Stranger Things - 80s Mystery Drama, Netflix. Animated series announced.

Finished it. I hated that final episode and the reveal. It was just so poor and I think the new lore actively harms the original series. Why does every detail have to be explained and why can't we have any mystery unresolved? Why is everything turning into the MCU?

Honestly, that reveal has just angered me.

I've still really enjoyed this season on the whole but Stranger Things should've ended after one season.

Just can't stand when shows rewrite already established lore, especially when it harms the original work.

Zilnad wrote:Finished it. I hated that final episode and the reveal. It was just so poor and I think the new lore actively harms the original series. Why does every detail have to be explained and why can't we have any mystery unresolved? Why is everything turning into the MCU?

Honestly, that reveal has just angered me.

I've still really enjoyed this season on the whole but Stranger Things should've ended after one season.

What are you talking about and what changed?

I’m maybe not quite as down on the season as Zilnad but I’m generally in agreement with him. At the very least I think this season has gone backwards after quite a good third season got everything back on track.

However, the show itself is still pretty great when it focuses on its main plot. There isn’t a duff character in the main group I don’t think, as they’ve all managed to be relegated to the we need to find El in Nevada storyline.

Cuttooth wrote:I’m maybe not quite as down on the season as Zilnad but I’m generally in agreement with him. At the very least I think this season has gone backwards after quite a good third season got everything back on track

The biggest annoyance for me, aside from the dull plodding Russia storyline, is El’s storyline regressing back to her S1 origins. One of the best parts of S3 was seeing her actually be allowed to enjoy being a kid with Max but the glimpse we see of her new life in California is pretty miserable before she has to abandon it all again. Then all we’re really getting with her are origin story flashbacks before she presumably pulls a S2 and comes back to Hawkins in the knick of time to save the day.

The main plot with the rest of the gang has actually been really good and I don’t mind the revelation as much as Zilnad but I agree that if you’re compelled to explain everything about your show at some stage it’s better to not just plug something in at the beginning of your timeline. Having One be in the Upside Down for four years prior to start of the series I feel lessens that scene of the initial, entirely accidental contact with the Demogorgan setting everything in motion. The Upside Down doesn’t need to be entirely explained but I always liked the idea that it’s a forewarning of what happens if Eleven isn’t around to prevent the Mind Flayer from consuming every living thing in Hawkins. Having an antagonist linked to the regular universe having been there for several years, with no previous hint at that being the case, definitely feels tacked on.

However, the show itself is still pretty great when it focuses on its main plot. There isn’t a duff character in the main group I don’t think, as they’ve all managed to be relegated to the we need to find El in Nevada storyline.

This is just what I think, but:

I don't know if Stranger Things would use a real life tragedy in the show. But season 4 has been set in March/April 1986 and Chernobyl happened in late April 1986....

Moggy wrote:I don't know if Stranger Things would use a real life tragedy in the show. But season 4 has been set in March/April 1986 and Chernobyl happened in late April 1986....

I initially thought that's what would happen but nothing seems to be setting that up.

I really like all the different storylines, reminds me of the first season where every storyline had a different vibe. It's like you're watching 3 different genres but somehow they all blend together nicely.

The only thing I don't like about the new lore is that it just poses more questions than it answers really, at least in terms of power acquisition.

Just one of the current episodes left to watch but I've just had a thought about the 'upside down, does anyone else think it might be a future version of earth rather than a parallel version which is why there's buildings and infrastructure there.

Watched episode 3 earlier, still really enjoying it but the Russian aspect is a bit daft, Hopper basically has what looks like a broken ankle that seems to be causing him little issue despite the heavy work load, Jaquan H’Gar is a good but dodgy looking character, wouldn’t be surprised if he gets the money and then Hops still in forced Labour.

The other story lines are really good though.

Ironhide wrote:Just one of the current episodes left to watch but I've just had a thought about the 'upside down, does anyone else think it might be a future version of earth rather than a parallel version which is why there's buildings and infrastructure there.

I think there's going to be time travel involved at some point, there have been hints. But I don't think the Upside Down is the future. When they went to Nancy's room, it was the past rather than the future.

I don't think the Upside Down is the actual past though, more a parallel version of Earth that's a few years behind.

Moggy wrote:
Ironhide wrote:Just one of the current episodes left to watch but I've just had a thought about the 'upside down, does anyone else think it might be a future version of earth rather than a parallel version which is why there's buildings and infrastructure there.

I think there's going to be time travel involved at some point, there have been hints. But I don't think the Upside Down is the future. When they went to Nancy's room, it was the past rather than the future.

I don't think the Upside Down is the actual past though, more a parallel version of Earth that's a few years behind.

I thought the future due to everything being wrecked and overgrown but it could certainty be an alternate past where the cold war escalated to full blown nuclear war

YouTube

Really liking this series, I'm a sucker for lore tho. I agree that the mystery and scary uncertainty of that has been the crux of the show, but this season is mostly focussed on One and Elle's past rather than the Upside-Down. A lot of the explaining has been pretty self-contained within this season for questions asked specifically in this season, except from that one snippet of the Upside-Down being locked to the day of Will's initial disappearance. So imo, we haven't really learned much about the UD aside from that and Elle opening the gate in Hawkins Lab.

How she did that? Who knows. Why does One and all the other numbers have their powers? Who knows, One is like "I like spiders, then I realised I have psychic powers". So I think there's still plenty of mystery to go around. The biggest mystery for me though, is why did Elle block out One's existence from her memory? The whole "what have you done?" bad memory, was all a cope, that she was unable to deal with One, his betrayal, and their fight. But the cope was that she imagined herself as being the one who killed all the others. Which is somewhat true since she was tricked into helping One, but it doesn't seem to make sense in terms of a coping mechanism? Guess it doesn't matter too much either way.

I did find some parts kinda weird though, like Dustin's gf's huge, bizarre family. Seemed like a whole load of nothing. Rather than just using the PC to find Nina's location, they had to go through this whole plan to lure her dad out of the office to use it. It didn't last too long, but it was just weird. They seem to like trying to add these more 'humorous' moments to break up the serious tone a bit, but I feel like it just detracts from that and ruins the immersion. As others said, Joyce in Russia is a bit out there too lmao.

Jezo wrote:I did find some parts kinda weird though, like Dustin's gf's huge, bizarre family. Seemed like a whole load of nothing. Rather than just using the PC to find Nina's location, they had to go through this whole plan to lure her dad out of the office to use it. It didn't last too long, but it was just weird. They seem to like trying to add these more 'humorous' moments to break up the serious tone a bit, but I feel like it just detracts from that and ruins the immersion.

It's just referencing/homaging 80s movies.

YouTube

Moggy wrote:
Jezo wrote:I did find some parts kinda weird though, like Dustin's gf's huge, bizarre family. Seemed like a whole load of nothing. Rather than just using the PC to find Nina's location, they had to go through this whole plan to lure her dad out of the office to use it. It didn't last too long, but it was just weird. They seem to like trying to add these more 'humorous' moments to break up the serious tone a bit, but I feel like it just detracts from that and ruins the immersion.

It's just referencing/homaging 80s movies.

Oh... Well that's pretty nice

Yeah I still don't really 'get' the upside down. Because the diary thing doesn't make any kind of logical sense. Especially since we know portals were opened in Hawkins before that date.

Like they show light fixtures and electricity being something that is heavily connected between worlds, but other things just randomly aren't?

Like in the UD the creepy mansion is completely ripped into different pieces yet the group were able to track the bad guy around the building even though it didn't exist in the same way in the UD?

Something that does kind of make sense now though is whenever they saw dead bodies in the UD they'd have those vines around them etc. Kind of implies Vecna was using them to try and gain back his power

Fade wrote:Like in the UD the creepy mansion is completely ripped into different pieces yet the group were able to track the bad guy around the building even though it didn't exist in the same way in the UD?

The ripped apart mansion we see in the realm Max escapes from isn't in the Upside Down, it's in some kind of manifestation of his psychic connection to his victim. That's why there's no ashy dust stuff there when that's still abundant in the Upside Down. So the mansion is still there and he's using it as his lair.

Ironhide wrote:
Moggy wrote:
Ironhide wrote:Just one of the current episodes left to watch but I've just had a thought about the 'upside down, does anyone else think it might be a future version of earth rather than a parallel version which is why there's buildings and infrastructure there.

I think there's going to be time travel involved at some point, there have been hints. But I don't think the Upside Down is the future. When they went to Nancy's room, it was the past rather than the future.

I don't think the Upside Down is the actual past though, more a parallel version of Earth that's a few years behind.

I thought the future due to everything being wrecked and overgrown but it could certainty be an alternate past where the cold war escalated to full blown nuclear war

Only read this if you've gotten to the end of episode 7.

I expect that it's going to turn out that the Upside Down was created as a "snapshot" of the moment that the portal was opened by Eleven, with everything stuck as almost a freeze frame of that point in time. I dunno if anyone has noticed but when One is forced into the Upside Down, it hasn't quite "formed" yet - he falls through space being struck by lightning, and I wonder if the Upside Down was kind of coming into being as he fell through. So that or maybe Will being taken by the Demogorgon is the precipitating event that's caused the Upside Down to form as Hawkins in that moment. Hopefully that makes sense. :lol:

RetroCora wrote:
Ironhide wrote:
Moggy wrote:
Ironhide wrote:Just one of the current episodes left to watch but I've just had a thought about the 'upside down, does anyone else think it might be a future version of earth rather than a parallel version which is why there's buildings and infrastructure there.

I think there's going to be time travel involved at some point, there have been hints. But I don't think the Upside Down is the future. When they went to Nancy's room, it was the past rather than the future.

I don't think the Upside Down is the actual past though, more a parallel version of Earth that's a few years behind.

I thought the future due to everything being wrecked and overgrown but it could certainty be an alternate past where the cold war escalated to full blown nuclear war

Only read this if you've gotten to the end of episode 7.

I expect that it's going to turn out that the Upside Down was created as a "snapshot" of the moment that the portal was opened by Eleven, with everything stuck as almost a freeze frame of that point in time. I dunno if anyone has noticed but when One is forced into the Upside Down, it hasn't quite "formed" yet - he falls through space being struck by lightning, and I wonder if the Upside Down was kind of coming into being as he fell through. So that or maybe Will being taken by the Demogorgon is the precipitating event that's caused the Upside Down to form as Hawkins in that moment. Hopefully that makes sense.

Someone also pointed out how it could have been Vecna who kidnapped Will in episode 1 and that's why he wasn't just immediately eviscerated by a demogorgon (they point to the fact the door gets opened by telekinesis as well as there being no noise or portal left there.)

So that theory could make sense. Maybe the UD only updates when Vecna visits the normal world but electromagnetic energy crosses over regardless.

RetroCora wrote:
Ironhide wrote:
Moggy wrote:
Ironhide wrote:Just one of the current episodes left to watch but I've just had a thought about the 'upside down, does anyone else think it might be a future version of earth rather than a parallel version which is why there's buildings and infrastructure there.

I think there's going to be time travel involved at some point, there have been hints. But I don't think the Upside Down is the future. When they went to Nancy's room, it was the past rather than the future.

I don't think the Upside Down is the actual past though, more a parallel version of Earth that's a few years behind.

I thought the future due to everything being wrecked and overgrown but it could certainty be an alternate past where the cold war escalated to full blown nuclear war

Only read this if you've gotten to the end of episode 7.

I expect that it's going to turn out that the Upside Down was created as a "snapshot" of the moment that the portal was opened by Eleven, with everything stuck as almost a freeze frame of that point in time. I dunno if anyone has noticed but when One is forced into the Upside Down, it hasn't quite "formed" yet - he falls through space being struck by lightning, and I wonder if the Upside Down was kind of coming into being as he fell through. So that or maybe Will being taken by the Demogorgon is the precipitating event that's caused the Upside Down to form as Hawkins in that moment. Hopefully that makes sense.

This theory seems to make the most sense.

As for the season so far, loved it, every single part, every storyline was excellent, wrapping things together and I can’t wait to see the last 2 episodes.

Stranger Things - 80s Mystery Drama, Netflix. Animated series announced.

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