A Few Thoughts on STRANGER THINGS, episode two

***This contains spoilers***

Oh boy...

This episode left me with more questions than answers. For starters, when did this major shift occur in Barb regarding Nancy's relationship with Steve? In the previous episode, she's all gung ho with the idea of the two dating, going so far as to essentially "mmhmm gurl" when Nancy found Steve's invitation to meet her in the bathroom. In this episode, she seems very against the idea of Nancy going to Steve's party, citing that "he just wants to get in her pants." Honestly, what did she think before? Secondly, was the decision to have the mystery beast that took Will also take Barb supposed to be some kind of subversion of the "final girl" trope? Barb would have been the "chaste" one in this situation considering that it was Nancy who seemed to want to engage in the illicit activity with Steve. So, according to the trope, Nancy would have been eaten before Barb. Obviously, I'll have to see how this plays out, but in the moment it seems bizarre.

Third, is Jonathan Byers crushing on Nancy? Is that the look he gave her after she talked to him in the hallway? Also, are we supposed to find it cute that he was taking pictures (while hidden in the woods) of Nancy and friends at Steve's party? Something tells me that this was the intent, but I assure you I read it as supremely creepy. Another also, why was he still there even after Nancy went back inside the house after falling in the pool? Was he waiting for her to come back out? Was he trying to photograph her through the window? A third also, the worst way to establish this kid loves photography is to show him snapping covert pictures of the girl we barely see him speak to. In fact, he doesn't really speak to anyone outside of his immediate family in the first hour or so of this series. That whole segment of the episode was so bizarre on so many levels, and I'm at a loss at what the Duffer's intended the audience to feel.

At this point, I'm starting to feel the weight of the influences of other films from the 80's on the show, and not in a good way. During the day, Mike plays hooky from school to look after Eleven. We can essentially call this section of the show "the E.T. part", because that's essentially what it is. It also confirmed something for me that I had suspicions of: I don't feel anything for Eleven. Now, that's not for lack of trying. I just haven't seen much in these first two hours to really attach me to her. The problem with doing what they do in this episode is that it's missing a few elements that E.T. had. In E.T., the titular character is a little, green, pot-bellied, pencil-necked alien with a face like the maggot-baby from ERASERHEAD. In short, he's weird looking. That goes a long way to adding humor to scenes where the kids try to give him clothes to disguise him or try to hid his presence. Simply put, a strange looking creature doing human-like things will have the appearance of being humorous.In the case of Eleven, her looking like a girl with a buzz-cut kind of takes the wind out of any humor hat could be drawn from the scene.

The E.T. moments also stretched into Eleven hiding in the closet and in the basement. The closet yielded a little bit more information about her past and relationship to the massive facility, but it also prompted more questions from me. For one, how much English does she know? In the flashback she seems to have more of a grasp on it, but in the present she has to be taught what a recliner is. If she knows more, is she choosing not to speak because she doesn't trust anyone, or does she honestly not know much of it? This isn't so much a problem, as much as it is a general question. If it turns out she knew a good bit of English, then having her go so long without talking would seem just a way to stretch for time.

The only major positive for me was when Will's mother, Joyce Byers, uncovers more about the mysterious phone calls she's been getting that she believes is, somehow, Will. In this moment, as she's seeing the lights flicker in a pattern that's leading her to Will's bedroom, it's one of the few times in the two hours of the show I've seen up to this point that doesn't have the characters catching up to information the audience already knows. It's something that I noticed in the first hour, but this second hour has almost doubled-down on it. I'm not against dramatic irony, but so much of this show is the audience finding out a good bit and then the rest of the characters finding out and hour or so later. I'm concerned that this is a trend that will continue through the whole of the season.

Another trend that concerns me pertains to the usage of the musical score.
Now, I know that S U R V I V E were seeking to emulate John Carpenter/Tangerine Dream, and the soundtrack is fine on its own, but some of the ways it's used in context strike me as odd. For example, in the aforementioned scene where Johnathan pines after Nancy in the hallway, a very ominous piece of music plays as he's shown exiting the building. The problem there is that music doesn't fit emotionally with what preceded it. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the music could have been removed and the scene would have largely played the same.

Overall, this was a pretty tough episode to get through. All this seems to not bode well for the rest of the series that, for some reason, I intend to keep watching. Here's hoping things improve.

A Few Thoughts on STRANGER THINGS, episode one

***This contains some spoilers for this episode***


If there was one word to describe the first episode of the Duffer Brothers' STRANGER THINGS, it would be "pleasant." It's no more than that, and it's no less. Given it's nature as an ode to the 80's and its movies (Spielberg and Carpenter seem to be the focus in this first installment), it has all of the prerequisite elements: a John Carpenter-esque score (made by the brilliant duo, S U R V I V E.) as well as various decade-specific needle-drops; era specific font for title cards and for the intro; kids on bikes in a suburban setting; a soft filter that gives it an era specific look to the picture quality; "Spielberg Oners"; etc. Really, I could probably go on for a few more paragraphs listing the amount of either straight up references or nods to films from the 80's. This isn't inherently a bad thing, though it remains to be seen if this will continue on with diminishing returns.

The actual plotting of this episode feels quite nice, as nearly every character gets introduced and given their respective story lines in a fairly succinct manner. The only one that seemed to go nowhere belonged to Nancy Wheeler, older sister to the character Mike Wheeler. The episode took her from having just entered a new relationship, to her kissing her new boyfriend, and finally to them kissing some more. It doesn't go much further than that, and given how much more every other character gets, it's unfortunate.

As far as moments go, the one that stood out the most to me was the sequence introducing the four main characters as they play a game of Dungeons and Dragons. It really gives the sense that these characters are good friends, and it's a pretty tensely shot scene, as well. Also, the symmetry between this scene and the moment that Will Byers gets taken by what is practically the Demogorgon from their D&D session is really tight narrative in a way I can't help but be happy with. Also, I have to mention the one-take shot in the police station. It was very clean and understated.

I can't really say too much in the way of where this show is going, considering this is the first episode, but I do hope that things move beyond this merely "pleasant" feeling it's giving off. As much as I liked certain elements, I didn't really finish the episode with any anticipation of what's coming next. At any rate, I'll continue the series.