GGB Reno’s “Stranger Things September” Brunch

With the release of season three of Stranger Things over the summer, the Reno Geek Girls gathered at Lili’s to discuss the hit Netflix series.

Having only seen the first season and part of the second, Officer Julie assured the brunchettes that she doesn’t mind spoilers and shared that she would love to see more between Hopper and Joyce…immediately eliciting a round of sharp inhales and regretful sighs.

Abney had her heartstrings yanked by Hopper’s letter and, despite the obvious emotional manipulation, she was converted to Billy’s side by the end of the series. Several heated moments were devoted to Joe Keery’s recent bowl cut, thankfully, his hair has since returned to its original gravity-defying state. Phew!

Even though Kate binged season three on Fourth of July, she wasn’t always a fan of the show. She only got drawn in after she started watching it with her daughter, who cosplayed as Punk Eleven in a true “like mother, like daughter” fashion (Kate is the founder of Silent Storm Cosplay and Photography, check out her amazing Mal cosplay at last year’s Joss Whedon July brunch). She liked the dynamic between Hopper and Eleven and the friendship between Steve and Robin.

Jess, also a fan of Steve “The Hair” Harrington, saw the character as more of a great son-in-law than a heartthrob. She astutely predicted Bob’s inevitable death in season two when she saw the Sean Astin listed as “featuring.” She thought seasons one and two were great but three was not the same…which might be intentional on the writers’ part as a nod to the Party growing out of childhood and entering their teenage years.

Kim also commented on the writers’ skills in presenting the juxtaposition between the glamour of the American Dream (Starcourt Mall and the Fun Fair) and the darker reality (the secret Russian base and the Upside Down) hidden underneath – literally. She watched all of season two in her hotel on a rest day during her Disneyland trip, all the brunchettes agreed that it was definitely time well spent! Steve’s transformation from jock/jerk to stand-up guy was one of her favorite parts of the series. She also loved the Dungeons and Dragons scenes and references since she had met her husband playing D&D.

Officer Vanessa thought the first season was the best of the three, followed by season two, then three. She liked the Punk Eleven episode and thought it would be cool if they chose to go all X-Men down the road – something Jess and Angela hoped would be explored in season four. As a child, Vanessa wanted to be Winona Ryder so she loved Joyce Byers and thought the actress did a fantastic job portraying a concerned mom. Like other brunchettes, she also didn’t believe Billy deserved his redemption and considered it a cheap move to play the last minute “oh but he was abused” card to artificially create sympathy for him.

First time brunchette Sara hadn’t seen the series but was happy to meet up with fellow geek girls. Her geek roots began with Star Trek back in the 70s and continued to grow strong today, having just attended the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention earlier this summer.

Like Julie, Jan had only seen the first season and did not mind spoilers. She thought Mike is identical to one of her grandsons and agreed with her daughter Vanessa that Winona Ryder did a wonderful job as Joyce Byers but Eleven was her favorite because she related to Eleven’s childhood.

…WAIT…WHAT?!

Jan then shared that in fourth grade, she was subjected to some tests by the Air Force – she remembered the uniform – that she theorized to be designed to find future pilots based on high intuition. One of the tests she underwent was to walk through a room, blindfolded and dodging unseen obstacles along the way. The obstacles turned out to be helium balloons…mostly harmless but still suspect.

Officer Angela‘s favorite part of the series was all the 80s references and nostalgia, though it was all new to her because she grew up in Taiwan and moved to the U.S. in her teens. She pointed out that the common thread linking the major character deaths in each season was the letter B – Barb, Bob, and Billy. The Byers seemed to be safe…for now.

Jan, Kate, and Kim were the lucky winners of this month’s swag items – a Camp Know Where mug, an Eleven vs. Demogorgon figure, and the Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set.

Coming up next is GGB Reno’s annual Cosplay October brunch, mark your calendars for Saturday October 19th and we hope to see you there.

A special shout-out to GGB Reno’s former Officer Erin, who now resides in Chicago and cosplayed as Joyce Byers at our 2016 Cosplay October brunch.