Despite thinking they sort of phoned in the ending of S1 ("hey, dead kid isn't actually dead anymore... no one in town ask how or why that happened please"), I enjoyed the show as much as anyone. But what I can't figure out is how it's now SO overhyped as this alleged mind bending cult phenomenon that's changed the face of TV blah blah blah. It was cool and all, but... jesus... hardly the world flipping genius thing that the internet is making it out to be.
Besides just being really well written and produced, it uses some editing and visual storytelling techniques that have been more or less lost since the mid-1990s, even to the directors that created them. And even then, those techniques and the atmosphere they created were essentially limited to film. This is the first time I'm aware of that it's been adapted to a TV serial this successfully. Much like Will Byers, something we thought was dead and that we'd never see again has been brought back from another world. Plus, anything good, unexpected, and slightly weird ends up with an over-the-top cult following anyway.
There was newspaper in the finale that showed that the coroner was blamed for making a mistake in identifying the body. Pretty much. In a way, it's actually better than the a lot of those old 80's movies it pays homage to since it can flesh out all the side characters and develop the story more.
I really didn't think it was that well written. Lots of forced dialogue and bad, forced conflict with characters unrealistically communicating with each other. It was written okay, IMO, but pretty typical for dramatic television.
It didn't feel any more forced to me than in a lot of '80s movies (E.T. immediately comes to mind), which as a pastiche is what they would've been going for. There's also a lot more to "good writing" than naturalism and good dialog, such as the structure and pacing of the story, which I thought were excellent. Something it especially has over a lot of modern TV drama is that it doesn't feel for even a moment like they're just making it up as they go. Everything feels like it's leading somewhere, and wherever they lead you there's an eventual payoff. No empty "mystery boxes".
I felt there was some filler stuff that didn't lead to big payoffs like the ex husband's involvement or the introduction of El's Mother. That being said, I'm not trying to argue that it was a bad show because it wasn't. If there was no hype around it, maybe I would have been easier on it when watching it. I'm not the type of person who watches a show and if I like it, feel compelled to convince my friends to watch it. This show caused many of my friends to do that with me and said I should drop any other thing I might be watching and watch this. I don't always just listen to people telling me to watch something, but there's so much stuff on the internet about it that I knew if I didn't watch it soon there would be a lot spoiled. So overall, when I watched it I had some crazy expectations that weren't really met on every level.
When I said there's a payoff, I didn't mean that every single story thread leads to something big... more that it isn't like Lost or Heroes. There's something at the other end of the thread, as opposed to nothing. Will's father provided insight into why Joyce and Jonathan are who they are. When he leaves, we're not left with unanswered questions about him. Eleven's mother gave us some easy dots to connect so that the viewer can reconstruct Eleven's origin story. Her story also helped reinforce Hopper's personal investment in the case as something that stems from losing his daughter. So we got something out of those. That's the payoff. It wasn't huge, but it provided development and wasn't dropped without any resolution, like a lot of shows think they can get away with doing. I'm saying that it's tidy and well considered, not that it should blow you away
Just blasted through this show in one day and loved it. Great story and pacing, however I feel that the story end was ruined slightly by the fact that series 2 had been green-lit. I think a happy ending (for most) was planned but some re-writes were done.
I finally sat down and watched the pilot episode. Couldn't get through it the first time. (My wife doesn't like stuff involving kids in danger and getting killed. She's a nurse, she's seen enough of it in real life. Didn't help that she had read an article about a kid getting killed on a bike, prior.) We both got the beebee Gerber's and turned it off. I don't know, it just didn't click. Fast forward to earlier this week (all above happened 10 days ago) and for some reason, it was driving me mad to not give it a chance, at least finish the episode. Man, what a mistake that was. Over the course of three nights this show dominated my TV watching. I got hooked and couldn't look away. The kids are fantastic and relatable and just bring a bunch of charm to the table, as well as their A game. And then you have Millie Bobby Brown. Oh, my goodness... She deserves to be a star. She was able to make me cry and she just lived and breathed that role. She made Eleven real with her incredible performance and striking look. (You don't see a girl her age with a buzz cut just running around these days. Plus, you know, the whole bleeding out of her eyes, nose and ears thing as well.) And yes, I'm all for #justiceforbarb. Hell yes. She was a good and decent person who just wanted a friend and when she was left all alone by her only friend, the Demogorgon got her. And Shannon Purser's performance when being dragged into the pool just broke my heart. Her screams were so heartbreaking and just make your soul hurt. She was incredible, especially when you consider this was her first role, ever. (And it's made her famous. Good.) That being said, my criticisms are as follows: -Too short. (Seriously, I'd pay more to Netflix if they'd give us more and sooner.) -No one talked about Barb in the end, it was just...over. (I know they're covering it in season 2, but still... A month later? Nothing? Wow.) -This all centered around Will, but ultimately he was rather unimportant, which is odd because they did all they did for him and he had what...maybe 20 minutes of screen time out of eight HOURS? I know Eleven and The Upside Down became the focal point of the show, but it got to the point where you were like "Oh, yeah...Will! Welcome back, bud!" -The ending confusing people. I don't see the confusion. Will survived and made it back from TUD, but not without permanent scars and we've only yet to see what that creature did to him. He vomited out that slug, it'll become something more, giving way to more new stories and adventures. Will he change? Will that be the last of them? That's what makes it great. And as for seeing TUD, I think it was to signify that he's now the portal/conduit and he can touch both realms. In a way, that makes him more dangerous. Still, a somewhat happy note to end on at Christmas time and the promise of more. The Duffer Brothers are worried about letting the fans down, admitted that season 2 will be polarizing. Kind of sucks to hear. Still, I'll be there. Can't wait to see the kids in their next adventures. Hopper better return, too.
On the flipside of the discussion regarding the hype-train... I don't generally have access to NetFlix. If I hadn't seen practically everyone I know on social media freaking out over how awesome this show is, with several unexpected people outright spontaneously recommending it to me directly, then I probably wouldn't have even known it existed let alone having taken the time to watch all ten hours or w/e of the first season once I finally got the chance. The hype in no way whatsoever took AWAY from the experience and in fact is basically the ONLY reason I knew about the show in the first place, so personally I'm pretty happy about it insofar as "spreading the gospel" is concerned, not to mention surprised and impressed by the fact that it managed to capture the attention of people I'd have NEVER expected to watch a show like that let alone endorse it so heartily. Long live the hype! \m/
Yeah, Will was important to the story, but he wasn't an important character -- he was the initial plot device. He was like Doug (the guy getting married) in the first Hangover movie. (Sorry, that was the first comparison that came to mind)
No, that's perfect. That's exactly what it is. I'm just hoping he has more of a role this time around come season 2.
I don't know if any of you are into Rap or genres like it, but Childish Gambino (comedian/actor Donald Glover) has a song called Bonfire. Some dude took the Stranger Things theme song and remixed Bonfire with it. It's awesome. Face meltingly, bone jarringly awesome. WARNING: Language and sexual content, not all ages appropriate. EDIT: Good grief! Why did it fill my post with such a large YT window?!
Hate to bump, but I've seen several discussions online about who 11 is and it doesn't make sense... They claim she is the monster, you're just seeing the manifestation of her anger in physical form. I absolutely find that to be a crock. When she was in her head doing her mind reading thing, she saw not only the monster, but the Russian guy, too. So...what? He's in The Upside Down? No. When she was in the makeshift pool, she saw Barb in the nest, but 11 was never in the Upside Down, she could only see it. Will was rescued with a snake/eel/slug thing down his throat, indicating there are more than one creature in that world and more than one type. She can't make all of that happen all in her head and psyche. Did these people not WATCH the show? Her mind was so powerful she opened the rift, yes, but she didn't create what was beyond it. People... don't get 'em sometimes.
