Support NeoGAF

[analog_future]

I had a good laugh at them skipping over scenes where they had to lift Derek. Pulling the kids out of their flesh prisons? Yeah Derek is just out. Guess no actor was strong enough to lift the bugger and then they totally skipped over everyone coming back through the rift to the top of the tower. I'd have loved to see them try to get him out without a nice new and deep crater at the base of the tower. Whole final ep was silly as fuck.

Why are you so preoccupied with the show needing to make fun of an overweight child?

So many people are just straight up dickheads in this thread.

 

[Toytown Assassin]

Why are you so preoccupied with the show needing to make fun of an overweight child?

So many people are just straight up dickheads in this thread.

Dude I was an overweight child. Easily Derek sized so I know just how funny that shit was.

 

[kevboard]

completely out of left field note, but,
did anyone else think the actor who played young Henry was surprisingly good?

child actors are very often absolutely awful, and at best decent. but he absolutely nailed the very breif scenes he was in imo.
which stood out to me.

 

[wondermega]

It is interesting how polarizing this show is on gaf. We actually went to the theater to see the final episode, it turned out to be a really cool way to spend the early part of New Year's Eve. Theater was completely packed, which was fun, and I'm old enough that I spent half the night glowing about the incredible parking spot I squeezed into just before walking in.

ST was fun, like many I really enjoyed the first season, somehow I was completely disinterested and just skipped S2. Tuned back in for S3 because I was bored & was pleasantly surprised, low expectations for S4 but got pulled in right away between the Nightmare on Elm Street meets Akira vibes (seriously, they handled all that stuff so well!) Although the second half of S2 felt excessive/cheap.

Final season was not half as good as S4, which I guess would be a tall order, but they did a satisfying enough wrap-up. I would have been much happier if they shaved off the last, oh, 45 minutes, but I guess they know what modern audiences want and this must reflect that.

I think the show would have benefited from a few less characters (tighten things up/less dilution) and the way they actually handled the ending of Vecna felt a bit over the top like a video gamer from 20 years ago designed it, but whatever, it was an ending!

 

[bitbydeath]

I thought Hopp would have gone on a rant about how Kali killed Eleven

He's keeping that information well bottled up.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

You'll be ecstatic to know that I really enjoyed the series and I felt waves of melancholy after the finale. Roll on the obscenely expensive 4k UHD steelbook collection.

Did you feel seen and heard?

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Way too little deaths. Pathetic. In these last 4 episodes half of the cast shouldve died.

I don't understand the need of people dying for a show to make sense. This ain't Game of Thrones.

These characters managed to have someone like Joyce infiltrating Russia in the 1980's to get Hopper last season and somehow survived (and Hopper...there's no scenario he would still be alive by the end of season 4 lmao) . After that i knew no key character would die tbh.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Did you feel seen and heard?

 

[EviLore]

Incredible visuals for a high school student project

 

[DeepEnigma]

Performative artist rendition of Netflix shows when they get to the trademark episode and drop their trope on the viewers.

 

[EviLore]

Hover handing the girl you're in love with during your romantic embrace.





Dear lord

 

[kazuyamishima]

Expected and mediocre/fair ending.

But what's with the whole Nancy Rambo stuff? I mean c'mon.

 

[kunonabi]

Just got out of the finale and yeah easily the worst season of the show. The quality of the writing and direction is just not on the same level. I was hoping the finale would at least take a big swing at something but it didn't even try. Even the good potential beats felt way more bland than they would have been in previous seasons. I don't know if it was studio meddling or just burn out from the creatives and actors but the season felt more like an obligation than something anybody was really passionate about.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Incredible visuals for a high school student project

"Most expensive show in history."

 

[EverydayBeast]

This is originally a 2016 show, 10 years later it's back.

Must watch, nearly perfect and huge payoff.

Vecna has Hawkings, Indiana under control.

The format and the foundation is surrounding the deep cast.

My guess is these sold a lot.

Vecna.

I was hopeful for season 5 and I believe it delivered.

The energy is super natural, the story is a classic and the duffer bros should be proud.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Keeping vital info trapped in a play.

 

[jason10mm]

Keeping vital info trapped in a play.

the fuck, really?

This is the shit thats KILLING genre shows. Hiding all the interesting lore in "synergy media" instead of the primary product is straight bullshit. Thus is the kind of thing Hopper and the reporter guy (and reporter girl) should have been digging into to help bolster their theories on how to defeat Vecna. Don't just wave a notebook, mention "exotic energy" once, and then have them draw out this big plot with no real evidence.

 

[Escape Goat]

Im still digesting the season but its easily the worst one yet. They have way too many characters and wasted a lot of time on characters we dont care about. Or in the case of Holly Wheeler her family didnt seem all that invested in before she went missing. Specifically regarding the Wheeler family there was major lack of setup/investment for any emotional payoff with Holly or the other Wheelers). They all seemed like strangers to each other the entire show. And frustratingly Mr Wheeler never got his comeuppance for being a total bore. I cant recall him having a single positive interaction with his kids or wife.

Delightful Derrick was good but this wasn't his or Holly's story and in the final season that time could have been better spent. Love Robin and Max but this is the final season and they needed to go narrow and they turned it into the Avengers.

Also, we will not forget Barb. May she rest in peace.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Wife and I binge watched the first 6 episodes today. So far, not bad. Lots of pointless talks and macguffins but it's been ok. Nancy is not nearly as well written as before and the wormhole stuff is also nonsense but it's been not bad.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

Finished the two-hour final episode/movie. If I had to sum up the entire thing with a single adjective, it would be:
"Absolutely zero balls."

Zero stakes. The literal end of the world is supposedly happening, yet the characters always find time for long, drawn-out feelings-sharing™ sessions. On top of that, the directors clearly didn't have the guts to let anyone die in what's meant to be a high-stakes scenario.

Everything is wrapped up way too neatly, as if the audience can't handle even the slightest hint of a sad or ambiguous ending. The entire second half boils down to a lazy "and they all lived happily ever after" finale. It's not just spineless, it's cringe-inducing, with forced, fake melodrama and everyone crying on cue.
None of it feels earned. It's blatantly there to send the average Netflix viewer off with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
The whole season is slop of the highest order: terrible acting (the kids can't act to save their lives), awful exposition, dreadful writing and CGI that's mediocre at best.

There are so many shoehorned-in characters that you stopped caring about two seasons ago. The story is packed with convoluted arcs and scenarios that you completely tune out of after the second one. Add to that the obnoxious one-liner machines, the idiotic "girl-power Rambo" scenes (why not let Steve go full Rambo for once? That might've actually been cool), the ugly dude's awful haircut/fake hair, Holly's creepy child actor (that mouth, man), and on and on.

This is pure TV slop, and it once again proves that when you milk something long enough - as this show absolutely did - it completely loses its luster.

Needless, pointless, boring, convoluted, and badly directed and written.

 

[EviLore]

 

[kevboard]

it's clearly a prototype version of the M16 with... a... camouflaged slide... that doubles as iron sights!

genius design!

 

[Power Pro]

Hover handing the girl you're in love with during your romantic embrace.

Well duh, you have to always wait for consent, never forget that boys. You can't go in for a kiss, you have to always make sure she initiates the kiss, because she might not want to kiss you. And you don't want to hold her too tight, so hover handing is a safer bet, because she might not consent to you holding her that close.

Okay, this shit is hilarious.

I honestly didn't notice a lot of this stuff during my watch, so it didn't bother me at the time. My biggest issue while watching it, and making me say "wtf" is when it's 18 months later...and the military just let every one go with no explanation? I am still so confused what the fuck. So Linda Hamilton didn't just want to torture all of them for information about Eleven? Bull shit.

 

[Revolutionary]

This is what the show will be remembered for

 

[Sonik]

Incredible visuals for a high school student project

Are they in Mexico? They kind of overdid the orange filter this time

 

[EviLore]

Well duh, you have to always wait for consent, never forget that boys. You can't go in for a kiss, you have to always make sure she initiates the kiss, because she might not want to kiss you. And you don't want to hold her too tight, so hover handing is a safer bet, because she might not consent to you holding her that close.

Even James Bond isn't allowed to initiate a first kiss now. The hover hand is taking it to a new level of absurdity though.

 

[Puscifer]

I watched it with three 12-14 year olds, two of them queer, and all three kids were crying afterwards. They loved it.

I could not imagine being an adult in this situation.... Where are the parents?

 

[Chittagong]

Keeping vital info trapped in a play.

This was the most fucking insane thing. I went to see the show in London, hearing it's fully canon, and came out thinking "holy shit, to actually understand the story of this show a fan needs to physically go to London"

 

[adamsapple]

If anyone wants a full breakdown of the stage play and how it connects to the main show:

 

[sono]

Concerning the last final ever episode.

I guessed that they would leave a hook for it not to actually be the last and they did ..

 

[Neff]

How are the chances that Netflix really does this?

Incredibly likely.

But what's with the whole Nancy Rambo stuff? I mean c'mon.

Feels like a heavy-handed attempt to give this generation its Ripley/Sarah Connor, but those characters never killed anybody (Sarah came close but didn't actually go through with it, which was kind of the point).

Keeping vital info trapped in a play.

I'm expecting to read the explanation as to why everyone was allowed to go back to normality no questions asked after killing US soldiers in a mini-comic falling out of my cereal box.

 

[Bridges]

Not perfect but I enjoyed the finale. Saw it on the theater today. Overall I've liked the show. Season 1 is really something special and then every season after it is worse than the last.

My biggest gripe is that they introduced way too many characters. Max is a really awesome addition but otherwise we should've just focused on the season 1 cast. There's too many people, most characters are barely even doing anything most of the time in the later half of the show it feels like they're all just waiting their turn to "be important" for a few moments before passing the baton to the next one.

The ending sequence was cute though. Lots of turbulence but they landed the plane

 

[Yellow Paint]

I didn't mind how they wrapped it up. Playing it safe was probably the best they could do, I don't like to imagine the Duffers trying to get too clever, it most likely would have ended in disaster. That said the fucking 45 minutes or so of an epilogue was a grim nightmare. Way too overwrought and melodramatic for my tastes.

 

[SJRB]

400 million dollar season, by the way.

 

[GymWolf]

I salute the braves who endured this shit for 5 seasons without bailing out

 

[cormack12]

I didn't mind how they wrapped it up. Playing it safe was probably the best they could do, I don't like to imagine the Duffers trying to get too clever, it most likely would have ended in disaster. That said the fucking 45 minutes or so of an epilogue was a grim nightmare. Way too overwrought and melodramatic for my tastes.

Totally. The episode had more endings than fire and ash and jist kept going.

 

[Superposition]

 

[Yellow Paint]

Incredible visuals for a high school student project

 

[Nocty]

it was quite corny overall but I enjoyed the final episode.

Made me extremely nostalgic for DnD I tell you that. I miss those days. The 80's and 90's was a great time for it. Pretty much all of my friends that played with me back in the days either no longer play, moved away, or are literally dead like our DM. Getting old sucks lol

 

[Putonahappyface]

That's hilarious. I've also noticed the end credits comic themed images, with the magical A.I fingers.

 

[RCX]

Not the worst finale I've ever seen but a million miles from being the best. Nancy looks like she hasn't even got the strength to hold a gun let alone fire it.

BTW why have GFX gotten so much worse over the last 5 years? I swear what they had in season 1 was more immersive and believable than the absolute shit they used in the last run.

 

[Laptop1991]

I watched the previous season's once each but after the lacklustre 4 opening episodes and then the boring ever repeating agenda being put into shows again, i won't bother watching this season, all that stuff just puts me off nowadays, another waste of time and money.

 

[8BiTw0LF]

 

[jason10mm]

it's clearly a prototype version of the M16 with... a... camouflaged slide... that doubles as iron sights!

genius design!

I THINK what she is trying to do is mimic a vague memory of hitting the bolt release or working the charging handle but who really knows? She has what looks like a M203 grenade launcher as well, which I don't think she ever used.

It's all so sloppy for the time this season supposedly took and CERTAINLY for the money it cost. All those blurry CG environments look like total trash, guess everyone was off working on Avatar 3.

 

[Putonahappyface]

 

[near]

So I suppose all the memes more or less vindicate my decision to bow out early.

 

[jason10mm]

I'm juuuust missing this one. Is it a reference to Will becoming (or being the victim of) some sort of serial killer or something?

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[DetectiveBananas]

Didn't even realize that poor Will got thrust smack dab into the middle of the AIDS epidemic that decimated the gay scene in the late 80's early 90's. Stay safe little Dude!

 

[jason10mm]

Didn't even realize that poor Will got thrust smack dab into the middle of the AIDS epidemic that decimated the gay scene in the late 80's early 90's. Stay safe little Dude!

As a kid of the 80's, the aids thing would have 1000000% been brought up. Wills mom at least (out of concern), if not half those others as an almost knee-jerk response. So many damned shows had to have their AIDS awareness episode just to try to counter the almost visceral societal response to it. It's just another of the things that makes that storyline and it's resolution feel so out of place. Plus it COMES TO NOTHING. At no point do we see Vecna try to turn one of the others or Will by using his sexuality such that the "coming out scene" has any purpose to the plot. Trying to do it to Mike and he goes "Come on man, we've talked about this already" and Vecna screaming in rage wouldn't been great. Hell, if everyone had just come clean and Hopper said "losing Eleven is my weakness", maybe he could have been better equipped to handle his moment. Just utter writing tosh, really.