Stranger Things Netflix series catch-all

I especially love the fact that there is very subtle static in the background of the title shot.

I'm halfway through and it's driving me crazy having no idea what's really going on. There have been a lot of flashbacks of Eleven, but not a clue about why she is that way. At least people are starting to put two and two together about the missing by the end of episode four. Especially the police chief. His investigative style is somewhat unorthodox, but I guess he only gets physical with the "bad guys" so it's ok...

I'm 4 eps in and really digging it. There is a lot I like and only a few quibbles, but the current MVP for me (aside from the font choice) is the sound track ('Atmosphere' at the top of episode 4 - so damn good.)

Though, quibble wise... Even in 1st edition D&D, Fireball automatically hits (the creature gets to save for half.)

That is my biggest complaint.

So they're playing with a house rule that no spell automatically hits because that's too easy. Or something. They seem pretty hardcore about the whole thing.

There. Quibble explained away in three seconds by common real life thing that happens.

Thin_J wrote:

So they're playing with a house rule that no spell automatically hits because that's too easy. Or something. They seem pretty hardcore about the whole thing.

There. Quibble explained away in three seconds by common real life thing that happens.

Also, Demogorgon is resistant to fire! YOU SHOULD HAVE CAST THE PROTECTION SPELL, WILL!!!

(In all seriousness, the lightness of this quibble is something of a joke, and a comment about how much I've enjoyed the show so far.)

I did get the sarcasm, and to be clear I'm the worst person for pointing out anything involving D&D rules. I'm one of those for whom D&D holds absolutely zero allure so they could have completely made up whatever rules they wanted and I'd have not noticed nor cared.

But I had those friends that loved D&D and made whole days of it so the scenes still landed and they still felt right. I listened to arguments over rules a time or two.

It just seemed so easily explained away even by someone who doesn't know the specifics

Spoiler:

I do really, really like how the decision to cast fireball ended up being a fairly integral plot point later in explaining Will's personality and decision making.

Seth, would you mind spoiler tagging that? I'm not all the way through and I'm sure others aren't. (Though if this is an unmarked spoilers allowed thread, that's cool - I'll just come back later!)

Finished this up during my lunch break today. Really good! I am the type of person that never finishes a TV series, but when I do....it takes weeks. I finished this one in under 24 hours.

There's my ringing endorsement. It'll make you ignore life for 8 hours straight.

Like Ces, I am a child of the 90's so I don't have a lot of nostalgia for the 80's. There was a lot of residual 80's in my life but nostalgia for me really kicks in around 95. I'm sure I missed a lot of the references. One of the things that did bring me back was the Tupperware container at the end of episode 8. My mom had that exact one. The memories!

I went to bed at 1 AM last night, figured I'd watch episode 5 and go to sleep.

I ended up watching the rest of the series. I couldn't stop. Wowzers.

Here's a spoilerrific interview with the Duffer brothers about how Stranger Things evolved during pre-production and even production. The actors had a big influence on the characters. One of the kids (Dustin, the one with missing front teeth) was so good they expanded his role, and the actor who played Steve brought a quality to the role that made them rethink him, too. In the pilot he was just a big jerk, but as they developed the rest of the series, they ended up giving his character a bit of an arc, too.

Finished. Wow.

Responses to random spoilered comments from multiple people:

Spoiler:

Yes Nancy crawling in the tree was ridiculous. I'm screaming at my screen the entire time.

Also that was the last ep we watched last night and so I actually had to wait until tonight to see if she got rescued.

Someone mentioned the monster not showing any effects of the fire, but I was pretty sure in some/all of the shots at the school the skin was completely burned. Granted, it didn't seem to slow it down enough that the army guys could finish it. But maybe that just pointed out how well Jon and Nancy did, since they at least survived two battles with the thing, and the poor army guys got wiped out.

Agree about subverting some tropes. Barb the sober virgin dying. The jock Steve not dumping Nancy after sex and actually trying to be a good guy. Jon and Nancy adventuring together but not falling in love.

And my own observations:

Spoiler:

Sheriff was totally Lando!

I don't know how to tally all the homages. And maybe I was even seeing things that weren't there. But the whole trap the monster from the Shadow Vale gave me a very Nightmare on Elm Street vibe, with hero Nancy baiting the evil. So great.

Others mentioned Poltergeist. Obviously the Goonies. Several other of my favorite horror and adventure things all mashed into one slick package. Loved it.

Can't believe they got away with splitting the party. I was terrified Lucas was going to get capture sneaking around the compound. Instead it turned out he was a great scout.

Strong recommend from someone born in '80.

BadKen wrote:

I went to bed at 1 AM last night, figured I'd watch episode 5 and go to sleep.

I ended up watching the rest of the series. I couldn't stop. Wowzers.

That sounds just like me last night, except make it the whole series and 6am this morning

What an awesome show, the music was great, the acting was great, and the characters were great. It just completely sucked me in. Special props to the child actors since that's often something that pulls me out of shows and movies.

Thoughts on one of the characters:

Spoiler:

Poor Barb, she was just being a good supportive friend despite essentially being told to take a hike, and her reward is getting eaten by a monster The uncertainty of whether or not she's still alive for most of the show makes it even worse.

Stele wrote:
Spoiler:

Someone mentioned the monster not showing any effects of the fire, but I was pretty sure in some/all of the shots at the school the skin was completely burned. Granted, it didn't seem to slow it down enough that the army guys could finish it. But maybe that just pointed out how well Jon and Nancy did, since they at least survived two battles with the thing, and the poor army guys got wiped out.

Spoiler:

Perhaps? I'd have to go back and rewatch I suppose, but seeing as that was the first time you saw its flesh well-lit I was under the impression its skin was hardly different from when it was shown in the Upside-Down. I'd have to look again and compare.

Spoiler:

Agree about subverting some tropes. Barb the sober virgin dying. The jock Steve not dumping Nancy after sex and actually trying to be a good guy. Jon and Nancy adventuring together but not falling in love.

Spoiler:

The article BadKen linked was a good read, with one of the notes being that the actor for Steve actually encouraged them to change him from being the asshole stereotype. Not directly encouraged, but they liked the actor enough they decided to go a new direction. I'm glad the writers are willing to adjust and adapt, because it helped improve the show rather than adhering to too many generic tropes and stereotypes (see the kids that torment Mike and co.).

But what really had me nodding was that they mentioned why Nancy would go back to Steve. Jonathon got his brother back, but her friend is still dead. There's going to be a lot of guilt there, and while I think technically there's room for her to project onto Steve (after all, Barb died while she was doin' the dirty deed done dirt cheap with Steve), it's also a bit different that she'd always see that Jonathon's brother survived but her friend is dead. I like that, because it adds some depth to the character as well as room for more of their own story in season two. If she's still trying to recover from her friends' death in season two, that'd honestly make Barb's role resonate more, keeping her from just being a generic victim that served their dramatic purpose.

Y'know I keep forgetting to mention it, but I want to add that before this I don't think I ever liked Winona Ryder in anything. I barely remember her in Beetlejuice at all (only seen the movie a couple times), but I think seeing The Crucible really left a negative mark on me. I dunno if it was her character or the way she played it or what (granted I hate that story because I hate everyone in it), but her role in Alien: Resurrection didn't help. Hell, if all the bad Adam Sandler films I even like Mr. Deeds, but I don't like her in it. I dunno why!

But I feel like she did a great job in this. I dunno what changed but she was wonderful.

Heathers is the only Winona Ryder movie I own and definitely my favorite thing with her in it. (No I don't own Aliens 4 just because it came with the Blu-Ray Anthology. )

She was excellent in this.

My family enjoyed it. We watched it all in two settings. Agree with everyone about the homage. As soon as they started dressing up L I thought of the ET dress up scene! All the synth 80s back up music was so great as well.

ccessarano, even the bullies were a call back to 80s movies. Straight typical school bullies so they really do fit into the movie.

One thing I got wrong at the end:

Spoiler:

I thought for sure L was going to see her mom but...not/ OR is she still alive since Hop put that food in the box for her? Or was that just some type of projection and that was a cemetary?

Also, about the ending:

Spoiler:

Not sure how I feel about it. I'm a sucker for happy endings but I guess spitting up the worm and the swap over to the upside down fits with the theme of the show.

I was hoping the 2nd season would be an entirely different season or something with a different cast and story but now I'm not sure. When Hop got in the car at the end I thought maybe the story would follow him as he traveled around fixing the govt fups!

Who else went and read X-men 134 after watching the first episode?

karmajay wrote:
Spoiler:

I thought for sure L was going to see her mom but...not/ OR is she still alive since Hop put that food in the box for her? Or was that just some type of projection and that was a cemetary?

Spoiler:

I want to think Elle is still alive. Maybe the massive use of power she used to destroy the monster sent her somewhere else, and maybe it even let her figure out how to go between places without an isolation tank. If she *is* alive, though, she's in a pretty awful situation. She's separated from the only people she knows.

BTW, I just watched the end scene again and that's not a cemetery. It's just a box in the middle of the forest. Maybe some kind of hunters' supply box or something? Dunno. Anyway, I thought Will coughing up the last bit of monster was particularly ominous, because that thing looked larval. What happens if it grows up?

NathanialG wrote:

Who else went and read X-men 134 after watching the first episode?

I'm just happy I knew that was Dark Phoenix.

Although I might have just re-read that trade a couple months ago when the new movie came out.

karmajay wrote:

ccessarano, even the bullies were a call back to 80s movies. Straight typical school bullies so they really do fit into the movie.

And was I the only one calling Troy "Mini-Ramsay?"

I just want to say this is the best show I've seen in ages.. I love everything about it.. I get a whole mix of Goonies, Twin Peaks, Prince of Darkness vibe from it.

Rat Boy wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

This gives me a fontgasm:

IMAGE(https://addictedtohorrormovies.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/stranger-things-banner.jpg)

I know! The whole opening credits and episode title sequence is like they ripped it off a book one might have bought circa 1987.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

This show made me nostalgic - over the past couple days I've been leafing through my old D&D material (including the original 5x8 booklets that came in the box) and Dragon magazines.

Polygon came out with this article about Stranger Things today. It is spoilery.

Love the Escape from NY song on episode 7

Shotgunned the series in one sitting today.

Spoiler:

Did Will really spit up the slug and transport to the Upside Down or did he just hallucinate that? Or did he do one and hallucinate the other? SEASON 2! I really hope Eleven is alive.

As for Nancy ending up with Edward Cullen Jr., I think Jonathan's remarks about where her life is going hit close to home. While they are together, I don't necessarily see them staying that way. But I also don't see her with Jonathan, and that was pretty cool.

All in all, this was a great story and the plot was tight. They mentioned others going missing, but you only see Barb and Will because they're the only victims integral to the story. There wasn't ever a scene where it was painfully obvious that a transient in the woods or a drunk hunter or a couple "parking" on make-out ridge were obviously going to die. I really appreciated that.

Every time the opening credits were up, I was reminded of this scene from Only God Forgives.

I'm a bit of the Grinch on this one--the homages are a pretty thin meal for me, but I've been told the show does become something more, so I'm soldiering on. However, I'm really desperate for some development in the Eleven story, because I'm really damn sick of scenes of the boys shouting at each other and then her when she doesn't speak.

Yeah, I was frustrated for a few episodes too when the backstory seemed to be making zero progress. Never fear, though, all will be revealed. Well, most will be revealed, they had to leave some mystery for a potential season 2.

Does anyone know if Netflix had any influence in steering this or it was all the Duff brothers (whoever the hell they are)?

It felt like this is when the Netflix algorithm hits a home run. Grand slam?

It had all the obvious nostalgic stuff people already mentioned and it worked. They were playing exactly to what I wanted and I didn't care and didn't feel like they were taking advantage of me.

Sometimes other networks *cough* HBO *cough* seem incapable of producing a great show without hitting a certain nipple ratio.

If anything I really enjoyed how for the most part no character in this show was ridiculously attractive. The kids were in HS and guess what? they were ackward, dressed funny (in character for the time but still funny) and they were pimply.

I was skeptical about Wynona Ryder, but after watching it, I would have to say she was probably the best performance in the whole show.

Rainsmercy wrote:

I was skeptical about Wynona Ryder, but after watching it, I would have to say she was probably the best performance in the whole show.

I'm on the fence about who the best actor/actress was in the show. So many damn good candidates. This was the best performance of Winona's entire career though, IMO.

Really good AV Club piece on Winona Ryder/Joyce:
http://www.avclub.com/article/strang...