Stranger Things

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

They didn't really resolve the whole 'Eleven is a fugitive' thing, did they?

I'm still wondering who was funding that project to begin with. If that was a government project, did the military protecting the scientists defect or something?? So many questions

[The Cool Thatguy]

I'm still wondering who was funding that project to begin with. If that was a government project, did the military protecting the scientists defect or something?? So many questions

The way Owen was talking, it seemed to be very much off the books. Remember how they said that some of the scientists regarded Eleven as a rockstar?

[Scott Taylor]

That was a lot of airtime just to introduce the next season's focus. Shades of the Harry Potter franchise with its final story split into two movies.

[Nods]

I'm still wondering who was funding that project to begin with. If that was a government project, did the military protecting the scientists defect or something?? So many questions

In the 1980's the CIA was heavily decentralized it was like an octopus that had tentacles everywhere sometimes fighting against it's own interests.

[CSTowle]

Just finished bingeing, enjoyed this season more than I expected to. Some of the storylines were better than others, and it was a bit all over the place, but somehow it worked out in the end despite that. I will say the Argyle character was aggressively annoying to almost Jar-Jar levels.

I will echo the opinion of not being a fan of many of the teen characters, but I also understand there wouldn't be much of a plot without them and even if there's not much to many of them beyond "Eleven's boyfriend" or "comic relief" or "that kid who was relevant a couple of seasons ago, but now mostly mopes about" the whole is worth more than the parts. Most of them had moments that were worthwhile, or moved the story of characters I did enjoy, but if I had to rank their characters by enjoyment I'd rank Yuri, the Russian guard he betrayed, Hopper, or Murray from that whole storyline way above most of the teen characters.

If anything I would have liked to have seen more of Lucas' little sister or Dustin's girlfriend (though that whole family subplot was pretty cool, a lot of characters established quickly and a lot of fun). Even the stock '80s jock villain guy was pretty amusing. I do wish they weren't ending on something of a cliffhanger (or at least a "to be continued"), but Netflix isn't doing so great at the moment so anything to keep those subs going I suppose. As long as it's this good though I'll be looking forward to it.

[thwhtGuardian]

I thought this was a pretty solid season with some good moments for all the various characters. With a cast this large some are going to get less time than others but on the whole I thought it was fairly balanced. As for the ending? Well, I think it set up what looks to be the final season pretty well and I'm excited to see where it goes.

[Scott Taylor]

Personally I was really hoping to see some kind of resolution to the rednecky jocks arc, but I guess since there was none then we can assume they are still angry and still after the known Hellfire Club members for all the crap thats still going on?

[Mark Trail]

In the 1980's the CIA was heavily decentralized it was like an octopus that had tentacles everywhere sometimes fighting against it's own interests.

And, pre-9/11, the CIA and FBI were largely prohibited from coordination.

[CSTowle]

Personally I was really hoping to see some kind of resolution to the rednecky jocks arc, but I guess since there was none then we can assume they are still angry and still after the known Hellfire Club members for all the crap thats still going on?

I think there was just the one left, and he was nursing a sore groin. Also, events after probably would force them to re-prioritize. But mayhap in Season 5 we'll see more of them.

[Grinning Soul]

"Dear Billy" was the best episode of the season for me and alone it would have made season 4 worth it.

Max's trauma having pushed her to isolate herself is presented as exactly the thing that made her vulnerable. In the end, with the song, her friends threw her a life-line, but it was her decision to draw strength from her connections, break away from her isolation and fight for her life that saved her.



It's executed beautifully and I was on the edge of my seat, with tears in my eyes as I watched this scene. Very few current shows (and stories in general) manage to make me feel so engaged. I guess the creators are afraid of being seen as corny, but emotions and bonds of affection are what makes us human.

Second best part was Eddie deciding to save Dustin and fight the bat-creatures. But on that I'm biased: as an old RPG-player myself, I love when the nerds have their badass/heroic moments.

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

In the 1980's the CIA was heavily decentralized it was like an octopus that had tentacles everywhere sometimes fighting against it's own interests.

Yeah, I was about to bring that up. It's definitely a right hand vs the left hand type government clusterfuck situation.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Yeah, I was about to bring that up. It's definitely a right hand vs the left hand type government clusterfuck situation.

Is it?

Everything seemed off the books for Owen's people, they were men and women he knew and trusted. They watched the kids at their own home, instead of say, the FBI field office or a paid hotel.

The General, on the other hand, had troops and equipment to spare and was read in on most of what was going on.

[Adam Allen]

Is it?

Everything seemed off the books for Owen's people, they were men and women he knew and trusted. They watched the kids at their own home, instead of say, the FBI field office or a paid hotel.

The General, on the other hand, had troops and equipment to spare and was read in on most of what was going on.

He wasn't even a general though, which I think was intentional. If they'd had like a four star general chasing her, it would be clear that the US government is against the main characters and the faction with Owens just a rogue, breakaway group of "his" people. But the guy so hot to kill El is a Lt. Colonel. Which is pretty high ranking, and I think meant to be clearly higher than any government power Owens has on his side. But I think up to this point, Evil Military Guy was supposed to be the highest ranking/most powerful guy who was aware of all of the Hawkins shenanigans.

spoilers:

... though, I suppose that won't be the case anymore, considering the big "cliffhanger" ending. Of which, I was not a fan, unfortunately. Loved the season overall, but really would have preferred some sense of resolution for this season's storylines, and if they're doing another season, just letting that stand on its own. I thought the whole ending with Max cheapened her victory/surviving him the first time ... and it's only made worse that you both "kill" her, then make it immediately obvious you still won't commit to it. Why bother? Along with her, I should have cared when Eddie died, but my cynical heart just froze over in that moment. And the character had legitimately grown on me. That's probably why I refused to care that they kill off a character they just introduced, while any established character anyone might care about ... well, at least gets a coma? Again, I mean, what's the point of that? It would have been great if Eddie had somehow been given a moment where he was able to make some choice or brave action that in a crucial moment actually made the difference, so the plan works, Max doesn't die, the world doesn't end, and the villain is defeated. Heroic sacrifice at least for the new character, making them integral to the plot of the season. But, nope. He dies, she still dies, then doesn't then the portal opens anyway, and Vecna's still out there, and I guess just super mad now. I mean, I wouldn't even care if he was going to be the bad guy in the next season*, and his somehow successfully opening a portal happened at the beginning of next season. Hopper was dead at the end of last season then immediately back, so re-animating the already previously undead villain from this season would not have been harder. And I'm sure it will be cool, whatever. Just think the decision to go with a "tune in next time" kind of resolution was not necessary, and unfortunately undermines this season. Meh, probably doesn't seem like it, but it's a small complaint, overall. The last episode is over two hours, so I'm basically saying it's just like the last hour of the whole season I am not a fan of. *I have to say though, for all that I think Vecna made a good villain, if he is meant to have been behind the Mind Flayer and therefore the true antagonist through the entire show -- meh. That's less spooky than some completely alien unknown, otherworldly entity that's trying to break through to destroy humanity. I mean, "super-powered serial killer" is scary, sure. But it's not Cthulu.

end of spoilers

[Gaastra]

The phone number works.

[The Cool Thatguy]

10 bucks says Vecna possesses Max next season.

Would be a perfect shout out to Dark Phoenix