And now for more Stranger Things thoughts
May. 29th, 2022 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyAs before, there are spoilers as I finished Volume One of S4 today.
First up! Anyone who hasn't watched all 7 episodes and doesn't wanna be spoiled should probably not be here. Okay? Good.
My thoughts are jumbled but we'll try to make sense of them.
Truly the most important things: Eddie and Argyle are both love, though I would absolutely throttle Argyle if I had to spend ANY amount of time with him. Eddie, however, could craft a story and yes, thank you.
Onward: I see this season continues the tradition of not knowing what the actual fuck to do with the Byers boys and also Mike, huh? Mike I'm kind of willing to cut some slack if Finn (actor) was filming something else but really, the absolute fumbling of the ball when it comes to Will and Jonathan is just mind boggling. I get that they shipped them off to California but dude. DUDE. Hopper had more to do and they shipped him off to a Russian prison! Fuck, Suzie had more to do and she's a minor character! It's not like Noah and Charlie are terrible actors. FFS, one of the big takeaways was that Noah managed to act circles around some of his costars back in S1/S2 and that was with the limited time given.
Hell, one of the problems with this show is that they manage to get actors who pull their characters off really well and then you don't want to see them die and they don't and suddenly the cast has like 22 semi regulars and not even damn near two hour long episodes can accommodate that many characters.
With that being said: Don't you fucking dare kill Steve in Volume 2. Don't. You. DARE.
Anyway. *thinks* Story wise, this was a very long prequel, right? Annnnnnnnnd 001 basically willed himself into having powers? Somehow? I know, I know, this show's premise hinges on a parallel universe and a kid seemingly willing himself into powers is what's tripping me up. Also also, I realize that I... don't care about Vecna. He's defeated by music (which means I will never get Running Up That Hill out of my head and it's been stuck in there since whenever The Vampire Diaries started) which I'd mock but since the whole music's good for those whose brains are scrambled is based on science, I'll allow it. My point, where did it go. Oh. Yeah. 001/Orderly I found interesting. Iffy on Creel Kid. Vecna looks nifty but I don't care and it's probably concerning that I separate this one character into the three aspects we've seen.
Ah well.
Robin feels like she regressed but seeing her in luv with AnnE was just something I did not know I needed and her bid for friendship with Nancy was great, as was her rising to the occasion at the funny farm.
I still resent Steve being made damn near too dumb to live but I will also hurt anyone who hurts him soooo... I'm not sure how I feel about the Steve/Nancy retread. Honestly, I'm just still pissed that S2 denied us the joy that could have been the adventures of Steve/Nancy/Jonathan. We're almost making up for it now with Robin/Eddie/Nancy/Steve but it's not the same. And as for the 'shipping question, well, if Steve was made too dumb to live, I don't have words for stoned out of his goddamn mind Jonathan. o_O What the actual fuck?
I know, I know, I already mentioned that.
Max. MAAAAAAAAAAAX. I love her. I loved so much about her except one itty bitty thing:
The Dear Billy thing is still a bit much. I get that her guilt and his final moment of sacrifice is enough to make her dwell on what might have been but dude was presented for 95% of his original runtime as an abusive asshole who deserved the curse of the B names. So I'm torn on that. Guilt doesn't have to make sense but it also doesn't mean I have to NOT think wtf. I will say that the scene played better in the show than it did in the trailer, which shouldn't be surprising.
Eleven:
Dude, Angela the bully had that skate coming and no, I don't feel bad about thinking that. I get why this part of her story was stretched out and not just because 80's movies really liked to lean into the bully being just the absolute worst. But the rest of her storyline was also stretched out and relied on my least favorite storytelling device: supernatural bad but it ain't nothing compared to the law/military/government/men in uniform/suits. HAAAAAAAAAAAAATE that. And basically the first four episodes and nearly all of Hopper's storyline lean into this so, so hard.
El's comes from multiple angles. First you've got the cops getting her for the skating incident and then the miltary is looking for her and Owens (dammit, man!) making a deal with the devil so there's more of the Lab goons. And then it's just extended backstory.
Hated Yuri's sudden but inevitable betrayal. Wound up loving Enzo and will be sad when he dies.
Okay. The best thing about this season, aside from our newbies that I've already mentioned, is how it leans into the horror. Seriously, there are some shots that are gorgeous and the deaths are horrific to imagine in reality but work really, really well for the show. This show is also still very, very good at managing to bottle the 80's and not have it seem too over the top which trips the nostalgia factor pretty hardcore. I do think they could've stepped back from the Satanic Panic bit a little but also... I remember that being such a thing that I vividly remember reading about it in People at the dentist so I can't fault them too much aside from it falling under my hated trope from before bit.
Which reminds me: when ARE people going to stop questioning Dustin and just assume he's probably right about the Upside Down related shit?
Finally: uh, fandom's really out here convinced they're getting Mike/Will, huh? That's... you guys are really setting yourselves up for heartbreak. Wow.
I apparently need sleep so I'll edit this later.
First up! Anyone who hasn't watched all 7 episodes and doesn't wanna be spoiled should probably not be here. Okay? Good.
My thoughts are jumbled but we'll try to make sense of them.
Truly the most important things: Eddie and Argyle are both love, though I would absolutely throttle Argyle if I had to spend ANY amount of time with him. Eddie, however, could craft a story and yes, thank you.
Onward: I see this season continues the tradition of not knowing what the actual fuck to do with the Byers boys and also Mike, huh? Mike I'm kind of willing to cut some slack if Finn (actor) was filming something else but really, the absolute fumbling of the ball when it comes to Will and Jonathan is just mind boggling. I get that they shipped them off to California but dude. DUDE. Hopper had more to do and they shipped him off to a Russian prison! Fuck, Suzie had more to do and she's a minor character! It's not like Noah and Charlie are terrible actors. FFS, one of the big takeaways was that Noah managed to act circles around some of his costars back in S1/S2 and that was with the limited time given.
Hell, one of the problems with this show is that they manage to get actors who pull their characters off really well and then you don't want to see them die and they don't and suddenly the cast has like 22 semi regulars and not even damn near two hour long episodes can accommodate that many characters.
With that being said: Don't you fucking dare kill Steve in Volume 2. Don't. You. DARE.
Anyway. *thinks* Story wise, this was a very long prequel, right? Annnnnnnnnd 001 basically willed himself into having powers? Somehow? I know, I know, this show's premise hinges on a parallel universe and a kid seemingly willing himself into powers is what's tripping me up. Also also, I realize that I... don't care about Vecna. He's defeated by music (which means I will never get Running Up That Hill out of my head and it's been stuck in there since whenever The Vampire Diaries started) which I'd mock but since the whole music's good for those whose brains are scrambled is based on science, I'll allow it. My point, where did it go. Oh. Yeah. 001/Orderly I found interesting. Iffy on Creel Kid. Vecna looks nifty but I don't care and it's probably concerning that I separate this one character into the three aspects we've seen.
Ah well.
Robin feels like she regressed but seeing her in luv with AnnE was just something I did not know I needed and her bid for friendship with Nancy was great, as was her rising to the occasion at the funny farm.
I still resent Steve being made damn near too dumb to live but I will also hurt anyone who hurts him soooo... I'm not sure how I feel about the Steve/Nancy retread. Honestly, I'm just still pissed that S2 denied us the joy that could have been the adventures of Steve/Nancy/Jonathan. We're almost making up for it now with Robin/Eddie/Nancy/Steve but it's not the same. And as for the 'shipping question, well, if Steve was made too dumb to live, I don't have words for stoned out of his goddamn mind Jonathan. o_O What the actual fuck?
I know, I know, I already mentioned that.
Max. MAAAAAAAAAAAX. I love her. I loved so much about her except one itty bitty thing:
The Dear Billy thing is still a bit much. I get that her guilt and his final moment of sacrifice is enough to make her dwell on what might have been but dude was presented for 95% of his original runtime as an abusive asshole who deserved the curse of the B names. So I'm torn on that. Guilt doesn't have to make sense but it also doesn't mean I have to NOT think wtf. I will say that the scene played better in the show than it did in the trailer, which shouldn't be surprising.
Eleven:
Dude, Angela the bully had that skate coming and no, I don't feel bad about thinking that. I get why this part of her story was stretched out and not just because 80's movies really liked to lean into the bully being just the absolute worst. But the rest of her storyline was also stretched out and relied on my least favorite storytelling device: supernatural bad but it ain't nothing compared to the law/military/government/men in uniform/suits. HAAAAAAAAAAAAATE that. And basically the first four episodes and nearly all of Hopper's storyline lean into this so, so hard.
El's comes from multiple angles. First you've got the cops getting her for the skating incident and then the miltary is looking for her and Owens (dammit, man!) making a deal with the devil so there's more of the Lab goons. And then it's just extended backstory.
Hated Yuri's sudden but inevitable betrayal. Wound up loving Enzo and will be sad when he dies.
Okay. The best thing about this season, aside from our newbies that I've already mentioned, is how it leans into the horror. Seriously, there are some shots that are gorgeous and the deaths are horrific to imagine in reality but work really, really well for the show. This show is also still very, very good at managing to bottle the 80's and not have it seem too over the top which trips the nostalgia factor pretty hardcore. I do think they could've stepped back from the Satanic Panic bit a little but also... I remember that being such a thing that I vividly remember reading about it in People at the dentist so I can't fault them too much aside from it falling under my hated trope from before bit.
Which reminds me: when ARE people going to stop questioning Dustin and just assume he's probably right about the Upside Down related shit?
Finally: uh, fandom's really out here convinced they're getting Mike/Will, huh? That's... you guys are really setting yourselves up for heartbreak. Wow.
I apparently need sleep so I'll edit this later.