- Oops - forgot to finish this thought. Mike and Dustin both needed the shit slapped out of them. Mike, for the hypocritical way he treated Max (who was it that insisted on bringing El into the party, over Lucas’s very logical objections, mmm?), and Dustin for the whole Dart thing. In both cases, it fit the character and the plot to that point, but I’d have happily had Mike stop acting up a lot faster. Just not at the expense of El’s arc and Max’s existence.
I liked it, although the Eleven/Jane subplot seemed like a clunky set-up for a third season.
I was especially glad that they gave Lucas more to do this season. He seemed to be used mostly as a wet blanket in the first season.
From Eposode 6
Bob, no!
Hobbit down!
Funniest moment for me was episode 5
Bob (Sean Astin, one of the actually Goonies) is being ask to find a location from the drawings throughout the house. Joyce draws a large X, his reply “What’s there, pirate treasure?” My daughter reported not getting it at first but it had me laughing so hard I choked.
Doh! Episode 7, not 6.
I honestly didn’t get that until it was repeated in the aftershow…but it was a cute reference. (I keep forgetting Astin was in Goonies…only remembering that one of the Coreys was in it…)
I agree about Dustin. The way he
found Dart in the bathroom and then hid him from the party
was pure Idiot Ball writing, a notable lapse for a show that, for all its self-conscious derivativeness, is usually above that sort of thing.
Regarding Mike:
I agree that him being such a little shit was true both to his character and to the plot. We’re told he’s been on a downward slide ever since Eleven disappeared. But one of the things about season two that surprised me was how Mike, the most important and well-developed of the boy characters in season one, was basically relegated to a supporting role. He has few noteworthy scenes and nothing he does has much impact on the plot until episodes 8 and 9, where he kind of reasserts himself as the de facto leader of the party. In the end it gave Gaten Matarrazo and (especially) Noah Schnapp the chance to shine, and they did, so it’s a win for the show overall.
Hmm. You make a good point there. Kid still needed a slapping, but when you look at it from that angle, it was a net good.
I just finished a two-part binge watch (if that’s actually something) and the part I liked best was…
… the whole fucking thing, even the lost sister episode.
That said, the dance at the end was such a nostalgia trip and a perfect ending for all the characters that it made me, a 49 year old, ultra-cynical dude a little weepy.
The dance was such fan service, but I loved it. Especially
Everything with Dustin. From his ‘Steve Harrington’ hairstyle, to the ride with Steve in the car, to him confidently asking a girl to dance (and getting declined), and finally to Nancy dancing with him and giving him a pep talk. It was a nice bookend and contrast to the opening scenes of season 1, when Nancy slams the door in his face.
Finished it today. I thought it took a while to get going since there was a fair amount of exposition to set up Max as a new character and where El was and what was going on with her. The Lost Sister ep was weird but not totally out of place. And, gee whiz Bob. I really had come to like him. In the end though, it was great. Loved it and will probably be watching it a second time at a more leisurely pace over the next week or so.
I just finished watching the TV show “The Strain” last week so I was fully expecting
Sean Astin to die
Oddly enough, I just binged “Red Oaks” in the past few weeks; it’s good to see that Paul Reiser is still getting work.
P.S. My favourite character in Seasons 1 and 2 is Mike’s oblivious dad. He doesn’t have many lines, but each one of them is pure gold.
Segue for a second because I don’t remember:
How do you do a spoiler tag?
Type the following:
[noparse] YOUR SPOILER POST GOES HERE [/noparse]
and it will look like this:
YOUR SPOILER POST GOES HERE
ETA: Also, if you don’t know how to code/tag something, just quote a post that contains the tag you’re trying to figure out, and you’ll see it in the quote itself.
Same here, there was a nice girl that looked just like Barbara with middle-aged lady glasses, hair, and clothes.
Johnathon definitely was similar to several people I went to school with too, kinda from rougher families but still good friends to know.
LOL, thanks. I thought that’s what it was but I wasn’t sure.
And good tip about quoting too 
One thing I appreciated more this time around?
The writers putting a lid on Joyce’s hysterics. JFC, I get that she’s a mom and worried sick about her kid but REALLY?!? I know Winona Ryder has always done great hysterics but it gets old very quickly. It almost ruined v. 1 for me.
I’m 6 episodes in and I’m surprised so many people like it just as much as the 1st season. My wife and I both like S1 better. It’s not bad, just (sounds silly to say) maybe a little less believable? Especially…
Putting the tunnel map together throughout the house. And then Bob recognizing what it is and identifying a spot on an actual map. Come on.
I was thinking that in any adventure/sci-fi story with a group of characters, someone always ends up being the skeptic —the one whose suggestions would be perfectly reasonable in the real world, but who in the movie/show comes off as a killjoy. Lucas was definitely stuck in that role. I’m not sure if the solution they came up was that good (I don’t think Max is a very successful character) but it was nice at least to see his home life.