u/NatAwsom1138

An excellent new Andor review by Sheev Talks. I love his approach to this review and how well he articulates the core themes of the narrative. He also explains how the visual language and storytelling of Andor honors the Original Trilogy and why the "It's not real Star Wars" argument is nonsense.

In short, it's a fantastic analysis of Andor and why it's such a powerful story.

Okay, so I think I understand how chronology works in each continuity, but I wanted to run it by you all to make sure I'm not mistaken.

So obviously in both timelines, "0" is the Battle of Yavin itself, when Luke Skywalker destroys the Death Star and gives the galaxy a new hope. Hence why in-universe scholars (and we, the audience) choose to mark dates in relation to this event.

In the original EU/Legends, 0 BBY and 0 ABY are actual years. This means that 1 BBY ends exactly one year before A New Hope, while 1 ABY doesn't start until exactly one year after A New Hope.

Or maybe 0 BBY and 0 ABY are the same year, and A New Hope happens in that year?

I remember reading somewhere that Pablo Hidalgo used real-world years to make it easier to understand and track when events take place in case this system gets confusing.

So 1977 (0 BBY/ABY) would be when A New Hope takes place, then The Empire Strikes Back is 1980 (3 ABY), Return of the Jedi is 1981 (4 ABY), and so on. This may not be a perfect way to think of it in terms of exact dating, but it makes it a little easier in terms of general chronology.

I believe most people assumed that this is how things worked in the current Disney canon for a while, but it was changed in recent years.

Now there is no 0 BBY/ABY, just "0." This means that 1 BBY now starts exactly one year before A New Hope and ends with the Death Star's destruction at 0; then 1 ABY begins immediately and ends exactly one year later.

This interpretation is reinforced by the final arc of Andor season 2, which takes place mere days before Rogue One and A New Hope but is still dated 1 BBY.

So if I'm right in defining how BBY and ABY work in each respective timeline, does this basically erase an entire year in canon? Or does it at least significantly change how we think about dating things in Star Wars going forward?

If my definitions are way off the mark, or if you look at things differently, please feel free to let me know!

So I've been a huge Sly Cooper fan ever since 2005, when I was 7 years old. I got a PS2 Slim for Christmas that year, which came with copies of Ratchet Deadlocked and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

I eventually got around to finishing the game, and what must have been a few years after that, I finally played the first two games.

An interesting way to get into the franchise, but it was fascinating to go back and see how things eventually led to the third game.

Some of my fondest memories are of replaying these games over the years and following every single update as I anticipated the release of Thieves in Time.

Unfortunatley, I got rid of several of my gaming consoles and video games while decluttering a few years back. I was following some bad advice at the time from a book that assured me I could always buy back anything I really wanted later in life.

And so I foolishly got rid of all my Sly Cooper games, both PS2 and PS3. Getting rid of my 3 PS2 games, the Sly Collection, and Thieves in Time was like having the five sections of the Thievius Racconnus stolen!

But just like Sly, I've been remedying this recently by finally getting back into the games and buying back anything I still don't have.

I'm even reading and playing stuff I never checked out before, like the two issues of The Adventures of Sly Cooper comic series.

As for the games themselves, I've had an absolute blast. While it feels like they never really left, it's been long enough since I played them that it felt fresh and exciting again. So I guess that's the one good thing about saying goodbye to the franchise for a few years.

I even got my old CRT TV working from when I was a kid. It's pretty awesome playing the games on PS2 in the way they were originally designed to be played.

Which leads to today, finishing the last level of Sly 3.

I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this one. I guess I have the most nostalgia for it since it was my introduction to the franchise.

It's also sad too, reaching the end of the original trilogy, and subsequently the feeling of being snapped back to my present-day adult life after reexperiencing some childhood nostalgia.

Once I take a little break from gaming, I'll be diving into some Sly material I've never checked out before.

I've already ordered a copy of a book called Sly Cooper: To Catch a Thief, which is set between the first two games.

I also want to get a copy of The Sly Collection on PS3; that way I can play the games in HD on a bigger TV if I want to.

I've also always been curious to check out PlayStation Move Heroes and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. I'll have to get the PlayStation Move Controllers (I traded those in too), but maybe it'll motivate me to finally dive into the Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter franchises. I've only ever played a bit of each, mostly watching my brothers play them when I was a kid.

And finally, I want to order a nice PS3 copy of Thieves in Time.

Although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to stop right here.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of nostalgia for Thieves in Time. The two years waiting for its release were incredibly exciting, anticipating it more and more as I followed every game footage reveal, leak, rumor, and fan theory.

I remember liking the game well enough, but obviously the story makes some choices I'm really not fond of. Not to mention it ends on a cliffhanger that will likely never get an official resolution.

Then again, the Cooper Vault level has information on all of Sly's ancestors, making me excited to play as them again.

I've also been thinking that it's finally time to accept that there will never be a fifth Sly game and try to get some closure through fan projects.

That's what I finally did with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, reading several wonderful books by HandOfThrawn45 that gave some desperately needed closure after the Disney reboot.

I recently even learned of a fan project attempting to make an actual fifth game. Who knows if it will ever be finished, but maybe there's at least a good fan-written story.

Anyway, just wanted to get some of my thoughts out while they're fresh on my mind after finishing the game. Thanks for reading this far and I hope you all have a good day.

I recently had an idea to read every single issue of the main ongoing Batman titles, which would include all four volumes.

• Volume 1 (1940 - 2011)
• Volume 2 (2011 - 2016)
• Volume 3 (2016 - 2025)
• Volume 4 (2025 - Present)

As I went along, I would add any related comics that were referenced or advertised in whatever copy I was reading.

However, once I remembered that Batman actually debuted in Detective Comics, I asked in a previous post whether I should use that series as my baseline instead.

A few comments suggested I should just read both, since they apparently reference each other a lot, and both have some classic stories.

So that's what I've been doing, and wow, am I glad I did!

I've already gotten through the Batman stories in Detective Comics #27 - 44 and Batman #1 & 2.

This makes it even clearer why people wanted me to read both, because they're basically the same comic. The only difference is that one has a single Batman story published monthly alongside a bunch of other stories, while the other includes several Batman stories but is only published a few times a year.

I've also been taking notes as I read, so here are some things that have stuck out to me so far:

Constantly Changing Little Details As The Character Evolved

This is to be expected, but I still found it fun to see them figuring out what to settle on. Batman initially has a black and gray suit with blue gloves, his gloves disappear in one issue before coming back. Then, at one point, his costume has a lot more blue to add some contrast.

His car (not yet the Batmobile) goes from red to blue and finally to black. Even the way his name is spelled is constantly changing. First it was the "Bat-Man", then I think Bat Man, and finally just Batman.

And it's the same with other characters. Selina Kyle is first called "the Cat," then "Cat-Woman" or "Cat Woman."

Commissioner Gordon's hair has gone back and forth between gray and brown so many times! Not sure if this was an error on Bob Kane's part or whoever oversaw the digital scanning and remastering of these comics, but either way, it's distracting (but also funny. You dying your hair Gordo? I'm pretty sure Bruce can tell).

Speaking of things that will eventually change...

Batman Kills People Way More Often Than I Thought

Now, it's not as bad as people who try to defend Zack Snyder's Batman make it sound, but Batman does get a lot of bad guys killed.

Most of the time, it happens in the heat of battle. A common one is Batman using his legs to send a criminal flying off a building to their deaths. Other examples include swinging into them too hard and breaking their necks, pushing a statue to take out a large group, and causing their own weapons to be used against them in a fight.

The only instance I can think of of him intentionally murdering someone is when he shoots two vampires with a silver bullet to save his fiancée from a curse (Nice to know people have been taking that out of context every time I've seen that image pop up).

So far, the only thing even slightly resembling Batman's no-kill rule is when he's flying the Batplane and says, “Much as I hate to take human life, I’m afraid this time it’s necessary!” Dude, this is not at all the first time you've taken human life!

Batman also tends to say that a criminal's death was a fitting end or that it was better that way.

So yeah, he doesn't carry a lot of deadly weapons and rarely goes looking to kill people, but if they happen to be killed in the fight, he doesn't lose any sleep over it.

Batman Doesn't Live In Gotham (Not Yet Anyway)

Another symptom of the character's lore still being defined is where exactly Batman and Robin are fighting crime.

Different issues have gone back and forth on a location:

• A fictional yet unnamed city
• Manhattan
• Metropolis
  • Sometimes they say "a metropolis"
  • Other times, a location will be called "Metropolis X," implying that's the city's actual name.
  • If so, is it the same Metropolis as Superman? I wouldn't think so, but who knows.

Now, this isn't me complaining, as it's actually quite fascinating. It makes me excited to see when key parts of the Batman mythos are introduced for the first time and how different they were at the beginning compared to what I expect now.

Even so...

All The Fundamentals Of Batman's Character Were There At The Beginning

Since Batman debuted in 1938, I was sure the early Batman would feel very different from what I expect.

But aside from the style of the comics, the time period, and some more limited technology, everything you expect out of Batman is here.

The tone of the earliest stories, the costume design, his relationship with the police, some of his iconic villains, etc.

Obviously, things will be changed and added with time, and Batman goes through several incarnations, but it's cool to know that modern Batman has managed to hold on to the foundation laid out at the beginning.

Other Aspects Have Aged Very Badly

Probably the most obvious one is the depiction of other cultures. The Chinese, Hindus, Africans, etc. They're the most stereotypical depictions you can imagine and sometimes paint Batman himself in a bad light.

In one issue, a scientist fully admits that he kidnapped a giant prehistoric human from some African tribe despite knowing how important he was to them, killing many in the process. Yet Batman has no problem with it and is even glad he helped the guy out, especially when he goes into his plans to "civilize the creature."

Now, I know it's not fair to single out Batman and Detective Comics, as they certainly weren't the only ones doing a poor job of depicting other cultures back then. Still, it is a recurring problem that's worth pointing out.

Final Thoughts

So yeah, these early Batman comics are still figuring some things out, and they're definitely a product of their time.

Even so, I had been worried that they would be a chore to get through, but I actually do enjoy them quite a bit.

They can be repetitive, but they were also designed to be read monthly, not in quick succession like I've chosen to.

I have plenty of other notes I've taken on various things, but I think I'll stick to this stuff for now.

I guess the only other thing really bugging me is knowing how much of what I like about these comics is probably owed to Bill Finger, but Bob Kane only credited himself.

Don't get me wrong, I love Bob Kane's art, and he deserves credit for at least coming up with the idea and overseeing the comic for so long.

But after watching Batman and Bill several years back and knowing how long it took for Bill Finger to be properly credited, I can't see Bob Kane's giant O without getting at least a little annoyed.

But that's all I've got for now. I'll look forward to sharing more of my thoughts on Batman's run as I continue this very long journey.

So I recently had this idea to read every single issue of each ongoing Batman series. I believe that the main Batman title has had four volumes so far:

• Volume 1 (1940 - 2011)
• Volume 2 (2011 - 2016)
• Volume 3 (2016 - 2025)
• Volume 4 (2025 - Present)

As I read these volumes, I also want to add any other important issues referenced or prominently advertised in the main Batman series.

To keep myself from going mad, I figured I'd make 1 issue a day the minimum. This would obviously take a really long time, but it's not like there's a rush. And it's still faster than reading them all in real time for 86 years!

But then I remembered that the first ongoing series Batman appeared in was actually Detective Comics. I also read that it eventually became a full Batman comic, even changing the name to Batman: Detective Comics at one point.

So if I had to choose just one of these titles as the baseline for my Batman reading order, should I go with the main Batman title or Detective Comics?

Edit: Just to clarify, regardless of whether I choose Batman or Detective Comics, I intend to start in the 1930s or 40s and read every issue up to the present. I'm not asking which of the volumes I listed would be the best starting point.

I actually made a post earlier about my fears and expectations right before I watched the series finale, but I ended up deleting it and just decided to save my thoughts for after I finished the episode.

While I'm sure I'll think of more to say later, here are my immediate thoughts on the show's ending...

It's not a very definitive ending

I can certainly appreciate a finale wanting to keep the universe and its characters in motion after the credits roll, but it's clear that's not what this is.

The showrunners wanted to make another Dragon Prince saga, but that never ended up happening. I know they now want to make a sequel series, The Dragon King, but some commenters have let me know that this is far from guaranteed.

Here are some things that either weren't fully resolved or were intentionally left open-ended:

• What will happen to Callum now that he's used dark magic again? The Celestial Elves said it would consume him if he ever used it again, but does it not count since he didn't finish the spell to trap Aaravos?
• Speaking of which, Aaravos didn't get a defintive definitive ending either. After all the setup across the last few seasons and the high stakes, the characters ultimately failed and had to settle for killing him temporarily. So we'll just have to see if there does end up being a sequel to continue his story.
• Claudia is still out there and apparently willing to wait seven years for Aaravos to return. Redemption at some point? Fully committing her character to villainy? We'll see.
• Harrow is apparently... alive?! That dumb theory I'd heard some people mention about the bird actually turned out to be true?!!! I'm sorry, but this is just dumb. Not only does it undermine the emotional weight of Ezran's journey throughout the show, but it comes right after an emotional moment of forgiveness between Ezran and Runaan. They even show Harrow's assassination in a somewhat comedic light.

Again, there's nothing inherently wrong with having a somewhat open-ended finale. It gives some bittersweet weight to the story and lets us know that life will continue for the characters.

But at the same time, 4 seasons of buildup and still having the story feel this inconclusive is somewhat disapointing.

My worst fear didn't come true

I talked about this in my deleted post, but I was afraid the finale was going to commit to a trope I'm personally sick of because of the times it's been done in some of my favorite animated shows...

Gradually building up a romance between two characters, making it seem like things will finally work out for them, and then having one of them killed or sacrifice themselves at the last minute.

I'm really glad they didn't end up doing this with Callum and Rayla, or Amaya and Janai.

We did get an emotional sacrifice for Zubeia, though. Poor Zym, losing his mom and even his dad a second time, just like how Ezran lost both of his parents.

Some parts of the finale feel a bit rushed

It was kind of like a checklist of all the things that needed to be taken care of in only half an episode, and the writing suffers in some places as a result.

Overall, I like where the character ended up and the state of the world

• Rayla and Callum survive and get to live happily ever after. I actually thought there would be a time skip showing them married because I accidentally saw what I thought was an image of their kid on another post. But it seems to be a screenshot from a Dragon King teaser back when they were doing the Kickstarter campaign.
• Ezran and Callum patch things up, something the previous king and high mage couldn't do.
• Claudia isn't redeemed. As heartwarming as it would have been, it adds a bittersweet note to the ending. It shows that no matter how much you want to save some people, no matter how many chances you give them, they insist on going down a destructive path.
• A brand new city for humans, elves, and all other creatures to build together, and with an egalitarian structure of governance.

And that final shot of the stars with Leola's last wish... what a beautiful way to end things.

Final Thoughts

Just like season 7 (and really the entire Mystery of Aaravos saga), this ending was far from perfect.

It wrapped some things up a bit too hastily, despite having so much time to have set things up before.

I wish that the final threat could have felt bigger, maybe even spread it out more across the final season.

There are also some themes and ideas I would have liked to see explored more. The Startouch Elves who executed Leola actually being held accountable or at least confronted is one example.

But despite my issues and things I wish could have been different, I still really enjoyed the finale overall. It's a mostly satisfying conclusion for the characters I've grown so attached to, and I've enjoyed the ride getting here.

And at the very least, it's not nearly as bad or disappointing as some comments had led me to assume:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheDragonPrince/comments/1tzb8dh/finally_about_to_watch_season_7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Maybe it will continue with The Dragon King. Maybe this is it.

Either way, I'm going to allow myself to be content with what I've got.

But those are just my initial thoughts for now. Now that I'm fully caught up. I'm curious to hear what you guys think about the finale, season 7, the MoA saga, and the potential sequel series.

So I was a big fan of The Dragon Prince several years back, especially of season 3.

I watched seasons 4 through 6 when they came out, but for whatever reason, I never got around to watching season 7. I think it was because I just hadn't heard about it being released, and by the time I did, I was just more focused on other stuff.

I think it's also because I didn't enjoy seasons 4 through 6 as much as the first 3 seasons. Part of that is because each Dragon Prince saga is really just one normal season split up into chunks because of the Netflix model (that's probably why I enjoyed season 3 way more than the first two seasons on first viewing).

There were also some choices with the writing and pacing that I guess I didn't vibe with at the time.

But now that I've had a chance to revisit the first six seasons, I think I love the show a lot more than I did the first time.

Is the Mystery of Aaravos saga still flawed and perhaps a bit drawn out? Yes, but it's also had some of my favorite episodes in the whole series.

And now that I've refreshed my memory, I'm incredibly excited to finally see how the show ends, especially knowing that it's getting a sequel series!

Although part of me strangely feels like I have seen part of season 7.

I could swear I remember watching an episode where Callum has to come to terms with Runaan, the man whom Rayla loves but who also killed his father.

This didn't happen in the season 6 finale, so maybe I did start season 7 but never finished it for some reason? Or it could be a false memory based on a prediction I had at some point.

Guess there's only one way to find out...

So it's been a couple of years since I last watched The Dragon Prince. I never saw the end of the show and couldn't remember where I stopped, so I decided to just rewatch the whole series.

Happy to say that I love it way more this time around. I enjoyed the first two seasons more than I did on first viewing, and I still love season 3.

I'm now on season 4 episode 2 and wanted to share something that should always have been obvious to me, but I'm only noticing it now.

So when Viren, Claudia, and Terry are all climbing up the storm spire, Viren being out of breath and asking if the spire is taller than last time kind of reminded me of Callum.

Then the next scene is Callum getting frustrated while doing research and growling as Viren might have.

That's when it fully clicked that the protagonists and antagonists have essentially switched roles compared to the first three seasons, and the writers are intentionally drawing these parallels.

Again, pretty obvious stuff, and maybe I did notice it all those years ago and am only just remembering it now.

Either way, I think it's a fun detail and wanted to share while it was on my mind.

After months of procrastination, I've finally watched the first episode of Starfleet Academy.

I know I should probably wait until I've finished the season, but I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts while they're fresh on my mind.

Overall, I think the first episode is a really solid introduction. Really interesting ideas, fantastic production design, pretty good character work, and great performances all around.

I think it does a great job capturing the hopeful optimism of classic Star Trek while still bringing its own energy to the franchise.

Seeing Robert Picardo as the Doctor again was also a real treat.

However, the main reason I wanted to talk about episode 1 now is that I'm not totally on board with how it wrapped things up for Caleb.

I thought his story was the most fascinating part of the episode. We see a darker moment in Federation history where they basically ruined his life and separated him from his mother because she committed a crime out of desperation. Not exactly something an evolved society like the Federation should strive for, regardless of whether times are tough.

It seemed like we were going the Deep Space Nine route of being more willing to criticize Starfleet and the Federation as institutions to challenge the characters and force them to grow (we even return to Bajor!)

As for how the rest of the episode follows through on that... well, it's pretty mixed.

While the tone and atmosphere of the episode are really fun, and I loved it, there are several moments where it clashes with what they established about Caleb and how Nahla feels about it.

His life has made him into a hardened criminal who has zero reason to trust the Federation after what they did to him, especially the very woman who sentenced his mother.

Yet by the end, there is not one single conversation where he really has a chance to air out just how much she hurt him. Not even at the end, when she gives that whole speech about needing to listen more.

Then the episode ends with them being on good enough terms for him to smile while standing next to her and being fully on board with what will be required of him to stay in Starfleet.

Meanwhile, she and Starfleet Academy don't treat him nearly as well as they should at certain moments. For some reason, he gets singled out to have a regulation haircut despite his protests, even though everyone else has all kinds of different hair.

Then she has the nerve to laugh at him when another instructor decides to do a humiliation ritual and assign him unfavorable cleaning tasks just for having a bit of attitude on day 1. (ya know, the very thing he's probably had to endure in prisons his whole life).

This is made even worse when you consider the obvious undertones of this episode. Nahla is a privileged white woman working for powerful institutions who separates a dark-skinned family. Caleb is then abused by the prison industrial complex, only for the same institutions that set him on his dark path to recruit and indoctrinate him.

Then they rub salt in the wound by then requiring the dark-skinned person to cut their hair despite their objections and berate them in front of everybody, all while offering no real apology.

To be clear, having these moments and undertones is not the problem. Star Trek is all about using sci-fi to tackle issues like this, and a school full of people from different backgrounds is a good place to do it.

We still have a full season to go, so some of these things will probably be addressed more.

I just think Caleb's change in attitude and his relationship with Nahla happened a bit too early and should have been something that happened more gradually throughout the season.

But what do you guys think? Am I overreacting and digging too deep on just the first episode, or is this a more common criticism of the show?

So I just finished the series finale of Stranger Things. I've been getting caught up on the entire show over the past few weeks, and what a ride this series has been!

Season 1 was fantastic. Season 2 was pretty great but a bit messy. Season 3 was bad but fun and with amazing visuals. Season 4 was really good, but dragged a bit with its pacing.

And as for Season 5...

Oh boy. It's bad.

Perhaps not AS bad as I imagined based on what I'd heard from some people. But yeah, still pretty bad overall.

I don't want to make this post too long, so I'll just go over the big stuff that I can think of right now...

The Writing (especially the dialogue)

Now I know why this season's writing has been criticized so much and memed on. The dialogue gets progressively worse with each episode, and it usually falls into at least one of these categories...

• Rushed dialogue where each character immediately says the exact right thing or has a perfectly timed interjection. It's meant to make the conversation feel natural and energetic, but has the exact opposite effect.
  • It honestly reminds me of The Rise of Skywalker's approach to dialogue. Yeah...
• Every other scene is the characters standing around dumping exposition, laying out a plan, or some mix of the two.
• A lot of dialogue can turn too formal, making the characters not sound like themselves. This is where I understand people thinking some of the script was AI-generated.
• So much of the dialogue feels extremely generic, cookie-cutter, and run-of-the-mill to the point where it doesn't matter which character is saying it; it could be interchanged with just about any character (or any show or movie).

I could keep going, but you probably get the idea.

Stranger Things now feels like a parody of itself

It honestly feels so far removed from what the show started as that it might as well be something else.

Here's what the show does feel like half the time...

• The CW's Flash show (especially its later seasons)
• An extremely dramatic and oveer-the-top soap opera
• A sci-fi action war movie
• A superhero blockbuster
• Etc.

The show really wants me to feel something and be invested, but so often I can't take it seriously.

The actor's give it their all. The dialogue is supposed to be profound and emotional. Some of the show's biggest action and spectacle is happening.

Yet the direction, the writing, and so many other problems make it hard for me to care.

To give an example, Will's coming-out scene should be one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in the entire show. They've been building to it for so long, and it ties into the larger fear of losing people you love and not knowing how things are going to end.

But the acting and the dialogue feel like the most generic and hamfisted soap opera or CW teen drama.

Makes it hard to get excited for the finale when that's what the second to last episode ends on.

The Finale (50% diappointing, 50% amazing)

I should have a lot more to say since I just watched it, but here's my overall assessment.

The first half, like most of the episodes before it, was pretty bad. It suffers from all the problems I've listed so far, and it made some pretty strange choices.

There were potentially good ideas there, but it feels like they were throwing way too much into the mix at the last minute with no intention of developing them properly.

Although seeing Joyce chop Vecna's head off while all the characters think of everything he's put them through was very satisfying. I had just been thinking how she sat the whole battle out, so it was a nice surprise when she got to deliver the killing blow.

El's "sacrifice" was also very emotional in the moment. However, I was pretty frustrated that they pulled an Avengers: Endgame and immediately skipped forward a year and a half.

No exploring their immediate grief over her death, no explaining why the f**k the military let them go after everything they did. Nothing.

But the second half... was genuinely great.

Sure, it still had some of that generic, predictable dialogue, but the actors made up for it with heartfelt performances. It also helped that the show FINALLY slowed down and let each scene breathe a bit. The characters were allowed to have actions and dialogue that made them feel like themselves again.

It really did feel like a proper ending to Stranger Things as it was in the beginning, rather than what it devolved into.

It was certainly bittersweet, but I was mostly satisfied with the conclusion each character got.

I just wish I didn't have to sit through a whole season of such nonsense to get to a half-decent coda.

Conclusion

Okay, that's a good place to stop. As I said, I don't want this to be longer than necessary, and I don't want it to seem like I'm being overly negative or just bashing the show for the sake of doing so.

While the season overall is pretty disappointing, at least the story is finally wrapped up.

However messy it was, we still got one last adventure with these characters. The actors really gave it their all, and I can tell there was passion from the creative team, even if some elements (mainly the writing and direction) could have used some more polish.

I think the final explanation for the Upside Down being a bridge between worlds is a pretty good metaphor (sorry, analogy!) for the show.

Sometimes it's fantastic, sometimes it's terrible, and sometimes it's somewhere in between. Chaotic good and chaotic bad, as Dustin said in his final speech.

I may change my mind with rewatches and further analysis, but I wanted to get my initial thoughts out while the finale is fresh on my mind.

But please let me know what you guys think about season 5 and the finale now that I can be in the loop on Stranger Things!

In my last post, I shared my mixed feelings on Stranger Things season 3. I think it was a pretty bad season overall, especially with the writing and characterization. However, it did get better in the second half, and overall it was entertaining and visually spectacular.

So I was very interested to see whether season 4 would be a welcome return to form or somehow even worse.

Thankfully, it's (mostly) the former.

In terms of tone and visuals, season 4 is definitely more in line with the first two seasons. It also doesn't feel like a bad copy of seasons 1 and 2, bringing in new elements to set itself apart.

Most importantly, the writing is much better. The characters feel more like themselves while still being challenged to grow.

Even with all the characters have been through, I was surprised by just how brutal the season could get. Hopper is tortured in a Russian prison, pushing him to his limits and forcing him to reflect on his life. Meanwhile, Eleven is forced to go back to the same conditions she grew up in, work with the man who tormented and exploited her, all while discovering new trauma she had buried.

There are some contrivances and wonky explanations used to get us to certain plot points, but it often leads to a powerful emotional outcome.

I'm also conflicted about the reveal that Vecna is the mastermind that ties the plots of each season together. Apparently, the Duffer Brothers have said they planned the lore and overall story years before, but that's very obviously not the case. It's clearly a retcon done after the fact.

That's not to say it isn't done effectively within this season, and Vecna is an amazing villain who makes the story more personal. But it also changes how we perceive the threats from the Upside Down. Instead of just being primordial forces beyond our comprehension, they were all being controlled by a guy who used to be human.

Again, I don't hate it, but I am conflicted about it when assessing the entire series.

Aside from that, there's also WAY too much going on in each episode, even with the longer run time. This means the filmakers have a hard time balancing everything in a way that feels natural, and the season can really drag at times.

I know they split up the release dates a bit to accommodate this change, but did the episodes really need to be that long? I had to split up my viewing of some episodes due to my schedule, and I imagine other viewers were in the same boat. Might as well keep the 45 min. runtime and have more episodes, but what do I know?

Back to the positives, the most surprising part of the season was how it ended. Just as I was thinking, "Wow, this show never kills off its main characters," we get a brutal death for Eddie that hit me harder than I thought, despite being a new supporting character.

And everything that happened to Max was heartbreaking. At first, I thought it was a copout when El brought her back, but then I realized it's actually a worse fate.

Even if she wakes up from her coma, she'll be blind and maybe paralyzed for the rest of her life. She'll also know that it was ultimately for nothing, as her sacrifice didn't stop Vecna from unleashing the Upside Down on the world.

Unlike previous seasons, the overall state of things isn't wrapped up in a neat little bow. The characters failed, and all of them have to live with the consequences to varying degrees. They also don't get a break, having to save the world and wait for Vecna to return. This actually makes me glad none of them have been killed off so that they can all face the final threat.

So overall, I really enjoyed season 4. While I still don't like it as much as the first two seasons, it's a big improvement over season 3 and brought new stuff to the table. The ending leaves you genuinely excited for the final season.

Of course... I'm not getting my hopes up.

I've avoided major spoilers, but I haven't heard many good things about season 5...

• Some people say all the dialogue feels AI-generated (though I know that accusation gets thrown around a lot these days).
• I've seen memes and videos with titles like "What if X movie/show was written like ST season 5," which then proceeds to have atrocious dialogue for the characters.
• The reason I've been catching up on the show is to watch a long review of season 5. It starts with the person claiming that the series finale may be worse than Game of Thrones (ouch!).

Even so, I'm going to do my best to give season 5 a chance. If it is bad, I'll at least try to enjoy whatever good stuff is present.

And either way, I'll finally be in the know, and I'll be sure to share my thoughts once I'm finished.

So I just finished watching Stranger Things season 3 for the first time and want to share my thoughts while they're still fresh on my mind.

To quickly summarize my thoughts on the show so far, seasons 1 and 2 were great. Season 1 was fantastic, and while season 2 was a little messier, it was still great and took the story to some truly amazing heights.

But I'm gonna be honest, season 3 got off to a pretty rough start.

I'd heard another reviewer say that season 3 was "terrible," but I was willing to make up my own mind. But that didn't prepare me for some of the frustrating and, quite frankly, baffling moments throughout the first few episodes.

In a previous post, I shared my thoughts on why I didn't like the whole subplot with Mike's mom, Karen, having a thing for Billy and almost having an affair with him.

I realize now that I did overreact a bit, since she at least realized how wrong she was for even thinking about it, and it doesn't play much of a role in the rest of the season. Of course, that also makes me wonder why they had to include it at all.

But that wasn't the only problem with the first few episodes. My main issue is that several characters felt flanderized or were just plain out of character.

I could tell the season was going for a more comedic, whimsical, over-the-top approach, and I get that to a degree. Many 80s horror franchises mix things up and go crazy in later sequels to keep things from going stale (or as a gimmick once things have already gone stale), so I guess it makes sense for Stranger Things to do the same thing.

However, it doesn't change that some of the characters and the choices they made were insufferable, especially Hopper.

Despite my problems with the first few episodes, I will say that the season got a lot better in the second half. And some of the character problems I had at the beginning become more forgivable once you understand why they were acting that way and how it comes full circle.

And for such a colorful and often comedic season, the finale really hit me in the feels more than I expected. I've been there with my high school girlfriend moving away, and having to go my separate ways with several friends at various points over the years, so having both happen to the characters in the finale dredged up a lot of painful feelings.

Still, it makes sense to finally reach this point after all the characters have been through, and I'm curious to see how this will affect them in the next season.

So yeah, overall, this season was a step down from the first two. The writing is generally really bad, and the characters don't get off to a great start.

But even at its lowest points, the season makes up for it by being really entertaining or having a lot of heart. The visuals are outstanding, and the cast continues to do a great job.

Glad the season didn't end up being a total loss, but I guess we'll see how the next two seasons fare...

So I'm finally getting caught up on all five seasons of Stranger Things. I watched the first season back when it came out in 2016, but only a couple of episodes of season 2 when it premiered.

Recently, I've been curious about all the memes and videos related to season 5's quality. One of my favourite YouTubers also posted a long review of the season, so I decided to finally watch the whole show for myself.

I have to say I'm really enjoying it so far, and it's even better than I remembered. Season 1 is fantastic, and while season two is a bit messy, I really like how it raised the stakes and brought all the characters together.

However, there was one aspect of season 2 that was really odd and caught me off guard... Mike's mom, Karen, suddenly becomes a bit of a creep.

I was already a little caught off guard that she looked and acted a bit different, but it wasn't a huge deal. It's the 80s, and her loveless marriage is clearly getting worse, so I could understand doing a new hairstyle with more makeup, diving into romance novels, trying to act more upbeat, etc.

But then Billy Hargrove shows up looking for his stepsister... and she's left breathless because she finds him really attractive. And according to the wiki, he was born in 1967, making him 17, whereas Karen is probably in her 40s.

I thought this was such a weird scene to put in, especially for Karen. It's not like she was an amazing standout character in season 1, but at least she had a level head and acted like a grown-up, competent woman, including when it came to picking up on her daughter's teen-like romantic infatuation. Surely, she would be long past acting that way over anyone, right?

Despite how weird it was, I would have let it go if it were just one scene.

But now I'm watching season 3, episode 1, and Karen and her middle-aged friends are hanging out at the pool just so they can gawk at Billy when he comes out shirtless for his lifeguard job (he's now 18, so I guess it's fair game now that he's legal).

I know the actor was in his early 20s, and I haven't watched the rest of the scene yet, so maybe it's not as bad as I think (Nope, I watched the whole scene to be sure, and her behaviour is even weirder than I thought it would be).

I guess I just don't understand why they suddenly feel the need to do something so obviously creepy with these two characters.

I know this is a pretty tired argument when it comes to standards for how men and women are written in media, but I think it applies here... if the genders were reversed and Karen were a 40-something-year-old man while Billy were an 18-year-old girl, a scene like this would be inexcusable regardless of context.

And I get that the show is not excusing her behaviour, but the tone of these scenes arguably makes light of it more than it should.

As I said, I'm only just now getting caught up, so I'm sure this has been talked about already. I just wanted to get my thoughts out while I was thinking about it.

Edit: So I finished the episode, and it got worse. Karen was actually getting dolled up and going to have an affair with Billy at a motel, but she changed her mind after hearing her husband's snoring and seeing him with their daughter. I guess it's good she came to her senses and felt bad about it, but still.

The situation is also worse when you remember that Billy has been abused by his own father and neglected by his stepmother, so it's possible that he's seeking love and security from an older woman that he doesn't get in his own home.

I guess they could have at least used that to make him a bit more sympathetic or have us feel sorry for him before he's dragged off by the monster, but it doesn't feel like they were trying to frame it that way. He's still just the asshole trying to bang a woman twice his age.

And I can tell the season is only going to get worse because of several main characters feeling flanderized or just out of character, particularly Hopper.