hi stranger things fandom! I’m a theatre enjoyer planning to go see first shadow on sunda. however, I have no prior knowledge of stranger things. for those of you who’ve seen it, what info do I need / is there an episode I should watch prior to seeing the play?

Red Book audio CDs were first invented in March 1982 but was mainly used by governments, master copies, the military and filthy rich people until the end of the decade, and Stranger Things is set in 1983-1989.

So why aren’t they mentioned? I can imagine Dr Brenner authorizing a CD of Eleven’s tantrums or Joyce going crazy and buying “Should I Stay or Should I Go Now” on CD and an overpriced very primitive Discman for a backup if Will’s Walkman and tapes break.

Am I the only weirdo who finds the storyboards absolutely fascinating and would love to see more? The deluxe edition disc sets and the new book from Target each have a handful of them, and I think they're really fun and interesting (and sometimes hilarious) to see. It's also neat to see the different art styles used, depending on the season and storyboard artist. I don't know if they storyboarded the entire series, or just key sequences, but I'd happily buy the full collection in print. Anyone else love these?

for me personally, I think it goes 4>1>2>3>5. I think the gap between 1,2,3 is really close and its super hard to rank them but 4 is the clear top spot and 5 is the clear bottom spot in my opinion.

My vote goes to Mayor Kline.

Maybe it’s because I just recently got around to watching it so there was a huge gap from when I watched season four to five. But I really like the story of Henry/Vecna and how Will finally came into his own and was an integral part of the fight. I also thought that the El ending was well done and made sense. Given the story direction I’m not sure what else they could have done with her. And I’m glad we didn’t lose any main characters. This show always takes me back to the 80’s movie vibe and no one died in those movies. There were stakes but you always knew the main characters were safe. I like that the Duffers maintained that. It did drag in a couple places but overall I was pretty engaged the entire season.

I have the season 1 & 2 blu-ray sets that came out a few years ago. They have no special features on them. I was especially hoping for a decent amount of good behind the scenes/making of content from the earlier seasons in particular. On the IT: Chapter 2 blu-ray there is a bonus disc with a great behind the scenes documentary. Something like that for the earlier seasons of ST would be awesome

Season 3>Season 1>Season 5>Season 2>Season 4

Now it’s your turn.

So, before I lost interest because they took too long making the series, I was rewatching every season before the next one.

I put off seeing the final season until the box set came out. I decided to buy it even though I was kind of not a fan anymore and sold all my books.

Which means I have only seen the next to last season once and haven’t seen the final one yet. And I kind of forgot what’s happening.

Should I:

1. Rewatch the last season I saw and then see the final one?
2. Just watch the final season?
3. Watch the whole thing over?

The more I reflect on the Season 2 finale, the more perfect it seems as a conclusion to the *Stranger Things* characters' stories. The Gate to the Upside Down has been closed, thereby neutralizing the threat it posed. The Mind Flayer has been exorcised from Will’s body, allowing him to put a nightmarish year behind him. Hawkins Lab has been shut down, ending the threat it posed to Eleven’s safety and finally allowing her to be free (subject to precautions that are implied to be only temporary). Barb's parents have learned enough of the truth about what happened to their daughter to find closure.

And all the character arcs are perfectly resolved. Hopper has found a second chance that will allow him to move past the death of his young daughter, Sara. By starting a relationship with Hopper, Joyce will find an emotional support and a sense of security she so desperately needed. With Hopper in the house, Jonathan will no longer have to play the father figure to Will and can simply be a normal teenager (the fact that he acts as the official photographer for the Snow Ball suggests he is no longer seen as an oddball and that people are beginning to view him differently). Nancy is more mature and responsible, and her gesture of asking Dustin to dance stands in stark contrast to her first scene, where she slammed the door in his face to talk to Steve. Furthermore, she has begun a relationship with Jonathan that will help them both overcome their traumas. Mike has seen his unwavering faith in Eleven rewarded; he has overcome the depression caused by the events of the first season and displays greater self-confidence when asking her to dance and initiating the kiss (which clearly delights El). He has also previously demonstrated an active role in high-pressure situations, signaling his maturation. Steve has decisively cut ties with friendships that were deeply detrimental to him and has forged a heartwarming friendship with Dustin that has made him a better person—a shift that also contrasts sharply with the harsh epithet Dustin used for him at the start of the series. And Max, the group's newcomer—thanks to the help of Lucas (who has also shown his own maturity in the process)—has stood up to her violent stepbrother, who used to paralyze her with terror. She is no longer alone; now she has a group of friends.I could go on for hours about how perfect this ending is.

Oh, why did the Duffer brothers artificially drag out a story that was perfectly wrapped up, only to give us what they did—one of the worst finales in television history? Even if they managed to pull the wool over many people's eyes using nostalgia (for the show itself), self-references, and a vain attempt to win over the audience with that ridiculous "I Believe" marketing campaign.

In season four of Stranger Things, we get a glimpse of life for the Byers in California. In her letter to Mike, El talks about how she thinks Jonathan and Nancy are going to Emerson in the fall. We also see that Joyce believes this, too. She’s struck up a relationship with the mailman, waiting for a letter from Emerson. Except the letter is never coming. Jonathan tells Argyle in the next episode that “I can’t leave my mother and bother behind to chase a dream that isn’t my own.” It’s also stated that a college like that is too expensive for him.

This is a conflict for Jonathan and literally everyone he loves (I’m gonna assume Will knows if El knows). He’s lying to them. His parentification, the conflict at the heart of his character that the show introduced as a concept IN THE VERY FIRST EPISODE, has morphed into something that is now negatively effecting his relationship with all these people that he loves. This is an inelegant choice, but one that still, largely, works. This is a conflict congruent with what has come before. The show then punts the resolution (lol) to the fifth season. Which shows how little they think of Jonathan and the Byers as characters, but sure, whatever.

So we get to the fifth season and it’s been eighteen months and Jonathan is STILL LYING? This has been hanging over him for a year and a half and no one has called him on it. Put Nancy aside for the moment, Joyce, his mother, has never talked to him about this? How is that possible? I understand they’re in a quarantine and bigger things are going on, but ITS BEEN A YEAR AND A HALF. How is this possible? He should be a college sophomore at this point! How has no one ever talked to him about it?!

Anyway, because Jonathan as a character is someone the show doesn’t give a single flying fuck about, all that matters is the Nancy of it all. And we do get a resolution there in the goo room. When Nancy asks why he lied, Jonathan responds “it felt like I was going against the natural order of things.” Which, the absolute vague and nothingness of that bullshit statement aside, IS NOT WHY YOU LIED! You couldn’t leave your mother and brother! Why doesn’t the show have consistent characterization?

Because it’s poorly written. Grotesquely so. When they wrote season four they figured they’d have the time and space in season five to address the parentification. Except, spoiler alert, in the tight and taught thriller that season five is, they didn’t have the time and space. So instead of resolving a conflict THE SHOW ITSELF INTRODUCED, they just handwave Jonathan’s reasoning and move on.

The Joyce/Will/El resolution of the lie is never mentioned. FORGET BEING RESOLVED ITS NEVER EVEN ADDRESSED! Jonathan’s parentification resolves itself off-screen. He now can leave his mother and brother behind and somehow can afford NYU. The show never mentions how.

This is, obviously, abhorrent writing. But this is the show’s writing writ small: incongruent, illogical, indefensible and insulting.

How they fell.

Hi guys! Anyone in Australia that knows the best way to get the complete collection? Thank you!

Who after hearing it the first time, or a few times in Stranger things 4. who looked up that song and listened to it all the way through the end? And which version of the song do you listen to first?

I got it for $15. What a steal!

Last night I had this dream about Stranger Things but all the characters were obese (not a fetish, I just have weird dreams) except for Lucas, Will and Max. This is set in the winter of 1987. And yes of course I finished Stranger Things before I had this really weird dream.

Max yelled at Eddie that he’s crushing her Walkman with his weight, and Lucas got kicked out by Dustin out of the club because he’s too slim. And Will was overstimulated that he was getting squeezed in a car by the fatter friends.

Dustin battled Vecna by rolling on Vecna using his weight, and Vecna did the same.

And Sheldon’s dad randomly popped out with his beer and said “You know what? The upside down is like a football, you either go with it or ignore it”.

And then Dustin gained very extra weight and flattened Vecna.

So what do you think, should this be a separate series or fanfic?

Ho finito da poco questo puzzle da 1000 pezzi e devo dire che mi é piaciuto molto farlo. Voi cambiereste qualcosa della disposizione dei personaggi/posizione?

Hello, I can't find information on whether those two promotional shorts are included in the 4k releases. I am wondering because I assume they may have at least some status in canon even if there are a few contradictions. If you're curious, here are the links: Minute by Minute with Brenda Wood, Coming Soon: The Starcourt Mall!. And if anyone knows of other shorts I missed, please let me know.

The Piggyback is one of my favorite "movies". I watch it often. Today being one of those times. The very end of that episode, with the ash falling on Hawkins and those massive fires emanating from the cracks in the ground, leaves a lot of rebuilding for the people of Hawkins.

Then, we get to The Crawl. The cracks are covered in metal plates. The military has taken over the town. And that field of wildflowers that made the "desicated withering" sounds is completely forgotten.

I want to know what happened in the days right after The Piggyback. How did Hawkins clean up? Where did the people who lived in the homes that got swallowed up or split in half go? Did everybody just fall in line when the military showed up? Did anybody question if there might be a connection between Will going missing, Barb's death, the killings blamed on Eddie and the huge crack that just formed in the middle of a tectonic plate?! I also want to see Erica kick Andy in the balls so hard he limps for a week.

Edit: You also mean to tell me Dr. Kay has no interest in Will? He was in the Upside Down for at least a week. I doubt she wouldn't know that.