Spoilers Stranger Things - Season 5

[theenglish]

On the contrary, they deserved to be ridiculed; they had made such a bad final season, or even the last two seasons.

There was a lot that wasn't under their control. Martin had only given them the basics of the end of the story. Actors (and maybe HBO?) were tired and wanted to move on forcing the plot to be crammed into few episodes. And they didn't have Martin's actual dialogue and written pages to base the screenplay on.

The pacing was completely off in those last two seasons and some of the dialogue was pretty bad, I agree, but Martin's plot elements and planned resolution were still there and I'm glad to have an ending to the story that we may never actually see on the written page, at least completed by the man himself.

 

[oktay]

There was a lot that wasn't under their control. Martin had only given them the basics of the end of the story. Actors (and maybe HBO?) were tired and wanted to move on forcing the plot to be crammed into few episodes. And they didn't have Martin's actual dialogue and written pages to base the screenplay on.

The pacing was completely off in those last two seasons and some of the dialogue was pretty bad, I agree, but Martin's plot elements and planned resolution were still there and I'm glad to have an ending to the story that we may never actually see on the written page, at least completed by the man himself.

I agree with everything you said, but I still think the last two seasons were bad.

 

[theenglish]

I agree with everything you said, but I still think the last two seasons were bad.

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. I respect that.

 

[eschaton]

Game of Thrones didn't deserve the treatment it got.

I agree that Season 8 wasn't a major step down from Season 7. In fact, I think it's a bit better, as I legit liked a few elements (the episode A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the use of Arya/The Hound, etc.).

I think fandom was just wishcasting that Season 8 would somehow magically fix all of the issues they had with the series from Season 5 onwards. When it failed to do that, people lost faith in the entire series.

There was a lot that wasn't under their control. Martin had only given them the basics of the end of the story. Actors (and maybe HBO?) were tired and wanted to move on forcing the plot to be crammed into few episodes. And they didn't have Martin's actual dialogue and written pages to base the screenplay on.

Both Martin and HBO were on records for wanting 10 or more seasons. It was completely on D&D to wrap up the series in just eight seasons. They were the ones bored with what they were doing, and wanted to go on to direct the Star Wars trilogy that was floated for them that turned into vaporware (like most announced Star Wars projects).

I think they should've just turned over the series to Bryan Cogman to finish, TBH, if they were sick of it.

The pacing was completely off in those last two seasons and some of the dialogue was pretty bad, I agree, but Martin's plot elements and planned resolution were still there and I'm glad to have an ending to the story that we may never actually see on the written page, at least completed by the man himself.

I agree that they largely kept to the proposed ending of the series, but the decision to not include Young Griff from the novels IMHO pretty much wrecked the end of the story.

 

[oktay]

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[camdudetenger2018]

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lol and the contraversys begins

 

[FreezeC77]

I'm wondering if the Duffer's are annoyed/angry that all the various delays whether it be covid or strike-related ended up messing up their plans to start (and finish) a show with age appropriate actors and see those actors 'age-out' of the roles they envisioned them for.

Having them then suddenly make Holly Wheeler a main character with the most screen time in the final season and showing the 'child actor plotlines' they envisioned the main cast delivering on.

 

[FreezeC77]

I agree about the military plot line, especially treating the officers like they were Star Wars Imperial Troopers. I didn't liked the attacks on them in this recent installment of episodes. I can't imagine what is going to happen following this episode as there must have been reports that were transmitted outside of Hawkins. The only way to save our characters is to have some throwaway like they are actually a rogue operation, which would just make no sense.

Yea, I did jokingly mention earlier that the characters have been racking up a BODY COUNT against the US military. (besides the demi-gorgon's slaughtering a bunch)

They are going to be reporting a heckuva lot of 'training accidents' for 1987 troop deaths.

 

[oktay]

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Stranger Things finale includes a hidden clue to the franchise’s next chapter | The National

Series creators discuss how they shaped its end, if characters may die, and the moment that points to the future

www.thenationalnews.com

 

[The Grinch Doctor]

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Stranger Things finale includes a hidden clue to the franchise’s next chapter | The National

Series creators discuss how they shaped its end, if characters may die, and the moment that points to the future

www.thenationalnews.com

I was thinking about the spin-off after we learned about the true nature of the Upside Down and I'm very curious as to how it can happen, while completely separated from the Hawkins characters as indicated by the Duffer brothers. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this small scene.

 

[JD]

Yeah, that is definitely an intriguing tease.

 

[oktay]

Some photos and videos on the internet that are said to be related to the show were created with AI. I was really annoyed when I read some of the comments about the episodes. That's why I'm talking like this. But if I watch the show again in the future, it will probably seem pretty bad to me. Because there have been many shows and movies that seemed good the first time I watched them, but on the second or third viewing, I thought they weren't that good.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

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I found this penultimate chapter serviceable with only one great moment, but far from the "worst ever!!" nonsensical ranting conducted by certain parts of the Stranger Things audience.

The reunion of Max and Lucas was one of the more emotionally satisfying conclusions to any of the various ST arcs in recent seasons; the two characters' relationship was and remains the most natural / believable of any Stranger Things pairing, and I'm hoping tragedy is not going to come to one or both characters when all is said and done.

Kali's suicidal, manipulative string-pulling on Eleven/Jane teases any number of possible fates: one, eleven goes along with Kali's plan and both die. Two, Kali has always been an agent of the military and/or Vecna, so she's using Eleven to defeat whoever the enemy happens to be / allow control of the wormhole. Three, someone else (take two guesses) will learn of Kali's plan / Eleven's decision, and sacrifice himself / herself at the last minute in order to finally give Eleven the normal life she's fought to adopt. I cannot see every main character just walking away from the final battle.

For some Steve fans, it is believed Dustin's tearful revelation behind his bickering "saved" Steve--at least in some fans' eyes, since they do not believe the show would kill him off, now that he's aware of how sensitive Dustin is to the idea of losing another big brother figure. Then again, I can see the showrunners going ahead to subvert the "no-Steve-death" fan expectation they created with the Dustin/Steve scene, just to sell how devastating the final showdown will be.

 

[bdub76]

I have one more episode before I'm caught up.

I agree with a couple of items above.

Millie's acting is probably the worse of the bunch. I didn't know that she was getting baby Botox, but that makes sense. Of course, it could be her acting chops aren't there. We'll see in the next Enola Holmes if this persists.

The more progressive story lines are hard to swallow for a show that takes place in the 80s having grown up in the 80s with the satanic panic, AIDS, and the early economic issues of that decade. It doesn't fit small town America in the mid-80s. This wouldn't be as much of a stretch if it was late 90s.

What's really missing is the nostalgia that every season up to this one captured. It's completely missing. We get one Tiffany music scene and a reference to Return of the Jedi, and that's it.

The special effects are mostly good, but for some reason, Max looks wrong. I don't know if they're doing AI to her in anyway to tweak her appearance, but whenever she's on, it's jarring. Her acting is still good, but the image looks off.

For me, it's definitely the weakest season so far even though it looks like it has a really huge budget compared to early on when it had much better storytelling.

 

[eschaton]

Talking about the penultimate episode alone, it seems to be review bombed due to the following:

• Homophobes pissed about the coming out scene for Will (apparently the one star reviews are heavily coming from Saudi Arabia).
• Crazy "Byler" shippers who are upset the romantic pairing they were pining for isn't going to happen.
• People who are genuinely underwhelmed by the episode.

I think the latter is at least understandable. The penultimate episode didn't have much happen. There were no new realizations about the Upside Down or Vecna. What they did with Holly was a cheap-ass move, with Vecna just waving a magic wand more or less, which (at the moment) seems to invalidate her entire escape arc. There were no big action scenes with the demos or Vecna. There were a fair amount of the leaden exposition and planning scenes which have made this season so lackluster.

The Max/Lucas reunion scene was great, but it belonged at the end of the previous episode, not the beginning of this one. Seeing Steve/Dustin vibe again was great, though they put their issues to bed in the previous episode. Whatever they're trying to do with Kali is so underbaked I don't think it's hitting - in part because Eleven spent a single day with her, and it's not like they built a tremendous rapport at the time. I think they fucked up by leaving the Kali reveal to Episode 4, because they haven't had time to reestablish her.

I can see being let down by this episode, but not considering it the worst ever. Chalk one up to the homophobes, I guess.

 

[FPAlpha]

Talking about the penultimate episode alone, it seems to be review bombed due to the following:

• Homophobes pissed about the coming out scene for Will (apparently the one star reviews are heavily coming from Saudi Arabia).
• Crazy "Byler" shippers who are upset the romantic pairing they were pining for isn't going to happen.
• People who are genuinely underwhelmed by the episode.

I think the latter is at least understandable. The penultimate episode didn't have much happen. There were no new realizations about the Upside Down or Vecna. What they did with Holly was a cheap-ass move, with Vecna just waving a magic wand more or less, which (at the moment) seems to invalidate her entire escape arc. There were no big action scenes with the demos or Vecna. There were a fair amount of the leaden exposition and planning scenes which have made this season so lackluster.

The Max/Lucas reunion scene was great, but it belonged at the end of the previous episode, not the beginning of this one. Seeing Steve/Dustin vibe again was great, though they put their issues to bed in the previous episode. Whatever they're trying to do with Kali is so underbaked I don't think it's hitting - in part because Eleven spent a single day with her, and it's not like they built a tremendous rapport at the time. I think they fucked up by leaving the Kali reveal to Episode 4, because they haven't had time to reestablish her.

I can see being let down by this episode, but not considering it the worst ever. Chalk one up to the homophobes, I guess.

Agree with most of what you said, when something is crashing that hard in a show whose episodes rarely go below an 8 and often enough has them go above a 9 such a rating is an indication that something else is going on and Will's coming out might be a major reason for it.

Ever since the show exploded onto the scene and moreso when the end was nearing i thought about the fan reception, especially when this show has big reveals incoming that some fans might not follow or may even get angry and downvote the thing. No show can keep up with the hype on the level Stranger Things has generated so i expected something in the 7s for it realistically but not something below a 6/10 rating.

It's also not unusual for a show to have one final breather episode before the big blowout season or show finale, where things are a bit quieter on the action front and some character storylines are reseolved and some loose ends tied up because when the finale hits there might not be time to sort out the secondary characters and since the finale will be 2+ hours kong one might say this breather episode wasn't even the penultimate episode if you stick by the hour episode formula.

I figure the finale might get even more divisive, especially if they kill off fan favorites ( my best friend is ready to get out the pitchforks and torches if something happens to Hopper, Dustin or Steve) but i am still there for the ride and am sure i'll enjoy it.

 

[Set Harth]

the finale will be 2+ hours kong

I have to say I did not see that coming!

 

[The Grinch Doctor]

The Duffer brothers promise we won't be seeing a lot of fan favorites dying in the finale. Which, honestly, doesn't surprise me based on their big Variety interview a couple of months ago where they stressed they take the death of any character seriously and they don't kill someone off without a very good reason.

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The Duffer brothers are averse to killing off their characters. It has become a long-standing criticism of the show.

I have no interest in a spin-off of Stranger Things. Not everything needs a continuation. Sometimes it is best to end a franchise with a great story.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The Duffer brothers are averse to killing off their characters. It has become a long-standing criticism of the show.

Some are too trained to believe consequential stories require death to have meaning. That rarely works in any way that's not shock for the sake of it, so it is a plot device to be avoided as much as possible.

I have no interest in a spin-off of Stranger Things. Not everything needs a continuation.

Words of wisdom...which are routinely ignored by a creatively bankrupt entertainment industry.

Sometimes it is best to end a franchise with a great story.

Agreed. In the case of Stranger Things, I would be okay with some of the main characters all deciding to go their own ways, not wanting to have anything to do with government investigations/clean-up, etc.