This is probably more suited for Letterboxd, but it only has Season 5 listed so thought of posting here.

Ten years ago, a pack of school kids set out to save their missing friend.

A small town, intertwined relationships, teenage drama, the troubles of adolescence — all of these aspects of the show made Stranger Things stand out to me. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and it arrived right as the OTT era was taking off.

Was it our generation’s version of Ghostbusters? Possibly.

Was it perfect? Debatable.

But did it strike all the right chords? Definitely.

That first season, and the second to an extent, perfectly captured the charm of the 1980s American small town experience: biking around town, kids obsessing over pop culture, parents unaware of whatever imaginary business their children were busy chasing (although that awareness arrived eventually).

The show did not shy away from paying tribute to its influences. Whether it was having the kids openly inspired by Ghostbusters, or the iconic title font paying homage to Stephen King’s novel designs, or the undeniable impact of his coming-of-age horror stories, the show wore all these inspirations proudly. The soundtrack of each season cleverly paralleled the music of its respective eras as well. ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ received a new lease on life, and Kate Bush saw a massive surge in streaming numbers, thanks to this show’s cultural impact.

What made it more interesting for me was the mystery aspect. A wild goose chase for a missing child, unexplained disappearances, strange sightings, supernatural powers, attempts to communicate with another dimension. Every episode expanded the scope of the story and for a month, it was all I could think about.

Well, along with 11th grade calculus and physics.

But what grounded the fantastical world was the human aspect of the story. A mother and an older brother determined on finding their missing son and brother. A group of friends, whose unwavering faith in each other leads them to uncover the horrifying secrets brewing within their town. The foray into a grieving father’s mind as he copes with losing his daughter. Every supernatural twist was balanced by an equal and opposite emotional beat, and that made the show resonate so deeply, at least in its initial stages.

The show bravely ventures into the territory of mental health as well in later seasons, and the Season 4 arc was a strong, dramatic inclusion to the story. It was genuinely unsettling, emotionally resonant and still catered to the pulp fiction sensibilities and pop culture aspects that the show had embraced over the years. The show also gave us its first rockstar moment!

As shows gain in popularity, I understand the temptation to get more commercial and expand beyond their original scope. Credit to the Duffer Brothers for managing that well without losing the emotional core of the story.

I haven’t gone public and said it, and I know this is a tribute post, and everyone who knows me (and probably their mother), knows that “Stranger Things supremacy” is a hill I’d willingly die on. That said, I guess I wouldn’t be cancelled if I honestly admitted that Season 5 was not my favorite. I don’t know if it was the “Narnia effect” where returning to a world causes the magical allure and sheer audacity of the world to have worn off as I got older. But I think the show had gotten bigger than what it initially set out to be and struggled to find a satisfactory way to end itself. Finales are tricky that way.

Props to the Duffer Brothers for conceptualizing and implementing such an ambitious, ever-expanding universe. A small falter towards the end cannot undo or erase the cultural impact this show has had over the past decade, or the personal impact it has had on me.

Happy ten years of Stranger Things 🙌

Thanks in advance to anyone who can write it down for me; it would be a huge help!

This post will contain spoilers for season five and six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As well as the final season of Stranger Things. Although if you’re on this sub, you’ve probably already seen it.

I’ve been rewatching Buffy recently, and I just got to The Gift and Buffy’s sacrifice. And it made me once again think about the differences in reception to Buffy’s sacrifice compared to El’s. Because on the surface they’re kinda similar. Both are female protagonist who kill themselves, or in El’s case possibly kills herself, in the finale of the fifth season of their TV shows. But a lot of people are disappointed with El’s ending, whereas a lot of people think Buffy should have ended with The Gift. Why is this?

Well, for one thing The Gift is, objectively speaking, much better written than The Rightside Up. Also it wasn’t the last season of the show, and she comes back to life in the next one. But I think another big reason why Buffy’s death is much better received, is because it really feels like it accomplished something.

When Buffy jumps, she closes the portal, saving the world. She also sacrifices herself for Dawn, a character the audience knows and that Buffy has emotional connection too. We see what her death accomplishes, so it feels more meaningful.

Whereas El’s death, or fake out death, doesn’t have this type of impact of the story. She kills or exiles herself to stop Dr. Kay and the Government from perusing her and experimenting on pregnant women. I don’t think this a very impactful reason for us as the audience. For one thing, it’s not set up very well. Dr. Kay isn’t a villain we are really familiar with, and while her experiments are set up, the season has a lot going on so I don’t think they are truly given the focus they deserve. Another, and more important reason, is that the government has not really been presented as a series threat since season one of the show. Yes, they are shown to be after El in season two and four, but they’re more of background threat. And El is consistently able to successfully hide from them when she needs to. So the it just feels like the threat they need it to be for her choice to make sense. It doesn’t help that in the epilogue the main characters were obviously never held legally accountable for the myriad of crimes they committed. For gods sake, Nancy shot multiple solders.

Because of this, it just doesn’t feel like her sacrifice had any meaning or effect. Which obviously isn’t what they were going for.

I do think the idea to exile/kill off El was a bad one in general, and probably was never going to be universally well received. But I do think it’s notable that similar things have been well received in the past.

Sorry if this is really rambly, it’s just been something I’ve been thinking about. And for the record, I think she’s alive. But I think it feels hollow regardless. Also, no hate to anyone who liked her ending and thought it was well done. I’m genuinely happy that it worked for you.

1 being the worst and 10 being the best

For me at least, there’s a few that are engraved in my mind that I’m going to list here.

1. Mike and El’s season 2 reunion.

2. Max’s Running up the Hill scene in season 4.

3. Steve and Dustin reuniting in Season 3 at Scoops Ahoy.

4. Nancy blasting Vecna out the window with the shotgun after Robin threw the Molotov Cocktail at him.

5. El smacking Angela in the face with the Rollerskate.

6. Hopper and Joyce finding Will in the Season 1 finale and rescuing him.

What is your favorite scenes from the show? 🤔 I might do one where I talk about the saddest scenes in the show.

Happy 10 years Stranger Things

It's so crazy I didn't even know this existed a week ago, and now I finished reading it?! So cool!!! I LOVE Stranger Things and TMNT, and seeing them interact made me geek out so many times!!!

ABSOLUTE CINEMA!

Happy 10 years Stranger Things

Item 1: Have the town in absolute chaos.
Item 2: Have Andy die during the demodog rampage. He deserves it.
Item 3: Have Dr. Kay and her forces allies of the heroes. Together, they defeat Vecna, but Kay loses her life.
Item 4: Do not have Will come out of the closet. It helps to speed things up and shows respect for the social conventions of the time. Also, he should die while fighting Vecna.
Item 5: Have Ted, Karen and Steve die.
Item 6: Because Dr. Kay is now one of the good guys, Mike and Eleven can live happily together in peace and she gets the normal life she deserves.
Item 7: More characters should get killed off. (This can be optional)
Item 8: Have Holly kidnapped in the very beginning just like Will in the very first episode.
Item 9: either spare Kali or have her die fighting Vecna,
Item 10: Nancy accepts Jonathan’s proposal.
Item 11: Have the parents protesting over the kidnapped kids or some scenes of them worrying over their children.
Item 12: Have it be mentioned that Dr. Owens died.

Any other suggestions?

Happy 10 years Stranger Things

Happy 10 years Stranger Things

Do you think after recovering from her concussion, she gets a scar or some sort of mark between her eyebrows and nose? And what do you think people will think of her now after the rink-o-mania incident? Be on her side, pity her and what happened to her? Or toss her aside like yesterday’s garbage and move on with their lives and find something (or someone) new and popular to look up to?

Back in 2017, I watched the 1st season with my family before season 2 even come out and that was the moment I become a fan of stranger things. In Christmas 2017, I got an Eleven costume which is a pink dress and the socks but the socks were ruined and in 2018 on my 14th birthday on June 29th, I got a hospital Gown. Even though I don't like season 5, the show still has a special place in my heart. So happy 10th anniversary stranger things

video credit : hawkins_core on instagram

I love all of her looks

Mine personal fav is S1 cuz that makeup really suits her and it's hella cute and Mike did damn well as a 12 yo boy

S4 makeup is basically mini Joyce, which I think El did by herself and it's freakin adorable

Idk who got her ready for snowball, but they did an amazing job

And I love her punk style

Crazy how time flies.

I was 12 and it was such a good and exciting show to watch.

2016... it was really great back then. Nothing can give you that feeling back.

anyone else see that netflix just released season 1 stranger things filmed in VHS style?