S03.E08: Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt

[larapu2000]

On 7/8/2019 at 9:48 AM, Robert Lynch said:

I hope Ryder sues the makeup artist for making her look gaudy. They just added 10 pounds of pancake makeup to her face, complete with rouge and dark lipstick. 

I think she probably agreed that it suited the character to make her look older, rougher, more traumatized.  As a seasoned actress, she's probably not very concerned with her vanity, especially as she's aged.  

[Dev F]

28 minutes ago, larapu2000 said:

Isn't Nancy going to college in the fall?  Wasn't the paper just a summer internship?  Jonathan kept yelling "internship" at her when she got fired (and he got himself fired and then blamed it on her, he is SUCH A BORING DOUCHE).

Nancy's still in high school. The newspaper job was a summer internship before her senior year.

[TwoBitUsherette]

I feel like the show hasn't done a great job in establishing the ages of the teenagers, with the exception of Steve who we know just graduated (class of '85).

In season two (fall of '84) Steve mentioned the possibility of staying behind for a year so that he could keep an eye on Nancy, which leads me to believe she's a year younger than him and class of '86. Also, there's been no mention from her about upcoming college plans which definitely makes me think she hasn't applied yet because she's still got one more year in high school.

We know that in season one Jonathan was old enough to have a driver's license, and in season two he clearly had at least one class with Nancy. I think if he had graduated with Steve we would have heard more about his future plans. Plus, he wouldn't have been forced to leave Hawkins when Joyce moved, he could have stayed behind and found a job. This leads me to conclude that he is also class of '86.

And then there's Robin. In 3x03 Steve very clearly tells Dustin that Robin is still in school, but then later during the Russian interrogation Robin mentions having been in "Mrs. Click's sophomore history" class with Steve. Also, when they're applying to the video store Robin tells Keith that she knows Steve "was a bit of a prick to us in high school." Which to me sounds like all three of them have graduated, but that contradicts Robin still being in school.

TL;DR - I'd really like it if the show were more explicit about the ages of the characters because I find details like that important.

[domina89]

1 hour ago, TwoBitUsherette said:

And then there's Robin. In 3x03 Steve very clearly tells Dustin that Robin is still in school, but then later during the Russian interrogation Robin mentions having been in "Mrs. Click's sophomore history" class with Steve. Also, when they're applying to the video store Robin tells Keith that she knows Steve "was a bit of a prick to us in high school." Which to me sounds like all three of them have graduated, but that contradicts Robin still being in school.

Maybe that was thrown in to illustrate how very little Steve actually knows about Robin or noticed her in school if she graduated with him but he hasn't even realized it.  

[Capricasix]

19 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

This is a town where only a little girl on a ferris wheel (plus our heroes) noticed a gigantic monster running around! I guess every single person was at the carnival?

Do you know, I had completely forgotten about Holly, and in that scene when she and the Wheelers were on the Ferris wheel and she saw the trees moving, I thought for some reason that it was a flashback to when Nancy was a little girl, and I wondered why they were showing that 😄 But it makes sense that she could see something; after all, she knew something was going on in the Byers house back in the first season.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Capricasix

[SoMuchTV]

5 hours ago, TwoBitUsherette said:

I feel like the show hasn't done a great job in establishing the ages of the teenagers, with the exception of Steve who we know just graduated (class of '85).

...

And then there's Robin. In 3x03 Steve very clearly tells Dustin that Robin is still in school, but then later during the Russian interrogation Robin mentions having been in "Mrs. Click's sophomore history" class with Steve. Also, when they're applying to the video store Robin tells Keith that she knows Steve "was a bit of a prick to us in high school." Which to me sounds like all three of them have graduated, but that contradicts Robin still being in school.

TL;DR - I'd really like it if the show were more explicit about the ages of the characters because I find details like that important.

3 hours ago, domina89 said:

Maybe that was thrown in to illustrate how very little Steve actually knows about Robin or noticed her in school if she graduated with him but he hasn't even realized it.  

Or, maybe it was because Steve was still in sophomore history a year too late? But still managed to graduate on time?

I agree, I noticed that too.

[foxfreakinmulder]

On ‎7‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 1:41 PM, backhometome said:

Yay! Steve coming in and smashing into Billy's car. I love how Steve always goes back for people. 

Love that about Steve but I missed his nail bat.

The ending was sad but I also think the American was Hopper, why else have that scene? Billy's death didn't move me he was too much of a jerk. See ya.

The Demogorgon at the end looked like it's evolved from the last time we saw one.

I thought it was a weird choice to have Joyce at the end just stare at Eleven. I don't understand why El lost her powers, I don't get it.

I believed Suzy was real but the singing went on a little too long. I did get a kick out of everyone's expressions that was listening though.

I got a flashback to Jurassic Park kids hiding in the kitchen from the Raptors also the alien in War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise. When he was hiding with his daughter in the basement and it had that long arm with the eye at the end searching for humans, that's what the monsters arm searching around for the kids reminded me of.

I was happy when everyone finally got together but it took too long. I have to wonder in season 4  how they will get together since Joyce moved her family and Eleven away from Hawkins. Will it be during one of the holiday visits? Maybe there will be clue that Hopper is alive and that will bring Joyce and co back.

I think episode 5 ended being my favorite this season. I did enjoy this episode but it was too finale and I hated seeing the group part ways. And Hopper :-(

The kids are growing fast they need to get season 4 on before this year ends. It's going to lose it's charm if the kids get too big/old. With the kids middle school age it has a goonies feel to it and that's what makes it fun. Come on Netflix we don't want to wait a year and a half for a season with 8 episodes.

Back to season 1.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

I have to wonder in season 4  how they will get together since Joyce moved her family and Eleven away from Hawkins. Will it be during one of the holiday visits?

Since they specifically mentioned the Byers family coming back to visit for Thanksgiving, I'm guessing that's when S4 will take place (mostly because they already did Christmas in S1).

[methodwriter85]

6 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Or, maybe it was because Steve was still in sophomore history a year too late? But still managed to graduate on time?

I agree, I noticed that too.

I noticed it too but I figured it either meant that Steve really didn't know Robin, or Robin managed to take sophomore history when she was a freshman, or Robin is going to community college and that's what he meant.

[thuganomics85]

Jonathan performing emergency surgery on Eleven's leg to get the part of the Mind Flayer out and then freaking Eleven doing it herself really set the tone about how real and gruesome shit was going to be getting for this one!

Hopper's death (or is it "death"?) definitely took me a little bit by surprise.  I figured if anyone was going to bite it, it was going to be Murray since Brett Gelman is a guest actor, and usually whenever a guest goes on a dangerous mission with regulars, it doesn't end well for them.  Then again, Joyce asking Hopper out on an official date really should have made me see it coming.  But, again, I'm curious to see if he's actually dead.  I guess it's possible he either somehow wound up in the Upside Down world or is the Russian prison somehow.  I guess it depends on if David Harbour wants to stick around or not.  Either way, his final voiceover was perfectly heartbreaking.  Poor Eleven.

Billy's death wasn't as surprising, but at least he went out on his own terms and buying the gang more time.  His character still wasn't that well developed and I wish we got more of his and Max's relationship, but it was still an emotional enough of an exit thanks to Dacre Montgomery (and Sadie Sink's) performance.

Suzie does exist!  And she and Dustin not only have cutsey nicknames for one another, but even have their own special song!  Everyone's reaction to that was hilarious!

Looks like Scoops Ahoy is no more, but now Steve and Robin are getting into the business of movie rental stores!  That should be fun!  I wonder which behind the scenes/props guy managed to find a standee of Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High?!

I guess I really can't blame Joyce over going through with the move, and I can buy that maybe she and Hopper worked something out so that she'd get custody of Eleven in case something ever happen to him (I'm sure Paul Reiser's character could work some covert military magic to help out.)  Still, this certainly changes things for everyone as now Nancy and Jonathan are apart, as are Mike and Eleven, and poor Will has to leave all of his friends behind!  Curious to see how they'll all reunite next season.

All in all, I thought this was better than last season (which I still enjoyed), and while it has its shares of quibbles, misfires, and mistakes, I still find it to be extremely enjoyable, with a pitch-perfect cast, setting, and feel to it.  Hopefully the Duffer Bros will be able to finish out what they have planned.

[Ellaria]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

I guess it depends on if David Harbour wants to stick around or not.  Either way, his final voiceover was perfectly heartbreaking.  Poor Eleven...

...Suzie does exist!  And she and Dustin not only have cutsey nicknames for one another, but even have their own special song!  Everyone's reaction to that was hilarious!...

...I guess I really can't blame Joyce over going through with the move, and I can buy that maybe she and Hopper worked something out so that she'd get custody of Eleven in case something ever happen to him (I'm sure Paul Reiser's character could work some covert military magic to help out.)  Still, this certainly changes things for everyone as now Nancy and Jonathan are apart, as are Mike and Eleven, and poor Will has to leave all of his friends behind!  Curious to see how they'll all reunite next season.

All in all, I thought this was better than last season (which I still enjoyed), and while it has its shares of quibbles, misfires, and mistakes, I still find it to be extremely enjoyable, with a pitch-perfect cast, setting, and feel to it.  Hopefully the Duffer Bros will be able to finish out what they have planned.

Well said. I loved this season and that's due in large part to this cast. They are an endearing group of young actors and I'm eager to see how they bring their characters to closure in the next season or two. I have no doubt that the Duffers will be able to finish this dark but delightful story. 

I believe that David Harbour will be back. This story could go forward without him but it would lose its heart. And yes, it some ways it would be perceived as a cheat to bring him back but that wouldn't matter to me. I love these characters and their genuine concern for one another. I need him to return for El, Joyce, etc.

I was thrilled to see that Suzie was real, adorable and that she shared Dustin's feelings. Their song was great and as was the others' reactions. Some may complain that it went on for too long. Maybe...but I don't care. I loved it and, IMO, it added to the charm of this show. 

Saddened by the move of the Byers + El. I'm sure that they will reunite next season, at least, temporarily to fight some new form of evil. Regardless, we know that all of these kids will soon be going their separate ways as they grow up.

[Robert Lynch]

Finn is having such a busy career with the band and all that I hoped the Duffer brothers could find a way to make his schedule on the show work. You could tell he wants to expand his horizons beyond this show.

[jrlr]

Is/was there any explanation for why the Russians would want to unloose this hell-on-earth force, which would destroy them as well as the rest of the world?

[QuantumMechanic]

12 minutes ago, jrlr said:

Is/was there any explanation for why the Russians would want to unloose this hell-on-earth force, which would destroy them as well as the rest of the world?

"mutually-assured destruction"

🙂

[childeroland]

They probably think they can control it, given that they were training the smaller things like attack dogs.

[Dev F]

2 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

Finn is having such a busy career with the band and all that I hoped the Duffer brothers could find a way to make his schedule on the show work. You could tell he wants to expand his horizons beyond this show.

He has a contract with the show that predates any of his other projects, though. So (at least from a legal perspective, if not from a "keeping the stars of your series happy" perspective) it's everything else that would need to be scheduled around his commitment to the show.

[foxfreakinmulder]

On ‎7‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 11:02 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

I read a review that said that Hopper's last fight was straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I don't see it.  

I haven't watched Raiders of the Lost Ark in awhile but I think they might be talking about the fight Indy had with a big Nazi guy by an airplane. Marion was sitting in the plane and a propeller was spinning and Indy ended up knocking the guy in the propeller. It may not of happened that exact way but I know there was a fight by a plane. That's the only fight I can remember from the movie that might resemble Hopper and the terminator's fight, replace plane with machine trying to open gate to the upside down.

[DanielleBowden]

12 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

The Demogorgon at the end looked like it's evolved from the last time we saw one.

Does anyone else think its part El?  The piece of the Mind Flayer that was stuck in her leg ran off without being caught or killed right?  Might also explain her loss of powers. 

[foxfreakinmulder]

12 minutes ago, cecehe said:

Does anyone else think its part El?  The piece of the Mind Flayer that was stuck in her leg ran off without being caught or killed right?  Might also explain her loss of powers. 

Hopper stepped on it. But Billy found Eleven's blood on the floor when he was looking for them so I don't know if that blood morphed into something or not.

[iMonrey]

Quote

This is a town where only a little girl on a ferris wheel (plus our heroes) noticed a gigantic monster running around! I guess every single person was at the carnival?

Not everyone - some of them were at the movies watching Back to the Future! In fact as soon as they went into the theater I wondered why all those people weren't at the carnival. 

I felt kind of bad for Joe Keery (Steve). Imagine having to wear that stupid little sailor suit for however long it took to shoot this whole season.

[QuantumMechanic]

2 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

Hopper stepped on it. But Billy found Eleven's blood on the floor when he was looking for them so I don't know if that blood morphed into something or not.

They showed the blood left on the floor starting to bubble a bit like it was rat/people goo.

[foxfreakinmulder]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Not everyone - some of them were at the movies watching Back to the Future! In fact as soon as they went into the theater I wondered why all those people weren't at the carnival. 

I felt kind of bad for Joe Keery (Steve). Imagine having to wear that stupid little sailor suit for however long it took to shoot this whole season.

I was thinking the same thing about the movie. The theater was packed they had to sit in the front row.

 I kept wondering if we were going to see Steve in anything other then that sailor suit and knee high socks and we didn't until the very end. Poor Joe.

[bettername2come]

Someone stated this idea somewhere else, so the Mind Flayer's general plan for season 3:

Edited July 10, 2019 by bettername2come
plans are not planes

[Kel Varnsen]

On 7/6/2019 at 11:06 PM, Blue Plastic said:

Still not sure how they would use that against the US unless they plan to zap some or all of the population into the Upside Down.

Capture a Demogorgon and release it in a major city would be a great way to mess with your enemy.

On 7/8/2019 at 9:48 AM, Robert Lynch said:

I hope Ryder sues the makeup artist for making her look gaudy. They just added 10 pounds of pancake makeup to her face, complete with rouge and dark lipstick. 

I thought the hair and make up people for Joyce did a great job. For the latter half of the season she looked supper ragged. Like someone who was super stressed out, hadn't really slept or eaten much and had been wearing the same clothes for days. Then in the 3 months later scene she looked like a new woman.

The Dustin and Suzie scene was fun but kind of went a bit long. Mostly because I hate the Neverending Story.  I am probably a few years younger than Erica and I ended up seeing that movie way too many times in the mid 80s. Anytime there was any kind of event where a movie was watched either at a rec centre or school or a birthday party, it was always that damn thing. The only good thing to come out of that movie is that awesome Simpsons line where Lionel Hutz said he sued the producers because the title was false advertising.

As for Erica I kind of liked her. She was smart, plus when was the last time a show had a smart talking little kid who also hated commie bastards (other than Webster, obviously)?

Edited July 11, 2019 by Kel Varnsen

[Ambrosefolly]

11 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

Finn is having such a busy career with the band and all that I hoped the Duffer brothers could find a way to make his schedule on the show work. You could tell he wants to expand his horizons beyond this show.

Noah Schnapp found the time to go to summer camp while the show was filming.  There is only 1 or 2 more seasons (with only 8 episodes each season) left and he is making bank. If the Duffer brothers think he is important to the show, they will work around him, as well as the other children.

[Ambrosefolly]

I am sorry, I didn't read all the comments, but watched the show. I know people are pretty jazzed for El to be a member of the Byer Family, partly because of Jopper shippers, partly because of Millie's and Noah's real life and legendary close friendship, but what about her Aunt Becky that offered her a home last year? Her sister's name is still on the birth certificate. I could understand her continuing to leave with Hopper and Hopper adopting her; she had spent a year with him and and El really wanted to stay with Mike, but Hopper is, er, "dead" and she is now being sent away from Mike. Shouldn't El go and live with her biological mother's family. I know that things would be difficult because she cationic, but it isn't like Joyce is overflowing with resources either.

[Katsullivan]

On 7/8/2019 at 4:14 PM, Perfect Xero said:

From what I gathered I got the impression that the story they were going for is that Season 2 was supposed to be Billy at his absolute worst after whatever triggered the move to Hawkins. Max has a line in Season 2 to the effect of "Billy's always been a jerk, but now he's just angry all the time." After Max drugged and threatened him in the S2 finale he got humbled a bit and reverted back to pre-Hawkins levels instead of the terror he was in S2, which they sort of show at the end of S2 when he looks in on Max getting ready for the dance.

Billy was flat out abusive to Max and in the After-Show they were doing for Season 2, the producers clearly explain that BIlly was: racist, and abusive. He hated Lucas for being black but he would basically look for any reason to hurt Max. It's also stated that they haven't been family for long - looks like their parents just got married and decided to "start new" in Hawkins. But in season 3, they're suddenly close siblings who've known each other since Max was a baby. 🙄🙄

All I wanted was for that abusive, racist piece of shit Billy to die and I got that. Of course they had to woobify his ass first because heaven forbid we should be happy that a POS got what was coming to him. I noticed that they entirely retconned his relationship with Max so that his victim could cry over his dead body, while also sweeping that small matter of "beat up a child for being black" under the rug. Typical.🙄

Edited July 11, 2019 by Katsullivan

[jcin617]

On 7/6/2019 at 11:24 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

Since Max and Billy's parents were absent this season, it's easy to forget that Billy's father was extremely abusive.  Seeing at how he treated Billy, it's no stretch to imagine that he was abusive to Max as well.  

On 7/7/2019 at 6:34 PM, bettername2come said:

This was my thought when Max started taking over treating El's leg. I don't think all her knowledge is from skateboard injuries.

I thought I recall from s2 that the reason Billy was such a jerk towards Max was because Billy resented that his father actually treated her nicely as compared to how he treated him.  Am I misremembering, or did it come up in one of the after shows?

[Female83]

On 7/7/2019 at 12:05 PM, ruby24 said:

By the way, what is El's schooling situation? How is she being educated?

I assume Hopper had her look through textbooks and maybe gave her some homework. 

[Straycat80]

I liked this season. They got the details of the 80’s right too with the mall, music, clothes and movies. Memories! The acting was great all around too. I thought this season was more like a horror movie than S 1&2. Lots of goo and guts.

I thought the ending was sad. Felt like the series finale.  I was hoping all the effected people would come back to normal after the mind flayer died. And then the after credits scene, add me to the group who thinks Hop is the American in the cell. 

I hope they don’t make us wait too long for season 4, the kids are growing up fast, some of them already look like adults. 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Straycat80

[MissL]

20 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

I haven't watched Raiders of the Lost Ark in awhile but I think they might be talking about the fight Indy had with a big Nazi guy by an airplane. Marion was sitting in the plane and a propeller was spinning and Indy ended up knocking the guy in the propeller. It may not of happened that exact way but I know there was a fight by a plane. That's the only fight I can remember from the movie that might resemble Hopper and the terminator's fight, replace plane with machine trying to open gate to the upside down.

Actually I don’t remember which Indian Jones it was but wasn’t there a scene with Indy fighting someone on a tank or something and his head was really close to the treads? Maybe it actually was raiders.

Man it’s been forever since I watched those movies.

[AuxArx]

Storms made the cable go out yesterday, so I watched the last 2 episodes, even though I had wanted to make it last longer.  Oh well.  Thought it was a good but bittersweet ending.  I think Hopper is "the American", too.  It seems that Russia also has a gate/portal maybe since they have that creature, so maybe the two gate/portals link up somehow and Hopper slipped through the opening before everything blew up and ended up in Russia.  Or something.  Who knows?

I liked Murray, especially his attitude toward kids, wondering why there was a 4-year-old there and then later in the vents--"I hate kids". 

The song with Dustin and Suzie was cute and since so many of those young actors have musical theater backgrounds, it was nice that they could show off a little.  Thought Dustin and Suzie's voices sounded good together.  However, that was SO not the right time for a duet!

I know Billy was a jerk even though he partially made up for it in the end.  But after seeing the actor who played him on talk shows, with his short hair and Hugh Jackman accent, his portrayal was pretty amazing.  In fact, all those British actors did good jobs with their American accents.

That thing popping out of El's leg reminded me of Alien, and was just as gross.  Did it suck out her powers ?  Hope they grow back!

I know Joyce was the obvious person to take El in, but it was sad that they split up the group.  But there's always Thanksgiving and Christmas.  As for El's schooling, if the government guy couldn't get her some fake ID, then I guess she could be homeschooled.  And if they're new in town, who's going to wonder about whether she belongs with that family.  We've seen enough stories in the news about parents who kept their kids locked away and the neighbors didn't even know they existed, so no one really pays attention to the people next door unless they're really a nuisance. 

Oh, and the Scoops Group was the best.  Steve and Dustin need their own show.

All in all, a good season and I hope #4 hurries up before the kids are too grown up.

Edited July 12, 2019 by AuxArx

[Pike Ludwell]

I think they went in a wrong direction when they decided to throw in tons of unrealistic fight scenes, along the lines of Marvel Comics shows. People getting punched and banged in the head and all over with blows that in real life, would, if not kill, would cause detached retinas, broken facial bones, concussions, deviated septums. I grew weary of this nonsense in the Marvel stuff and I am disappointed to see it here. 

In the next season I hope Mike's hair is different and they don't make him wear that horrible black wig he had to wear this season.

[benteen]

I really enjoyed this season.  I admit it started a little slow for me but really picked up steam from Episode 3 on.  I also give Netflix credit for knowing when to drop the new season.  4th of July was perfect and I love all the bits of nostalgia. 

I wish Dustin hadn't been separated from the group for so long and a lot of characters are separated from each other.  But the show always does well with these groups they put together so that helped a great deal.

I liked Robin a lot though I was disappointed with the reveal, as I was hoping for her and Steve to become a couple. 

I thought Max was annoying this season and then Erica came along.  She was annoying almost all of the time and who gets upset with someone saying their name?  As Avaleigh pointed out, she was reaching Dawn from Buffy levels of irritating. 

I will, I really did like Max's friendship with Eleven (the mall scene was a lot of fun) and it was something that Eleven really needed, to branch out on her own with someone else.

I admit I knew it was the Neverending Story song right away.  Lucas and Max making fun of Dustin by singing it was great.

Enjoyed the Russians being the villain.

Hopper's letter and the end was very well done.

I'm really glad that Mike went from being a victim this season to have a more active role in events.  I grew very tired of the Mike torture early last season and I did not want to see another season of that.  It also allowed Joyce to do something other than worry about saving Mike, also a plus.

LOL on Bald Eagle.  I'm glad we got more of him and the other Russian guy (I'm bad with names sometimes).

Edited July 11, 2019 by benteen

[Cowgirl]

Okay, I can't find an "unpopular opinions" thread, so I guess I will go ahead and post here.  First, I really love Stranger Things and am not some troll trying to stir up trouble.  It's just that, when Hopper's speech morphed into some weird letter to El, I looked at the t.v. in disbelief.  I just thought it was SO cheesy and lazily written to have him come back from the dead (if he really is dead) that way.  And, I'm usually a sucker for sentimental writing.  I don't know why I disliked the Hopper letter/voiceover so much, but I just really did.  If he were that sentimental over El, he probably would have found a way to tell her when they were alone, not just morphed into his speech he planned to give the kids to settle down their makeout sessions. 

Hopper also annoyed me more than making me like him this season.  I'm not even sure why. I think part of it might be that he just kept brushing Joyce aside.  He only was actually nice to her and listened to her when he made his one comment about making her Detective Byers.  Otherwise, the whole second half of the season was him bickering with her and dragging her around by the hand. That is, when he wasn't in ridiculously violent fights that I hated.  By now he should know how tough and smart Joyce is. 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Cowgirl

[ghoulina]

12 hours ago, Katsullivan said:

Billy was flat out abusive to Max and in the After-Show they were doing for Season 2, the producers clearly explain that BIlly was: racist, and abusive. He hated Lucas for being black but he would basically look for any reason to hurt Max. It's also stated that they haven't been family for long - looks like their parents just got married and decided to "start new" in Hawkins. But in season 3, they're suddenly close siblings who've known each other since Max was a baby.

I definitely feel there was some retcon going on with his character this season; and I wasn't feeling it. I like Max, but I couldn't muster up much sympathy for her in regards to Billy. He was HORRIBLE to her. 

38 minutes ago, Cowgirl said:

Hopper also annoyed me more than making me like him this season.  I'm not even sure why.

Okay. I LOVE Hopper. His relationship with EL might have been my favorite show-ship up until this season. But I found myself cooling a bit on him this time around. I couldn't quite put my finger on why right away, but I think what I've come up with is that they wrote him too OTT this year. It just seemed like he was a caricature of himself. He was CONSTANTLY yelling at people (El, Joyce, the other kids, etc.) and freaking out. He wasn't this clever, but down-home, relatable cop any more. He was this unhinged, over-protective dad. He wasn't like that as much in the second half, but he did grate on my nerves a bit this season.

[Cowgirl]

1 hour ago, ghoulina said:

It just seemed like he was a caricature of himself.

This, especially!  I usually love Hopper too, but they did seem to make him a bit of a caricature of himself this time around.  Plus now he has super action hero skills, despite being out of shape (I'm out of shape too, just for the record.).  

[QuantumMechanic]

(deleted)

Edited July 11, 2019 by QuantumMechanic
changed my mind abour what I was saying.

[ch1]

4 hours ago, Pat Hoolihan said:

I think they went in a wrong direction when they decided to throw in tons of unrealistic fight scenes, along the lines of Marvel Comics shows. People getting punched and banged in the head and all over with blows that in real life, would, if not kill, would cause detached retinas, broken facial bones, concussions, deviated septums. I grew weary of this nonsense in the Marvel stuff and I am disappointed to see it here. 

In the next season I hope Mike's hair is different and they don't make him wear that horrible black wig he had to wear this season.

I agree.  This season felt like the creators were feeling themselves and their budget.  The focus on the characters seemed secondary to the bells and whistles.  I hope next season gets back to the feel of the first 2 seasons.

[iMonrey]

Quote

 I was hoping all the effected people would come back to normal after the mind flayer died.

I wondered whether they would go there, but I'm glad they didn't. Their bodies were basically liquefied . . . how do you come back from that?

Quote

I hope Ryder sues the makeup artist for making her look gaudy. They just added 10 pounds of pancake makeup to her face, complete with rouge and dark lipstick. 

I've seen an awful lot of comments about how Winona Ryder looked this season and yet I didn't notice anything unusual. I have not, however, seen a single comment on how David Harbour looked, and he was noticeably heavier than in the first two seasons. 

[SailorGirl]

I find it interesting that no one thinks "the American" is Mayor Wesley. He's actually a pretty logical candidate given that he was in cahoots with the Ruskies and couldn't control "his" police chief. Plus, he was knocked out at the fair so the Russians could have easily grabbed him and put him on a plane. Keeping him locked up and likely tortured as well as playing mind games with him before turning him into dinner would certainly be one way to teach him a lesson.

I think Mayor Wesley is in the Russian prison and Hopper jumped into the Upside Down before the gate closed. He knows how to survive down there and who's to say there aren't other ways out? He just has to find one. 

Edited July 12, 2019 by SailorGirl

[kieyra]

7 hours ago, Pat Hoolihan said:

In the next season I hope Mike's hair is different and they don't make him wear that horrible black wig he had to wear this season

I’m pretty sure that’s the actor’s actual hair. I think it’s Will who wore a wig. Either way those haircuts have got to go.

I’m a new viewer to the show. Resisted the hype for a long time because while I’m the same age as the show’s protagonists, the 80s nostalgia thing is largely lost on me. Maybe because I remember it all quite clearly. Maybe because my life f’n sucked in 1984-1985. Well, let’s not dig too deep there. Anyway, viewed merely as a tv show fan, there was just too much going on for me by season 3. Cast grown FAR too large, I hate it when they split everyone up into their own separate shows, and frankly I’m tired of that balding guy with the long beard and glasses showing up in every single show I watch lately. (Okay, his character on Fleabag was despicable and that doesn’t help.) And he got a LOT of screentime, he was basically co-lead for much of the Joyce/Hopper show. 

I don’t even know what I would want from another season of the show. The only characters I care much about now are Eleven and Joyce. The show can take another stab at making me care about Will and Mike if they fix the hair issue.

Oh, and I’ve been convinced since the pilot that they primarily cast the actor who plays Jonathan because he looks like a young Stephen King.

Edited July 12, 2019 by kieyra

[freeser]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I've seen an awful lot of comments about how Winona Ryder looked this season and yet I didn't notice anything unusual. I have not, however, seen a single comment on how David Harbour looked, and he was noticeably heavier than in the first two seasons. 

I agree with you and thought the same thing.  I don't think Winona looked all that different than in previous seasons.  However, as much as I love the Hopper character, David Harbour looked rather worse for wear this season.  He was heavier in his body and face.  Maybe he was supposed to look like that, but he seemed to have let himself go physically.  

[SoMuchTV]

16 minutes ago, kieyra said:

Cast grown FAR too large, I hate it when they split everyone up into their own separate shows, and frankly I’m tired of that balding guy with the long beard and glasses showing up in every single show I watch lately. (Okay, his character on Fleabag was despicable and that doesn’t help.) And he got a LOT of screentime, he was basically co-lead for much of the Joyce/Hopper show. 

OMG, I never made that connection! Thanks for that!

[dju]

On 7/12/2019 at 3:39 AM, Cowgirl said:

Okay, I can't find an "unpopular opinions" thread, so I guess I will go ahead and post here.  First, I really love Stranger Things and am not some troll trying to stir up trouble.  It's just that, when Hopper's speech morphed into some weird letter to El, I looked at the t.v. in disbelief.  I just thought it was SO cheesy and lazily written to have him come back from the dead (if he really is dead) that way.  And, I'm usually a sucker for sentimental writing.  I don't know why I disliked the Hopper letter/voiceover so much, but I just really did.  If he were that sentimental over El, he probably would have found a way to tell her when they were alone, not just morphed into his speech he planned to give the kids to settle down their makeout sessions. 

Hopper also annoyed me more than making me like him this season.  I'm not even sure why. I think part of it might be that he just kept brushing Joyce aside.  He only was actually nice to her and listened to her when he made his one comment about making her Detective Byers.  Otherwise, the whole second half of the season was him bickering with her and dragging her around by the hand. That is, when he wasn't in ridiculously violent fights that I hated.  By now he should know how tough and smart Joyce is. 

On 7/12/2019 at 4:20 AM, ghoulina said:

He was CONSTANTLY yelling at people (El, Joyce, the other kids, etc.) and freaking out. He wasn't this clever, but down-home, relatable cop any more. He was this unhinged, over-protective dad. He wasn't like that as much in the second half, but he did grate on my nerves a bit this season.

I was tossing up whether to respond here or on the Hopper thread, but I figure it relates mostly to this episode, so it's appropriate here. From listening to a couple of David Harbour interviews in which he's discussing the Hopper trajectory in this season, it sounds like the rationale behind Hopper unravelling and/or his existential crisis in S3 is supposed to primarily be having to reconcile with El growing older, his fear of losing her because it's a reminder of 'losing' Sara amongst the trauma of everything that's happened in S2.

And while Harbour is a phenomenally nuanced actor and puts in the subtextual work, I just don't think there was nearly enough set up in the writing for that trajectory to come across. It's the letter that is really given the burden of doing the majority of the work retroactively, so I can completely understand why it didn't land for you, cowgirl. But even then, nothing in that speech/letter answers the question as to why he was angrier and more combative this season, had a much quicker propensity to violence, had this edge of entitlement that I argue wasn't there in previous seasons. If it's due to trauma and if it's in response to the El/Sara fear, we needed to get a clearer sense of that trauma and effect upon his behaviour and have the risk of 'losing' El come across more seriously as opposed to it coming down to a 14-year-old boy. And it wouldn't have taken a lot of adjustment to do that imo, have a quiet moment of Hopper telling Joyce that he really just misses El after he's ranted about Mike, have the Mayor revealing that he knows about El rather than just using the 'dead daughter' line be what catapults Hopper into a violent response and actually show us a scene from the letter or a scene between Hopper and El earlier in the season. So although I actually really did love it, the Duffers were banking a hell of a lot of emotional and character weight on a VO letter.

Edited July 15, 2019 by dju

[Quilt Fairy]

2 hours ago, SailorGirl said:

I find it interesting that no one thinks "the American" is Mayor Wesley. He's actually a pretty logical candidate given that he was in cahoots with the Ruskies and couldn't control "his" police chief. Plus, he was knocked out at the fair so the Russians could have easily grabbed him and put him on a plane.

We see the mayor arrested at city hall in the "3 months later" special. 

[SailorGirl]

5 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

We see the mayor arrested at city hall in the "3 months later" special. 

well, crap. There goes my theory! 😄 Clearly I didn't remember that! 🤔

[ByaNose]

I prefer the drinking & smoking Hopper wearing his uniform and not caring compared to the Season 3 version. At least, he had his shirt off for a bit. It’s the small things. Actually, his chest is huge but you get my point. I also think the voice over letter was kind of weak & way too soft for Hopper.

[archer1267]

Quote

I don't understand why Joyce gets custody of El and she has to move away with them. She's not close to Joyce or Will. Mike's family wouldn't take her in? 

The Wheelers seemed pretty laid-back (and even oblivious at times), but I'm pretty sure taking El in when she and Mike are semi-involved would be a no-no. And her aunt Becky didn't seem to want her around.  El has shared trauma with the Byers family, and Joyce was very caring and protective of El when she went into the floatation tank during S2. Also, the Wheelers had no relationship with Hopper. Joyce taking El felt like a natural progression to me.

This season seemed so over-the-top with the Russian angle, and rushed at the end following the aftermath. Like others have said, I wish Dustin had reunited with his friends sooner, and I wish Will had had more to do (he's my favorite of the four boys). And did Lucas have much to do aside from counseling Mike on his relationship issues? I wonder if, by Dustin giving Erica his D&D books - and her unexpected reaction - the baton is getting passed to a younger group of friends?

I'm very curious to see how they handle El's fading abilities in S4. 

[Robert Lynch]

Being a Russian-Romanian Jew descent, I thought the Russian angle was the worst part of this season. I know this was based on 80s tropes in movies about big bad Russians in films like Spies Like Us and others made in that era, but I was annoyed how that took over the aspect of the show.