This show was not on my radar. I had heard a few things here and there, but nothing to really draw me in. But my sister was hyping it over Thanksgiving, and me and my wife, my boys, my sister, and my niece and nephew ended up binge watching the first season Friday and Saturday night. Just...wow. Lots of really good things to say about it. There were definitely things about it that bugged me as well. But overall, really good. It managed to catch the '80s vibe incredibly well, whether through the music, the clothes (without being over the top), the cars, Winona in a lead role, or what have you. And I loved that it constantly reminded me of some of the best '80s films without crossing the line and feeling like they were trying to hard (I probably got the strongest callbacks to Stand By Me, Poltergeist, and E.T., as well as having the spirit of Stephen King all over the place without feeling like they were referencing any specific King story).
I read the beginning of the thread, but stopped where the studio had been dropping information about the then-forthcoming season 2. I will stay out of the thread until we watch that. Not sure when, but I am sure we will see all sometime between now and then end of the New Year break.
A few thoughts and theories about the story after just seeing Season 1 one time. Some of this may have actually been explained in season 1 and we just missed it. Some may be proven or disproven in season 2. I have no idea. Just throwing some things out there that I was thinking about and some things I discussed with the wife and kids.
So...it seems like the main portal between the Upside Down and here is what was opened at the lab, and is fed and kept open by some big power source there. Unless we were intentionally misled, I think that much is pretty clear. What wasn't clear, at least to us, is how the small portals that opened and closed (like the one in the tree that Nancy went through) worked. And, related to that (or not?), is how the monster crossed over by more or less making its own portals and smashing through walls. Again, not sure whether there was actually more info than I gleaned through a first viewing, or whether this is all explained better in season 2, but here is my main theory as to how it works. My son was asking whether the monster creates the other portals. Could be, but I don't think so. I think the smaller portals appear and disappear more or less on their own in the area close by Hawkins Lab because that area is in close proximity to the power source and/or the main "rip" between realms. I think maybe power fluctuations or something like that cause them to open and close, and the monster sometimes finds them and comes through. Using the analogy of the paper that the high school teacher used, I think where we have the "main tear" at the portal, the "paper" is weaker close to that point, and as the "paper" flexes and moves, other holes open and close nearby. Kind of related to that, because the "paper" is weaker at that point, I think the monster is able to sometimes break through at points fairly near the main portal, but probably not other places. And the reason it likely chooses to do so at times, I think, is because it can hear (and possibly see) others making loud noises on the other side in places close to that main portal, just as Joyce and Hopper could in the last episode when they were in the Upside Down. So, reality is distorted and the boundary between here and the Upside Down is weaker and tends to fluctuate close to the main portal, which enables a fluctuating ability to cross back and forth in the area close to the main portal, which weakens and disappears the farther away you go. That's my best theory anyway.
So...is Eleven alive? At first, I assumed she had to be gone. There's just too much that wouldn't work about her trying to assimilate into the real world that it seemed best anyway. But I assumed she really died. I thought Hopper leaving food was basically a memorial. But then I began second guessing that, and I think she must be alive, and that he knows it.
Is the monster alive? I don't know. But I don't think it matters. I wasn't sure whether the snakelike thing they removed from Will's throat was another living thing, or whether it was basically a feeding/breathing mechanism to keep him alive while another one spawned or something. But I think either way, the hint has been dropped that there are (or soon will be) more of them. And if not, there are (or soon will be) other creatures from the Upside Down that are going to create problems.
Steve. Hated him. But it was cool that he had more or less of a redemption arc. He seemed obviously genuinely sorry and changed by everything, which seems to have put him on a good path instead of the very bad one he was on. I like that. I hope he stays on that better path.
Will. Was what he saw at the end of the last episode a hallucination? Was it real? If it was real, what does it mean? And does he understand what is happening, or is he afraid and in denial? If he has part of the Upside Down that is now a part of him, does he have a special connection with the Upside Down that will allow him to connect with El, open and close portals, or other stuff? I have no idea.
Anyhow, see you all in a few weeks once I get caught up.