I really wish you could skip this episode, [spoiler] and Eleven ( Jean Grey ) could of been taught what Eight (Scarlet Witch) taught her [/spoiler] the only reason for Eight and this episode. also this feels like it's a Pilot for a different show.
sharePeople cry too much. Just enjoy the journey and stop trying to be the creator, writer and director. They know what they are doing and people should just chill.
shareOveranalyzing and Monday morning quarterbacking are the whole point of boards like this. But you're right, the Duffers set down all the major plot milestones in outline form even before season 1 was filmed. There's still freedom to make changes with characters and certain other elements but they're not just making things up from scratch as they go along. If you liked how the show started, your confidence in them to deliver a good run and satisfying ending will probably be rewarded.
sharePretty sure they might be making it up as they go. Was watching a video Collider Videos posted with them interviewing someone behind the camera like the writers, directors, or producers. They said that they finished post-production on Season 2 a week or two before the season was released, and when they started writing Season 2, they didn't have any blueprints ready when Season 1 was released. They started around the time that it was officially announced that there would be a Season 2. They also said that because of them not finishing Season 2 when they did, they haven't even started on Season 3 and don't have any blueprints for that either. All they said was that the kids would be the same age as the actors in real life and not have the kids play characters that were about a year or two younger than their actual age or something like that. Plus they had just begun talking to the writers about blueprints for Season 3. So Season 3 is still in VERY early pre-production and they have no clue on what Season 3 will be about. They have no idea when filming could start and they have no idea when Season 3 will be released. Could be Fall 2018 or maybe not until 2019 sometime. Possibly not until 2020. And they definitely haven't thought of Season 4. So they don't really have things planned out. They just want to make 4 Seasons for sure and possibly a 5th.
shareI mean, they did say they would want to keep the time frame for each season within the 15 months it took between 1 & 2. That suggests season 3 is likely for a late 2018 or early 2019 release.
You are correct that the intricacies of the season are mapped out on the fly, though it does seem like they already have an endgame in mind and have discussed plans for that with some of those closely involved.
What they laid out were the major reveals and plot milestones. The skeleton of the story through season 4 was there from the beginning. Imagine a notebook with bullet point outlines of all four seasons. They probably do have something like that. Supposedly there's a thirty page guide to the Upside Down and another one of similar length about Hawkins Lab and the government program that gave rise to Eleven and the others.
That's not to say every plot detail (or even most of them) are set in stone. Will was always going to have that possession storyline. But the original draft had him actually killing Bob, I think in episode 3, and they rewrote Bob's fate entirely so he survived almost to the end and died a hero instead of being stabbed to death by his girlfriend's son. Most of what's going on with Steve's character is also new. Jonathan and Nancy were supposed to get together last season and Steve was going to be a jealous dick this year making things difficult with his personal vendetta. The character of Billy was added to the show to take on a role similar to that envisioned for Steve.
So how they tell the story is flexible and subject to change. But if, say, you wanted to know which main characters won't survive to the end of the series, or how many other special kids are out there, what their numbers and abilities are, etc., or even how the very last episode of season 4 will end, they could spoil those details for you right now. They could tell you all about the Mind Flayer. How old it is, where it comes from, its history, all that stuff was created at the beginning and not being constructed as they go along. This kind of pre-planning puts a retroactive consistency into the show. If you go back and watch the whole run again after season 4 is over, you'll notice little details that fit what's revealed later, which you couldn't have known were significant before. The kind of stuff you only get by planning core aspects of the story in advance.
Yes, I do believe they have a sense of what their vision for the show is. Depending on how far it strays from the modest, tightly structured show it was in season 1, I do think people have reason to be worried they'll be disappointed. And while it won't make a difference to talk about it, that's pretty much the whole of discussion forums like this.
sharePretty silly that people are worried about being disappointed in the show. The second season was way better than the first season and that is because it isn't as structured as the first season. It's more about character and less about story this season, and that is a great thing.
shareYou yourself acknowledge that season 2 is different than season 1, so it goes to reason that the show straying away from that original tone will alienate some viewers. As well, I would argue the ramped up stakes in the second half actually got in the way of a lot of the character arcs promised earlier in the season.
shareIf you want the show to be the same all the way through, then maybe you should watch season one over and over again. The best shows are fluid and change as life does. If a few viewers are lost, then so be it. I wasn't crazy about season one, but am definitely a fan of season two and only hope that The Duffer Brothers continue to explore these characters in different ways. Having a show always be the same structure and tone is boring.
shareYou said it was silly for people to worry about being disappointed. I'm saying that whether concern applies to them will largely depend on their tastes. If the show had released something more like season 2 first and then something like season 1, it sounds like you wouldn't be as crazy about the direction the show is going. And one can applaud the effort to develop a story and take risks without being enthusiastic about the results.
As for tone, I think it's a question of degrees. Obviously shows want to maintain a certain measure of consistency to be palatable. Where one sits in that spectrum and where one views Stranger Things in achieving it lies the question.
Season one seemed more kid oriented, while season two has matured just as the kids in the show have. Season one was more like The Goonies, while season two is moving more toward The Breakfast Club. Since these kids are aging, the show has to change with them. They can't stay the same. It would not make any sense if the show flip flopped seasons, because then your fears about consistency and direction would be valid since that kind of change wouldn't make sense.
shareI wouldn't say the big differences between the seasons we're talking about stems from the maturation of the kids. Those two examples would be a natural progression within the coming-of-age subgenre, and one I would hope to see exploited further as the story continues. It's fundamentally different from the apocalyptic action and comic book fantasy elements hinted in season 2 that people wouldn't want to see the show going down in the future. Season 1's style didn't necessitate evolution in that way.
shareI don't understand why they made a season 2 (aside from making money, etc.)
"Season one" was like a long movie, with a beginning and end. D&D start, D&D end. Anything cliffhanger-like at the end was really just like the way most 80s horror movies would end (You thought all was well but SURPRISE it's not!). Do we really care what this hole in the ground is with lights coming out of it, enough to keep watching "seasons" of it? It was a dumb hole in the ground that worked as a plot device for whatever was going on in the kids adventure.
I do think Will coughing up the slug works as an ending. The end to the El story would be pretty unsatisfying to me as is though. And while I would never have expected them to do it, I would have enjoyed if ST2 had dispensed with the need to expand on the genre elements. I love the aesthetic, the music, the thriller elements, but the coming-of-age stuff among the kids and the personal dramas facing the older characters were the most compelling part of the show.
If season 1 works perfectly on its own, pursuing it further shouldn't really affect it. It's when people actually feel there is more story to tell that the decisions for where they take it that it merits a bigger point of contention.
Everyone says it's the worst episode of ANY show in the history of television. I have to disagree. Those that say this is the worst episode ever hasn't watched Episode 7 of American Horror Story: Cult which I think is the 7th season. I'd rather sit through Episode 7 of Stranger Things Season 2 than Episode 7 of AHS: Cult.
Main problem was having to listen to Lena Dunham go on about how much she hates men and wants to rid the world of ALL men. Now, I want women to have equal rights and stuff, but what I was watching was NOT about feminists making a stand. This was straight up sexism. And there is big difference between feminism and sexism, which I'm pretty sure people are confusing/mixing up. Also, the whole episode was a detour in the season's main plot like ST S02E07, but I felt was a bigger detour. It felt like they took a break from things to do something related to feminism, although it was more like sexism.
At least Stranger Things is building to something bigger and setting up future seasons. American Horror Story is always a different storyline with different characters and different settings with each season.
So anyone that complains about Stranger Things S02E07 should go watch Episode 7 of AHS: Cult. The episode is worse than The Lost Sister.
It wasn't the worst. The worst were the previous 6 getting to 8. 7 was a long side story for a spinoff series. The previous 6 turned it into a show for kids. It's lame AF.
shareWell yeah I do see this season was more kiddish and they should of focused on the adults a little more.
shareSee, I would actually argue the kids took a backseat this season, not necessarily in terms of screentime but in terms of importance to the story. Whereas in season 1 it seemed like each faction was in their own world, this time it felt like adult characters like Hopper were clearly the glue.
shareYes! I will use this episode for my seminar on story writing, titled “what not to do.”
It was more or less a spin off show inside of a show.
It breaks the beauty of the show because up until that point, the town is it’s own universe.
You don’t know if strange things can happen outside of that place.
Plus the principle characters are not involved. We aren’t seeing things from the perspective of the people we have bonded with. Storytelling generally picks one side and sticks with it. If we see the other side it’s to clue us in on what the protagonists are about to face.
And more evidence that the creators have no clue what the 1980s were like.
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