I'm pretty shocked by the hate for episode 7. It definitely wasn't necessary for the story, but it was still a great episode the fleshed out the world.
Agreed. I enjoyed it. It's definitely Stranger Things does "The Warriors" but then this show has never not worn it's inspirations on its sleeve. I appreciated the change in tone and the world building done finally taking things out of Hawkins. Also, this isn't the last we'll see of Eight either.
Finished it last night and first of all, man Noah Schnapp (the actor who played Will) stole this whole season. Kid needs to be nominated for an Emmy ASAP.
While I didn't love this season as much as the first, I still really enjoyed it. I think that's owed to the fact that the main characters are just fun to follow, though I will say I could not care less for
Nancy & Jon's relationship, despite it delivering the best joke of the whole season with the "How was the pull-out?" gag
. I agree with the criticisms that this season had perhaps one too-many unresolved subplots that were clearly meant to be seeds planted for later seasons *cough* Episode 7 *cough*.
I will say though, the casting director for this show deserves an award because pretty much all the new additions to the cast were great and fit in really well. This is seriously one of the best ensembles of any TV show right now - which is astonishing considering half of the actors are teenagers.
I didn't like the season that much, it was a fun ride with great characters but it was no where near season 1. It's a 6/10 for me. I would love to discuss more of my thought but I have no idea how to spoiler tag things.
I liked the Steve/Dustin bromance, and I liked Steve at the designated babysitter. Steve has cemented himself as the best character.
Bob was too dumb to live. First you leave the gun behind, then you stop for a rest while a demon dog was chasing you? What was he doing? Was he waiting for an eagle to come save him? I don't get it.
Given that she was the breakout star of season 1, it's sort of weird to call Eleven one of the weak links of the season, but I think she is. She spent like 3 episodes wandering around on aimless subplot because the writers needed to give her something to do but couldn't have her join up with the rest of the cast yet.
Mike's Mom had basically nothing to do this season, but I thought the scene where she flirted with Billy was pretty funny.
Speaking of Billy, his character seemed kind of pointless. I suppose they'll try to redeem him next season, Steve-style.
I know Steve likes his baseball bat but next time they're facing an army of demons he should considering swapping out the bat for a gun. Probably more practical.
Max felt underutilized. She pretty much just tagged along with the group all season and didn't really contribute anything of note.
We really don't need to see that X-Men wannabe gang ever again.
I like all the lovecraft vibes this season had.
The whole #JusticeforBarb meme has never been that funny and I'm happy I can stop hearing about it.
I didn't like the season that much, it was a fun ride with great characters but it was no where near season 1. It's a 6/10 for me. I would love to discuss more of my thought but I have no idea how to spoiler tag things.
Season 2 is pretty good but I didn't enjoy it as much as season 1 because:
There was a lot of weak moments, fillers and preparation "jump points" for season 3... I am talking about the X-men like plot with number 8 and all the other kids with super powers, as well as the shadow monster still lurking.
Bob was an obvious sacrifice because let's face it they needed an emotional impact to showcase the danger of the monsters. A random genuine super kind unrealistically perfect boyfriend was an obvious choice to kill off.
Unlike season 1 the show tried too hard to reference the 80s by actually telling us instead of showing us. I enjoyed season 1 era references because they felt natural and seamless.
But my biggest complain is that the gang barely hang out all together, we seldom see them having fun and being all silly... Basically we seldom see them being normal kids thrown into an abnormal situation. I enjoyed season 1 because it reminded me of my childhood, all the innocent fun and imagination... Now we see them transition into teenager-hood each one of them on their own.
Max while being a fun addition seemed like a filler character because El wasn't about to show up until the end.
There are two episodes left for me and despite the dislike for episode 7, I really like that...
...they're treating the programme that experimented on these kids and the Upside Down as incidentally related. It makes the world bigger somehow. Eleven and the Upside Down are connected insofar as she made first contact with it, but her story is much more than that.
As far as we can tell, as well, Eight has nothing to do with any of that at all and her existence highlights that there are at least nine others. They're not all necessarily alive but it does remind us that Eleven *is* the main protagonist and that the greater mysteries at large don't actually have all that much to do with the Upside Down.
Just finished it. It was alright overall, but nowhere near as good as the first season. Maybe a 6/10. Episode 7 though... hahaha, like someone else mentioned it felt like some really shitty backdoor pilot. I hope we never see those people again.
Watched the first episode last night and was really put off by how plodding it was.
Only having 9 episodes I felt taking the entirety of this episode to re-establish the cast and introduce 3 new characters instead of propelling the central plot of the season seems odd.
I felt the same about Mindhunter, whose entire first episode could have been condensed into the first 15 minutes of a proper pilot.
I didn't like the season that much, it was a fun ride with great characters but it was no where near season 1. It's a 6/10 for me. I would love to discuss more of my thought but I have no idea how to spoiler tag things.
...nowhere near as good as the first season. The first season was tight and grounded, this second season felt like fan fiction. I hated the whole possessed Will thing, and episode seven was pure trash. Steve was literally dumbed down. I'm planning on rewatching it again later next month so maybe my impressions will change but I was disappointed.
Seeing Sean Astin in anything is a little tainted for me now, ever since I saw and talked to him at a convention many years ago and seemed kinda grumpy.
(Not that I hold it against him. Cons kinda suck.)
Only watched the first ep. Pretty weak opening. A stranger comes to town and there's a storm brewing. But otherwise nothing's really going on. Felt like a lot of wheel-spinning.
Just finished up season 2 and I liked it overall, but I was expecting much, much more from the amazing opening season.
Episode 7 is absolutely terrible. The inclusion of the "lost sister" added absolutely nothing to the overall plot and should have been removed entirely. The punk gang that 008 was hanging around weren't likable whatsoever which is something I don't associate with Stranger Things. I liked all of the characters in the first season, even the villains. My fiance and I were both completely disinterested in episode 7 and we both agreed it was filler. I honestly feel the small amount of character development Eleven received in this episode could have been abandoned.
The Hopper/Eleven stuff was my favorite thing this season. Jane Hopper is just amazing and I cheered when I saw it. Really, really glad that Hopper gets a daughter and Eleven gets someone that'll look out for her.
Billy was another annoyance I had this season. The character was great and I felt genuinely uncomfortable whenever he was on screen, but it just didn't resolve in way that felt satisfactory. Max threatened him while he was drugged up? I don't know, it just doesn't feel like that is going to take.
Did anyone have to rewatch season 1 before this ? For some weird reason I remember absolutely loving this but then forgetting almost everything about it . I think this is one of the negative affects of binge watching yoI forget as opposed to weekly views so it's emersed into you
I'm not going to read any of this thread yet since we just finished episode 5. So far it's really freakin' great, though, maybe even better than the first season.
I finished last night and just humped in here. Didn't think I'd see so many people saying they didn't like this season as much. I really enjoyed this season. My favorite television show for sure.
Cannot believe the level of exaggerated outrage I'm seeing around the seventh episode. I always knew there'd be blowback if this show decided to try and experiment with different things. Guess it's good that we start culling out the fans who are only interested in watching Whedonesque preteen jabbermouths because I hate to break it to you, but the show is never going back to that. The kids are getting older and we're going to new places and stories.
Cannot believe the level of exaggerated outrage I'm seeing around the seventh episode. I always knew there'd be blowback if this show decided to try and experiment with different things. Guess it's good that we start culling out the fans who are only interested in watching Whedonesque preteen jabbermouths because I hate to break it to you, but the show is never going back to that. The kids are getting older and we're going to new places and stories.
Cannot believe the level of exaggerated outrage I'm seeing around the seventh episode. I always knew there'd be blowback if this show decided to try and experiment with different things.
This. I'm all for the show going in new directions. Hell, I want season 3 to be about completely different characters having to deal with the Upside Down. The problem with episode 7 is just that it was entirely pointless and the characters introduced weren't likable. Not to mention that it completely killed the momentum of the cliffhanger of episode 6 and then the conclusion of the season.
I'm confused as to why people keep saying the episode is "pointless" when
you're clearly going to see these people again later in season 3
.
I agree that they shouldn't have ruined the momentum of episode 6.
These scenes should have been spread out over several episodes. They wanted to try a standalone episode and that's cool, but as an experiment it didn't work, so they will hopefully learn from that.
Done. Damn was that good. I agree that episode 7 was the lowpoint of the show, but even that was still good. And I still can't believe how crazy good these young actors are, especially the one who play Will, holy moly!
One final thing, the "Beyond Stranger Things" thingy, how good/interesting is that?
Just finished. Not as great as the first season overall, but still an amazing season none the less.
To people saying skip episode 7, don't listen to them...or, at least don't entirely omit it. I say give it a try because it's not a bad episode but it does kill the pacing because it is out of place. If you're hating it, fast forward to the next episode and come back to it after you finish the season because there is some important information that will definitely roll over into season 3.
Ruining the flow of Season 2 to devote an entire episode to something happening in Season 3 was just a bad idea. I sincerely hope 008 and her gang aren't in Season 3. An entire season like episode 7 is something I'd definitely skip. Going around killing Hawkins Labs people in masks doesn't feel like Stranger Things. At all.
Anyone else find it odd that there weren't any full grown Demigorgons? I expected to see a few of them amongst the Demidogs, but no dice. All those demidogs running around you'd think at least one of them would reach the end of the growth cycle.
Finished it last night and first of all, man Noah Schnapp (the actor who played Will) stole this whole season. Kid needs to be nominated for an Emmy ASAP.
That it was a good season, started off kinf of slow, and by episode 5 I felt like it wasn't going to feel like it had as many stakes as the first one. That changed fast though when we got into episode 6/
Stranger Things is to Alien as Stranger Things 2 is to Aliens. Thats kind of how I feel about it.
Also felt netflix could have given them at least a few more episodes, because it felt rushed at times.
Anyone else find it odd that there weren't any full grown Demigorgons? I expected to see a few of them amongst the Demidogs, but no dice. All those demidogs running around you'd think at least one of them would reach the end of the growth cycle.
I've finished the season now and it kinda panned out the way I feared it would. A lot less interesting mystery. We already know the world, we know the aesthetic, we know our characters won't really be surprised by anything that might happen and neither are we.
I really would have loved if Stranger Things could have become an anthology series with a completely new world and cast for each season, because the mystery is what drives the show. Of course we should and would fall in love with the characters who have to live through these events and want to see them again, I get it. Yet if nothing but literally a faceless excuse is brought up in order to meet this cast again and have them basically repeat the first season without much of the wonder or excitement that brought with it I don't really know what the point was.
Finished watching it a couple of hours ago and had to process it through. I can see where people are coming from on EP 7, I also felt that it kinda slowed the pace down of the show but I do not feel like it took anything away from the show as a whole.
When Samwise Gamgee offered to reboot the computers I knew he was going to die and that last part where they shown him getting eaten was brutal.
