Netflix Series - Stranger Things 2 - Oct 27 2017 (1 Viewer)

[Winston T. Boogie]

The thing about this show to me is it comes across as a "cover band" playing the greatest hits of the past. It certainly has that nostalgic feel because we have seen everything in this show before. I mean it seems to borrow or take everything in the show from other sources so watching it is like a big game of spot the influence.

The thing is though the show is incredibly well made. Everything about it seems top notch so it is an extremely good cover band doing their thing. I mean, basically, I would say the people working on this show out Abrams J.J. himself.

J.J. probably fantasizes about being able to cover the past as well as this show covers the past.

It is definitely a fun and well made program and I have enjoyed watching it and I accept it for what it is.

Here is something I openly wonder about the show...it pushes some buttons in the second season that I think will upset a lot of middle America and play right into some rather huge current events. I am sort of waiting for an uproar about it and wondering if that will come. Also there is some weird crossover in this respect between the show and real life...which is both odd and a bit creepy. Maybe this is intentional on the part of the creators of the show...not really certain about that but this appears to be a show aimed at a family audience and it seems to me some people will not like some of what is presented in the second season.

I don't take issue with these things but I imagine there will be people that do.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I absolutely loved season 2. What a fantastic follow up to a fantastic first season. I couldn't be happier with what they managed to pull off for a second time.

Same here. I finished the second season this morning and really enjoyed it. As I stated earlier, Hopper is my favorite character in this series.

Spoiler

I loved the father/daughter dynamic between him and Eleven. She entering his life has given him a reason to rejoin the human race in living life to its fullest.

I started watching Beyond Stranger Things and will finish it over the next day or so.

 

[TravisR]

The thing about this show to me is it comes across as a "cover band" playing the greatest hits of the past. It certainly has that nostalgic feel because we have seen everything in this show before. I mean it seems to borrow or take everything in the show from other sources so watching it is like a big game of spot the influence.

That's why I haven't watched it yet. I realize that it was a deliberate homage but even the commercial that they came up with a couple of weeks ago used the trailer of Friday The 13th rather than doing something original.

 

[Jimbo64]

We finished episode 3 last night and are loving it! So glad they kept the same characters and storyline, I thought season one was a done deal for the plot.

 

[Sean Bryan]

We finished episode 3 last night and are loving it! So glad they kept the same characters and storyline, I thought season one was a done deal for the plot.

The end of episode 3 really starts things moving, and then the rest of the season just keeps getting better and better.

And it's definitely much better that the show is sticking with a continuing threat from the first season. It makes these seasons more like chapters in a big movie rather than using a "monster of the week" TV format where "weird things happen because....Hawkins".

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Season 3 will take place in 1985.
Like season 2 with Ghostbusters, what movies could they reference or have the characters have something to do with.


The Goonies
Back to the Future
Cocoon

On one hand, The Goonies would be a natural since it's one of the strongest influences on the show (down to casting Sean Astin this season). On the other hand, they'll all be high schoolers next season so they might be too old for a very strong parallel there.

Back to the Future seems like a slam dunk to be referenced, though, especially since Max is a big skateboarder. I wouldn't be surprised to see tips of the hat to Fright Night, Legend or Weird Science, either.

J.J. probably fantasizes about being able to cover the past as well as this show covers the past.

This show is definitely employing J.J. Abrams's strategy of stitching together elements from beloved childhood movies into a new quilt. But I think the Duffer Brothers are far more successful at making the final product feel like a cohesive whole. The inspirations are definitely there if you look for them, but the story doesn't feel like a collection of its assembled components. It feels like its own thing, that triggers many of the same feelings that those old works did.

Here is something I openly wonder about the show...it pushes some buttons in the second season that I think will upset a lot of middle America and play right into some rather huge current events. I am sort of waiting for an uproar about it and wondering if that will come. Also there is some weird crossover in this respect between the show and real life...which is both odd and a bit creepy. Maybe this is intentional on the part of the creators of the show...not really certain about that but this appears to be a show aimed at a family audience and it seems to me some people will not like some of what is presented in the second season.

Not sure what you're referencing here? The Reagan/Bush and Mondale/Ferraro lawn signs felt like a necessary part of establishing the time period, given that this season takes place in the weeks immediately preceding the 1984 presidential election. Didn't really notice any other explicit political references or any thematic political allegory.

I started watching Beyond Stranger Things and will finish it over the next day or so.

I've only watched the first episode so far, but I liked it. Less fluffy than some of these aftershows. Jim Rash produced and hosted a great little series for SundanceTV called "The Writers' Room" that went in depth into the mechanics of writing a different TV series each week. In the first episode, he seemed to be bringing the same level of research and intelligent questioning to this.

And it's definitely much better that the show is sticking with a continuing threat from the first season. It makes these seasons more like chapters in a big movie rather than using a "monster of the week" TV format where "weird things happen because....Hawkins".

This would have been a terrible candidate for an anthology series given that the characters were perhaps the biggest part of the first season's appeal.

 

[Robert Crawford]

At first, I was turned off by the Joyce character. However, now I really like the strength of this character as she got stronger

Spoiler

while searching and protecting her son.

 

[Lord Dalek]

It was really up and down. Often Season 2 was quite a bit better than Season 1, especially with episodes 5, 6, 8, and 9. On the other hand it suffered from lacking a decent narrative focus (the Justice for Barb plotline was a complete waste of time), way too many new characters that were underdeveloped and distracted from the kids (except Bob, Bob is awesome), and then... oh dear... episode 7. Wow way to take a hatchet to your fanbase there Duffers. Just awful, indisputably awful. Maybe the worst thing I've seen on TV this year and that includes the so bad its hilarious STD premiere.

That said, I still found myself enjoying Season 2 a lot more than Season 1 on first viewing. Still not great by any stretch though and this season has a legitimately bad episode which is more than season 1 can claim.

 

[Greg.K]

Season 3 will take place in 1985.
Like season 2 with Ghostbusters, what movies could they reference or have the characters have something to do with.


The Goonies
Back to the Future
Cocoon

Breakfast Club, Rambo, Weird Science..

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Good interview with the Duffer Brothers about how the second season ended

 

[Sean Bryan]

Episode 7 was fine on it own. It allowed for some discovery and growth for Eleven and a revelation about Papa, and it put her back on the path she needed to be on to intersect with the core story in episode 8.

It certainly wasn't a typical "Stranger Things episode", and I can see why some don't like it much. It was my least favorite episode of the season, but I thought it was good for what it offered for Eleven's personal growth.

The biggest issue with the episode (aside from them daring to step outside of the box for a bit) is WHEN it took place. Coming off of the awesome cliffhanger of episode 6, the audience is dying to see what happens in the next episode. But then they take this side step and we, the viewers, are frustrated because we want the Hawkins lab story to continue IMMEDIATELY. I think that colors some people's perception of the episode. It annoyed them because it wasn't what they wanted at that time. I felt a bit of that myself, but I enjoy Eleven enough and the journey she was on this season to appreciate it for what it was.

 

[Greg.K]

The biggest issue with the episode (aside from them daring to step outside of the box for a bit) is WHEN it took place. Coming off of the awesome cliffhanger of episode 6, the audience is dying to see what happens in the next episode. But then they take this side step and we, the viewers, are frustrated because we want the Hawkins lab story to continue IMMEDIATELY. I think that colors some people's perception of the episode. It annoyed them because it wasn't what they wanted at that time. I felt a bit of that myself, but I enjoy Eleven enough and the journey she was on this season to appreciate it for what it was.

That might have bugged me if I were waiting a week between episodes. As it was bingeable I hardly noticed. I really enjoyed the episode because I had been waiting to see more of 008 after the tease from the start of season 2.

 

[Sam Favate]

Finished episode 3 last night. (I don't like to binge more than 1 per night.) The show is absolutely engrossing. I found myself thinking about it long after it was over.

 

[benbess]

....Here is something I openly wonder about the show...it pushes some buttons in the second season that I think will upset a lot of middle America and play right into some rather huge current events. I am sort of waiting for an uproar about it and wondering if that will come....

Would you be willing to explain this a little? I feel dense, but now that I've watched the whole show I don't think I understand what you are saying here.

 

[benbess]

Good interview with the Duffer Brothers about how the second season ended

This interview really helps me, because I felt like they were not letting us know much of anything about the workings and meanings of the upside down. But from this it seems they are planning to reveal a bit more in seasons 3 and 4.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

This show is definitely employing J.J. Abrams's strategy of stitching together elements from beloved childhood movies into a new quilt. But I think the Duffer Brothers are far more successful at making the final product feel like a cohesive whole. The inspirations are definitely there if you look for them, but the story doesn't feel like a collection of its assembled components. It feels like its own thing, that triggers many of the same feelings that those old works did.

I think the Duffer Brothers appear to do this better than J.J. does and it may have to do with the way J.J.'s work attempts to copy stuff but in Stranger Things they are more openly paying tribute. I think in trying to copy the seams show and you just can see it is just a copy whereas in Stranger Things they are just openly saying "We love this time period and we are not hiding it in any way!"

J.J. seems to want to present himself as the new Spielberg but the Duffer Brothers seem to just want to say "Hey, we're a fun cover band!"

Not sure what you're referencing here? The Reagan/Bush and Mondale/Ferraro lawn signs felt like a necessary part of establishing the time period, given that this season takes place in the weeks immediately preceding the 1984 presidential election. Didn't really notice any other explicit political references or any thematic political allegory.

I will explain this further in another post because you are not the only person that asked. I was not referring to the yard signs though.

 

[TravisR]

I think the Duffer Brothers appear to do this better than J.J. does and it may have to do with the way J.J.'s work attempts to copy stuff but in Stranger Things they are more openly paying tribute. I think in trying to copy the seams show and you just can see it is just a copy whereas in Stranger Things they are just openly saying "We love this time period and we are not hiding it in any way!"

J.J. seems to want to present himself as the new Spielberg but the Duffer Brothers seem to just want to say "Hey, we're a fun cover band!"

Not to get too far off topic but one Star Wars movie (which deliberately echoed previous SW movies as the previous had) is not indicative of the man's entire career. Even the Star Trek sequel which used Khan doesn't bear much resemblance to the original Wrath Of Khan movie (and, like Star Wars, any resemblances are intended to be seen that way) and the only real similarity between the Mission: Impossible TV series and movies is that they've both got spies in them.

 

[Greg.K]

Would you be willing to explain this a little? I feel dense, but now that I've watched the whole show I don't think I understand what you are saying here.

Pretty sure he means the interracial relationship.

 

[SamT]

Finished episode 4, boy this series is hard to watch. A short 1h30 movie is padded to 9 hours. Nothing interesting happens and they repeat the same thing over and over again. One thing for sure I'm dropping this series after season 2.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Finished episode 4, boy this series is hard to watch. A short 1h30 movie is padded to 9 hours. Nothing interesting happens and they repeat the same thing over and over again. One thing for sure I'm dropping this series after season 2.

I don't understand why you're not dropping it now if it's not working for you. I drop series all the time when it's not entertaining me.