Well, another October is in the books. I never know how I should feel on November 1st. If this year is typical, I will slide deeper into a sinkhole of depression. It doesn't have to be that way, but what can you really do to preclude it and intercept those signals? I'm already on antidepressants, and there is nothing I can do to change my environment or living situation. I am writing far more than I thought I would on this subject. For that, I apologize. It's funny how "that was Halloween" can turn into "my brain is slowly skidding down a pathway of onyx nothingness" so quickly. Talk about a tangent.
No, seriously. I meant to discuss the second season of Stranger Things. I'm glad that I watched it early, as it took several months to emplane the first season. I don't have to worry about spoiling shit for myself, which I did with Gerald's Game (I might check it out anyway because holy fuck).
My terse, spoiler-free opinion of Season 2? It's fantastic, though I give the slight edge to Season 1. Maybe it was just more noticeable this time around, but I was chafed by a character quirk. These kids are way too smart. Mike, in particular, is mature and sophisticated beyond MY years, much less his own. It's true that certain children are similarly advanced, but c'mon. That's my only real grumble. Everything that made the first season so habit-forming is still present, and I absolutely loved the additions to the cast.
This is where spoiler-free territory ends. Please watch this show if you haven't. It deserves success, and if you're the type of nerd - as I am - who laments the fact that mediocrity seems to be in clover, you owe it to yourself to overdose on Stranger Things. Forget binge-watching; just fucking watch it, dude.
Fans are already clamoring for a third season. Okay, I could get behind further adventures with The Party, but isn't the story told? There has to be a reason for a fresh installment, an impetus for even stranger things. If the Duffer brothers aren't careful, a third season could feel perfunctory. I did have an idea (that will never happen in a million years). Discard the sci-fi/horror elements. The only "unfinished business" involves character drama. Mike won't let Max become an official member of The Party, Eleven resents the hell out of Max, Jim and Joyce need to fuck already and Eleven's sister...Christ kicking a can, that's a whole series right there.
If it sounds like I'm suggesting that the third season of Stranger Things be a full-fledged drama, your observation skills are on point. This show is so good, you don't even need the monsters. And that's coming from me, the "humans are boring" guy! Granted, the monsters pulled me in, but now that I'm in, I'm open to anything. Speaking of monsters, The Mind Flayer is a creepy, badass chunk of Lovecraftian psychomancy (that's an actual word, but I definitely misused it).
I'm in lust with the world that the Duffer brothers have engendered. I dig that you can raise a Demogorgon from birth and train it. I dig that The Mind Flayer can infect you by transmutating a limb into a goddamn tornado. I dig The Mind Flayer! And I dig that we don't know much about it. That's another concern I have regarding extra "sequels." It would be easy to piss on heretofore stainless storytelling, so if we do receive a third season of Stranger Things, the Duffer brothers must be in charge. Period.
PS ~ I caught 1922 out of curiosity. It's sluggish.
No comments:
Post a Comment