I liked Bob, but I couldn’t help mentally inserting “Mr. Frodo” after all his lines, especially during his little pep-talk with Will.
I think for me it helped thinking of him as Bob the Goonie. I was able to really enjoy Sean Astin in this role. I wonder if anyone was thinking of him as Rudy?
Someone said it upthread… but Season 1 was lightning in a bottle…you can’t recapture that BUT this season was everything I could have wanted from a continuation of the story.
It is interesting to think about their future… Does Jane/Eleven have to stay in Hawkins the rest of her life as its “Protector?” The upside down could always breakthrough again.
Finished last night and really enjoyed it. During that final shot, all I could think was …
" … meanwhile, the upside-down version of the dance is terrible! All of the girl monsters and boy monsters are shuffling around awkwardly on opposite sides of the room … nobody’s dancing … nobody’s talking to each other …"
I finished it this weekend. I really enjoyed it, just as much as the first one. I was amused by my reaction to one thing. In a super unrealistic fantasy horror movie the one thing that disrupted my suspension of belief was:
[spoiler]The lab’s fail-unsafe external doors, which lock in a power failure. I expect even in the 80s in a dodgy militarized government institution that would be against building codes! Also, requiring some BASIC code to activate the security system so you can open the door seems like fairly poor UI.
“Oh, Fred the programming intern is out on a cigarette break. I guess we’ll just have to die in this fire that tripped the basement breaker. [/spoiler]
(spoiler removed because I couldn’t figure out how to embed it in the quote and still be hidden)
[spoiler]When you’re doing black-ops paranormal experiments, building codes probably shouldn’t be the controlling design authority.
Fail-secure locks are used in lots of real designs, from bio-containment labs to submarines. Because sometimes not letting something out is a lot more important than the lives of whoever is inside when the systems fail[/spoiler]
Only sort-of on topic: I suggest that future threads for shows not use spoilers. Or maybe not use them past the first page. It makes the conversation so much more of a hassle to follow. Are there really people who don’t want to be spoiled who are going to read a show-specific thread? It is admirable to try to help them, but it comes at the cost of making the experience worse for almost everyone who actually wants to talk about the show.
I agree
Open spoilers should be the default position. If someone wants a spoiler-free thread, they should indicate that in the title. This isn’t like an in-person discussion where you’re at risk of hearing something through no action of your own.
Finished it last night. Overall, I really enjoyed it a great deal. I don’t think it was as good as Season 1 but that is only b/c of the "lightening in the bottle’ aspect. Season 2 lived up to the expectations I had for sure. Random thoughts/comments:
[ul]
[li]I loved that Will and Mike had a more secondary role for most of the season to allow Dustin and Lucas a bigger role. I really enjoyed seeing more of Dustin, he is also my favorite of the friends. ;-)[/li][li]Dustin’s sexy-grrrr made me laugh out loud every singe time.[/li][li]I really like Mad Max and thinking back to a teenaged MeanJoe, I’d have totally been with Dustin and Lucas falling for her big time.[/li][li]Steve was a much more likable character this time vs. Season 1. I really felt his hurt over Nancy and that small scene at the Snow Ball was poignant as he saw her through the window. I also really liked his role as an almost big brother to Dustin and the rest later in the season.[/li][li]Both Bob and Dr. Owens had me guessing through-out as to if they were good guys or bad guys. Expertly done by the writers and actors.[/li][li]Episode 7 - Definitely agree it was quite the change to do that one-off episode focused on El. On one hand I get that it allowed the show to take her out of play for an extended period of time so she wasn’t the magic-bullet to fix everything. It also gave us some backstory on El, other people in the lab, and let us see some growth in the El character discovering who she will be. I was really worried about how they were changing the character and I was glad to see the choice she made. Lastly, it certainly allowed her to return to the main story line better equipped to deal with the threat. On the other hand, it just seemed to really break off from the overall theme and tone they were setting and I agree with others it seemed like a “soft pilot” of a new show inserted into Season 2.[/li][li]The ending - So… I honestly was fairly confused at first as to what that meant when they flipped the Snow Ball to the Upside Down and we saw the Mind Flayer right over the high school gymnasium/dance. Does that mean there is still a whole somewhere and they are not safe? Does it mean that even if the hole is closed, the Upside Down and Mind Flayer still exist? Someone help me out here…?[/li][/ul]
To your last point, I interpret it as:
Even if the hole is closed, the Upside Down and Mind Flayer still exist.
I mean, there had to be some kind of cliffhanger.
Late to the party and just finished. Only chiming in to say that I am surprised about how much dislike there is for The Lost Sister episode. I finished that with feeling “wow.”
Yes hoping they will be back. No not as a different show but as a more central part of a future season, maybe the next one.
Also suspect we will meet some other numbers … given the thoughts about “Back to the Future” perhaps one who can manipulate time but not quite control how they do it. Do El and Kali work together or are they on opposing sides? I think the latter. With conflict over being in conflict.
Personally I had been thinking that there would be the reveal that El was being literal when she had said she was the monster … that the shadow monster and its minions were somehow a manifestation of her anger and dark impulses and that projected image Brenner’s comment about her rot festering and spreading was also literally true becoming manifest as the vines under Hawkins.
As to whether or not one needs to have been part of the '80s to enjoy this show … well not only does my 16 year old enjoys it, but I do too. And I was alive for the '80s but those were years that I made no time for movies and games just because of where I was in life. The vast majority of the references and in jokes were lost on me and I still enjoyed it fine.
Sort of like Dr. Edward Morbius of Forbidden Planet? Maybe another project child will be along those lines.
Binged it last night and had one big take away: Raising an adolescent is hard but nothing compared to raising an adolescent with super powers.
Liked season 1 , now watching the start of season 2. My only complaint about season 1 was they took so long to show the monster. But I guess that’s typical of these type shows.
In the 80s I worked with a guy named Duffer from Durham. Duffer seems like a pretty rare name around here so there is a good chance that guy is the father of the twins making this show. The ages of the twins are right.