Stranger Things (Netflix)

Looked more like the crevice tool of a vacuum cleaner to me. That might have been the vacuum cleaner hose clouding my judgement, though.

I though the same thing! The wand looks like it made from a rubber band gun. Sorry it’s the prop builder in me

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You're both right. It looked like they made the wand from whatever was handy. Dustin's, I think, used the rubberband gun while I'm pretty sure Will's and Mike's were vacuum attachments.

Ah. I correct myself:
Stranger-Things-2-Ghostbusters-Promo-2.jpg

They appear to be crevice tools, alright.
 
I though the same thing! The wand looks like it made from a rubber band gun. Sorry it’s the prop builder in me

View attachment 770194

Looked more like the crevice tool of a vacuum cleaner to me. That might have been the vacuum cleaner hose clouding my judgement, though.

I think you nailed it. Im glad they made the proton packs low tech instead of going the easy route. You could see cardboard, foam and hand drawn gizmo's etc. The only small issue is they were constructed almost identically to each other with the exception of a few gauges. In the real world, each kid would have put them together a little different IE size/shape/color/accuracy and materials used.

Finished episode 5 last night. The story isnt as gripping as the first season but thats to be expected in a sequel.

Spoiler below......










The second the kid started scribbling page after page I thought, 'X Files nod here we come. They are going to make a collage of the drawings to make a bigger picture.'

You're both right. It looked like they made the wand from whatever was handy. Dustin's, I think, used the rubberband gun while I'm pretty sure Will's and Mike's were vacuum attachments.

Ah. I correct myself:
View attachment 770205

They appear to be crevice tools, alright.


They're crevice tools/reach extenders taped to rubber band guns.

In several scenes it's blatantly obvious that the handle portion is a rubber band gun.

My Photobucket WAS still working, so let's see if it shows these...

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They had four of the kids on Good Morning America today, El/Eleven, Dustin, Lucas, and Max. It was ok, but I was disappointed they did not have the guy who plays Dustin do that purr/growl thing. I don't know if the rest of the cast was spread out over the other morning shows.

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I finished it tonight...didn't end up binge watching it like I had planned because the wife didn't really want to do it that way...but that's okay.

Hold on tight guys, this is gonna be a long one...

I really, really enjoyed it. I can understand why some people aren't as satisfied with it as they were with season one for various reasons...less focus on the kids and more on the adults, Eleven being away from the group for so long, not quite as much of that "magic" that was there when it was fresh and new...but overall I felt that the second season was a worthy successor to the first, and in some ways maybe even better. The only thing that wasn't up to par, to me, was that seventh episode. I understand why it was there, and I did like that it showed a bit more of what another kid with powers can do...I have also read that it was potentially inserted as a sort of "pilot" for a potential spinoff series, but for me it just didn't work was well as the rest of the episodes in both seasons. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but I felt like it didn't really need to exist, and was clearly the weakest episode of the season.

Anyway...on to some thoughts and musings...

I like that they are clearly world building now...in the first season they told a story that, although there was a cliffhanger, could have ended and never come back and it would have still been satisfying. This season, though, they clearly started to flesh out that world.

Things like the demodogs and the Mind Flayer filled in some "other" denizens of the Upside Down, it's not just a barren world filled with a single monster, and have we seen every type of creature that lives there, or are there even more??

We got some new supporting characters, most prominently another girl for the guys to fawn over (they are teenage boys, after all, girls are going to be something they pay a lot more attention to at this stage in their lives), with a brother who could easily play a "real world" bad guy for the guys going forward. I know that some people weren't very keen on Dacre Montgomery's Billy Hargrove, but I liked the character for the simple reason that he provided a bad guy in reality for these characters to worry about...and after seeing the way that Billy's father treated him, it's pretty easy to see where his anger/rage comes from.

We have a new doctor in play that we can trust...or can we??? Dr. Owens did all the right things...he helped everyone out, he tried to save Will, he wouldn't let the other doctors just kill him off, he helped Bob as best as he could...but in the end, here's a man that survived in a building where what seemed like NOBODY else did, with ONLY a handgun?? We'd seen the Demodogs basically ripping everyone to shreds...shotguns and automatic weapons took quite a bit to put them down, and here this doctor survives with only a fleshwound??? I don't know...I'm not really buying it. Well, it's not that I'm not buying it, but I'm being extremely skeptical.

We now know for certain that there are other kids out there, which we "knew" before, but we now know 100% that they are still alive. Is 008 the only one other than 011 that's alive?? To go along with that, something I didn't really think of much in season one...but that 011 tattoo...there's a zero at the beginning...so that means that there could potentially have been 999 initial subjects...which is just staggering to think about. Are any of the other kids trying to get revenge, or was Kali the only one that was doing things like this? Personally, I believe the zero at the beginning of the tattoo is for the facility that the kids were being tested at...the one in Hawkins being facility 0...that, to me, gives them a great way to expand on the series by having ANOTHER facility where they are doing testing, which leads us to...

...the fact that Dr Brenner is still alive. We all thought he was a goner in season one, but the man that Eleven force choked certainly seemed pretty sincere when he mentioned that he was still alive, so much so that he was offering to take them to Brenner. Why would he lie about that?? He has to know that if he took them and did NOT produce Brenner at that point, they'd just kill him then...so in my mind Brenner MUST be alive...and would be the perfect candidate to head up another research facility for the program somewhere. His personal experience with the Demogorgon and The Upside Down would certainly be of extreme importance to whoever it is that's TRULY running this program.

One word: Steve. The dude was outstanding this season, funny, heroic, sympathetic...the works. Well done, well done.

Finally, we have that ending scene...where the world turns Upside Down and we see the Mind Flayer staring intently at the Middle School...which just so happens to be EXACTLY where Eleven is at at that time, and the song??? "Every Breath You Take." If that's not a fitting song for that moment, I'm not really sure what is. The Mind Flayer is mad. Really mad. It probably wants revenge, and then some, on Eleven and the gang for closing up it's door. The question becomes now, how does it get BACK into Hawkins again...or anywhere on earth, for that matter? Are there other facilities working on projects with gates? Will one of the other super powered kids do something? Is Will REALLY completely cured of The Upside Down (I've read that the Duffers say that he is, but Noah Schnapp who plays Will doesn't believe that's the case)? Did Dustin or Hopper inhale something that will allow the monsters back in while they were in the tunnels??? Did anyone do anything with that Demodog that got stuffed in Joyce's freezer?? I mean, there's got to be some way for it to come back, and from what I understand they have said there will be four seasons, so they probably have something pretty solid up their sleeves.

Like I said, I thought the season was, on the whole, phenomenal. Again, I understand why some may not have enjoyed it as much as I did, but I think that by going into it hoping ONLY for a great story, it succeeded at that and surpassed my expectations. Even little moments where I KNEW what was going to happen still hit me and brought about emotional responses...when the Demodogs are all outside of the house after Will the Spy finally realizes where he is, I mean, you KNEW Eleven was going to show up then...and when I heard the dogs yelping it still made me pump my fist in triumph that our characters had once again survived.

Okay, I've rambled on long enough now...
 
Finally finished the season and enjoyed much of it. There were lots of great moments and I thought the acting and production values were even better than last season. But in the end, I agree with those who felt the story leaned too heavily on a "bigger is better" approach.

So, lots to enjoy in season 2 despite some shortcomings. I doubt they can sustain things much beyond a third season, though. Adolescence is fleeting and once these kids mature past a certain point the entire dynamic will shift and become something else entirely. Three seasons to complete the story seems like the sweet spot for these characters.
 
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They had four of the kids on Good Morning America today, El/Eleven, Dustin, Lucas, and Max. It was ok, but I was disappointed they did not have the guy who plays Dustin do that purr/growl thing. I don't know if the rest of the cast was spread out over the other morning shows.

Netflix has a 6 part series called "Beyond Stranger Things." It's just host Jim Rash sitting at a table while talking to all the actors and Duffer brothers about making the show. We watched a few episodes last night, after we finished the season, and it was very entertaining. It's not a typical interview thing — it's much more freewheeling and very loose. Worth checking out if you're a fan of the show.
 
Gimpdiggity Man, you said everything I wanted to say, couldnt agree more, well said. I just wanted to add, I know they have to add new characters to keep things fresh, but I personally didnt care for the redheaded girl. I dont like there being tension in the group when there was already enough of that in the first season. I dont like the friends being split up by a girl, I know that happens in real life, and Im still mad at Lucas from being a little **** in the first season so him getting the girl annoyed me. But man, I loved this season, the chemistry between the actors is palpable, and I loved the scene with Mike getting pissed at hopper for keeping Eleven locked up the entire time. I thought the last scene was awesome at the dance. I cant wait for Season 3. Duffer brothers freaking RULE.
 
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Netflix has a 6 part series called "Beyond Stranger Things." It's just host Jim Rash sitting at a table while talking to all the actors and Duffer brothers about making the show. We watched a few episodes last night, after we finished the season, and it was very entertaining. It's not a typical interview thing — it's much more freewheeling and very loose. Worth checking out if you're a fan of the show.
I almost started watching that last night, but wasn't in the mood by the time the trick or treaters finished.

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I definitely could have done without episode 7, but overall I think I enjoyed S2 more than the first one

It felt like a bookmark for a follow-on season. It was a way to inject that Eleven is a number and that others are out there that will probably be brought in later.
It was a build-up for Eleven to build up her power for the final battle. Eleven wasn't allowed to use her powers so having that mentor was almost needed to help her learn how to take her power to the next level. It felt like the Xavier / Magneto scene in X-Men First Class.

I thought Eight / Kali was going to show up at the end to help Eleven fight the boss at the end and that the Smoke Monster was going to go into Kali.


I'm right there with you. I was SURE that they were somehow working for the lab.

I thought with the Russian references they were somehow Russian sleepers and Bob (Sean Aston) was working for the lab.
 
Ok, so here we go. Negative nancy inbound...

If you haven't read my posts about S1, you should know that S1 of Stranger Things is one of my all-time favorite pieces of moving pictures on any scale. It hit all the right notes for me. I was beyond excited for S2. I felt like S1 left a ton of unanswered questions that S2 could deal with- What is going on between Hopper and Joyce? What happened to Eleven? What happened to Dr. Brenner? What were in those eggs that Hopper saw in the upside down? How would the cover-up of the Hawkins Lab start to come apart when Will suddenly comes back to life... after being seen by dozens of people? How was he able to communicate with the real world while he was in the upside down? How Eleven opened the gate? What created the upside down? How would they handle the Nancy Wheeler love triangle? Etc.

It introduced so many enticing questions that I couldn't wait to find the answers to. It may have dealt with some of those questions, but a lot of the explanations fell short with me, and even more of them just went completely unnoticed. S1 brought up so much content that they could have kept a linear story going and it would have had enough content. The introduction of the new characters missed the mark with me. It seemed like they added in characters just to add in new characters. They did a handful of things that really didn't play into the story. S1 was put together in a way that it seemed like every setup had it's payoff, or it introduced a plot-thickening question. In S2 things just sort of happened(?)
To explain what I mean I'll go into spoilers...

Max and Billy just kind of were there. They didn't really serve any purpose to the story and they didn't really add any meaningful arc. I kept waiting for them to reveal they were a part of the Hawkins Lab, or Russian spies, or Max would be another test subject. But the season ended and it turns out they were just kind of kids that were also there. Billy didn't do ANYTHING, and Max was just there as a love interest to create another love triangle. A second love triangle seemed redundant.

Bob was just sort of there, too. I loved the character of Bob. I thought he was a cool archetype to add in, but he didn't serve any purpose to the story. He didn't make any impact on anybody and he was basically immediately forgotten the instant he died. I felt like they could have avoided having him in there entirely, and focused on the Joyce and Hopper dynamic a lot more. I thought that was a huge missed opportunity. Joyce and Hopp just had this huge life-defining moment together where they were rescuing Will from the upside down. Hopper was having flashbacks to his previous family. I expected that all to lead to something a bit more. It never did. NEXT!

Having Eleven locked away for an entire season seemed like a waste of a huge character. I know they basically gave her her own episode (maybe to account for having her bottled up for the whole season?) but we'll get into S2E7 later. They had so much character building they could have done with Eleven. They could have done so much with her. They could have had her working on getting out of the upside down through the gate, but instead she just kind of walks out a few minutes after she was transported back there. It felt sort of thin on storytelling. They also had an entire season of opportunities to show how she'd have to be integrated into society once she found her way out of the upside down. Also, how the group has a new friend that basically has super-powers.

They never really dealt with the main villain. They kept showing him in the upside down and in Will's visions, but he was never anything more than that. The demodogs evolution was interesting but it ultimately seemed like it never led anywhere. They setup all of these bad guys with the Hawkins Lab, The Mindflayer, and the Demodogs and it all just kind of ends without major repercussions. The only memorable death was Bob, and I could have done without him anyhow, so it seemed like there were just no stakes. In S1 I was always nervous about the Demogorgon. It felt like he was always just a few inches away from any character at any given time. You never knew where he was going to strike, or what would happen when he did.

S2E7!!! What was that? Seriously... wha- just why. Why? Was that a thing... I just...
Ok, so I know I said I wanted more of Eleven in S2, but that seemed really forced. That was the most boring season of the whole season. It was just kind of there. Eleven goes on a fun trip, does some stuff, and then she comes back with a different hairstyle.... and that's about it. You could cut out that whole episode and it wouldn't play any part in the overarching themes or story of the entire season. It did nothing. They could have put some throwaway scenes in other episodes, just sprinkled in, to let us know her powers are getting stronger and she can focus it when she's angry. We already knew both of those things already, but they could have done a few more scenes to make it more evident. We definitely didn't need an entire hour straight dedicated to it. And the lost sister thing didn't impact that story either. I thought they were going to do something really interesting where maybe they'd have to unite a bunch of test subject kids together to defeat the villain. Instead, you just had a few more character come and go without playing any real part in the season-long arc.

The Nancy Wheeler love triangle. I liked where it went last year where it was a little more understated. This year they pumped up the love triangle to 10... and then it just kind of ended. Again, with no consequences. Steve is just like "whatever, I'll teach this kid how to do his hair." and Jon and Nance didn't really seem to have any spark anyhow. They didn't seem to have an interesting love story. I liked the narrative of the jock and the book worm of S1, and how the jock fell into the typical archetype at the start of the season, but grew out of it by the end. None of those 3 characters really had any growth over this season. They were essentially the same at the end of the season as they were at the start. I'm not big into romance novels, but I think a love triangle is supposed to serve as a device to complete the arc for all characters involved.

I'm of the mind that everything should be setup and eventually you get your payoff. In this season it seems like there were just a handful of aspects that weren't entirely fleshed out, and certain things just happened without consequence.

I know it might seem like I hated the season. I didn't. I just had really high expectations after S1 and I thought they missed a lot of opportunities for cool storytelling in S2. The reason I'm ragging on it so hard is because I see the potential behind it, and I think it fell far short of the mark. I'd say if you liked S1 then you should watch S2 because you will see some pretty cool moments. It just isn't polished to the bright shining finish of S1. Watch S2 and make up your own mind. For me, I'll always watch S1 like it's own standalone movie. It plays out like a perfect scifi horror movie with nostalgic elements over the course of 8 hours. S2 is more messy and doesn't tie things up quite as neatly in the end.
 
Bob had a few moments of purpose: He was support/recovery for Will's mom, he gave the bad advice to Will to stand up to the smoke monster, he provided the video camera that Will's mom saw the smoke monster in, he figured out the tunnel map, and rebooted the computer in the gate building. Could all of those things been done by another character... sure.

Max was the love interest of two kids. She didn't really provide much but I thought she was a good addition.
Her brother was just a dick. He served no purpose.

I'm sure the misfits that Eleven hung with for one episode will return in another episode. That episode left the one guy alive who claims to know where Papa is... so odds are pretty good Modine will make a return in S3. Maybe he has another facility somewhere else where some of the other number children are being held.

I agree the "antagonist" wasn't really fleshed out well. But I think the idea was that the enemy was in Will and it created that struggle of how to deal with the enemy without killing one of their own. The solution seemed a little too simple at the end. But obviously it's not gone, just put back in the box to probably come back out later.
 


:lol why I love the RPF , soon as I watched that episode I knew this would come together
 
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...I just had really high expectations after S1 and I thought they missed a lot of opportunities for cool storytelling in S2. The reason I'm ragging on it so hard is because I see the potential behind it, and I think it fell far short of the mark...

I waited a year on the edge of my seat to see Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will embark on a rescue mission into the upside-down to bring Eleven back.
I thought that premise was a no-brainer. It never occurred to me that season 2 could possibly be about anything else.
I'm beyond disappointed. I didn't care for season 2 at all.
It makes me really sad, because I loved season 1 so much.
 
I waited a year on the edge of my seat to see Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will embark on a rescue mission into the upside-down to bring Eleven back.
I thought that premise was a no-brainer. It never occurred to me that season 2 could possibly be about anything else.
I'm beyond disappointed. I didn't care for season 2 at all.
It makes me really sad, because I loved season 1 so much.

I'm curious as to who you thought Hopper was leaving Eggo waffles in a box in the woods for at the end of season 1?

To me that clearly implied that Eleven was not in the Upside Down at all.

I mean, I guess you could think he's just leaving food in a box and hoping, but if that's the idea I don't imagine it would have ended up making the final cut.


I also also feel that if season 2 had entirely been about getting Eleven out of the Upside Down, we'd be seeing a lot of "Season 1 was entirely about rescuing someone from the Upside Down, this season was just more of the same" type of complaints.
 
I'm curious as to who you thought Hopper was leaving Eggo waffles in a box in the woods for at the end of season 1?

I think it was Hopper just preparing for the possibility of Eleven finding her way out on her own.

I also also feel that if season 2 had entirely been about getting Eleven out of the Upside Down, we'd be seeing a lot of "Season 1 was entirely about rescuing someone from the Upside Down, this season was just more of the same" type of complaints.

Well, you wouldn't be hearing it from me, because that's what I wanted and what I expected.
I feel like I'm the only person in the world right now with an imagination, who can imagine an alternative to the season 2 we got.
Can you really not see how awesome it would have been to have the boys braving the terrors of the upside-down to rescue their friend?
No? Just me? Okay...
 

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