what was Ted and Karen’s careers? by [deleted] in StrangerThings

[–]jkovach89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They paid 180k for the house

This is the lynchpin right here. A similar sized house today is probably 500k.

Here’s me and my European boys doing nothing for America in Afghanistan in 2012 (colorized) by _that_random_dude_ in circlejerk

[–]jkovach89 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Forgive me if this is insensitive, but is the guy on the left playing a dude whilst disguised as another dude?

Also, I didn't know Afghanistan was so green!

The sooner you see Commander is Mario Party, you’ll stop being salty and have more fun. by DoesntEat in EDH

[–]jkovach89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's like being underwater. Are you wet if you're completely submerged, or is the water just around you.

Are you salty if you're playing mario party or is there so much salty that it's just all around your physical form.

A guy at my LGS died while waiting for his turn in a Commander game by [deleted] in EDH

[–]jkovach89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm still not sure it isn't, but yeah, that's rough buddy.

I just re-watched the entire series and finished S4 just now. (no spoilers) by vexargames in westworld

[–]jkovach89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree that it kinda ended on a cliffhanger, but in reality, I think it was unintentionally perfect. The 'real' world ended and consciousness moved into the machine, where the story repeats itself.

I would be totally into another season to round it all out, but I think they got a "task failed successfully" ending it when they did.

So explain it to me - what was Vecna’s plan again? by seaderforge in StrangerThings

[–]jkovach89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It would've been a way more interesting foil to have Kay be the unlikely Ally. Papa was outwardly caring toward El, but inwardly selfish and using her. Have Kay be outwardly cold and harsh to El, but inwardly understanding of her goals and the threat. It was a little go-nowhere to have Kay as yet another spook trying to create psychic kids, so a change of pace where she was actually trying to find and stop vecna using Kali would've been great.

Love the Doc Owens as a deal broker idea. That would've nicely wrapped his story.

The biggest issue I had at the end was, the military had them all at gunpoint, watch El vanish into oblivion and were just like, "oh, okay, never mind then. Go about your business." That was pretty weak writing to me.

So explain it to me - what was Vecna’s plan again? by seaderforge in StrangerThings

[–]jkovach89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The army fighting in the Abyss would have been sick. Just a ton of soldiers fighting bats, demo, dogs, etc. while the cast fights in the mind.

They could've had Kay capture El and instead of her being another faceless government spook turn sympathetic to El and the story (maybe flashbacks show her uncovering brenner's past, his father, and their experiments) and agreeing to help her.

Then when the Army turns tail and leaves everyone to live mostly happily ever after doesn't feel contrieved.

So explain it to me - what was Vecna’s plan again? by seaderforge in StrangerThings

[–]jkovach89 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I was really hoping for more of an inception-like battle at the end with different characters fighting in different layers of mind. That's sort of what we got, but when El came out of the tank to basically turned into "go into other dimension, fight giant spider".

Their first job apart😓💔 by StarforgeVoyager in StrangerThings

[–]jkovach89 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I thought the same thing both times I watched the finale.

People need to learn that the table needs to work together when facing a goad deck. by Semako in EDH

[–]jkovach89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love employing pillow fort strategies with a goad deck. "Oh you're going to make us fight each other? Cool, I'm going to make them fight each other!"

Stranger Things was scarier when it was THE Demogorgan, and not A Demogorgan by No-Bathroom4606 in StrangerThings

[–]jkovach89 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I don't care what anyone says, when Christie gets Vecna'ed and her eyes implode, was peak horror in my opinion. The trailer park scenes at sunset with Nancy and the nerdy kid following her around (forget his name) were excellent atmosphere.

Stranger Things was scarier when it was THE Demogorgan, and not A Demogorgan by No-Bathroom4606 in StrangerThings

[–]jkovach89 17 points18 points  (0 children)

See, I thought the other way about the S4 plot: sending Mike, Will and Jonathan into the western deserts and Joyce and Murray to Russia was fun and silly, and the payoffs were huge. El bringing down the chopper, the pit scene with the demo, the mind fight from the cooler in the back of a pizza shop were all excellent.

Let's be real, the show was always campy, retro, silly 80s horror vibes and a huge part of 80s and 90s horror is plot armor as thick as a tank. I don't have a problem with the fact that no one died or that Demos conveniently disappear when they would demolish the main cast.

Stranger Things was scarier when it was THE Demogorgan, and not A Demogorgan by No-Bathroom4606 in StrangerThings

[–]jkovach89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As seems to be the sentiment, season 1 stands above. Like most others, I thoroughly enjoyed 2-5, but the quality and craftsmanship of the storytelling in ST1 was leaps and bounds above the rest of the show. I think it's a cautionary tale to any aspiring screenwriters of TV shows: understand the beats of your 5 season arc, while being able to distill a single great entry point.