Parallel Frequencies. I am just playing and this is Coco here. This is a show where we slow things down enough just enough to feel what we're talking about and everybody listening right now. You're not outside somewhere. You're in the room with us.

Say hello Coco. Welcome. Welcome to my cozy little cave today. I barely even got myself dressed. I'm just benefiting from working from home today.

Hey, we all have those days. I love those days. I love those days when we actually hopped on you were like, I'm just waking up and I'm like, wait, like really and I'm like upset or like or like gonna knock you. I was gonna be like congratulations like awesome. You know, look if you are new here, welcome and if you're coming back, welcome back, you know, you know, the drill, you know how this works.

But first up today though, I got to rewind to yesterday show knives out the what was the name of it? Coco knives out what the wake up dead man man that that's been spent rocking around and rattling in my head that conversation about that movie. I had to go back and watch it again. I had to watch it. Yeah.

And you know, we were looking over the the cast list and things like that afterwards and I saw Joseph Gordon Levitt who I love. Okay, big fan from when he was he was in some of his early work at third Rock in the Sun and things like that when I was like, wait a minute was he in this movie. I don't remember him being in this movie. Fair question, right? Very fair question.

First off is second off you would probably you did miss him it'd be hard to recognize now. That's Ryan Johnson being Ryan Johnson. So he puts in Joseph Gordon Levitt in every movie of his is a cameo in this one. Do you remember the baseball player? They cut back to the Cubs a Cub scene of baseball the baseball announcer was Jordan Levitt.

So yeah, so they got him they're like, let's pull you in you're just going to do this really quick little thing. Nobody will even know it's you. You got to be in there. Yeah, so it's kind of like a contract or something that they've got worked out amongst themselves that Ryan Johnson has to put him in every movie somehow hide him in a blink and you'll miss it type moment, you know, it's in every one of the Ryan Johnson movies. It's that's humor without winking at the camera.

Really? It's the eagle-eyed viewers of Ryan Johnson movies. Same thing that you know, some of the other directors that we talked about have, you know, Wes Anderson, he's got little Easter eggs. He tosses in every movie Quentin Tarantino the red apple cigarettes is in every movie, you know, some of that stuff crosses the directors universe that Tarantino verse. This is the Ryan Johnson verse, you know, so that's why we missed him.

For us, Joseph Gordon Levitt fans that want to see him if you know what I mean. Okay. Now if you want to do that, you can go do that in your own time. We're not going to this is a family show here Courtney. Actually, it's not I don't think it is.

I don't think it is. This is the show for the the intellect the pop culture, you know, yeah for those who really want to dive into the deep whole human experience of all kinds of arts music podcasting Ryan Johnson's Ryan Johnson's ecosystem. He's built the Ryan verse, you know, there's another thing out there though speaking of arts and we haven't really gotten into too much is music. So yeah, big fan of Taylor Swift. I love Taylor Swift and she's been at the top of the boards the top of the charts for a while now, but there was another band that just overtook her in the last I guess week or so maybe and it's DJ Oh now people out there are going to be mad.

They're like, that's not how you pronounce it, but I don't want to ruin the experience for you. The the spelling of the band is DJ Oh and I'm gonna play this as their hit from a couple years ago. Okay, and you might have heard this song before. Okay. Okay, very popular song right there.

Yeah, the name of the band though DJ Oh is Joe the D is violent. That's Joe Kerry singing Steve Harrington is Joe the band and it took Taylor Swift's number one spot off the billboards. He's been doing this for years though, and it's one of those incredible moments to me where you got somebody that you've been listening to for years who kind of kept it low-key because of that song right there end of beginning. It was a tick-tock trend for a while. I think that song was blue.

Yeah, people didn't even realize it was him and now he's playing into it being like, nope, that's me. No, I've been doing this and making music for years. I just happened to be Steve Harrington on stranger things. Now you can get a fan of both, you know, so okay, Steve. I see you.

I see you Joe. I love that. I thought that was incredible though. When I found out out and honestly the vibe of the music man, it's not it's not like vanity music. This is like legit psychedelic synth heavy dreamy type music and it fits in with what he did on stranger things, you know, neon reflections.

If you want to call it something like that for the 80s, you know, yeah, that same cadence to it and something that I would have expected to see even as a new song that it could have been straight from the 80s. You could have plucked it right from that time period. Yeah, the synths and everything. So you never heard it before. I mean that song was viral for a moment a couple years ago might have been recently heard it before and all of a sudden just as you started playing it.

I was thinking where have I heard this before and my mind was going to a television theme song like is this the opening to something because I just had flashes of like I had seen this with some credits rolling or something some beginning or opening of a television show. It'd be kind of perfect for it. It would use that. There's people out there that that's their job. I think they should pick up that song by Joe end of beginning and put that somewhere in an opening sequence or like you said over the credits at the end.

Mm-hmm. Stranger Things, Joe, Kerry, Steve Harrington, Stranger Things season 5 is what we're here to talk about today. The deep dive now Stranger Things has one of those opening sequences with a song that is one of those shows that for me is rare that I didn't ever hit skip not one time on the intro. I listen to it every time read the credits. They never did say Millie Bon Bon.

They never did change your name darn, but I love when those theme songs are so fun or so interesting that you don't ever want to skip it. I know my husband drives my husband crazy because when we're watching stuff together, he's like, okay, skip it. Like I want to hear. Okay, just get to it. And I am a TV show theme song girl.

In fact, I had an idea years ago that we should have a family board game where it was like guess the TV show or match the TV show to the theme song because I love singing along. I mean The The Golden Girls Cheers. They're my jam. They're bangers. I'm I'm hanging out all over the place with that stuff.

Make a note of this on wistful Wednesdays. We're going to do a little trivia thing each each wistful Wednesday where I'm just going to read off some lyrics to a TV theme song and see if you can figure out what it is. I think that's what we do on wistful Wednesdays and I'll pull one from I think that's a great idea that we could do that. You guys might have to suffer through hearing me sing even though I'm not a singer. I'll be like thank you for being a friend.

Oh my God, that's a lovely rendition of it. Now stranger things didn't have lyrics to their song. Maybe that's why I could always listen to it. It always kind of set the tone for me. Yeah, it does it really set the tone for season five which season five didn't feel like a season.

It felt like a reckoning. It's not how do we win it was what did it cost? You know, it's slower heavier maybe even more confident. Did it feel darker to you? Or more honest?

I think there were moments where I thought this is really kind of light-hearted. I think that there was like a it was almost like there were two shows going on at once. I felt like there were moments especially in episode one because you're seeing all these team player these people have been together for years. I'm obviously stuck in a town together. So clearly they've been spending a lot of time together but a lot of like banter and teasing and kind of this but then you've got all the darker really heavier things going on at the same time.

I mean Dustin is not in a place emotionally where he can in his grief and everything he's going through he can't banter and tease and laugh. He's like going through the shit, you know, he's really affected by Eddie's death. So yeah, Dustin's in that joy as survival mode, you know, he's not he jokes because basically if he stops the weight would crush him and I think joy is his resistance joy. The emotion not not the other character, you know, I think laughter is armor to him, you know, and I think he feels like he's got to do that to himself because he'll protect everybody else. Mm-hmm.

Pain is hard. You already said Hawkins mentioned Hawkins in this and this season Hawkins is it's not the setting anymore. It's a wound. It's wounded. It's got cracks that didn't disappear.

It's part of daily life like it's crazy and there's something deeply deeply unsettling about Hawkins. Did it stop feeling safe for you in this season or did it still feel warm? What was your reaction to it? Well, it's interesting because you've got from right from the get-go this like we're closed off. We're not allowed to leave.

No one's allowed in or out. It's isolating and you think about COVID you think about what we all went through in our lifetime of having to be like everybody stay at home. Nobody travel. Nobody do this six feet distance from everybody and the turmoil that caused can you imagine if that was really happening to a town like this that everybody would just Apply to military occupation to be like, okay, well, we're building a wall. No one's allowed in.

No one's allowed out. You all have to stay here resume life as normal as possible, but you're all still you've got to stay here. I doubt it would go smoothly. I doubt anybody would be like, okay, whatever you say. I'd be down there looking at that damn wall.

All the time probably I'd just be down there staring at it. You wouldn't keep me out of that town square and where was the news cameras and everybody else from the rest of the world? Yeah, did they keep all this year years of isolation? There's no way that the rest of the world is just like something weird happening over there in Hawkins. We don't know what but on with life.

We all seem to not care. They do have the 80s on their side since that is the time frame. So it wasn't as connected of a world. We didn't have Parallel Frequencies out there to tell you what's going on. You know, we had a way for the newspaper, but then again, they did have news vans with cameras and could go out and get some stuff.

So I don't know where did this kind of the birth of that like morning morning news shows get the scoop be the first TV station to get the scoop. It was during that time. So it definitely there would have been a lot more tension drawn to this to whatever was going on here. I think but always then again, like I said, you have the light-heartedness. I feel like Robin is the central focus of that because she's she's this character that's acting like it's all fine and good.

And what are we doing? And I don't know. She's the one to me that fills the gaps and she's that person in the room that fills the silent gaps with she's got to say something. I got to I got to get in there. I got to say something and she's like overly spastic in this app in this whole season.

Yeah, once again stands out, you know, like she's she's a huge standout in this all the way through all the way through and I think all of these characters did that. They really did. Yeah, get in get into this. It was like they became these people. Yeah, I think that her being a lifeline for will obviously was a huge deal with that.

She even though she's a little bit more I would say. You know, maybe in is not as deep of a character in the way that she presents herself, but definitely because she has that perspective will needed. He ends up being a much more integral part of the relationship because she was the person for will to be able to be vulnerable with to be honest with and to give him some encouragement. Yeah, and looks like Robin just wants it seems like she is really wants a date. She's really wants to go out with Vicky and they just need to get get that date done.

At the steakhouse or whatever it is, you know, and I love how a lot of comments out there about this show just in general will say how are these kids out all the time? Is this really what it was like in the 80s? Did parents just were their kids just gone and not home? Yes. Yes, so much.

So do you remember you had to be reminded? Do you know where your kids are? It's 10 p.m. Yeah. Yeah, cuz when kids actually started disappearing and there was serial killers and you know, things were were happening then it just became like a we better maybe lock this down maybe kind of make people aware that they should have a have a note on where their kids are.

Yeah, priest. This is pre-cell phone days to pre-cell phone. Had to be reminded where are your kids and they I guess, you know a lot of parents would well, I guess I better go out and find them that get out on the front porch and start yelling her name, you know, I do that. I have a call my kids from or whatever I do on the porch Kuhlning is what we call it. It's what they used to do in the hills for the for the cows.

The women would send out and the cows had learned a melody from from when they were calves when they're babies and so they would stand out there and on the porch and the cows would come home. I tried to teach my kids that but all so far I've gotten out of that is I stand on my porch and I do my little song and I hear from clear across like a block away. I'll hear my son go what and I'm like having a conversation with you for a block away. That was supposed to be a come home signal or I had like people at the park that make fun of me and they'll go back to me. So that's that really served its purpose really well does really does.

I love that. I love that. Now back to Robin and will and really leading up to will's moment. They did they teased it. They talked about it for a couple episodes to where it might have became overdue.

I thought it was like man. I thought you guys had he should have done this a couple seasons ago, you know, it was quiet honest not really a spectacle the showed it and sensationalize it but it did get review bombed and this is the worst. That was the worst episode rated was the one that he came out and I really do hate that because it was a beautiful beautiful scene beautiful moment. Yeah. And done right and it was in a way that it normalized it.

It wasn't like this what other people might perceive somebody coming out as it was very tasteful and I thought it was very well done. Like I don't know why and that's just one of those things that bothers me out there that you got this you take that scene out this incredible episode that would be highly rated all great. Yet it gets the worst ratings because people want to review bomb it because of one scene that they may not particularly agree with for whatever reason, you know like that's yeah, but here are my thoughts on that and I've had some time to really reflect on that. I don't know if it's an indication of how far we've come society that that episode did get a lower rating or because I feel that it didn't get the low rating because he came out of the closet. I think it's because it was so overdue and to be fair with a little bit of criticism to the writing a little bit just that it was a little drawn out and I have some thoughts on that from other episodes too that I'll get to but the him Getting to the point and getting to the final like now that was very indicative of what it would have been like to come out of the closet at his age in the 80s that probably was kind of a big deal.

Maybe a lot more people didn't do that back then but to think about as a society. We've come so far us are 2025 to peoples that we are now. We're just like, yeah, we know you're gay. We've known it for five years. Like we've been watching this show and people guessed it from season one.

Honestly, it was there were comments made. Joy says something like how his dad had left and thought that will was a little odd. I think the F word was used. I won't use it, but it was like, you know, he's a little queer. So maybe dad didn't get didn't get will so there's been hints of it.

We've kind of been like coming at this for so long. We're finally in season five the final season of the show. I think it's kind of a good thing to note that as an audience we are all like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, like you're gay. We know it's so not a big deal to us. Even though it would have been a big deal to will in the 80s.

I'd love to have it does totally make sense. I'd love to have some of some of our LGBTQIA plus members out there to chime in on this. Let us know was it over? Was it badly rated because it was overdue? Was it too long?

If you take that out of context was the scene pretty was it was it pretty good though, you know, like that's the that's what I'm getting at. Like was this episode worth a 5.2 or whatever on IMDb? I don't think so. But yeah, I would like to hear somebody from the LGBTQ community. Let us know what you thought about.

Yeah, big time, you know, like I love about Schitt's Creek, for example, and it's very widely, you know, not criticized. What's the opposite of criticize? It's it's held to a high pedestal claim. Claim. Thank you.

Okay, so it's very acclaimed in that the lbgqt community was like, hey, I love this representation of a community where sexuality is not even really discussed. It's not even really like it's so normalized that it just is it just exists. There's no judgment whatsoever. I mean you would think in maybe like a certain small towns in America. It would still be a lot of misogyny and bigotry and all of the things towards, you know, openly gay characters, but in Schitt's Creek, they showed something different.

And so I kind of like to think of it as maybe as an audience. We just didn't care that much that will was gay. We were like great moving on. Let's get back to those Demogorgons. What are they up to?

Come on. Yeah, like that back to the battle. So maybe it was too long of a scene like we were and that's it. That's maybe the only criticism that we have about it that you know, and maybe that maybe that's being very optimistic. Maybe there's still people watching stranger things that were like, I'm just mad.

They had to make a character gay that so I am whatever. I am absolutely certain with sadness in my heart. I say to know that that's going to be the truth for some people out there. All of a sudden will come out as gay when I will more evil than Vecna to them some out of those people out there, which is insane. That's not how I feel nor you but Vecna we got to see Vecna destroy that scene.

That scene when he finally unleashes his powers and you get to see the chaos he can create and control which is really the scariest part of it. He's not all about chaos. He's controlling every bit of that but that scene when you know, he unleashes even me and Lindsey were watching it my wife Lindsey and I told her I was like man. I was I was thinking man just just stop bro. Stop like I was thinking that's that's a lot.

Like he went too far. You know, it was it was insane. But how he cleared out that whole area and that's when Will that's when we get to see Will's powers his eyes roll back at his head does the Undertaker from wrestling. He is wild but that that whole scene right there was incredible to me. Pivotal moment in this whole series.

That was like midway. I think yeah and volume one right? Yeah, did you did you believe that their plan was going to work there? I know, you know, there was more episodes coming but did you feel it like they were going to they could get this they were going to win this. I mean knowing the series knowing how this was going to go.

I knew they were going to come up with plans. They were going to all have to execute their parts. I mean, that's just like classic stranger things across the board but that everything was going to work just right or just perfectly. No, I mean that's never been the case. So there's going to be a lot of like we're going to throw this out there and we're going to throw this in there and the whole someone or several people are going to need to sacrifice themselves in order for things to work out and that there will most definitely be moments that we're going to be presented with now a choice has to be made and nothing, you know, this didn't work out quite the way they needed it to and so there's this moment of this character is going to have to take that next step into sacrificing themselves.

So you had that going on in volume to write a lot of that with 11 like, you know, again, she's yeah big time, but this season and her arc it wasn't about her getting stronger. It was more about patience hesitation the pause before she steps in, you know, the question behind your eyes. Am I allowed to just exist just be here? I think that was not a weakness for her, but it did kind of show a lot of maturity, you know, yeah presented some little conflict to on whether or not she felt like is there going to be something for me at the other side of this? Am I allowed to have a life?

Am I going to be allowed to exist as an autonomous person after whatever happens here, right? Like that's kind of what it was and her sister showed back up. I mean, don't get me started. That was my probably one mark on the city. Actually, I got two marks and the other was controversial, but that's my one mark is bringing that sister back from another low rated episode.

Yeah, rate that low because of polarizing opinions folks. We we rated that one wrong because it was trash can worthy, you know, we rated it bad because it was trash can worthy. So bringing her back. Yeah, I don't know like why it I did. I did kind of get it.

Why because we did start questioning all she gonna turn bad is she gonna do so it did give us a new red herring. Yeah, if you want to give it that like it was a new new thing to think about what you think about her coming back. Well, I mean it kind of makes it give us that full circle moment where it's like that episode we had when we met her and then she was really never brought up or became any sort of important at all. It turned out to be okay. So there's a missing puzzle piece here that we needed to know about why these kids ended up with these gifts.

Why are they the way they are and she was kind of that missing puzzle piece we needed and then you know for there to be a possibility of a ending where is free that needed to be able to be there. So, okay all great. I think what happened though as far as the relationships and how that through sort of a dynamic into play there was in a and I'll point this out with Hopper and Joyce. So Hopper and Joyce characters in this season are both going through similar things. They're both confronted with that age-old parental question and if you're a parent we all go through this probably every single day, which is am I doing the right thing by my kid and that dynamic of like am I over protecting or do I let them go is this the point in which I start to let go and let them have independence and show them that I trust them and Joyce and Hopper both going through it right with their kids.

The Hopper is like I'm really protective of Elle. I won't let her actually do anything. She has to prove herself a million times over before I'll even take her with me on the crawls or anything like that. Like so many people are out for her. So he's being super overprotective.

It drives her crazy. She just wants to be left to do her own thing. Will is also going through that. So Joyce is like, well, you know, I'm protecting protecting and by the way, that's been since season one, right when he disappears and comes back. She's obviously going to have trauma.

She's going to be like my baby. I'm not going to let you do a single thing on your own. You're my baby. So she's being extreme about that. But then she finally says no, you know what?

I've been holding you back. You're strong. You're amazing and I trust you and I want to let you do your thing and then he gets hurt. And so she's like, wait, did I totally screw this up? I mean that whole dynamic is an insanely insanely relatable to parents.

We're all been through it. So Kali's existence in that kind of needed to be there. She needed to be there to challenge and push so that hopper would be, you know, like I got to make a decision here. I've got to make a decision on whether I trust L or not because now there's this other girl saying all these things. I don't particularly like yeah.

Yeah, but you're right. Like I kind of dig. I got frustrated with hopper in the one scene when she's trying to time out the thunder with the jumping on the roof and he's like, oh no, no, I'm like, man, you've seen her do crazier shit than that. Let her go. You go let her go jump on the roof and count to seven or whatever it was, you know, like get her over there and stop wasting time.

Let's we got Demi Gorgons is vecting of the battle out there. Yeah. Okay. So you you sold me Kali now. I need you to sell me this is controversial.

This is the one I was going to talk about but I need you to tell me the reason Linda Hamilton had a character in here because she was pointless. Yeah, no reason other than the name on the marquee because if you come down to the storyline like we thought it was going to be a big deal, but there was nothing there. It was just another side quest if you want to call it that but Linda Hamilton didn't have any point into it. I'm not saying that she didn't do a great job, but her character was not need. Are you?

Yeah, we just needed like another not not just the character but kind of the whole part that the military played in general. I questioned that choice a little bit because it did feel like and they were bringing back plots from other seasons too and throwing that in and like they're like we got to get rid of this L we got to get rid of this little girl. So they're like ready to kill this little girl. They're ready to kill a little bit over this. So it throws that in but it almost felt like in this season.

It was just the original cast. You've got the kids. You've got the Hawkins heroes. I'm gonna call him Hawkins heroes and then you've got Vecna right and you've got mindflayer Vecna otherworldly whatever the rock that makes Vecna Vecna and this is what's going on between the two of them. But the military is just this other thorn in the side of just kind of being in the way and get off me.

I don't know how else to explain it. It just feels like we're doing our thing. We're doing our thing. Get get can you get off? Can you just like leave me alone?

Trying to do my thing. I guess they did do the they were the ones responsible for building the walls to the space or whatever it was the car got sucked out of but still you didn't need main characters to play those roles that could have just been in a discussion between two characters out, you know, the military is running this thing. Yep sure do. Yeah done and maybe they've got to get around got to get around what they're doing and stuff but that they were so hell-bent on like we're looking for this girl and we're going to kill her and you're like why wait, she's the one saving the world. What's the point here?

It felt a little bit just annoying more. So yeah, the necessary. Yeah, it did. I got to tell you my heart stopped in one scene. Can you guess which scene my heart I was like which one it's when it's when Steve Harrington on the towers.

Oh, that didn't even come to my mind. I was thinking back none the cave. I was thinking I was thinking Holly falling from the sky. I mean my mind was racing all these moments, right? Yeah, Steve in the tower.

Steve. I want to tell you Steve to me is the glue. He was the glue Steve didn't have powers. No destiny. He just stayed protected and showed up when he's supposed to he did, you know, like you think Steve knew he was the glue or does he just act on instinct?

Is that what he's doing just you know, he's going to be this natural nurturer. One of my favorite favorite images that ever came out and the whole series was coming out was when they started calling him the babysitter and they started having images of him with all the kids because he always he's like, why do I end up with all the kids and then that just became his role. Like he was just good with the like being the mom. He was like I've got you guys like I'm here for you and I can't I just kind of love that speaking as a woman. There's nothing sexier than a nurturing guy.

So I'm like he's playing his role perfectly what he needs to be here. Do you imagine he does got rid of him? I mean it was the finale so it was okay, but it's still going to hurt if we lost Steve because of those things you said he does it naturally. It's like it's like they say about animals, you know kids are the same way they they can actually sense good people and that's why the kids were always around him and you're talking about offset with Joe Keery himself. I've seen all that they're they're attracted pets kids anything that's got let's say some innocence or attracted to the things that are good naturally and he's got it naturally and him being a at the end of it him being a teacher or a gym teacher.

I was like that's that's a perfect role to make him he got a he that's the happiest ending he could have got right there. I know so we loved his character the finale the finale though non-stop and it was long to over two hours long. This is a movie, you know, it played out like a movie. You knew it would I noticed I noticed tons of homage to cinema like this stranger things was always good about being fluent in cinema and by that I'm talking about weird it kind of touched on it, but it's that old ladies feeling from every 80s movie really the last adventure before adulthood, you know, they're about to grow up to be adults and this was that last time that they got to ride off together and go battle one more thing. It just happened to be Vecna, you know, but that's an homage really to me.

That's almost a A A Nightmare on Elm Street the dream logic fear, you know, just the fear invading spaces and not being able to get out of them. I've talked about my love for isolation movies. This one is an isolated TV show. They're in a town. They're stuck.

They can go to the upside down now just all willy-nilly to by the way, they made the upside down mundane like this ain't even the biggest. Yeah plot anymore. We're just ripping between the two worlds and doing whatever we want, you know, so yeah, yeah, they did it right. It did the Duffer Brothers did it right. It's got a The The Goonies feel to it even.

Yeah, yeah, it kind of does and I will say I mean one of my criticisms. I think if I have any of the series or just the season particularly is we know from the series before that the episodes get longer and longer. There's just so much they couldn't possibly fit into just an hour episode. So they just went ahead and took whatever time they needed and we loved for it and that was great. I feel like what ended up happening though in season 5 was they took a little bit too much liberty with that because there were particular scenes that I thought this could have been bundled and probably been better for it and I'm going to talk about the long goodbyes my one and only I think my one and only criticism my one and only like didn't love it was starting with episode for Ellen Hopper are you know in this moment of like I might have to go sacrifice myself again, you know into the into the lab and they have this moment where they have to like really talk about like their feelings and loves and goodbyes and tears and I may not make it back and you better make it back and all that happened and then it was all fine.

No no goodbyes necessary. They they reunited it was okay, but that was just the of what ended up being a lot of a series of these moments that I found myself checking my watch like literally just being like, all right, how long is this thing going to go on because it was Holly and Max when they finally reached the moment where Holly can go there's an exit for Holly and there's an exit for Max and they have their moment and I'm like, okay go like you got your exit go run do your thing play the song. Let's go and they just have this really drawn out. Goodbye. They started a whole fucking podcast right there between the two exits.

They did they could have put headphones and got a microphone and started a podcast right there. You are absolutely right about that and they and they both end up. Okay, and they both end up okay and that's fine. But I think that scene could have been cut down to just a couple of quick tearful emotional words and then go same with Jonathan and Nancy in the playdough puddle melting world and they were about to die and they realize I mean again, it's pivotal in their characters because they realize maybe they really aren't in love. Maybe this isn't really it for them the each other and then and they're happily ever afters mostly because they're going to die probably so okay, but the conversation and the scene that happens while the room slowly drips around them.

It was just far too much for me. I felt like we could have bundled that into a couple of lines where we go, you know what? I don't think you're it for me and that's okay. And I don't think you're it for me either, but I love you anyway. I love that scene.

I loved that scene until they didn't die. It would have been a great payoff if they died. I was like man. All this is the this is bittersweet. This is them acting at the top of the their their acting games.

This is two Giants characters that are about to see their end. Yeah. Yeah, I was looking at I was like, oh my gosh, they they even at least they figured out to put the table flat unlike the Titanic when they had the door up and you know, it slid off like they figured that part out. But I thought yes, I'm going to cry when the table falls through that floor and we see the slow-mo of them. They just yeah, and then it just stopped.

I know I was disappointed made the long long. Goodbye just not quite pay off and yeah, I mean not that we wanted to see Nancy and Jonathan dead because we don't I don't but that long. Goodbye. Come on. It would have been I'm telling you if they would have died right there that would be heart-breaking like people would have been that because you think about that long goodbye and then a payoff where they both die together still holding hands even though they're not together slowly in just I thought that would have been the way like yeah, and it would have made people mad but truthfully and I think the Duffer Brothers must have known this they could have written this last season or even the last finale episode.

They could have written it a million different ways and no possible way that everybody was going to be satisfied or happy with it. There's no possible way. I mean so might as well we'll get we'll get to it here in just a moment, but fans didn't let it die after episode 8, but we'll finish talking about the finale episode 8. Yeah, did you? Did you like the ending?

What did you think did you give you peace peace or are you left restless? Yeah, I thought it was great. I mean, I thought that not having anyone die potentially because we don't know about Al for sure, but you know ending that whole thing and not having anyone die does feel a little placating. It feels a little bit like, you know, they were like, you know what people be so mad at us if we kill anyone off. So we just won't we just won't kill anyone off.

So I'm not thrilled with that, but but the but the ending there wasn't so many things to break down and so many little things to pick apart and that kind of is the fun part. I think that's why people love this series because there's so many hidden things maybe even so much that things were read into that didn't end up being anything really, but it's fun. It's fun to find those Easter eggs. It's fun to find those things. I saw one that I particularly liked and wanted to bring up when Max finally wakes up from her coma.

This was episode 6, I believe. Anyway, so when Max finally wakes up and everybody meets her everybody comes to like see her there. Hopper is there with Al and they show up and they're giving her hugs and Hopper just kind of winks at her and is like nice to see you again kid, you know kind of a thing someone pointed out and I had to go back and look at it. Max would have still thought that Hopper was dead. So why isn't Max more surprised to see him alive because last she saw him he went in to sacrifice himself in the lab and he disappeared and she doesn't know anything about the whole Russian adventure to go and rescue him from Russia.

So she ended up in her coma before all that came to fruition and wasn't there when he returned. So because she's been in a coma for two years. Yeah, right. Yeah, do it while she still was in high school. She somehow completed all of her assignments.

I'll graduate. I want to touch on that real quick. I want to touch on that and I want to make Max our person we look to when we feel like we can't keep going because if you can be in a coma for two years and still graduate high school, you could be like Max. All right, you need to be like be more like Max. That's what we got to do out there.

Yeah, I don't know how she did that. That's wild to me. They didn't just end a story here. They kind of closed a chapter in pop culture, you know, yeah, and I loved it. My final thought on the finale was I loved it.

I thought it was great. They could have done anything and it wasn't gonna make everybody happy. There's no way. Yeah, no finale in the history of finale since ever done it wasn't gonna happen here. I had a lot of fun after because as you know, we talked about it.

The fans they kept digging for those little micro Easter eggs and trying to piece together to make sure that this was really over and they thought it was not over. They had a day and everything planned fans did for an episode 9 to drop and it was going to be basically Vecna 1 and everything we saw in the finale was what Vecna 1 of the viewer to see and my God the the message boards red. Yeah, Facebook everywhere was getting talked about people were hyped up. There was also other people out there who were bashing the hell out of people saying just get over it. It's over, you know, and yeah, it might have just been a really difficult for people to let go and that's understandable for something that has been in part of our culture for so many years.

I understand it. I get it. But as I said, I'm sure the Duffer Brothers were watching all these little clues people were putting together and saying there's going to be another episode. There's going to be another episode and I just imagined them watching all that and going oh did you do? No, I didn't.

I will say this. I'm going to I'm going to go on record right now and say that this was not a bad thing for fans and fandom of a TV show to come up with these crazy theories that really did look legitimate and it seemed like it could happen like that's the thing. It was like wait a minute. Could they really sneak in an extra episode for the finale and the people out there who are bashing it and talking trash about it. Guess what?

This is going to happen at some point. Now. There is some young creator out there who took this all in and they they're thinking about it and like, you know what? I'm going to do this one day. It won't be stranger things.

I don't think there's a season 9 or episode 9 coming. They did put the documentary out today or yesterday. I believe the 12th January 12th. Yeah yesterday on Netflix, but somebody else out there is going to create a crazy TV show that we all love and they're going to do this where they break the fourth wall and there's an extra finale. The real finale will come out.

It's going to happen and I think it'll be an experience because that's what it is. That would have been an incredible experience for all these fans around the world to put this together. Finally, little Easter eggs and stranger things. Yeah, people not believe it still people won't believe it. And then all of a sudden an episode 9 did drop that would have been wild not knocking it up for brothers for not doing it.

Love the finale. But yeah, somebody's going to do this down the road and we're going to love it. We're going to we're going to go crazy. So yeah, I particularly loved the finale because it didn't necessarily feel like an ending felt like we were told and shown that these characters and the next generation of characters are going to keep going whether we can see it or not. It feels like it exists in some TV world reality and they're out there playing Dungeons and Dragons right now Holly and her friends, you know, Erica's doing her thing and becoming a scientist and you know, Lucas and Max are married and off somewhere and you know, you just get this idea that it all carries on and that's so great and we feel warm and cozy about it.

I will say though. My my my own thoughts about a series or a TV or a or even a book. I was told protagonists in any or heroes. They're the ones that go through the most change, right? They go through the most transformation.

So I started thinking about this really deeply and I think there are two people one for the season and one for the series that I believe went through the most major transformation of anybody and again, this might be controversial. I don't know. There might be people out there that argue with me, but here's my stance on that for the season. I think the real secret weapon was dipshit Derek. Yeah, and for the series itself for the entire thing the person I feel like went through the most transformation that came out of this the most empowered was Karen Wheeler.

What a moment she had when she comes out of the hospital again and saves him from the Demi-Dol that was straight out of an 80s, you know, woman-led action flick for sure. And yeah, you're right. I haven't thought about that. I haven't thought about that. That's those are two great answers.

Moms, you know what the most unrealistic thing to happen on all five seasons of the show was the scene with the four of them on the rooftop at the end of the squat Robin Steve, Jonathan Nancy, I believe. Yeah. Yep. When they say we're going to drive halfway or whatever and meet each other once a month or whatever. That ain't happening.

That's never happening. You're not staying around with your friends and meeting them all the time summer off the college and summer not you're done. No, that's done. I'm sorry, but that one right there. I was like, no, I can I can believe the Vecna and the Demi-Dogs and alternate realities and upside down all that but I can't believe the four of them are going to get together every week or whatever every month for now.

I did love that scene because there's a big big Easter egg homage right here and I think it's two Reality Bites. They have the same scene in reality by with why not a rider in Ethan Hawke on that roof. That's Robin is Ethan Hawke's daughter and I think that's an homage to the reality by thing, right? But it's got to be because it's the four of them sitting up there the same thing same conversations. Yeah, I think it is.

It's got to be perfect on purpose. Yeah, they're optimistic. We were all optimistic teenagers at one point and thought that the friends we had were going to be friends with forever. That's all that was. I couldn't be friends with those guys.

I cut that Christmas tree down with anymore. Man, we'd be in jail somewhere. But no, I love this series. I love the show. I love any of them like it one recommendation.

I'll give you Welcome to Derry. That's your next stranger things that if you want something you still got the feels they say Welcome to Derry's only on season one. If you want more shows like this, we never asked for this, but you can hit subscribe to us at Parallel Frequencies daily. That's all one word at Parallel Frequencies daily Coco. I think I'm done here.

You got anything else for the people? I think that about wraps it up love stranger things and ready for our next adventure. Yeah, you know what we got to see these kids grow up. We did too. I'm glad we got to experience this together.

Everybody out there. We'll see you next time right here. You