The Original Houston 1836 said:

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I rewatched it separately with each of my kids the year before last - so twice in about 6 months, and I loved watching the progression.

If you do rewatch Season 1, you get to revisit the 2 decisions made by the writers that really put the show over the top for me by going completely against the genre standards.

1. The first is having Hopper decide to go back to the coroner's office and check on Will's body and figure out it's a fake. In an average show, Hopper would have been the secondary or tertiary "bad guy" who keeps impeding the kids from connecting the dots, doesn't believe anything funny is going on, and gets shot in the back by Dr. Brenner somewhere down the line. Instead ,they humanize him with his daughter's tragic end, set him up as 11's surrogate father, and make him arguably the most popular character on the show, at least for adults.

2. They turn Steve into an unlikely hero in the season finale when the Demogorgon comes to Jonathan's house. I had told both my kids that Steve is my favorite character before they saw the show, but of course, he's the classic preppy a-hole for several episodes in a row. In a normal show, he'd show up to talk to Nancy, get in a fight with Jonathan, and get shredded by the monster. Instead he turns into a bad-ass with a baseball bat, keeping him around and ultimately leading to he and Dustin's pure gold friendship in Season 2.

I doubt they'd break the fourth wall since they never have before despite so many fantastic guest stars from the 80s, but if I was writing the scripts, I'd be really tempted to have someone tell LInda Hamilton's character (when speaking about Vecna), "You can't stop him, he can't be killed" and her say, "I've heard that before."

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On the rewatch Steve wasn't really all that bad. Even in the fight with Jonathan you can tell he doesn't really want to be that guy and he was a guy in HS who saw Jonathan and Nancy together in her room, no kid in HS is going to calmly think their way through that scene. He was getting egged on by his awful friend. The show needed Billy to show up to get a real 80s HS a-hole in season 2, which the awful friend joined up with quickly.

I'm in season 2 right now, I had forgotten the Dart/Gremlins story line from that season. It's fun picking out the movies the show is pulling from to keep reinforcing the nostalgia.

Been continuing my rewatch and I made it through seasons 2 and 3, then started 4. I spent a lot of time on planes on hotels over the last week or so, otherwise I wouldn't be this far in. I had forgotten how much I liked Sean Astin as Bob, he was a good addition to the cast. Definitely played on the Alien vibes with Dart. Billy and Max get introduced in season 2 as well. I wouldn't say season 2 was a throw away but it felt like filler before getting to season 3. I really enjoyed the season 3 rewatch. I mean the premise is the Russians are trying to open a portal to another world deep below the new mall in town, that's just fun. And to boot people in the town are being infected/brainwashed to help the Mind Flayer like invasion of the body snatchers. I might like season 3 more than 1 to be honest. I just started season 4 last night and I'm pretty sure Vecna's not the main villain, it's Angela, the kids need to take her out above all else.

This show is one of the best of all time imo. The nostalgia (which it oozes and is 80% of the fun of the show) appeals to such a broad target audience…older millennials, gen X, and boomers can all relate and take trips down memory lane. But Gen z is also heavily intrigued by it. Let's face it, the 80's were freakin tubular.

The entire show is great, but I forgot how amazing season 3 was. 2 eps in on season 4 and damn is it great too. I really hope they find a way to nail season 5, and I hope it realistically tracks with their ages.

Other than the stupid side quest in season 2 with Eleven's "sister" (can't remember her name), they were all pretty fantastic.

Don't forget about Eddie's Metallica solo last season as well. Nails.

When Spotify did my "songs you played the most last year", the amped up version of "Separate Ways" was #1 in 2024, 2023, and 2022

Warmup video for Season 5. lots of behind the scenes shots and mish mash of tiny moments of 5.

Eleven is now 21 years old in real life. Let that sink in.

Honestly, that's not that bad and consistent with casting for high school kids. I honestly thought she was older. The more concerning age discrepancy is from the older "kids" like Nancy, Steve, Johnathan, etc. who are all now 30+. Steve is now 33 years old.

Currently halfway through season 3.

The scores for seasons 1-2 are top tier.

The Original Houston 1836 said:

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There must be a pretty significant time jump at some point in the last season because Mike's little sister looked 7 or 8 in season 4 and they recast her with a new actress for season 5 in an expanded role who is a good bit older.

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I think Steve has kids now.

YouTube version

Great song choice as always, "Who Wants to Live Forever?" by Queen / 1986. If you're old enough, you probably heard it the first time when you went to see Highlander.

The upside down ages a mother****er

Steve officiated one of this friends' weddings this weekend in his Scoops Ahoy costume.

A new video of Joe Keery officiating Matt & Veronica’s wedding yesterday!

📸: tal1u1ah via Instagram stories pic.twitter.com/WIU34b7YnU

— Joe Keery Updates (@updatingkeery) October 26, 2025

Terrible take

Stranger things is actually going to be a good finale unlike GOT, Yellowstone, and other series that mailed it in over time

I am rewatching the series now to prepare for the new season. I forgot how freaking good it is. I never rewatch stuff. Lots of things make a lot more sense on the second watch, even though it has been quite a few years.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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I am rewatching the series now to prepare for the new season. I forgot how freaking good it is. I never rewatch stuff. Lots of things make a lot more sense on the second watch, even though it has been quite a few years.

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For my 2 cents, there are 2 pivotal moments - 1 in the first season and 1 i the second season, that elevate Stranger Things past anything in its niche on TV.

Season 1 - Hopper decides he doesn't trust the authorities to the point of breaking police protocol at the risk of his career. In any other TV show, Hopper is a bumbling idiot who keeps getting in the way of the main characters and is a tertiary villain behind the Demogorgon and Brenner. And he doesn't have dramatic turn of characterization in the second-to-last episode either, he's that way from the start. He knows the guys in the lab are lying after watching the footage of the pipe drain in the second episode and it builds from there. When goes and cuts open the fake "Will" in the morgue, it's such vindication for Joyce and the kids, it's almost palpable.


Season 2: The Evolution of Steve Harrington: In any other show, Steve gets killed by the demogorgon at Jonathan's house at the end of Season 1. He goes over there to have things out with Nancy/Johnathan, the thing arrives, rips his face off, Jonathan and Nancy save each other, and their love is cemented in trauma forever. Instead Steve goes Don Mattingly on the demogorgon and the next season he and Dustin stumble into one of the most unlikely great friendships in TV history. Steve should be the villain from every 1980s ski movie ever, but instead he's the "cool kid" who realizes all the weirdos and geeks aren't crazy or making up crap, they're the only ones seeing the truth. While 11 is the star and Dustin is the heart, Steve + any character in a scene is instantly the best part of any scene. His platonic friendship with Robin is probably my favorite relationship on the whole show.

My brother and some other family members and I are concocting a fun pickem/deathpool that I'll post it here. for anyone interested.