Hey everyone! The votes have been tallied and it looks like the selection for our first TV Show Club project is Stranger Things! Anyone is welcome to join in the viewing process, so don't be shy! First things first, though, we think it's a good idea to figure out how often we will meet and how many episodes to watch at a time.

Stranger Things' seasons aren't that long, so we could probably do one episode every couple of days. If you have a different idea of how many episodes to watch at a time and how often we should watch them, please feel free to share below. Otherwise, we'll get this project underway!

Sounds good. 
I'm just gonna finish off the first season to reach the same area as you both but we can still discuss one episode at a time. 

These episodes are so good I actually wouldn’t mind rewatching season 1 over again just to watch along with you.  I can’t wait for you to finish, you’re in for a treat!  

Check it out guys, they're picking up the show for a Season 4, which means we'll have plenty of Stranger Things to watch once we're finished with Seasons 1-3.

The teaser itself doesn't have any spoilers, but be wary of comments and related videos. 

Spoiler

 

 

3 hours ago, WakelessDream said:

Check it out guys, they're picking up the show for a Season 4, which means we'll have plenty of Stranger Things to watch once we're finished with Seasons 1-3.

The teaser itself doesn't have any spoilers, but be wary of comments and related videos. 

 

Holy crap I'm so pumped now!!!

Hey guys! What did everyone think of episode 5?

Things are getting crazy! I thought Hopper would be as good as gone after he got caught by the lab folks, but I'm glad he saw things for himself, and at least now Joyce has someone on her side who doesn't just see her as the lady who's off her rocker because she lost her son.

It's a shame the kids got into an altercation with each other over El misguiding them. I understand them getting upset, but you could tell she didn't want to lead them to the gate for their own safety, it wasn't that she wanted to keep them from saving Will. 

It was also cool that we got a closer look at the monster this episode, what with Jonathan and Nancy going out to look for it. I did have to look away though, because I legit thought they were going to shoot the deer, in that regard I'm glad the monster came and took it instead. 

That last few minutes with nancy and Jonathan really dragged me in. What a freaky place to end the episode! I also agree with Wakeless that it's cool that they actually showed the monster. I find an annoying thing with monster movies and shows is that they keep the monster in shadow for way too long, so it's nice that Stranger Things broke that trend. 

Also, I need to mention my feelings about Winona Ryder in this series. To be honest, I have never really cared for Winona Ryder. I've always found her acting to be pretty bad, with the exception of the films Girl Interrupted and Edward Scissorhands. But oh my god, in this series she is AMAZING! I keep forgetting that Joyce Byers is played by Winona Ryder; that's how amazing her performance is. The scene that takes the cake for me is in definitely in this episode when she confronts Lonnie about his plan to sue the company that owns the quarry, She was absolutely awesome in this scene; her anger was just so believable and genuine. I actually watched the scene twice because I loved her performance here so much. 

Speaking of Lonnie, the guy is officially a piece of human garbage in my mind. Imagine caring so little for your kid that you only come down for his funeral to try and get some legal compensation to pay off your debts. Joyce's line "You're not here because of Will, you never cared about him" really hit me hard.  I certainly hope it's not true what she said, but I suspect it's somewhat accurate.

I think I *had* to move on to the next episode because of where this one left off, it really leaves you on a cliffhanger. 

Also absolutely agree with you ?on Winona Ryder! Woman deserves an award for her performance as Joyce! I love how she portrays how devoted she is to finding Will, and what lengths she'll go to. She never gives up even when the whole town thinks she's gone off the deep end. Love how she handled the character. Also didn't realize it was the same actress from Edward Scissorhands ? knew I recognized her from somewhere. 

And ugh I knew there was something suspect about Lonnie returning into their lives. I've had the misfortune of knowing someone who was seeking financial gain out of a loved one's death as well, with no care for the person who passed, so that scene was kind of relatable. When Joyce ripped him a new one I was all "yeah you tell him Joyce!"  
 

Edit: @Ventus_ did you get a chance to watch the 5th episode yet? Would love to know your thoughts.  

Does anyone have anything to add before we move on to episode 6? How does tuesday sound for the deadline?

Tuesday works for me, waiting for Ventus to chime in though since you and I are both ahead.  

Whew! Kinda dropped the ball on the discussion here. Is everyone good to start discussing episode 6?

I’m ready! We kinda fell behind didn’t we? ? Excited to start discussing though.  

Hands down my favourite part of this episode was the subplot following Jonathan and Nancy. Seeing Jonathan finally stand up for himself and his brother made me so happy, though I think he took it a little bit far. Steve was pretty messed up once the officers pulled Jonathan off. Speaking of Steve, I did not like that he did something so horrible without getting the actual facts. Regardless though, I loved Jonathan and Nancy's story arc here. It was also nice to finally get a look at the monster. 

Jonathan and Nancy do make a pretty good team Not going to lie I thought Steve was going to get shot, seeing as it showed Jonathan and Nancy stockpiling on weapons to hunt the Demogorgon in the previous scene. And yeah Steve jumping to conclusions without getting all the facts straight was an incredibly dumb thing to do. Nancy did try to explain, but obviously his emotions took the best of him at that point. I do agree with you though, Jonathan did go overboard with what he did to Steve. 

El returning to save Mike and Dustin was epic! "She's our friend and she's crazy!....She'll kill you!" that was so adorable. Friendship goals right there. 

WHoopsie! Looks like we dropped the ball here, guys. Shall we move on to the next episode?

Always ready to talk Stranger Things!

Awesome! I believe we were on episode 7, "The Bathtub". Like the ones before it, this was a great episode, but honestly I think it might be the weakest of the season. Not that it's bad by any means, I just don't think its as strong as the others.

Interested to know why you feel it's the weakest of the season. It was great to me like you said, although I guess things seemed to move along a little slower than previous episodes.

I don't remember everything since it's been a while since I've seen this episode but I appreciated the 180 by Steve, ditching his friends and cleaning up after the mess from the previous episode wasn't something I expected for that type of character. El flipping the van over during the chase scene was also pretty cool, I've seen other people point this out, but it really did remind me of ET. 

Again, the episode is good. All the episodes are good. I just find that this one is the slowest and the least memorable. I think it's because there's a lot of talking and not as much action. There are some good scenes, though, like Steve telling his friends off (finally) and yeah, El flipping the van was probably one of the most awesome scenes of the season. At the same time though, I just find that this episode has the most scenes where the characters just stand around talking.

Oddly I didn't mind the characters standing around and talking, it was nice to have them all come together, as before all the different groups were kind of doing their own thing, the kids, Joyce & Hopper, and then the teens. But I definitely get what you mean though, by it being a slower episode. Having finished the season I like to think of it as the calm before the storm.

13 minutes ago, WakelessDream said:

Oddly I didn't mind the characters standing around and talking, it was nice to have them all come together, as before all the different groups were kind of doing their own thing, the kids, Joyce & Hopper, and then the teens. But I definitely get what you mean though, by it being a slower episode. Having finished the season I like to think of it as the calm before the storm.

Oh, I think the calm before the storm was exactly what they were going for. The purpose of the episode is to set things up for the season's endgame; as a result there's not as much action.