TV & Film let's talk stranger things!

[candygore]

all spoilers are in the [ispoiler][/ispoiler] tag, don't worry!

i spent so many years of my life avoiding netflix shows like the plague. i don't remember which show/movie made me break my ban, but the latest one is stranger things. i finished all 3.5 seasons in one week because i literally could not stop watching, and by the end of it, i was just so amazed, like... whoa, why did i not follow this show sooner? i suppose it's also a blessing for me to have started it so late, because the second volume is coming out next week, and i don't think i could've waited MONTHS to see how this season will end (nevermind that i WILL have to wait the next two/three years for season five. no idea how i'm gonna survive that long)

my favourite character is definitely mike wheeler. was, is, always has been. yes, even through season three when he was in his angry-teenager phase. i love this character so much. season four volume one had me finding a newfound love for will byers too! he was so adorable from the start, but after the latest season, he's become my ride-or-die. i would protect dustin with my whole life too. lucas was honestly the only one using critical thinking throughout this show, haha; he was so wronged in season four volume one! my man deserves a formal hand-written apology from all of his friends!

i actually went into stranger things after one of my friends started openly simping for steve harrington; at first, i didn't understand, but... now i get it. i get you steve harrington simps. i see what you see. jonathan, super relatable, loved him from the start. i see eddie and billy are fan-favourites too. aaa, the thing about this show is that there's not a single unlikeable character! i love all of them!

i personally headcanon robin as neurodivergent, and she's such a comfort character to me! max, another character who reminds me of me, with her attachment issues and the walls around her heart. she has so much love in her, but even when she has the opportunity to open up to said people and let them in, she hesitates, she backpedals. (her and mike are similiar in this regard, no? i wish we would've gotten a max-mike friendship!) i wish el was still around; i think she could've helped max come out of her shell a lot more

erica and nancy both grew on me! i loved seeing erica's character development and how she embraced her "nerd" title in the end, haha. a spin-off show of her and her middle school life while everything in hawkins was going down would be very interesting (and so would a spin-off show of robin and steve motorboating their way through fired jobs after fired jobs, haha). nancy, nancy, nancy... she's a bit of a mary sue? i never hated her, but i never felt super strongly for her either. i started really liking her in season three when her character is expanded on more.

out of the older-cast group, joyce byers is obviously my top favourite, but MY MAN MURRAY is a very close second! i've adored him ever since he psychoanalysed nancy and jonathan in season two. you know what opportunity was completely wasted? him psychoanalysing the mike-el-will love triangle at the dining table, if only to give us more insight into whatever the hell is going on inside mike's head right now. that would've been so iconic (and awkward!)

my favourite season so far was... well, okay, omg, i don't think i can choose! season one is a classic. season two tipped into the typical-horror genre more, was will-centric, and expanded on his and mike's relationship (which was so heartwarming to watch). season three is one i think i could rewatch over and over without getting bored of; it was just a burst of colour and the perfect balance of supernatural-gore and military-level threats. plus, all the cliques and different storylines going on kept my attention so well! season four volume one has me feeling so... oddly, nostalgic. we're back to focusing on will and mike's relationship. they remind me of my early high school days, and especially of all the unrequited crushes i've had on my best friends (':

this is a pretty hot topic in the fandom right now too: will the stranger things showrunners go through with it and give will a happy ending with his first love, or will they fix mike and el's relationship? does mike love el anymore? does el even need this relationship anymore? is this a steve-jonathan-nancy parallel where the wheeler ends up with the byers? i'm so excited to see where this will go! as someone who borderline-KINS will byers, i'm rooting for him the most right now; but el is the love of my life, and she deserves the most happiness, though sometimes i also wonder... will she ever feel like she belongs? a self-acceptance arc for her would be beautiful, but i also keep thinking back to how the showrunners originally planned to kill her off in season one!

there's tons of season four volume two theories i've seen floating around. all of which that have me equal parts nervous for these characters, and equal parts excited for what the current villain has planned for them!

anyways, yeah! i'm not sure why i started this thread, haha. i'm just so brimmed with excitement right now, i needed an outlet to just talk (as vaguely as i did) about this show. please feel free to tell me your favourite characters/seasons/ships too! i'm not going to touch on any of the season four volume two fan theories right now since i don't want to spoil the story for anyone who hasn't caught up or watched the show yet, but if someone else wants to bring up and discuss any... i am very much down

 

[CryBxby]

I absolutely LOVE Stranger Things! Not gonna lie, at first when it came out I didn’t see the hype and I had watched it back in high school the first time after battling with myself on whether or not it was worth watching. But it’s my favorite show now!

I have seen the new season, it’s honestly probably my favorite season. Or season 2 (because of Billy.) I get that Billy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I tend to gravitate towards bad boys.

I agree with you, I could give or take on Nancy. I don’t hate her but she’s not my favorite either.

My other favorite characters besides Billy, have to be Jonathan and Argyle. I just think Jonathan is so sweet and adorable and Argyle is so hilarious. And from the new season, I absolutely SIMP for Eddie. Which I understand again, like Billy maybe not everyone likes Eddie. Though, like Steve.. a lot of people also SIMP for Eddie. I guess I definitely have a type haha.

As for the Mike and El relationship, I’m honestly not super convinced that Mike loves El anymore. It’s kind of noticeable when El mentions that Mike had a hard time saying I love you or Love, Mike in any of his letters to her when she moved to California. They were cute together for a while, but I feel like it’s kind of faded. I can also see it being a Steve-Jonathan-Nancy love triangle. Steve definitely isn’t over Nancy.

Anyway, these are just my opinions and I’d be happy to discuss my further thoughts on any topics!

 

[candygore]

CryBxby

i enjoyed billy's character arc in season three so much! i can understand why someone might not feel so greatly about him, but i think he got to redeem himself in the end. plus, after the scene with his father, i felt so bad for him, like... his quirks suddenly all made sense. even during season two, i don't think he ever truly hated max; to me, it now seems like they had a more intense and toxic sibling "rivalry" (for the lack of better word) that was fueled by their father.

eddie and steve, on the other hand, are total fan favourites. i feel like the entire older-high-school/almost-college group is pretty well-liked by everyone.

the amount of death allegations i've seen for eddie, steve, robin AND nancy is insane. i mean, i think it's confirmed that some major character(s) are dying but God, people are really worried for the fate of these characters and i mean, nancy is the current victim of vecna's curse, right? plus, the trailer shows that max ends up falling to the curse again. i wonder how their arcs are going to be resolved! so much anticipation!

if nancy survives, who do you think her endgame is going to be: jonathan or steve? i loved both, jonathan and steve with nancy so i can't decide between them! i really don't want to see jonathan hurt ): but you're right, steve's definitely not over her. do you think it's possible that the showrunners might give her a bisexual arc and make her robin's love interest? i'd entertain this last idea more seriously if this wasn't a netflix show; i still think robin and nancy have great chemistry too!

i can't decide if mike just doesn't love el anymore or if he truly has a hard time admitting it. if it's the former, i think it would give such a good message: that sometimes, you grow out of relationships and that's okay. sometimes, you're just better off as friends. growing up is a pretty major theme of this show anyway. they were very cute together in season three though; it would nice to make them reconcile and work over their issues, but at the same time, i can't imagine them being a "forever" kind of couple. max and lucas, on the other hand? now THAT is a forever-couple.

 

[CryBxby]

I can't wait for the next part of the show either! I really hope Eddie survives, but I've seen people saying they think he doesn't. I've also seen people saying that Billy didn't actually die, that he's just stuck in the upside down and I can totally see that happening! I am worried for the fate of the characters. They kind of have a habit of killing off new characters. They "killed" off Billy (unless he's just stuck in the upside down.) and he was a new character of the 2nd season. Then there's Eddie that they added the 4th season, hopefully he survives!

I think that Billy didn't truly hate Max either, they just had that toxic sibling rivalry. I loved Billy's character arc as well and how it changed.

I'm honestly not sure who Nancy would end up with, I liked her with both Jonathan and Steve. I don't wanna see Jonathan hurt either, it's hard to decide. I can see it going either way, with Steve or Jonathan. I can see them giving Nancy a bisexual arc, I think she and Robin would be cute together. Robin is definitely clueless about Vicki though. Nancy and Robin do have great chemistry.

That's an interesting point! Maybe Mike does still love El but he just has a hard time admitting it and the fact that she moved to California probably made it harder for them. Like it probably did for Jonathan and Nancy. Mike and El were cute together, but yeah they could just be better off as friends. I've seen people saying that Will has a crush on Mike, which I can see. YES!! Lucas and Max are a forever couple, they should definitely get back together!

 

[candygore]

CryBxby

i have noticed they tend to introduce new characters every season just to kill them off, which is why i'm so scared for eddie but they also introduce at least one new character who doesn't end up dying by the final episode: season one was everyone plus el, season two was max, season three was robin, and i'm hoping season four is eddie because i'm seriously not ready to let him go yet.

i've heard the theory that billy might still be alive, but i don't know the specifics of it or how that would work. it'd be a wonderful plot twist if he does end up coming back!

right now, i'm just really excited to find out more about vecna and his connection the the upside down: was he behind the mind flayer and the demogorgons? why does he want to kill all these teenagers? why's the upside down stuck in the past? so many questions!

i kind of forgot about vicki! i've heard that she might have a bigger role in the upcoming seasons. if she isn't robin's main love interest, i hope they do give robin a different one. it'd be so nice to see some positive lesbian rep in a show this mainstream.

i believe the cast and showrunners have already confirmed that will is in love with mike, and looking back on it, it makes a lot of sense! now i'm wondering what will's painting is! hopefully, it gets addressed in volume two.

i really don't want mike to reject will and break his heart ): not necessarily because i ship mike and will (though they would make a perfect "childhood best friends to lovers" trope), but because will has already been through so much pain and heartache, i just want him to finally be happy </3 honestly, because stranger things has so many IT parallels, it makes me worry that will is going to have the same fate that richie did. yikes, i hope it doesn't come to that!

 

[CryBxby]

I'm so scared for Eddie too! But at the same time, I hope he survives at the end. Eddie is my absolute favorite from season 4 and I don't want to see him get killed off.

I honestly hope that Billy does come back, it would be a great plot. I'm really not sure how they would pull that off though. Unless Billy didn't actually die and they made Billy another "zombie boy" like Will was.

I'm curious about Vecna and his connection to the upside down as well. I think it'd also be a great plot point if Vecna was behind the mind flayer and demogorgons. I'm still not sure why Vecna wants to kill the teenagers or why the upside down is stuck in the past. I hope some of these questions get answered

I'm interested to see Vicki's bigger role in the upcoming seasons. I hope she is Robin's love interest or someone else's. I kind of hope they change it up slightly to have Robin be Nancy's love interest. Not sure if they would do that though, seems like they are sticking with the Nancy-Jonathan-Steve love triangle. Which is also intriguing!

Will being in love with Mike does make a lot of sense! I'm thinking that the reason Will doesn't show El his painting is because it has to do with/is for or about Mike. It would add some drama since El and Mike are dating. But maybe Mike is Bi? I'm really curious what the painting is though! I hope they show us!

I don't want Mike to reject Will either, I'd hate to see Will heartbroken. They make the perfect childhood best friends to lovers trope! Or if the painting is not about Mike and it's about or for someone else he has a crush on, maybe someone he has a crush on at Lenora Hills high in California. OH MY GOSH! I have never thought about that until you mentioned it! I have seen the IT movies, but it's been a hot minute. I can definitely see the parallels between IT and Stranger Things! I really hope that Will doesn't have the same fate that Richie did.