The Horror Returns - THR Bonus - Episode: Stranger Things Season 2 Recap (Re-upload)

Episode Date: July 7, 2022

With Stranger Things fever taking the world, we figured we would bring you guys a little treat from Season 2. Thanks for listening! The Horror Returns Website: https://thehorrorreturns.com THR Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thehorrorreturns THR Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehorrorreturns/ Join THR Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1056143707851246 THR Twitter: https://twitter.com/horror_returns?s=21&t=XKcrrOBZ7mzjwJY0ZJWrGA THR Instagram: https://instagram.com/thehorrorreturns?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= SK8ER Nez Podcast Network https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-p3n57-c4166 ESP Anchor Feed: https://anchor.fm/mac-nez E Society YouTube Channel https://youtube.com/channel/UCliC6x_a7p3kTV_0LC4S10A Music By: Steve Carleton Of The Geekz

Victims, for those of you who delight and dread, who fantasize about fear, who glorify goal, welcome. You have found the place where the whole returns. Listeners beware. This podcast contains major plot spoilers in the foulest of language. Join us in celebrating the old and the new, the best, and the worst in horror. So we figure what the hell we'll put together a little, Strangre Thing, Season 2 recap, and won't be reviewing any movies on this one, we're just talking about the show. Philip, I think you saw it most recently. What were your general thoughts about it?

Like, what were you expecting, and did you get what you were expecting when it was all said and done? Um, yeah, I, uh, I, I finished it this week, uh, because I knew we were doing the episode. And I, you know, was one of the only people on the planet to not have finished this series yet. Uh, so, uh, I was, uh, I was really super impressed. Uh, I think that, uh, I'm not sure if the story was quite as good as the first season, um, because I feel like they're setting it up for, you know, multiple seasons. to come, which is fine. But the production value was great. It was like very, very well shot. Music was spot on the whole time.

They even played some Metallica in there, which they did. I'm down for, yeah. Four horsemen, too. That's a deep cut. And I really enjoyed it, man. they hit that 80s thing on the head and they hit that like kitchy nostalgia

thing really well I loved ah what was the curly haired kid oh dusted yeah my favorite he was great in this I kind of

open ended though and I'm sure that was intentional you know for future stuff because I think everything that they did in this was intentional these guys are are really smart. It was really well-witten. And I was impressed with it a lot. Yeah, the Duffer brothers

is that what they're doing. Yeah. I will agree with you. This isn't better than the first season, but it's right around there. You know, I totally enjoyed every episode. Everybody's phenomenal in this. I kind of, there's a lot of people

don't like some of the new characters. I kind of do I kind of do like the addition of Billy I think I think that's leading to something else Yeah yeah Obviously because I don't know what the fuck's up with that guy I liked Max I thought she was really cool

Mad Max Yes I like that whole In the arcade The Dig Doe Yeah Yeah sure Which that was very nostalgic for me Because you know arcades

Video games You know kids don't know what an arcade is nowadays. Yeah. And they were awesome. But yeah, Billy, we're getting into spoilers here, right? Yeah, we may as well spoil it. May as well.

I really believe his character is leading to something else. Like the whole scene where he's telling Lucas to leave his sister alone. I honestly, at first I was kind of getting a little racist vibe from him. But I think. he's this is leading up to something to do with the father. Mm-hmm. I think he's, I think he's protecting him from the father,

and he doesn't know how to go about it other than to be an asshole and threaten him to leave his sister alone or step sister. Mm-hmm. And, yeah, because we get introduced to the dad who, you know, calls him some names, some names that, you know, you,

really surprised they dropped it in this episode yeah but it was you know this movie set or not movie this show set in the 80s

so and you know he gets smacked around and I just heard a lot of people did not like Billy or Max at all and I think

the Billy thing's leading to something else Max I like the dynamic in the group now yeah because in season one you had the issue of what is his name uh mike is that the main kid yeah you had the issue with him bringing

11 into the group that lucas didn't like and now the roles are reversed because yeah they're bringing uh max in and mike's not really going with it because it's messing up the whole dynamic of the group and i i really like that and yeah that makes sense plus he's not in 11 yeah shan asked two. I mean, did you I know you guys got the Goonies reference and the buried treasure line? Oh, no. It was the same. I get

it now. The X-Mars the spot. Okay. Oh, nice. Yeah. And I really felt... How do you not love Rudy? Yeah, I really felt bad for that guy. That Bob, the character Bob was just the nicest guy. I know.

He saved everyone and... Ultimately, like, when it went... I guess we're full into spoilers. So, yeah, when he died, I was like, oh, no! Why would you do that? Yeah, that was... I really liked him. That was the one where one day into the show running.

There were people all over Facebook saying, oh, no! We were like... Yeah. Thanks. That kind of destroyed me a little bit. I was really upset when that happened. What did you guys think about? What did you guys think about Paul Reiser's character?

Dr. Owens or whatever his name was? You know what? I didn't know what to think of him at first because I thought he was another... I still don't know what to think of him, man. Yeah, I thought he was another Matthew Modine type character, one of these scientists for this corporation or whatever. We still don't even know who they are. Right.

He's either the nicest bad guy around or is legitimately trying to do something right and maybe has been on the wrong path, you know? Yeah. It's possible. I mean, I'm kind of going with that. Yeah, you know, he told him that they had to take out the old regime, you know, because I guess they weren't doing it right or they weren't recognizing the human rights of the people that they were working with. But, you know, obviously they see that it's their task to keep this threat back.

So do you guys think, obviously, there's a big Lovecraft feel here, right? If you've read any HP Lovecraft or... Oh, absolutely. So is that what this is leading up to? I mean, you guys think that this is going to tie directly, you know, directly into that mythos or what? I don't know. I heard a theory. There's a lot of theories about this show when at the end of the finale.

in that last scene where it flips into the upside down. Yep. A lot of people are theorizing that that's that town in the future. What we're seeing is the future of that town. Okay, I didn't get that. I thought it was in the upside down. Same town but in that alternate dimension. Yeah, what they're saying is the upside down,

what the upside down is the future. What we're seeing is the future. Oh, and it's like a time travel thing as opposed to, an alternate dimension thing. Yeah, there's, yeah, there's a lot of crazy theories about this show, because there's also a scene from season one where you

see Hopper in the hospital after his daughter dies and he's crying in the hallway. It's the same hallway that Paul Rises, where they find Paul Rises character in that hospital when he got attacked by the demo dogs.

Really? The same exact shot. Hmm. So, a lot of it. lot of people are saying where Hopper's daughter passed away is the same exact hospital. So I don't know. I don't know. There's a lot of crazy theories. Hmm.

It kind of sounds that way, doesn't it? Oh, I did see a thing on a little Easter egg about Hopper, though. Yeah. His daughter who died in the first season, well, technically before the first season, has got like a little blue hair band, right? And then you notice that she wears it around his wrist for the whole series. Okay. And at the very end, guess who's got it on her wrist?

11. Yeah. Okay. So he gave it to her. That's his new daughter, apparently. Right. Like, for real this time. See, I thought at the end of the first one, I thought she went, I thought she went over there to the upside down.

I thought that's where she was going to be like, I was afraid this season was going to be basically just a rehash of the first season, but with her being the lost one that they had to go save. But I guess, you know, I guess he's, did he save her right away? Or how did that work? Did you guys catch all that? Like, why would you live on? She found an opening right away.

That's right. It showed her like pushing right through the opening. Yeah. Because she has powers that a lot of the other ones do. Oh. The only thing I was a little. a little confused with because you got you you you flash forward to her in the the woods basically living on her own egos and food in that little box in the woods so i didn't see the connection how he already knew

she was coming back or she was eventually going to come back they kind of glossed over that i don't know maybe i missed something well they can't yeah they kind of fast forwarded to that um one thing i did like we we got a relationship that i didn't know i wanted but now I do. Yeah. And that's Dustin and Steve. Yeah. Because they're like a bromance.

Yeah. It's crazy with Steve because he was, he was a douche in the first one. Right. He gets, he gets his ass kicked. Then he redeems himself. Sure.

And he, he ends up with Nancy. And you want Jonathan to be with Nancy. But then they flip it around in this one. Yeah, they do. Jonathan ends up with Nancy. But, you want Steve with him because Jonathan is halfway useless in this whole second season.

You think so? Yeah, because he didn't do shit in the first season. Steve came in with the bat and kind of semi-saved a day. And this, in the second season, you got to see him where Hopper is trying to give him the gun and he's frozen, doesn't know what to do. So Nancy grabs the gun. So I don't know what Jonathan does. except look tired because he, I don't know, he's related to Dane Don or...

You take the words out of my mouth. Which, I don't know if you guys know, he did recently just get arrested. Oh, yeah, but the cocaine, right? Yeah. Can't bring... Cocaine in an airport. Yeah, you can't do that.

Oh, not a good idea. Charlie Heaton can't bring cocaine on an airplane. It's supposed to... Charlie Heaton, not... That idea. Why would you bring it to the airport in the first place? I guess we should talk about the controversial episode that everybody hates, which is episode seven. The one that's primarily 11, where she finds her, basically her last sister.

It's called the lost sister. All right. Yeah, no, I like that one where she went into the city. Why is it controversial? I really. People felt like it was unnecessary to the story. It didn't lead anywhere.

Well, we ain't done yet. I mean, they've already approved two more seasons. That's another one. This is going to happen. Yeah, that was one of the things I thought. I thought it was kind of a cool episode. It was fun to watch. But, yeah, you're right.

They totally left that. That was one of the parts that I was talking about. They left totally untended. Sure. Yeah. Did not. just enough into these people to get you interested and then just left them behind completely. Yeah, because I'm excited to see them next season.

Yeah, because number eight's going to definitely show up. And the way it left off, you don't know if she's going to show up as an ally or as a foe. Because she wanted 11 to stay with her. So you don't know where her head's at. And she owns some interesting powers herself because, you know, that's how the, the show opens up in that first episode. Yeah, I enjoyed that. They did some different things that I like this season.

Yeah, because you think that she collapses a bridge, but she only puts the image in the cop's mind that the bridge collapsed. And I thought that was really cool. Yeah, really cool. Yeah, I really like the new characters, Max and Billy, and then I really liked, I like them introducing her and her gang of misfits. Because when they saw that at the beginning, I'm like, oh, cool. They're bringing out a whole new

set of people that have someone that's, that has powers with them. And then they weren't showing them again and they weren't showing them and I almost kind of forgot about them. And then when they got into that episode, I was like, ah, there we go. So I'm sure they're going to play, at least she's going to play a

huge part in seasons three and four. I would assume so. Because I thought that was actually kind of cool that they put her in the very opening scene. And then yeah, and then totally just ignored it until they showed up like

six to seven episodes later. Sure. And it bothers me a little bit that they didn't follow up on it and you don't know what happens, but the story's not over yet.

Got to have something to bring you back for season three, right? Yeah. And it doesn't bother me as much as some of the other like say lost lost had a lot of open-ended things right they would they would show some stuff

and you're like what the fuck is going on with this and then but they didn't show you enough just showed you enough to make you curious and so you stayed curious and that was a big problem that I had with lost this one they at least showed me enough to understand what was going on

they didn't wrap up that particular story but I have full faith that they will. You know, I mean, nothing these guys did was by accident. So I'm pretty impressed with everything that they've done in this season. And I also, the kid that plays Will, I thought he did a phenomenal job in this, especially the whole being possessed by the Shadow Monster. Yeah, he was so. Yeah, especially the one scene.

where they were burning the vines, and he was on, he was like convulsing and screaming on the ground. Yeah. That was, that, that looked terrifying right there. And he,

like you said, he was selling it. Well, and then the, the, where they had him all tied up and he, he kept just screaming, let me go,

let me go, let me go. Like, for a second, I was like, man, this is getting obnoxious. But then,

like, once I thought about it, and once they found out that, look, he's, he actually, is kind of possessed, this may not actually be him talking,

it made a lot more sense. And it gave it a whole creepy second level to it, you know? Yeah, because I believe the episode was called the spy, because they thought, they thought a spy, but in fact, it was the other

way around, which I like that twist right there. Yeah, me too. Well, it might have worked both ways, you know, because he could see into that world, too. so, you know, I guess they were both kind of spying on each other's world a little bit. There's a whole Morris Code thing. I like that, too. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I've got to ask you guys a big question. Yeah? Will Billy bang Mike's mom in season three? I would. Yes. I would, too. I sure would.

They've got to be leading up to that. Otherwise, there's no point. what did you guys think about the demo dogs creepy I love D'Artagnan cool well you know until he ate the cat but

yeah I liked them I thought they were great it was uh they're not quite as scary as uh the demigorgian but uh

but they're definitely especially in numbers scary yeah yeah i would say i would say that my favorite things about about season two i actually like season two better than season one and i would think that my favorite well my favorite things about it are number one i thought that it looked a lot more 80s not that the first one didn't you know it's just that i mean like from that first scene in the arcade i thought i was transported back to 1984 i mean they didn't miss a single thing. They obviously had more money for the soundtrack, so they had a lot more. They had a lot more 80s hits that anybody who was in that era knows by heart. And I really thought that the story, I liked all the new characters.

There wasn't one single new character introduced. I mean, Paul Reiser was kind of, I thought, but other than that, I mean, I think they're doing a great job world building here, and I'm really looking forward to three and four. Yeah. Oh, I love the Ghostbuster scene, too. Oh, yeah. Yeah. The whole interaction with Mike and Lucas about who's going to be Peter Bankman.

Yeah. He's telling Lucas, basically, you got to be Winston. Yeah. He's like, why do I got to be Winston? Right. That's the kind of racism things that I can deal with right now. You know what I mean? because just outright, like, put you on blast with the race. Just like, it was, they were just two kids arguing.

Race didn't fucking matter, you know. I love that. I thought that was great. And I love that. I love the scene where they got to school and, and Justin turns around and is like, oh, my God. and they're like, oh, like, he's looking at some sort of giant monster or something, and it was just costumes. How did you guys like Mad Max's Halloween costume? Awesome.

Yeah. Great intro to it, man. That was one of the scenes where I kind of fell in love with her a little more, you know? Like, she jumped in and it was like, man, okay, she definitely belongs in the group. She's cool. For sure, yeah, definitely. So you guys think Billy's going to have a bigger role moving forward? You think there's more to him than just being just a thug, like a little bully?

I mean, me personally, I want to know more about him. Right. Because the best to be. The whole fight scene with Steve and Steve's like, Steve was giving it to him for a minute. Yeah. Billy's just laughing. Yeah. And then you, like I said, you meet the father.

the father's just slapping him around. Mm-hmm. And all of a sudden, and I, I kind of want to know why, why does he resent Max so much? You know, why does he hate her? Why, you know, I want to know more. And I think, I think it's leading to something. Yeah.

That was, that, that, that's probably my only open end that I, I was a little irritated by during this season. Mm-hmm. Because I felt like they give you this character who is obviously very dynamic and has some issues and plays some sort of bigger role. And there's a lot of things going on with him that you don't know about. And they didn't tell you any of those things. That kind of bothers me, but I know that there's something more with this guy. And I'm excited about it. Kind of like Sawyer and Lost, right?

Where he's the most mysterious character. And he's kind of like, underneath, he's like, I wonder if this guy's kind of a bad guy, but then you find out he has a lot more to him than that when you learn his history and stuff like that. Right. Like, I hope that he ends up being some sort of, like, redeemed good guy. That's what I'm expecting.

I'm fully expecting that at some point. I hope it is, because I kind of like him. I bet he's gay. Oh, by the way. He might be. He's not out, man. Yeah. You never see him with the chick.

He drops him. He drops that line, that awkward scene with him and Steve in the shower. Right. And he's telling Steve there's plenty of bitches in the sea. Maybe I'll leave you some. But you never really see him. Yeah, that might just be him posturing. Yeah.

And it was right after he, like, like charged Steve while they were playing basketball and he was like telling playing his feet and uh and it and it and it was very uh I think that there was definitely some uh like for telling forecasting you know you know the word I'm looking for this yeah that's an interesting theory yeah I I think that I think that he's gay so there may not be that scene between him and Mike's mom. I don't know.

He definitely messed out on a golden opportunity. Yeah, he's definitely missing out. And another thing I'm glad to be done with is the whole Barb thing. She's dead, everybody. Right. Yeah, yeah, move on. Yeah, but that may not be able to. And the only one is what's her face?

Do what? I said the only one that seems to give a shit at all is Mike's sister. Ah, true. Or not what? Yeah. What is her name? Nancy. Yeah, Nancy.

I don't like her character at all. Yeah. I just, I don't know. Not your favorite person in the show, huh? She doesn't bother me. Yeah, I mean, as a character, you know, I really did not like her in the beginning of this because you get the scene with the, um, Barb's parents. where they still think Barb's alive and they're selling their house to hire a private detective. We didn't even mention a private detective.

He was pretty funny. And I don't know. I just, I was, I don't know. Maybe that's just her as an actress playing the character right because I just, I didn't like Nancy. I'm like, you're not even going to tell these people what's going on and they're selling their house and still got hope that their daughter's out there. but you know the truth. Yeah. Well,

what is supposed to? Kind of awkward, though. Yeah. You know? Oh, yeah. She, uh, she went to the, uh,

the upside down and is decaying down there. Yeah. I don't see how that works in any, in any situation. But, but, but yeah,

I see what you're saying. I mean, she doesn't, She's definitely not my favorite character, but she doesn't like, I don't think there's anybody in this show that specifically bothers me. Yeah, I just, I just think she's probably just someone I don't care. Her and Jonathan, because they pretty much wasn't around for at least like two or three episodes because it was on their investigative journey to find out the truth or whatever. and they i i don't know maybe it maybe it felt like they kind of were written off those episodes because they're i think they're boring their whole their whole like when they got together

yeah i was like oh who cares yeah well heroin just saying so did you so did you guys enjoy the the little um i guess you would call it kind of like the epilogue where they were at the school dance or getting ready for the dance and then at the school dance. The snowball. Yeah. You know what? I really enjoyed that.

I like the way that they wrapped everybody up instead of just having a big action scene and then it was over, you know? Plus they put their two big songs at the end of that one, and I enjoyed that, too. True. So what are you guys most looking forward to for season three, Philip? Probably finding out what's up with Max's brother. Okay. and trying to further the story in that respect. And maybe seeing what happens between Destin and Nancy.

Brian, you get any highlights that you're looking forward to? I've heard a couple of your theories. Yeah, I'm most looking forward to. I mean, did they completely forget about the, what was it, the upside down, basically merging or coming through the ground or was that taken care of? I assumed that by closing the gate that maybe it was taken care of

for now maybe they're just like dump tunnels. Yeah. I'm thinking more in the third season that if it is a different dimension I feel like it's gonna merge more with our dimension and we're gonna hopefully see more

other things than demigods and demigorgans and stuff like that. You know, other things, that's what I'm thinking. It's, the worlds are going to merge more. And I've heard, I've heard some good ideas, like, maybe in the season three, they should do like an invasion of the body snatches type thing. Okay. Where, you know, people are getting taken over in the town, and you don't know who's who and who to trust.

But I, Oh, go ahead. Okay, so the demigorgon from the first season and the demigodogon, are they the same thing? I think the different levels of... Yeah, I think the demigogne turns into a demigorgon. That's like the final... I like that they showed you that thing from a tiny little slope. Oh, interesting, okay.

And I was going to say, I think the Duffer brothers did say season three, there is going to be quite a big time jump. Like, I think the kids are going to be in high school. Yeah, that would make sense. They're not going to stay young forever. Yeah, because to me, they were noticeably older. Right. Well, you know.

Makes sense. So maybe things will be quiet for a little bit, and then all of a sudden the trouble start again. Yeah, because, I mean, 11 can't go nowhere for the next year. So, yeah. Well, and, uh, and, and, and, And Dustin apparently gave up the candy because looking slim and trim, and he was one of the most debonair of the kids left, I thought.

Especially with the last scene with the hair. Right. It was great. And he does get Nancy, he does get to dance with Nancy. If you guys remember the very first episode of season one, he offers her that pizza. And you can tell he has a crush on her. I don't know

On his part I don't know where this is going to continue going into the next season because he might he might take her kindness for something else Oh that could happen Unforcied poor kid I hope if anybody gets taken over

By somebody from You know like a Demogorgon or something That it's that that chick That he asked to dance And she was like Oh Ha ha ha ha ha ha Yeah, I don't want to see nothing else happen.

I don't want to see nothing else happen to Will. Yeah. Went through it now. Right? Like, we'll give him a regular part in the show, right? Like, where he's just one of the kids trying to save somebody else instead of being tortured the whole goddamn season. Yeah, no kidding. What do you look for for to, Lance?

I want to know what the big creature's all about, man. You know, and I want to know if this is more of a Lovecraftian tie, like direct tie, than, you know, than it appears to be. I want to know if there's anything that they're going to have to do where they have to, in some way, use incantations or they have to get involved in someone who knows how to do, you know, magic spells or something like that to keep it at bay. You know, I mean, there's just so much they can do here. There's just so many different directions they can go in. It's really hard to say. I want to know more about the organization. I want to know their history.

I want to know why they're there. I want to know if there's other things they do. I want to know if there's, you know, other places besides just Indiana where this is happening. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Whatever happened to Matthew Modine's character. Did they kill him?

I don't remember. I'm wondering if they had him executed from the way that Riser was talking, man. It's like they definitely did away with him. Or maybe he got taken over, dude. I'm sure we're going to find out. he was not a very great character i like paul riser rather than him yeah it's it is what it is i guess but there's a lot of open-ended stuff here they definitely left a lot of paul riser paul riser with his like like super jewish comedy man that guy cracked me up and it's funny because

nobody does that anymore yeah does. Larry David does. I saw him on Saturday Night Live. Yeah. Well, yeah, but listen, you would think if anybody could get away with a Holocaust joke? Apparently not. Well, it wasn't a very good joke either. It was pretty corny. But, all right, we guys, we ready to wrap up then?

Yeah. Okay, so you guys want to rate the season? Brian, I think you said you wanted to still give ratings, right? yeah i i'll go uh yeah i'll go ahead and go first uh i gave it i give it a nine out of ten damn it was it was near perfect for me yeah and uh right i want more and we're gonna have to wait a long time for season three i know right that's the downside to netflix is uh i mean like you get to see it all when it first comes out which is awesome but then you have to wait forever.

It's like that Game of Thrones shit, you know? But, uh, yeah, I'm going to give it a, I'm going to give it a nine and a half. I think, I put this one. Wow. Yeah, this is probably one of my top TV shows ever, I think. Okay. I mean, you, you've got, I'm going to, I'm going to say Game of Thrones is the best. Okay.

Walking Dead up there? Walking Dead is definitely up there. and then this one is really closely right behind it. As a matter of fact, how is it compared to Breaking Bad? Breaking Bad is not really in my top 10,

I don't think. Oh, okay, wow. Maybe in my top 10, but it's definitely not in my top five. But, like, if they continue on the path that they're going and keep coming out with quality stuff, I mean,

because like every episode is pretty goddamn quality. and if they can continue doing that, it may overtake Walking Dead. Because Walking Dead doesn't do that. You know what? There's no doubt that Netflix has a certifiable hit on their hands, and they smart to already have renewed it for two seasons. And hopefully they won't overdo it and go the Showtime route

where they end up going like 28 seasons or something like that. But yeah, if they keep it to a nice, slick four or five seasons and tell the whole story and wrap it up, I think it's going to be great. But yeah, I give it a really high rating, guys. I give it an 8. Nice. One of the better TV shows of the year, for sure.

So that's our wrap-up for Stranger Things Season 2. We're obviously all highly recommending it if you haven't seen it. And, of course, if you hadn't seen it, you probably don't want to listen to what we just said. What's the matter with you? I think it's safe to say. Everybody watched it already. Everybody's been talking about it. All right.

So until the horror returns again, good night.