Ha...that was a rant worth reading! So I read it twice. I actually liked Season 4 despite the issues you colorfully and hilariously outlined, and look forward to Season 5.
Enjoyed this one very much and I look forward to the next rant on whichever subject moves you to offer one!
I felt like in the first season the 80s thing was just there to explain how the kids could be constantly out of contact with their parents, but yeah then they leaned into it so hard...
I still like seasons 1 and 2. Well, except for the episode we don't talk about, anyway.
I think a lot of your criticisms would have been tempered by more financial and time restraints. There are too many superfluous scenes. Having to edit down to 45 minutes per episode along with having to refrain from shooting certain scenes due to budgetary constraints would have led to a tighter story.
Now this is the kind of white hot, over the top rant that I pay my money for.
Honestly, I have no idea about most of these references because I only watched the first season of Stranger Things. I liked it well enough, but I felt one season of the show was all that I really needed.
Agree with much here. What I don't understand though is how this season was what drove you to dislike the show. This season is the best season since the first one. It's a solid B. The other seasons are absolutely terrible, I mean, The Room levels of bad, straight Fs. The entire bully plotline of Season 3 generated laughable scene after laughable scene. The flesh monster? Nothing made any sense. Eleven's terrible attempt at a spin-off in Chicago? That was bad television, truly bad television. This season is about where I would expect a TV show to be after four seasons, which is not very good but at least watchable without cringing.
The latest season put me off because it’s too dark. There was some tongue and cheek in previous seasons but comes across like they are starting to take themselves too seriously.
I'll say that I was surprisingly affected by Will's arc. The fact it is so aggressively in the 80s makes this hit harder - I totally get why Will is terrified to say the words "I'm gay." I thought it worked really well for him to have his heart-to-heart with Jonathan but still not manage to get the words out. And though it's obvious to us, I'm not actually sure whether Jonathan has figured it out for himself yet (especially since gay representation wasn't exactly great in the 80s).
I went into these last couple episodes rolling my eyes a bit at the queer-baiting, but I think they managed to make something interesting and effective out of it. YMMV as always though.
I couldn’t finish your article because I’m not even halfway done with the season, but yeah. These problems have been present since season 1 in nascent form. They were just hidden because of the show’s novelty.
But my wife loves it, so we’re watching it, even if she has to sometimes put up with “why is he STILL TRAPPED IN RUSSIA” comments from me. Seriously, that should have been two episodes max.
Anyway, two words: Peaky Blinders. We just started it and I’m ready to design a time machine so I can become a WWI veteran-with PTSD-cum-proto-gangster in London just because that dude played the Scarecrow is terrific and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds deserve more attention. Plus the accents remain awesome. Though it’ll have to wait for me to finish being a rancher in Montana.
Don’t forget about their pathetic attempt to make Mike seem more useful/important: “you’re the heart of this group, Mike! & without heart, we’ll fall apart” 🤢
The response to this show makes me feel like a crazy person. I couldn't finish the first season for a lot of reasons (the lack of subtlety was difficult to stomach), but the big one was how they wasted Winona Ryder by writing her as the most flat character in the history of TV - every scene was her hysterically crying. I fast forwarded through all of her supposedly deeply emotional scenes because it made me cringe or laugh. I've been completely shocked that such a large amount of people have stuck with it for this many years.
Also, the kids suck at acting (at least they did at the time). Scenes flowed like a film school project with a $100 million budget.
Freddie... you’re not wrong on any of these points, but come on.
The show started as a genre tribute show, but it’s not that anymore.
It’s a thrill ride now.
And a pretty well made thrill ride!
Sure, you don’t have to look very hard to see the gears of that thrill ride that sometimes cynically and sometimes nonsensically turning to keep the whole operation running, but in the end it delivers on its promise to have suspense, mystery and action that appeals to a mass audience.
And mass appeal isn’t in itself proof of worthiness, but I really do like that it’s a show that I watch, my wife watches, my kids watch, their friends watch, the people at my gym watch... and we can make small talk about. There are very few movies/shows that are like that anymore.
It's a show for teens, at best. I stopped watching it with my daughters when I could make them watch stuff with more mature programming. It's hard to understand why grown ups would watch this show. Goonies and Stand By Me were two hours long.
Hit torrent and watch Channel 4's The Undeclared War. It's not Deadwood, but it's important for our time.
Ha...that was a rant worth reading! So I read it twice. I actually liked Season 4 despite the issues you colorfully and hilariously outlined, and look forward to Season 5.
Enjoyed this one very much and I look forward to the next rant on whichever subject moves you to offer one!
I felt like in the first season the 80s thing was just there to explain how the kids could be constantly out of contact with their parents, but yeah then they leaned into it so hard...
I still like seasons 1 and 2. Well, except for the episode we don't talk about, anyway.
I think a lot of your criticisms would have been tempered by more financial and time restraints. There are too many superfluous scenes. Having to edit down to 45 minutes per episode along with having to refrain from shooting certain scenes due to budgetary constraints would have led to a tighter story.
I've never seen the show, and after reading this, I think I'm going to continue not watching the show.
Now this is the kind of white hot, over the top rant that I pay my money for.
Honestly, I have no idea about most of these references because I only watched the first season of Stranger Things. I liked it well enough, but I felt one season of the show was all that I really needed.
Agree with much here. What I don't understand though is how this season was what drove you to dislike the show. This season is the best season since the first one. It's a solid B. The other seasons are absolutely terrible, I mean, The Room levels of bad, straight Fs. The entire bully plotline of Season 3 generated laughable scene after laughable scene. The flesh monster? Nothing made any sense. Eleven's terrible attempt at a spin-off in Chicago? That was bad television, truly bad television. This season is about where I would expect a TV show to be after four seasons, which is not very good but at least watchable without cringing.
The latest season put me off because it’s too dark. There was some tongue and cheek in previous seasons but comes across like they are starting to take themselves too seriously.
I'll say that I was surprisingly affected by Will's arc. The fact it is so aggressively in the 80s makes this hit harder - I totally get why Will is terrified to say the words "I'm gay." I thought it worked really well for him to have his heart-to-heart with Jonathan but still not manage to get the words out. And though it's obvious to us, I'm not actually sure whether Jonathan has figured it out for himself yet (especially since gay representation wasn't exactly great in the 80s).
I went into these last couple episodes rolling my eyes a bit at the queer-baiting, but I think they managed to make something interesting and effective out of it. YMMV as always though.
I couldn’t finish your article because I’m not even halfway done with the season, but yeah. These problems have been present since season 1 in nascent form. They were just hidden because of the show’s novelty.
But my wife loves it, so we’re watching it, even if she has to sometimes put up with “why is he STILL TRAPPED IN RUSSIA” comments from me. Seriously, that should have been two episodes max.
Anyway, two words: Peaky Blinders. We just started it and I’m ready to design a time machine so I can become a WWI veteran-with PTSD-cum-proto-gangster in London just because that dude played the Scarecrow is terrific and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds deserve more attention. Plus the accents remain awesome. Though it’ll have to wait for me to finish being a rancher in Montana.
Ironic that you preface your guidance surrounding comments with a meme :)
Don’t forget about their pathetic attempt to make Mike seem more useful/important: “you’re the heart of this group, Mike! & without heart, we’ll fall apart” 🤢
The response to this show makes me feel like a crazy person. I couldn't finish the first season for a lot of reasons (the lack of subtlety was difficult to stomach), but the big one was how they wasted Winona Ryder by writing her as the most flat character in the history of TV - every scene was her hysterically crying. I fast forwarded through all of her supposedly deeply emotional scenes because it made me cringe or laugh. I've been completely shocked that such a large amount of people have stuck with it for this many years.
Also, the kids suck at acting (at least they did at the time). Scenes flowed like a film school project with a $100 million budget.
Freddie... you’re not wrong on any of these points, but come on.
The show started as a genre tribute show, but it’s not that anymore.
It’s a thrill ride now.
And a pretty well made thrill ride!
Sure, you don’t have to look very hard to see the gears of that thrill ride that sometimes cynically and sometimes nonsensically turning to keep the whole operation running, but in the end it delivers on its promise to have suspense, mystery and action that appeals to a mass audience.
And mass appeal isn’t in itself proof of worthiness, but I really do like that it’s a show that I watch, my wife watches, my kids watch, their friends watch, the people at my gym watch... and we can make small talk about. There are very few movies/shows that are like that anymore.
It's a show for teens, at best. I stopped watching it with my daughters when I could make them watch stuff with more mature programming. It's hard to understand why grown ups would watch this show. Goonies and Stand By Me were two hours long.
Hit torrent and watch Channel 4's The Undeclared War. It's not Deadwood, but it's important for our time.