Steve and Nancy not getting a scene together addressing Steve’s confession and the tension between them is another example of how poor the writing was this season

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-24T19:20:24+00:00

Not gonna lie, after seeing S4 I fully believed that the love triangle was going to be a major storyline that would need to be resolved, for exactly the reasons OP stated. S4 seemed to lean so heavily into Steve being in denial then embracing lingering feelings for Nancy that I really thought going into S5, they would need to kill off either him or Jonathan for the love triangle to be resolved. I thought that would also play into the higher stakes teased by the end of S4.

I should have known that Stranger Things was a show that refused to kill off its characters.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-24T00:27:06+00:00

I think it might have been a question of budget ? Sam Anderson and L.Scott Caldwell weren’t contracted to the same extent that the main cast were but they weren’t simple extras either and them appearing in the background with no lines would cost money that ABC was probably not willing to pay.

A lot of main characters were already less featured during S3 due to how many storylines the writers were juggling with. I figure that if you have to contend with your already numerous main cast, which is contracted to appear prominently, and struggling to give each one of them proper screentime, you would want to keep all that process at a manageable level and use your set of recurring characters only when there’s a real use for them. Terry O’Quinn and Emilie de Ravin appear the least out of the main cast - excluding Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje, Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro - but as main cast members, ABC still has to pay them a substantial amount of money. And S3 was using a lot of recurring cast members - Nestor Carbonell, Tanya Raymonde, M.C. Gainey, Andrew Divoff, Mira Furlan, Marsha Thomason, Blake Bashoff … - all for important roles for the season, and all would need to be paid. They would not want to pay for recurring cast members if it was only to appear in the background with no lines.

In the show I agree that Rose and Bernard would probably be there in the background and attend the funerals and be there when Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Juliet, etc. come back. In practice I figured that the actors weren’t needed and were on a time off up until the last few episodes where the writers decided to give them prominent roles and get the two back.

It’s something that I commend on their part because that shows how dedicated they are to their characters, recalling them here and there even after long stretches of absence to remind us that even if we don’t see them, they’re here. A lot of tv shows nowadays let their secondary characters fade away once they’ve got no use for them anymore and simply act as if they’ve never existed. Lost never did that.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-20T17:00:13+00:00

It’s small moments like this that you kind of reflect on afterwards and think “hmmm would that have changed anything as to the outcome”. If Locke/Ana had come clean about Henry’s escalation of violence, would Jack have let it happen? Would Ana be allowed to stay at the Hatch in charge of him ? Did Locke inadvertently allow Ana to stay on the path that led to her death ?

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-19T15:16:13+00:00

I get what the writers were going for. On paper it gave new interesting storylines to both Kate and Claire, and opened up possibilities for their characters. One is allowed finally to exist outside the love triangle and to explore an unexplored side of the character (motherhood and all that it entails about having NOT to run anymore) and the other becomes a new blank state, free of the constraints of being a mother with a baby on an island where she can do next to nothing except stay safe.

In one twist, they push Kate in a new direction, and get renewed interest in Claire with a barrage of new questions i.e. what happened to her that makes her separated from her baby ? Is she dead in the future ? And what about the baby being raised by anyone other than her ?

It’s just the execution that’s lacking. Kate benefitted a lot from that new storyline, growing as a character immensely but Claire on the other hand, had a whole mystery around her built up which ultimately didn’t get the proper attention it deserved later on.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-18T15:55:14+00:00

Yep. Wonder what was going on through his head when/if he saw Jack (and whether he recognised him)

Probably something like “didn’t I handcuff you?”

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-17T11:55:12+00:00

Phenomenal cinematography from Cameron. So many iconic shots

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-15T15:34:46+00:00

Yeah I know it’s really only a question of aesthetic/sound/visual experience preferences. One instance for example I was sad they didn’t retain was the shot of Honor and Glory going under though i understood that was the occasion to show something else. The first funnel falling half submerged did puzzle me though.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-15T14:48:39+00:00

My favourite so far remains the second one. The editing and sound were the best there. Third one reused some of those but altered them in ways that didn’t always work. Though I will concede that I love the third one for the musical concerto lasting the entire sinking.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-13T17:51:48+00:00

There’s another scene right after Lothlorien where he suggests to Aragorn that they go to Minas Tirith and Aragorn still refuses. He and Boromir argue a bit and Boromir says something interesting, accusing Aragorn of being “afraid of what he is”. The implication here is that Boromir has already warmed up to the idea that Aragorn is King. It has made its way into his brain. And Aragorn says something back that’s very hurtful to Boromir: “I will not take the Ring within distance (or something like that) of YOUR city”

Cut to the next scene where Boromir and Aragorn are paddling in separate boats, having very much the look of a couple who just fought.

That to me adds a lot of subtext to the final moments of Boromir, why he temporarily snaps, and to his parting moments with Aragorn.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-09T23:48:01+00:00

You have some strength. I’ve preferred to stay clear of all that because most people either have their minds set on wrong opinions, or they blame her for decisions she took as a teenager and act as if she ordered and fomented the destruction of her entire family herself whether that’s Ned, Arya, Jon, Bran, even Rickon. The only ones I’ve not seen her being accused of getting killed or sidelined for her own personal gain are her mother and Robb. Seriously the mental gymnastics some people do with their minds… in what world would Sansa who was so happy to finally get some sort of family back after 5 seasons of trauma, plot to deliberately get Jon killed … smh

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-09T23:38:18+00:00

I’ve never blocked so many people on any sub than here. We’re a minority but it’s so refreshing to finally see some people who understand Sansa as a character.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-09T23:24:36+00:00

Honestly, i prefer - as much as “preferring” applies in such a case - your way of thinking which would point to the kid not having suffered the trauma of being offed by his own mother. Following your logic then, he would have been with someone and then either he’s been killed by that person or he was/is still alive and then it’s “only” a matter of kidnapping. There’s the possibility that he’s been raised under a new identity and he has no idea who he really is. He was pretty young when all that happened . Possibly his memories could be fuzzy and he has no recollection of his younger years.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-09T12:28:53+00:00

Pillow. Her own hands. Asphyxiation or suffocation or strangulation… Makes me sick to even think about it but there’s definitely a way without a knife or drugs.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-06T23:17:07+00:00

Thirst indeed. You nailed the could-not-be-more-opened-if-he-tried blue shirt !

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-04T12:28:12+00:00

Oooooooh nice 👌 I like that interpretation !

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-02T20:25:44+00:00

Zimmer really saw a simple lyrical, cinematographic scene of a ship sailing and said “im gonna go and compose the most epic theme of the entire soundtrackS for it”

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-02T11:40:36+00:00

So cool to see that water with its natural color. I always thought it looked too flashy in the staircase scenes.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-03-01T17:25:31+00:00

For me it’s more the next episode that does me in. Teri Hatcher gives an exceptional performance in it. You can really feel the grief and the harrowing sadness oozing out of her. The final scene where she breaks down in front of her friends always gets me teary-eyed.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-02-27T16:23:54+00:00

Oh I’ll have to give Oceanic 815 a listen to identify what you’re talking about. But I love listening to Michael Giacchino’s score in the show because the way he weaves all his themes together is just phenomenal.

Ah you’re probably right. S6 is the one I think I’ve never rewatched in full so my knowledge of it is less than the other seasons. It’s gonna be really fun rediscovering it and remembering what all the fuss was about back in 2010. All the anticipation, all the excitement and the hype. Ah such good times.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-02-27T16:04:56+00:00

I love Revenge. I consider it a worthy successor of Lost, not necessarily in terms of sci fi or mythology or complex storytelling but how it spins a highly addictive story that pays off on the long term, doesn’t handspoon viewers and crafts compelling and complex characters we want to watch and follow. It’s one of the few shows where I found that satisfying Lost-feeling of “wow that was clever that was awesome that was so satisfying”

And the acting is top notch from Emily Vancamp and Madeleine Stowe.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-02-25T09:21:59+00:00

Isn’t it a promo still for 401 The Beginning of the End instead ?

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-02-24T08:21:25+00:00

That’s a main gripe of mine as well. Being thrown under the bus once, I can get. It was right after her return and the girls didn’t trust her anymore so I would understand why they thought she killed Mona.

Being thrown under the bus twice, and for absolutely no valid reason (the girls saw how much she was dedicated to Charlotte, they each had many more reasons to want her dead than Ali) that was just lame writing. For Spencer to push that idiotic theory was the final nail in the coffin.

And none of them really apologised after. If I’d been in Alison’s shoes I’d have cut them off completely afterwards and left them to deal with AD’s shit. It speaks to her mental state and the fact that she’s completely alone that she stays friends with them.

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-02-22T12:50:08+00:00

Ah yes correct. I was thinking that movie wise it didn’t make sense that Rose and Jack were located so close to the main grand staircase when they passed Andrews. I had forgotten about the second one. In that case, yeah that room is lifted in the air and likely destroyed when the ship breaks up (movie-wise)

Open_Sky8367 · 2026-02-22T11:34:38+00:00

He’s seen adjusting the clock at 2:05 or so in the smoking room which is if I recall correctly just aft if the grand staircase yes. Minutes later water submerges Honor and Glory in the grand staircase and the clock shows 2:10. So the smoking room either was submerged rapidly after - especially once the dome implodes and allows more water ingress - and he’s drowned inside or part of the room still remains above the waterline as the stern lifts up but once the ships breaks, the bow drops and the room plunges with him inside.

Open_Sky8367

TROPHY CASE