Agree 100%, particularly the part about Dustin and Steve. They had a great dynamic that I hope the show explores further in next season. Not too much, though. Just enough to add flavor like this time.
Cashed in my free month of Netflix and watched the first episode of Season 2. Wife and I will press on!
According to the creators, many ideas were cut from S2 and have found a home in S3, which has sped up the writing process. There will be a “teen supernatural” story line (cut from S2), among others, and a few new characters. Vague, but they have recently jumped into the writing process...and I think that’s all we’ll get until a teaser is released. Maybe, we’ll see S3 in 2018 after all.
We took our time getting through it, but it was enjoyable. I'm hoping though that Will is finally developed into a real character in Season 3 instead of more of the perpetual victim that always needs saving. I was fine with Episode 7. It's one-off-ness is a lot more forgiveable in a Netflix setting where you can quickly binge watch to the next episode, than it would be on regular network broadcasting and force you to wait another week for the outcome of the previous cliffhanger. It was important for Eleven's character development and also a plotpoint needed for her to develop her powers to the point she needed to take them in the finale. I think the only alternative they had was weaving that arc into the other episodes, which only would have made those episodes weaker as well as harder to follow. Spoiler What did surprise me, however, is after heavily implying that water was a major weakness for the Mind Flayer that it didn't come to anything. Maybe that was the point of Bob's death? He was clearly deducing in that direction with the discovery that the vines avoided major bodies of water as well as using the sprinkler system to stop the Demo-Dog from going down the stairs. (Also, Will not getting into the bath. He used the heat as the excuse which jibes with everything we know, but his sheer look of terror at the tub paints a different picture. I doubt he even got close enough to even test it.) I guess this is one of the things they are saving for Season three.
I really enjoyed the second season, except for the punk episode. It felt like they brought in a high school creative writing student who is huge fan of Stranger Things and said "Please write an episode about Eleven joining a punk gang. Watch the Quincy Punks episode for reference." It was painfully cliche and felt really out of place. The actors playing the gang were TERR-I-BLE.
It reminded me of that final-season Miami Vice episode that copied 21 Jump Street and had a whole lot of Laura San Giacomo and Justin Lazard but hardly any Crockett & Tubbs.
I've just watched both seasons back to back in last few days. I didn't mind the 'punk' episode at all, it reminded me of the punks in the original Terminator, and kind of seemed right for a homage based series of that time. In fact in one S2 episode there was an advert for Terminator playing on a tv. Did think S2 had some real pacing issues though and was dragged out a lot initially, but overall I've loved it, not as much as The OA, but then I'm a nerd for everything that team of people have made, but Stranger Things is the best other thing I've seen in a long while.
People, the "punk gang" was supposed to be cliche. They're an homage to that exact kind of cliche gang in 80s films. How is this so hard to understand??
Especially since you could watch the next episode immediately afterward (and probably did -- and you probably watched the previous episode right before it). It's not like people had to wait two weeks to find out what happened after episode 6.
Obviously the gang was supposed to be a typical cheesy disenfranchised punky gang, I don't think that was the problem - I think it was just that the characters weren't compellng or likeable, and it was badly acted. Most of the other characters in the series are typical 80s archetypes but because they are well done they don't stick out like a sore thumb so much. Even the main kids - initially you might think of The Explorers, Goonies, Stand By me etc..but I think they stand alone as their own strong characters.
Episode 7 was the Emmy Episode for actress Millie Bobby Brown. A stand alone episode that highlight an actor or actress. The episode is crafted for voters who are never going to watch the entire series.
Well, they WERE supposed to be criminals. I didn’t think that they were written to be liked or to be permanent additions to the cast.
I like this show so much I'm gonna buy the action figures! Wife talked me out of the tube.socks, though.
The creators talk Chapter Seven... http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/the-duffer-brothers-recap-stranger-things-2-the-lost-sister.html
i'm almost done with season 2. It's a great show. Probably the best Sci Fi-Fantasy TV show I've seen since Buffy and Angel.