So I watched this show over the course of last week, and I have some long, rambling, and very personal thoughts on it. Writing them down seemed like a good idea, and this seemed like a good place to do it.
This show was basically made for me. The small town horror that Stephen King is so masterful at creating is one of the reasons I pursued a degree in writing in college. I love those types of stories, and I want to be able to tell them some day. Twin Peaks, Alan Wake, Salem's Lot, Gravity Falls, and the X-Files are my jam.
What I wanted to specifically address though is that the finale hit me like a fucking freight train. When i was 19 (I'm 27 now) my mom (a single mother) died of pancreatic cancer after fighting for a year. Having a character dying of cancer is an easy way to immediately make me sad (looking at you Guardians of the Galaxy), because even with all the time that has passed it feels like something I'm not ever supposed to be OK with. It's always a fresh scab. So everything about Chief Hopper's backstory floored me. Every flashback was very painful to watch, but i thought they did an excellent job of weaving the loss of his daughter in with trying to save Will.
Somehow that wasn't even the worst of it though. Having to watch Eleven go out in a blaze of glory to save Mike and the others super sucked. I don't even mind melancholy or dark endings. The Thing, The Mist, and Drag Me to Hell are all movies I think have great endings.
I can't put my finger on exactly what it is, but something about Eleven sacrificing herself makes me profoundly sad in a way I haven't felt since Steve Zissou found the jaguar shark. The Life Aquatic was a movie I saw after my mom passed, and it's movie about two grown men trying to find themselves after the loss of a loved one (including one who lost their mother to cancer!). I wouldn't even consider it to be one of Wes Anderson's best films, but it's the only time I've been truly touched and left to reflect on my own life by a piece of media, and Stranger Things has evoked similar feelings in me.
As I said above I don't mind a dark ending, but I need Eleven to get her happy ending. I'm glad season 2 is revisiting these characters because I'm hoping she gets left in a better place next time.
So yeah. I know I took a pretty deep dive in this spoiler tag, but this show hit some very personal notes for me, and I really wanted to get my feelings out there.
Yeah, my wife had cancer, and while she died of an unrelated complication, all of those scenes with cancer really hit me hard. So I sympathize with those feelings, along with Eleven going out in a blaze of glory.
I'm really glad the final episode had flashbacks of the sheriff, though. He seems a LOT more badass and aware of various government agencies and tricks, though, than a typical police officer, so I'm wondering if his backstory includes service in Vietnam or something.
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y2jake215certified Flat Birther theoristthe Last Good Boy onlineRegistered Userregular
Barb is frumpy Emma Stone
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
in the pool was classic horror. The blurry shot of the monster turning around, the doomed escape attempt
She really sold those screams. Really creepy.
The monster itself was a bit disappointing after being revealed. The first episode it showed telekinetic abilities, too, but it didn't seem to have those later.
Also I'm not clear on how Will communicated with his mom - how did he know when she was holding lights, or when she painted letters on the wall? The upside down must mirror our world bu then wouldn't we see objects floating around in there?
It seems like the show runners weren't super certain about the mechanics of things at the start. I was certain the first attack was going to be a sort of red herring and Will would have been another experiment kid with electrokinesis who escaped the monster by transforming. For like four eps I was thinking this!
in the pool was classic horror. The blurry shot of the monster turning around, the doomed escape attempt
She really sold those screams. Really creepy.
The monster itself was a bit disappointing after being revealed. The first episode it showed telekinetic abilities, too, but it didn't seem to have those later.
Also I'm not clear on how Will communicated with his mom - how did he know when she was holding lights, or when she painted letters on the wall? The upside down must mirror our world bu then wouldn't we see objects floating around in there?
It seems like the show runners weren't super certain about the mechanics of things at the start. I was certain the first attack was going to be a sort of red herring and Will would have been another experiment kid with electrokinesis who escaped the monster by transforming. For like four eps I was thinking this!
My guess would be
since that's the area the monster was crossing over the barrier there was weaker than other places. Letting Will communicate. Another thing I noticed was when they were on the otherside there were still lit streetlights. Maybe electricity exists in both places
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y2jake215certified Flat Birther theoristthe Last Good Boy onlineRegistered Userregular
in the pool was classic horror. The blurry shot of the monster turning around, the doomed escape attempt
She really sold those screams. Really creepy.
The monster itself was a bit disappointing after being revealed. The first episode it showed telekinetic abilities, too, but it didn't seem to have those later.
Also I'm not clear on how Will communicated with his mom - how did he know when she was holding lights, or when she painted letters on the wall? The upside down must mirror our world bu then wouldn't we see objects floating around in there?
It seems like the show runners weren't super certain about the mechanics of things at the start. I was certain the first attack was going to be a sort of red herring and Will would have been another experiment kid with electrokinesis who escaped the monster by transforming. For like four eps I was thinking this!
i was confused by why will was for some reason spared by the monster initially and able to hide.
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
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ObiFettUse the ForceAs You WishRegistered Userregular
in the pool was classic horror. The blurry shot of the monster turning around, the doomed escape attempt
She really sold those screams. Really creepy.
The monster itself was a bit disappointing after being revealed. The first episode it showed telekinetic abilities, too, but it didn't seem to have those later.
Also I'm not clear on how Will communicated with his mom - how did he know when she was holding lights, or when she painted letters on the wall? The upside down must mirror our world bu then wouldn't we see objects floating around in there?
It seems like the show runners weren't super certain about the mechanics of things at the start. I was certain the first attack was going to be a sort of red herring and Will would have been another experiment kid with electrokinesis who escaped the monster by transforming. For like four eps I was thinking this!
i was confused by why will was for some reason spared by the monster initially and able to hide.
If Barb hadn't been pulled into the pool, she might have been able to get away and hide as well.
in the pool was classic horror. The blurry shot of the monster turning around, the doomed escape attempt
She really sold those screams. Really creepy.
The monster itself was a bit disappointing after being revealed. The first episode it showed telekinetic abilities, too, but it didn't seem to have those later.
Also I'm not clear on how Will communicated with his mom - how did he know when she was holding lights, or when she painted letters on the wall? The upside down must mirror our world bu then wouldn't we see objects floating around in there?
It seems like the show runners weren't super certain about the mechanics of things at the start. I was certain the first attack was going to be a sort of red herring and Will would have been another experiment kid with electrokinesis who escaped the monster by transforming. For like four eps I was thinking this!
i was confused by why will was for some reason spared by the monster initially and able to hide.
in the pool was classic horror. The blurry shot of the monster turning around, the doomed escape attempt
She really sold those screams. Really creepy.
The monster itself was a bit disappointing after being revealed. The first episode it showed telekinetic abilities, too, but it didn't seem to have those later.
Also I'm not clear on how Will communicated with his mom - how did he know when she was holding lights, or when she painted letters on the wall? The upside down must mirror our world bu then wouldn't we see objects floating around in there?
It seems like the show runners weren't super certain about the mechanics of things at the start. I was certain the first attack was going to be a sort of red herring and Will would have been another experiment kid with electrokinesis who escaped the monster by transforming. For like four eps I was thinking this!
My guess would be
since that's the area the monster was crossing over the barrier there was weaker than other places. Letting Will communicate. Another thing I noticed was when they were on the otherside there were still lit streetlights. Maybe electricity exists in both places
yeah but i mean,
what did Will see? human proximity in the upside-down causes electrical effects in our world, that's clear, but how would Will know his mother was holding lights, or where the lights were on the wall for the alphabet, or even that there was an alphabet?
If it's because the UD mirrored our world enough to duplicate those objects even when moved short term, we should have seen much more of that in other places. If not, I don't understand how the communication happened.
It smacks a bit of the writers deciding on the scene and spooky events happening before they fully decided what the Upside Down is and how it works.
What we saw ended up being surprisingly mundane? I was expecting something a lot weirder with how strange the events were in the house and with Will, and with this faceless creature roaming around taking people (which ended up just being some kind of extremely resilient superpredator). My guess now is that the thing engages in some kind of parasitic reproduction cycle, and maybe it's the last living thing in that world because it's so nasty? Maybe some experiment gone wrong.
I'm sure they'll expand on it in future seasons if they get them.
I like how in the last bit that we see Will his coughing up a slug and shifting into the upsidedown doesn't seem to be a big issue to him. Guessing he has been coughing up slugs the entire month and shifting from time to time. Now after all that happened you would think that would be something you tell your brother and mom who fought monsters and travelled across dimensions to save you, but I don't think he is quite himself anymore
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Mego Thor"I say thee...NAY!"Registered Userregular
Sometimes, people just wish traumatic shit was over, and talking about it gives it more power.
Is the score for this going to be released anytime soon? I know it's done by a couple of dudes from S U R V I V E but the song that plays near the beginning of episode 1, as the D&D game gets interrupted and everyone leaves on their bikes to go home... I need it. I'll pay. I think it shows up again later during a scene at the junk yard too, could be wrong.
I thought it was a bit weird that the kids were seemingly totally ok with El killing a bunch of people in a rather gruesome way.
Ending was also a bit more of a downer than I expected. Felt like the ending to a King novel though.
I think at that age boys would probably not process they just saw a bunch of dudes get literally murdered in front of them. Especially when it happened via basically super powers. It is probably something that would hit them years later but in the moment I can see little boys thinking that was incredible.
I thought it was a bit weird that the kids were seemingly totally ok with El killing a bunch of people in a rather gruesome way.
Ending was also a bit more of a downer than I expected. Felt like the ending to a King novel though.
I think at that age boys would probably not process they just saw a bunch of dudes get literally murdered in front of them. Especially when it happened via basically super powers. It is probably something that would hit them years later but in the moment I can see little boys thinking that was incredible.
Also they were in full flight/fight mode and could very well internally justify it as self defense, since those were bad guys.
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited July 2016
@Doodmann you should probably put that in spoilers, though it is still pretty vague.
Ending spoilers about the kids and stuff
Kids can rationalize away a shit ton of stuff. Not to say it isn't effecting them, or won't in the future, but they can be really resilient. They could also have been talking about it among themselves over the last few months and we aren't shown that.
If I were to hazard a guess about the finale scene in question;
I could see rationalizing it as 'for the good of the party'.
They were 'bad guys' trying to hurt a friend, and they immediately escaped.
It seems like the kind of thing that might haunt them, but not necessarily right in that moment. Between all the assholes running around with guns and the actual monster in the area, getting the shit out and doing what it took to survive probably trumped other considerations.
That said, massive balls to remain focused like they did.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
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KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
Spoilers abound, so don't check it out unless you are done with the show. It does address some things that have come up in discussion here at times with regards to the end.
It was interesting to read that the scripts for the last 3 episodes weren't finished until they'd already started filming, and so were influenced by the performances early on. Also that Dustin as a character changed quite a bit once they found Gaten Matarazzo, and that the part was rewritten specifically for him.
Theres is absolutely no way they missed Wills little problem at the hospital. One X-Ray would have shown something in his stomach/lungs. They definitely did an MRI as,well given there was a tube half as long as he was shoved down his torso/spoiler]
To be fair, its the spawn of an otherworldly horror that can slip between dimensions seemingly at will, erasing its portals behind it with only the occasional slime left behind.
On top of having an interdimensional slug in him, theres a high chance that Will's himself has dimensional issues considering he flickered in between the bathroom and Upside Down.
Who knows how all of this plays with MRIs or XRays
Regarding medical stuff
Unless it was in his lungs it probably wouldn't show up on an XRay. It's presumably made of something with the approximate density as human tissue. My sister's dog ate a peach pit it couldn't pass and they had to do surgery to find it because they couldn't see it on scans.
As for MRIs, those only started being available in the early 80s, so a small town hospital may not have had one handy, or it might have been prohibitively expensive to use on someone who seemed to mostly be suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, and stress.
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KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
What a wicked awesome show. I'd seen the thing on Netflix but hadn't watched any of it, and late Tuesday night my very good friend whose interests are basically a mirror of mine told me I needed to watch it immediately. Of course he was right.
So, when he found the kids in the junkyard bus, after beating up the weird G-Men.
Notice how those WERE NOT the Hawkins Energy G-Men... They were Men in Black with MIB cars.
The Hawkins secret labs people drove around in white vans, were plains clothes, overalls or full military uniforms.
and then Hooper "beat up" the 3 or 4 MiBs off-camera, alone, without gunshots...
Then he entered the same MiB black car at the end.
My guess is he was working with a third party, another gvmt agency, and he gave up El so that the Hawkins guys got reckt in the school with the Demogorgon.
Then he was debriefed.
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Ending was also a bit more of a downer than I expected. Felt like the ending to a King novel though.
I'm really glad the final episode had flashbacks of the sheriff, though. He seems a LOT more badass and aware of various government agencies and tricks, though, than a typical police officer, so I'm wondering if his backstory includes service in Vietnam or something.
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
She really sold those screams. Really creepy.
The monster itself was a bit disappointing after being revealed. The first episode it showed telekinetic abilities, too, but it didn't seem to have those later.
Also I'm not clear on how Will communicated with his mom - how did he know when she was holding lights, or when she painted letters on the wall? The upside down must mirror our world bu then wouldn't we see objects floating around in there?
It seems like the show runners weren't super certain about the mechanics of things at the start. I was certain the first attack was going to be a sort of red herring and Will would have been another experiment kid with electrokinesis who escaped the monster by transforming. For like four eps I was thinking this!
My guess would be
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
definitely didn't have all the stupid moralizing bullshit nature will pay you back for your sins nonsense
which was nice
I wasn't even a 10th as cool at my peak as Caleb McLaughlin is right now.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
His fort was a good spot for some reason?
yeah but i mean,
If it's because the UD mirrored our world enough to duplicate those objects even when moved short term, we should have seen much more of that in other places. If not, I don't understand how the communication happened.
It smacks a bit of the writers deciding on the scene and spooky events happening before they fully decided what the Upside Down is and how it works.
What we saw ended up being surprisingly mundane? I was expecting something a lot weirder with how strange the events were in the house and with Will, and with this faceless creature roaming around taking people (which ended up just being some kind of extremely resilient superpredator). My guess now is that the thing engages in some kind of parasitic reproduction cycle, and maybe it's the last living thing in that world because it's so nasty? Maybe some experiment gone wrong.
I'm sure they'll expand on it in future seasons if they get them.
Edit: spoiler'd, just in case
Are these outfits a reference, seems familiar but I can't place it
i dunno they might be but i'm not picking it up
Given the year thats actually some impressive foreshadowing for negative events
Also looks like the 1st Ed. AD&D lineup for halflings, dwarves, elves, and humans.
two old pros with nothing left to prove
two kids who think this is real neat
two new champions fkin workin it like 'this carpet was rolled out for me.'
PSN/XBL: Zampanov -- Steam: Zampanov
Never mind, apparently I can't tell kids apart.
Ending spoilers about the kids and stuff
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
They were 'bad guys' trying to hurt a friend, and they immediately escaped.
It seems like the kind of thing that might haunt them, but not necessarily right in that moment. Between all the assholes running around with guns and the actual monster in the area, getting the shit out and doing what it took to survive probably trumped other considerations.
That said, massive balls to remain focused like they did.
Spoilers abound, so don't check it out unless you are done with the show. It does address some things that have come up in discussion here at times with regards to the end.
It was interesting to read that the scripts for the last 3 episodes weren't finished until they'd already started filming, and so were influenced by the performances early on. Also that Dustin as a character changed quite a bit once they found Gaten Matarazzo, and that the part was rewritten specifically for him.
As for MRIs, those only started being available in the early 80s, so a small town hospital may not have had one handy, or it might have been prohibitively expensive to use on someone who seemed to mostly be suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, and stress.
Yes. Yes, please.
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Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Notice how those WERE NOT the Hawkins Energy G-Men... They were Men in Black with MIB cars.
The Hawkins secret labs people drove around in white vans, were plains clothes, overalls or full military uniforms.
and then Hooper "beat up" the 3 or 4 MiBs off-camera, alone, without gunshots...
Then he entered the same MiB black car at the end.
My guess is he was working with a third party, another gvmt agency, and he gave up El so that the Hawkins guys got reckt in the school with the Demogorgon.
Then he was debriefed.