TV Series

[oblong]

Just finished my annual rewatch of the West Wing episode Noel. As soon as I put it on and my wife heard the recap and “I need a doctor” by wife said “I know what this is…”.  If you have never watched the show I highly recommend this as it’s a great standalone.  The “previously on….” Tells hit what you need. 
 

trying to think of other examples where a guest star steals the show like Adam Arkin did. plus you get Yo Yo Ma.  It’s back on Netflix again. 

[Deleterious]

Arkin is great.  My favorite is John Goodman.  

Since Noel was brought up, I love Bernard.  I'm always telling my girlfriend that her necklace is a monument to bourgeois taste.

[oblong]

That guy is fantastic.  “If it was a language its origin was unknown to me”. “Retribution for euro Disney “

[oblong]

Social media noticed I either wrote this or watched because I was just fed content when John Larroquette was White House Counsel. He and Oliver Platt were great in that role but I’m not sure if that would count for what I meant. “I was supposed to be having drinks with little umbrellas in them”

[Edman85]

Thinking of ditching the second season of Shrinking since they seem to be using dementia as a plot device. Seriously, Wendy Mallick's character's husband has dementia and she's out dating somebody else and not spending every waking moment she can with him? And it appears instead of focusing on the hell she should have been going through, it's being used to add complications to Harrison Ford's character's Parkinsons?

[MichiganCardinal]

Apparently a hot take but I don't hate what they're doing with Stranger Things S5. I think it's clear looking in the rear view that this was a phenomenal one-season show that was pigeonholed by demand into becoming a five-season, ten-year extravaganza that it was never intended to be. But that in mind, the Duffers have done a good job making that happen.

An apt quote I found on Reddit was "all you kids who think this is bad never would have survived the ending of Game of Thrones."

There are a lot of loose ends to tie up in a single two-hour finale though. I'm not super confident they'll do it satisfyingly.

[oblong]

 We watched the first episode of this new batch and honestly with the holidays and other things, and Pluribus, I forgot all about stranger things.  It felt like the walking dead to me, watching became a chore.  When they go so long between seasons it’s hard to still care.  

[Hongbit]

They have done a really good job on this season.   The passage of time actually helped them to move the storyline and advance the characters.  

[IdahoBert]

In terms of Vince Gilligan‘s Pluribus it appears he is in no hurry to get going on a second season. He said he’s tired he’s old and if you want quality work, you can’t just grind it out mechanically. So people will have to find something else to divert their minds from reality. Apparently he’s telling us in a roundabout way to “get a life.”

[Hongbit]

Season 1 of Pluribus was very good.   It got a little more hype than it put out because it was Vince Gilligan.    If it’s standing on it’s own merit, I wouldn’t call it outstanding, must watch, tell everyone you know good.   

But, I have to remind myself that because it’s Vince Gilligan, the first season will probably be the slowest and less involved as he lays groundwork for the rest of the series.   I am excited to see where he takes it.

[Motor City Sonics]

I am so glad The West Wing is back on Netflix.  I just watched a Season 7 episode called "Duck & Cover" about a nuclear power plant crisis that changes the election.  Incredible writing.         Nice to imagine actual intelligent grown ups handling a crisis.   

[oblong]

I’ve really taken advantage of Prime’s “on now” section.  It’s like channels.  At any given time you can find breaking bad or BCS or a Ken Burns episode.  I watched missing in action 2.  I like that method better than finding something.  Feed me. I don’t want to decide. 

[Motor City Sonics]

Stranger Things Series Finale Predictions

The text will be in white, if you want to mouse over to see it so we don't spoil it for those who are not caught up to the final episode

 

Okay,  we're headed for the final fight.     I think there will be a few deaths.  And the final fight will end with 45 minutes to go or maybe an hour because a lot will need to be unpacked...........

#1 I think Hopper dies.  I think Hop's had a death wish since the show because carrying tremendous survivor's guilt over his daughter, but he needs to redeem himself like he could not do for Sarah and he knows that allowing Vecna to kill him will enrage Eleven to the point where she will be able to team up with Will and defeat Vecna together.    Remember, if Hop lives, he's probably facing the death penalty for killing soldiers.  

#2  But part of killing Vecna actually will have a redemption arc for Henry.   We saw in the memory scene in the cave that Henry was being the best a Boy Scout he can be by trying to save a man (rumored to be Dr. Papa Brenner's father) and wound up getting shot.  We don't know what happened when he opened that briefcase, but the Mind Flayer is in that thing and it takes control of Henry from that point on.   Henry was good until he was corrupted.  Killing "Vecna" will free him and may help him join with Will and Eleven to defeat the REAL villain, the mind flayer. 

#3 Kali will try to betray Eleven on behalf of Dr. Kay.   But Eleven will pull some kind of trick on them, somehow forcing Kali's own "vision" power against her and Dr. Kay will be stricken with locked-in syndrome,  like Eleven's birth mother, who will, in-turn, be released and from it and reunited with Jane.   They move to another state, far away from Hawkins.

#4 Someone from The Party will die in the final fight.  It's either going to be Steve or Jonathan, who will die saving Steve telling him he's cool if he gets with Nancy, that Nancy will protect him, then Jonathan "dies"

But...................

, #5 Eleven will collapse the wormhole, which has a Tesseract within (remember Dip**** Derek was making a little tesseract in class).  When she does this, she resets everything to November 6, 1984 and the boys are in the basement playing D&D.  Will goes home, safely, nothing happens to him.  Joyce comes home, gets on his case about not washing the dishes and is a real mom finally.   Elle uses her new power to "lock in" several of the scientists at Hawkins Lab.  The whole project is deemed too dangerous and shut down - freeing the children.  The families of the children sue the government, allowing them to leave Hawkins. 

 Then we flash forward to June 1988 (or 1989).  The boys in The Party are getting ready to Graduate Hawkins High School.   Elle quietly attends to watch her friends, who have now never met her.    We find out Dustin got a scholarship to MIT.  Mike is headed to Indiana University and that Jonathan, Bob, Hopper, Barb and everyone that seemingly died is still alive.   Lucas and Max actually dated but broke up.  Billy, seeing how sad his stepsister is, goes to Lucas and apologizes to him for being a jerk and tells him go to be with his sister.    Joyce ends up marrying Mr. Clarke, the science teacher.   Jonathan pursues photography and Nancy goes to Journalism school.  Steve "The Hair" Harrington goes to play college basketball at some small Indiana college, but has an on/off thing with Nancy.   Hop continues living a sad and lonely life as the pudgy drunk Sherriff, never getting over losing his daughter.

 While El is in Hawkins for the Graduation we see her go to a bar where Hop is.   He's sitting drinking alone.   She approaches him and tells him that he should let go of the guilt.   He asks "are you old enough to be in here?" and she says she's leaving but she just wanted to tell him that bad things happen to good people.  She knows from her own experience and that holding the guilt will destroy him.   Hop gets really pissed off and El says "it wasn't your fault, sir, you need to realize that.  Hop tells her to leave, and she does.  Hop sits back down at the bar and reaches for his drink and it slides away out of his reach,  pan to the door, El turns and walks away.   Hop ponders things for a minute.  Reaches for the drink again and stops and buries head head in his hands and sobs.  Maybe not a happy ending for Hop, but a Catharsis. 

 

We are given details about all the characters futures.   Dustin still met Suzie at Science Camp (he was headed there in the show anyway).  Dusty-bun and Suzie Poo are married and work on the SETI project.  Lucas and Max stayed in Hawkins and married and Lucas became a teacher and coaches the basketball team at Hawkins High, while Max counsels troubled youths.  Mike got married and works as an IT expert and lives a quiet life in Indianapolis.  Jonathan became a photojournalist and actually won awards.  Nancy writes a column for a Chicago newspaper.   Joyce & Mr. Clarke stayed together and are happily retired (but Mr. Clark still tutors science).  Erica is now the science teacher at Hawkins Middle School and constantly battles with her brother over school district policies.  Robin became a DJ in Chicago, but never met The Party.   Ted gets bacon with his breakfast.   We even find out that Suzie's sister Eden, on a trip to California, met Argyle at a Surfer Boy Pizza.  They got married and now Argyle owns a vegan pizza chain called Garden Of Eden Pizza.   Murray has a popular Conspiracy Theory blog and podcast (kind of like a tamer Alex Jones)   Eddie has had a couple of minor hit records with heavy metal band Halos Of Hellfire. 

And then we flash forward to Will.   Will took much longer to come out in this new time line (it was a different time).  It caused him torment and he had vivid dreams about the things that happened on the show.   So he writes a series of WILDLY popular Science Fiction novels called The Upside Down.   His latest book has just been released and he's at a book signing (around 2003 or something like that).  They'll age him up with special effects.  A woman comes up to the table (we see a low angle from behind) with a book and slides it over to Will and tells him she loves the books.  It's Eleven (Jane).  They look at each other and time kind of freezes as Will reaches for the back of his neck as he gets that feeling again.  He looks at her, understanding that they weren't dreams at all.   He says to El  "Was it real?" and El says "it doesn't matter now" and she moves her finger to turn the page with telekinesis on the book for him to sign and they both laugh. 

END.  

 

 

Edited December 31, 2025 by Motor City Sonics

[MichiganCardinal]

30 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Stranger Things Series Finale Predictions

The text will be in white, if you want to mouse over to see it so we don't spoil it for those who are not caught up to the final episode

This would be much more satisfying than what I would expect. It just feels like two hours is not long enough to tie up every loose end.

I'll just make death predictions:

[SPOILER]

1. Henry/Vecna: I think the party will win somehow.
2. Will: I've had a sneaking suspicion that Will is Vecna's horcrux of sorts. There are a lot of Harry Potter analogies to be drawn here (e.g., Vecna / Voldemort accidentally giving Will / Harry powers after underestimating him... Young Will even kind of looks like young Harry). I think there might be a "prophecy" realization at some point (e.g., "neither can live while the other survives.") The Duffers also love them some Stephen King, and if the Losers Club can't survive their final battle in IT, I don't think the party will survive intact either. If it's not Will, I think it might be Mike. Dustin would be my third guess, followed by Lucas.
3. Kali: I agree there is a fight between Kali and Eleven brewing. The setup for them to both die feels a bit too on the nose for that to be what happens. She's also the most useless character of all time and I haven't forgiven them for S2E7.
4. Jonathan: They should have probably killed him and Nancy off in S5E7. That would have been a fitting end to the character's arc, rather than the molten rising bubbling substance just... solidifying. And then Dustin/Steve just... finding them. (I liked S5E7 more than most but I thought that was lazy writing)... Since they didn't die then, I think they'll kill him off in the final battle as he protects either his brother, or Nancy, or (less likely) Steve.
5. Murray: Feels like a supporting character death that will come as a sudden surprise. Maybe the first to go tonight.

[/SPOILER]

Edited December 31, 2025 by MichiganCardinal

[Motor City Sonics]

3 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

This would be much more satisfying than what I would expect. It just feels like two hours is not long enough to tie up every loose end.

I'll just make death predictions:

[SPOILER]

1. Henry/Vecna: I think the party will win somehow.
2. Will: I've had a sneaking suspicion that Will is Vecna's horcrux of sorts. There are a lot of Harry Potter analogies to be drawn here (e.g., Vecna / Voldemort accidentally giving Will / Harry powers after underestimating him... Young Will even kind of looks like young Harry). I think there might be a "prophecy" realization at some point (e.g., "neither can live while the other survives.") The Duffers also love them some Stephen King, and if the Losers Club can't survive their final battle in IT, I don't think the party will survive intact either. If it's not Will, I think it might be Mike. Dustin would be my third guess, followed by Lucas.
3. Kali: I agree there is a fight between Kali and Eleven brewing. The setup for them to both die feels a bit too on the nose for that to be what happens. She's also the most useless character of all time and I haven't forgiven them for S2E7.
4. Jonathan: They should have probably killed him and Nancy off in S5E7. That would have been a fitting end to the character's arc, rather than the molten rising bubbling substance just... solidifying. And then Dustin/Steve just... finding them. (I liked S5E7 more than most but I thought that was lazy writing)... Since they didn't die then, I think they'll kill him off in the final battle as he protects either his brother, or Nancy, or (less likely) Steve.
5. Murray: Feels like a supporting character death that will come as a sudden surprise. Maybe the first to go tonight.

[/SPOILER]

[SPOILER]

I think the big fight won't even be half the episode.  There needs to be some reckoning after the fight.   Sarah Conner's gotta pay for her sins !   I would love it if when they are closing down the final battle, if they used the music from the Jeff Bridges movie Starman (at the end when the ship comes to the crater - awesome crescendo in that piece). 

So Hop lives?    Wow, I don' see that happening.   Hop is destined to "die".     But will live, still tortured, but live in the re-set timeline (they've been hinting at time travel an awful lot).  

Saving Henry from Vecna may be a big key.  Henry is not the real villain here.  He's the portal.  He didn't deserve what happened to him.  

When Lucas was hovering over Max in the laundry room - when she woke up, he looked about 28. LOL.  Because maybe he is.    I used to think Karen Wheeler was useless, but Karen Wheeler is a total badass 

[/SPOILER}

I'm not seeing it until tomorrow at Noon at the theatre (unless they have to remove some kind of blood clot from my ear in the morning).  

Edited December 31, 2025 by Motor City Sonics

[MichiganCardinal]

1 hour ago, Motor City Sonics said:

I'm not seeing it until tomorrow at Noon at the theatre (unless they have to remove some kind of blood clot from my ear in the morning).  

Same here. I won't be able to watch until tomorrow. Hopefully I don't stumble into a spoiler by accident.

[Motor City Sonics]

57 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Same here. I won't be able to watch until tomorrow. Hopefully I don't stumble into a spoiler by accident.

Staying off You Tube tonight and tomorrow.    The Algorithms will make suggestions in my RECOMMENDED line

 

[Motor City Sonics]

Who will get the funniest line in the finale?            Gotta be Steve Harrington or Murray.   Maybe Robin. 

[GalagaGuy]

Stranger Things got a little carried away having an almost 40 minute epilogue.  

[Motor City Sonics]

7 hours ago, GalagaGuy said:

Stranger Things got a little carried away having an almost 40 minute epilogue.  

I haven't watched it yet, but that was my prediction.   That the final fight would end well before the episode.  

I liked my version.   Might have been a bit syrupy, but I think my last scene would be great. 

 

There are other Stranger Things shows coming, but nothing to do with this story -- so no sequels. 

But something tells me that 15 years from now the adult versions of these characters will come back just in time for Y2K. 

[MichiganCardinal]

I liked the finale more than I thought I would.

[LOTS OF SPOILERS]

In hindsight the lack of main character death, and the ambiguity of Eleven's fate makes sense. This is modern day E.T., not Breaking Bad. I will choose to believe that Eleven is dead, because I think a scenario where she survives in some Nordic paradise is no different than Dexter Morgan surviving in some remote lumber yard. What makes less sense is the lack of grief shown by Hopper. They built it up that he could never lose two daughters, and then he did, and then.... he's fine? At Enzo's? Getting remarried? Moving to New York? I mean, good for him I guess, but the grief of the loss of Sara nearly killed him. Does not compute.

I still think they should have killed off Nancy and Jonathan in the lab in S5E7. That would have been a tragic but fitting end to their arc. And you have to set aside any notion of realism to enjoy this show, because the utter incompetence of the military combined with absolutely no one facing consequences of any kind for the mass murder of American soldiers on American soil and Dr. Kay just.... leaving? ... is a bit much. Speaking of uselessness, it also feels like Kali was brought back just to have someone to kill. I mean they gave her some important scenes, like hiding the kids from Henry, but I could have lived without her ever having been introduced to the series. And I was bummed we didn't get an epilogue from either Murray (other than his appearance at the graduation) or Dr. Owens.

Setting aside my complaints, I still liked it. The Duffers did not lean into the whole "everyone is redeemable" trope with Henry that was there for the taking. He was evil, he chose to be evil, he needed to be killed. They could have done a lot worse. For having so few scenes, I thought Raphael Luce was phenomenal in his role as Young Henry. So much emotion from so few lines. Lots of good parallels to the ending too. Stand by Me comes to mind. "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"

At its heart Stranger Things was meant to be a coming of age story, and we got that. I'm not sure it's a series I will rewatch anytime in the next 5-10 years like Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul were. But it was a fun run that just took probably 2-3 years too long.

[/SPOILERS]

[Motor City Sonics]

SPOILERS

 

I enjoyed it too, and I guessed a few things where I was close.   Like there would be a lot after the fight ended. 

I was wrong about Henry being redeemed, but it was close 

Wrong about Hop dying. 

Kali did not betray anyone

I thought someone from the party would certain die to hit the audience harder, and I don't count Kali

No timeline reset, but they did play a game of D&D in the basement

I was right about Dustin going to M.I.T. 

I was right about them flashing forward to the Graduation. 

And I predicted will would write the stories but it wound up being Mike  and I like the fact that Karen Wheeler refuses to cover up her scars.  And I'm glad Ted's alright.  Hope he gets his bacon every morning.  Good ol Ted.  

I don't think EL is dead, we did not see her get blown away with the upside down,  Her image vanished before that and here's another reason why.   You talked about Hop being okay with it.   Hop knows she's alive, but he has no idea where because he realizes they can't ever know to keep her safe, but he told Mike before the Graduation and that's why Mike was calmer in the last scene in the basement.      As far as no jail time for killing soldiers, because they have to keep it quiet.  Keep in mind that there are other Stranger Things stories coming, but nothing to do with this story, but Dr. Kay could be behind something else.    They probably made some deal with the govt to stay quiet about the hundreds of deaths they caused - if everyone got left alone.   I am worried Nancy going to turn into a killing vigilante.  She did not seem right in the end.   

I think it took so long for this to come out because they really did wait about 18 months to film the last sequence.  Those kids looked quite a bit older.   Especially Lucas, who looks 30 (he's only 24). 

I am a little disappointed because when they were showing the graphic novel version of the characters they showed a lot of characters from previous seasons, dead and alive, but no Argylle.    Unless it was super fast and I missed it.   Someone oughta get schmacked for that. 

I liked the finale.     Fun little show

 

Best Line    Joyce  "You ****ed with the wrong family"

2nd Best  Delightful Derek to Henry  "suck my big fat one"

And I expect Purple Rain to re-enter the Billboard Hot 100 next week.   

I should do a whole segment on the air next week with songs from the finale.  I can do that without spoiling it.  

 

END SPOILERS

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Motor City Sonics

[Motor City Sonics]

SPOILERS

 

There is one big gripe I have about the finale.    So this other world is descending upon ours and time is running out and people are having conversations and just standing there.   We can't walk and talk?