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[Kinsei]

Mike and Nancy's little sister? Only thing I can recall with her is seeing the monster in the wall in wills room and I am pretty sure anybody who had been in the room would have seen that.

While there may be a reason that will was targeted, or barb, or Holly's presence drew it's attention I am really really confident El is the only one with a true "connection" to the UD since not only did she open the gate but after a couple rewatches I am almost certain it was more of a blank canvas until she punched the hole which is why it looks like a exact mirror of the real world.

I think El made the first connection with UD, and, as you said, kind of influenced it's looks by punching a hole into it, allow both sides to "seep into" the other.

As far as the monster goes, I feel like it was looking for El after making first contact. I mentioned it before, but it always targeted kids. Sure, it killed some adults, but those feel like examples of "you are in my way". Think back to the final episodes. It killed like what 10+ Hawkins grunts to get to the kids. It didn't take any of the Hawkins guys back to it's world to feed on them. It could've, but it didn't. It was looking for something. It think it was looking for El. It can't distinguish between children, so it just knows it's looking for a small human. Why? Who knows, but I think her being the first one to make contact with it on the other side is definitely part of it.

Yeah, Mike and Nancy's sister. She spends the entire show barely saying a word and is seemingly very easily frightened (based on the way her mother treats her and her reaction to Dustin slamming the table anyway), yet she was perfectly okay with something coming out of the wall to get her. That was suspicious as fuck.

I don;t believe El affected the UD at all. I think it's always been connected to ours. When El made contact I believe she just gave the creature the ability to see/sense things beyond the veil that keeps the two separate.

The creature also took the two guys on a hunting trip so I don't think it's a case of mistaken identity. I actually think there might have been a link between El and the creature that let it sense her. I think it's a bit too much of a coincidence if it just happened to find Will shortly after El left him.

 

[SENPAIatLARGE]

Dustin and Mike are great, but I have a special fondness for Commando Lucas equipped with all the gear from NAM. If it wasn't for him going off on his own, the whole gang would have gotten caught.

 

[kaskade]

Just finished it and loved it. The whole aesthetic, how it was shot, soundtrack, everything was right up my alley.

It played on the cliches you'd expect without having it be 100% in line. Like Steve, he was just hanging out with asshole people but he's actually a good kid for the most part.

I saw a theory on reddit (maybe it was posted here earlier in this thread anyway) that Will is now a flea based on that flash we had in the last episode. All I know is that I can't wait for season 2. Netflix is killing it with the original series.

 

[Matty77]

Yeah, Mike and Nancy's sister. She spends the entire show barely saying a word and is seemingly very easily frightened (based on the way her mother treats her and her reaction to Dustin slamming the table anyway), yet she was perfectly okay with something coming out of the wall to get her. That was suspicious as fuck.

I don;t believe El affected the UD at all. I think it's always been connected to ours. When El made contact I believe she just gave the creature the ability to see/sense things beyond the veil that keeps the two separate.

The creature also took the two guys on a hunting trip so I don't think it's a case of mistaken identity. I actually think there might have been a link between El and the creature that let it sense her. I think it's a bit too much of a coincidence if it just happened to find Will shortly after El left him.

I think that's typical kid shit though. Kids are curious and often aren't as scared as adults of weird shit. As for her skittishness look at the house she lived in, tension you could cut a knife with and she's too young to process it. Maybe daddy yells when he gets mad or mommy hits shit. Happens all the time. El opened the UD. You even think that's what alerted the creature to our dimension. So why would multiple people all of a sudden have a connection?

That's bad writing and if that's the direction they go in I will be happy to call it one great season and drop it before it becomes the CW level drama that everyone and their brother being connected will inevitably turn it into.

 

[Gleethor]

I fucking loved the ET fakeout scene. Like for one long-ass second I seriously thought Eleven was just gonna levitate their asses into the sky, then she flips the damn truck. Great, great show.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Finished watching the series.

Calling it now, Eleven and the Monster went to a completely different dimension we haven't seen. She lets out an extreme amount of energy and became a 'flea' to another dimension. There isn't specifically just one other dimension, and their town and this world got connected when the hole was made. I think a second season would deal more with Upside Down (especially since Will seems to have some connection with Upside Down now), but something new as well that we haven't explored. I think Stranger Things could get away with more strangeness being broiled up outside of the Dimension we know, while also exploring it a bit deeper through Will, meanwhile something else is brewing.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Finished it last night with my wife. Some thoughts in bullet-point format:

• The actors were all great; particularly the kids. Child actors can so often drag down a film for me but the boys were fantastic and they had really great rapport and charisma together, and El was brilliantly written and perfectly acted as this quiet damaged girl who just wants to belong somewhere. I also really liked how the protagonists were two adults, two/three late-teens and four/five 12-ish year olds. Nice diversity in the cast, and I thought Lucas and Dustin were in particular was just fantastic.
• Steve was really well written. I like how they subverted three tropes with his character - firstly that despite being the alpha male he got beaten up in a fight with the weird geek, secondly that he actually turned out to not be an arsehole and didn't die sacrificially in the final confrontation, and lastly that he actually ended up with Nancy (which is what would happen in real life because he has that wonderful mane of hair).
• I really liked the science teacher and the kids' relationship with him. He seemed fun and enthusiastic, and I liked how he was the knowledge resource for all the weird hypothetical stuff.
• I think El had powers which were probably enhanced by the government experiments (that part reminded me of Akira), but I think when she first visited the Upside Down and first saw the monster in the giant black nothingness she made it aware of us and enabled its passage over to our realm. They opened the doorway but gave no consideration to being able to close it. (I also really liked the giant black nothingness, which was probably the creepiest part of the show).
• The stuff with Hopp trying to save Will after failing to save his daughter was a little on-the-nose, but it still tugged an emotional cord in me. I really liked the character and I liked his arc.
• I liked how they reincorporated a lot of stuff back into the show, and I loved the references. The whole '80s setting was really great, and I think the story worked well within the setting. Totally agree with Gleethor that the 'Upside Down' ET scene where El catapults the van into the air was just brilliant. I thought they were going to go overboard with the reference at that point and have the boys elevate, but it was a great juxtaposition to that.
• Matthew Modine and Winona Ryder felt a little bit wasted. Both were well acted, but I would have liked both characters to have more to do.
• I don't like how they glossed over the stuff with Barb. I think it briefly showed her dead body when Hopp and Joyce found Will at the school, but considering Nancy was one of the main characters and Barb was her motivation for investigating any of the stuff, they really seemed to brush it under the carpet.
• I like how it wrapped most things up while still leaving a couple of threads dangling for the next season. I hope they keep it 8 episodes because this was so brilliantly paced and lean, and while I'd gladly have another story with the same characters I'd probably rather they move on to another premise with a completely new cast.
• The intro is so fucking good. So. Fucking. Good. I want everything in this font from now on.

Probably some other stuff, but that's all I can think of right now. Overall I really enjoyed it, and I'm loving Netflix's original content at the moment. They are firing on all cylinders right now.

 

[deleted]

I just wanna say that I appreciate a lot how things played out in the last episode. It flowed together almost effortly, everybody had something to do and they switched from place to place and group to group without it feeling forced at all! The monster pattern was established enough for it to move to the school after being lured into the house.
Most Netflix shows struggle with their last episode, but it's nice to see that a season can wrap up so nice and still leave stuff in the open.

The light house idea was also excellent. Felt like they could have used it a little more, it's such a cheap, but good looking effect and every time someone was introduced to the house, the reaction was awesome!

And it has been said before, but I have to mention the kids. Amazingly acted and they had great chemistry with each other too. El was maybe a little bit too on the nose, but the rest made up for it nicely.

Monster CGI was a pity, because they were clearly missing the budget on that. Upside down looked creepy good when done in practical effects, but every time they switched to cgi, the show lost it's sense of time period..

I'd love for a second season to go to a completely different place. Maybe even don't touch upon upside down anymore and make it an anthology series.

 

[HStallion]

I just wanna say that I appreciate a lot how things played out in the last episode. It flowed together almost effortly, everybody had something to do and they switched from place to place and group to group without it feeling forced at all! The monster pattern was established enough for it to move to the school after being lured into the house.
Most Netflix shows struggle with their last episode, but it's nice to see that a season can wrap up so nice and still leave stuff in the open.

The light house idea was also excellent. Felt like they could have used it a little more, it's such a cheap, but good looking effect and every time someone was introduced to the house, the reaction was awesome!

And it has been said before, but I have to mention the kids. Amazingly acted and they had great chemistry with each other too. El was maybe a little bit too on the nose, but the rest made up for it nicely.

Monster CGI was a pity, because they were clearly missing the budget on that. Upside down looked creepy good when done in practical effects, but every time they switched to cgi, the show lost it's sense of time period..

I'd love for a second season to go to a completely different place. Maybe even don't touch upon upside down anymore and make it an anthology series.

The monster was mostly a guy in a suit from what they've been saying.

 

[deleted]

The monster was mostly a guy in a suit from what they've been saying.

Maybe in some places, but he stood out pretty bad whenever he wasn't. I can see why they had to use CGI though, with his face and all that.

 

[Haunted]

Good series, fulfilled its goals beautifully. So nostalgic.

Great acting by the kids.

 

[Mariolee]

Did anyone else absolutely love the last board game scene that was essentially meta commentary on how fans would feel after the finale.

"What that was it?!"
"What, that was like 10 hours!"

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Well, you can hang this up on the wall - limited 1-hour order window just started on bottleneckgallery.com

I love this artwork so much. Spent ages studying it. Showed my wife and she said she'd seen it doing the rounds on Facebook. I love how it's not the monster chasing Will, but the Demogorgon.

 

[StopMakingSense]

Did anyone else absolutely love the last board game scene that was essentially meta commentary on how fans would feel after the finale.

"What that was it?!"
"What, that was like 10 hours!"

Yeah, I loved that. And the comments on dropped plot threads, etc.

 

[Dany]

Amazing series. Loved it through and through.

 

[MaKTaiL]

Nice Interview with Eleven, Dustin and Lucas.

http://www.snappytv.com/tc/2476065/1277437

 

[Dany]

Will = 12.

calling it.

 

[crazy monkey]

thread title spoils the monster doesn't it? or name of it?

 

[MaKTaiL]

thread title spoils the monster doesn't it? or name of it?

It doesn't. It's a reference to the 4th episode "The Flea and The Acrobat". You will only understand what it means if you watch it, so the title doesn't spoil anything.

 

[kris.]

thread title spoils the monster doesn't it? or name of it?

errrr no, thread title is a reference to the flea and the acrobat analogy, which wouldn't make sense to someone who hasn't seen the show

 

[deleted]

Did anyone else absolutely love the last board game scene that was essentially meta commentary on how fans would feel after the finale.

"What that was it?!"
"What, that was like 10 hours!"

Yep, that was well done as well.

 

[Chopper]

Just finished. What a fantastic show. There's so much stuff that I loved, that has already been mentioned so many times in this thread, but I have to say: That ending with Hop's daughter dying, as Will was resuscitated, was absolutely killer. That coupled with El's sacrifice had me sobbing like a little girl.

 

[MaKTaiL]

Create your own message from the Upside Down:

http://www.strangergif.com/

 

[Kinsei]

Create your own message from the Upside Down:

http://www.strangergif.com/

Neat.

Where are you?

 

[AniHawk]

neat!

 

[Toa TAK]

neat!

Of course. Lol

This is really cool.

 

[Einchy]

 

[Walpurgis]

It looked like Eleven opened a gate inside the monster's body, killing it and getting sucked inside as well. I think she is stuck in the Upside Down world. Hopper might be feeding her or something to give her the energy to make a new gate to get back.

 

[Einchy]

The Upside Down is supposed to be toxic, right? Eleven is probably slowly dying in there.

 

[AniHawk]

The Upside Down is supposed to be toxic, right? Eleven is probably slowly dying in there.

if it's been a month she's already dead. will didn't last a week.

 

[Einchy]

if it's been a month she's already dead. will didn't last a week.

I honestly think the toxicity will be brushed away when it comes to Eleven but I think it'd be interesting if, because she's special or whatever, she'd be able to survive down there much longer than a normal human being but it was still causing her harm, so they had to do something or she'd eventually die.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

I honestly think the toxicity will be brushed away when it comes to Eleven but I think it'd be interesting if, because she's special or whatever, she'd be able to survive down there much longer than a normal human being but it was still causing her harm, so they had to do something or she'd eventually die.

Yeah I can see that being the explanation, her powers give her natural immunity.

 

[thenexus6]

Just getting static on that strangergif site?

 

[Dusk Golem]

I don't think she's in Upside Down. I mean, Hopps and the mom were in Upside Down after the monster was killed and managed to get out afterward a-okay. I don't see how the super powerful psychic girl could of ended up in Upside Down and then not be able to get out again when there's literally one big portal to it that is evidently still open as they get back out through it presumingly.

Earlier in the series when the teacher who gives 'hypothetical' answers but seems on the nose with his answers tells the kids about the flea and the acrobat (even the title of this thread), and he even mentions right then the "infinite possibilities" theory and even clarifies and explains right then that there's an infinite number of realities. It'd make no sense for her to be trapped in Upside Down as we know there is a giant portal between worlds they have access to, I think Eleven produced enough energy in the monster to make another 'hole', but not to Upside Down, to another alternate reality. NOT TO MENTION, Upside Down is shown to effect Lights and Walls in the regular world once the worlds are linked through the portal, but Hopper stuffs something in a box. Maybe the connection to this other reality works differently than Upside Down and passes things through boxes between worlds, as it's been shown when different realities get linked some element reflects in both of them from the other. We know Upside Down as lights and walls, but maybe this third dimension is linked through boxes, as that's not shown to be related to Upside Down at all through the series.

Not to mention with Season 2 I don't think they're going to be dealing only with Upside Down again, though I do think it'll have a role as Will is still infected and it almost looked like we were getting into Slither-esque stuff with him spitting out slugs into the sewage, and has lapses between dimensions. However, if this is sticking to its 80s motif, I bet you while Upside Down will play a role in Season 2 as something is obviously developing on that front, El tapped into another reality she is trapped in, and that reality will probably also play a role in Season 2 as well.

 

[Volimar]

What the fuck, she ended up with Steve?!?! STEVE?!?! Show ruined.

Spoiler

What an amazing show. Hoped for more of a happy ending for El, like the last fight burning out her powers or something.

Also what's with the chief getting into that car?

 

[mm04]

What the fuck, she ended up with Steve?!?! STEVE?!?! Show ruined.

Haha well, if you think about it, isn't that typical of what a high school student would do? If I had a dollar for every time someone said "I can't believe she's still with him..." in high school, it would've paid for at least a couple of books in college. And to be fair, Steve doesn't seem like a bad person, just bad at choosing friends.

 

[maxcriden]

What the fuck, she ended up with Steve?!?! STEVE?!?! Show ruined.

Spoiler

What an amazing show. Hoped for more of a happy ending for El, like the last fight burning out her powers or something.

Also what's with the chief getting into that car?

Spoiler

we got a happy-ish ending at least with the implication that she's alive. ☺

 

[Volimar]

Haha well, if you think about it, isn't that typical of what a high school student would do? If I had a dollar for every time someone said "I can't believe she's still with him..." in high school, it would've paid for at least a couple of books in college. And to be fair, Steve doesn't seem like a bad person, just bad at choosing friends.

Yeah but you just know that he's the kind of guy that reverts to asshole periodically, and then gets all contrite and apologetic and she takes him back every damn time.

I might be projecting....

 

[Triggerhappytel]

What the fuck, she ended up with Steve?!?! STEVE?!?! Show ruined.

Spoiler

What an amazing show. Hoped for more of a happy ending for El, like the last fight burning out her powers or something.

Also what's with the chief getting into that car?

I would assume Hopp is now forcibly working with company. That's probably how he found out about El still being around at the end.

 

[poppabk]

also

I wish they had jumped forward a couple of extra weeks and shown cars crashing into each other all over town.

 

[KidGalactus]

Haha well, if you think about it, isn't that typical of what a high school student would do? If I had a dollar for every time someone said "I can't believe she's still with him..." in high school, it would've paid for at least a couple of books in college. And to be fair, Steve doesn't seem like a bad person, just bad at choosing friends.

He starts as awful as his friends. That's what makes his change meaningful.

 

[oti]

So if there is a season 2 will they expand on the current universe or will it be a completely new origin story and timeline?

I don't want to see any of the characters again to be honest. Just a completely new setting but with the same other dimension thing going on.

 

[Ric Flair]

I don't want to see any of the characters again to be honest. Just a completely new setting but with the same other dimension thing going on.

HELL NO, I want my god damned boys back

 

[Dominator]

Gonna start watching this tonight, pretty excited. Will probably finish it tomorrow so it'll be quick.

To the binge!

 

[dabig2]

He starts as awful as his friends. That's what makes his change meaningful.

Yeah, after he got his ass beat, I really didn't have a problem with him anymore. He realized he crossed a line and he paid for it with a busted face and broken heart. It's whatever. I'm actually a little happy they didn't go the cliche route of hooking the loner up with the girl next door. Then again, they might redo these relationships next season, but I'm kinda hoping Jon goes to NYU and finds himself a cool chick, lest he gets stuck in that boring ass suburban life cycle he warned Nancy about.

 

[Mike M]

Man, stayed up until 4am binge watching this show. I had totally meant to go to bed, but "just one more episode" quickly progressed to "Well, there are only a few episodes left..."

I think the only part of this show that didn't work for me was the scene with Will in the bathroom at the end. Hawkins Labs didn't think to examine him after Hopp pulled a giant worm out of the kid's esophagus and monitor him afterward? Will doesn't think coughing up slugs and flashing to Upside Down is worth mentioning and just goes to dinner like nothing's up? Come the fuck on.

Is there any word on what the format will be for successive seasons? I can't decide if I want to stick with this cast and scenario, or see something completely different since this story was pretty much wrapped up.

 

[Matty77]

Man, stayed up until 4am binge watching this show. I had totally meant to go to bed, but "just one more episode" quickly progressed to "Well, there are only a few episodes left..."

I think the only part of this show that didn't work for me was the scene with Will in the bathroom at the end. Hawkins Labs didn't think to examine him after Hopp pulled a giant worm out of the kid's esophagus and monitor him afterward? Will doesn't think coughing up slugs and flashing to Upside Down is worth mentioning and just goes to dinner like nothing's up? Come the fuck on.

Is there any word on what the format will be for successive seasons? I can't decide if I want to stick with this cast and scenario, or see something completely different since this story was pretty much wrapped up.

The Duffer brothers have basically said same characters and setting, but have been admant on using the word Sequel over Season so I hope that means another story that stands on its own versus a very next day kind of continuation.

 

[Volimar]

I love that Mr. Clark knew what the Vale of Shadows was. RPG NERDS REPRESENT.

 

[Timeaisis]

Anyone thought Mr. Clark was gonna get killed off by the fed? I was worried for him, liked that character.

Dustin and him over the phone in Ep7 was the best part of the show imo.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

Anyone what thought Mr. Clark was gonna get killed off by the fed? I was worried for him, liked that character.

Dustin and him over there phone in Ep7 was the best part of the show imo.

Oh yeah, as soon as I saw that woman talking to him, I assumed she'd get the names of the AV kids and then kill him.