Spoilers

“The Rightside Up”

Happy New Year to everyone.

My New Year’s Eve routine is out of whack this year because they decided to drop the series finale for Stranger Things tonight. I usually watch Infinity War and Endgame until midnight. I have done that the last five years, but with Stranger Things tossing a curveball, I decided that tonight would be different.

I am going to address the hatred part two has received online, but just for a minute. I thought the last three episodes were really strong and helped set up what is happening tonight. You have the right to hate the show if you so choose. I hope you have more reasons to feel the way you feel beside the fact that Will came out to his friends and family.

Moving onto the finale, the plan to prevent Vecna from crashing the Abyss into the earth kicks off, but it never works out the way things are planned.

Here are some random thoughts:

• The way they dealt with the Eleven “death” was great. I really liked how Mike ended up explaining the possible way Eleven survived, but we really do not know. It was a nice way to end the show.
• Linda Hamilton was never used to her full potential. She was never really a character outside of a villain. Then, I wanted her to be dead, bigtime, but she did not die.
• The Mindflayer showdown was just awesome. It reminded me of the fireworks in the mall in season (two?).
• Joyce chopping the head off Vecna? Yes, please.
• There were some really tense moments. When Henry overcame his fears and struggled his way into the cave, surprising those kids… man, oh, man.
• I think there may have been too much falling action in the episode. Did I really need a graduation ceremony turned into chaos by Dustin? Fun? Sure. But necessary? No.
• Murray’s homemade bomb that took out the helicopter? Perfecto.
• I was also happy with the fate of Eight, especially with the potential way she helped Eleven.
• Eleven is truly a bad ass. The way she dispatched those soldiers was just nothing short of brutal.
• The special effects in this episode was just amazing. That gigantic monster in the Abyss looked epic.

Stranger Things is going to go down as one of the most successful Netflix shows of all time. I saw that the finale was being shown in movie theaters across the nation, including in the Cinemark that I usually attend. I was curious (although I was never planning on watching this anywhere but my room) so I went to the Cinemark website to find that the 7 PM show was completely sold out, as was several other showings that they were having. A few of them had just one or two seats available. Even the showing that is scheduled to start at 11:50 PM had just the very front row of seats available. This was in the Quad Cities. I wonder what it would be like in a bigger city like LA or New York.

This finale was a lot of fun for me. It had a lot of excitement and uncertainty. I enjoyed it a great deal and I feel like the Duffer Brothers brought their show to a definitive conclusion, even if I did not get Linda Hamilton killed.

SPOILERS

“Shock Jock”

“Escape from Camazotz”

“The Bridge”

Christmas night saw the second volume of the final season of Strange Things came out with three episodes that will lead directly into the finale, next week on New Year’s Eve.

These three episodes do a tremendous job setting up that finale. We got plenty of answers about what has been going on these last five seasons, and they really fit together nicely. I am impressed with the writing of the Duffer Brothers.

I love the way that they worked the Wormhole into this story, recontextualizing the Upside-Down and what it actually is. The whole moment when Nancy shot the wormhole was so tense and scary with the vacuum outside of it. I loved how Dustin was on the outside of the situation and found the answers in Bremmer’s journal.

Speaking of Dustin, he and Steve went through it in these episodes. They dealt with the way they were treating each other in the first volume and it was extremely dramatic as they handled the deep pain that they were facing.

Jonathan and Nancy dealt with their relationship in a strong manner. The scene where they finally told each other the truth was a really great scene.

I do not like how they are setting up the ending of this with the implication that Eleven is going to need to die for everything to finally be over. I really dislike the sister.

I love how the group is basically back together in the seventh episode, preparing for the big finish. They have not all been back together in a long time, and seeing the team come back together was great.

Vecna truly is terrifying. The use of the redesigned Vecna is really well done and how they use it along with the Henry form. Henry was every bit as scary when dealing with his little cult-like kids. I needed more Dipshit Derek in these episodes.

Max coming back was very satisfying too, as was Will’s admitting about being gay. Both of these moments gave a strength to the ensemble and allowed these characters to show how important they were to each other. It was a lovely way to do this, especially with the Will reveal. Will was still very nervous and awkward during the entire time, hem-and-hawing around the topic. Watching the group embrace him was a beautiful moment.

And we are set up with a crazy plan to save the world and prevent the crashing together of two worlds via the wormhole. A final showdown certainly with Eleven and Vecna (hopefully with Will there too. He deserves to be in the final showdown).

They have actually made me reconsider my New Year’s Eve routine. I usually watch Infinity War and Endgame to midnight, but now, I might have to readjust my tradition.