I might be one of the few, but I really didn't like Eddie's character anyway, straight from the moment he walked around the cafeteria table I rolled my eyes. I get the type of character he's supposed to be, but it just came across as hammy and over the top, and just didn't give me the vibes I think they were going for (the same with the jock kids, I felt that they kind of stuck out like a sore thumb and were annoying more than actual antagonists). Also despite the love for the Metallica scene, that also didn't quite land with me either (I didn't hate it, but wasn't cheering for it or hailing it as a masterpiece scene). Basically, meh on Eddie (as a character and actor) the whole way through, so very little emotional impact with how his story played out. Overall though I really enjoyed this season, but it definitely felt bloated at parts. Part 1 was a nice arc and honestly, could have been the whole season for me. In vol 2, conversations were rehashed, feelings reiterated, and some things glossed over (like the power in the upside down and how they escaped after Eddie/Dustin kind of screwed up the way to climb in and out) and I also found the way the 3 stories came together was kind of clumsy. I felt the Russia plot was kind of silly the whole way through, and didn't really feel necessary at all to the efforts against Vecna, but I'm sure that Hopper will have a huge part in the final season meaning he had to escape somehow. I also really didn't like the reversal at the end and I hope it plays a further plot point otherwise it was more timidity shown by the creators and a reluctance to add meaningful consequences regarding the main cast. I also still don't know how Vecna picked his targets. I'm guessing that Will could have easily been a 4th victim if he had been in Hawkin's but what about Lucas? What about the lead Jock? There were plenty of people displaying fears and vulnerabilities that Vecna could have exploited, why did he mark Max and then wait for her again instead of just going and getting another easier victim? The best example of it being bloated and what I would have cut was El telling Hopper she kept the door open. It was shown right before when she 'slammed' the door to a partial close, and when Hopper came back it was open. Her saying that out loud felt so unnecessary because it was shown, so it felt clunky and almost insulting to me, like the audience needed to hear that because they were dumb to notice how subtle it was (it wasn't). There were far too many moments like that to me. (Mike screaming at El, Dustin running to Eddie, Max and Lucas with their sketches, Wills conversation with everybody tiptoeing around something that I think we all know).
Jason and the jocks felt like a tribute to Stephen King, who often portrays normal humans as even more evil than the supernatural, but it just...didn't quite work. They weren't compelling as people, nor were they all that scary, so you just impatiently waited for them to get offscreen so you could back to the interesting characters.
Jason the annoying basketball captain? He’s very dead. He was laying on the floor of the attic and, when the abyss split open, it melted him straight through the middle. Bye, guy.
Fine with the introduction of Jason and the jocks in that it helped create a new wrinkle in Lucas's identity and his relation to the larger group, but especially considering the way that Jason is just sort of hilariously taken off the board in the final episode, I would have much rather seen more of Officer Powell throughout the season. I've always liked that actors presence in that role throughout the series, and could have been cool to see him sort of being thrust into this role of chief of police in Hopper's absence while dealing with everything that is going on. Have him be the one who finds Lucas and Max at the Creel house while Max is baiting Vecna instead of Jason. I don't even mind Jason sort of being the face of the conservative contingency in Hawkins worried about Satanic cults, but given the fact that Powell has been around since season 1, there are a lot more beats you can build in around his hunt for Eddie ultimately leading to the moment at the Creel house in the finale.
I’ve been wondering the same. Initially I was thinking that Vecna was using the school counselor to drug some of the students so that said drug would enable him to take them as tools to open the gates. It sort of seemed like the actress playing the counselor was giving some fishy looks after she speaks with Max the first time, and I thought they were going to go there when Max realized they were all “patients” of hers, but then…nah. Vecna just picks traumatized people at random I guess?
Considering this is a 30 million dollar an episode thing now, I wouldn't have expected sooner than 2024 lol They said they're gonna time jump right? Seems weird with that ending, they just gonna be like well Hawkins has been the upside down for five years?
Are we sure that's official? It looks like fan art to me. I went to Netflix's twitter account and didn't see any similar announcement.
The most "official" things we've got are The Duffers saying there will be a time jump for next season, and David Harbour saying that he thinks they plan on filming next year and he thinks with their track record, it won't release until 2024.
Yeah the only way that seemingly works is if the military basically quarantines off the entire town and nothing breaks through yet. Like we’re gonna be told vecna is too week to get through or something
i can see the next season opening up with a news report like "its been 2 years since the devastating earthquake in Hawkins" yadda yadda yadda but like, the ending of this season feels like much more immediate action would be happening.
A bigger time jump definitely would have made more sense in between 3 and 4 rather than 4 and 5 at this point.