NETFLIX RECOMMENDATIONS: stuff to watch

[Libertine]

Thoroughly recommend Long Story Short, the new series by the guy who created Bojack. Different show of course but once you get a few episodes in and get used to the characters it's really good.

[Sly]

Okay, New Years Eve out the way ……. With its very annoying fireworks.

 

Stranger Things finale in 50 minutes. 

[The Bear]

54 minutes ago, Sly said:

Okay, New Years Eve out the way ……. With its very annoying fireworks.

 

Stranger Things finale in 50 minutes. 

Lol 2hr 8mins.

 

Think I'll leave it until tomorrow. 

[Sly]

13 minutes ago, The Bear said:

Lol 2hr 8mins.

 

Think I'll leave it until tomorrow. 

I’m on it now! 

[spacemunky]

Enjoyed the final episode.

[Sly]

4 hours ago, spacemunky said:

Enjoyed the final episode.

I was largely indifferent toward it, leaning more toward not liking it I’d say. 

Spoiler alert for anyone not wanting to know.

 

 

I felt like Vecna went down as easy as the Night King in Game Of Thrones, after all the build up about how powerful he was.

 

We then had 40 minutes of monologue and a guessing game of is she / isn’t she about whether 11 is still alive.

 

So many plot holes still left as well.

 

Where is Dr Kay? 
 

How did Max Graduate, having spent so long in the hospital? 

Did Joyce know she decapitated a former school mate? 

Why weren’t they all charged by the military after killing so many solders? Did the military just pack up and leave? 

Why did no one else in Hawkins seem to care about their Children? 
 

Where did Suzie go? 
 

What happened to Maxs mum? 
 

Where did Vicky go after it all went a bit Star Wars? 

[spacemunky]

9 hours ago, Sly said:

I was largely indifferent toward it, leaning more toward not liking it I’d say. 

Spoiler alert for anyone not wanting to know.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I felt like Vecna went down as easy as the Night King in Game Of Thrones, after all the build up about how powerful he was.

 

 

We then had 40 minutes of monologue and a guessing game of is she / isn’t she about whether 11 is still alive.

 

So many plot holes still left as well.

 

Where is Dr Kay? 
 

How did Max Graduate, having spent so long in the hospital? 

Did Joyce know she decapitated a former school mate? 

Why weren’t they all charged by the military after killing so many solders? Did the military just pack up and leave? 

Why did no one else in Hawkins seem to care about their Children? 
 

Where did Suzie go? 
 

What happened to Maxs mum? 
 

Where did Vicky go after it all went a bit Star Wars? 
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I definitely had some issues with the finale, but I never really thought of 'Stranger Things' as a brilliant television show. I mean it had some great moments, but for me it was just good entertainment and nostalgia('cuz im old!).

 

My 2 favourite series finales would be 'Six Feet Under' and 'Mad Men'.

[Samilktray]

9 hours ago, Sly said:

I was largely indifferent toward it, leaning more toward not liking it I’d say. 

Spoiler alert for anyone not wanting to know.

 

 

  Hide contents

 

I felt like Vecna went down as easy as the Night King in Game Of Thrones, after all the build up about how powerful he was.

 

 

We then had 40 minutes of monologue and a guessing game of is she / isn’t she about whether 11 is still alive.

 

So many plot holes still left as well.

 

Where is Dr Kay? 
 

How did Max Graduate, having spent so long in the hospital? 

Did Joyce know she decapitated a former school mate? 

Why weren’t they all charged by the military after killing so many solders? Did the military just pack up and leave? 

Why did no one else in Hawkins seem to care about their Children? 
 

Where did Suzie go? 
 

What happened to Maxs mum? 
 

Where did Vicky go after it all went a bit Star Wars? 
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Not sure a lot of that matters to be fair. I enjoyed the finale for what it’s worth. 

[Zear0]

I thought it was decent. It's so hard to end series that get built up over so many years and have your expectations exceeded like Breaking Bad and thank god it wasn't a complete car crash like GoT.

 

Nice for it to have a decent send off and I enjoyed it. 

[The Blur]

On 01/01/2026 at 18:31, Samilktray said:

Not sure a lot of that matters to be fair. I enjoyed the finale for what it’s worth. 

 

I agree. In fact,  the only thing that bemused me was sudden increase in the use of middle fingers.   That was pretty random!

Edited 3 January by The Blur

[Sly]

Something else our daughter mentioned to me earlier.

 

Wha happened to all the bats?!? 

[Guesty]

Stranger Things was pretty much what I expected, so wasn't too disappointed. It was better than the few episodes before it.

 

For me Stranger Things joins a list of programs that should have been one or two seasons. Homeland, True Detective, Westworld, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica (remake), Altered Carbon, Prison Break, Squid Games, Broadchurch. They all had such fantastic first seasons. Then became so popular you can see studio execs got involved and tried to start stretching them out to make money. I recently started rewatching Homeland on Netflix and it's first season is so, so good. Every episode has twists and turns, there's no real filler. Possibly my favourite ever season of TV. 

 

[Samilktray]

5 minutes ago, Guesty said:

Stranger Things was pretty much what I expected, so wasn't too disappointed. It was better than the few episodes before it.

 

For me Stranger Things joins a list of programs that should have been one or two seasons. Homeland, True Detective, Westworld, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica (remake), Altered Carbon, Prison Break, Squid Games, Broadchurch. They all had such fantastic first seasons. Then became so popular you can see studio execs got involved and tried to start stretching them out to make money. I recently started rewatching Homeland on Netflix and it's first season is so, so good. Every episode has twists and turns, there's no real filler. Possibly my favourite ever season of TV. 

 

I’d say 4/5 seasons of Stranger Things were thoroughly enjoyable television, season 4 probably being the peak of the show 

[Zear0]

11 minutes ago, Samilktray said:

I’d say 4/5 seasons of Stranger Things were thoroughly enjoyable television, season 4 probably being the peak of the show 

Yeah, I'd be interested to rewatch the whole thing in a few years now we've got the entire picture and reflect. 

 

I did rewatch it all before Season 5 and the earlier seasons were actually better than I remembered (Russia aside). 

[shen]

6 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Yeah, I'd be interested to rewatch the whole thing in a few years now we've got the entire picture and reflect. 

 

I did rewatch it all before Season 5 and the earlier seasons were actually better than I remembered (Russia aside). 

The Russia thing obviously a tongue in cheek 80s reference where just about every movie with a baddie was either Russian or German.

[Zear0]

1 hour ago, shen said:

The Russia thing obviously a tongue in cheek 80s reference where just about every movie with a baddie was either Russian or German.

True.

 

Was still boring af! 

[cityfanlee23]

Stranger things was a weird one for me, There were many times I wasn't too bothered about the show but did watch it whenever new episodes came out, it was such a long period of time for 5 seasons that it only took up a tiny portion of my life during that time where I'd binge watch the episodes then "move on" until the next series. 
Personally felt series 5 was a bit weaker than previous and there were lots of plot lines I found myself picking holes in and being frustrated by, but for some reason now that it's ended, I feel a little bit empty, I'm not sure whether it's my nostalgia for being a kid in the 90s that made the show resonate with me (despite being set in the 80s), but plenty of scenes really made me miss my childhood and the family i've lost on the way, the scene where they put the D&D folders away for the last time and the new generation came rushing down the stairs hit me, there was a time we all played out with our friends as kids for the last time and didn't even know it. 

Stranger things ended on a high in terms of global popularity which is rare for most shows, most continue on and peter out when the numbers decline, I think ST left enough of a story untold that something could return in future even if it's just a one off movie (although i'm not convinced myself that a story could be put together that is good enough for a return) 

All in all it was a weird feeling, I just didn't feel overly attached to any of the characters for the best part of a decade, now that it's over it all feels a little empty, I can't imagine how it felt for the actors who went from children to adults with the show in their lives, for me it's probably the fact that during the course of the show so much has changed and i've lost so many pillars of my childhood, I probably just feel nostalgia for the important people I still had in my life when the show started. I think the show was rounded off quite nicely if I choose not to pick away at any flaws, and I'm satisfied with it, I probably need to go back and watch it from episode 1 over the course of a couple of months though so I can watch it again without such dramatic breaks between the seasons. 

[Jattdogg]

We started binge watching stranger things in late October/November  and currently on season 5, episode 4.  Have enjoyed it to date and almost done. 

 

We have done the same for shows like The Rookie, Swat and yes Lost (ffs, should have listened to people on that one and not bothered). I find it much easier to navigate/remember story lines when binge watching.

 

Not yet sure what our next show will be but guess the missus and kids have it all mapped out haha

[Chris_OGrady]

Thought Stranger Things series 5 was decent enough. Always hard to close out these things. I think because it’s light hearted and the main protagonists are kids, you don’t scrutinise it for plot flaws and things being overly ridiculous as you would other fantasy/dystopian series. 

 

I did forget a lot of the stuff with the gaps between the series being so long. It didn’t leave much of an impact on me though. Hardly thought about it since watching the last episode. 

[shen]

Stranger Things is just a nostalgia trip. I found a lot of shows/movies from the 80s to be very corny, even as a child, but it's what many of my generation have grown up with, so there is the recognition and nostalgia of our youth.

 

But I've enjoyed the show more as I started playing TTRPGs as an adult around the same time that ST started, which adds an extra layer to it.

 

It's not deep, but it is entertaining and appeals to my sense of play and they thankfully haven't dragged it on for much too long like countless other shows.

[Spiritwalker]

3 hours ago, Guesty said:

Stranger Things was pretty much what I expected, so wasn't too disappointed. It was better than the few episodes before it.

 

For me Stranger Things joins a list of programs that should have been one or two seasons. Homeland, True Detective, Westworld, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica (remake), Altered Carbon, Prison Break, Squid Games, Broadchurch. They all had such fantastic first seasons. Then became so popular you can see studio execs got involved and tried to start stretching them out to make money. I recently started rewatching Homeland on Netflix and it's first season is so, so good. Every episode has twists and turns, there's no real filler. Possibly my favourite ever season of TV. 

 

I never did finish Homeland I got as far as series 6 or 7

 

[Guesty]

5 minutes ago, Spiritwalker said:

I never did finish Homeland I got as far as series 6 or 7

 

So did I originally. Now you can stream it all on Netflix I went back through it. I found 6 and 7 a slog. But the last season (8) is much better - it links back to season 4.

 

Also, it's one of the few series where the final episode ends the whole series really well. If you can remember enough might just be worth watching season 8.

[The Bear]

4 hours ago, Jattdogg said:

Lost (ffs, should have listened to people on that one and not bothered)

Yeah but Evangeline Lilly 

[Jattdogg]

45 minutes ago, The Bear said:

Yeah but Evangeline Lilly 

Then yes, now not so much for me

 

Think she recently hurt herself in a fall.

[The Bear]

22 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

Then yes, now not so much for me

 

Think she recently hurt herself in a fall.

She still looks amazing IMO.