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From the way they employed him as a conflict-piece for Max and Steve for most of the season, I think the intention for now was just to give Max character depth, and force Steve into character development. But the scene near the end of the season with his abusive father hints to me that the writers gave his character a greater depth towards the end because they intend to give him a greater role in the next season.

 

Steve Harrington is easily my favorite character.

I don't think I've ever seen character development done so well.

Starting out as your typical jock to...well spoilers...

He's a great character.

 

Spoiler

That very well could be, but if it is, then it's something where there was too much foresight and not enough "Right now" focused on, because the amount of face-time he got did not equate at all with the amount of character development accorded to him. Beyond that, it's a cringe-worthy character. As I said my previous post, Billy is the amalgamation of several stereotypes. Worse yet, they are conflicting and cancel each other out. For instance, you have the long-haired rebel who drives fast, smokes, and has an earring, but is a top jock and accepted by everyone else, even though he seems to hold them in contempt. Then, they throw a third one in there—The Seducer of Mrs. Robinson. Of course, he can't be everything great, so he he's also the abused son.

Development of any one of those themes would have been nice.

 

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SAMWISE!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! GOONIES NEVER SAY DIEEEEEE!!!!!!

Finished. Man, that was fantastic. Dustin and Steve really made this season shine.

 

Watched the first and second seasons from Saturday thru last night and holy hell what a great show.

Spoiler

I had a bad feeling about Bob the whole time. He was too pure.

El and Mike's reunion had me tearing up, as did every scene with El getting emotional. That girl is a fantastic actress.

Team Steve forever.

 

I didn't rate season two anywhere as highly as season one. I think it devalued the worth of the demigorgon and small town unassailable horror.

The big bad was too intangible. The awesome first presentation did not match with what the threat ultimately turned out to be. Demonic possession wasn't too interesting, although I did feel bad for will.

Finally the filler episode, with the fact it was the first scene of season two. I feel like they just wanted to introduce a character for season three without giving them any purpose in season two, really. It messed with the pacing really bad. And I don't think I can defend it as 'building the intensity'. The gang of 80s fashion archetypes she surrounded herself with was ridiculous. They were so shallow that I found it jarred with the depth they developed for 11 and the character they were obviously trying to get us more invested in.

The characters were engaging, I felt so bad for dustin, I loved Steve. Hopper is wonderful. And everyone is just so mean to Max.
But yea, season 2 was not close to the equal of season 1.

 

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Blitzed through the series yesterday and last night and I'm left bitterly disappointed at having to wait another year for more.

There was just so much goodness in this series from Hopper going back to grab his hat Temple of Doom style to the adorable Snow Ball at the end.

Steve was brilliant this season, just thoroughly likeable. I still enjoy Nancy but I felt the show runners have dropped the ball with Johnathan's character. He's just there to wring his hands worriedly at this stage.

Billy was... Exactly what Steve was originally intended to be. The writers said they wanted an over the top 80s douchebag but Steve turned out so likeable that they needed another. Billy's a borderline sociopath and they're cool with that.

Max and Lucas were good all season but this year belongs to Dustin. He was fantastic and the scenes with him and Steve are some of the best in the show.

The less said about Elle in Chicago the better. That was just a chore.

Steve, Bob, Dustin and Hopper were the standouts this season and I can't wait for more.

 

Yeah I agree. And I think foils that shallow detracted from the show. She was the first character/mystery of the season that we saw. And she had no part in the main plot line.

 

Sometimes I wish I could conform to the mainstream hype and like all those shows that everyone else seems to praise: Breaking Bad, The Expanse, Stranger Things.

I've had ST on my to-watch list for months now, finally decided to give it a try. I was pretty much spoiler-free, which might speak to the fact that I wasn't even intrigued enough to seek out spoilers. I watched 4 episodes of season one and like half of the 5th one and I am not feeling it at all. The best five minutes of the show was when the monster stalked the kid in the first episode and after that it's kinda been just boring. I guess the setting, choice of protagonists and/or the worldbuilding haven't pulled me in.

I'm not trying to be contrary for the sake of being contrary. I'm glad people enjoy the show, but I'll just quietly wait for the second season of The Good Fight.

 

Season three was solid, but definitely the weakest of the seasons so far imo. Some great moments, but the ending was pretty weak.

The acting of the characters is all awesome. But there was a lot of stuff that required me to suspend my disbelief.

 

I spent 9 hours in and out of airports today and loved it.

They've hit that sweet spot where the show is self-aware of the fine line it's walking. I get how that wouldn't work for everyone, but it works for me.

My favourite scenes:

Spoiler

The Neverending Story and Steve 'The Hair' Harrington being beaten up again, this time by absurd Russian stereotypes

It is almost as if the characters know they're in an 80s horror flick. And that works. They've leaned into the suspension of disbelief as opposed to forcing realism. That sounds like a bunch of wank, I know, but I stand by my 'that works'.

 

Finally finished it.

I liked it, definitely better than S2. Pity that they kept the ginger and her brother around. Hoped that theu would go the way of Elevens pseudo sister.

Also Susie killed Hopper by insisting on singing that song.

 

Incredible. Better than S2.

Everything with Steve and Robin was 10/10 for me. When they introduced Max and Billy last season, I felt it almost detracted from the overall chemistry. Definitely not so with Robin.

And Steve is just amazing. My fav character in the show.

 

While I enjoyed series 2, this definitely felt like a big step up - thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, and I binged it in two sittings. Not as compellingly tense as the first series, but it's picked up a whole bunch of other qualities to make it just as engaging, not least of which is the sense of humour. I certainly don't remember the last two series making me laugh out loud the way this one did. And the best monster yet.

Here's hoping they can keep this standard up for the inevitable series 4, but I'd settle for a slice of life of Steve, Robin, Dustin and Erica living their best life, tbh.

 

Even if I didn't care for this one as much as the others. Steve Harrington is the man.

I'd be perfectly fine with a spin-off show just focused on him saving kids from things that go bump in the night. Turn him into a supernatural hunter or something...

 

Spoiler

Nah, I think he got smoked. This is another in Winona Ryder's list of deceased boyfriends.

My favorite was poor Alexei.

 

Spoiler

In the final scene in the Russian jail doesn’t the one guard say in Russian “Not the American” before grabbing the other guy to sacrifice? I guess it could be a pump fake to make us think Hop wound up in Russia somehow. Maybe it’s Barb.