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Stranger Things [SPOILER THREAD] We're All Fleas Now

Afrocious

Member
You know what would be crazy?

Since S2 will be considered a sequel, what if S2 was treated like Cameron's Aliens? Where instead of one monster that's terrorizing a town, we get a ton of monsters raiding the town and the everyone has to gun them down?
 
You know what would be crazy?

Since S2 will be considered a sequel, what if S2 was treated like Cameron's Aliens? Where instead of one monster that's terrorizing a town, we get a ton of monsters raiding the town and the everyone has to gun them down?

A bigger version of Tremors
 
You know what would be crazy?

Since S2 will be considered a sequel, what if S2 was treated like Cameron's Aliens? Where instead of one monster that's terrorizing a town, we get a ton of monsters raiding the town and the everyone has to gun them down?

I believe I saw the writers refer to the upside down as an "ecosystem", so it wouldn't be surprising to me if there were more.
 
You know what would be crazy?

Since S2 will be considered a sequel, what if S2 was treated like Cameron's Aliens? Where instead of one monster that's terrorizing a town, we get a ton of monsters raiding the town and the everyone has to gun them down?

I think that would depend on budget, really. I also wouldn't want them to get rid of the vibe the show has. I love the atmospher. Trying to over complicate it might cause some issues on that front.

Though I think they could have more of a "events happening around the world!" type storyline for it, but still focus on the main town.
 
Just finished the show (SO GOOD) and read through the thread, couple things I want to comment on:

1) People keep saying they experimented on 10 other kids. There is literally nothing in the show to support this, is there? What we do know, is that they did tests on older women(is it just women? or men too? The MKultra stuff?), and one of them turned out to be pregnant. It's entirely possible that the other 10 experiments are the other women, and 11 is the child of one of them. I wonder, if Hopper or Joyce had looked at that zonked out woman's arm, would there have been a number tattooed on it?

I'd love the other 10 to come out in later seasons as other people/creatures they experimented on but I'm leaning towards them being the people chosen for the MKultra tests.

2) The Upside Down wasn't created by 11. If you read Lovecraft, he has a story about a man that builds a machine that lets us see things on the next plane of existence up from ours. I'm fairly certain that's what the Upside Down is. Some others have said this but it needs to be reiterated because so many people seem to keep thinking 11 created it herself. It's not even an alternate dimension, it's our same dimension just one level up, like Silent Hill. (Or is Silent Hill another dimension? I've only seen the movies unfortunately)

3) There's only one monster. This has been confirmed by the creators, and is something they're thinking of exploring in the second season. The slugs are new creatures during the endgame of the season but as for Petal Face there's only one. Can't wait to find out more about Petal Face, and the slugs, and any other weird lifeforms that are out there in the spaces between worlds. Maybe the reason there's no other people in the Upside Down is because Petal Face ate them all?

4) Going back to 2, the pitch black space and the Upside Down are two different places. USD is a plane of existence layered over ours, the pitch black is a visual representation of 11's mind reaching out to find her targets. If you've ever seen any of the X-Men movies, think of when Professor X puts on Cerebro and it shows hundreds and hundreds of silhouettes of all the people in the world he's scanning.

5) I saw some people saying water had something to do with the portals? The water had to do with the sensory deprivation tanks. The reason there was a huge tank of water next to the main portal was because 11 was in that tank when she accidentally created the portal in the first place - being in the SDT just helps her focus and amplify her powers. There are portals created all over the place by Petal Face without any water nearby and when 11 totally wrecks Petal Face at the end there's no water anywhere either.

This show was SO good. I agree with everyone that says it's the best Netflix Original yet. I actually had to stop watching after Chapter 5 a few nights ago because I was getting so into it that I started seeing dark shadowy figures outside my windows and started freaking out. Kept almost getting spoiled on Tumblr so I knew I had to finish, blew through the last 3 earlier today and I've been just kinda reflecting on it all evening and night (while also trying to keep my mind occupied with other things, thank Christ I stopped watching at Chapter 5 the other night since Chapter 6 is "The Monster" good lord).

Also love all the reactions to the monster with people saying it's CG when it's actually a guy in a suit the majority of the time, even down to the petal flaps, hahahahaha

MAN it's gonna suck having to wait, what, a year at minimum for Season 2? Blergh!
 

dracula_x

Member
Who does El resemble? She looks so damn familiar to me, but I can't place it...and no it's not Natalie Portman as I've seen mentioned a few times.
Ellen Ripley from Alien 3

kgrhqvhjbceozojzbqjovyw.jpg
 
Just finished and this show was utterly fantastic. It seems to have a large fan base and I'm guessing doing good in the ratings, we are getting a damn Season 2 right?
 

tookhster

Member
Only thing I didn't like was them making Steve a good guy all of a sudden out of nowhere, with him conveniently showing up just before the monster shows up. Dude has terrible friends, influences Nancy to do stupid shit, and it was partly because of his little party Barbara went missing.

And speaking of Barb, I didn't particularly like how she was killed off and forgotten so quickly. I mean, it's 100% because of Nancy that she was there in the first place, so how could Nancy just ignore that and live through all that guilt? Also nothing from her parents or anything? Kinda weird to me.
 

jediyoshi

Member
Just wrapped up the binge session. Too good. Loved the meta commentary at the end of them questioning the show's dangling threads through their D&D campaign feedback.

And speaking of Barb, I didn't particularly like how she was killed off and forgotten so quickly. I mean, it's 100% because of Nancy that she was there in the first place, so how could Nancy just ignore that and live through all that guilt? Also nothing from her parents or anything? Kinda weird to me.

Empathetically I agree about Barb, but I don't think a resolution to her had much room to fit in with the amount of time they had left and the amount of things in motion at that point. They already spent so much time with the idea of a missing person and her family and the public having to deal with that through Will, they would've been redundant story beats to go through that again (everything else after the incident being hand waved away with the timeskip).
 

mm04

Member
Empathetically I agree about Barb, but I don't think a resolution to her had much room to fit in with the amount of time they had left and the amount of things in motion at that point. They already spent so much time with the idea of a missing person and her family and the public having to deal with that through Will, they would've been redundant story beats to go through that again (everything else after the incident being hand waved away with the timeskip).

I agree. We didn't need to have Barb's parents introduced to us onscreen. And although Jonathan's motivations for attracting the monster to spring a trap were for his brother, Nancy's were mostly for Barb. Nancy was pretty much manic. And even the hospital scene when everyone was celebrating Will's return, she was melancholy because Barb was dead. I didn't need to see a memorial service on screen for her.
 

Chairhome

Member
After seeing that video about visual references to 70s and 80s movies, I was thinking about other references. Sorry if its already been talked about, but I'm pretty sure most of the names are referential, too.
Nancy: as in Nancy from Nightmare on Elm Street, who was a weak girl at first but grew to be a strong protagonist in the course of the story
Mike: as in Mikey from the Goonies, leader of the group
Lucas: as in George Lucas.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I agree. We didn't need to have Barb's parents introduced to us onscreen. And although Jonathan's motivations for attracting the monster to spring a trap were for his brother, Nancy's were mostly for Barb. Nancy was pretty much manic. And even the hospital scene when everyone was celebrating Will's return, she was melancholy because Barb was dead. I didn't need to see a memorial service on screen for her.

We do actually see Barb's mother when Nancy calls her house.
 

mm04

Member
We do actually see Barb's mother when Nancy calls her house.

You're right, good catch. That being said, Barb wasn't "forgotten" just because we didn't see or hear acknowledgement of her loss to the public. It basically changed Nancy.
 
Only thing I didn't like was them making Steve a good guy all of a sudden out of nowhere, with him conveniently showing up just before the monster shows up. Dude has terrible friends, influences Nancy to do stupid shit, and it was partly because of his little party Barbara went missing.

And speaking of Barb, I didn't particularly like how she was killed off and forgotten so quickly. I mean, it's 100% because of Nancy that she was there in the first place, so how could Nancy just ignore that and live through all that guilt? Also nothing from her parents or anything? Kinda weird to me.

Steve doesn't just become a good person out of nowhere. They build that up over the whole course of the show. He's a dick, and then being with Nancy begins to change him, he wants to be better to be more like her because he's actually falling in love with her. His friends ridicule him about it a lot, and his feelings for her, and then feeling of betrayal is what leads him to lash out with the spray painting. Once he gets his ass thoroughly handed to him, he's basically done being a shithead. He goes back to help clean the theater, he gets into a fight with his shitty friends and bails from the group, and his final turning point is when he leaves the house in fear, and then decides to go back into the house and help.

You can not like the change, that's fine, but it absolutely did not come out of nowhere. In like the first episode Barb is telling Nancy she's going to become a bad girl to fit in with his crowd, and then the exact opposite happens and he becomes a nice guy to be with her.

Also speaking of Barb and your second point, a lot of people complain that there was no service for her and her story is left open, but it isn't. The MiBs move her car and park it as a bus station to make it appear she ran off. For all anyone else in the town knows, she ran away and never came back. You don't hold a funeral for someone that ran away. The only people who know she'd dead probably can't actually say anything about it, and the ending sequences both with Nancy in the hospital and her at home with Steve show she is very clearly still haunted by Barb's death, which is her fault.
 

ZoddGutts

Member
While I liked the series, kinda wish it was a self contained series that finished this season. While the next season would focus on other "Stranger Things" in a new setting with a new cast. They had a good opportunity to wrap things up (they kinda did) but chose to leave things open for possible continued sequel. Since it looks like the next season will be a continuation hope it doesn't feel like just a retread of the first season.
 
Apparently they want to make an 8-bit NES-esque game to bridge the gap between Season 1 and 2, since it'll be set a year later.

They said they would have loved to set it right after Season 1 but the kids are growing too fast. Dustin's voice dropped and they couldn't even ADR it, they had to pitch it way up and stuff.

I'll try to find the link again it was some Facebook news feed article blergh.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I don't mind them taking there time and letting the kids grow up a bit and then doing season 2. Would be fine as it would feel more like an actual sequel movie than just season 2 of a TV show.
 
J

Jpop

Unconfirmed Member
The experiment number eleven wasn't the first one? Whaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!?!
Wasn't there some guy in here or the OT that thought there was no proof that there had been more test subjects than 11.
 

Bigfoot

Member
Wasn't there some guy in here or the OT that thought there was no proof that there had been more test subjects than 11.
Well there isn't actually any proof other than the number which isn't really proof of anything. There wasn't a bunch of missing kids other than Jane (El) that we know of, and we saw nothing in the labs to indicate there was other subjects.
 

Matty77

Member
Wasn't there some guy in here or the OT that thought there was no proof that there had been more test subjects than 11.
My take was that the MK ultra subjects including her mother were the other subjects, though that could be wrong. Mostly because they usually number in those kind of things, the tattoo and no name was just because they had her since birth. And she was significant because her powers worked. Whoever they were they had to come first.
 

RyanW

Member
Apparently they want to make an 8-bit NES-esque game to bridge the gap between Season 1 and 2, since it'll be set a year later.

They said they would have loved to set it right after Season 1 but the kids are growing too fast. Dustin's voice dropped and they couldn't even ADR it, they had to pitch it way up and stuff.

I'll try to find the link again it was some Facebook news feed article blergh.

Here's an article about it on IGN from a couple of days ago: http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/08...t-to-make-a-video-game-to-connect-to-season-2


I don't mind the idea of a game but I would love to see some sort of comic book mini-series. Not necessarily explaining what happened between seasons but maybe a prequel of sorts explaining Hawkins Lab, MKUltra in this universe, maybe specifically be about Eleven's mother and what she went through and revisiting/expanding what we saw with Eleven's experiments before she escaped.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Only thing I didn't like was them making Steve a good guy all of a sudden out of nowhere, with him conveniently showing up just before the monster shows up. Dude has terrible friends, influences Nancy to do stupid shit, and it was partly because of his little party Barbara went missing.

And speaking of Barb, I didn't particularly like how she was killed off and forgotten so quickly. I mean, it's 100% because of Nancy that she was there in the first place, so how could Nancy just ignore that and live through all that guilt? Also nothing from her parents or anything? Kinda weird to me.

Agreed on both. Fuck Steve, and what about the 5 other missings beyond Will at the end?
 
Agreed on both. Fuck Steve, and what about the 5 other missings beyond Will at the end?

They're... still missing?

The entire driving force of the series is finding Will. They found him, and that's what they focus on. The other people are still missing. It's background chatter. What other people/families are doing about those few other missing folks has literally no impact on the end of this story, which is, again, about Will. They don't need to waste time at Barb's funeral, she's run away as far as anyone outside the main characters knows, and as far as anyone else knows by the end of the season, she just hasn't come back. The other missing people are still just missing people. Not a dangling plot thread, they're just missing. We know what happened to them, chief of police Hopper knows what happened to them, that's all that's relevant to this story.

Maybe in Season 2 they'll go back and discuss some of that if it has relevance or impact to Season 2's story, but Season 1 is about Will, so that's who they focus on. Given the way Nancy looked at the end and how wracked with guilt she must be, I think it's a safe bet that they'll at the very least name drop Barb in Season 2 as "still missing" (I'm actually kind of expecting Nancy, overcome with guilt, to confess what really happened to Barb's mom and then the fallout from that cover up) but they already explained what actually happened to her and what the town's people think happened to her so there's no reason to go into more detail during the finale. In a series like this with a set run time and specific story to tell in that time, it is wasteful and unnecessary to spend time on irrelevant stuff like that.
 
There would be no funeral for Barb. The line is she is a runaway. There is no body and only 3 people actually saw her dead.

Exactly. And unless Nancy buckles in Season 2 and confesses what happened then it's probably gonna stay that way.

They didn't talk about closure much in the 80's did they?

As far as anyone outside 11, Hopper, and Joyce know, there is no closure. She's a runaway. Not everything in life gets closure.
 

Berzerkiymc

Neo Member
Absolutely fantastic experience. So many homages to timeless classics.

Is it possible the monster was keeping a sort of balance in the 4th dimension? preventing other creatures from jumping across, and now that the rift is open anything more 'stranger things' could pass through without issue?

Might just be my imagination running wild. Can't stop thinking about this show.


https://67.media.tumblr.com/0d460addf8bb2a700441858ba69203c5/tumblr_oawnb4nxCs1slo4b3o2_500.png

had to share this.
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
Barb is the saddest part of this story.


Overall, I liked the show. There were some pieces earlier on that moved a bit slow, but I'm glad that it was contained to only 8 episodes. This gave it enough time to breath, without going too long. It was perfect.
 

Curiocity

Member
Finally have some time to chime in. I loved this show, I loved how every character had their motivations fed and filled to conclusion. I loved that each character trope was used so well - Wigged-Out Mom had her credibility validated and got to take successful action; Kids each had a tension point that broke and then was rectified; Chief was also able to successfully act (in an area analogous to his previous failure); Social Outcast Teen had his voice heard by a peer.

I also loved how they set up the "language" of the show through the kids' discovery of it (re: the Upside-Down and d&d/lotr), so that we the audience can use that language without needing the science explained - it gives us an easy in and makes the kids credible, and since the adults discover the same things via their own approach, the kids don't need the adults to explain and the adults don't need to rely on the kids either. Plus we have assurance that Top Men do have some answers should you wish to entangle yourself with them.

I'm on the fence with how to feel about Barb. On the one hand, I don't like that she died because (as a friend put it) - "this show's better than that." I would have liked to see that turned on its head. On the other hand, we established that Nancy is the Token Girl, so the story would be wasting our time if it set up the Token Girl and then killed her to replace her with someone else. That would be interesting, and I'd like to see it done for the sake of busting tropes, but I think the tone here and compressed length of the show makes that idea inappropriate. Instead, I was satisfied with the consequences it had on Nancy. a) Nancy had her guilt visited on her for the rest of the show after the party; b) she didn't waste time with Steve after Barb vanished; c) she gave Jonathan time of day and they had a fruitful verbal sparring match to boot; d) she kicked ass later. Annnd Jonathan's prediction for her came true as well after Steve comes around. Which I also like, because it's nice to see Punchable Douchebag redeemed.
 

PBalfredo

Member
Barb got done so rotten. I know they needed an early death to establish the monster, but it's pretty rough that it was indirectly caused by Nancy was being such a shitty friend. All the teenagers were kinda shitty in their own way. Makes me glad Hopper was so on the ball with putting things together. Team adult was pulling their weight, which usually isn't the case in stories where the kids are the focus. The kids' acting was on point, too.

I'm confident that El is alive, just in the Upside Down. Disintegrating things wasn't in her powerset before, but the opening of rifts had a crackling effect that could be attributed to what we saw in the finale. Hopefully she comes back in the sequel / next season. El deserves a family and a happy ending, dangit!

Also, is it just me, or was the "normal girl" disguise that the boys whipped up for El when they went to the school possibly an EarthBound reference? I know I'm wearing fan goggles and it might just be a coincedence given the overlaping influences both works share, but they did also dress up a psychic girl in Paula cosplay. All she was missing was a bow, lol.

 

A-V-B

Member
Maybe in Season 2 they'll go back and discuss some of that if it has relevance or impact to Season 2's story, but Season 1 is about Will, so that's who they focus on. Given the way Nancy looked at the end and how wracked with guilt she must be, I think it's a safe bet that they'll at the very least name drop Barb in Season 2 as "still missing" (I'm actually kind of expecting Nancy, overcome with guilt, to confess what really happened to Barb's mom and then the fallout from that cover up) but they already explained what actually happened to her and what the town's people think happened to her so there's no reason to go into more detail during the finale. In a series like this with a set run time and specific story to tell in that time, it is wasteful and unnecessary to spend time on irrelevant stuff like that.

My thoughts, word for word. It'd be really nice, but I just don't think they'll have time. But I've been surprised before. This entire show is a surprise.

Barb got done so rotten. I know they needed an early death to establish the monster, but it's pretty rough that it was indirectly caused by Nancy was being such a shitty friend.

The worst part about it is that she was told to basically screw off, and instead of going home in a fit and leaving her friend alone with some guy she doesn't really know, she hung around. She was loyal as hell, Samwise Gamgee-style, and got murdered for it. Really sucks.
 

GDJustin

stuck my tongue deep inside Atlus' cookies
I'm tired of everyone hating on Steve. In no way did his character go the way I expected him to go.

1) He respected Nancy when she asked him to slow down, didn't get mad, and actually helped her study. This is in the first episode - he's already playing against expectations.
2) He was nice/polite to Barb at his party, and tried to involve her.
3) After he and Nancy hooked up he wants to continue a relationship with her. He genuinely cares about her.
4) Although him smashing up Jonathan's camera is undoubtedly a dick move, there's no denying Jonathan had it coming, and honestly I think he got off easy, all things considering. Steve showed restraint.
5) Although he was wrapped up in spray-painting the Nancy graffiti, it's clear he was being dragged along by his shitty friends, and he wasn't the instigator. He was remorseful, even in the moment.
6) He shows up at the Byers' house, the house of the guy he thinks has stolen his girl, just in an effort to be a good person and set things right. And then...
7) He proceeds to COMPLETELY FUCK UP a supernatural monster, even though until that exact moment he had 0 indication there was even anything supernatural going on in town. His life went from 0-60 in about three seconds flat, and he didn't miss a beat.

There are a couple of issues, here. First off, him teasing/accusing Jonathan of probably killing his own brother is pretty inexcusable. And him not caring that Barb just completely up and disappeared is pretty bad, too.

But even with those two knocks against him, I think it's clear that Steve is much more than "typical '80s dick boyfriend." Don't tell me you didn't expect him and his goons to do something mean to Barb at that party. Steve's not a bad guy - he's just a typical high school boy with terrible parents.
 
Also, is it just me, or was the "normal girl" disguise that the boys whipped up for El when they went to the school possibly an EarthBound reference? I know I'm wearing fan goggles and it might just be a coincedence given the overlaping influences both works share, but they did also dress up a psychic girl in Paula cosplay. All she was missing was a bow, lol.


I haven't watched it in a long, long time, but I'm almost positive that 11's disguise was based on ET's.
 

EGM1966

Member
Just finished the show (SO GOOD) and read through the thread, couple things I want to comment on:

1) People keep saying they experimented on 10 other kids. There is literally nothing in the show to support this, is there? What we do know, is that they did tests on older women(is it just women? or men too? The MKultra stuff?), and one of them turned out to be pregnant. It's entirely possible that the other 10 experiments are the other women, and 11 is the child of one of them. I wonder, if Hopper or Joyce had looked at that zonked out woman's arm, would there have been a number tattooed on it?

I'd love the other 10 to come out in later seasons as other people/creatures they experimented on but I'm leaning towards them being the people chosen for the MKultra tests.

2) The Upside Down wasn't created by 11. If you read Lovecraft, he has a story about a man that builds a machine that lets us see things on the next plane of existence up from ours. I'm fairly certain that's what the Upside Down is. Some others have said this but it needs to be reiterated because so many people seem to keep thinking 11 created it herself. It's not even an alternate dimension, it's our same dimension just one level up, like Silent Hill. (Or is Silent Hill another dimension? I've only seen the movies unfortunately)

3) There's only one monster. This has been confirmed by the creators, and is something they're thinking of exploring in the second season. The slugs are new creatures during the endgame of the season but as for Petal Face there's only one. Can't wait to find out more about Petal Face, and the slugs, and any other weird lifeforms that are out there in the spaces between worlds. Maybe the reason there's no other people in the Upside Down is because Petal Face ate them all?

4) Going back to 2, the pitch black space and the Upside Down are two different places. USD is a plane of existence layered over ours, the pitch black is a visual representation of 11's mind reaching out to find her targets. If you've ever seen any of the X-Men movies, think of when Professor X puts on Cerebro and it shows hundreds and hundreds of silhouettes of all the people in the world he's scanning.

5) I saw some people saying water had something to do with the portals? The water had to do with the sensory deprivation tanks. The reason there was a huge tank of water next to the main portal was because 11 was in that tank when she accidentally created the portal in the first place - being in the SDT just helps her focus and amplify her powers. There are portals created all over the place by Petal Face without any water nearby and when 11 totally wrecks Petal Face at the end there's no water anywhere either.

This show was SO good. I agree with everyone that says it's the best Netflix Original yet. I actually had to stop watching after Chapter 5 a few nights ago because I was getting so into it that I started seeing dark shadowy figures outside my windows and started freaking out. Kept almost getting spoiled on Tumblr so I knew I had to finish, blew through the last 3 earlier today and I've been just kinda reflecting on it all evening and night (while also trying to keep my mind occupied with other things, thank Christ I stopped watching at Chapter 5 the other night since Chapter 6 is "The Monster" good lord).

Also love all the reactions to the monster with people saying it's CG when it's actually a guy in a suit the majority of the time, even down to the petal flaps, hahahahaha

MAN it's gonna suck having to wait, what, a year at minimum for Season 2? Blergh!
Good points but as for 1) it's pretty much genre convention that a test subject with a number means the missing numbers were test subjects too. Of course they might buck this trope but the genre impression is she's 11th (and most successful?) subject with 10 existing before her. Just that she's number 11 is the only indication needed really.
 
Good points but as for 1) it's pretty much genre convention that a test subject with a number means the missing numbers were test subjects too. Of course they might buck this trope but the genre impression is she's 11th (and most successful?) subject with 10 existing before her. Just that she's number 11 is the only indication needed really.

My wording on that is admittedly total shit but what I meant was, the other 10 experiments could have been the women from MKUltra and when one of them had a child, that child was 11. I just meant there's nothing to support that the other 10 experiments were people with powers.
 

Forkball

Member
I really don't understand the monster.

+Why does it feed immediately on some but stores others?
+Why does it go after humans when animals are an easier prey?
+If its motive was solely food, why did it seek out 11 near the end while ignoring all the dead bodies?
+Why was it never drawn to 11's blood?
+It can seemingly teleport between dimensions, yet when it brings someone, the person it brought seemingly arrives beforehand, allowing them time to escape.

Obviously the show didn't seek out to explain everything (at the end they even joke about all the unresolved questions), but I don't get why it seemingly went against its nature and why Will was given so many chances to survive.
 
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