#i think s5 has a TON of potential to be great don't get me wrong

[strangertheories]

I really despise the Marvelification of Stranger Things, because all the interviews nowadays are constantly referencing how fast paced and epic and big the finale will be but the reason people fell in love with the show wasn't special effects or long episodes; it was the plot, it was the characters, it was the mystery. Stranger Things 1 may have been a story about a government conspiracy and a monster, but that's not why we stuck around. The show can throw amazing CGI, Russians, a battle within the American army and an apocalypse at the audience with the biggest budget known to man but if they forget to ground it and keep it central, it'll just get lost amongst a plethora of other "epic" blockbusters. We want Steven King, not Avengers.

[setmeatopthepyre]

9-1-1 tag game

so uhh I was tagged in this by a whole bunch of people (thank you!) ages ago but I kept. forgetting about it (sorry). so here we go! also heads up I am terrible at choosing a favorite anything bc I hate picking just one thing so. yeah.

tagged by @iphyslitterator @sorryimlatecapt @epiphainie @kinardtk @beanarie @sugdenlovesdingle

Rules: answer your opinion on these nine topics, then tag nine other people to give their opinion as well

Favorite Character: Buck / Chimney / Tommy / Karen

Character You Relate to the Most: personality wise, Chimney and Buck (also for the late bi awakening & adhd) with a side of Tommy socially. but also Eddie when he gets to be silly. I feel his dumb joke delivery in my soul.

Favorite Episode: I'm gonna go with my favorite from each season to ease the burden of choosing The Favorite(s) a little. so. uh. sorry for the wall of text lmao.

S1 E1: Pilot. It's got a little bit of everything and fuckboy buck is everything to me.

S2 E6: Dosed and E12: Chimney Begins. E6: I love a healthy mix of goofy shenanigans and angst, and the pageant scene is so fucking funny every single time. E12: I also love chimney (and tommy) and chimney begins is just such a fantastic episode. kenny is so good in it. there's eli! there's angst and joy and just such a satisfying emotional arc. it feels like a million things happen but nothing feels rushed and nothing drags. it gets weirdly trippy towards the end. it's great.

S3 E17: Powerless. this was a tough one bc s3 has a ton of episodes where I love some parts and dislike others, so they tend to balance out. but this episode has some fun calls and some really human moments I like, plus the angst of bobby listening to athena fight over the radio? goddd.

S4 E5: Buck Begins and E12: Treasure Hunt. what can I say, buck (and buckley sibling) backstory and love me anyway. also, shenanigans.

S5 E13: Fear-o-Phobia. mann there's so much angst but it doesn't drag or feel overdone and we really dig into the meat of some of their psyches and it's so messy.

S6 E7: Cursed and E11: In Another Life. E7: felisa and eddie had such good chemistry alright? also silly curse stuff and the buck sperm donation shenanigans! jesus I still can't believe that's a storyline we got. E11: yeah ok so I like buck-centric storylines (especially buck-and-bobby!). coma dream! chimney who is just on board right away! evil buck! angry bobby! yeaah!

S7 E4: Buck, Bothered and Bewildered and E5: You Don't Know Me. E4 for obvious reasons (the bachelor opening had me double checking I'd downloaded the wrong show, there's joshmaddiechimney shenanigans, there's harbor tour!!, tommy tommy tommy's so cool!!, buck acting a complete fool, eddie being an oblivious dumbass, ravi!, the top gun throwback basketball scene! the kiss!!), though god that call with the mistaken identity and the storyline with athena and harry are rough. not bad, just rough. and E5 has some of my absolute favorite scenes, like the 'so tell me about the hot pilot' scene between maddie and buck. it might be my most rewatched scene, period.

S8a E1: Buzzkill and E5: Masks. mann, I remember the optimism I had in e1! there's silliness, there's interesting plot being set up, there's still hope for the future, there's fun interactions... and E5 for obvious reasons but also because it just felt like a kind of old school fun theme episode with just the right amount of cheese.

Hottest Take: Season Six Was Good, Actually. idk i've seen a lot of people dislike it but I... don't know why? there's a few storylines I don't care about as much but there's some really fun episodes. oh on that note, the sperm donation storyline had a lot of potential and I'm sad we didn't get more of it. it could've been such a cool way to dive into different dynamics between characters we don't really know! there could've been baby shenanigans! medium-warm take bc I think a lot of people in my circles agree with it, but taylor is an incredibly interesting character (and they should've kept her on!). in my heart, there is a version of 9-1-1 where taylor didn't disappear after the break up but stayed as a recurring character and becomes best frenemies with buck (and eddie!) and it would be sooo good and provide sooo many fun plot opportunities. perhaps my hottest take: I think we as a fandom may be making too big of a deal about eddie moving to el paso. we don't even know if he's actually going. the looking at houses was a product placement and the show just loooooves to zig instead of zag it's more likely to me that eddie is gone for like one week so buck can be isolated for the maddie storyline and then he's back.

Favorite Lone Star Character: marjan, carlos, judd, grace (especially judd and grace together), paul. to just stare at: carlos and tommy.

Favorite Ship: bucktommy (and for lone star: tarlos and judd/grace)

Most Underrated Character: josh. underutilized by the show: karen, josh, eddie, chimney. i want karen & chimney to have plots outside of their romantic relationships, dammit. they both have unexplored depths! and let josh do more than give quippy lines and be the gay best friend/coworker. also i think there's so much potential in eddie as a character that is barely touched on and it keeps circling back to vague handwavy trauma which can be interesting but needs more room to get to be interesting imo.

Most Underrated Ship: (chimney begins-era) chimtommy, also eddietommy. so much opportunity for a game of emotional repression and comphet chicken.

One Thing You'd Love to See: where's that tommytommytommytommytommy gif? also see: underutilized characters. I'd love to see 118 side character shenanigans. just one episode with no mains (or they're on screen for like a minute).

lmao this became such a long post so uh enjoy. once I get going with opinions I just don't stop and like I said I can't pick favorites. :') not tagging bc I think everyone & their mom already got tagged ages ago but if you do want to be tagged go for it or send me a message & I'll tag you sneaky like.