"Stranger Things" on Netflix

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by davidshirt, Jul 15, 2016.

  1. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Seriously? You think artistic merit has any sway over ratings? :o
     
  2. Pastafarian

    Pastafarian Forum Resident

    Absolutely not that's my complaint.

    I mentioned before that cheating wouldn't be put up with by 10 year olds, post 1035, it's like playing as kids and the person who has just been killed by the worlds most powerful ray-gun has just become indestructible.

    When that happens it all becomes meaningless.
     
  3. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    I finished season 3 last night. I was super psyched going in and might have been just a smidgen disappointed, overall, but I still liked the show.

    I think I was a bit turned off by the scale of the story. Before it was just some small town with sneaky government business going on. Now we got the Russian involved and ridiculous underground bases somehow being built in America unnoticed. It's getting a little out of hand (and yes, I realize this is a show about a girl who can move things with her mind and monsters from another dimension entering ours).

    Personally, I would have liked more retro music. I missed the soundtrack this time around. There were songs here and there but they didn't use them as effectively as previous seasons.

    Max was getting annoying with all the women's lib stuff. Mike's like "El, I don't want you to get hurt" and Max is all like, "You don't own her!" as if having concern for a loved one is tantamount to mansplaining or something. Give it a rest. Oh, and Mike was right to be concerned and El got hurt, so nyah.

    The chief is "dead", the Byers' left town, the gang is splitting up. This feels like the end but we know they are coming back, so why go through all the motions? In case some viewers don't come back for season 4?

    I'm a big fan of Steve and was glad he got to continue being cool even though he was in that silly get-up the whole time. I was hoping he and Robin were going to hook up but, unless he pulls a Chasing Amy on her, that looks like a no-go. I will look forward to seeing their back and forth relocated to a video store in the next installment.

    You'd think Mike would feel a bit threatened with his girlfriend moving in with his buddy Will. Am I right? Yeah, I know... but maybe Will isn't? Maybe he's just a late bloomer and in season 4 will be all about scoring chicks.

    What about the mall? Will they rebuild? How can they not? I think they want to write it out of the show going forward but how can you have 80's without mall?

    I was a little disappointed by the mall as well. Aside from that one episode where they did some shopping I didn't feel the warm blanket of nostalgia I was expecting from the Star Court promo reel. I think it's because I wanted someone to actually go inside that Waldenbooks and look around. Instead we spent the majority of time in the center of the food court. I was an 80's mall rat myself and am still waiting for someone to fully explore the life of the 80's mall rat on the screen in a meaningful way (and it's too bad Kevin Smith squandered the title).

    I have to go back and watch Seasons 1 and 2. I never thought Mrs. Wheeler would turn out to be such a cougar. Mrrrowrrrrl.

    So there's no way Hop is dead, right? I mean, the show can't go on without him. Why couldn't Joyce have waited another thirty seconds to turn the keys and let Hop get out of harms way?

    Did I miss Bauman at the end? It seemed like he escorted Joyce out of the mall and disappeared. Maybe he's the imprisoned American in Russia.

    Russian terminator-like guy didn't do anything for me.

    Are there not any other police or emergency crews in this town? How does all this stuff take place and nobody seems to take any notice of it at all until precisely after the creature is killed? Where was Hopper's deputies while all this insanity was going on? Malls being destroyed, houses being destroyed, hospitals being destroyed, droves of people marching off to a warehouse like zombies, reckless driving, car theft, assault, murder... AND NO ONE OTHER THAN THE CORE CAST SEEMS TO NOTICE ANY OF IT THE ENTIRE SEASON.

    I had a fine enough time watching it but yeah, just a little bit of a letdown for me after loving first two seasons. Maybe they've already gone as far as they can go with this show. I'll come back for 4 but I'm getting concerned now. I hate sticking around longer than I should with TV shows and I'm thinking I might already have. The magic is wearing off.

    Bring back Bob Newby.

    1>2>3
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2019
    CoachD, EVOLVIST, Vidiot and 3 others like this.
  4. zombiemodernist

    zombiemodernist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeastern USA
    I agree with most of your critique but this in particular did really bother me this season as well. The retro soundtrack felt much more on the nose, almost "Handmaid's Tale" bad for the "Material Girl" sequence. I can't imagine that scene was memorable enough to pull that track back up the charts like the show did for "Africa" in Season 1. The score was also underutilized. I think they were trying to use the score in more of a John Carpenter loopy action fashion than in previous seasons, but I think the overall vibe suffers. They seem content to repeat plot beats, but not repeat character themes, and the same sort of shots that let the score do the heavy lifting in Season 1. It sometimes felt like when the themes were finally coming in to deliver that emotional weight they would often abruptly fade out or just cut away. I think Season 4 would benefit from the narrative space to let these emotional moments play out with a heavier use of score.
     
  5. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Is Will not gay? I feel like they've been hinting at that for awhile. The closest they got this season was when Mike said, "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" Yes, that could simply mean he doesn't like anyone sexually yet, but I think they were being deliberate about it.

    Upon more reflection, my feelings of being letdown by this season have only grown. I just didn't dig it, simple enough. I didn't like the plot or how they used most of the characters. That continues my year long pattern of being disappointed by the movies/TV I was looking forward to. Didn't like Endgame, hated GOT, didn't like this...

    We did finally cancel Netflix after I finished this season. Stranger Things was the only reason I was hanging on. Season 4 probably won't be for a long time and I'm not really interested in it.
     
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  6. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I bet a nickel that they figured that they couldn't get out of doing a mall shopping montage without using "Material Girl", and I must admit that just about enough time has passed to make me not cringe hearing it used that way. But it was very predictable, and, as you say, "on the nose." The use of "American Pie" was also very on the nose and a bit incongruous being about 15 years old by 1985 and seemed to have been chosen simply as a dark humor thing.
     
  7. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Noah Schnapp has been asked the question about whether Will is gay or not and he said both that "that's up to interpretation" and that his arc currently really isn't about sexuality but about how he's lost a good portion of his formative years to the Upside Down, and he desperately wants things to go back to what they were before. Basically, he still wants to be a ten year old kid, but his friends have all moved on and left him. Will the Duffers reveal him to be gay in a later season? I think that's probably inevitable at this point. If it wasn't planned from the beginning, the chatter is going to create a sense of pressure to make it happen.
     
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  8. zombiemodernist

    zombiemodernist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeastern USA
    Agreed. I think they've pushed themselves into a corner by being so historically accurate so these things stand out. I wasn't even born in the 80s so I have no clue if that kind of stuff was still big on radio, but "American Pie" sticks out easily as a 70s song sonically. I've actually wondered why they don't lean more into alternative 80s music since Johnathan is supposedly a big fan in Season 1. It would give them a much broader palate of songs to use that would feel "right" for the period.

    An interesting comparison show is "Legion" on FX. It's sort of set in the 70s but it plays fast and loose with time. I think what they do with that show is curate songs that have a similar "trippy" vibe, so anything goes that fits the moment, wether its underground psych, 60s or 70s pop or psychedelia. Overall that show still feels rooted in the vibe they want but the music cues feel more genuine to the story. Then again there aren't too many diegetic sources of music in "Legion" which is another corner the Duffers have got themselves backed into.
     
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  9. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    Yeah, there's no turning back now. The seed is planted. If they don't make him gay the Twitter people will shame the show for not being inclusive enough (even though Robin is gay but that probably won't suffice).

    Will the show stick around long enough for the kids to really grow up and get into sex and drugs? I certainly hope not. Leave that smut to Nancy. I don't want to know what happened to The Goonies after the credits rolled and they grew up into horrible adults. I don't want to see Eleven go to college, take ecstasy and explore her gender fluidity or any of that sort of stuff. I'd like to remember them as a sweet group of (somewhat) innocent kids who saved the world. Keep the door open three inches.
     
  10. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    It's kind of comical this season how when Jonathan is in shot, it's all broody alternative 80's music, then when everyone else is featured it's all Merry Go Round pop.
     
  11. NickCarraway

    NickCarraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gastonia, NC
    Jim Croce as well.

    There certainly could've/should've been some Dark Wave - Sisters Of Mercy, Joy Division - during scenes at "the source" to counter the Madonna and REO Speedwagon fluff.
     
  12. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    The Jim Croce song made sense as it's Hopper's thing, and definitely of Hopper's generation. But again, him howling it at the top of his lungs in his truck after reading Mike the riot act was too "on the nose."

    Somehow I didn't buy Mike and El listening to REO though! :laugh:
     
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  13. Jaco944

    Jaco944 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ky
    I’m rewatching season 1....again. This scene has so much impact with the appropriate music.

     
  14. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Now if the REALLY wanted to be edgy next season, they'll pair up Will and El, to the anger and dismay of Mike. It would make a certain sense - Will and El are the two with the most shared trauma from the Upside Down.

    Plus, Mike was kind of useless and a jerk this season, he could stand to be taken down a peg! :laugh:
     
  15. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    Yeah, I mean, a boy Mike's age, I'd be jealous and concerned that my girl was gonna live under the same roof with my buddy. Things happen. Unless Mike is 100% certain about Will's status. But a love triangle involving Will would be a nice change for him. Give him something else to do instead of just being victim and/or crybaby the whole time.

    Maybe we'll come back next season and find in the interim Will became a total player! He got his license, bought a Chevy Nova, wears a leather jacket and is beating the ladies off with a stick!
     
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  16. GreenDrazi

    GreenDrazi Truth is beauty

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    Great clip. They used Peter Gabriel’s “Heroes” again near the end of the last episode of S3.


    But how dare they use 2010 music for a mid-80's setting. ;)
     
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  17. serj

    serj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow
    I'm very disappointed with a season 3. It looks like a trash now, to be honest. Stupid, with a horrible acting of some of the main characters. Dialogs are so bad as they written by the actual 12 years old children. It's a giant letdown after the fantastic season 1 and very good season 2.
     
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  18. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    Why didn’t they just burn these things? They knew it hated heat.


    Also, I was so hoping they were going to pour a can of New Coke on Eleven’s leg to kill that thing crawling inside...
     
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  19. Bender Rodriguez

    Bender Rodriguez RIP Exene, best dog ever. 2005-2016

    Joyce Beyers’ character arc:

    Season 1: Give me back my son!!

    Season 2: Get out of my son!!

    Season 3: Why won’t these magnets work?
     
  20. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    At least she's not shoplifting in this world. :sigh:
     
  21. GreenDrazi

    GreenDrazi Truth is beauty

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    Are David Harbour's Instagram hints clues to his (Hopper's) fate? Buzzfeed link
     
  22. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Several people have said “on the nose” in relation to various aspects of this season and that’s as good a summation as any of the problems here. The contrivances in the last episode also pile up until by the climax everything and everyone seems like a pawn to be moved around. This is lackluster writing. They’re swinging for the cheap seats.
     
    GentleSenator likes this.
  23. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    at least it's not the handmaid's tale. or game of thrones. or homeland.

    yet...
     
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  24. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
    Got the season 3 soundtrack on cassette today from FYE, so 1980’s! :)
     
  25. BluesOvertookMe

    BluesOvertookMe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX, USA
    Finally finished watching Season 3 - thanks to all of you that used the spoiler tags the way you should! I didn't enjoy Season 3 as much as Season 2, but it seems I enjoyed it more than 87.6667 5 of you did! I didn't cringe one time!
     
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