I finished Season 3 again recently and I have to say that I still really like it. It's significantly better than Season 2 (which I liked) but probably less than Season 1. I think the issue is that most of the mystery in the show is now gone. That first Season where you didn't know anything about the upside down world was incredible. Every episode was a new "WTF".
Can't wait to they hit the 90s and stay playing Magic the Gathering. Throwing un sleeved black Lotus around. "What's this, white border? Toss those old cards out!"
I only kinda half-followed Joyce's career path throughout the series.
In season one she worked at a drug store, right? Your average, lower-middle-class struggling, single, working mom with kids. I seem to remember a scene where she struggled to buy a phone.
Then in season 3
she owns her own store and also has the money to just pick up and move?
Was that, like... shown? Or did they just kinda have that be the way it is now?
So, I think after the mall 'burns down', all of the local stores put out of business by the mall would likely keep their employees. It annoyed me a tiny bit that she still had to move and they glossed over that.
So, I think after the mall 'burns down', all of the local stores put out of business by the mall would likely keep their employees. It annoyed me a tiny bit that she still had to move and they glossed over that.
I don't think she "had to" move. She wanted the fuck out of Hawkins.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
She already lost two love interests. I think it’s personal.
I think my biggest problem with this season was that it went for spectacle-driven rather than character-driven.
None of the cast really had much that you could call a character arc this season.
Everything set up in the first few episodes was basically dropped to make room for the A, B, and C crisis plots, and the seemingly shifting relationships are basically rendered moot by how the final episode ends. What little that was there didn't really feel earned.
She already lost two love interests. I think it’s personal.
That and otherworldly entities seem drawn to her son. That she stayed after the last couple run ins was questionable her leaving now is the logical option to get away from there as far as is possible.
Helps get Will away too in case... well.. someone fucks up and opens the gate again.
Conversely, if it opens again and the Upside Down/Mindflayer/whatever manages to get a foothold, they're now separated from many of the people who have helped save the day.
In other words, while it's not an unreasonable action to take based on everything surrounding the town and their experiences in it... they're splitting the party up.
And in D&D terms, we all know that's a risky proposition at best.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
Helps get Will away too in case... well.. someone fucks up and opens the gate again.
Conversely, if it opens again and the Upside Down/Mindflayer/whatever manages to get a foothold, they're now separated from many of the people who have helped save the day.
In other words, while it's not an unreasonable action to take based on everything surrounding the town and their experiences in it... they're splitting the party up.
And in D&D terms, we all know that's a risky proposition at best.
They also now know from Alexi that Hawkins is the key to opening the portal to the Upside Down. It can't just open anywhere. That means getting away from that location is probably safer for Will.
It's not that Hawkins is the only place, it's that it's easier in Hawkins because it was opened there once before.
Their experiments back in Russia seemed to work pretty well until the laser blew out, if Alexei had more than a year to work on it before being brutally executed then they'd probably stay in Russia and keep making the laser better.
Building a secret base in America and moving the current model laser there was just the fast option, a shortcut to get results as fast as possible.
So they could definitely do more jackassery with the Upside Down in the future but I really hope they don't. Let that rest a bit, let's face a new and different premise than "we must close the gate!!"
So, I think after the mall 'burns down', all of the local stores put out of business by the mall would likely keep their employees. It annoyed me a tiny bit that she still had to move and they glossed over that.
I don't think she "had to" move. She wanted the fuck out of Hawkins.
The common refrain from those that went with her was they were coming back. So that doesn't ring true as motivation.
So, I think after the mall 'burns down', all of the local stores put out of business by the mall would likely keep their employees. It annoyed me a tiny bit that she still had to move and they glossed over that.
I don't think she "had to" move. She wanted the fuck out of Hawkins.
The common refrain from those that went with her was they were coming back. So that doesn't ring true as motivation.
One son's girlfriend is in Hawkins as well as his job as a photographer. The other son's friends are all in Hawkins. The newly-adopted daughter's boyfriend is in Hawkins. Of course all of them want to come back.
What's in Hawkins for Joyce? Bad memories and limited economic opportunity.
Moving wasn't any of the younger Byers' choice. Joyce wanted to go and none of the kids are old enough to live on their own so go they did.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
I think my biggest problem with this season was that it went for spectacle-driven rather than character-driven.
None of the cast really had much that you could call a character arc this season.
Everything set up in the first few episodes was basically dropped to make room for the A, B, and C crisis plots, and the seemingly shifting relationships are basically rendered moot by how the final episode ends. What little that was there didn't really feel earned.
Mike learns to be a good boyfriend and express his feelings.
Elle learns how to be herself from Max.
Will learns how to deal with growing up and the changing interests of his friends.
Robin learns to recognize Steve's huge character growth from S1E1 till now. She also learns that children aren't just annoying abusers of the free sample policy.
Erica learns she is a nerd and that's okay.
Murray, well maybe he doesn't learn anything but I thought it was hilarious how the kids treated him.
Hopper keeps working on being a good person. You can't just flip a switch and be perfect. I don't mind that he fails from time to time, that's pretty normal.
I think my biggest problem with this season was that it went for spectacle-driven rather than character-driven.
None of the cast really had much that you could call a character arc this season.
Everything set up in the first few episodes was basically dropped to make room for the A, B, and C crisis plots, and the seemingly shifting relationships are basically rendered moot by how the final episode ends. What little that was there didn't really feel earned.
Mike learns to be a good boyfriend and express his feelings.
Elle learns how to be herself from Max.
Will learns how to deal with growing up and the changing interests of his friends.
Robin learns to recognize Steve's huge character growth from S1E1 till now. She also learns that children aren't just annoying abusers of the free sample policy.
Erica learns she is a nerd and that's okay.
Murray, well maybe he doesn't learn anything but I thought it was hilarious how the kids treated him.
Hopper keeps working on being a good person. You can't just flip a switch and be perfect. I don't mind that he fails from time to time, that's pretty normal.
I think my biggest problem with this season was that it went for spectacle-driven rather than character-driven.
None of the cast really had much that you could call a character arc this season.
Everything set up in the first few episodes was basically dropped to make room for the A, B, and C crisis plots, and the seemingly shifting relationships are basically rendered moot by how the final episode ends. What little that was there didn't really feel earned.
Mike learns to be a good boyfriend and express his feelings.
Elle learns how to be herself from Max.
Will learns how to deal with growing up and the changing interests of his friends.
Robin learns to recognize Steve's huge character growth from S1E1 till now. She also learns that children aren't just annoying abusers of the free sample policy.
Erica learns she is a nerd and that's okay.
Murray, well maybe he doesn't learn anything but I thought it was hilarious how the kids treated him.
Hopper keeps working on being a good person. You can't just flip a switch and be perfect. I don't mind that he fails from time to time, that's pretty normal.
Erica also perhaps learns that she likes her brother's friends more than she wants to believe. I detected a slight air of jealousy from her when Suzie turned out to be real.
Murray perhaps came face to face with the actual dangers of the conspiracies he's dedicated to digging into, rather than what he's always perceived.
Steve got to fuck up Billy's car.
Elle learns how to win a fight without her powers, her compassion for others is what wins the day.
Mike's mom learns that even though her husband sucks she doesn't want to fuck up her kids' childhood with an affair.
Jonathan and Nancy survive their first real relationship trial and come out alive.
I think my biggest problem with this season was that it went for spectacle-driven rather than character-driven.
None of the cast really had much that you could call a character arc this season.
Everything set up in the first few episodes was basically dropped to make room for the A, B, and C crisis plots, and the seemingly shifting relationships are basically rendered moot by how the final episode ends. What little that was there didn't really feel earned.
Mike learns to be a good boyfriend and express his feelings.
Elle learns how to be herself from Max.
Will learns how to deal with growing up and the changing interests of his friends.
Robin learns to recognize Steve's huge character growth from S1E1 till now. She also learns that children aren't just annoying abusers of the free sample policy.
Erica learns she is a nerd and that's okay.
Murray, well maybe he doesn't learn anything but I thought it was hilarious how the kids treated him.
Hopper keeps working on being a good person. You can't just flip a switch and be perfect. I don't mind that he fails from time to time, that's pretty normal.
Erica also perhaps learns that she likes her brother's friends more than she wants to believe. I detected a slight air of jealousy from her when Suzie turned out to be real.
Murray perhaps came face to face with the actual dangers of the conspiracies he's dedicated to digging into, rather than what he's always perceived.
Steve got to fuck up Billy's car.
Elle learns how to win a fight without her powers, her compassion for others is what wins the day.
Mike's mom learns that even though her husband sucks she doesn't want to fuck up her kids' childhood with an affair.
Jonathan and Nancy survive their first real relationship trial and come out alive.
Steve also won his first fight so that's good.
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KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
Mike and Elle have their relationship patch up over the entire course of the season, when this sort of ridiculous premise that would be handled in a single episode of a sitcom. This incremental progress is laughable compared to previous seasons.
Lucas doesn't have a character arc. He's there to provide Mike with a sounding board about relationships, and to deliver the shoe-horned product placement/references.
Will wanted to spend time with his friends just being friends together, before they moved. But that's spoken about in a single episode. Then he's just around to rub the back of his neck and make frightened faces.
Dustin... also wanted to spend time with his friends and prove his girlfriend existed? But again, this is like the first episode and then he's sequestered off for the rest of it and while his girlfriend does show up at a dramatically appropriate time... it doesn't have anything to do with character growth or change.
Steve admits at the end of the season that he peaked in high school and by the time he realized his mistakes it was too late to really right the ship, but it's not really anything we didn't know and understand about him already. His opening up to Robin, and their now-established-to-be-platonic relationship is great, don't get me wrong, but it didn't alter who Steve is.
Robin doesn't really get character development. She's the smart and snarky alt-girl and yeah she's gay but it's not like she was figuring that out about herself. She's a likable new character who doesn't get much nuance because she has to share the spotlight with everyone else.
Carla actually has a character growth moment, where she is forced to recognize that maybe labels like "nerd" are arbitrary and it's better to just let people enjoy things. Oh, and that her brother's nerdy friends maybe are actually cooler than they appear.
Hopper has anger-management issues and a drinking problem. He is never confronted about them! He never has any come-to-God moment where he has to admit to himself that those are issues he's got that are stemming from all the shit going on in his life. When the shit starts hitting the fan we are just supposed to forget all his foibles because gosh darn it, he can really get things done when it comes down to the brass tacks. His ostensible death excuses him from having to even face up to any consequences from his actions, because now people can just mourn him and look back on his faults as "well darn it he wasn't perfect but he was still our Hop."
Billy's character only gets expanded during a single exposition-y melodramatic scene, just like last season. Too little, too late.
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WotC LOVES their non cash cow product getting love. Or more specifically, Hasbro does.
We must put a stop to this.
A single mother now having to take care of three kids? She better.
They show the dad in flashback....
Wasn't the father also in season 2 where he threatened Billy, which set him off on finding Max?
My Backloggery
He hit him didn't he?
In season one she worked at a drug store, right? Your average, lower-middle-class struggling, single, working mom with kids. I seem to remember a scene where she struggled to buy a phone.
Then in season 3
Was that, like... shown? Or did they just kinda have that be the way it is now?
Their mom and dad were in that scene, and Billy's dad totally slapped him. I 100% expected possessed Billy to kill his father this season.
I don't think she "had to" move. She wanted the fuck out of Hawkins.
None of the cast really had much that you could call a character arc this season.
Everything set up in the first few episodes was basically dropped to make room for the A, B, and C crisis plots, and the seemingly shifting relationships are basically rendered moot by how the final episode ends. What little that was there didn't really feel earned.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Hey I might still own a copy of that Best of Dragon Magazine that Will just let soak in the rain.
That actively angered me.
That and otherworldly entities seem drawn to her son. That she stayed after the last couple run ins was questionable her leaving now is the logical option to get away from there as far as is possible.
Conversely, if it opens again and the Upside Down/Mindflayer/whatever manages to get a foothold, they're now separated from many of the people who have helped save the day.
In other words, while it's not an unreasonable action to take based on everything surrounding the town and their experiences in it... they're splitting the party up.
And in D&D terms, we all know that's a risky proposition at best.
They also now know from Alexi that Hawkins is the key to opening the portal to the Upside Down. It can't just open anywhere. That means getting away from that location is probably safer for Will.
Yeah. That fort of his was pretty crappy.
Their experiments back in Russia seemed to work pretty well until the laser blew out, if Alexei had more than a year to work on it before being brutally executed then they'd probably stay in Russia and keep making the laser better.
Building a secret base in America and moving the current model laser there was just the fast option, a shortcut to get results as fast as possible.
So they could definitely do more jackassery with the Upside Down in the future but I really hope they don't. Let that rest a bit, let's face a new and different premise than "we must close the gate!!"
The common refrain from those that went with her was they were coming back. So that doesn't ring true as motivation.
One son's girlfriend is in Hawkins as well as his job as a photographer. The other son's friends are all in Hawkins. The newly-adopted daughter's boyfriend is in Hawkins. Of course all of them want to come back.
What's in Hawkins for Joyce? Bad memories and limited economic opportunity.
Moving wasn't any of the younger Byers' choice. Joyce wanted to go and none of the kids are old enough to live on their own so go they did.
Mike learns to be a good boyfriend and express his feelings.
Elle learns how to be herself from Max.
Will learns how to deal with growing up and the changing interests of his friends.
Robin learns to recognize Steve's huge character growth from S1E1 till now. She also learns that children aren't just annoying abusers of the free sample policy.
Erica learns she is a nerd and that's okay.
Murray, well maybe he doesn't learn anything but I thought it was hilarious how the kids treated him.
Hopper keeps working on being a good person. You can't just flip a switch and be perfect. I don't mind that he fails from time to time, that's pretty normal.
I haven't finished the season. Probably should avoid this thread.
Steve learns about lesbians
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Erica also perhaps learns that she likes her brother's friends more than she wants to believe. I detected a slight air of jealousy from her when Suzie turned out to be real.
Murray perhaps came face to face with the actual dangers of the conspiracies he's dedicated to digging into, rather than what he's always perceived.
Steve got to fuck up Billy's car.
Elle learns how to win a fight without her powers, her compassion for others is what wins the day.
Mike's mom learns that even though her husband sucks she doesn't want to fuck up her kids' childhood with an affair.
Jonathan and Nancy survive their first real relationship trial and come out alive.
Steve also won his first fight so that's good.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
Lucas doesn't have a character arc. He's there to provide Mike with a sounding board about relationships, and to deliver the shoe-horned product placement/references.
Will wanted to spend time with his friends just being friends together, before they moved. But that's spoken about in a single episode. Then he's just around to rub the back of his neck and make frightened faces.
Dustin... also wanted to spend time with his friends and prove his girlfriend existed? But again, this is like the first episode and then he's sequestered off for the rest of it and while his girlfriend does show up at a dramatically appropriate time... it doesn't have anything to do with character growth or change.
Steve admits at the end of the season that he peaked in high school and by the time he realized his mistakes it was too late to really right the ship, but it's not really anything we didn't know and understand about him already. His opening up to Robin, and their now-established-to-be-platonic relationship is great, don't get me wrong, but it didn't alter who Steve is.
Robin doesn't really get character development. She's the smart and snarky alt-girl and yeah she's gay but it's not like she was figuring that out about herself. She's a likable new character who doesn't get much nuance because she has to share the spotlight with everyone else.
Carla actually has a character growth moment, where she is forced to recognize that maybe labels like "nerd" are arbitrary and it's better to just let people enjoy things. Oh, and that her brother's nerdy friends maybe are actually cooler than they appear.
Hopper has anger-management issues and a drinking problem. He is never confronted about them! He never has any come-to-God moment where he has to admit to himself that those are issues he's got that are stemming from all the shit going on in his life. When the shit starts hitting the fan we are just supposed to forget all his foibles because gosh darn it, he can really get things done when it comes down to the brass tacks. His ostensible death excuses him from having to even face up to any consequences from his actions, because now people can just mourn him and look back on his faults as "well darn it he wasn't perfect but he was still our Hop."
Billy's character only gets expanded during a single exposition-y melodramatic scene, just like last season. Too little, too late.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar