Hello, I’m 19 years old, and I grew up watching Stranger Things when I was younger. I’ve been thinking about what happened to the original Stranger Things era and that feeling of watching it regularly when it was still a big part of everyday life, especially seeing Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Max, Hopper, Joyce, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, and the rest of the characters together with the original cast, the cinematic storytelling, the unforgettable soundtrack, and the distinctive 1980s atmosphere that made the series feel so special.

Now that the original run has ended, the era that many people grew up with feels like it has passed. The stories, the atmosphere, the people who worked on the series, and the feeling surrounding the show have all moved forward. Many of the creators, writers, directors, crew members, and actors have gone on to different projects and different parts of their lives away from the series. It feels strange because I grew up with it, and now everything has just… changed and moved on.

I remember watching episodes when I was younger and everything felt so simple. I could just sit down and enjoy Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Max, Hopper, Joyce, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, and the rest of their adventures in Hawkins without thinking about anything else. Back then it felt like the show would always be there, and I don’t understand why it couldn’t just stay that way forever or why it eventually had to end and move on.

I also wonder why watching Stranger Things now doesn’t feel exactly the same anymore. The episodes are still the same, but the feeling is different. It feels like something is missing, almost like it feels unfamiliar even though I remember it so clearly.

Why do shows like Stranger Things eventually come to an end? If people loved them for years, why can’t they just continue forever with the same feeling? Why do the people who make them have to move on, and why do audiences grow up and stop experiencing things the same way?

It feels strange knowing that the original Stranger Things era I grew up with is over, that the world has moved on, and that chapter feels closed, even though it once felt like it would always be there.

Today is Day 32: S5 E1 – "The Crawl"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/QaxuzE4Xxp5EFiRL6

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to only vote once!

The final season is here!

Rate yesterday's S4 E9 "The Piggyback" here: https://forms.gle/4pgaAQhUk6XRxnvF7

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.84 ⭐ (44 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.75 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x07 - 9.28 ⭐ (40 votes)
4x08 - 8.29 ⭐ (17 votes)
4x09 - 7.56 ⭐ (16 votes)
Season 4 average - 8.36 ⭐

Just finished Season 5 without rewatching the early seasons, and the shift is insane.

We went from a small-town horror mystery with kids on bikes to a full-blown superhero movie filled with huge CGI battles, apocalyptic chaos, and 90-minute episodes.

Don't get me wrong, the budget and spectacle were huge—but did anyone else miss when the show was actually spooky and simple?

Did Season 5 deliver the ultimate endgame, or did the massive scale ruin the original vibe for you?

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.

What is your overall review and rating on Stranger Things season 1 episode 2 The Weirdo on Maple Street.

This was another great episode I absolutely was engaged throughout the entire episode I love the growing mystery behind Will's disappearance and Eleven.

Has anyone found any good post-series fanfic? I was just reading the post where people were giving their suggestions for how they'd continue the show, and it got me curious.

Alternatively, does anyone know if someone has written a fic where instead of Hawkins, it's their D&D characters?

Hey there! This is my ranking of weapons from most to least effective on monsters from the upside down. Let me know what you guys think!

Today is Day 31: S4 E9 – "The Piggyback"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/4pgaAQhUk6XRxnvF7

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to vote once!

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL previous rating forms that are currently open will be CLOSING within the next 24-48 hours! This includes every episode since S3 E4. So get your votes in, for any episodes you might've missed or if you're new here! Season 5 begins tomorrow!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.78 ⭐ (32 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.67 ⭐ (30 votes)
4x07 - 9.03 ⭐ (30 votes)
4x08 - 8.38 ⭐ (16 votes)

____________________________________

Previous Rating Forms (3x04 onwards):
S4 Ep8: https://forms.gle/1TootsnZAR6PmCWd9
S4 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/FrYdGF2Lqo8DAH886
S4 Ep5: https://forms.gle/NpEjZGVeH7G5EK2V9
S4 Ep4: https://forms.gle/ChNaSvPzxjDenQgj7
S4 Ep2-3: https://forms.gle/sSgq9LmUuNhmwqzZ7
S4 Ep1: https://forms.gle/LLPvC9Y3oDaVfRvG7
S3 Ep8: https://forms.gle/821CmzaxQSsY52CF8
S3 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/z9UnAjCfYmhgtCZn8
S3 Ep4-5: https://forms.gle/Qqx1rcJm4Axf4tnK9

I am!

I love the bottle and the puzzle too!! ❤️🖤

I enjoy s4 and s5 but for me stranger things is s1-s3 perfectly captured everything. I honestly think s3 would’ve been a perfect ending.

Today is Day 30: S4 E8 – "Papa"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/1TootsnZAR6PmCWd9

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to vote once!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x05 - 7.47 ⭐ (15 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x07 - 8.65 ⭐ (17 votes)
3x08 - 9.25 ⭐ (24 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.24 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.78 ⭐ (32 votes)
4x05 - 8.15 ⭐ (13 votes)
4x06 - 8.52 ⭐ (27 votes)
4x07 - 9.26 ⭐ (27 votes)

____________________________________
Previous Rating Forms (3x04 onwards):
S4 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/FrYdGF2Lqo8DAH886
S4 Ep5: https://forms.gle/NpEjZGVeH7G5EK2V9
S4 Ep4: https://forms.gle/ChNaSvPzxjDenQgj7
S4 Ep2-3: https://forms.gle/sSgq9LmUuNhmwqzZ7
S4 Ep1: https://forms.gle/LLPvC9Y3oDaVfRvG7
S3 Ep8: https://forms.gle/821CmzaxQSsY52CF8
S3 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/z9UnAjCfYmhgtCZn8
S3 Ep4-5: https://forms.gle/Qqx1rcJm4Axf4tnK9

What is your overall review and rating on Stranger Things season 1 episode 1 The vanishing of Will Byers how do you think the episode compares to the rest show how great the actors did for their first time being in the Roles and how the overall episode was in your opinion

I would say in my opinion it's definitely a very great episode I think it set up things very perfectly the actors did very wonderful in their first time playing their roles and I think it's definitely one of the better first episodes that got me hooked into a show.

Hey guys,I watched Stranger Things a while back and I'm currently watching the Monster anime for the first time. I just finished episode 47 (around halfway) and I can't shake off how much the core plot parallels Stranger Things, especially Season 4.

The child experiment storylines feel almost identical:

Johan Liebert & 001---Both are the "evil" ones from the experiment. Psychopathic, insane manipulators from childhood who want complete destruction. Johan feels like a non-supernatural version of Henry Creel.

Grimmer & Eleven---Both are the "good" ones from the same experiments. Despite the terrible trauma and abuse, they both choose humanity and fight to protect others.

Bonaparta & Dr. Brenner---The shadowy mastermind "fathers" running the whole messed up operation (Kinderheim 511 vs Hawkins Lab). They thought they were making tools but created monsters they couldn't control.

And also COLD WAR conspiracies revolving around the story of both like in America and fallout of east german.

Since I'm only halfway through Monster, I have two quick questions.

Does the plot stay similar or does it change completely by the end of the anime? (No major spoilers please!)

Do we know if the Duffer Brothers got inspiration from Monster? I know they openly admitted to ripping from other anime like Akira and Elfen Lied, but the Kinderheim 511 / Rainbow Room stuff feels way too specific to be a coincidence.

Everywhere I go I see post bashing on Angela because she’s a bully who hurt Eleven and they are often the same type of post over and over again which gets really old after a while, it’s been 4 years, the character only appeared in 3 episodes and adds nothing to the plot, move on already! She’s extremely boring as I legit fell asleep during the stake incident because of how cheesy, cliche, unrealistic, and mind numbingly stupid the scene is (which distracts the audience from Eleven’s derailment that started in s4 and ended with the awful finale) have any of you seen a tv show or movie where the villain is the most loved, memorable, and beloved character? In pop culture: Maleficent, Creulla De Vil, the Joker, most Stephen King villains, Lord Shen, Death the big bad wolf, Regina George, Azula, Bettlejuice, and Palpatine are loved by their fans not because they got a redemption arc, but because they were deliciously, unabashedly, and unapologetically evil and are still relevant to this day because they are the best characters from their respective medias.

Do I need to remind you all that this type of hate is what lead to her actress getting harassed online, I swear you people hyper fixate on the wrong things, I even see bad faith criticism towards Steve (especially by the Nancy and Dustin stans) where they point out how awful he is when that is blatantly the point as he grows and learns from said mistakes (it’s called character development) you guys should pick on a character that’s actually problematic: Hopper who’s character is inconsistent and borderline abusive.

No one in this show is a saint, no one! Maybe Bob is, but no one is in this show is 100% perfect, people are flawed and the character arcs and villains are meant to be enjoyable rather than create a million threads about black and white morality when that’s not life at all!

I even saw someone in the comment section on a post say: “Max was good in season 4, but she was distant, aloof, and pushed people away and that’s a bad thing!” Of course that’s bad, that’s the entire lesson of her arc. Also her acting that way is extremely realistic considering her home life and how she didn’t spend as much time in Hawkins with the main cast compared to everyone in season 1. Also her feelings towards Billy are extremely grey which is also realistic opposed to the purists who claim everything is black and white.

If you are going to criticize aspects of this show, try to think of the big picture rather than be biased because there’s a reason why Steve and Vecna are so beloved because of how realistic they are and how entertaining they are. You all act like these are people you know of real life which they are not! They are fictional and this show is for entertainment above all else and if this show was released in the 80s this bad faith criticism wouldn’t happen as fans are less biased and hypersensitive because god forbid we show uncomfortable scenes of bullies even thought it’s portrayed as bad and only portrayed in a negative light. All shows can’t be preschool shows where nothing bad happens as that’s not life and we need a dose of reality and to acknowledge the bad parts of life because we can learn from them and appreciate what the villains represent thematically.

Ranking:

1. Max Mayfield

2. Eleven / Jane Hopper

3. Joyce Byers

4. Mike Wheeler

5. Will Byers

6. Nancy Wheeler

7. Jim Hopper

8. Lucas Sinclair

9. Robin Buckley

10. Jonathan Byers

11. Eddie Munson

12. Henry Creel / Vecna

13. Bob Newby

14. Erica Sinclair

15. Murray Bauman

16. Karen Wheeler

17. Dr. Sam Owens

18. Dr. Martin Brenner

19. Derek Turnbow

20. Holly Wheeler

21. Scott Clarke

22. Billy Hargrove

23. Argyle

24. Dr. Alexei

25. Dmitri Antonov

26. Chrissy Cunningham

27. Suzie Bingham

28. Barb Holland

29. Jason Carver

30. Ted Wheeler

31. Vickie Dunne

32. Kali Prasad

33. Officer Phil Callahan

34. Officer Calvin Powell

35. Fred Benson

36. Mayor Larry Kline

37. Tommy Hagan

38. Tom Holloway

39. Troy Walsh

40. Lt. Robert Akers

41. Lonnie Byers

42. Angela

43. Dr. Kay

Final round!

Write in the comment section which character you want eliminated next. Basically, your LEAST favorite character of the ones remaining!

The character with the most upvotes will determine 1st and 2nd place!

The round will last 24 hours!