Wasn't planning on posting, but after reading this thread I got a bit confused about the storyline with El and her aunt. I guess I missed something or interpreted differently than everyone here (though I think my parents, who watched with me had similar thoughts as I did). I didn't see the aunt's phone call as being to Joyce or Hopper necessarily (again, unless I missed something that directly suggested she was). After what happened, I thought she was calling to turn her in to someone, whether the gov't people or social services or whatever. El overheard and knew she couldn't stick around, so she left very suddenly (while the aunt was making the call) and went to find the sister before she could be taken away. I think she would have stayed there longer if the phone conversation hadn't happened. So this would be another reason not to want to live there and why I didn't question her ending up with Hopper.

Since I am apparently the only person who had these thoughts, maybe I need to go back and rewatch the scenes.

[ameinonkel]

On 10/28/2017 at 5:08 AM, SnoGirl said:

Hopper and Eleven's relationship was my favorite part of this season. I liked that he took responsibility for her, and their talk in the car was everything. I love that she's legally his daughter now. Loved that he immediately thought of the dance for her. I feel like we missed out with the show hiding the fact that Eleven went to the dance. Did Hopper take pictures of her? Who helped her do her hair? You know it was Hopper. 

It is one of the best parts of the show. "Sara? Sara's my girl. She's my little girl . . . She left us. The black hole, it got her. Somehow I've just been scared — I've just been scared that it would take you too. I think that's why I get so mad. I'm so sorry, for everything," It is the moment when he tells her that he loves her as a daughter, out loud.

For the Snow Ball, it is very likely that Joyce helped Jane.

[ghoulina]

7 hours ago, VMepicgrl said:

I just got into this show. Wasn't planning on posting, but after reading this thread I got a bit confused about the storyline with El and her aunt. I guess I missed something or interpreted differently than everyone here (though I think my parents, who watched with me had similar thoughts as I did). I didn't see the aunt's phone call as being to Joyce or Hopper necessarily (again, unless I missed something that directly suggested she was). After what happened, I thought she was calling to turn her in to someone, whether the gov't people or social services or whatever. El overheard and knew she couldn't stick around, so she left very suddenly (while the aunt was making the call) and went to find the sister before she could be taken away. I think she would have stayed there longer if the phone conversation hadn't happened. So this would be another reason not to want to live there and why I didn't question her ending up with Hopper.

Since I am apparently the only person who had these thoughts, maybe I need to go back and rewatch the scenes.

I don't think you're the only person who thought that. I don't know who exactly she called, but I definitely felt like she was "turning her in", in a sense. I assumed El left because she knew people would be coming for her. 

[Dev F]

38 minutes ago, ghoulina said:

I don't think you're the only person who thought that. I don't know who exactly she called, but I definitely felt like she was "turning her in", in a sense. I assumed El left because she knew people would be coming for her. 

She was talking to Flo, Hopper's secretary. Here's exactly what she said:

"Yeah, I didn't know who else to call. He gave me this number, and he came here looking for her. I thought maybe he could help me. . . . Yeah, Jim Hopper, he came here with some woman named Joyce Byers? . . . Well, that's a little hard to explain. Uh, there's another girl, and she's missing, and I think she's in trouble. I just I didn't know who to call. . . . Thank you, thank you. And you are? . . . Florence. . . . I'm gonna have to call you back."

[truthaboutluv]

Thanks for posting the exact quote because I didn't remember her saying Florence's name but I knew there was no way the sister would have been calling any agency since it was made very clear in the first season that she fully believed her sister had discovered some big conspiracy and had her brain fried because of it. She knows to not trust any "agency". 

[Robert Lynch]

I think Finn Wolfhard is going to have a very busy career. He has his band, Calpurnia, making a record and another horror movie in the works. How are the Duffer brothers going to work on his schedule? It'll be interesting to see what season 3 will bring. Not to mention Ryder is reprising her Lydia to the sequel to Beetleguise and Schnapp is having numerous movie roles. Seems Gatten may be the only one with almost nothing to do.

[CCTC]

On 12/27/2017 at 8:27 PM, TwistedandBored said:

I think the two kids had chemistry but I also think both couples are two young for this kind of love at this time in their lives.

[I finally finished the season.  I had some things pop up, so it took awhile, and the break might have made it harder for me to really get into it.]

think the kids are good actors, have good chemistry, and are getting to the age that they would start to have teen age romantic angst.  That said, it is not really what I want to see the show veer into, and I am afraid that is what is going to happen (shades of Harry Potter being a little too bogged down in the teen romance - with everyone including most of the adults in new romantic relationships).  

I liked this season, but it was not good as the first season, and I think they are on the verge of stretching it too far (the story really was best for a long mini-series) by doing a third season.   I am not sure the upside down world and its monsters is really worth exploring another season.  A lot of it had already been more form over substance -- cool to look at, suspenseful moments, but when examined more carefully, did not make a lot of sense.

I also think the kids are outgrowing their roles.  Still good actors, but by the time they start filming they are not going to be the middle school geeks that were fun to watch (they already seemed a bit old for the trick or treating) and am not as interested in the high school angst, esp. the romantic entanglements.  Nancy's was enough, don't necessarily want to see multiple triangles.

I understand where they were going with Max's brother, but I felt it fell a bit flat and he often seemed just shoe-horned in breaking up any build of suspense or drama.  I liked Max, but did not think the brother really added anything to her story.  

While I did mention a bit worried about the teen age angst, they did a good job with the Snow Ball.  It did capture the change in fashion that was the true 80's look, and captured the awkwardness of junior high or middile school dances (including the actual dancing - including the non-slow dancing being awkward).  It might have been a bit of out of character for those particular kids to kiss in a public venue and probably did not quite ring true, but it was a sweet moment, but wonder if it should have been a moment to end the series instead of the season.

[Dev F]

2 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

I think Finn Wolfhard is going to have a very busy career. He has his band, Calpurnia, making a record and another horror movie in the works. How are the Duffer brothers going to work on his schedule?

Wolfhard's contractual commitment to the series predates all those other projects, though, so presumably his additional work would need to be scheduled around his Stranger Things obligations, not the other way around.

Edited December 31, 2017 by Dev F

[Robert Lynch]

Okay, I was just wondering. The reason I ask this because Finn is becoming pretty busy lately. And I think he'll have to film scenes for the 2nd It film. All the actors are going to br shown in flashbacks. Well, whatever he does I am sure the Duffer brothers will understand. I mean, it worked for Michael J. Fox, right? 

[Clanstarling]

1 minute ago, Robert Lynch said:

Okay, I was just wondering. The reason I ask this because Finn is becoming pretty busy lately. And I think he'll have to film scenes for the 2nd It film. All the actors are going to br shown in flashbacks. Well, whatever he does I am sure the Duffer brothers will understand. I mean, it worked for Michael J. Fox, right? 

Michael's experiences were pretty intense. No sleep for what, weeks? months?  

I'd imagined the IT flashbacks would be from the first film, but  a few scenes might not be that bad. After all, Christopher Plummer completely replaced Kevin Spacey's entire role in "All the Money in the World" in two weeks of shooting.  

[Kel Varnsen]

One last thing I was wondering about. When the military guys were packing up and leaving Hawkins why were they flipping off the investigator guy? Getting a new posting is pretty standard for military types and I would think they would welcome getting transferred to a place where they aren't going to be eaten by devil dogs.

[MisterGlass]

He got the base closed, and exposed a major incident, making their lives difficult.  Then he showed up with a lawn chair to glory in their forced removal after a lot of their brothers in arms were killed (not that he necessarily knew that).

[TwistedandBored]

On 12/31/2017 at 5:14 PM, CCTC said:

[I finally finished the season.  I had some things pop up, so it took awhile, and the break might have made it harder for me to really get into it.]

think the kids are good actors, have good chemistry, and are getting to the age that they would start to have teen age romantic angst.  That said, it is not really what I want to see the show veer into, and I am afraid that is what is going to happen (shades of Harry Potter being a little too bogged down in the teen romance - with everyone including most of the adults in new romantic relationships).  

I liked this season, but it was not good as the first season, and I think they are on the verge of stretching it too far (the story really was best for a long mini-series) by doing a third season.   I am not sure the upside down world and its monsters is really worth exploring another season.  A lot of it had already been more form over substance -- cool to look at, suspenseful moments, but when examined more carefully, did not make a lot of sense.

I also think the kids are outgrowing their roles.  Still good actors, but by the time they start filming they are not going to be the middle school geeks that were fun to watch (they already seemed a bit old for the trick or treating) and am not as interested in the high school angst, esp. the romantic entanglements.  Nancy's was enough, don't necessarily want to see multiple triangles.

I understand where they were going with Max's brother, but I felt it fell a bit flat and he often seemed just shoe-horned in breaking up any build of suspense or drama.  I liked Max, but did not think the brother really added anything to her story.  

While I did mention a bit worried about the teen age angst, they did a good job with the Snow Ball.  It did capture the change in fashion that was the true 80's look, and captured the awkwardness of junior high or middile school dances (including the actual dancing - including the non-slow dancing being awkward).  It might have been a bit of out of character for those particular kids to kiss in a public venue and probably did not quite ring true, but it was a sweet moment, but wonder if it should have been a moment to end the series instead of the season.

I agree with all the bolded part. I also didn't like Billy. He was an abusive and racist idiot who will probably be redeemed in season three by the writers now that some girls are fangirling over him cause "he is hot". Sigh.

[CaughtOnTape]

Personally I think Dustin is always going to be that dorky kid who is fun to watch because he's a dichotomy in a ton of ways.  He's a little smartass with a heart of gold and I love that they expanded his role this season so he got to show that off a little more.  I could take or leave any of the other kids...but Dustin is a diamond in the rough and I hope they keep giving him more to do.

[Kel Varnsen]

19 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

He got the base closed, and exposed a major incident, making their lives difficult.  Then he showed up with a lawn chair to glory in their forced removal after a lot of their brothers in arms were killed (not that he necessarily knew that).

But a base closing is not like an auto parts plant closing or something. If you are a soldier, even if a base closes you still have a job. And I would think  if I am a soldier, getting transferred from a base where monsters might eat you to one where that won't happen wouldn't be something to be upset about.

[MisterGlass]

Yes, they still have jobs, but it's a forced move, which military families have to deal with enough without having it caused by the journalist.  There is no guarantee that they will be moved to a 'safe' place either.  Monsters need not be demagorgons.

[Perfect Xero]

I'm probably reading way too much into things, but when Billy was beating down Steve he was bleeding from his nose and screaming, which is remarkably similar to how Eleven looks when she's killing the Mind Flayer later in the episode. I don't know if it was an intentional parallel being drawn, but just something I find curious. Maybe a warning about where channeling your anger can lead you?

[supposebly]

I just finished season 2.

I think I liked this season even more than the first. Probably because I wasn't quite so tense. Overall, I liked the character development and the focus on the repercussions from the events from season 1.

However, like many, I still have no idea what the Billy character was for. To show some kind of growth for Max? It fell flat, both of them weren't fleshed out at all and to be honest, Max felt more like a plot device and a place holder than an actual character for me. She was awesome with a side order of love interest and sad backstory. So, no, not a fan of the writing and introduction of the newbies.

While I appreciate the growth for Steve, it did come rather abruptly in season 1 and while it sort of worked, it did feel a bit like lampshading when he called himself a babysitter. While the train track scene with Dustin was fun, it also felt clunky. Which brings me to the problem that I worry that the show won't be able to handle so many characters adequately every season.

I stayed suspicious of Bob until the very last minute when he started running after the broom fell, which just tells me, I have very little patience for or trust in such nice people. Poor Bob. I'm sorry. 

I agree with the praise of all the young actors. This show would be only half as charming as it was. I loved that they focused on Will this time and Noah delivered in spades.

I also loved the Hopper-Eleven development. That was outstanding work and provided me with most of my favorite scenes.

I also worry about getting into teenage angst territory next season and that doesn't excite me at all. While I don't have that much nostalgia of 80 movies for kids or teens, the teen parts of season 1 were annoying me and I don't need a repeat of those tropes with the boys.

For me, the show works because of the chemistry between the boys, a few chuckles about the 80s and the music, and Joyce's and Hopper's friendship. And the outstanding acting from everyone involved.

[jhlipton]

Like @supposebly, we just finished watching last night.  Very tense, and so good!

On 10/28/2017 at 1:22 AM, LilaFowler said:

I loved Sean Astin as Bob the Brain and it absolutely kills me that he's dead. RIP,

Ditto!

On 10/28/2017 at 8:59 PM, Lady Calypso said:

My best guess is that his ambiguous sexuality will play a role in next season (his dad calling him the "f-word", him telling Mrs. Wheeler that she's not his type

He was saying that Nancy wasn't his type, flattering Mrs Wheeler some more.

[psychoticstate]

I binge watched this show over the last couple of days.  Where have I been?  

I thought Season 2 was good but not quite as good as Season 1.  Season 1 was phenomenal though so it's not saying 2 wasn't good, or even great.  I think S2 just started more slowly to lay groundwork, which S1 did not do.

Bob!  You killed Bob!  Damn.  I thought he would turn out to be some undercover douchebag bad guy but he turned out to be a geek who wasn't remotely cool but smart.  Easy peasy, Bob.  

I love Steve.  Love him.  At the end of S1 I was kinda sad that Nancy wasn't with Jonathan.  Now that she's with Jonathan, Steve seems way cooler.  I laughed over his hair maintenance routine.  I remember the Farrah Fawcett spray.  4 sprays only!  Damp, not wet . . . damp.  Steve's big brother routine with Dustin is adorbs.   I thoroughly loved Adventures in Babysitting with Steve.  More please.

I remember having a Trapper Keeper with stickers on it.  I also remember the blue pen with the multiple ink choices.  We saw Bob and Nancy each using one.  I was a teen in the 80s, maybe a year or two younger than Nancy, so all these little details are wonderful flashbacks.  I certainly remember having to get up during class to use the manual pencil sharpener.  Ha!

I laughed too over Billy's scene, getting ready to go out.  That Lost Boys wanna-be using Aqua Net!  Of course he did.  A tornado wouldn't move any hair shellacked with Aqua Net.  I thought for certain he was a goner once he and Steve began fighting and blood was drawn.  I figured putting that mutant corpse in the fridge would bring it back since it liked the cold.  We'll see if I'm glad I was wrong.

Poor Mews.  I knew he would be toast based on the thread description for Dustin here so I was on pins and needles for many episodes, waiting for the horrible thing to happen.

I've been an off and on fan of Wynona's for years.  I like her here.  I know some people think she's OTT but she's a mother whose boy was missing, presumed dead - - they even had a funeral! -- got him back and now weird shit is happening again.  Of course she would react like she is.  She's a badass at heart though and I love that.

Nancy has her bad ass moments too and I like it.

The boys are awesome.  Really great actors for kids so young.  Mike and El have amazing chemistry.  

I may stand alone here but I really didn't like El this season until she rejoined the group.  She was a brat, as Hopper said.  Which is understandable but it didn't make me like her any more for it.  Love Hopper though.  

The parents in this show continue being incredibly obtuse.  No idea what's going on and apparently no concern that their kids aren't home.  I know it was 1984, those were the days we'd be outside playing all day in summer and no cell phones.  However, my parents still pretty much knew where I was.  I wasn't given carte blanche to run all over town, even once I could drive.  Nancy and Jonathan were gone overnight and not one parent seemed to notice they weren't home.  My parents would have lit up the neighborhood, called every person I knew and then be on the line with the cops.   I guess Joyce is so focused on Will, she doesn't notice when Jonathan is gone; Nancy's dad is too busy sleeping and her mom is too busy taking steamy baths.  

I'm glad Barb's parents got some sort of closure.

I look forward to season 3.  How long do we have to wait? 

Edited June 5, 2018 by psychoticstate