16: Stranger Things Seasons 1 & 2 review

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This week: Stranger Things Seasons 1 & 2 review

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Transcript 16: Stranger Things 1&2

Ben (2s): Listen, Listen to me. Listen to me. I'm coming to Hawkins and I'm going to defeat the Demogorgon and single-handedly. Yeahhhhhhh.

Kev (16s): Broadcasting live from inside the Power Band. This is the Blah. In this episode: everybody dies. I'm the Mohlverine along with There-He-Goes and our good friend Algorithm. Gentlemen, how are you?

Chad (33s): What's going on.

Ben (33s): Hey people. I'm hot.

Kev (39s): Enthusiastic intro as always.

Chad (41s): You are hot. You are hot Jar Heego

Kev (42s): You are hot, h-a-w-t.

Chad (45s): One of my buddies when I was hiking. He his Trail name was Dudley because he was kind of like Dudley from Royal Tenenbaums, like semi ridiculous, and he's like a genius with numbers but not the best with like, you know, his language and stuff. He had like a broken watch. That was only right twice a day. Like it was really quite funny, but he he would always say w-h-a-t hot. It was like, yeah, buddy it's not, not quite how it goes.

Kev (1m 11s): w-h-a-t hot?

Chad (1m 15s): It just became it became a thing like we'd be like hiking along and all of a sudden he's like w-h-a-t

Kev (1m 24s): wait, meaning hot? or what?

Chad (1m 25s): Yeah like a h-a-w-t like you just had. Like, I think the first time I think the first time he attempted to say h-a-w-t he got a little mixed up in his head and it just turned into a classic quotable moment.

Ben (1m 38s): Nice.

Kev (1m 38s): Wow, so he got it mixed up like dyslexic moment.

Chad (1m 41s): Yeah, but he would like he could do like long division in his head. But another time he was singing like Gwen Stefani song. That shit is bananas and he's like that shit is bananas b-a-n-a-s. Like that's Banas bro. He's like, oh. He's one of my favorite people in the world Old Dudley. All right onto the show.

Speaker s (2m 3s): Yes.

Kev (2m 5s): So this week folks. We're going to be talking about the phenom that is stranger things title of this episode Strange Days and this week. Going to be covering-

Chad (2m 15s): Not to be confused with the movie Strange Days.

Kev (2m 17s): Right, or the Doors song Strange Days. Or the film Strange Days that was referenced from the Doors song Strange Days, but the movie wasn't that great. Anyway, we're going to be talking about Seasons 1 and 2 and next week. We've got a special treat. We're going to be talking about season 3 and we're going to have the entire cast of Stranger Things here in the studio with us are excited Chad. Why don't you kick it off.

Chad (2m 45s): I'm looking forward to the entire like 47 person cast in the studio. That's gonna be good. Why don't you get a few extra cables?

Kev (2m 53s): Hey man? I don't you know, you tell me to book them. I booked them. Okay, I don't worry about the numbers. All right guy?

Chad (2m 59s): that's up to you. logistics are all you. Yeah, I um. I think the show really encapsulates a perfect moment in our youths and I was curi- 'da two yoots' and I was curious what you what you two guys thought about the fact that it lined up pretty much perfectly with how old you are like you basically were those kids.

Kev (3m 18s): Yes. Yes. This is true.

Chad (3m 21s): Good talk. All right next topic.

Kev (3m 22s): That is correct. Next topic. Yes on to the next thing. It's true. I was in the age range of 8 to 10 years old at that time

Chad (3m 34s): how well did they capture it? Then in terms of like your memories of kind of that era and the way it was handled

Kev (3m 40s): they couldn't have done a better job. I mean go ahead Ben. I know I was going to say it's virtually Auto by autobiographical. Yes. There you go. Good way to say it. No it is it's autobiographical. I mean it's so I don't want to get into the period piece - of it because we're going to talk about that like, you know in a little bit but it it was so rich in detail. It was like you were there I was there, you know like this the memories man, you know were

Chad (4m 9s): vast. Did you guys grow up it like in the Suburban environment like that? Because obviously Me growing up on Nantucket A bit of a weird special

Kev (4m 16s): case. No, I grew up in a server Suburban environment exactly like that. Well, maybe maybe not exactly like that. But close it was it was like I grew up in the sticks, you know, like it was at the end of a dead-end street right next to the railroad tracks. That was Jar Heego right next to the fucking railroad tracks. Yeah and the grain plant and that train came by every 12 hours you laugh but it's true train come by once a day. Oh my God, and there's Grandma who's is sitting on the porch?

Chad (4m 53s): So did you guys drive off sweet jumps all day long and have have radios and code words and

Kev (4m 58s): shit. Let me let me tell you something. Chad sweet jumps were like part of the DNA of that time period when you agree Ben, oh, yes. Oh, yes. Absolutely. Yeah, you know couple cinder blocks. He's 3/4 inch plywood your BMX. And the whole lot of stupidity and totally no no clap been classic phrase from that time period to I'll do it. If you do it, I'll do it if you do it. Yeah. Hopefully I'll frickin do it right now famous famous last words. I don't know why but I don't know if it's still like this at all. But when I was a kid, everybody thought they needed to be a stunt-man.

Chad (5m 33s): Yeah. I think it was like super Dave and all that kind of

Kev (5m 35s): stuff. What about Evel Knievel bro

Chad (5m 37s): Evel Knievel to yeah for sure

Kev (5m 39s): Evel Knievel, Fall Guy, you know, yeah, the there's a lot of stuff out there but everybody had to be stopped like if your fucking boy you had to be a stunt-man. You know, what climb that tree? Yeah. All right, let's climb a tree and jump out of it. Sure. Yeah. Okay, you know like you just we just did like it's a wonder any of us are still alive. So sure that that's what that's what it was like we moved on from sweet jumps folks now, we're on to bigger things stranger

Chad (6m 5s): things. Oh, oh shit. Did you

Kev (6m 8s): see how I just tied that in Chad. See what you see what you did there.

Chad (6m 11s): I like that. That was good. That was good. Very

Kev (6m 13s): impressive. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.

Chad (6m 15s): I guess like one of the things like see you got you got people our age making a show that throws back to their nostalgic youths and the like taking all the best bits of all their favorite movies and kind of mashing them all together and I just thought it was interesting that it lines up perfectly with Kanna more you guys in terms of your age. I was the as I mentioned in the pre-game. I was a little girl in the high chair crying while everybody argued in terms of how old I was but I still kind of am the little girl in the high chair, but you

Kev (6m 40s): kind of are dude, but I still love you man.

Chad (6m 43s): Yeah. Well, you know, sometimes you just got to squeeze a few tears out the I just think it's interesting that like, you know, people like us are finally getting the budgets to create and it seems to be so much throwback Nostalgia kind of not recreating necessarily like the favorite things from their youth but it certainly seems to be like a thread that that carries through a lot of this

Kev (7m 2s): stuff. Oh wait, but hold on Chad before we get into this. Like are we do we do we answer your first question fully? We're still kind of on the that thread really right. Are we still on it? I'm sorry guys just So pay attention to me. Okay, Chad. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

Chad (7m 19s): I'm just curious I guess so I'm curious about is whether like memory serves and whether stranger things is kind of if you guys can think of any other example of recent recent movies or creators that have really pushed hard on the Nostalgia because it seems like it's overdone now, you know, three or four years five years later, but five years ago four years ago when stranger things one came out. It was kind of quite early in the in the every everyone our age making stuff that through back to when we were kids kind of thing

Kev (7m 48s): way. We can you expound on that because like what exactly do you mean are you saying that there's a glut of things that have come out like shows films that are sort of like Eighties period-specific the people are doing like it's a bandwagon people are jumping on is that what you're

Chad (8m 4s): saying a little bit but also like I like it's not a super fully-formed thought but like yeah some of that and some of like I kind of feel like as different generations of creators, Start, you know stop becoming they stop being assistant directors and start being directors or whatever you want to use is a you know, allegory or you know, whatever they can make whatever they want and what they tend to want is like or what seems to happen is like you gravitate to your upbringing you grant like, you know, Tarantino for example, gravitate gravitated to dialog heavy b-roll movie Double feature, you know snagging scenes from a lot of the movies from his era and a lot of the music in the Tarantino films were like from his youth where he was, you know, like 15 years older than us and so like 15 years go by and you find a kid that's you know, the Next Generation after Tarantino and they tend to be gravitating like stranger things to the music of their era and the feelings and movies of their era. You know what I mean? It just kind of seems like there's generations of creators and they throw back to their own, you know, upbringings, I guess which makes sense because it's their

Kev (9m 11s): experiences. Okay, right. Sure. I think that's right. Right, but that's very different than that's very different than what I was thinking like you I was thinking that you were saying that okay stranger things is come out. So now there's like a glut of people doing, you know Eighties specific like Nostalgia type

Chad (9m 28s): pieces. Well, I guess that I guess that is what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that like step one a generation of creators comes, you know into power and they make a lot of Throwbacks to their youth step to too many people do it and it could become saturated and I'm curious if we if you know, you guys feel like it is being over saturated or not or whether you know, there's plenty more in there. I think it's been going on

Kev (9m 51s): for a while and you know for depends on what type of media you're talking about. But you know, I think especially for if we're talking specifically about Eighties Nostalgia musically, I noticed it first. Yeah, that's interesting. You know, like just just seem like they're you know, I don't know people around my age started having a lot of like Eighties parties and you know, there was always some A plane Eighties music at the bar, you know, like whatever that that kind of stuff but then I really like Martin film but I guess on TV like The Adult Swim dude Eighties Nostalgia all over the board, you know, like everything from like, you know, the Venture Brothers still like, you know Robot Chicken to you know, like all that kind of stuff. What about Sealab Sealab? There you go. Write your name

Chad (10m 37s): sake that's it Captain Murphy.

Kev (10m 39s): So yeah, I think I think you know, you saw it you saw it start to pick up momentum and snowball and those Arenas and kind of been spill out into you know more but I mean even movies like Donnie Darko, you know pretty heavy in his Eighties and style to

Chad (10m 52s): their yeah. Yeah, totally and the fact that like Drew Drew Barrymore kind of greenlit that one and she's like quintessential of

Kev (10m 59s): that period sure. Yeah. She wasn't fucking ET man.

Chad (11m 2s): Yeah,

Kev (11m 4s): so well, I mean, you know, Sean Astin was in this and Sean Astin was in Goonies and I was the same age as the kids in Goonies when I watched that movie. I was like Blown Away cause I was like these kids You're my age. I was like wait a second What pirate treasure we're like that just I was so into that movie. It was so good. It was like the ultimate like kids Adventure fantasy. It's still one of my favorites. Yeah.

Chad (11m 28s): Yeah totally and it was yeah what you exactly what you would fantasize about as a kid finding treasure and stuff. Yeah finding that that secret place

Kev (11m 35s): that no one knows, you know, like finding those secret worlds that no one knows about it that movie did such a great job of

Chad (11m 40s): that. It's interesting that like a Spiel on Earth. I don't know enough about Spielberg but like Spielberg really captured the Blockbuster era and did an amazing like Goonies is like a masterpiece in youth-oriented cinema and I'm curious where you know his General if we're talking generationally like his generation of creators. I wonder if that's the swashbuckler buried treasure thing was like a big thing for for him, you know in terms of his youth

Kev (12m 5s): for Spiel. But yeah, of course it was I'm sure it was dude because those are the types of films they showed, you know in the 40s and the 50s you go and you see those serials man and you Those like, you know matinee double triple features, you know, and it was it would be movies like that. That's true. Yeah interesting like in like the one in the Majestic the Sands of the Sahara, you know, whatever. Yeah, exactly. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,

Chad (12m 31s): totally one in like full circle. You know, I feel like I feel like stranger things really at least to my perspective because I didn't grow up in a suburb but like seems to really capture the Suburban, you know life and the being a kid and kind of coming of age and riding around and forts in the woods and you

Kev (12m 50s): know, oh my God forts in the woods

Chad (12m 53s): the nerdy kind of kids this and the bully kids that and the you know, good teacher this and the ASL teacher that you know, like it really seemed to capture an era quite

Kev (13m 2s): well. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. It was almost just like that in a walkie talkies D&D like, oh man. Yeah totally

Chad (13m 11s): so on on Stranger Things One, I feel like Captured the arrow well, and that's great. And I don't know if it would have gone as well in a different time setting but I feel like strangers things one like was almost like a perfect recipe, you know, like a perfect. It's a perfect bin jabal show. Yeah. It's kind of the perfect length of time and it has enough time to kind of weave a bunch of different stuff together. And I think the thing I liked most about the first season was how plausible it was, you know, like obviously upside down and kind of monsters and stuff is not plausible necessarily, but if it happened the way that these people and kids deal with it and the fact that the you know that they can't necessarily defeat it. It's like, you know L, the government weapon is the only thing that can defeat it makes it what much more enjoyable rather than like a lot of these movies in The Eighties of that era that were like the group of Misfits that end up defeating the biggest baddest person ever at the end of it. Like these kids didn't defeat the Going at the end L did you know and it kind of just it made it that much more real in a way because of how realistic it treated the like expectations of what these people are going to be able to accomplish.

Kev (14m 23s): Right? Yeah. I like how they chose like their hero to do the the battling for them. You know what I mean?

Chad (14m 31s): And they wanted to like they had their slingshot and they tried their best but it's like did you get a slingshot? Like you're not gonna fucking the government dudes were just shooting the thing with an AK and it was fine.

Kev (14m 41s): You know, that was a wrist rocket man. Sorry. Sorry, right. She exactly been which she was she was like, they're Hulk, you know what? I mean? She was like their big gun, you know, so so in essence they sort of I don't know. There's a lot of cool things going on here like in essence like you could say that they sort of mirror a super hoop hero group and their own minds like they each have a role, you know, the something that they're really good at and she's like their big gun, you know as they try to take down this evil government cabal, you know,

Chad (15m 9s): but it's also kind of play time like they all want to have a role in the superhero team, but they Actually have any abilities whereas she is the one that actually does have abilities. So it's almost like a mixture of what you said and the fact that they're like playing superhero, even though the even though the the stakes are legit and they're all potentially going to die. Like they're just like riding around in their bikes, you know, and doing the best they can to like scoot around the place and solve fucking Scooby Mysteries and stuff, but they don't actually have any

Kev (15m 38s): superpowers. Yeah, I mean l is kind of like their Dr. Manhattan and the rest of them are just like the other Watchmen they're like to you know, that's true. They sort of, you know, they can do stuff and they can plan and they can you know, I mean they all seem to sort of have their strong points, you know, there's like the gadget guy and there's you know, like but they'll seem to it's not what they can't do anything, you know, like they're smart. Wow. That's a really great thing to say man. Totally and I really like the comparison to the Watchman because that's really very accurate like you're right about that. It's like they don't We have any powers and there's plenty of superheroes that don't have powers. But the way that Dynamic works with Dr. Manhattan is exactly like the for boys and L for sure.

Chad (16m 24s): Yeah. Yeah. That was it's a super interesting comparison. I would never have thought of it but it makes perfect sense and you don't I can't think of any other obvious story that has that kind of Dr. Manhattan perfect superpower individual. It's almost always a small handful of people that have superpowers. It's so rarely one person. I guess maybe like Superman but it's such a such an interesting

Kev (16m 47s): example and it's kind of neat that they seem to always be for one reason or another busted up into different groups, you know that there always seems to be some extenuating circumstance that separates them and they have to deal with like these little Splinter

Chad (16m 60s): cell's. Yeah. Yeah.

Kev (17m 2s): Yeah. I kind of like that about that but I like I like that that Dynamic where you know, like you said 11 is like their big gun, you know, she's a doctor Manhattan. She's the only one that actually really can. Do anything about this stuff? But you know, she needs their she needs their support. I think you know,

Chad (17m 19s): yeah the the kids like you said, they've got a little bit of skill here and there and they're smart and clever here and there it but the kids really have no they have no ability or power to really get things done. Whereas they like, you know, it's kind of that like bit where as a kid you rely on adults to solve the problems. And in this case like hop and Joyce get kind of involved but like even the adults can't solve the problems and so like this like hybrid the kid kind of Raised by Wolves the kid who 11 who's never really had a childhood of whatever stolen from her mother whatever in season two and she's the one that actually makes the difference was it was an interesting interesting

Kev (17m 57s): approach. Yeah. I think that's right. Yeah, and I think so. I think it is an interesting approach and it's you know, I think what you were saying earlier like there's something realistic about it. I think that feels more realistic, you know, I think you identify West with 11 and more although you do identify with it because

Chad (18m 14s): You know you like

Kev (18m 15s): sympathize at the heart of it all she's she's just a kid. Yeah, but yeah, you know, I think you're sort of meant to see that World Through The Eyes of the other

Chad (18m 22s): characters. Yeah of the trio. Yeah. Okay. Like I liked we don't need to get into season two like now but generally speaking at a high level. I like season two maybe more on the re-watch than on the original watch but it season to made it really clear to me that season one was like a perfect little capsule of a story and on its own was just like fantastic start to finish like it was really quite it's really quite a simple story. It's like, you know government lab problem is loose people are getting taken kids lose a buddy and then go looking find a girl. Yeah, you know, yeah racing around getting chased by the government getting chased by the Baddie and then it kind of resolves in the school with like a single Monster getting killed by a single girl and the girl disappears, you know, like it's actually quite a like you could You can sketch out the outline of the story and like half a sheet of paper as opposed to so many other stories these days which seemed to have so much complexity and I think the Simplicity of it made it so much stronger. Whereas season to kind of goes it broadens it out a bit more and kind of didn't have as much of a didn't have as much of an impact for

Kev (19m 31s): me. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's almost like they wrote with the intention of season one sort of like if they didn't get picked up for a second season, it would have been wrapped up with a nice bow. It would have been all good and know it's like when they get picked up for a second season this like they had to go looking for more stuff to do. Yeah,

Chad (19m 47s): which I mean it's good

Kev (19m 48s): stuff. Don't get me wrong. I like

Chad (19m 49s): it. Yeah. Yeah. I enjoyed it. I didn't really like it the first time I saw it, but the second time I saw it. I appreciate it a lot more and I probably didn't like it the first time because of how much I enjoyed the like first season being Its Own Kind of Perfect on a pedestal capsule of Storytelling. Yeah. Yeah, and you don't you're not

Kev (20m 8s): surprised anymore. You know, I

Chad (20m 10s): think that's true. Yeah,

Kev (20m 11s): the first season I had kind of started. Thing about the show through the grapevine and finally, you know, basically I convinced to watch it and I just sat down and info fucking thing. I think in one sitting probably yeah and it and it was just the white folk, you know is it was just a smorgasbord of just hope I said that right after get it really does anybody is that even a real word so sure but you know what I'm saying? It just it was just a smattering of so it was like a buffet of like just all this great Nostalgia and and just I mean even like the opening title, you know, like the

Chad (20m 50s): yeah the music and stuff.

Kev (20m 52s): Yeah, the theme song the music and the letters coming together and all that stuff. Like there's something about it that just like really tickles those there's nerves, you know, those Nostalgia nerves and yeah. Wow the first the first viewing that first season you can't top that. No, you know, everything everything else is just like alright. Well, that was delicious. I guess I'll have another helping of that, you

Chad (21m 11s): know. Yeah. It's like a Thanksgiving. For once yeah, unbutton your pants and have a nap on the couch.

Kev (21m 18s): Yeah, and that could theoretically happened. Although well, I don't know we're not going to talk about the third season at all. I don't think it's spoiling anything for me to say that I still seem to have an appetite for it.

Chad (21m 28s): No. Yeah, for sure. I think one thing I die completely. One thing I was surprised by re re watching was how much of the development of the you know characters happened in season two. Like I guess I had kind of like Blended some of the stuff together. We're like, you know 11s. Mom situation was a big part of season 2. Yeah, even like, you know, Jonathan and Joyce and wilda kind of family Dynamics were all in season 2. Yeah the kind of Nancy and Jonathan fling thing was season to Steve developing into more than just a meathead was he's like, there's so much of it that was in season two that like when you look back informs how you see the characters in season one, but I had forgotten just how much of that stuff wasn't in season one and just how pruned back. Season 1 was you know, it was interesting to kind of see it from a re-watch

Kev (22m 17s): perspective. Yeah, there are a lot of really interesting development Arts there. Yeah, I don't know. Who would you give most change in that one. I got to give the Steve. I

Chad (22m 26s): think. Yeah, I was going to say Steve like I think like you just kind of like out he's an ass hat and season one. Like he's just like the jockey pretty boy ass hat and then like Stephen Dustin and season two was just like what one of my favorite bits like I just love that like yeah, you know Batman and Robin kind of sidekick teaching the nerdy kid and like the Farrah Fawcett Hair Spray a bit. It's just it's just been really great. This is so funny.

Kev (22m 52s): Yeah. Yeah. That is a great Arc. I like that pairing like they're a great kind of Odd Couple great great set up there. Definitely totally agree. I don't even need to think about it. He was that was my favorite sort of character turn around. I like the evolution of him and I loved the dynamic between him and Dustin. I thought it was great. Eight. He instantly went from being like I was like, okay, here we go. He this firstly like in season one. I was just like, okay this guy plays the perfect High School d-bag like sort of jockey, you know douche and then like all the sudden I was like, this is the coolest character in the show. Like I love the way that they made him evolve and then adding, you know Dustin into the mix was part of that.

Chad (23m 41s): Yeah. It was like the Heartbreak of Nancy thing really kind of opened the character up where you know, he became a real person instead of just a two-dimensional

Kev (23m 48s): dick. Yeah like that and more like it was like he was already moving in that direction and then that happened and it just sort of solidified it and I don't know. I just thought it was awesome man. I really really like the character Steve easily one of my favorites. If not my favorite, you know, like the ark and just the character in general like that's what makes for interesting characters and interesting writing and interesting acting too man, you know when you have Of like that in a show or a

Chad (24m 16s): film. Yeah. Yeah for sure and even just like the very end where Dustin goes to the dance with his hair, you know done like the Farrah Fawcett and you know, it's like anytime anyone in your life either you or a friend like does something different you show up at school and everyone's like what the fuck did you do to your hair or shirt or whatever and you're just like whatever man you're just trying to like find yourself for the kids trying to find themselves and all their friends just like you who could do. Do you know, it just really perfectly

Kev (24m 41s): captured? Yeah. Yeah that that is totally how it is. And I think I actually

Chad (24m 45s): like how to be a dick to get girls and like it was just like and you just hear the terrible advice and yours, but you know that like a senior in high school would give that advice and it's just it just really struck a heart string for

Kev (24m 57s): me. Yeah. Yeah. I mean again this should could be autobiographical. Yeah, I think I would I think I would early have like, you know hairspray Farrah Fawcett going to school. I was like, you know, whatever tween or you know,

Chad (25m 10s): hell. Yeah. I totally see with that hair.

Kev (25m 13s): Yeah. Oh, yeah. Definitely. I had a mullet man. And there was there's a period in time. I was trying to look like I don't know like Jeff Tate from Queens Reich or something and I like like like, you know trying to get that haircut. But like I just I remember going to school my hair was just like solid I think I think the pairing of those two characters because you know, we were both saying that we thought Steve probably have the largest dark because you went from this sort of being like a meeting he had douchebag to you know, sort of you weren't you realize he's got more depth to him and that he is not just you know, just like a lothario jock kind of, you know douche bag and you sort of get that through his relationship with us and be like, all right. Well if he's talking to this, you know, you sucking to Dustin who is like probably the most awkward of all of them and in the you know, original friend group and and then he doesn't himself sort of goes through like a pretty big Arc and seems to you know throw up. Fought in the space of season two, that would probably put him and number two.

Chad (26m 19s): Yeah, I mean they all kind of I mean maybe not all but there are a good number of people like like Nancy I think is quite good to where she she's like, you know, goody-two-shoes the beginning of season one and then you know as things develop. She's actually kind of a badass who like is really good at shooting shooting guns and stuff and like really kind of takes takes the bull by the horns and she pushes and she really pushes for the barbed thing which was interesting. That's another another thing that like, maybe modern modern modern creators have the benefit and the curse of hearing feedback about their their work. And from what I understand like there were a lot of people that were really pissed off with the way that barb as a character Nancy's friend was disposed of that. There was like a campaign on like Twitter and Facebook called Justice for Barb and that was a major part of the Creator's writing in like Barb and finding her. Dead and like her parents being all fucked up and having a funeral was like a big part of the the justice for Barb kind of online campaign was the only real reason why any of that stuff was written in and I think it added a lot to the to the show.

Kev (27m 28s): That's right. Yeah, I think that's right. And yeah because right I mean that listen I was quite shitty like, you know, she goes to shotgun a beer she ends up cutting your fucking hand really badly and then, you know, Nance just goes off with Steve and his Weezer to herself and like just sitting out by the pool like fucking a I mean, I've definitely been that person.

Chad (27m 50s): Yeah. Yeah, I think we've all had those moments, you know, we've probably had the moments, you know in the other person's, you know, we've probably all had the moment we're we're like fuck off I need to do something to like one of your friends and then the other one when you get ditched by your friends, like you've been on both sides of that probably, you know, yeah. Yeah, absolutely,

Kev (28m 9s): but you know, just they didn't seem to really wrap up that that part of the story very well. And the first season's I'm glad they you know, kind of put a bow on that one.

Chad (28m 18s): Yeah, and if I think if they hadn't put a bow on it or wrapped it up it would have in on re-watch. It would have been quite quite like you said like empty and unfulfilled

Kev (28m 29s): jarring loose and you know that just

Chad (28m 32s): yeah, but because because the audience it's from what I've read. The audience is pressure really helped, you know, Inspire the creators to put a bow a more thorough bow on it like because in season 2, there is a resolution. It makes the open-endedness of season one like okay and it kind of makes it a great part of the story as opposed to something that felt Falls flat in a way. So it's it's kind of cool that a Creator can kind of take cues from the audience to help Inspire and or give ideas on where to take the show like it's a cool feedback mechanism, even though half of the time it's just people screaming at you on Twitter. I'm sure that it's interesting to kind of have some of those things take shape. Yeah. Well kind of

Kev (29m 9s): gives you a little bit of faith that you know, sometimes good ideas get out there. And get into the hands of the right people through social media, you know because you eat often like to think it's just a screaming match and just you know, Bots and Madness and you know, yeah, so it's cool to see, you know, it's cool to see that in action because that wouldn't have happened say, you know, I don't know even you know to you know, 20 years ago or you know, certainly not the time but the show takes place in so it's kind of neat when that stuff goes right. I think

Chad (29m 39s): one of the one of the more interesting things that I heard about stranger things in terms of people like talking about it after the fact was talking about how like the different Splinter Cell groups like you were mentioning a minute ago, they split off and do their thing and each group is gathering pieces of the puzzle in the story and only you as the viewer know all of them because you're sitting back and watching them all and it gives you the opportunity to have a huge cast which normally is really difficult to manage woven together really cleverly because you're the person who knows Thing the whole time so you your kind of weaving it together for the Creator's as you're seeing more and more stuff and then the Creator's kind of push you along and stuff which I thought was a really interesting observation on the way that they take such a huge group of people and bring it together. Even with season two would like plus 5 more people. You know what I mean? Like, it's a huge

Kev (30m 33s): cast. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah that that's true. That's

Chad (30m 35s): true and they even acknowledge it and season 2 where it's like they're like getting the salt for the bath in the gymnasium and like Nancy and whatever. What's the main kids named Mike Mike and Nancy brother and sister like yeah, we can't keep any secrets from each other anymore. Like we need to be honest and Mike's like do you like Jonathan? She's like no. Do you like Alan he's like if gross, you know, like even even then they can't be honest with each other which it really it really keeps the group separate in a way.

Kev (31m 5s): I think compartmentalizing like that was sort of the only way to cure what you're talking about where you have too many things going on. It's just a giant mess. You know, like Seinfeld was always really good at weaving together multiple threads and and making you think at the beginning that they were completely unrelated and then all the sudden they're totally related at the end and you're just like wow like I often times when I would watch that show. I was like, wow, I couldn't believe how they just weave that all together, you know, and it's like it's not it's hard to do and I think that they do a good job of it in the show by compartmentalizing it and it also allows for character development as well. Like because you know, the core cast is the four boys, right and then their Core Group trying to solve this mystery or battle against the research laboratory, you know, their group grows to include Nancy and Steve and you know other people and it sort of becomes like a larger core group, I guess in like I think compartmentalizing it like that is I don't think it's the only way to do it but it's certainly a great

Chad (32m 9s): way to get was an affecting it

Kev (32m 11s): works. Yeah. It's very effective. Good word. Yeah. Effective exactly. So you're able to focus on okay these two are working on this and it's like okay we can talk about this part of the story. Tell this part of the story talk about these characters right now, and now we're going to switch over here down at that. I mean it sort of seems overly obvious that even say any of this but yeah. Yeah, that's why I think about that. Yeah and the idea that each of these little Splinter cell's are finding like a piece of the puzzle doesn't necessarily seem like the most realistic idea to me but there's a delight and that kind of Storytelling, you know, we're like, you know, you like, you know, you kind of forget that it's going to happen but like, you know by the middle of the Season you're starting to think like, oh, I can't wait for these guys to all come together. Yeah, because like they've all sort of got like it the missing piece of the puzzle as you said and like once they awake all interlock like Voltron, it's like

Chad (33m 2s): that's when they're exactly exactly so and it is a little unrealistic in the sense of like, why does the same random stuff or bad stuff only happen at the group of five or It's people but otherwise, it would be a really unwieldy story, you know, and it so you from a storytelling perspective you just you let him get away with it. But as you say it's like so delightful to have the different pieces fall into place sure and it also

Kev (33m 26s): it's an opportunity to sort of showcase the you know, the the talents of like each of those little groups, you know, the people want them you see you like what they're good at figuring out and you know, that that's yeah I'm saying like it was like we were talking about earlier with they'll sort of being like their Dr. Manhattan or whatever and everybody else sort of just being like a, you know a cog, but an important Cog in the machine those little those little Splinter cell's and their the puzzle pieces that they conjure up to put together something meaningful with the end is sort of like it justifies their existence as characters and their participate their parent participation in this story. I feel like in season two. I found myself getting annoyed with the whole will and the upside down

Chad (34m 15s): thing. What annoys you about it. Just the the lake. I don't know just for

Kev (34m 20s): some reason. I feel like that whole thing was was really drawn out. I don't know if I really like the whole, you know, Joyce freaking out and maybe a little over acting on Winona Ryder's heart. What the whole

Chad (34m 34s): like what's wrong with my boy kind of thing? Yeah just got I just felt like that

Kev (34m 39s): Trope was getting old for me in the in the spirit of the the whole throughout throughout That season, you know, like I was just found myself getting a little burnt out on that whole thing was like, wow this really can offer any like I don't

Chad (34m 52s): care, you know. Yeah like I mean like I feel ya he really was non-existent in season one, you know, but yeah, I feel I feel similarly was kind of is kind of more of the same. Him right up until the Spy bit which I thought was really interesting. So like the fact that they you know, they made it so that will was spying on the demagogue organ or whatever the hell the Mind flayer will was spying on the Mind flayer and able to help a little bit and then they kind of double agent, you know, the double agent thing where he manages to convince the government people to send soldiers down and then the he's like I told you you shouldn't have done it. He tricked me and he made me made me trick you guys or whatever and that kind of like all turns. So I thought similarly I get it didn't go anywhere and then all of a sudden the spy stuff was interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I mean the kind the kind of redeemed it a little bit it makes it makes sense in the

Kev (35m 48s): story. But like just you know, after the first season and then you know, like stuff is still going on into the second season. It's like, all right. Come on, like you know, why is this character even important? Like

Chad (35m 59s): yeah doesn't he doesn't seem to

Kev (36m 1s): have much of a relationship with the other. You know,

Chad (36m 3s): he just like puke slugs into a sink and kind of like Shakes in a corner.

Kev (36m 8s): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah just like that the victim for for way too long and the series or something, you know, and then just when Underwriters character's reaction to it as just a little bit. I mean, you know, I don't have kids but I imagined I would be kind of the same way. I don't know if there's any way to really play it other than over the top but just the whole scenario and the way it unfolds is just I found a little like alright. Alright already

Chad (36m 33s): enough get to the

Kev (36m 34s): point enough enough. Yeah. Well, you know, I don't know. I mean, I don't really have a comment to that because that's just sort of like your opinion man preference. Well, I mean it is but I mean that in the sense of like it's like preference, you know what I mean? It's just like yeah, there's nothing wrong with the writing. There's nothing wrong with the acting and it's like he just didn't like it. It's like you can't fault anybody for that. You know what I mean? It's like he's saying it's necessarily bad. You know what I mean? I mean, I think I like the way that I'm just I think about season two what you're talking about. I mean, he's definitely like a fragile kid and he's clearly got some connection with the upside down and he's like a special kid like a sensitive kid and she treats him thusly. I mean my I guess my sort of take away is that she treats him that way and she's protective of him because she gets that he's like that and yeah, I don't I mean I don't want to say she's a little bit of a train wreck. I guess she is world of a train wreck but his train. All right. She's a train wreck fine fine. She's a train wreck, but it's

Chad (37m 37s): like but she's you know train wreck. She's a train wreck at the beginning of the show and then by the end of the show, she's justifiably a train wreck. So it kind of

Kev (37m 45s): works. Okay fair enough and I like that they didn't like go out of their way to like redeem her as a train wreck. You don't know mean like they

Chad (37m 52s): all day Jack we're able to prove that. She was correct in being a train wreck. It was just like okay fair

Kev (37m 57s): enough, right? Right exactly exactly. But to finish my thought like what what what I mean, is that like somebody like that? That's that much of a Train wreck. That's had that kind of life. I really couldn't see her like she's trying to understand as best. She can something that's totally out there in left field. Like, you know what I mean? All of a sudden the world the world is populated by you know, whatever you want to call it parallel worlds alternate Dimensions with these like horrible creatures demons, whatever and it's like she's trying to wrap her mind around that and like her boy which she loves so like, I don't know. I think she played it right on in fact my opinion of her in this I was so psyched to see her in this because I haven't seen her in anything in a long time and like I thought you did a great job period so that was that was sort of my take away on that, you know, as far as Ben's comment on it's like yeah, I totally get that it rubbed you the wrong way and it's like whatever I get it, you know. Yeah, let me let me just clarify a little bit because I'm not necessarily trying to criticize the acting or anything what I'm saying is like the writers set this story up. And it has to play out but I felt like it just dragged. You know, like I felt like I was being subjected to these, you know, the raw emotions of everything for a little too long. You know, it's like okay. Can we just can we just like wrap this up now already, you know, but I Chad said you don't you know, like Wills not Wills not even really there for the first season in this like you've barely had a chance to care about him before then like by the end of it. I was just like Jesus Christ like, you know, anyways, I know I know it's part of the story but this is one that for some reason that that Arc has been a little bit of a thorn in my side. I'm like a Christ more

Chad (39m 41s): this I felt similarly, I think season one for me. I was I thought it made sense that he wasn't really there but I would have liked to have seen more of him me too. And I think they were trying for that and season 2 and I agree with you talk kind of dragged on but as I mentioned a minute ago for me, it kind of came good with the Spy thing with the fact that you know, it went with you know will and his friends being able to spy on the bad guy and glean some insight. To how to defeat him and then the bad guy was spying on them and they had to keep him drugged like I thought that was an interesting kind of like culmination for him.

Kev (40m 13s): Yeah. So guys, let's Circle back to the Nostalgia aspect for a second. I wanted to talk about that a little bit more. You know, this Nostalgia is I don't know play such an interesting part in such a huge part in this series because like you guys were talking about how especially you Chad how these you know any good Creator director, whatever they will sort of take what they're just a logic for and they will put it into their creative project like Tarantino did and like these Duffer brothers are doing you know, and they did they took like, you know ET and the aliens and not the aliens aliens and ET and you know, all these different things Goonies put them all together, but I gotta say like for all the one comment I wanted to make was that there's a lot of remakes happening lately and we that was actually one of our first episodes that I don't even know if we aired it or not,

Chad (41m 4s): but now that's a lost I said

Kev (41m 6s): yeah, it's a last episode we talked about how our childhood was being stolen by all of these remakes, right? Yeah, and you know these guys did it they did it right they did it in a really good way like the Nostalgia like like firstly like, you know, you're talking about a period piece, right? So this this show is a period piece just like glory is during the Civil War or you know, a million other films are in their various different time periods. It's a period piece and they add so much detail to it. And that is the Nostalgia is well, man. I mean, it's like that's who the audience is. It's like, I mean, it's not just people like us but it is people like us and it's the they do such a good job of recreating the period I think is what I wanted to say and I think they go beyond like doing a crappy remake of a movie that didn't need to be remade from The Eighties. Like there's a rash of that going on right now that really It doesn't need to be happening. And a lot of these remakes are poor. We've touched on a few of them in a few of the episodes we've done with I think we touched on the new Total Recall an episode or two ago. And it's like these guys just did it, right they did it properly, you know, like they added the Nostalgia in but they treated really more like a period piece and that was the backdrop for a really great story. So it was like, yes, they wanted to add in, you know, all these these elements like ET and Goonies and alien and like all of that stuff. But again, they used that as the backdrop that wasn't the story or that wasn't you know the show and I think that's like a trap that people seem to fall into and a lot of these remakes have fallen very flat, you know with a few notable exceptions. You know what I mean? I

Chad (42m 57s): do. Yeah. I think it's a couple things in that last episode we talked about the Remake itís and stuff and I think you know On one hand. My understanding is a lot of the remakes and reboots aren't necessarily they're not necessarily caused by lack of ideas its lack of risk taking on the studio Parts because so much of their money is made and non-English-speaking like Asian markets where they just want the they tend to want to see more of the stuff they like, you know, if there was like Ace Ventura 6 with Jim Carrey, they'd by billions of dollars worth of tickets to it versus like a new property that no one's seen before that. They don't really care about so like it's not to say that the the market over there is good or bad or anything else other than you know, an article I read that was talking about how you know, generally speaking the market wants to see more of what they like already. They're not interested as much in new stuff. And so there's much less much less risks willing to be taken.

Kev (43m 56s): I agree and I think studios are looking for some kind of ultimate formula to like make a film and it's like films are really about mean I hate to sound like sound so like art Lame, but like films are about art, you know, it's about creation and creating something cool creating cool stories visually and using other things to tell those stories. It's not just visual, you know, there's music and sound and all that stuff. So I get what you're saying and I think that you're right and it's a shame that it's like that but I feel like these guys did it just did it right? They did it differently and the stories are well written in this is sort of my Segway into the writing

Chad (44m 33s): like oh, hang on a second. I had a quick second point that I was talking about. We're like just it's just that like on the other hand like I'm with you like on the one hand. You've got, you know, the powers that be in the money only wanting to invest in the same old crap and that's where the bad reboots come from. But on the other hand, you know what I took from what you were saying is like these guys The Duffer brothers and the people that created the show aren't making a show to be popular. They're making a show because they love this Nostalgia and so like they're able to accomplish a good execution of nostalgia. Because they're making it for themselves instead of making it for, you know, a box office sale. And I think that that's where like the remake or reboot. It doesn't fall flat and the fact that they you know are borrowing heavily from these Eighties movies even to the point where they're like taking scenes directly from them and recreating them agreed. It doesn't seem like theft and

Kev (45m 27s): crap there. There is a lot of that there is a lot of that. Yeah. I

Chad (45m 30s): hadn't even noticed that at first but like on second viewing you're like, oh wow. This is just like straight lifted from this movie and that's straight lifted from that movie and because they're doing it with love. I guess it kind of works for me. Whereas they're not just some greedy studio. And so I that's kind of my take on what you were

Kev (45m 45s): saying, but if you didn't know you wouldn't be bunged up about it, you know, I mean, it's like Tarantino does the same thing. That's what Tarantino did he's like I've read I read a book about him and he was you know, like how he's scripts, you know for his for the actors. It's like there's notes like let's say like, oh like such and such from this movie, you know what I mean like that Those are like is notes to his actors, you know, and I know that he recreates, you know shots and moments that are you know, a from his favorite films like but but you know art is about taking something else and making it your own, you know been music and sure all of that man. And it's like that's what they're doing. I mean they're taking all of this great stuff from The Eighties and they're making it their own as opposed to re making something that didn't need to be remade, you know, and like for a paycheck. Yeah right for

Chad (46m 36s): cash. Yeah, they're doing it with love and respect versus trying to suck money out of your

Kev (46m 40s): wallet. Yeah, but it's also an original story. It's not like this is a remake of some story from The Eighties. That's the beauty of it is. It's an original story and it's a great story. That's what I've been kind of down in the jump in and say is that this Series has been really better at tickling all those Nostalgia tickly spots then any than any of the lake reboot movies that you know, you seen come along in the past 10 years, you know, some of which Okay, and some of which are really, you know utter tripe but this show being an original series is really the done such a great job of hitting on all those, you know, just just right details couldn't agree more. And I just couldn't agree more. I already actually yeah, go ahead Ben. I think I just died.

Chad (47m 29s): That's okay.

Kev (47m 30s): It's okay. It's okay. The main point I wanted to make was that it's not a remake. It's the Nostalgia is the backdrop for a really well-written story. It's a pretty unique story.

Chad (47m 42s): Yeah, it is and how they take like pieces of abilities to make a new thing and it is actually new is legit

Kev (47m 49s): original. Well, yeah, and there's definitely some ideas in there that I've never seen before that. I'm sure there are their original ideas meaning The Duffer brothers and like the you know, that's what makes the show great is that you know, the nest Again The Nostalgia is the backdrop. We keep saying this but it's like that's the backdrop for a really great well-written story. Yeah, you know, what am I doing? Say that's like the characters are well written. I mean we just talked about Steve and how that Arc changed and how great that was to see him sort of transform like that and and all the characters are Fleshed out, you know, and it's like sometimes they Slow Burn and developing the characters and their relationships and sometimes they don't and it works both ways and it and to to kind of segue right into the acting there. There's not a bad player in the cast.

Chad (48m 38s): Yeah. Yeah, there's lots of really interesting characters for sure one of the on the writing a little bit like one of the things that I really liked was how they were able to take the story and make it accessible to anyone like you could sit your your mom down in front of this thing and the like taking cues from the game and like using like, oh the shadow realm this and the demagogue on that and like taking cute like they were able to explain the four kids were able to explain to each other the situation by referencing their own kind of base of knowledge, which was like Dungeons and Dragons and stuff like that. Like I thought that was really clever and even just like the term upside down and how genius that is as a name for the realm and stuff like that and it just it really was able to to flesh. Out based on using the references that people are more familiar with in an in a completely uncertain super natural

Kev (49m 28s): environment, right? Yeah, that's well said I was some interesting mirroring going on. Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure about that. But in terms of the game they were playing when the whole series opens the D&D game that they were playing and like what will did and what he didn't do and then how the events unfolded right afterward. I don't know. I thought that was kind of interesting because it because then they were like, oh he didn't roll the Fireball and it's

Chad (49m 53s): like they chose to start a chose to put himself in danger, you know, maybe he did that now and yeah,

Kev (49m 57s): totally I mean I hate to be like, you know, maybe it was a little bit Freddy foreshadowing but whatever it was cool. I like

Chad (50m 4s): but it works it kind of like it kind of instead of a narrator being like and then this is why you should think this it like it kind of pushed you along and like helped you even a person that has no idea what the hell's going on. We'll pick it up and you won't have like the person sitting next to you mean like why did he say what's happening? And she's like I'm watching the same. Show you're watching just keep thinking about

Kev (50m 23s): it. Right

Chad (50m 25s): exactly. But on the yeah on the cast like you said man, I think one of the one of my favorites that wasn't part of the original cast is Sean Astin in season two, dude. I absolutely loved his character Bob Bob the brain

Kev (50m 38s): I know but I mean after to I mean it's sort of like, okay, so you've got all these like, you know, all this Nostalgia going on from all these all these references shots, even from these Eighties films and it's like then you put like one of the ultimate Eighties figureheads in the film, which is Sean Astin playing, you know, played Mikey and Goonies. It's like come on man. It just it was I thought that that was great. That was a great element for me

Chad (51m 3s): totally and evenly Winona Ryder and is quintessential. So yeah kind of that later in that era. This is

Kev (51m 9s): like, yeah. No, she's late Eighties, man. I mean Heather's was I think 89 or 90 Beetlejuice was straight-up

Chad (51m 16s): Eighties there any other Eighties heads in in seasons 1 and 2 sides? Writer and Sean Astin.

Kev (51m 22s): Matthew Modine.

Chad (51m 24s): Oh, Modine. Yeah. I loved Matthew Modine

Kev (51m 27s): Paul Reiser. Hello, Paul Reiser,

Chad (51m 29s): Paul Reiser. Yep, those two were awesome too. Like they they I mean Paul Reiser had more going on really than Matthew Modine. Matthew Modine was kind of the like quiet baddie, but they were great antagonists and the I like how they were like opposite sides of the coin as antagonists as well. Like, you know, Paul Reiser comes around and ends up trying to help towards the end even though all of his like scientists buddies were like, yeah, just let them all die who cares?

Kev (51m 53s): Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I liked I liked I love that Modine is come back. Like I don't know where he disappeared to if you're for a few years, but like I was so psyched when I saw him in the first season and you know, Paul Reiser, it's like of course bring it man. He's great.

Chad (52m 8s): Do you like Matthew Matthew Modine for me and stranger things was very much like James Spader in The Secretary you guys see that one? With Maggie Gyllenhaal? Yeah, like it's just such an awesome place to plop an icon of the era. Matthew Modine character is Papa it was so, it just fits so well.

Kev (52m 27s): I'll take- I'll take Spader in Age of Ultron

Chad (52m 34s): true that you I'll take Ultron over Dark World any day. I think we'll all agree on one

Kev (52m 39s): That's it.

Chad (52m 42s): What about the kids the kids were awesome. I don't know style hell of a lot to say but they were fantastic.

Kev (52m 46s): They they've always been fantastic and and all the new additions are great with we never we never talked about the addition of Max and season two.

Chad (52m 55s): Yeah, Max and Billy is an interesting thing. Yeah. First time I saw season two, I wasn't super stoked with the introduction of Max and Billy I didn't care. But the more I watched the more the more I rewatched the more I enjoy their

Kev (53m 7s): addition brother was really interesting. He was just like such a psycho man.

Chad (53m 13s): Yeah, and I like how he stole the king of the school, you know roll from Steve and it kind of adds a lot to Steve's kind of

Kev (53m 20s): struggles agreed.

Chad (53m 22s): Yeah, yeah, it gives it

Kev (53m 23s): gives so is a cool. That was a cool bit definitely give Steve a reason to sort of Unite with you know, his his group. Yeah. He's yeah, he's been cast out of the

Chad (53m 33s): castle Yeah, it gives Steve the like Fallen Hero kind of moment where he loses everything kind of thing. Yes.

Kev (53m 41s): Yes. Yeah. Yes. This is true.

Chad (53m 44s): It is true what you have heard she needs

Kev (53m 47s): yeah. So I hear the one

Chad (53m 49s): thing about the kids though. Like the only other thing really that I've got to add on the cast is like I really really really like season one and if there was only a season one and never enter the else it would have been fantastic. I'm not saying they shouldn't make anything else but like on its own the fact that is like, you know ten-year-old kids and it's just like the perfect encapsulation of a story. I really loved it and I don't dislike the kids in season 2 at by any means but the fact that they're a little bit older it kind of It kind of works on one way because they're developing his people and As kids and and on the other hand it kind of takes away from the magic that was them as like really little kids in the first season if that makes sense.

Kev (54m 29s): Well, I mean, yeah that sort of the evolution of characters in general. It's like you never going to have the money the magic that you had in the beginning. You know what I mean? Like that's the thing that sort of blows about stories like it's like Avengers, you know, like when I first saw the first Avengers, I was in LA at the time and like I remember going to the theater and I was just like full of Geeks and like people were dressed up people weren't dressed up people were cheering yelling. It was like the best it was the best experience in a theater I've ever had for a movie and it's like you just you'll never get that feeling again. And you know, we talked about it when we rank the MCU films it like, you know Age of Ultron was like whatever and like this and that, you know, the first Avengers movie was just was awesome because it was like the first team up movie. Yeah. Yeah and you're never going to get that feeling again. My guess is what I'm saying. So it's like you're never going to feel that. That way about those kids again, you know is the riding their bikes all over the place in the in the fall in Indiana, you know, like I don't

Chad (55m 30s): know. Yeah, I can't remember if the van flip was season one or season 2, but like you just like the holy shit that's fantastic kind of unfolding of the story for the first time. Yeah. I'm totally with

Kev (55m 41s): you. Yeah, they didn't worry about planning for the future. They just made something that wraps itself up really nicely in one season and then it seemed like maybe like after that they're sort of been like, okay, how do we move the story forward? You know, they've been like not that I think it's a struggle but but you know, it's like, okay now we're moving on things that are you know, well, they're different and people are going to like it or they're not it's this is the same conversation is like the Matrix in its sequels. Really? Yeah, right sure, and I'm not criticizing the second or third season here. I'm just I'm just saying that you're not going to catch the magic of the first season because I feel like they wrote the first season a certain way that was really satisfying. You know, the other thing I was going to say How long do you think the show can go on because it seems like the kids are growing up. You know?

Chad (56m 27s): Yeah, they're going to be like in college. It's going to be like Saved By The Bell the College Years pretty

Kev (56m 31s): soon. Yeah, right. Yeah, and I think you can go there with this one. You know what I mean? Like, it's got a big got a big gotta wrap it up pretty soon. I think well they are because I did some reading about it and before I get into that I just want to say because it's relevant to a thing we were talking about a little while ago is that you know, these guys shopped this script around to like 15 different production roses and nobody nobody wanted it because they're like it's about kids. It's never going to work, you know, like they stuck to their guns man and they were right by a large margin as we as we can see now, you know, but um, they said that it's it's it was originally intended to be for Five Seasons and that's

Chad (57m 12s): it. Yeah, it's interesting. And so I would have I would have expected haven't read anything about it, but I would have kind of if you were to ask me I would have guessed like a Trilogy Of Seasons would have made sense it. It kind of like surprise me to hear that. There's like, you know, potentially five.

Kev (57m 26s): Yeah potentially five and you're right. The kids are getting older. I mean look the first season takes place November 83 season 2 takes place October 80 or and season 5 takes place July 85. So and then there's a year it looked to me like in the production schedule. There was a year and a half between Seasons. I'm like that year like in House of Cards and Ozark and some of these other shows they come out like, you know every March, you know, like on the nose every March each year, but it's like this one. It's like a year and a half. It's like it's like a it's not a 12 month cycle. It's like an 18 month cycle. So, you know this that's the problem with you know, using young actors. It's like they're growing man, you know, and in the second season, they still pretty much retained a lot of that youthfulness, but it's like they're going to outgrow soon. You know what I mean? Like they're going to have to wrap it up, but it sounds like there they are. Either in four or five so you're going to get your

Chad (58m 24s): wish I hope they rev It Up in for I don't really see any value in going to five

Kev (58m 29s): personally. I hope they do too. I people try to drag stories out way too far and it's like just don't drag it out just end it and then just be joyful that it's like what it is, you know

Chad (58m 40s): move on and don't like not to go too far off but like don't end up in the Game of Thrones space where like the Creator's seem to be getting bored of their own creation by the end of it and just so like all right, let's get this

Kev (58m 51s): done. Yeah. Yeah just just have joy joy feelings about it. The joy feelings

Chad (58m 57s): man the joy. Joy where you pause make a

Kev (58m 59s): glib witticism right? Citizen

Chad (59m 2s): John Spartan. You are fined one credit for

Kev (59m 5s): violent. Did I just do that? I sure

Chad (59m 7s): did. That was so good. I love it. The only other thing I think would be worth touching on because we're going to get into season 3 and kind of the high level stuff. Next week is the conclusion of season 2 with the snowball and finally getting some actual like child. Moments instead of it just being like suspense-filled horror movie.

Kev (59m 26s): Yeah, so go ahead. What about

Chad (59m 28s): that? I just I think first that it no. No, I think I think that's you know on one hand. You've got Max and Lucas kind of budding romance in season 2 and you've got Mike and 11 finally getting some like, you know time together, even though she doesn't come into the dance until a little bit later and that kind of that whole thing, but I think for me in particular the Dustin with the hairspray and the like light blue suit coming in confident and his friends being like what's up with the hair dickhead and then him trying to get girls to dance with them and all the girls saying no was a really powerful and poignant kind of thing with him like kind of crying in the Nancy goes over and dances with them and stuff. Like I just it was a really interesting and great

Kev (1h 0m 11s): conclusion. Yeah. Yeah, right. No what I meant by my comment or is that it? I meant like you kind of summed it up right in that short sentence like saying you know it. Good to see them and it just them doing normal things, you know, and it was it was cool to end it like that and to end it on something as awkward and awful as like a prom / homecoming dance. Like I'm it's perfect man, you know, like everybody's been there. Everybody's been a homecoming. Everybody's been to prom everybody knows what that's like it's weird and it's like you're trying to like dress it up and be cool and nobody's really pulling it off. You know what I mean? Because you're teenagers. So yeah, I thought it was a nice way to end the second season for sure. Yeah. I think it's nice to its I like that they seem to wrap it up. I think even in season one for the most part was wrapped up in a way where he after all the shit. These kids have been through they don't seem any worse for the wear, you know, but they seem to like be able to get on with their wives and and it's one of the interesting things about it and it's one of the things about the characters. That's kind of interesting. I mean, these are just kids, you know, and they're going through some crazy stuff good point but none of it none of it seems to really affect them in a way that's traumatic, you know, like they're able to get on with their lives and you

Chad (1h 1m 33s): get the life goes on

Kev (1h 1m 34s): thing. Yeah, and that's an interesting way to frame it in a that says something about their character. It says something about them, but they're you know, I don't know maybe it's weird fantasy detach thing because they play D&D or whatever and they're just thinking of these adventures

Chad (1h 1m 48s): and campaigns done.

Kev (1h 1m 50s): Yeah. They're just thinking of things in those terms, you know, it's like how sweet this is like stuff come and I like real life. So coming true. I don't know but but it's but but I it may not it may not be realistic but I like that about it. I like I like the way they handle it that way because otherwise you wouldn't be able to move the story forward if there were just traumatized and you know going to therapy and freaking out and Yeah curled up in a corner afterward and total.

Chad (1h 2m 16s): Yeah super screwed up

Kev (1h 2m 19s): and I was like, yeah, these are like, you know courageous. Ventress kids that you know the care about each other and that's how they get through it and that they're always right and they're trying to they're always trying to go back to normality, right? They're always trying to restore normality and like move on and keep you know going with the normal things in life, right? Yeah, and they seem to be able to embrace that you know, like when things go back to Baseline they seem to be okay, you know, like they're able to get on with their lives in a way that's normal. You know that then it goes right back to like, okay, these really are these kids. There's nothing unusual

Chad (1h 2m 54s): about them. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting you mention it because season one does wrap up in a similar way to season 2 where you know, they're sitting around the Christmas table, you know, Jonathan and and Joyce and will or sitting around like eating soupy mashed potatoes and you know, Jonathan the older brother's kind of taken pictures with his new camera that Nancy and Steve gave them and stuff and like it does kind of go back to normal in a way. Yeah, and then, you know, the entire season one is a huge explosion of craziness and then it goes back to Normal, and then season two is like a further explosion of craziness and then you know, they'll have their first kiss at a dance. You know, it's an interesting way to tie it up but it don't you know, like life goes on, you know, like it doesn't it's not like The Eighties where everyone like jumps up in the air and it's freeze-frame. Like life does go on, you know?

Kev (1h 3m 37s): Yeah. No. No, it's not it's not that kind of Eighties. It's not like the end of chips, you know in the coffee break room with Grossman if my God that should be the outro music for this episode dude.

Chad (1h 3m 54s): I saw a an interview with the kids maybe a year ago or something about season 2 and how oh, no it was the there's like an extra show. There's like a weird behind the scenes Show on Netflix. You can watch from around the Time season 2 came out and and in one of those episodes they were talking about how those kisses were were actually their first kisses which was an interesting. It was an interesting kind of fact, you know, like the first time any of those four Has that ever kissed anyone was on camera. I like doing doing takes with people. They probably didn't want to kiss and I thought that was like,

Kev (1h 4m 28s): wow,

Chad (1h 4m 29s): it was kind of a wild, you know window into the fact that these kids are actually really kids and it's not just playing kids on TV, right?

Kev (1h 4m 36s): Yeah. Yeah. It's very cool. I didn't know that that's really cool stuff. I

Chad (1h 4m 39s): mean, it's kind of unfortunate that their first kiss was like, you know on a set as opposed to in real life and whatever but it was just it's like between between Harry Potter and stranger things like it's interesting to see casts grow up in the stuff you're watching, you know, like they go from 10 year olds to 20 year olds in years. It's really wild but I think like Harry Potter was probably the first time ever that you get to see kids grow up on screen and it like fits with their characters and I'm not massive into Harry Potter but like stranger things same saying like these kids are growing up and it's wild to be able to have the same kids instead of casting new people to play of the teenage versions. I've always I've always found that a little annoying when you know a story ends up like you're like, oh that's a really interesting young. And then like act to they have a completely different person play the character and just go like I want to know what that kids up to now, you know,

Kev (1h 5m 28s): hmm. I think I

Chad (1h 5m 30s): died did see I was gonna say I died by a failed attempt to shotgun a beer and blood everywhere and the demagogue or got me, but I think I just got a second ago. So, how did you guys

Kev (1h 5m 43s): die? I like that true.

Chad (1h 5m 45s): Maybe you died. You died from a Farrah Fawcett Hair Spray

Kev (1h 5m 48s): incident. Oh my God. Alright Ben. Go ahead and say how you died and I'll come up with something Christ. You know, there were so many of them tonight that they're just like, you know little little little deaths Here There and Everywhere where you know, whatever, you know, whether whether it be my ability to convey an idea following short or just you know, the attention span of you

Chad (1h 6m 17s): or your ability to remember how you

Kev (1h 6m 18s): died. This is this is the moment that I definitely died. Yeah. There you go.

Chad (1h 6m 25s): Let's start calling you zombie boy.

Kev (1h 6m 27s): No I'm with you man. It was a definitely a night of deaths. Like there was a lot of death going on. I died many times you died many times. I don't here's how I died. I in the midst of all this is a robbed a bank. This isn't true Eighties fashion robbed a bank. I was being chased by the cops down an Alleyway. I was driving a car and then my car hit a bunch of boxes. Yes, and when my car hit the boxes it went up on two wheels and when it went up on two wheels and then like, you know, basically flipped over and I got out and I started running and then the cops were on feet on there on foot chasing me and they grabbed me and slammed me up against chain link fence and that's that's what killed me.

Chad (1h 7m 8s): That's it. This is chance of death by chain-link fence

Kev (1h 7m 11s): Kev. When you're when you when you hit the boxes and you went up on two wheels and the car flipped over did it explode immediately after you got out of it. Oh, it's okay. Yeah. Absolutely. Of course been of course

Chad (1h 7m 23s): not what actually happened was a bunch of foam popped out and you were in a Cannoli.

Kev (1h 7m 31s): I like that.

Chad (1h 7m 31s): What does he say Kev?

Kev (1h 7m 35s): I don't know. I don't know what happened. I just I got outta the cat and all of a sudden, I turned into a cannoli.

Chad (1h 7m 38s): I love it

Kev (1h 7m 43s): Insert clip here.

Sly Stallone (1h 7m 44s): This car turned into a Cannoli.

Kev (1h 7m 45s): I didn't get to say I really I really didn't get to say Hawkins enough like Schwarzenegger you know: Haw-kins. Haw-kins.

Chad (1h 7m 55s): Well, you'll have more more opportunity next week. We're talking season 3 so we could do some some more Schwarzenegger

Ben (1h 8m 01s): Listen to me. Listen to me. I'm coming to Hawkins and I'm going to defeat the Demogorgon in single handedly

Kev (1h 8m 04s): I'm gonna come to Hawkins and you better save enough room because I'm gonna ram my fist into your stomach.

Ben (1h 8m 21s): I'm going to need a Uzi nine millimeter.

Chad (1h 8m 23s): Is tahat Arnold's pizza shop.

Ben (1h 8m 25s): I'm out killing pepperoni.

Kev (1h 8m 27s): That's it. And then he goes- then he says something like if you like pepperoni or 9 millimeter bullets call us for a pizza. It's something like-

Ben (1h 8m 38s): If you want something crazy like a pineapple of broccoli. I'll come to your house and kill you

Chad (1h 8m 47s): I fucking love Arnold's pizza shop.

Ben (1h 8m 49s): I'm coming to Hawkins and the plasma rifle with the 40 watt range.

Kev (1h 8m 56s): I don't know what- I don't know what's funnier in that pepperoni thing. Ben is like the whole thing about Arnold's pizza or the buddy in the background laughing the entire time. it's so funny.

Ben (1h 9m 08s): It's all of it comes together in a wonderful cocktail of silliness. But yeah.

Chad (1h 9m 14s): It's like Kev said it's a paella of ah silliness.

Ben (1h 9m 17s): It's a paella of silliness.

Kev (1h 9m 19s): I, I like- I like the way Ben just said it it was very eloquent.

Chad (1h 9m 22s): Well fuck you.

Kev (1h 9m 25s): Okay...

Ben (1h 9m 25s): I gotta say we got to use paella more often. I think it's a- we need a paella

Kev (1h 9m 32s): We need a paella!

Chad (1h 9m 33s): On that note. We'll see y'all next week.

Kev (1h 9m 37s): On that note. Yeah.

Ben (1h 9m 38s): She was another time.

Kev (1h 9m 41s): All right later Jobin.

Kev (1h 9m 45s): And that wraps up this week's episode. If you want to find links to the stuff we spoke about today. You can find them in the show notes in your podcast app of choice or at the website ebd.fm/16. If you have any thoughts on the show -comments or complaints- or an idea for a topic hit us up on Twitter @ebdpodcast. You can find me @mohlverine on Twitter. That's m-o-h-l-v-e-r-i-n-e. Chad is @chadnormal on Twitter. Ben is @jarheego on Twitter. That's j-a-r-h-e-e-g-o. And if you like the show, please recommend us to a friend

Chad (1h 10m 23s): subscribe follow rate and review

Ben (1h 10m 27s): word of mouth is powerful. Please recommend this to your friends. Yeah. Yeah. I'm down with that.

Kev (1h 10m 34s): Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time folks.