Stranger Things musings

HEY  GUYS! SPOILERS AHEAD AND BOUNTIFUL!

So if you haven't watch Stranger things, stop reading this and go watch it. Seriously. Stop. I'll wait.....

YAY! You're back!! OMG it's so good, right? So I'm probably not going to say anything that hasn't already been said before. It's like if a John Hughes movie, E.T., and the Goonies had a threesome, their love child would be Stranger Things. This soundtrack is like the TV version of Guardians of the Galaxy. You've already thought all of that or you read it or both. Nostalgia aside (I'm actually not a big fan of nostalgia), this show is still great. It has these really great, heartrending moments and beautiful corresponding shots with all the jumps and scares of a summer blockbuster. You can analyze every little thing or you can just pop some popcorn and settle in for the night. Either way, you're probably going to power through 8 episodes all at once because it's so fucking entertaining. So what I'm going to do essentially is go through a few things I loved and why I loved them and maybe drop a theory or two. Nothing life altering guys.

So the first thing I'm going to talk about is obviously going to be Barb. JK It's 11! (But I will talk about Barb) That little girl playing Eleven did such a fantastic job! She only had a few lines and when she talked, they were short, clipped sentences but she delivered. You felt her fear, her hesitation, and even her joy at making friends. Her friendship and cute little crush on Mike felt genuine and I normally don't like child actors or movies/shows that focus too much on them because usually kids are terrible actors and also, I hate kids (#SorryNotSorry). That was my biggest hesitations prior to watching, I was concerned about not liking the show because of the shitty kids but thankfully I was wrong to worry. Eleven has so many great(!!!) moments to choose from, between stealing the eggos from the grocery store, making the Millennium Falcon fly, murdering all the agents in the school hallway, I don't think I can pick a favorite. No I can, it's murdering all the agents in the school. That was really cool and I totes got goosebumps! I know she can't be dead though I bet she won't be in season 2 much, I bet a good chunk is going to be about how to bring her back/find her/save her from whatever upside down hell she has gone to to save these kids.

One thing I kinda liked a lot of about this show was it's realism. I mean, it's clearly a sci-fi show so by realism, I don't mean necessarily the "science" part behind the plot but rather the reactions of the characters. Dustin is the shiniest example of this. HE LITERALLY SAYS EVERYTHING THAT'S IN MY HEAD. When they find out 11 can move shit with her mind, he's like "we never would've pissed you off if we knew you had superpowers" BECAUSE OF COURSE YOU WOULDN'T! Or when he's trying to make Mike and Lucas apologize to each other for fighting, he goes "Accident or not, it was pretty cool." Lucas is like "PRETTY COOL? REALLY BRO?" and Dustin is like "Yeah, she fucking threw you across the room with her mind, that is fucking legit fam" AND IT IS!!! I think about that a lot when I watch TV or movies and the first time the person uses their super power or whatever, it's like WOW but after that, everyone gets used to it. But Dustin is me. I wouldn't get used to that, I would need to bring it up all the time like UM CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW INSANE THAT SHIT JUST WAS OMG. I also liked Nancy's character. I mean, I didn't at first. I was like what's this girl's relationship bullshit have to do with anything and can we please just have more 11? But she grew on me. Like for one, right after her and Jonathan see the monster thingy in the woods, she's taking a shower at home and is like freaking the fuck out because of, ya know, a fucking faceless monster thingy just tried to murder her in the woods, she didn't just like bang Jonathan and move on like nothing ever happened. Another realistic thing about Nancy was her relationships with Jonathan and Jean Ralphio. She's a teenage girl and so while she might feel some sort of connection with Pervy Jonathan, she's obviously gonna stay with Hottie McPopular. I liked that "twist" because you totally expected her to get with Jonathan and perhaps she would've if they didn't decide to give Jean Ralphio some character growth (which by the way, HELL YEAH to side characters character growth!) The Geeks will inherit the Earth, Jonathan, but only after high school and only if you knock off the peeping Tom-ness (I did not feel bad for him when the cool kids broke his camera, that should've happened. Why you gotta be like that Jonathan? I wanted to root for you! I guess people are just complex that way, huh? Who knew!)

It was awesome seeing Winona Ryder in something again. I had just read an article about her recently about her not being cast in things because she's not allowed to grow up. I didn't realize she was going to be in this. Now honestly, she was definitely the weakest part of the show. She seemed to be on 1 level: Weep-Level-Supreme. I guess her kid went missing and that is enough for a mom to become just a ball of tears. There were some really honest and sad moments that really stuck with me. Like for one, when 11 is in the sensory deprivation tank and is freaking out and scared and she reassures her she's safe and that mama's got her. Or when she asks for an advance on her paycheck just to buy a phone, there's something just heartbreaking about feeling like the world has stopped because your son is missing and being stopped short when you realize it hasn't. How incredibly lonely of a world is it that you have to justify your pain to get help? On a funnier note, I wasn't the only person screaming at her to stop asking the Christmas lights that couldn't be answered with yes or no right??

So this may seem silly but this was one of my favorite scenes, Barb's death scene (RIP girlfriend). I liked the juxtaposition between the hands and what was going on, just riiiiiiiiiight through the veil. The Upside Down, it's just like our world, but darker. And this is our first real glimpse of it. It may seem stupid but it really did stick with me.

So theory and question time! Okay so I've watched many a show about parallel universes but there's one show that has so many similarities and cross overs and ideas that were also used in Stranger Things and that is Fringe. And lucky for you guys, I happen to be the resident Fringe expert (qualifications for being an expert: I've watched Fringe 8 times). So if I set aside my issue with the sensory deprivation tank (technically she should've been naked, but she's a kid so I get it. I'm not bitching, just pointing out), the parallel universe checks out with the Fringe science. On Fringe, they explain parallel worlds as worlds that are just like ours but where we make slightly different decisions, instead of turning right, you turn left. Most of the decisions are small or inconsequential, though it's like a butterfly and one small decision can have a domino effect in the future. Let me bring it back to Stranger Things, so the Upside down was just like our world, it had the missing kid's little hang out, the school was there, there were cars just left in the street, and in the school there were tons of people. I think people assumed that those people were taken from our world and brought into the Upside down. I don't know about that. Remember all that snowy dust floating in the air? That's ash. The Upside Down is the aftermath of the Cold War. Some decision that was different from our world led to all the nukes going off. And the monster? It's some sort of creature that evolved with the radiation to survive. Okay, technically that wouldn't happen. Like technically if someone or something did survive, they wouldn't evolve into a faceless monster blob. They would get cancer and die but before they did, they'd have a kid and that kid would probably be the nightmare monster thingy. That's how that works. But it's a sci-fi-ish TV show so they can make anything they want to happen! So clearly, the thing that survived is doing the Darwin thing and trying to reproduce like MAD CRAY. Basically season 1 is Alien and after little dude coughed up the little slime baby in the sink, season 2 looks to be Aliens. What a fun tribute to make! (Fun fact: Aliens is better than Alien so let that sink in while you wait a year for season 2) So a few questions I have, why did the monster go after Will in the first place? We found out it smells the blood and that's why it goes for animals/people but they said there wasn't any blood on the bike, Will wasn't bleeding. Was monster dude just trolling for some blood and stumbled upon Will and be like I bet I can make you bleed? Or did I miss something? Did the Sheriff really sell out 11 to Papa and the science dudes? Was that always his end game? Did he just not care what happened to 11? That was the episode where they kept flashing to him with his own little nugget, was he just sympathizing with Winona instead of 11 and felt like he had to choose one. That seemed a little out of character for him. I mean I fucking love the sheriff. He's funny, annoyed with kids, a bad ass, and a drunk. I think that you could also use all those adjectives to describe me as well. (Side note, one of my favorite moments was when he found the bug in his apartment and goes to Winona but to tell her whats going on and he sees all the Christmas lights. That look on his face was the most perfect face I've ever seen. Like are you fucking kidding me? Me too, Sheriff, right there with you LOL) So I'm having a hard time figuring out why he sold out 11, did he think she could take care of herself? Did he really think that the other boys wouldn't get hurt? I DON'T GET IT!! One last theory, and it's my favorite, because....OBVI: Nancy's BF is Jean Ralphio's real dad. I love this more than anything in the world!

So what's your theories guys? Do you have any ideas to my questions? Let's discuss!!!!

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So this took me even longer to write than Game of Thrones and this was only 8 episodes, I mean, what the fuck is wrong with me? It's not like I didn't like it. I watched it three fucking times. I don't have the answer guys.  I even ended up cutting this short because I was tired of feeling like I needed to write it. Like this was a school paper I was procrastinating... I love TV, I love talking about it, I don't know what is wrong with me. I think I hate actually typing. I do lots of chats at work and so when I'm off I'm like UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH I DON'T WANT TO TYPE. But either there's not a computer that will write what I think or there probably is but I absolutely cannot afford, either way I will try to be better and get over it, okay? Today I'm going to start Luke Cage and I'm very excited for that sexy ass dude to be gracing my screen, mmm mmm mmm. I meant to rewatch and write about Jessica Jones before starting Luke Cage, but hey the best laid plans, amiright? So before I go and start a show that looks to be very bloody and violent with guns and hip hop and *fingers crossed* shirtless dudes, I'm going to leave you with one last moment of innocence, Mike and 11's first kiss: