Vader182 wrote:I'm 3 episodes in, and shocked how incoherent it is (so far). The Duffers seem to care a lot more about setting up dominoes for future payoffs than telling a gripping yarn out of the gate, a problem compounded by:
1.) the fact scenes on average are way shorter than Season 1. We rush from plot beat to plot beat, and the Duffers end up trivializing a lot of the individual storylines as a result. This isn't helped by the constant needle drops, either.
Example:
Will's arc the first 2 episodes should feel huge and crazy, but instead you have this towering Lovecraftian imagery that's sandwiched between scenes that totally clash. What should be a smooth build up feels like the Duffers haphazardly changing lanes and makes those big moments kinda not matter the way they should.
2.) There's frankly just too many storylines and too many new characters. And when there's no glue to hold it all together, it starts to feel random and unfocused instead of feeding off eachother.
Example: We spend a LOT of time with Sean Astin's character instead of the principles, but so far he's mostly soaked up unnecessary screentime. He's not "adding" anything to the story in terms of content, just narrative fat. I get how they're using him as a plot device for Will which pays off at the end of Episode 3, but the same results could have been achieved by his "therapy" sessions advising him to do the same thing, or Hopper, his brother, or one of his friends, or a teacher, or anyone. There's a LOT of that kind of thing so far this season with the new storylines and characters that's hurting the focus this season desperately needs.
It's wonderful to be back in this world, but so far I'm pretty disappointed. I'm confused why they didn't just make this largely about following Will's traumatic experiences and the tension between what he's seeing is real/not real, etc, and that's the springboard for the early drama in the rest of the group. REALLY hoping it picks up for me. Moments from Episodes 1 and 2 are awesome, and Episode 3 is the first that started to click. We'll see.
-Vader
Finished the season and
I agree wholeheartedly. The story should've been much tighter instead of adding characters like Max and her family, 008's gang, Dustin's mom (don't remember if she was in last season), Lucas' sister etc.
Just finished this now because my internet found the perfect time to continuously troll me for a couple of days lol. So I still need a bit to think about this.
There's stuff I wasn't very fond of, like the infamous episode 7 lol
I'm just really not intrigued by this Kali character so far. The moment I saw her she immediately striked me as a try-hard badass, compared to how effortlessly cool Eleven is. So I do like how El managed to stop right before she took a large step in a very wrong direction and realized who she really cares about, but I just wish she had never left in the first place. I was beginning to dislike how Hopper was being treated not in a "pained dad who doesn't want to lose a kid again" kind of way, but in an almost antagonistic way towards Eleven, but then it all comes together in the end, so idk.
I gotta say though. I REALLY love the series "universe" lol. Also, I never really expected to like Steve all that much, but imo, he's turned out to be one of the most likeable characters in the whole show.
I was internally dying every time I saw him and Dustin bond, their friendship is one of the highlights of the season for me lol. I was genuinely afraid anything would happen to either of them.
And the snow ball almost made me happy cry, especially when Nancy asks Dusty out for a dance awwww. And Mike with Eleven duh. I think I must've got old lol.
If they do another one, I hope they'll back the heck off from Will lol. Poor thing.
Yeah Will took a BEATING in this. There's PTSD and then there's what he went through. Really scary stuff. Parts of it were extremely unsettling. I've seen tons of "the bad guy is possessing the good guy" stuff and to see it taken this seriously and terrifyingly was super refreshing. I agree they need to lay off him next season. Same for Joyce.
Bob was a terrific character and Astin played him wonderfully. His death was ridiculous. Predictable and unrealistic. You could say it was playing up the 80's film trope but it felt like a waste. It was cool to have a character who was so unambiguously good. He was so good that I initially thought he was working for the lab but it turned out he was just a guy wanting to defend the people he loved. I was excited to see how he'd grow after this experience and killing him hardly gave anyone motivation (except for Joyce being more willing to risk killing Will).
Dustin harboring Dart was stupid, I felt he was smart enough he wouldn't risk his friends like that. Glad it kind of paid off in the end and his scene at the dance was wonderful. Me and my father kept cheering him on every time he went to find another girl. Good ending. I also liked how it left hints for Season 3 without subverting the accomplishment of the characters this go around.
Episodes 1 to 4 were just okay. Episodes 5 to the end were great minus 7 which was awful. Good season. Impressive how much they didn't do a retread of the first season. I love this world and these characters and I'm excited to see what happens next. My favorite characters remain Hopper and Steve.
Also
Steve and Dustin rock as a team. He's the only kid in the group without a sibling and without a father figure. Having Steve act as both works fantastically.
Were you bothered by the fact that the climax of the season was El essentially slamming a door shut? A door that, in some way or another, needs to be open for the show's premise to work? I felt completely cheated, since narratively the Duffer's went "we'll deal with this later, gotta wrap this season up". The climax of the season was just a "to be dealt with later" band-aid.
Nah. I wasn't bothered by it. The gate had been open for two seasons and I find it interesting that there's a chance we get some new kind of conflict. I'm excited by the possibilities that could arise in future seasons because, especially based off this season, they don't like retreading.
At the same time, I do not want to see that band of goofballs led by bland 08 come back in season 3, which I think is unfortunately what the Duffer Bros. were going to do. They may easily change the direction of the show since I've read nothing but absolute disgust and hate for that episode.
Nah. I wasn't bothered by it. The gate had been open for two seasons and I find it interesting that there's a chance we get some new kind of conflict. I'm excited by the possibilities that could arise in future seasons because, especially based off this season, they don't like retreading.
At the same time, I do not want to see that band of goofballs led by bland 08 come back in season 3, which I think is unfortunately what the Duffer Bros. were going to do. They may easily change the direction of the show since I've read nothing but absolute disgust and hate for that episode.
... but the Upsidedown is the show's entire premise and hook and the grounding of its mythology, and we know for a fact (based on the end of the episode, and the Duffer's saying it in interviews) that the Upsidedown and it's monsters aren't going anywhere. So what's the dramatic weight of closing the portal when it needs to open again? Maybe not literally that portal, but one that's effectively the same.
Nah. I wasn't bothered by it. The gate had been open for two seasons and I find it interesting that there's a chance we get some new kind of conflict. I'm excited by the possibilities that could arise in future seasons because, especially based off this season, they don't like retreading.
At the same time, I do not want to see that band of goofballs led by bland 08 come back in season 3, which I think is unfortunately what the Duffer Bros. were going to do. They may easily change the direction of the show since I've read nothing but absolute disgust and hate for that episode.
... but the Upsidedown is the show's entire premise and hook and the grounding of its mythology, and we know for a fact (based on the end of the episode, and the Duffer's saying it in interviews) that the Upsidedown and it's monsters aren't going anywhere. So what's the dramatic weight of closing the portal when it needs to open again? Maybe not literally that portal, but one that's effectively the same.
The curiosity of where it could come from if it's not coming from a portal?
Nah. I wasn't bothered by it. The gate had been open for two seasons and I find it interesting that there's a chance we get some new kind of conflict. I'm excited by the possibilities that could arise in future seasons because, especially based off this season, they don't like retreading.
At the same time, I do not want to see that band of goofballs led by bland 08 come back in season 3, which I think is unfortunately what the Duffer Bros. were going to do. They may easily change the direction of the show since I've read nothing but absolute disgust and hate for that episode.
... but the Upsidedown is the show's entire premise and hook and the grounding of its mythology, and we know for a fact (based on the end of the episode, and the Duffer's saying it in interviews) that the Upsidedown and it's monsters aren't going anywhere. So what's the dramatic weight of closing the portal when it needs to open again? Maybe not literally that portal, but one that's effectively the same.
The curiosity of where it could come from if it's not coming from a portal?
