Stranger Things

[Kailem]

Fast-forward through the opening credits of Stranger Things?! Heresy!

[lhb412]

Spoilers for Kain:

[eabaker]

There's no reason to make skipping the credits easy, because the credits are part of the experience.

[lhb412]

Netflix has begun skipping credits when you roll over to the next episode. It makes me mad.

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

Game of Thrones opening didn't become iconic by being skippable.

[lhb412]

When Netflix skips the MST3K theme I rewind to see it. It's sacrilegious to start an episode without it.

[Kailem]

I hope they'd know enough not to pull that with season 2 because I'll definitely be rewinding to watch them if they do. Some openings you just don't skip.

[Dr Kain]

[canofhumdingers]

That.... is actually totally reasonable. Aside from shows that do something unique in each opening or closing credits sequence (which really aren't that common), I think that's a completely logical way to experience the credits.

[Dr Kain]

So we finished the first season just a few minutes ago and I really don't see a need for there to be a second season. This was just perfect. There is no way another season is going to be on par with this one. I loved every minute of it. The bits in the alternate world were down right phenomenal and the payoff to the monster was well worth the build up. Just absolutely wonderful. This may be Netflix's best show ever.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, since there IS a second season, HOLY CRAP I NEED TO SEE IT NOW!!! IN FACT, FORGET STREAMING IT NETFLIX, JUST GIVE IT TO ME ON BLU-RAY RIGHT NOW!!!! I WILL BUY IT WITHOUT WAITING A SECOND!!!!!!!!!

[DannyBeane]

I didn't care much for Stranger Things. I felt like the show just packaged everything people liked from Goonies, ET, Poltergeist etc into a bland, boring show. I couldn't even finish the last two episodes. That said, if you like it that's great. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

[Dr Kain]

Never seen Goonies, ET is a boring piece of "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!", and Poltergeist is okay.

[jellydonut25]

[O.Supreme]

I know S2 takes place during Halloween 1984, and Ghostbusters was a big thing that summer, I cant recall if a ton of kids dressed as them for Halloween though. Heck I cant even remember what "I" was in 3rd grade. I know 2nd grade was Luke Skywalker from RotJ for sure...and I think Mantenna from The Evil Horde was 4th, ...but 3rd grade is a void at the moment.

Anyway, basically since its fall 1984, I just need to see some Transformers reference since that would have been HUGE at this time as well. In S1, when one of the kids is flipping the channels, there is a seen from a He-Man cartoon, that's all I need for Transformers, and I'll be satisfied

[lhb412]

[eabaker]

[lhb412]

^Didn't a great deal of the merchandise come with the cartoon show?

[eabaker]

Yes, as I recall most of the merchandise was directly modeled on the cartoon, but I know my friends and I were pretty obsessed with re-enacting the movie well before the show came out, and I remember those Halloween costumes all being home made.

[O.Supreme]

Yeah Ghostbusters toy merch would not be around until 86/87 when the cartoon really took off. I loved the animated series, but never got any of the toys. I remember watching the first film on Video, and on cable TV any chance we got, (though I cant believe I was only 8 years old and my parents let me see it in the Theater ) but it wasn't a big Halloween thing at least among my friends. Of course all my friends were weird. We dressed up every year at school, but I never remember a cohesive "theme" we all just kind of did our own thing. Of course since most of my family lived in the area, my dad always took me to my Grandparents /Aunts/Uncles etc...I never did the "Neighborhood" door to door thing with my friends...

But back OT...No doubt most kids in those days did have home made costumes because they were actually better than the ones you could buy in the store. I cant wait to see how the story plays out. Hopefully we'll get some answers to some of the more profound questions this series raised in the first season.

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

We spent last night watching all 9 episodes to Season 2 and outside of one instance, it was utterly fantastic.

Some minor spoilers may be within:

Poor Will. Last season he was kidnapped by Silent Hill, I mean the Down Under, and this season he was possessed by it. What's going to happen next year? He becomes the Down Under? Anyway, I really loved the way they pulled off his visions as they were really well done and makes sense given how much time he spent there.

Mike seemed kind of a dick this season. Some parts I get, but not others. Plus, it didn't feel like they did very much with him.

On the other hand, I did like the bigger forcus on Dustin and Lucas since we got to see their families this year. Plus, I loved the interactions between Dustin and Steve. The last scene with those two together was hilarious.

I'm very confused about Max's family life though. They made it seem like it was this white trash type thing when it isn't. A nice little bait and switch there, although I really want her step-brother to die. God damn he is completely unlikable. I do laugh at her name being Madmax on the Arcade games.

I did like what they did with Nancy and Jonathan. They slowly continued to build up what they started last season without it feeling unnatural. The episode where they visited the conspiracy theorist was great, especially when Nancy starts to tell them he is wrong about 11 being a Russian weapon.

My god, Will's mom just can't catch a break, can she?

Hopper remains one of my favorite characters of the show. I was really expecting for him to buy it early on in the season.

I love how the sixth episode feels like it was paying respect to Aliens. God damn that was awesome. Hell, the Down Under creature looks like a Xenomorph in its overall shape! So damn cool!! Also cool that the actor who played Burke in Aliens was the lead scientist.

Sadly, episode 7 to me is the worst episode of the entire series. I thought what they were doing with 11 made sense, as it was something I expected to happen last season, but that episode just felt out of place. How the hell did 11 go from Hawkin to Chicago and back all within the day Hopper and gang escaped from the lab and did the stuff with Will at his house? Especially when she was traveling by bus? Well, that is a minor nitpick compared to the episode as a whole as it just didn't feel like a Stranger Things episode. I think the problem is that it felt way too rushed and out of nowhere. This is something that should have been saved for the next season so it could have been developed better. It doesn't help that her "sister" is a terrible person for tricking 11 into helping her. Other than that bit, I enjoyed what they did with her, especially the way they did the scene of her return when everyone was up against the Demodogs.

Overall, it wasn't as flawless as the first season, but still utterly phenomenal. The jokes were spot on, the suspense remained, the music continued to rock, and the Down Under feels a lot more threatening than initially envisioned. Oh, and the ending was so sweet. Not to mention conclusive. I'm sure there will be a third season and I will definitely welcome it, but if they choose not to do another one, I wouldn't mind either. The show still remains Netflix's best show thus far! If I had to give Season 2 a score it would be a 9/10.

[lhb412]

I'm not watching it 'till after Halloween, so I'm gonna try hard to avoid spoilers.

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

Yeah I actually know a lot of people who were obsessively posting about it coming and then starting to watch it... and radio silence since release.