The entire dynamic of the show actually was expressed beautifully by andrew matthews, one half of the filmmaking duo behind zero charisma. And so events just keep treading water, characters just hitting tag back and forth until the story kind of ends. We know almost everything we'll ultimately know about the creatures and the upside-down after two episodes. We get vague waffling and further expressions of things we already know. But throughout stranger things, we don't get that.
Because in storytelling, unfolding a mystery is creating a crafted experience of understanding, built of clear information, a central driving question, and twists and turns that redefine our knowledge of what is happening in terms of scope, character, and deeper understanding of it all. Being vague is not exploring something mysterious. But it's one of the most fundamental things about plotting. It's a really difficult thing to explain. In reality, these were basic failings of audience communication, exacerbated by the show's foolhardy aim of "mysteriousness."īecause the truth is that "mysteriousness" just means vague. You could argue "that's the point! She was this supergirl who didn't understand the world and just plopped into our lives!" but that would only make sense if those questions of mystery were heightened and a part of the dramatic story. Hulk never knew what she could or could not understand, or what characters understood about her. For instance, Hulk liked her and all, but Hulk never had a sense of "the rules" of eleven or even what she was really doing or wanted outside of general safety. You know Hulk could care less about plot logic, but it seemed like every five minutes Hulk was going "wait, what?" and not because of some prompted questions of mystery, but rather just general confusion as to what exactly was happening and why the filmmakers were unspooling the information in the way they were. And if there is one word Hulk would use to describe the story of stranger things it's this:Īgain, it's not that it isn't well-intentioned, it's just that it's haphazard on every story level, from plot, to character, to the inherent drama of everything.
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But this show is a constantly confused story that always seems to vaguely know what it is aiming for and has no idea how to really get there or what to do with it. Hulk would argue that all of the "wrongness" of this scene is deeply representative of stranger things' problems on the whole. Because the clearly-sung lyrics of "heroes" have nothing to freaking do with this supposedly sobering moment. Even worse, it's a sad affectation made all the more puzzling by the tone-deaf song choice. This moment isn't meaningful to us, nor even to some characters who seem to inherently deny it, nor can we really sympathize with the characters based on the information presented. There's nothing actually being "played" on a dramatic level other than the momentary affectation of the scene's tone. What's worse is the real information we already instinctively know will be effectively revealed to the audience very, very soon after. And there's no dramatic irony to the event either. And on the flip-side, the scene doesn't actually play like a fake-out or reversal to that. We know he's kind of alive and we even know the manner in which he's kind of alive (based on what we saw in the prior episode with barb, and the way eleven seems to understand what's happening even in the moment the boys are upset).
None of it really makes sense on a dramatic level. It all feels distinctly cinematic, as the incredible actors emote with clarity and verve.
And as the images of sad characters spill out onscreen, the familiar lyrics of david bowie's "heroes" come into play, albeit in a slow, lonesome piano rendition of the song. After all that searching and hope, the worst is really true. When they find out, the other characters feel heartbroken and express this crushing emotion. The entire plot of the show has revolved around this character's disappearance. The third episode of stranger things ends with a child's body being found. Note: this entire thing contains spoilers
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