#chief hopper

I was drastically behind for Stranger Things because I didn’t have Netflix for all but the last season, so by the time I actually got to watching it was over. Which means I went in already knowing most of the ending.

I also love S2 El, if you couldn’t tell from my past posts. So having it take place between S2 and S3 is like having it between two of her best character designs imo.

And the toy merchandise I’ve seen so far? It’s not collector quality obviously, but it has that 80s/90s action figure gimmick. Which is where I think Tales Of 85 could be given some leeway.

Making an animated spinoff might be the most 80s move the Duffers could have pulled. And if you’ve seen any part of those spinoff shows, you know they did not follow the source. Most of the time it was a super hero action cartoon that just happened to have the namesakes.

But I do agree there is a lot to overlook in both plot point and character designs. I think some confusion could be explained, like how Hopper treats Mike.

I think it’s more of a grey area than the S2 finale where he comforts a spiraling Mike and S3 where he is scaring Mike into keeping a distance. Because yeah, Hopper did pull strings for the snowball dance but that wasn’t necessarily for Mike’s sake. Regardless of how Hopper felt about Mike at that point, he was ultimately doing it for El. She had spent the last year unable to see Mike or the party, she wasn’t even allowed to go anywhere. So letting her have one night where she can go out and socialize and also experience something normal is 100% for her benefit.

I also think the “these woods hide a lot of mistakes” is also them just going the overprotective dad route. A very overused trope imo but one that for better or worse is still the default.

FU*%@&K THE POLICE