Television Stranger Things (Netflix Original) | CONTAINS SPOILERS

Roosney said:
I wouldn't call main characters turning goofy and useless or constant plot armour minor annoyances. You can gloss over anything but it doesn't take away the fact that it's shit. And that it can be called that.
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It's an 80s homage.

Blockbuster TV and movies from that era weren't leaning towards gritty cinema verite the way they eventually develped in the 2000s.

80s shows were all about smash cuts, action set pieces, poster framed cinematography, sarcastic dialogue and loveable leading characters.

Stranger Things is trying to be The Goonies, not Game of Thrones.
 
Withnail said:
Jaysus :lol: If you hate the show maybe stop watching.
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Why don't you stop watching United? There are plenty of people who have been fans since season 1 so they still want to watch the season to complete it in the hope that will get better.

It's different when it's the first season you're watching and you don't like. If it's further ahead then it's difficult to just shut off.

Same with older shows like Dexter, seasons 2-3 were disappointing but then the show pulled my back in with an amazing season 4, but then got crap again afterwards. I didn't watch it again after season 6 and didn't watch the final season.
 
hasanejaz88 said:
Why don't you stop watching United? There are plenty of people who have been fans since season 1 so they still want to watch the season to complete it in the hope that will get better.

It's different when it's the first season you're watching and you don't like. If it's further ahead then it's difficult to just shut off.

Same with older shows like Dexter, seasons 2-3 were disappointing but then the show pulled my back in with an amazing season 4, but then got crap again afterwards. I didn't watch it again after season 6 and didn't watch the final season.
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It's a weird thing that there are people who seem to think if you ever liked anything then no matter what happens you can never ever criticize it no matter how bad it may get.

Instead you must keep saying it's brilliant otherwise you are not a fan and should never ever speak of it again
 
hasanejaz88 said:
Why don't you stop watching United? There are plenty of people who have been fans since season 1 so they still want to watch the season to complete it in the hope that will get better.

It's different when it's the first season you're watching and you don't like. If it's further ahead then it's difficult to just shut off.

Same with older shows like Dexter, seasons 2-3 were disappointing but then the show pulled my back in with an amazing season 4, but then got crap again afterwards. I didn't watch it again after season 6 and didn't watch the final season.
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But it's not the same as supporting a football team.

When did people become 'fans' of TV shows as if they were sports teams? TV shows go to shit all the time. It's disappointing but hardly unexpected. I suggested stopping watching because of the level of annoyance displayed in that post. If a TV show annoyed me that much I'd stop watching but maybe that's just me. I'm not trying to offend.
 
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lsd said:
It's a weird thing that there are people who seem to think if you ever liked anything then no matter what happens you can never ever criticize it no matter how bad it may get.

Instead you must keep saying it's brilliant otherwise you are not a fan and should never ever speak of it again
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This isn't what's happening here. It's about someone who clearly doesn't like something, but keeps watching it. That's it.

When I don't like something, I stop watching it. Why would I want to keep watching something that I don't like?
 
Jev said:
Started a rewatch the other day, surprised at how good the first season is. None of the cheesiness of later seasons and such brilliant pacing and plotting, the whole deep state thing is really great and Eleven is a fantastic character that season, as are all the kids (except for Lucas who's pretty annoying that season). Season 4 still second-best.
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Continuing my rewatch. Season 2 is not as consistently brilliant as season 1 and there are more annoyances but my word, the final two episodes are spectacular (actually the last three if we're not counting The Lost Sister, which I skipped). So many great character moments and a brilliant conclusion to the story.

To my surprise, season 1 and 2 would be firmly at the top if I were to rank the seasons.
 
Withnail said:
But it's not the same as supporting a football team.

When did people become 'fans' of TV shows as if they were sports teams? TV shows go to shit all the time. It's disappointing but hardly unexpected. I suggested stopping watching because of the level of annoyance displayed in that post. If a TV show annoyed me that much I'd stop watching but maybe that's just me. I'm not trying to offend.
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Game of thrones pretty much annoyed everyone last two seasons but people kept watching because they loved the earliest seasons and were hopeful that the show would save itself at the end which it obviously didn't.

I'm not enjoying this season anywhere near as much as the previous ones but I'll keep watching hopeful that eventually the Russian storyline will end, Argyle will explode taking Jonathan with him. Nancy will go away, Eleven will get her powers back and they will get back to what made the show good in the first place

Of course I'm aware instead they will probably kill Steve and Max and start shoving Argyle and Eddie down our faces episode after episode
 
lsd said:
Game of thrones pretty much annoyed everyone last two seasons but people kept watching because they loved the earliest seasons and were hopeful that the show would save itself at the end which it obviously didn't.

I'm not enjoying this season anywhere near as much as the previous ones but I'll keep watching hopeful that eventually the Russian storyline will end, Argyle will explode taking Jonathan with him. Nancy will go away, Eleven will get her powers back and they will get back to what made the show good in the first place

Of course I'm aware instead they will probably kill Steve and Max and start shoving Argyle and Eddie down our faces episode after episode
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That's fair enough but that's not the type of sentiment I was referring to at all. You are not enjoying it as much as previous seasons and hopeful that there will be some redeeming features. We've all been there. The other poster was saying it was shit. There's a big difference but sure I'll bow out of the thread anyway. As I've said earlier I've no real interest in discussions about shows I'm actively watching.
 
Withnail said:
That's fair enough but that's not the type of sentiment I was referring to at all. You are not enjoying it as much as previous seasons and hopeful that there will be some redeeming features. We've all been there. The other poster was saying it was shit. There's a big difference but sure I'll bow out of the thread anyway. As I've said earlier I've no real interest in discussions about shows I'm actively watching.
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I get what you're saying

I think with game of thrones if ya watch it there's maybe 4,5 or 6 great seasons depending on your view. Then a meh s7 with knowledge 8 was coming as final.

It's different to something like walking dead or stranger things. However if you liked the past season a lot then didn't like this one I get why you watch

If you hated S2 and 3 I'd be surprised if ya watched S4 and continued
 
Very enjoyable for me and the best season since the first one for me. It's 80s nostalgia is the thing. It's not trying to be next level writing like The Wire or some character driven slow burn like Mad Men. It's supposed to transport many of us back to how it felt growing up in the 1980s and it completely succeeds there for me. I think some people completely miss that point.

The ending with El's apparently different power levels between S1 and the showdown with 001 make perfect sense because that's how some things work with new skills.

I've experienced similar things with snowboarding. When I didn't know better, I went off a jump I had no business going off and somehow landed it and it felt like a great. Yet the next time I went off a smaller jump and fell flat on my face. Sometimes people are able to achieve something once before they know better and due to unique conditions. Then, they can't replicate that level of skill the next time. Feats of skill are not always linear, sometimes someone can pull something off once then the spend a long time trying to develop the skill to actually pull off that stunt on a regular basis (or never achieve that again).

Similarly, I managed to pull off a handstand exactly once in my life and despite trying again and again and coached by a friend who could pull them off no problem, I could never do a handstand again.
 
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hasanejaz88 said:
Considering how much time the Russia and California crew storyline took during the season I'd say I would have to cut out over half the pizza.

Plus the parts I did enjoy at first, the Hawkins storyline, got worse by the third slice.
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The posted I was replying to was specifically talking about humorous scenes. Nothing to do with good or bad storylines.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
Very enjoyable for me and the best season since the first one for me. It's 80s nostalgia is the thing. It's not trying to be next level writing like The Wire or some character driven slow burn like Mad Men. It's supposed to transport many of us back to how it felt growing up in the 1980s and it completely succeeds there for me. I think some people completely miss that point.

The ending with El's apparently different power levels between S1 and the showdown with 001 make perfect sense because that's how some things work with new skills.

I've experienced similar things with snowboarding. When I didn't know better, I went off a jump I had no business going off and somehow landed it and it felt like a great. Yet the next time I went off a smaller jump and fell flat on my face. Sometimes people are able to achieve something once before they know better and due to unique conditions. Then, they can't replicate that level of skill the next time. Feats of skill are not always linear, sometimes someone can pull something off once then the spend a long time trying to develop the skill to actually pull off that stunt on a regular basis (or never achieve that again).

Similarly, I managed to pull off a handstand exactly once in my life and despite trying again and again and coached by a friend who could pull them off no problem, I could never do a handstand again.
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I’d actually say it’s something even more simple and primitive than you say, quite simply in that incident her life is in direct threat, and that adrenaline rush has pushed her to do something that’s way beyond her usually. Kinda like when you get tiny people lifting cars when a kid is in danger or what have you. She expressed a massive amount of power without really knowing how to control it when in a pure fight or flight situation.

It’s one of the stranger complaints I’ve seen, I’ll definitely say that.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
Very enjoyable for me and the best season since the first one for me. It's 80s nostalgia is the thing. It's not trying to be next level writing like The Wire or some character driven slow burn like Mad Men. It's supposed to transport many of us back to how it felt growing up in the 1980s and it completely succeeds there for me. I think some people completely miss that point.

The ending with El's apparently different power levels between S1 and the showdown with 001 make perfect sense because that's how some things work with new skills.

I've experienced similar things with snowboarding. When I didn't know better, I went off a jump I had no business going off and somehow landed it and it felt like a great. Yet the next time I went off a smaller jump and fell flat on my face. Sometimes people are able to achieve something once before they know better and due to unique conditions. Then, they can't replicate that level of skill the next time. Feats of skill are not always linear, sometimes someone can pull something off once then the spend a long time trying to develop the skill to actually pull off that stunt on a regular basis (or never achieve that again).

Similarly, I managed to pull off a handstand exactly once in my life and despite trying again and again and coached by a friend who could pull them off no problem, I could never do a handstand again.
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That's stretching it to make up for lazy writing. The equivalent would be making that jump you mentioned, but then struggling to get on your snowboard after that, which ofcourse would never happen.

That also doesn't answer the question just why in the hell they would keep someone as dangerous and powerful as 001 as a freaking nurse only containing him with a small chip in his neck.
 
Dante said:
It's an 80s homage.

Blockbuster TV and movies from that era weren't leaning towards gritty cinema verite the way they eventually develped in the 2000s.

80s shows were all about smash cuts, action set pieces, poster framed cinematography, sarcastic dialogue and loveable leading characters.

Stranger Things is trying to be The Goonies, not Game of Thrones.
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Of course, I totally get the 80 nostalgia but it doesn't explain the regression of let's say Robin. She was a strong witty woman last season (spoke languages etc), and now she's suddenly become a dingy screaming comic relief. I find it really odd since previous seasons have been great in detail and consistent throughout.
 
hasanejaz88 said:
That's stretching it to make up for lazy writing. The equivalent would be making that jump you mentioned, but then struggling to get on your snowboard after that, which ofcourse would never happen.

That also doesn't answer the question just why in the hell they would keep someone as dangerous and powerful as 001 as a freaking nurse only containing him with a small chip in his neck.
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So that they could keep him contained and under their control? Up until that point he was the most powerful right? And that tiny chip pretty much did what they required. And everybody was under their control

They probably (stupidly or ego) never thought the control would get away or that eleven would be stronger?

Maybe they couldn't kill him so controlling him was the next best thing?
 
Season 4 undid all the damage from Season 3 being so shit.
Season 3 was like dumbed-down Goonies, the actors all had nothing to do, and there was no story. Russians under the Hawkins strip mall? It was so, so dumb. They ruined Steve, gave Nancy a junkie 28 year-old boyfriend pretending to be 19, and tried to make the gangly Mike look like he was still 13. Poor effort. 1 star out of 5.
Season 4 was actually scary again, with some really gnarly scenes. Good monster, they gave Hopper a great sub-arc, found a good way to use Winona Ryder and Murray, found a lot of good ways to keep the cast active without it being 6 people standing behind the 1 person talking. It really felt like they fired the entire writers room from Season 3 and brought in people who actually liked the Stephen King universe this show imitates.
 


The first volume of Stranger Things season four was released last week, and now we know, once and for all, just how long volume two is going to be. Episode eight will clock in at just over an hour, while episode nine, the season finale episode, is two hours and 19 minutes long. So two episodes of television, about three and a half hours, and it’s not even the final season.
 
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Drifter said:


The first volume of Stranger Things season four was released last week, and now we know, once and for all, just how long volume two is going to be. Episode eight will clock in at just over an hour, while episode nine, the season finale episode, is two hours and 19 minutes long. So two episodes of television, about three and a half hours, and it’s not even the final season.
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And if they cut the boring parts out we would have maybe an hour of great tv
 
Drifter said:


The first volume of Stranger Things season four was released last week, and now we know, once and for all, just how long volume two is going to be. Episode eight will clock in at just over an hour, while episode nine, the season finale episode, is two hours and 19 minutes long. So two episodes of television, about three and a half hours, and it’s not even the final season.
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Looks great. What’s the tune?
 
Drifter said:
Episode eight will clock in at just over an hour, while episode nine, the season finale episode, is two hours and 19 minutes long. So two episodes of television, about three and a half hours, and it’s not even the final season.
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:eek:

Season 1 played out like a single 6.5 hour long movie split into 8 acts. It was designed to be binged.

Season 4 still has the narrative of a single movie. But it's going to end up being 12.5 hours. It feels very different in terms of how Netflix is expecting us to watch it. I guess the 5 week break helps to build hype, so there is that.

I have to say, I quite like the change. This season is at least the best since season 1 and, imo, even surpasses it.
 
Dante said:
Remix of Running Up That Hill.


Edit: I'm assuming your question was sarcastic
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:D

In all seriousness, it’s a great edit. Wonder if it’s by the SURVIVE guys who did the theme/original soundtrack.
 
I don't watch many series but I remember the format was an episode per week. Then we started having all episodes in one day. But has any other show recently done what ST do with 2 parts in the space of a month? It seems to keep interest and engagement for a longer period. I remember everybody was talking for a few weeks about Squid games. But even judging from this thread, we have 10 pages for 4th season and 24 for 3 seasons. For sure we will have 4-5 pages till the first week of July. Though it seems that most of the pages are about 80s music and culture rather than the show per se, so I am maybe talking nonsense about engagement.
 
Dante said:
:eek:

Season 1 played out like a single 6.5 hour long movie split into 8 acts. It was designed to be binged.

Season 4 still has the narrative of a single movie. But it's going to end up being 12.5 hours. It feels very different in terms of how Netflix is expecting us to watch it. I guess the 5 week break helps to build hype, so there is that.

I have to say, I quite like the change. This season is at least the best since season 1 and, imo, even surpasses it.
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That's how I've felt about it - at least they are equal. The enemy is superb this season. It would have been even better without the Hopper side plot for me.
 
Drifter said:


The first volume of Stranger Things season four was released last week, and now we know, once and for all, just how long volume two is going to be. Episode eight will clock in at just over an hour, while episode nine, the season finale episode, is two hours and 19 minutes long. So two episodes of television, about three and a half hours, and it’s not even the final season.
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Excellent, can't wait
led_scholes said:
I don't watch many series but I remember the format was an episode per week. Then we started having all episodes in one day. But has any other show recently done what ST do with 2 parts in the space of a month? It seems to keep interest and engagement for a longer period. I remember everybody was talking for a few weeks about Squid games. But even judging from this thread, we have 10 pages for 4th season and 24 for 3 seasons. For sure we will have 4-5 pages till the first week of July. Though it seems that most of the pages are about 80s music and culture rather than the show per se, so I am maybe talking nonsense about engagement.
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I said earlier a show which has mystique and intrigue (like this) is better when it's an episode a week

It helped lost and of course game of thrones.
 
they could have dealth with Hopper being in Russia in the first episode. Every single thing that has happened in that plotline has been completely meaningless.The fight on the plane was especially cringe with every single tired cliche played out.

Similarly the Eleven storyline is predictable and far too overlong. We know what's gonna happen we are not being entertained by staying it out and anyone with half a brain one Dr Brenner would be there to help get her powers back. It was not a shocking reveal at all.

The whole Will,Mike and annoying stoners desert mission. Why? Again adds nothing at all and they just dragging it out for no reason than to pad time.

Argyle can just die at any point and I will instantly love the writers for saving me from any more of the single worst character I have ever seen in my life

Now the good Eddie has actually grown on me now at least he has the advantage of being in the good storyline.

Max has become the best character now and the girl who plays her is a great actress. That storyline is what is saving the show and to be honest it is Stranger Things. It is classic TV and what has made the show as good as it is. It's just such a shame they have went for quantity over qualify this season

Everything else that's happening outside that storylineI seriously couldn't care less about

IF this season was a book I would have skipped to the end after going no more 100s of pages of mind numbing boredom in the other non plotlines and then burned every copy of the book I could find
 
Salt Bailly said:
I like Argyle.
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Anyone see that video of the cast doing some press thing. Some of the main cast, Hopper and Argyle were sitting down getting their photo taken by a load of paparazzi and you could hear one of them shout at Argyle's actor; "Move! Get out of the shot!"

Felt so bad for the guy :( Hopper told him to ignore them though.
 
phelans shorts said:
I’d actually say it’s something even more simple and primitive than you say, quite simply in that incident her life is in direct threat, and that adrenaline rush has pushed her to do something that’s way beyond her usually. Kinda like when you get tiny people lifting cars when a kid is in danger or what have you. She expressed a massive amount of power without really knowing how to control it when in a pure fight or flight situation.

It’s one of the stranger complaints I’ve seen, I’ll definitely say that.
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Great points. Can't disagree with any of that.
 
Shane88 said:
Anyone see that video of the cast doing some press thing. Some of the main cast, Hopper and Argyle were sitting down getting their photo taken by a load of paparazzi and you could hear one of them shout at Argyle's actor; "Move! Get out of the shot!"

Felt so bad for the guy :( Hopper told him to ignore them though.
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Ugh, people are the worst. Good on David Harbour.
 
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