Stranger Things Season 2

Perhaps. I think we have to learn to be comfortable with these conversations or an entire side of the debate is never had and forgotten and that's far worse than upsetting someone. It's not like we are saying "Silly gals tryin to get involved in a man's world!" lol. I think the reaction comes from the desire to be a victim or offended. That's universal now, not just to females. You almost have to *try* to see anything other than the innocent awkwardness of Eleven at play there.

Spoiler

The spoiler scene you discuss, your assessment is spot on. This is who she is. Deal with it. Grew up on soaps...petty to the max! *sorry for the pun lol. El pulls Max off the skateboard, she straight knocked Lucas the F out! Progress.

Max is next season's Lucas/Dustin. They were mostly just plot devices is season 1. Lucas was to be the skeptic and antagonize Mike from within the group. Dustin was there for the lols and band aid things. Max is here to be a plot device for season 2 and set up her arc in season 3. A show with this many characters can't do them all justice. Mike suffered a bit for Will to get more time and holy hell did Noah Schnapp deliver! With the format of Stranger Things I think it's a bit rash to judge newly added characters right now when they so clearly left so much out on purpose. It wasn't for shits and giggles. It was an intentional design to give us something new and fresh for season 3. We can lean heavy into Max and Billy so we don't wear out Dustin, Lucas, Jonathan and Nancy...who have all but ran their arcs. Steve, Hopper, Joyce, Max/Billy, Mike, Will and Eleven are your stories in season 3. Im not saying the other 4 will be written off but there isn't much to them right now, they got (mostly) happy endings. And I think they will slide a bit back into their season 1 roles.

With Charlie Heaton's drug issues, I think they could just write him off though. His character and Nancy's are honestly done. What else is there?

Spoiler

Jonathan got the girl, saved his brother and his mom. Nancy realized she wasn't in love and she was just being who people expected. She's with the "right" one now and knows who she is. Oh and got her #JusticeForBarb.

I really hope season 3 is Mike and Eleven focused. Firstly, Finn and Millie have great chemistry together. Secondly, it's the most compelling arc of the show right now. Followed by:

Spoiler

Hopper and Joyce, Steve the babysitter, Max/Billy and abuse, perhaps even Billy dealing with being closeted? Big deal in 1984. Throw in Will still likely has some issues....could work on Dustin becoming the new Steve and possibly either sliding out of the group slowly or pulling Steve into it more...Steve Harrington D&D!!!

 

Man, you really nailed what's going on and where things look to be heading. I hope the writers have a few new tricks up their sleeve for next season - I'm not sure how much more strange things that small town can handle!

Now there's a decent pool of audience invested characters they may be able to spread the action over a couple of locales. The 'party' are stuck in school and Hopper with 'his' town but I could see a trip (Hopper sanctioned or otherwise) to the city with El to help with 008 and whatever trouble or missions she's up to or meet Will & family if they decided to bail town.

We're still yet to see some serious inter-dimensional action above ground yet and I'm expecting more spies in the future. Billy or his Dad could be interesting - have one arcing good and the other for worse? Or maybe the mind flayer infecting a special?

That Charlie drama was news to me (see what I did there). Sad for a personal party to spoil a premier party. (Round home he's known as Michael Bacon 'cause he looks like a late Michael Jackson cross with a young Kevin Bacon!)

On another note I noticed more news agencies picking up on the kiss pressure story and it reminded me of my friends studying drama. These actors were always training hard on breaking down their inhibitions and insecurities - often as competition. Maybe that kind of culture carried some meaning for their banter?

 

I don't really want or need more than El or 8.
I don't even want 8 to be honest. The more special El is the better.
Why was she so special compared to 8? What made her worth hunting down?
I could go on about this for pages...and tie it into what I hated about the prequels and make it really topical lol.

I want to see growth. I know we all love our little "Goonies" but they are going to be more or less high school freshmen. Not kids. Time to throw a bit more John Hughes in this show!

And definitely want to see a Mind Flayer invasion. I don't want to see El round up the previous 10 kids and form her X-Men team and take it out. That would really just render Hopper and the Party useless to me. Like Batman trying to fight Doomsday with Superman and Wonder Woman. Sure thanks for the moral support?

As for Charlie...there's a path he's following in many ways it seems.

Spoiler

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 7, 2017, Original Post Date: Nov 7, 2017 ---

It's gross and it's 100% applying adult motives to kids. It's two friends having fun. No one remembers spin the bottle? (HOW THE HELL HAS THIS NOT BEEN USED IN STRANGER THINGS YET?!?!) or Seven Minutes in Heaven? This is normal kid behavior. Egging on a friend to do something like that is a quintessential part of childhood. There's no nefarious reasoning. It's just a friend being a jerk to a friend...like all friends are.

I'm sure they are both used to that sort of behavior and while it's embarrassing she didn't seem upset at the kiss, she seemed more annoyed that the adults in the scene clapped and made it MORE awkward because well, that's what adults do to kids!

Did the people who wrote these things just skip childhood? Did they grow up in a bubble?

 

Am I the only one who can't stop listening to this theme?

 

They did a great job with some new themes.
The synth music is what gives the show the edge it needs and break from using pop tracks

 

Yeah I guess I'm not looking for another X-men type show either. There's some appeal in the superpower premise but I think it's everything different about Stranger Things to the current tropes that makes it interesting to me.

I'd actually be happy with just one more season (if any) and maybe a revisited season in a decade or two. I like how the Brits often only do a few seasons of a hit show rather than the States habit of often milking season after season until all magic is lost.

I didn't think anything beyond a slow dance was necessary myself but child acting in general comes with such a host of ethical and moral dilemas it would be impossible to unpack them even if we wanted to!

Nope - although it keeps bleeding into The Cure in my head.
That synth use is great and I think the combo with the heart-beat sub bass on the intro is key to setting the atmosphere.
Speaking of setting atmosphere I counted a needle-drop score of about 5 classic 80's tracks just in the first half of the first episode.
I guess it pays to start strong and hook into the nostalgia and is probably evidence of an increased budget too.

 

Agreed. I don't mind the super powers in as knowing they exist, I just don't need to see them. El being special and unique is what makes her such a good character. It gives her a unique internal strength that never need explicitly said if you know she's #11 and the most recent one...but you never see the others. Implying they failed and died or were otherwise dealt with. (Terry Ives)

The plan is for four seasons. Which I think is about right.

I don't think the kiss was "necessary" but it didn't feel forced or added on. It was barely a kiss lol.
Much ado about nothing in the end...

 

I finally watched the second season and after seeing both seasons there is one thing I don't understand. And maybe I missed it or overlooked it, but why is Will this conductor so to speak for the upside down world? Why are they attached and attracted to him? Don't get me wrong I love the show. It's very engaging, but that is the big thing I don't get. About Will.

 

Because he spent so much time in it. It basically attached itself to him.
It's like the difference between having a leech on your arm you just pull (painfully) off and having a tapeworm live inside you for years.

 

I really dig how they recreate the atmosphere of old 1980s America (Halloween figurines, Dragon's Lair game, etc.), but I wish the "stranger things" themselves were more mystical than sci-fi, i. e. more like Stephen King's Pennywise and Lynch's Black Lodge than some exotic biological species.

 

I AM SOOO LATE TO THIS SHOW!! Had to track down two local Target stores to get both seasons on DVD/BLU-RAY. Enjoyed both seasons, except episode 7 of season two. Felt like it pulled away from the drama of the show. Giving Eleven a side adventure while major things were happing in Hawkins, was a distraction. Loved the dance at the end, dang if it wasn't just like that back then. Showing up at the dance, not having a date, trying to get the girl...sniff. Loved the characters, not all of them, but I have to say Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Will are by far my favorites!! Like El, but her and Mike are just too "clingy" for that age I think. Didn't like Hopper at first, and Mike is WAY TOO BOSSY! Love how Steve has changed and kinda looks after the kids. The scene with him in the back of the car while Max was driving is hilarious!! All in All it was worth the 14 bucks I paid for both season!!

 

I'm looking forward to Season 3 on July 4th

 

Well, Season 3's overwhelming stupidity got in the way of my caring about the characters and their stuggles.