Stranger Things

[Log]

C'mon. It's a training montage, of course there are lots of cuts. It's not like that scene in Bohemian Rhapsody or whatever.

For reference:

 

Edited November 17, 2025 by Log

[RandomAct]

Anyone else feel like they are watching the final season out of obligation instead of excitement?  Like, there are a couple of things I want the show to answer, but otherwise it has just taken so long to knock out 5 seasons of a show, that it has killed my intrigue.

[Mister TV]

7 hours ago, RandomAct said:

Anyone else feel like they are watching the final season out of obligation instead of excitement?  Like, there are a couple of things I want the show to answer, but otherwise it has just taken so long to knock out 5 seasons of a show, that it has killed my intrigue.

I also feel like that, felt the same way trudging through the final season of Lost. 

[Eivion]

On 11/23/2025 at 4:28 AM, RandomAct said:

Anyone else feel like they are watching the final season out of obligation instead of excitement?  Like, there are a couple of things I want the show to answer, but otherwise it has just taken so long to knock out 5 seasons of a show, that it has killed my intrigue.

I actually just rewatched the first four seasons. I kind of get it. First three are really good to great and almost feel fine ending at 3. S4 was a mix of some great stuff with some of the show's worst and most frustrating writing. That in general hurt my interest, but then you get the three years it has taken to get to the finale itself and its hard to feel truly excited. I don't hate the show and am still interested, but there is definitely more of an obligation feel than I would have had if the finale had come out and year or two prior. That feeling has only gone down some due to my rewatch.

Edited December 1, 2025 by Eivion

[RandomAct]

I skipped a rewatch this time for that very reason. Season 3 really was the logical conclusion.

[Cobra Commander]

Stuff I remember from watching the Four November episodes of Season 5 (and some liveish reacting since I started typing this during episode 3):

Spoiler

The longgggg "previously on Stranger Things" intro was probably necessary with the 3 1/2 year gap between seasons. They're letting these kids run a 50,000 watt radio station unattended, with two of them going up a radio tower to fix it. There's a new child (Holly has been recast and she's a unknown age girl played by someone who way older than her character's age). Holly was obviously going to be in peril and don't worry, they don't waste time with that. The Scooby Gang has a questionable plan to send Hopper into the Upside Down to avoid his ex-Wife Lily kick Vecna's ass. Dustin and friends are dealing with 80s movie bullies. They relocated the town like a mile from smoking remains. Maya/Robin will eventually date the Molly Ringwald girl. Eleven runs an obstacle course. There's a plan that goes out in code because we're in the 80s and people listened to the radio back then. Anyways, the entire plan in episode 1 goes array and they don't kill the monster in the first episode of an 8 episode series. Also Linda Hamilton has a part in this show.

Then a demogorgon breaks in to beat up the Wheeler parents and abduct Holly. Anyways, they split up into groups once the plan goes array and Eleven goes into the upside down to interact with Hopper. I joke about Nancy and Mike beating up nurses to steal their uniforms in the hospital. Max is in a coma until either the end of episode 4 or the end of episode 7. They tease just enough of "Walking Up That Hill" to make me wonder if they're trying to avoid paying Kate Bush. Will discovers lesbianism in the hospital. Dustin gets beaten up by the 80s movie bullies.

Will talks about his power of rubbing his neck to see which children are about to be abducted. Joyce is crazy amounts of protective towards Will. Vecna/Henry looks like Oppenheimer in his human form as he finds children to abduct. The Gang gets together and Will talks about a fat kid that's about to get abducted. Nancy's hair is ridiculous in a good way. These kids look so old because it took them 9 years to film a story that took 4 years. Hey, Tiffany's about to get a bump in Spotify plays, good news for Tommy James and Shondells. Do I need to know about plotpoints from Alice In Wonderland or any other works of 80s young adult-centered movies for this season? Hopper just amazingly casual about hopes of getting out of the Upside Down through a convoy plus he mentions the Russia storyline that we all agreed to ignore. Hey Lucas' sister shows up in episode 3 because she has a purpose in the plot with the next kid. Robin is getting so much to do in this season. This time she's hiding because she's about to ditch a date with her girlfriend again. Murray the bearded guy shows up to deliver various weapons and items. Hey, only took 3 episodes for Eleven to do magical stuff. Erica is sent into the home of some rich people with wine cellars and the pie is drugged. I'm gonna let this plan play out to see how drugging this family hinders Vecna. Okay, just straight up stabbing her and they're gonna abduct a family to try and trap the monster and didn't they have something happen in a ritzy wine cellar house in Season 4. It's possible the gang is running up a list of crimes as this series goes on. Joyce gets to have a heartfelt talk and then the monster shows up to get water balloons thrown at it and it runs off after running into the Home Alone house of traps. Then they drive their car through some yards to try and track the monster. Vecna might just know where Will and friends are and the adorable child Holly wonders towards a rock formation before being chased off by.. hey they brought Max from the dead at the end of episode 3.

Hey Joyce is gonna get some time with the fat kid to explain that a monster is trying to abduct him. Joyce getting to fight a monster until it gets hit by a car. Let's have a long explanation of the meaning of driving your car into the Upside Down before just barely doing it. Hey another adorable child and the military is abducting all the children. Just drive fast through the Upside Down, what could go wrong. Amazed at how amusingly stupid the plan actually was. Meanwhile Will shows off his love of painting clues. Linda Hamilton shows up again and the military is just gonna proactively take all the kids to also try and trap a monster. Max and Holly wander through a rock formation. The gang is just repeatedly able to spy on military activity without being detected. And the two groups of the gang which are in the upside down realize they're both there. Max and Holly have a conversation in a national park to try and figure out how exactly Max isn't technically dead in the show. Max ended up in 1959 when Henry was alive. Then Kate Bush music played. I'm just gonna choose to believe that Murray doesn't talk to these guys before picking items and they just have to figure out how to make sense of what he brings. Being imprisoned by Vecna sure does age you. Vecna isn't allowed in the cave. I think Robin is talking Will through some things. A Tony Khan looking dude shows up in episode 4. Pretty sure this scene with Hopper/Eleven/Tony trying to get into the lab is from one of the Terminator movies because Linda Hamilton is in the cast. Meanwhile the fat kid is evangelizing the other kids in the prison camp. The above ground parts of the gang burrow into the camp. Linda Hamilton looking like a women's college basketball coach. Hopper getting strangled as he's interrogated. Eventually the military captures Joyce and friends and Will feels his neck. And one of the demogorgons is thrashing the military. Lots of demogorgons and Will thrashes about. Pretty sure the best time to watch all this is after midnight instead of in the daylight. Hey, they're doing a payoff of that Eleven sidequest from like 3 seasons ago that people thought was going to be spunoff into another show because it went nowhere on this show. And now Vecna's here to ignore being shot at by the Military. Hey a gruesome death scene with Vecna's hand going through an army guy's head. Vecna telling his entire plan to Will. And the Demogorgons are being stopped from taking the Scooby Gang through the power of friendship. Then the Demogorgons get their limbs broken. Cya on Christmas Day! 

so it feels like this is less stupid than Season 4 so far... got 3 episodes and then the finale to resolve all the other things.

[Eivion]

So far I'm really digging the season. Liking Holly and the plot. That ending to episode four was quite nice and

Spoiler

a neat little confirmation that Will is not only a psychic, but that Vecna's attacks from Upside Down have mostly been targeting potential psychics for at least the past two seasons. Makes sense since he is a bit of a psychic vampire. It also partially explains why those specific murders helped keep open gates in S4.

 

[Craig H]

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

I’m ready to run through a brick wall. Let’s fucking go.

[RandomAct]

Despite my earlier reservations, I think they nailed these 4 episodes. One thing the show has always been great at, is how they pair people together. Usually those pairings involve Steve, but the Will/Robin pairing might be my favorite one, just because of how much weight it carried for both of them.  It's crazy that she might actually be the most 3 dimensional character in the show.

Vecna came in and aura farmed, and will likely end up getting the brakes beaten off of him by 12 angry psychic kids. Crazy work.

[Mister TV]

I enjoyed the new Stranger Things but laughed way too much during the "serious" parts, there were also parts that totally felt like video game cut scenes. 

Spoiler

Will wiping the blood off his nose after using his powers, totally looked like he had a coke nosebleed.

I didn't watch the recap so I totally forgot about Kali, I thought her and her gang returned to their own planet Poochie style.

Why dress a kid up like a little Walter Sobchack and not have him be a little Walter Sobchack?

I never read or had to read A Wrinkle in Time so I'm totally lost on those references.

They totally nailed the 80's in being super shitty to someone dealing with major trauma.

 

[Log]

19 hours ago, RandomAct said:

Vecna came in and aura farmed

Ha! My son used the exact same term when Vecna finally showed up.

Also, a couple episodes in, he asks my wife to look up how old the actress that plays Holly is. She's 14! He was disappointed. He's 8, and thought he might have a shot at dating her. 

[Cobra Commander]

Spoiler

2 hours ago, Mister TV said:

Will wiping the blood off his nose after using his powers, totally looked like he had a coke nosebleed.

stealing Charlie Heaton/Jonathan's gimmick

[Technico Support]

On 11/23/2025 at 5:28 AM, RandomAct said:

Anyone else feel like they are watching the final season out of obligation instead of excitement?  Like, there are a couple of things I want the show to answer, but otherwise it has just taken so long to knock out 5 seasons of a show, that it has killed my intrigue.

Absolutely.  I think the long layoff hurt a lot of viewers’ enthusiasm.

I agree with the idea that Stranger Things had been too “Marvelized,” as in the stakes can’t be small anymore; the WHOLE WORLD must be in the balance.  Season 1 was self-contained, kids vs a monster story, then it took off, so the Duffers just had to keep making it bigger.  Think of what the show was about in season 1 and then watch it now.  It’s insane.

I’m still enjoying this season, though.  It just freaks me out how it’s a totally different show.

Random stuff:

The actress who plays Holly is 14, playing a 10 year old, and the character was inexplicably aged up from 7.

Will’s wig is so bad they actually made fun of it in the show.

[Eivion]

On 12/2/2025 at 7:45 PM, Technico Support said:

I agree with the idea that Stranger Things had been too “Marvelized,” as in the stakes can’t be small anymore; the WHOLE WORLD must be in the balance.  Season 1 was self-contained, kids vs a monster story, then it took off, so the Duffers just had to keep making it bigger.  Think of what the show was about in season 1 and then watch it now.  It’s insane.

Seasons 1 & 2 are tight enough and close enough that I'm pretty sure the Duffers had them in mind when they started. Still, they definitely escalated each season to the point where it does feels insane. It also still makes sense for the most part.

[AxB]

It's a D&D campaign; As you level up, the enemies get tougher and the stakes get higher.

nb: The Fast and the Furious series is also a D&D campaign. They do impossible shit in the later movies because they're high level now.

[RandomAct]

One thing I appreciated from this season was that they made the Demogorgans dangerous again. Ever since season 2, they have just seemed like cannon fodder for the bigger threats.

[Eivion]

5 hours ago, RandomAct said:

One thing I appreciated from this season was that they made the Demogorgans dangerous again. Ever since season 2, they have just seemed like cannon fodder for the bigger threats.

There was no Demogorgon in Season 2. It was a Demidog that was much smaller. Demogorgon didn't return until Season 4, and it slaughtered a dozen or so guys before freeing a bunch of dogs as well to slaughter the rest of a prison.

[RandomAct]

Those were just Soviets.

[Technico Support]

In Soviet Russia, upside down is right side up!

[Dolfan in NYC]

Season 5-2 begins streaming December 25th. 

 

I'm actually surprised they didn't kill Winona Ryder or Hopper.  Would've made sense, but now Will has superpowers so, grab yr ppcrn. 

[Cobra Commander]

watching the Christmas episodes

Spoiler

in which Max cuts a Triple H opening Raw length promo to Holly to explain things before finally leaving. Also, turns out the upside down is a wormhole. And Will has a very special announcement before the whole final episode battle next week

 

[AxB]

 Apparently after season one of Stranger Things was such a big hit, Netflix told the Duffers to abandon their plan for it to be an anthology show (like American Horror Story)  and to stick with the season one cast and locations.

 So the duffers went away and came up with a season two story pitch, took it to Netflix, and they said "That's great, but can you stretch it out into multiple seasons?". And then especially for the later seasons, they were ordered to rewrite every episode with extra exposition, so people who watch it on second screens while scrolling their phones could follow it.

 The Netflixification of entertainment, it's undeniable.

[Cobra Commander]

Spoiler

I wasn't necessarily following close enough to know which direction everybody was from each other during the goo rescue thing but I was like "if that ladder falls from Steve/Dustin towards Nancy/Charlie Heaton then c'mon"... then they just had the goo harden for some reason

 

[Eivion]

On 12/26/2025 at 1:19 PM, AxB said:

 Apparently after season one of Stranger Things was such a big hit, Netflix told the Duffers to abandon their plan for it to be an anthology show (like American Horror Story)  and to stick with the season one cast and locations.

 So the duffers went away and came up with a season two story pitch, took it to Netflix, and they said "That's great, but can you stretch it out into multiple seasons?". And then especially for the later seasons, they were ordered to rewrite every episode with extra exposition, so people who watch it on second screens while scrolling their phones could follow it.

 The Netflixification of entertainment, it's undeniable.

This feels off given how tight nit the first two seasons actually are. S1 pretty blatantly ends with the idea of there being more to the Hawkins story. At the same time the rest does give off the feel of being unplanned. 

[RandomAct]

So I saw that episode 7 has the lowest IMDB score of the series. So I'm like man, is this going to be worse than the "Eleven joins a gang" episode?  No, not at all. Just turns out it's a bunch of pissbabies mad at the Will scene, even though they have literally been telling us this since season 1 episode 2.