Stranger Things (Season 3)
I enjoyed it in a popcorn movie kind of way. . Though I find I can suspend my disbelief more easily for monsters from another dimension than I can for the existence of secret Soviet underground bases, complete with Soviet soldiers in Soviet uniforms. It’s like the entirety of Hydra in the Marvelverse, or the German army having the petrol, time and money to celebrate parties in Belgium in freaking November of 1918 in Wonder Woman: everything comes to a screeching hold while my inner nitpicker won’t shut up with wondering about the practicalities. (What’s the point of a secret base if everyone wears Soviet uniforms instead of pretending to be Americans? Where even did the money for the secret base come from at this point of the arms race, let alone one with fancy technology like this? And so forth.) Also, while I realise Evil Russians were a big US 80s trope, I enjoyed it more when shows like GLOW were making fun of it than the way Stranger Things does here, with only one token non evil Russian and the rest treated like cartoons to be killed off not just by the monsters but by our heroes. Playing this trope straight, complete with a Schwarzenegger-as-Terminator lookalike as a Russian killer, was not something I’d have done, but then, in the 80s I was the teen who alienated my US exchange partner when she said „I hate the Russians“ by asking back „why?“.
(Clarification: this was pre Gorbachev and living not that far from the former Iron Curtain, I was under no illusions as to whether or not the Soviet Union was a dictatorship. Also Germany would have been ground zero in a nuclear war, and yours truly along with class mates was well aware of that. But 14 years old me was an earnest believer in „governments may suck but people are essentially good“. 50 years old me is a bit more cynical, but not for one nation specifically.)
Anyway, the other 1980s trope I could have done without was the show trying to turn Hopper and Joyce into a 1980s sitcom couple. At least I’m assuming that was what they were going for by completely changing the tone of their interaction along with Hopper’s characterisation, and not for the better. What was appealing about the Joyce and Hopper relationship during the first two seasons and made me low key ship them was that they were relaxed with each other (in as much as they could be in the horror movie circumstances), that Hopper didn’t treat Joyce as if she was crazy but listened to her and took her seriously, and that he wasn’t childishly jealous when in s2 she had a (very nice) boyfriend. So imagine my joy when all this was exchanged for a really badly done bickering. (Bickering couples are far harder to get right than tv and movie writers appear to believe.) Same, btw, with the Hopper and El relationship which was endearing and captivating in s2, arguments included, and in s3 exchanged with an overprotective tv dad trope.
On to more joyful things, to wit: anything to do with Steve, new character Robin, Dustin and Erica. This was the storyline where the show continued not just to deliver but also wonderfully subvert tropes. Robin when introduced seemed to be set up as Steve’s new love interest, and had this been where their storyline led to, it would have been charming and well executed, since Robin was a vivid and appealing character, but hardly original. But no! When we reached the „mutual confessions of hidden feelings and truths when drugged“ scene, and it turned out into a „Steve confesses attraction, Robin confesses being a Lesbian, Steve takes that in and responds in a wonderful way“ scene instead, I was both amazed and delighted. And the Dustin and Steve rapport from last season continued to be ridiculously endearing. Complete with role revearsal when Steve and Robin where drugged and Dustin had to be in charge.
Also a joy: El and Max, bffs. The young actresses developed a nice chemistry, too. And speaking of new character combinations, I was pleasantly surprised Karen Wheeler got a scene with each of her children, not least because otherwise this season could have left one with the impression that, Joyce and Hopper aside, no one in Hawkins noticed anything about their children (and this in a town with relatively recent deaths and disappearances) missing. And how come the July 4th celebrations went ahead after a massacre at the hospital without the Mayor as much as giving a verbal nod to the dead? Which small town politician wouldn’t use the opportunity?
Then again, the Russians weren’t the only antagonists being one dimensional caricatures this season; so were the jerks at the newspaper Nancy and Jonathan were interning for, and Mayor Larry. Possibly so the audience wouldn’t mind them being beaten up and killed, as mentioned above, not just by the mindflayer but also by Hopper. (And if you want to get technical also by everyone else in as much as they were part of the mindflayer, but then I had the impression that Billy aside, they were dead already once it had possessed/absorbed them.) Not that Matthew Modine’s evil scientist in s1 had hidden reserves of goodness in him, but he still came across as more real to me (and thus more frightening). However, these days I find it hard to argue caricature because, well, look at reality, look at the US government. I take it back, Mayor Larry and the staff of the Hawkins newspaper are hardcore realistic portraits, ahead of their time.
In conclusion: if I rewatch, I’ll probably fast forward anything not featuring either Steve & Co. or Eleven & Max. But those scenes, I’ll love again.
This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1346800.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
(Clarification: this was pre Gorbachev and living not that far from the former Iron Curtain, I was under no illusions as to whether or not the Soviet Union was a dictatorship. Also Germany would have been ground zero in a nuclear war, and yours truly along with class mates was well aware of that. But 14 years old me was an earnest believer in „governments may suck but people are essentially good“. 50 years old me is a bit more cynical, but not for one nation specifically.)
Anyway, the other 1980s trope I could have done without was the show trying to turn Hopper and Joyce into a 1980s sitcom couple. At least I’m assuming that was what they were going for by completely changing the tone of their interaction along with Hopper’s characterisation, and not for the better. What was appealing about the Joyce and Hopper relationship during the first two seasons and made me low key ship them was that they were relaxed with each other (in as much as they could be in the horror movie circumstances), that Hopper didn’t treat Joyce as if she was crazy but listened to her and took her seriously, and that he wasn’t childishly jealous when in s2 she had a (very nice) boyfriend. So imagine my joy when all this was exchanged for a really badly done bickering. (Bickering couples are far harder to get right than tv and movie writers appear to believe.) Same, btw, with the Hopper and El relationship which was endearing and captivating in s2, arguments included, and in s3 exchanged with an overprotective tv dad trope.
On to more joyful things, to wit: anything to do with Steve, new character Robin, Dustin and Erica. This was the storyline where the show continued not just to deliver but also wonderfully subvert tropes. Robin when introduced seemed to be set up as Steve’s new love interest, and had this been where their storyline led to, it would have been charming and well executed, since Robin was a vivid and appealing character, but hardly original. But no! When we reached the „mutual confessions of hidden feelings and truths when drugged“ scene, and it turned out into a „Steve confesses attraction, Robin confesses being a Lesbian, Steve takes that in and responds in a wonderful way“ scene instead, I was both amazed and delighted. And the Dustin and Steve rapport from last season continued to be ridiculously endearing. Complete with role revearsal when Steve and Robin where drugged and Dustin had to be in charge.
Also a joy: El and Max, bffs. The young actresses developed a nice chemistry, too. And speaking of new character combinations, I was pleasantly surprised Karen Wheeler got a scene with each of her children, not least because otherwise this season could have left one with the impression that, Joyce and Hopper aside, no one in Hawkins noticed anything about their children (and this in a town with relatively recent deaths and disappearances) missing. And how come the July 4th celebrations went ahead after a massacre at the hospital without the Mayor as much as giving a verbal nod to the dead? Which small town politician wouldn’t use the opportunity?
Then again, the Russians weren’t the only antagonists being one dimensional caricatures this season; so were the jerks at the newspaper Nancy and Jonathan were interning for, and Mayor Larry. Possibly so the audience wouldn’t mind them being beaten up and killed, as mentioned above, not just by the mindflayer but also by Hopper. (And if you want to get technical also by everyone else in as much as they were part of the mindflayer, but then I had the impression that Billy aside, they were dead already once it had possessed/absorbed them.) Not that Matthew Modine’s evil scientist in s1 had hidden reserves of goodness in him, but he still came across as more real to me (and thus more frightening). However, these days I find it hard to argue caricature because, well, look at reality, look at the US government. I take it back, Mayor Larry and the staff of the Hawkins newspaper are hardcore realistic portraits, ahead of their time.
In conclusion: if I rewatch, I’ll probably fast forward anything not featuring either Steve & Co. or Eleven & Max. But those scenes, I’ll love again.
This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1346800.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.