#cult leader!jim hopper | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

munsonsreputation · 1 year

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Lavender Haze

eddie munson x fem!reader

word count: [4.6K]

warnings: no use of y/n, established relationship, cursing, protective reader, lovesick Eddie (he adores her so much), a tiny bit of violence and blood, fluff, suggestiveness towards end but no smut actually written.

summary: Eddie finds it surreal to think that someone could love him as much as you do, plus strangely attractive in the ways you protect him for the scrutiny of Hawkins. While he does the best to ignore the hate he gets, he never allows it to pass when it comes to you.

Eddie Munson. He had a big reputation that started long before you two had ever crossed paths. The weird freshman who started an innocent DnD club which somehow got twisted into a satanic worship conspiracy, followed by the fact that he was repeating senior year for the third (hopefully last) time, and recently cleared from murder after Jim Hopper had revealed the truth of the Upside Down and all those scary creatures.

You. A somewhat normal bystander that got caught up in it all. Taking defense of Eddie long before Hopper had even come out with the truth. You just had a feeling inside that Eddie would never do the things that the horrible town of Hawkins was alleging. That pulled you into a slight fascination of wanting to learn more about Eddie, the true Eddie Munson that no one really knew about.

Somehow, it just happened. The two of you were finally in the same room at the same time, hiding out as the surrounding town crumbled with the four gates, opening a portal into the unknown. You were petrified as the ash fell through the sky, yet even though he was just as afraid, he knew that with the information he learned, everything was going to be ok. That the girl with those superhuman powers would kill off this evil and the town would be ok once more.

So as you looked out that window frightened, he reached over, resting a hand on yours that gripped the sill tightly and whispered, “It’ll all be ok…do you trust me?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, when your eyes met his, you believed him with everything in your soul, “I trust you.”

The minute he had laid eyes on you, there was an overwhelming feeling of security and loyalty. Knowing that you, someone he had rarely known, let alone had a conversation with, was doing her part in defending him, even when you didn’t know the whole severity of the situation. It was as if he was sucked into this trance…a beautiful, surreal, immense daze.

He wanted to stay there with you. Throughout this great war and what he would hope would be the normal world after this. He needed to stay in this lavender haze.

“I’ve been under scrutiny,

You handle it beautifully,

All this shit is new to me…”

It had merely been two months since the gates finally closed, and Eddie was a freeman. He was on the brink of graduating, only needing to keep his grades up for a few more months before he would be able to walk the stage, along with his girl, who would also be graduating this year. But it wasn’t all easy.

There were days where he would still be bombarded with the townspeople who believed that Eddie was at fault, it didn’t help that Hawkins Post remained publishing front-page articles that scrutinized the young boy and pursued to feed into the lies that weren’t true at all.

You and he were walking through town, hoping to visit Mrs. Byers at the general store to pick up some things for the trailer, when the two had stumbled upon the print that was stacked in the vending box.

“The Truth Behind Hawkins’ Cult Leader” it read with a photo of your beloved boy.

Though Eddie had gotten accustomed to the headlines that would probably follow him everywhere for the rest of his life, it still stung. It was the fact that people were still trying to spread this negative narrative about him when he was already proven guilty that hurt. Knowing that not only he had to put up with it, but his girlfriend as well.

But you, you had ways of dealing with it, getting rid of the problem.

You could feel the aura change when you two walked past the newspaper stand…anguish took over Eddie and he got quieter for the rest of the walk. Staying hushed as you two entered the general store and only saying a quick hello to Joyce before you guys picked up some things. But you had been plotting ever since you two stumbled across those stupid articles.

“Babe, do you have any more cigs on you?” You asked sweetly, stopping a few blocks before Hawkins Post.

Eddie rummaged with his one free hand in his pockets, the other balancing a bag of the items you two had just bought. He pulled the box out, letting you pluck one out for yourself as you grinned, “Lighter?”

“You don’t usually smoke.” Eddie commented, watching as you began walking ahead of him, leaving him behind.

You tucked the cig between your lips, muttering out a reply as he finally caught up, “I know…I just needed an excuse.”

He furrowed his brows, watching as you flicked the lighter poorly, not igniting any flames on purpose, “Excuse? For what?”

“This.” You smirked, tossing it to your left hand, successfully sparking the light as you walked past the newspaper stand, letting your hand linger there a tad bit longer in order to set the first few bits of paper aflame.

The smell of the burning paper lingered in the air as you and Eddie continued walking on your way, him looking back every so often as the fire got bigger, little by little, all the stupid articles turning into ash in seconds.

“You do realize that you just committed arson, right?” Eddie huffed out with a stunned chuckle, watching as you casually shrugged your shoulders, lighting the cigarette in your mouth and taking a drag.

“So? They’re committing defamation, so what’s the difference? It’s their karma.” You justified, holding the burning bud for him to take between his lips, which he did.

It was hot how you’d do anything for him without hesitation. Almost scary, too, but he knew that you did it all because you loved him.

“I have a feeling I’m going to be bailing you out of jail if you keep this up.” He joked lightly, opening the passenger door to let you in.

You took a seat, pulling the cigarette back out from his mouth, allowing him to blow out the smoke. Your thumb grazed over his bottom lip, kissing him tenderly, tasting the nicotine and heat that you enjoyed only from him before pulling away, “They haven’t replaced their security cameras since the gates opened, they won’t know.”

“You’re killer, you know that?” He smirked, kissing you again with the more ferocity, making you giggle against him.

You pushed him away somewhat, holding the cig back to him, “C’mon rockstar, we’ve got a trailer that needs cleaning.”

A few more weeks of school left and you and Eddie were on top of the world, pushing through the last bits of high school before the two of you would be leaving this town. It was a miracle, to Eddie at least, that he had gotten accepted into a community college down in Indianapolis and you’d received a partial scholarship to a university. For the first time, Eddie had felt like he had some direction in life…a purpose that was out there for him.

But yet despite how everything was working out for you and him. There was always another huddle waiting after the other.

Eddie stood stiffly under the lights of the gym, somehow being baited into coming into this godforsaken territory and now his living nightmare times a hundred was happening all over again. More than half of the school’s population were standing on the bleachers, loudly chanting Eddie’s name like some sort of cult, which he found quite ironic, but they were cursing him.

“Murderer!”

“Freak!”

“Trailer Trash Killer!”

They were the exact same words that were written across newspapers and heckled towards him in the hallways during passing, but to be here taking it all in at once with nowhere for him to run…it was terrifying.

“C’mon man,” Eddie sighed, attempting to turn around and get out of here without the situation escalating.

“No, you’re staying right here.”

He was pushed by the shoulders by some jock, forcing himself deeper into the gym almost dead center. Eddie could’ve easily punched the dude, giving him a simple way out, but with weeks before graduation, he couldn’t risk getting suspended and not being allowed to walk the stage just because of some stupid bullies.

“I find it dizzying,

They’re bringing up my history,

But you aren’t even listening.”

You were walking to next period when you heard your name being called from behind you, Max and Lucas.

“Wait! Wait up!” He heaved, crouching down to take a breath as you stopped and they got closer.

You raised your brows, checking the time on Eddie’s watch you had thrown on this morning. Usually the two would ask for rides home so you assumed they just had the time wrong or expected you to skip class in order to drive them to the mall or the arcade, “It’s only twelve…don’t you two have class?”

“Yeah, but that’s not important right now.” Max answered swiftly, capturing your wrist in an attempt to drag you to where madness was ensuing.

However, you pulled back, “My class is the other way.”

“No, you don’t get it. Come. On.” She replied through clenched teeth, drawing you along as you tried to stay back, but ultimately getting pulled in their direction with the help of Lucas.

“What is going on?!” you whispered, shouted, not wanting to cause a scene in the empty hallways and have a teacher scold you for this bizarre behavior.

Max shot Lucas a look, and he groaned, darting back as they continued to guide you towards the gym, “Eddie is in a lot of trouble. Some jocks were talking during lunch and they planned a full on mob in the gym in order to embarrass Eddie and—“

The second your boyfriend’s name exited the teen’s mouth, you yanked your arms from their grips, propelling yourself forward as you ran through the halls with desperation, “Get Principal Higgins!” You managed through deep breaths as Max and Lucas shouted an “Ok” going back in the opposite direction.

As you approached the gym, the shouts got heavier, and you couldn’t even imagine the chaos that was happening inside. You threw caution to the wind, overlooking all the things that could possibly go wrong as you shoved the door open.

“Eddie!” you yelled. All eyes turned to you as their shouts stopped.

“Oh, look, who decided to join us? The satanists’ little slut.”

You paid no mind to the insignificant comments, brushing past a couple of morons before making your way to your boyfriend who stood with his shoulders slack and head hung low until he heard your voice.

“You ok?” You murmured, taking his hand as he nodded, giving you a small smile, despite the glares that were shooting toward the two of you. He stood up straighter, having found the safety within you, “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

He squeezed your hand as you and him were about to leave, finding peace in the fact that you didn't care about what was being shouted out at you and him. But the screams only came back to life and to make matters worse, you had been closed in with a few people blocking the exit doors.

“Let us pass, Christopher.” You declared firmly, recognizing the boy from your American Literature class.

He shook his head, with a sinister smirk placed on his face, “Can’t do that…you and your little boy toy are in here to pay for your sins.”

“The only sin in this room is all of you low lives that your parents have to deal with. Now, move.” You seethed harshly, watching his face fall with irritation.

Eddie let out a small chuckle at your jab. He had always known you for your feisty attitude, one of the main traits that made him fall for you, but recently due to the series of events that concurred, your smart remarks had been flowing freely off your tongue, especially when it came to defending him.

“Keep your bitch in line.” Christopher fired at Eddie, who scowled, drawing you behind him for protection.

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Eddie’s finger was practically centimeters from the boy’s face, your hand wrapped around his opposite arm in order to draw him back if needed.

Christopher just snorted, as did the rest of the students. “Or what? Gonna kill me like you did Chrissy and Jason?”

Your boyfriend’s body tensed up under your touch, as his heart thud loudly in his chest. He hated the fact that even if he was cleared of all accusations, there were still people who would constantly bring it up. It was a hell he could never escape.

“You better watch out, sweet thing,”

Christopher’s hand bravely reached out, trying to touch your cheek as you turned away, completely hiding behind Eddie as he slapped his arm away. Maybe Eddie would brush off the fact that people were harassing him, but he’d be damned if anyone spoke ill about you or even tried to lay a threatening hand on you.

Your boyfriend gave the dumbass jock a warning look followed by a hostile, “Watch yourself.”

“Or what?” Christoper repeated, but this time regrettably as Eddie had lost his self-control, sending his fist towards the boy’s cheek as you and the rest of the students gasped aloud.

Eddie seemed to have finally fathomed what he did, feeling the burn off his knuckles while Christopher grumbled, clutching the swelling part of his face with anger bubbling.

“Come on let’s—“

As you unveiled yourself from Eddie’s back, putting yourself between your boyfriend and Christoper, you didn’t anticipate the whack in the center of your face as you fell back into Eddie’s chest with your hands immediately fastening over your throbbing nose.

“Holy shit!”

Max and Lucas had stumbled in on the right time, with Principal Higgins by their side, when it all happened. The only thing he saw was the punch Christopher had landed on your face.

“Shit! Baby, are you ok?” Eddie turned you around trying to see the damage that had been done but just by pinpointing the blood against your fingers, his rage was stewing over.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Eddie planted you into Max’s arms as she approached, giving him ample time to launch Christopher with all his might until he landed at the feet of Principal Higgins who put his arm out, attempting to stop Eddie from further damage as if he was the one in the wrong.

“Mr. Munson, act wisely.” the authority figure said sternly as Eddie scoffed, gesturing back to you as Max and Lucas did their best to help stop the bleeding coming from your nose as you wailed faintly.

“He just hit my girlfriend—“

“You hit me first!”

Christopher roared, rising up from the ground, followed by the clamors that came from the other students backing his argument up. Eddie was defeated, he did hit him first and because of that, his girlfriend was hurt and now he probably wouldn’t be graduating because of some stupid—

“They’re all lying.” You cried out tears loud enough for Higgins to hear as he walked over to you.

Your eyes clouded with salt, conveyed to Eddie to go on with your story calmly as you glanced shortly at him when he raised his brows and offered questioning hands, “They all tricked me into coming here just to ambush me with their cruel words—“

“She’s lying!” Christoper interjected madly as everybody else did the same, but you simply poked your chin out to the bleachers, as Principal Higgins did the same, seeing the signs that read cruel words towards Eddie, then you continued your version of the story.

You winced, a bit over dramatically as you pulled your bloodied hand away from your nose, exposing it to everyone as Higgins frowned and Eddie rushed back over to you. “Principal Higgins, why would I lie about this? Eddie, thankfully, found me and when we tried to leave, Christopher blocked us in and then he hit me! You saw it happen!”

“What kind of man puts his hand on a woman?” Lucas hissed sharply, shaking his head with his arms across his chest as Christopher clenched his teeth angrily.

“A coward.” Max scoffed, holding the same look as her boyfriend as they stared down at Higgins and Christopher.

“Principal Higgins, they’re all lying! It just…I didn’t mean to….I wasn’t aiming for her!”

Principal Higgins whirled around, rocking his head as Christopher finally caught onto his revelation, “That’s sufficient evidence if you ask me.” You sniffled, leaning into Eddie who wrapped his arms around you, keeping a firm hand over the top of the ones resting on your face.

��Christopher Pierce, I’ll be seeing you in my office—matter a fact all of you! No one leaves this gym except these four.”

Eddie mumbled out a quiet “thanks” through the protests of shouts and whines as he guided you to the exit with Max and Lucas following closely. Finally, when you were out in the clear, the two younger teens squealed as Eddie tended to you brushing your tears away and inspecting the damage.

“Holy shit, you just flipped the table on them, big time!”

“Yeah, well, they deserve it for being such assholes—ouch!” You yelped, flinching away from Eddie’s touch as he poked at your nose lightly, trying to see if it was broken or not.

He gave you an apologetic smile, reaching to the back of his jeans to untie the black bandana then instructing you to hold it to your nose, “s’not crooked, but still could be broken.”

You whimpered, feeling your head begin to throb from the overwhelming amount of pain that was radiation off the center of your face. Eddie wrapped one of his arms across your back and the other lightly over your shoulder before placing back at the other two, “Mind catching a ride from Steve or Nance today? Gonna take this one to the ER to make sure everything is ok.”

“No! No hospital!” You argued, attempting to escape Eddie’s cages, but his grip still remained as Max and Lucas nodded, giving you a hopeful smile as they wished you both good luck and they walked the other way.

“Eds…babe, please, I swear that I’m fine.” You pleaded, watching as Eddie maneuvered the both of you sideways as he used his shoulder to push the doors open, leading you to the parking lot where his van was conveniently parked just a few stalls down.

He shook his head with a faint, “no” as he removed his hand from your shoulders, just so he could get ahold of his car keys, quickly unlocking the passenger door and gently hoisting you up in his arms so he could carefully place you in the seat.

“Don’t give me those eyes, sweet girl, it’s not gonna work, right now.” Eddie chuckled, lightly glancing up as you pouted and pushed your brows together with soft angelic eyes.

Usually, this type of treatment would get Eddie to say yes to anything you wanted, but right now it was serious and your health depended on him not falling for your little tricks and games that he loved to play.

You groaned when you realized it wouldn’t work, sulking deep into the seat while Eddie reached around to click the seatbelt into place. He leaned up, kissing your cheek softly as he blindlessly reached for the glove-box, finding the pack of baby wipes that were usually used for clean ups when the two of you decided to have some van fun…but thankfully today its purpose would be much more useful. You watched through your wet lashes. He plucked a few out, motioning for you to move the bandana away so he could wipe the blood from your face, then your fingers.

“Did the bleeding stop?” You sought, lifting your chin when he nudged it to get a better look inside your nostrils and he shrugged his shoulders with uncertainty.

“There’s still a bit dripping down. Hopefully the doctors can get it to stop.” He patted your thigh, gathering the bloodied wipes and stuffing them into the passenger door storage to throw away later.

You placed the bandana back over your nose, this time just underneath to catch any remaining blood. Eddie had finally shut your door, jogging over to the driver’s side and quickly starting it up, turning to face you so that he could brush his fingers over your cheek, leaning forward, “Thanks for that…and I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“Don’t, it’s not your fault, I should be saying “thank you” considering the fact that you punched him for me.” you encouraged him, caressing his wrist with your free hand while you put on a brave smile seeing him crack a small grin, “No one talks badly about my man and gets away with it.”

There was a slight scratch to your voice that tickled a part of Eddie’s brain in the best way because it always seemed to creep in when you got protective of him. It was like your body sending a signal that you had to do everything in your power to avenge all the things that happened to Eddie. Though he never asked you to do it, and would never ask of such a favor, it melted his heart and kept him up at night just thinking about how lucky he was. Someone that always saw the best in him and refused to let anyone take that away.

He beamed, leaning in to connect your lips, not caring that at any moment a big fat glob of blood could pool between the both of you, “Even when your man is gonna take you to the hospital?”

You giggled through the coursing pain, pushing his chest jokingly so that he could back away, “Yeah, because apparently he loves me so much he doesn’t want me to die of a broken nose.”

“I don’t think you can die from a broken nose, babe.” He raised his brows at you, stifling a laugh from your apparent annoyance.

You rolled your eyes, flipping him off as he snickered, finally putting on his seat belt and changing gears, “Shut up and drive, Munson!”

“Talk your talk and go viral

I just need this love spiral

Get it off your chest

Get it off my desk”

“Mass Suspension at Hawkins High! New Record!”

Eddie slapped down the school paper onto your desk where you were mindlessly flipping through a month old magazine before you finally picked up what was now the talk of the town. You shrieked hard when you saw a picture of all the students lined up against the office wall as they waited for Higgins to see them individually.

“Did Nancy really get away with this?” You spun around in your chair to face Eddie, who chucked, nodding his head and resting his hands on his hips.

It had been a few days since the incident and you’d been at home resting from thankfully just a small fracture that didn’t require any surgery. Just wearing a splint, icing the area, and taking your prescription medicine twice a day to alleviate the pain.

“Feeling better?” He asked, running a delicate finger over the brace on your nose, making you laugh, slapping his hand away.

“I am…just a few more days and I can take this stupid thing off.” You sighed, getting up and walking over to your mirror to gauge how you looked today.

There was still a bit of bruising around the center of your face and around your cheeks from the impact of the blow. However, the icing seemed to dull the color down from bright purple to a greenish yellow hue in a matter of days. Eddie plunked himself on your rolling chair, scooting towards you until his knees met the back of yours, prompting you to settle into his lap.

“You look beautiful.” He declared, pecking at your lips pleasantly while you shook your head against his.

“I look absolutely ridiculous.” You claimed, only making Eddie kiss you harder as he shook his head now.

When he finally pulled away, he turned your shoulder back to the mirror, steering you to watch the two of you in the reflection. “My girls’ a total badass and now she has the splint to prove it.”

He poked your side, causing you to jolt forward with a surprised laugh. “You know I’m not a fighter, I’m more of a lover.”

“You’ve got to be joking, right?” Eddie ordered with an unamused face as you nodded seriously, “Baby! You literally set fire to a newspaper stand and made up a whole story to save my ass!”

“Love makes you do crazy things! What can I say?”

You shrugged your shoulders as if committing such extreme acts of love was totally normal, but it was one of the reasons why Eddie adored you so much. Sure, he probably would never need to commit arson for you, like ever, but if the opportunity arose and your reputation and life depended on it, he would. There wasn’t anything in this world that Eddie Munson wouldn’t do for you, and he was waiting on the day that he could do the same…possibly for better matters, of course.

“If you stare too hard, the mirror might crack, Mr. Conceited.” You joked snapping him out of his thoughts, while nuzzling your face into the crock of his neck as you wrapped your arms securely around it.

He pressed into you harder, turning his head to meet your lips once. twice. three more times before resting his forehead on yours, peering deeply into your eyes, “I love you, you know that?”

The question was pointless. He knew that you knew that he loved you very much. With his whole entire being and every bone in his body.

“I love you so much that sometimes I feel like I can’t even describe it.” He added, brushing his nose against yours softly as you giggles fluttered from your mouth like butterflies kissing his skin when he felt your breath on him.

Eddie moved his hands to your hips, gripping them with intensity as he planted his feet securely against the ground and stood the two of you back up. Your arms around his neck never moved, as this time you tiptoed to catch his lips once more before he spun you, shuffling backwards until the small of your back came to a hard stop.

“Get it off your chest,” You whispered, finally pulling away to catch a breath while your fingers kept busy, trailing their way down his neck, to the hem of his shirt, until your warm hands slid underneath the material, feeling his heartbeat against your fingertips, “…and get it off my desk.”

Your boyfriend wasted no time, roughly dragging his hand over your desk where the paper flew and pens landed against the floorboards, until there was nothing on it but you and the both of your bare skin stuck to one another like glue that bound the sweetest souls together in matrimony.

This haze was permanent. Something that the two of you could never escape, because no matter the disruptors and smooth talking hucksters that would try to come between you and Eddie, your love was ever glowing and all-encompassing in ways that no one could replicate. It didn’t matter the circumstances under which you and Eddie had met and fallen in love during what could and should have been the end of the world. You two were both damned if you did and damned if you didn’t. There was no other choice but to fall.

Fall into this bliss while you protected your peace. Keep your love and the genuine stuff private, but never hide it. And against all odds, live a life without a care in the world for the people who try to blow it out.

This love was burning brightly through the lavender haze you two danced in for eternity.

A/N: I've been working on this for a while, trying to get the story to flow with the lyrics so I hope I was able to do this justice. Again, all credits to the lovely, Taylor Swift for writing this song that perfectly describes what I think Eddie and his partners' relationship would be like in terms of facing scrutiny from the town after all the madness. Let me know what you think! Reblogs, comments, and likes are greatly appreciated!

#MunsonsReputation #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson #eddie munson imagine #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x you #stranger things fic #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things imagine #taylor swift x stranger things

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homiesexual-or-homosexual · 2 years

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Pairing: hopper daughter! reader x eddie munson

Genre: fluff

Warnings: grumpy hopper dad, carrot cake (if you don’t like it. I love carrot cake), Eddie being a sweetheart

———

you and El live with Hopper and you’re a senior in high school. and Hopper’s still like the sheriff of Hawkins. him and Joyce also go on some “friend dates”

——

You hadn’t told anyone about you and Eddie, nor where you got that Iron Maiden shirt, nor the small chain necklace, and nor the little trinkets that are slowly filling the top of your dresser. You weren’t going to tell El, your little sister. And you sure as hell weren’t going to tell your dad, Jim Hopper, the chief of Hawkins police.

Eddie wasn’t seen as the… best influence. A known drug dealer and stoner, and the leader of a supposed satanic cult, the Hellfire Club. He was also known for his random outbursts during lunch as well. But that wasn’t him, the whole him.

Eddie was kind and sweet, and a little on the hyper side. He was a huge dork too, planning his next DnD campaign in his free time, writing music with his band, or even learning a song or two if he had the chance.

The Eddie you knew was different from what everyone else knew. Your Eddie held doors open for you, picked you bouquets of wildflowers in the spring, took you on dates to place he’d think you’d like, gave you his jacket when it was chilly out and you “forgot” yours, smoked a blunt or two to fuel his “thinking thoughts” while he worked on a new song or a new campaign (and he maybe passed you one or two hits if he saw you staring), walked you to all your classes, got you things he’d thought you’d like (shirts, small shiny trinkets, something from the guitar shop if he had to get something, etc), and stared you down during gigs at the local bar if you’d come that night.

Who’d knew you two started out at study buddies for Mrs. O’Donnell’s class. She’s personally come up to you for help, begging you to tutor Mr. Munson. You agreed and this started your friendship and eventually you’re relationship.

So that’s what you were doing now, “studying.” And by “studying” you two mean being parked at Lover’s Lake, settled at an isolated spot on the shore, and smoking a joint or two while laying down on one of Eddie’s older, more rougher, blankets that was used for only occasions like this. You stared up at the stars, the lack of light pollution making them shine as bright as they can. You talk about the various stars and constellations you know off the top of your head, and sure, Eddie’s listening. But he’s not looking at the stars, he’s looking at you. Waving smoke away from his face so he can see you as clear as the night would let him.

“…what?” You asked, looking over at your boyfriend.

“Nothing,” Eddie looks away, taking another hit of the joint.

“Well it’s gotta be something if you’re looking at me like that,” You tell him matter-of-factly.

“Like what?” Eddie asks, passing you the joint.

“Like you love me or something,” You tell him, taking a hit.

He only shrugs, “Maybe?”

You scrunch your nose at him, passing him the last of the joint. You watch as he takes his hit, holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling through his nose, the smoke curling up and intertwining with his curls before disappearing in the surrounded air. He stubs the joint out, scooting over to sit a little closer to you as he assumes his natural crisscross position.

Judging the length of the blanket, you move. Settling down so your head rested in his lap, but you move a little too fast, almost blacking out. You pressed your hand to your eye, taking a deep breath to ground yourself.

“You okay, sweets?” Eddie asks, brushing some stray hairs from your face.

“Mm hmm,” You mumble, blinking your vision back into focus. “I moved to fast.”

You look at Eddie, mesmerized by his features. The way his hair frames his face and how is bangs dangle from his head as he looks down at you. The way his black, fawn-like eyes sparkle as they switch back and forth between yours. And the way his lips are formed into a soft, love sick smile.

You reach up, thinking about going for his face but you remember he has his infamous pick necklace on, and you fish that from underneath his shirt. Staring as the chain sparkles in the moonlight, and you flick it around a bit, watching as the red and black pick twists and sways in the hair. You’re completely devoid of anything thought, solely focused on the small object a few inches from your head.

“You get so distracted when you’re high,” Eddie laughs quietly.

“Can’t help it,” You mumble.

A few moments go by and you become a little too relaxed, one finger still hooked on Eddie’s necklace and another resting back against his abdomen. Your eyelids feel heavy and your body feels like a mixture between light and heavy, a weird combination that you’re too familiar with.

“Go to sleep,” Eddie tells you, moving your hand that’s hooked onto his necklace so that’s it’s laid comfortably on top of you, and so he can hold your hand.

You only look up at him, no thoughts clouding your brain.

“I’ll wake you up when I take you home, okay?”

You nod, closing your eyes. And you’re out. Just like that. Head in Eddie’s lap, his hand in yours, and he looks out towards the lake, trying not to fall asleep himself as he occasionally glances at his watch.

It’s Friday evening, you and El are home from school, both doing your respective things as your dad watches tv as his wind down time from work.

El has Mike over, doing who knows what in her room. Hopefully homework.

And you’re in your room, finishing up your book report over Hamlet while quietly listening to an Iron Maiden cassette that Eddie got you awhile back.

Fridays aren’t normally you and Eddie days, spending most the weekends as “study days” with him. So it was easy to catch up on homework and hopefully he’d have some done by Saturday morning if you were lucky. And that’s also why were confused when the doorbell rang. You weren’t expecting anyone, and the only person El really spent one on one time with was Mike. But panic set in as your heard an all to familiar voice say-

“Hi, Mr. Hopper!”

“Eddie Munson, the hell you doing here, kid?” You dad said, the house void of any noise that sounded like the front door shutting.

“Well I just hoped I could steal your daughter for the evening for a date,” Eddie proposed.

“A date?!” Your dad exclaimed.

You put your pencil down and peaked out of your room, door wide open as you stood next to your doorway. You fittled with your fingers, palms going sweaty as the rest of your body heated up. You heard El’s door creak open as her and Mike peaked out of her doorway, and you gave them a nervous glance.

“A date for what?” Hopper asked.

Hopper blocked your view of Eddie.

“It’s more or less a thank you date, since Y/n’s been tutoring me and all, and helping me in school,” Eddie explained. “And I figured you’d like the meet the kid’s she’s been tutoring.”

You could only watch in distain, expecting the worse to happen.

“You’re not a kid anymore, Munson,” Hopper growled.

“Well by law, I am actually, Mr. Hopper,” Oh Eddie, don’t screw this up for yourself.

Your dad only grumbled, turning towards the rest of the house to find his two kids, plus one, stranding in their doorways watching the scene unfold. He looked between you and the couple behind you, his eyebrows furrowed.

You only had the urge to shrink back. Your dad cared about you a lot, which is why you knew he would say no. No to a date. Especially no to a date with Eddie, going through his third senior year, Munson. He was only trying to keep you safe, but when he saw the look on your face. Scared of disappointment, scared for a supposed friend.

“Munson, go wait in the living room,” Your dad moved aside. “Y/n, come in the kitchen with me.”

El and Mike ducked back into El’s room before they got a lecture themselves.

You followed behind your dad timidly. He fished a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water, doing no move to drink it as he set in on the island attached to the wall of the kitchen.

From here, you could see the back of the couch in the living room, but not Eddie sitting on it.

“You’ve been tutoring Eddie Munson?” He asked, leaning against the corner of the counter.

“He’s not that bad, Dad. He-“ But Hopper interrupted you.

“It’s a yes or no question.”

“Yes,” You looked at him, trying to decipher the emotion on his face.

He went quiet for a moment.

“Are… are you and him dating?” He asked, obviously picking up the clues from how you nervously stood in your doorway like a kid bout to get caught for something they did, and the way you went to defend him at any wrong look your dad might’ve given him.

“Are you going to be mad at me if I say yes?” You ask.

Hopper hesitated, “…..No.”

“Then yes.”

Hopper only sighed, and you looked down. Waves of disappointment washing over you. You couldn’t tell if it was embarrassment from yourself or disappointment from your dad, but it made you heavy and sad.

“Okay,” He said after a few moments.

“You’re not mad? Or disappointed??” You look back up at him.

“No, I can’t control your dating life,” Your dad said. “But I can give you advice and hope you take it.”

Hopper had a soft smile on his face as he looked at you.

“I think you’re the one that needs dating advice, Dad,” You poked at him, a little sneering smile on your face.

“Oh shut up,” He rolled his eyes before pausing. “You’re not… doing anything.. right?”

“Gross!!” You exclaim, throwing your arms out.

“Okay okay!!” Your dad put his hands up in defence. “Well go get changed, it’s supposed to get cold tonight.”

You nodded, smiling, as you pranced back to your room. Telling Eddie you’d be right back before shutting your bedroom door.

A couple minutes later you come out into your living room wearing one of your queen shirts, the small chain necklace you'd gotten from Eddie, a black leather jacket, a pair of jeans, and some nicer looking (but not girly) lace up boots.

It was almost as if you and Eddie had zeroed in on each other at the same time. You'd stopped at the end of the hallway to the bedrooms and saw you're pretty little boyfriend. He was dressed in a dark blue button up, the sleeves were down to his wrists so he could hide his tattoos, and he had on beige pants with a pair of his nicer shoes that he rarely wore. His hair looked freshly brushed and looked shiny, like he'd put a bit of product in it.

He stood to meet you halfway, and that's when you noticed the self-picked flowers in his hands. Flowers of red and blue, an unknowing combination of you two (as Eddie usually ran hot and you ran cold).

"I picked these up down the road," Eddie held them out to you as you both met in the middle.

You felt like a little giddy teenager (which you were technically) on their first date.

"Thanks Eddie," You took them and meandered your way over to the kitchen, fishing a glass vase from the tops of the cabinets. You filled it, placing the flowers delicately inside and fluffing them out so they filled the entirety of the vase opening.

"Be home by 11, please," Your dad told you both from his recliner as Eddie opened your front door for you.

You both acknowledged his request and out the door you went, settling into Eddie's van. Before he took off, Eddie unbuttoned and rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, showing off his very very nice forearms, which always got you a little hot and bothered when he revealed them after wearing a long sleeve anything for a bit.

"Hold on," You leaned over as Eddie put the van into drive. You unbuttoned the top two of his shirt, revealing the tip top of his chest.

You smiled as you sat back, looking at Eddie with that same lovesick smile he gave you a few days ago.

"Where to, Munson?" You asked.

"It's a surprise," He winked, pulling out of your driveway.

It was a quiet ride to where ever Eddie had your date planned, the familiar tunes of whatever cassette tape had put in today. Trees passed by, slowly thinning out the more you got into the main town of Hawkins. The sky was still a lovely blue this evening, a few snow white clouds in the sky. Then slowly, the main town of Hawkins faded away and fields filled with familiar springs flowers filled the view before you.

Eddie pulled into the parking lot of one of the nicer restaurants in Hawkins and you looked at him with surprise. Neither of you could pay for something like this.

"I've uh.. heard they got like the best carrot cake in town and i know that's your favorite," Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. "I figured we could like try it out?"

"Eddie," You faced him. "You brought me to one of the nicer restaurants in Hawkins just so we could go inside and try some of expensive carrot cake?"

"Uhh yeah."

"Eddie, what the fuck??" You jumped forward to hug him. "That's like the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Shit, you had me worried there for a second," Eddie hugged you back. “I made a reservation for like this one area on the roof and it’ll just be the two of us.”

“Are you trying to make me fall absolutely and utterly in love with you?” You asked, pulling away from the hug and grabbing his cheeks.

“Maybe,” He only shrugs, winking at you. “C’mon!!”

Eddie peels away from you, jumping out of the car and scrambling his way over to you to open your door. He does a little mock bow, folding his free arm over his abdomen.

You can only roll your eyes and smile as he shuts the door. He holds out an arm as he lines up beside you. You link with him and you two walk up to the restaurant, a little pep in Eddie’s step as he grabs the front door for you. He lets the hostess know that you two are here and she leads up two to the back and up some stairs.

You could only stand, star struck at the rooftop seating area. Light strings bordered the area and only one small, round table was up here. A tall candle sat in the middle of the table, a tiny flame flicking around on the top.

The hostess bid you farewell, telling you that your server would be with you two soon.

“Princess?” Eddie grabbed your attention, standing behind a pull out chair. “Wanna sit?”

“Oh! Uh yeah!” You hovered over the chair as Eddie scooted your chair forward.

He settled across from you, adjusting himself across from you so he could see you around the candle. Eddie rested his chin on his hand, staring at you as you looked around the area. You almost couldn’t believe your eyes. You’d never eaten anywhere so nice.

Your waiter came by, bring you two waters, “Is there anything water you two would like to drink?”

“No thanks,” Eddie looked at you and then to the waiter. “But can we get a slice of carrot cake?”

“Just that?” The waiter failed to hide a sliver of surprise as he looked back and forth between you two. He then whipped out his small notepad to write your order now, “Umm sure.”

And he was off, trotting back down the stairs to the main level.

As soon as the door to inside clicked, Eddie spoke up, “Do you think your dad likes me?”

“Umm well,” You rubbed the back of your neck. “I think he’ll come around once he sees the real you. He kinda has trust issues. It even took awhile for him to like Mike, and awhile to accept him and El together.”

Eddie only nodded, “Hopefully I made a good first impression. Gotta show him that I can be a good boy, y’know?”

He winked at you. And you could feel your cheeks heat up a bit. No matter how long you two have been together, your boyfriend’s flirtatious antics never failed to make your flustered.

“I think as long as you can be a good boy for me, it’ll be alright,” You shot back, smiling.

Eddie only smiled back, a blush dusting his cheeks, “Oh stop.”

You laughed a little at him, and your waiter came back with your slice of carrot cake. It was the perfect size for you both.

“Will this be all?” Your waiter asked.

“Just the check,” Eddie told him.

“Thank you,” You followed.

And off your waiter went.

Eddie handed you a fork and offered you the first bite, not taking his until you gave your consensus.

This was the most delicious and expensive carrot cake you’ve ever tasted, and you could practically feel your eyes light up.

“It’s good!!” You told Eddie. “Very good!”

Eddie took his bite, his face imitating your own upon the taste of the carrot cake.

“Shit. This is good,” Eddie went in for another bite before looking at you. “Not as good as yours though.”

“Oh shush,” You waved him off, going in for another bite.

You two took turns eating the cake, talking about everything and nothing. You both looked at each other like star crossed lovers, and you barely noticed your waiter come by to drop off the check.

Eddie paid in cash, leaving a small tip. And he lead you two downstairs and out to his van. He eyed the time as the vehicle started up, demeanor falling a bit as he noticed you two didn’t have time to hang out after dinner other than the car ride by home.

“You have a good day today?” Eddie asked once you two were on the road.

“It was good! School wasn’t too bad,” You told him, drumming your fingers along to the songs of the radio. “I caught up on some school work after school before you popped in. How about you?”

“Oh my day?” Eddie said in a faux surprise. “It wasn’t too bad. Saw this steamin’ hot chic in my english class. She was so nice too, talking me through my book report so I knew what to do.”

He glanced at you and you slapped him lightly on the arm.

“Oh shush, Munson,” You waved him off, smiling. “How about homework?”

“I worked on a bit of math, but I’m gonna need some help on that english book assignment though. You know I have trouble reading books I have no interest reading,” Eddie explained to you.

“Yes, Eds, I know,” You pat his arm, not retracting your hand from his arm. You squeezed it a bit, reveling in the warmth from his skin.

The car ride home was mostly silent, other than the metal playing quietly from the speakers. And sooner than you’d liked, Eddie pulled into your driveway.

Eddie told you to wait in your seat with a pointed finger and scrambled over to open the passenger door for you. He linked his arm with you as he lead you to your front door.

“You’re home, milday,” Eddie bowed slightly, opening your front door for you.

You lead him inside, your dad sitting in his recliner.

“Got her back in one piece, Mr. Hopper,” Eddie gestured to you. “And 5 minutes before curfew.”

“Good,” Your dad put in the leg-resting part of the recliner. “Now off you go, don’t want Wayne starting to worry.”

“Of course,” Eddie smushed a wet kiss to your cheek before heading out the front door.

Your dad waited until the engine of Eddie’s van faded away before speaking up, “He’s got tattoos??”

“Goodnight dad,” You only smiled as you walked towards your room.

You heard him grumble before you shut your door. Getting ready for bed, only Eddie Munson was on your mind. Such a sweet boy. Who knew you guys started out as tutor buddies? But you couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow.

#aj posts #such a sweetheart #stranger things #eddie munson #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagines #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson imagines

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cleocat246 · 6 months

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Stranger Things OC

Face Claim: Katie Douglas

>>>>

Name: Wednesday Amelia Williams

Aliases & Nicknames:

✧ 009 (Subject Name)

✧ Ness & Nessie

✧ Nessa

✧ Wendy

✧ Lia (From middle name)

✧ Weirdo

✧ Mrs. Freak

>>>>

Age:

✧ Season one: 16

✧ Season two: 17

✧ Season three: 18

✧ Season four: 19

Born:

✧ 1967

>>>>

Love Interest:

✧ Eddie Munson

✧ Eddie & Chrissy Cunningham (Alternate Universe)

Relatives:

✧ Elizabeth Williams (Adoptive mother/former doctor at The Lab)

✧ Jim Hopper (Father figure to Wednesday & Eleven)

✧ Eleven (Spiritual Sister)

✧ Kali (Spiritual Sister)

✧ Martin Brenner (Formar father figure/captor)

Friends:

✧ Chrissy Cunningham (Best Friend -Deceased)

✧ Steve Harrington (Best Friend)

✧ Robin Buckley (Best Friend)

✧ Nancy Wheeler

✧ Max Mayfield

>>>>

Affiliation:

✧ Hawkins National Laboratory (Formally)

✧ The Party

✧ The Williams Family

Occupation:

✧ Hawkins Lab test Subject (formally)

✧ Student at Hawkins High School

>>>>

Physical Appearance

✧ Wednesday likes her hair long since she spent most of her life with it buzzed. Likes to experiment with different colors of nail polish.

Personality

✧ She is shy and calm around people she doesn't know but can get pretty hyper and funny when comfortable with someone. She became close with Steve and Robin, making it the mighty trio. When Wednesday met Eddie, she instantly felt connected and knew she had to get to know him.

Background

✧ The ninth experiment of the Hawkins Laboratory.

✧ During the Rainbow Room massacre in 1979, Elizabeth, a doctor at the Lab, made it out with Wednesday safely.

✧ They hid in a cabin in the woods until everything happened in seasons 1 & 2.

✧ Joined Hawkins High School in season 2 in her sophomore year.

✧ She met Eddie at the beginning of her senior year when Wednesday awaited Steve to pick her and the boys up after their extracurriculars.

>>>>

Powers & Abilities

Mental Domination

✧ the psychic ability to force others into extreme susceptibility, making them vulnerable to anything they are told or told to do.

✧ It allows her to push any thoughts into anyone's mind.

✧ Weakness: often experience severe headaches and nosebleeds

Telepathy

✧ Can read someone's mind when she has her fingers on the person's forehead.

✧ Weakness: This can cause intense headaches because the minds are melding together during the experience.

Telekinesis

✧ The psychic ability to move objects with one's mind. Her emotions help give her powers an intense boost of energy.

✧ Weakness: Headaches, Nose bleeds, and Energy depletion

Healing

✧ Can heal and restore biological beings (From humans to plants to animals).

✧ Weakness: Part of her energy and life goes into what she is healing, so she can't overexert herself. The subject also has to be alive to be healed and saved.

Pyrokinesis

✧ The psychic ability to control fire from her mind and hands.

✧ Immune to fire and heat, she can sense fires from a certain radius.

✧ Weakness: Anything cold, ice, or lots of water.

>>>>

Notes

✧ Since Wednesday has healing powers, she could heal Eddie after the bat attack.

✧ "A government leak has revealed that the recent teen deaths were from a killer who escaped prison and the hallucinations from a chemical leak in the local lake - lovers lake. With this current information, Eddie Munson, the supposed Cult leader of the HellFire club, has been freed from all suspicions of crimes this past week."

#stranger things oc #stranger things

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redflagsandbanners · 2 years

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Concept _ The year's 1998. Hawkins, Indiana.

PI Robin Buckley x Jurnalist Nancy Wheeler

Two years ago, local private investigator Robin Buckley solved the cold case of Terry Ives' long, lost daughter -- finding the twelve-year-old kid in Hawkins Lab, all the while charging everyone involved with the violation of a decent number of civil rights, kidnapping and experimenting on children.

Since then, the only real case Robin has solved, is how much is the most money she can make when presenting evidence to cheated wives and cheated husbands and wrecking their already wrecked households with some stalking and photos taken in the night.

Fresh and bright after publishing a career changing story on Boston’s biggest newspaper, journalist Nancy Wheeler searches for the next case to follow through. The thing is, unmasking of a Soviet, military base, buried underneath Boston’s newest Commercial Mall, means phonecalls and attention from fellow journalists all the way from goddamn DC.

It would be great --- if she hadn't had to choose the Soviets over a relationship with a woman that, if the times or Nancy's job were any different, she could have very well been the one to build a life with. With the big story published, Nancy thinks she deserves some months of writing at her own pace while processing the intense breakup.

After a series of child murders suddenly haunts Hawkins, the small town community paints the suspect -- nineteen-year-old Eddie Munson -- as Satan's vessel of destruction and leader of a cult performing the seemingly sacrifice rituals.

Private Investigator Robin Buckley thinks the serial killer's profile doesn't describe the poor kid, Eddie. The pack of gremlins defending their older friend and apparent mentor through high school, and proclaiming him innocent, grabs her attention.

Journalist Nancy Wheeler thinks this is possibly the best case to write about after the Russians; uncovering a serial killer in her childhood city, studying the complexity of religious motives and proving small-town-assholery absolutely wrong.

Neither of them expect a partnership or -- well -- falling in love.

Notes _

They are on their early thirties.

"Aren't you supposed to be the city’s hero?" "No, huh... that's Police Chief Jim Hopper". "So who are you supposed to be?" "City's... conspiracy theorist with a PI license?"

"You don't remember me, why would you remember me, we never talked back in--" "You were playing the trumpet in band. Sat way back in chemistry class. Doodled your shoes". "..." "..." "...what the f--"

The kids are sixteen. Eddie and Steve are both nineteen. Just for the fun of the dynamic.

Autistic Robin Buckley.

Closeted bisexual Nancy Wheeler.

Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism (because i want the complexity of poor coping mechanisms to trauma i am so sorry)

We're stepping into the '90s for a change.

Murray Bauman.

Slowburn.

Resentful Allies to Friends to Lovers.

With a supernatural twist in the middle of the investigation, where they discover the Upside-Down completely on accident and freak the fuck out.

Vecna is the Bad Guy, but make the theme that of a True Crime novel. The psychic powers come as a secondary detail to the Serial Killer whole character study.

#no.#i am not writing this #just thinking about things #just getting things out of my system #before doing something foolish like writing another beast of a story #stranger things au #stranger things fic #robin buckley x nancy wheeler #ronance stuff

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grigori77 · 4 years

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2019 In TV - My Top 10 Shows

This past year may have sucked balls in a lot of ways, but we certainly never got short-changed when it came to our TV. There was an absolute WEALTH of truly cracking TV around, both on regular networks and on the various on-demand platforms, and so here is my pick of the best, my absolute favourites of 2019.

10. WATCHMEN

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof brings us a blinding sequel to comic book legend Alan Moore’s legendary graphic novel with a delightfully trippy, ruthlessly efficient rug-puller that seems pretty tailor-made for HBO. Old faces return in interesting ways, while there are some cracking new “masks” on offer, particularly Regina King’s Sister Night and the always-brilliant Tim Blake Nelson as morally complex antihero Looking Glass (in some ways very much the show’s own answer to Rorschach). It never goes where you expect it to go, and refuses to give easy answers to the questions it raises, effortlessly paving the way for more next year ...

9. THE BOYS

Amazon offers up its own edgy, thoroughly adult superhero property with this darkly funny antiheroic gem based on the cult Garth Ennis comic, expertly adapted by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. Karl Urban dominates as Billy Butcher, the foul-mouthed, morally bankrupt “leader” of a makeshift crew of mercenaries, hitmen and psycho killers devoted to “taking care of” superheroes when they inevitably go bad. Season 1 ultimately serves as an origin story, showing how the team come together, laying quality groundwork for the incoming sophomore tour that promises to open the already fascinating world out significantly.

8. PREACHER (SEASON 4)

More Garth Ennis, namely this blinder of a closing season for AMC’s consistently impressive adaptation of his best known series for Vertigo comics. Surprisingly epic, deliciously subversive and constantly, darkly hilarious, this thoroughly non-PC series from showrunners Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (yes! I Know!) certainly went out on a high note, providing its loyal followers with perfectly-pitched bow-outs and sometimes heartbreaking goodbyes for all its players, especially its dynamite leads, Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga and, in particular, Joe Gilgun as unapologetic bad boy vampire Cassidy. A worthy end to one of my all-time favourite TV shows.

7. THE WITCHER

While it’s clearly taken its look from the wildly successful video games, Netflix’s second most ambitious long-form offering of the year takes its lead from the fantasy book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski that started it all. With its somewhat episodic set-up and decidedly twisted narrative timelines, it take a few chapters to get the hang of it, but there’s plenty to draw you in, from the exotic world-building to the frenetic action and compelling collection of richly crafted characters. Henry Cavill is the titular hero, lovably grouchy mutant monster-hunter Geralt of Rivia, but the real scene-stealer is co-star Anya Chalotra as roguishly self-serving mage Yennefer of Vengenberg.

6. CARNIVAL ROW

One of the year’s two big sleeper hit TV surprises for me was this inventively offbeat allegorical Amazon fantasy series from The 4400 creator René Echevarria and screenwriter Travis Beacham. Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne are the star-crossed lovers at the heart of this intriguingly dark and dirty murder mystery thriller set in Victorian London-esque city-state the Burgue, in which humans struggle to co-exist alongside a struggling disenfranchised underclass of fae (fairies, fawns, centaurs and the like). The racial turmoil undertones are writ large throughout, but this is far more well-written and lavishly appointed than you might expect on first glance, and almost ridiculously addictive viewing.

5. LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS

My other big TV surprise was this wonderfully bizarre sci-fi anthology series of animated shorts from Netflix, mostly adapted from an eclectic selection of short stories from a wide range of top-notch literary talent including Peter F. Hamilton, John Scalzi, Marko Kloos and Alastair Reynolds (a particular favourite of mine). As you’d expect from the brainchild of Deadpool director Tim Miller and producer David Fincher, this is edgy, leftfield stuff, frequently ultra-violent and decidedly adult, and the wildly varied nature of the material on offer makes for a decidedly uneven tone, but there are some absolute gems on offer here, my favourite being Suits, an enjoyably simple tale of salt-of-the-earth farmers on an alien world utilising clunky mech suits to protect their settlement from rampaging giant xeno-bugs.

4. THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE

The show with the biggest cinematic wow factor in 2019 had to be this long-awaited prequel series to Jim Henson’s classic fantasy movie masterpiece, created for Netflix by, of all people, Louis Leterrier (yes, the director of The Transporter, Now You See Me and Clash of the Titans, if you can believe it). The technology may have evolved in leaps and bounds, but there’s a wonderfully old school vibe in the delightfully physical puppet effects used to bring the fantastical world of Thra and its denizens to life, so that it truly does feel like it’s based in the same world as the film. This was EASILY the most visually arresting show of 2019, packed with exquisite character, creature and set design that perfectly complements the awesome work done by Henson and Brian Froud on the original, while the writers have created a darkly rich narrative tapestry that makes Thra seem a more dangerous place than ever.

3. THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

I was a HUGE fan of My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way’s magnificently oddball alternative superhero comic, so when I learned that Netflix were adapting it I was a little wary because I knew how spectacularly hard it would be for ANY showrunners to get right. Thankfully Steve Blackman (Fargo season 2) and Jeremy Slater (The Exorcist TV series) were the right choice, because this perfectly captured the outsider nature of the characters and their endearingly dysfunctional family dynamic. Ellen Page, Tom Hopper (Black Sails, Merlin), David Castañeda and Emmy Raver-Lampman are all excellent as the more “functional” Hargreeves siblings, but the show is roundly stolen by Misfits star Robert Sheehan and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn’s Aidan Gallagher as nihilistic clairvoyant Klaus and the old-man-in-a-child’s-body sociopath known only as Number Five. Consistently surprising and brilliantly bonkers, this was definitely the year’s most wonderfully WEIRD show.

2. STRANGER THINGS (SEASON 3)

Writer-director duo the Duffer Brothers’ ultra-nostalgic 80s-set coming-of-age sci-fi horror series remains the undisputed jewel in Netflix’s long-form crown with this consistently top-drawer third season expertly maintaining the blockbuster-level standards we’ve come to expect. This year the cross-dimensional shenanigans have largely been jettisoned, replaced by a gleefully nasty through-line of icky body horror that would make major influences like David Cronenberg and Stuart Gordon proud, as perennial teenage bad boy Billy Hargrove (the fantastically menacing Dacre Montgomery) becomes the leader of an army of psychic slaves under the control of the Upside Down’s monstrous Mind Flayer. The kids are all brilliant as always, Winona Ryder and David Harbour really get to build on their strong-yet-spiky chemistry, and the show is almost effortlessly stolen by Joe Keery as one-time golden boy Steve Harrington and series-newcomer Maya Hawke as his nerdy new foil Robin Buckley, who were very nearly the cutest couple on TV in 2019. Another gold standard season for a true gold standard show.

1. GOOD OMENS

Sadly, legendary author Terry Pratchett died before he could see the adaptation of one of his most beloved novels (and one of my all-time literary favourites too) see the light of day, but at least his co-author Neil Gaiman was around to bring it to fruition with the aid of seasoned TV director David Mckinnon (Jekyll, Doctor Who, Sherlock), and the end result sure did him proud, perfectly capturing the deeply satirical voice and winningly anarchic, gleefully offbeat and gently subversive humour of the original novel. David Tennant and Michael Sheen could both have been born to play Crowley and Aziraphale, the angel and demon nominally charged with watching over the young Antichrist in preparation for his role in the End Times, even though they would both much rather the world just went on quite happily the way it is, thanks very much. This is about as perfect an adaptation as you can get, the six hour-long episodes giving the surprisingly complex story time to breathe and grow organically, and the result is the most fun I spent in front of my TV this year.

#best TV 2019 #watchmen #the boys #preacher #the witcher #carnival row #love death + robots #love death & robots #the dark crystal age of resistance #The Umbrella Academy #stranger things 3 #good omens

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mshelenahandbag · 6 years

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Best of ‘17 — TV

This year’s best include a wide variety: historical recreations of Hollywood, a fantasy medieval world on the brink of all out war, two separate shows with drag queens, the secret lives of soccer moms, a revival 25 years in the making, a documentary about America’s greatest shame and an Emmy-winning adaptation of a book hitting a little too close to home.

Honorable Mention: Scandal (ABC)

Shonda Rhimes finally got her damn groove back. After watching The Catch and Still Star-Crossed fizzle out and a less-than-stellar third season of How To Get Away With Murder, Shonda’s flagship Scandal was back on track after two seasons of stagnant WTF-dom. Season six brought us back into the world of Olivia Pope with a bang when president-elect Frankie Vargas is assassinated. And it just gets crazy in the best way possible from there. We really get a glimpse again of the Olivia we all have loved since the first season and probably the best performances to date for Bellamy Young as Mellie Grant and Darby Stanchfield as Abby. And with Shonda announcing season seven will be the show’s last, this season could have served as its conclusion, but now we get to see Shonda’s gloves off for this final season with nothing held back, and a darker Olivia Pope with no white hat, now running B-613.

Outstanding Episode: “Trojan Horse” (Original airdate: 4/20/2017)

Mellie’s future to the White House is suddenly in doubt when Cyrus is pardoned for Frankie’s assassination and makes his pwn play for the White House, despite a massive campaign against him. Olivia wants to help Cyrus, even as her father warns her not to, for so many reasons, the biggest of which remains the shadow cabal who arranged for Frankie’s assassination and Mellie’s eventual win. The meat of this episode comes when Mellie meets her unexpected benefactors, Plus and Ruland, who she tries to threaten, only for Ruland to off her chief of staff, Elizabeth North (Portia de Rossi) via a golf club to the skull. Mellie is broken down and a total pawn for whatever they want to her to do. Elsewhere, Fitz breaks it off with his girlfriend, the FBI director, who pushes for Rowan’s arrest, which Fitz has already done, for his protection. Fitz and Olivia FINALLY get back together as everyone gets ready to take the shadowy organization down once and for all.

Honorable Mention: American Horror Story: Cult (FX)

I was not expecting to put this back on my best of list. Roanoke was disappointing in so many aspects. So when season seven was announced, and a theme element of the 2016 election announced, I was already ready to tune out. But something about this season is a brilliant commentary on our hive mind ideology of democrat vs republican, liberal v conservative, etc. It’s also just flat out scary. We see the lives of a lesbian couple Ally (Paulson) and Ivy (Alison Pill) as they adjust to the post-election realities, especially since Ally is damn near afraid of everything. We also meet the charismatic Kai Anderson (Evan Peters in his best AHS role to date) - a cult leader who seems to be able to read his followers and get exactly what he wants out of them. Unlike the prior six seasons, there’s nothing supernatural here, it’s all things that, could, can and have happened in the last year. What I love is that the show is not just skewed to show the evils of the alt-right, we see the exaggeration on both sides. And yet it’s still got its funny moments (“lesbians we’re under attack”) and true terror. I was ready to dismiss this season but it has truly become the show’s best since its inaugural season.

Outstanding Episode: “Drink the Kool-Aid” (Original airdate: 10/31/2017)

First off, props to Evan Peters. He played not only his role of Kai, but four additional roles in this one episode. In a massive flashback tapestry we see Peters’ Kai tell the stories of the Branch-Davidians (Peters playing David Koresh), Heaven’s Gate (Peters playing Marshall Applewhite) and finally the People’s Temple (Peters playing Jim Jones and later Jesus in a lie Kai tells his cult about Jones’s fate). Through these stories we see how Kai has managed to shape his own cult from the past and learn from what has worked and what hasn’t. Kai announces his intent to run for Senate but also forces his cult members to truly declare that they would do anything for him in the times to come. So he brings the men and women together and has them literally drink the kool-aid. The men do it willingly, the women at gunpoint, all nervous about sacrificing themselves only for Kai to reveal there was nothing in the drink. The sheer terror at so many of those involved in this scene truly sell its horror (special shoutout goes to Adina Porter’s Beverly Johnson for finally cracking amid her to-date strength). The other standout is the “B plot” as it seems all is well again with Ally and Ivy - as Ally explains that she has conquered her phobias by using her energy on getting revenge. So, yeah, Ally has poisoned her wife’s wine and pasta as revenge for institutionalizing her. And then she plays her next card deftly forging donor records that claim Kai is her son’s father. Sarah Paulson continues to be the show’s MVP every year because her range shows so many different sides every time. In this one episode Ally stops being a victim and starts to plot her way out of the cult, and taking Kai down with her.

10) Game of Thrones (HBO)

Winter has finally arrived in Westeros and shit just hits the fan from here on out. Even with a HUGE threat to the entire region from the White Walkers, we watch as Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) FINALLY lands on her home soil and proceeds to try and make her claim for the Iron Throne. Cersei (Lena Headey) allies with Euron Greyjoy to cement her hold on the Seven Kingdoms; in the North, Sansa (Sophie Turner) tries to keep things together while Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen) schemes. Basically we get a season’s worth of plot in seven episodes, and they all were so fantastic. Lots of action, but for the final season I want Benioff and Weiss to remember their prior six seasons had far better writings and less contrived coincidences. But the stage is set for a truly epic finale that will determine once and for all who will hold the Iron Throne…if the White Walkers don’t kill everyone first.

Outstanding Episode: The Queen’s Justice (Original airdate: 7/30/2017)

The long-awaited meeting between Dany and Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) is just one of the many highlights of this episode. We see Dany overtly trying to get Jon to “bend the knee”in fealty to her. Jon tries to convince Daenerys to abandon her quest for the Throne and aid their fight against the White Walkers. It’s a very frosty exchange between the two, and it looks like the alliance we all want may not actually be happening. Cersei enacts her revenge on Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) for murdering her daughter Myrcella. The scene excels with a beautiful monologue performed by Headey where you see Cersei’s pain and anger. You might hate her like I do, but there’s times like this, you can’t say you’d do the same for your child. Cersei kisses Ellaria’s daughter Tyene with the same poison they used on Myrcella, and forces the guards to keep her eyes open so she can watch her die. Tyrion, meanwhile, gives Dany an inside scope of where to attack to let Cersei know about their presence: the Lannister stronghold of Casterly Rock. The Unsullied take the castle with little resistance, only to learn that Lannister forces have marched on Highgarden and taken it, and with it, Targaryen ally Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg). Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Olenna have probably one of the most epic scenes in series history. Olenna takes her fate - death by poison - as she has everything in the series, with her trademark wit and devil may care attitude. She flat-out tells Jaime she arranged Joffrey’s death and that she wants Cersei to know it was her. Diana Rigg’s performance in the series and this final episode are just one of the many things I’ve loved about Olenna and was so heartbroken when her time was up.

9) Feud: Bette and Joan (FX)

Ryan Murphy continues a streak on FX that translates into brilliance…as long as he isn't the sole writer. We’ve all known about this infamous feud between Hollywood legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford that exploded during the filming of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. This new series from Murphy really highlights the sexism of Hollywood, the way the two stars were baited against each other and the lasting effect it left on the two of them. This is just a star vehicle of excellence for both Jessica Lange’s Crawford - obsessive, scheming, paranoid but refined and Susan Sarandon’s Davis - witty, shrewd and blunt. The supporting players like Alfred Molina’s Robert Aldrich and Stanley Tucci’s Jack Warner all help support them (but special note given to Jackie Hoffman’s Mamacita, Crawford’s long suffering and lovely maid, and Judy Davis’s pitch-perfect portrayal of gossip columnist Hedda Hopper) but it’s just a tour-de-force from both leading ladies. You almost feel pulled in both directions on who to root for: Crawford or Davis, but the end result shows how Hollywood works. One day you’re the talk of the town, the next you can't even get arrested and make the papers. Brilliant work!

Outstanding Episode: And The Winner Is-The Oscars of 1963 (Original airdate: 4/2/2017)

After Joan is denied a nomination for her work on Baby Jane, she and Hedda set out to ensure that Bette’s nomination is not going to get her a win. Crawford makes the rounds with the other nominees, convincing Geraldine Page (Sarah Paulson in a brief cameo) and Anne Bancroft to not attend the ceremony and allow her (Crawford, that is) to accept the award on their behalf if they win. Hedda, meanwhile, buries Bette with the Academy and the press with stories from the set of Baby Jane, some true and some not. Oscar night comes and Jessica Lange’s Crawford is in a full tour-de-force of rubbing it in. She presents the Oscar she is slated to, then in a brilliant tracking shot, goes backstage and gets ready for the Best Actress category. When Anne Bancroft wins, seeing Sarandon portray Bette’s heartbreak as Lange’s Crawford struts past, victorious, is the high point of this beautiful series.

8) The Boulet Brothers’ DRAGULA: The Search for The Next Drag Supermonster (YouTube)

This series has upped its game in a big way for 2017. After a very cool and very punk season one (voted one of the best year by IMDB), season two took off like a rocket. Bigger budget, bigger guest judges, more intense extermination challenges and a cast that spans the country. The Boulet Brothers have definitely made their little-series-that-could into the little-series-that-IS. We’ve upped the game, and these queens want to truly show the world they’re the next supermonster, whether it’s fashionable yet fierce Abhorra, the completely wacky Disasterina or the cosplay-themed-yet-fierce Erika Klash. This cast brought it and made this show even better, and that’s before you factor in how bigger the show got in a year. With the Boulets saying that anyone can audition, we may have something to answer the call for those who don’t fit the mold for other drag TV competition series. And that’s a good thing!

Outstanding Episode: Episode Three (Original airdate: 11/14/2017)

My fav on season two was Biqtch Puddin, and I’m 100 percent biased because she’s my sister. And she had a rough start to her run on Dragula - a misunderstood outfit week one and a low performance week two that led her to face her first extermination challenge. Going into week three, the Boulets wanted to give Biqtch a challenge, so in announcing the rock band challenge, both Victoria Elizabeth Black (the winner of the challenge) and Biqtch (who had performed low beyond the Boulets’ expectations) were given the role of lead singer for the two groups’ rock bands. And BIQTCH. TURNED. IT. OUT. For one she was the only contestant to turn out big ‘80s rock hair, and her outfit was a loving tribute to Pete Burns, glam rock and more. Her performance as lead singer, along with her entire group’s synchronicity boosted them to the top and gave Biqtch a much needed win after two low weeks. She really did it and I was so happy to see that. In general this week was a great episode: fun challenge, lots of tributes to punk and grunge rock and you can really tell the girls enjoyed this one. We also got to hear a little bit about Dahli’s touring with Blood on the Dance Floor - and how she quit touring with the band because of an HIV diagnosis. I love that this show is able to play with soft and hard so beautifully. We can be talking about real issues one minute, and the next you see these beautiful super monsters taking their pain and using it to their benefit on the runway. Sadly for Kendra Onixx, her time was up after missing the mark in her runway, performance and not being able to grin and bear the extermination challenge of getting the most embarrassing/trashy tattoo. This series continues to just be all pleasure and no guilt, and I love every second of it.

7) American Gods (Starz)

Neil Gaiman’s best non angelic/devil story (which has its own series coming soon to Amazon) took off like a bandit this year with this show that made me actually watch Star for the first time ever. The combination of Bryan Fuller’s beautiful creative direction with Gaiman’s text and imagination result in the one of the most creative and innovative shows this year. Ricky Whittle gives a star making turn as our lead Shadow Moon, released from jail as his wife has died, and meets a mysterious stranger. Ian McShane was the perfect choice for Mr. Wednesday, as we begin to get into the (literal) mythology, setting up the war to come between the Old Gods and the New. Gillian Anderson also must be praised for her seamless portrayals as Media in the forms of Lucille Ball, David Bowie, Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland. I love that we learn about the origins of so many gods coming to America, and setting up what’s to come for the second season and beyond!

Outstanding Episode: “Come to Jesus” (Original airdate: 6/18/17)

There were so many fantastic episodes in the first season, it was really hard to narrow down to what truly was the best. But seeing Shadow finally realize what world is was finally apart of is a thrill. Wednesday and Shadow make their way to a celebration thrown by Ostara (Kristin Chenoweth) for spring, just as Media, Mr. World and Tech Boy **and** the same time as Shadow’s not-dead wife Laura (Emily Browning) and leprechaun Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber). So shit gets real VERY quick as Shadow finally catches on he’s among gods. And this is where the most amazing things happen. We learn Wednesday was behind Laura’s death in a car accident and when Media tries to persuade Ostara to join the New Gods, let’s just say shit get biblical. Odin, that is Wednesday, unleashes his power, and encourages Ostara to do the same. We get to see Ostara make things bloom…and wither. From here, Odin and Ostara — and Shadow have drawn their line in the sand that will be the big focus of season two!

6) RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)

Hot off a fantastic year of season 8 AND All Stars 2, Drag Race had won its first Emmy for mama Ru’s hosting AND made the switch to VH1. Season 9 upped the game with Lady Gaga as the show’s first guest judge and brought us some of the series’ best contestants to date, whether it was the slaytastic Shea Coulee, artsy Sasha Velour or even the amazing tucking talents of Trinity Taylor. The judges were bigger and better (Kesha, The B-52s, Joan Smalls, Cheyenne Jackson!), the challenges upped the stakes and the eliminations got more and more WTF as the season went on. PLUS mama Ru had had enough half-assed lip-syncs and completely changed the format of the finale to make the finalists TRULY work for the crown.

Outstanding Episode: “Your Pilot’s On Fire” (Original air date: 5/19/2017)

Bitch if ever we were to surpass “what did Willam do” - I’m pretty sure we did with this episode. Ru tasks the final seven to come up their own pilots for network TV. Sasha and Shea, whose chemistry and partnership worked previously in the season, slayed with their spy-comedy Teets And Asky; Peppermint, Trinity Taylor and Alexis Michelle were good for all the wrong reasons (But Trinity’s Sister Mary Kuhnt was HILARIOUS!) due to a lot of infighting mostly from Alexis’s perfectionist tendencies and capacity to throw her other team members right in the path of any oncoming bus. And then there was Valentina and Nina Bo’nina Brown. Woefully underprepared with no script, their attempts to ad-lib don’t wow Michelle Visage and Carson Kressley. The runway theme, club kid, is a true standout among the nine seasons of the show, but big shock, Val and Nina are bottom two, and lip-syncing to Ariana Grande’s “Greedy.” Valentina’s mask stays on at the beginning, and we ALL noticed. And for the first time ever, RuPaul has to stop a lip-sync to ask Valentina to take her mask off. Valentina, to that point, had been portrayed as the sweetest girl in the cast. So when “I’d like to keep it on please” came out of her mouth, the fanbase was shook (we’d be even more shook at the Reunion by her behavior). Valentina throwing in the towel officially, to me, ties Willam’s elimination for the most shocking moment in the show’s history. It also happens in one of this season’s best episodes, and just truly shook up who I thought would make it to the finale.

5) The Vietnam War (PBS)

If you are my age, and you were in high school learning U.S. history - your teacher probably rushed through the 20th century in the span of two weeks or less. If that. Vietnam is usually a day, or two, maybe a week if you’re lucky. And we don’t know nearly enough, my generation that is, about one of the greatest embarrassments in our lifetime. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s 10-part, 18 hour masterpiece truly encompasses every single facet of the Vietnam War - the U.S.’s involvement, the North and South Vietnamese armies and governments, the anti-war protests, the U.S.government. There’s so much to unpack and Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s interviews, research, set to the music of the ‘60s and ‘70s and guided by Peter Coyote’s steady narration. By the end of it all it feels like you’re gone through the war your self and you will most definitely ask what the fuck were we doing there as so many have over the years. Ken Burns may be known for his Civil War documentary but I truly believe because he was able to tell these stories from the sources, that this will be his masterpiece.

Outstanding Episode: “Part 6: Things Fall Apart” (Original air date: 9/24/2017)

Most episodes cover a few years of the 20+ year war but this part covers one event that would change so much of the war. The Tet Offensive from January to July 1968. Hearing the stories of American veterans who were stuck on hills for months while the Vietcong rained down on them, and hearing the same stories from the other side is just incredible. But I think the point that this episode drives home is the perception and appearance of the fake activities of the war. We see one of the most iconic images of the war - the execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém. It’s a photo we’ve all seen in our history books, but we learn the whole story about this execution from this episode. I didn’t know there was video of this - color video. We learn Lém was found near a mass grave of bodies and that a general executed him on his own decision. Despite my very desensitized nature, seeing the video put a giant pit in my stomach…and if I wasn’t already against the war from the first five parts, this convinced me so much that this war was being fought for the wrong reasons.

4) Big Little Lies (HBO)

Limited series are completely in vogue right now, and this is without a doubt one of the best ever. A whodunit murder in Monterrey, California, occurs at a trivia night and we backtrack to meet all the players and suspects. You have high-strung Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), perfectionist Celeste (Nicole Kidman) meeting new single mom Jane (Shaleine Woodley). Things seems off when Jane’s son Ziggy is accused of attacking the daughter of Renata Klein (Laura Dern in what more than easily netted her an Emmy in my opinion) and a series of misunderstandings and power plays occur. (You think corporate greed is bad and under-handed? You haven't seen Witherspoon’s Martha outdo Dern’s Renata on a birthday party Jane’s son wasn’t invited to!) I am always in love with shows that show the dark underside of those “perfect, ideal suburbs.” And this is no exception. Everyone here fires on all cylinders, but the cream of the crop here is Kidman’s Celeste, especially when you learn her husband Perry (Alexander Skarsgard) is beating her. The way Kidman’s confidence is put on and later crumbles is haunting. But I also must give props to Laura Dern is truly having the best year of her career ever (more on this later in the list, twice, no less) and Renata is just a juicy and perfect role for her. People want a second season of this, but I strongly disagree. The majesty and brilliance of this show is in its limited form, and as much as I’d love to see more from all involved, it’s way better and far more powerful as a standalone limited miniseries.

Outstanding Episode: Burning Love (Original airdate: 3/26/2017)

It’s so hard for me to pick one episode, because literally every single of these episodes were brilliant. But the setup right before the epic revelations in the finale was just too perfect. Jane’s search for her rapist (and Ziggy’s father) hits a dead-end, just as Renata draws up a petition to suspend Ziggy. Woodley and Dern going toe-to-toe is just absolutely epic and I couldn't take my eyes off their confrontation. Kidman also excels this hour as Perry’s beatings finally give her courage to look for an apartment, in the first step to leaving him. Martha is livid that her daughter is auctioning her virginity off online, AND her affair from years back is still obsessed with her. Witherspoon more than makes up for lost time the other ladies have gained with this one scene. It’s just once again a complete tour de force of shade and style and substance.

3) Twin Peaks (Showtime)

I’ve waited patiently for this - since I first started watching the original on Netflix three years ago. And it’s so hard to try and describe this without giving crucial plot points away…AND because David Lynch’s brilliant work is sometimes so hard to dissect. OK, so…after the ending of season two, NegaCoop/Evil Cooper/BOB is still in our world, Dale Cooper himself is still stuck in the Black Lodge. And some transference has to happen for Nega to go back and Dale to exit…but Nega has planned for this and created dimwitted Dougie Jones, whose body Dale switches places with. Does that make any sense? No…well it’s David Lynch so fuck it! Now CONFIDENTLY, I can say that Kyle MacLachlan delivers three fantastic performances, that we connect to the original two seasons wonderfully and Fire Walk With Me perfectly and the entire thing is shot to Lynchian perfection. Everyone involved with this, from Sherilyn Fenn’s return as Audrey, to Robert Forster as new Twin Peaks sheriff Frank Truman (Harry’s brother) fire on all cylinders, but my hat goes off to Laura Dern as the previously mentioned but never seen Diane for delivering a chic character with a LOT of panache. (Special mention also has to be given to the late Catherine Coulson’s Log Lady and Miguel Ferrer’s Albert Rosenfeld for giving their characters more depth and final performances that will continue to make their stars shine). This limited series was something I was looking forward to each Sunday and feel honestly honored to watch a true work of art play out every week. Even if the ending was beyond frustrating, it was all about the journey this summer and honestly one of the best summer TV journeys I’ve ever had.

Outstanding Episode: “Part 16” (Original airdate: 8/27/2017)

The first fifteen weeks were amazing Lynchian art, but the penultimate week had plot development for days. After Dougie stuck a fork in an outlet (it’s a very long story, just watch this brilliant season), he’s in a coma BUT wakes up as the Dale Cooper we’ve all loved. And he’s ready to head back to Twin Peaks. Meanwhile, NegaCoop (he’s called Mr. C in most press but it’s just more fun for me) takes wayward fuckup Richard Horne (Eamon Ferren), Audrey’s (and later revealed HIS) son with him to coordinates given to him. Richard dies by electrocution meant for NegaCoop and knows that one set of coordinates is false, and the other will lead him back to Twin Peaks and to a showdown with his doppelgänger. Meanwhile (see what I did there, Peaks fans?) in North Dakota, Diane Evans (Dern) is contacted by NegaCoop and seems to convulse. She meets with her FBI allies Gordon Cole (David Lynch), Albert (Ferrer) and Tammy Preston (Chrysta Bell) revealing what happened when she met “Cooper” years ago. In short, NegaCoop raped her, took her. And then Diane freaks, saying she’s in the sheriff’s station and pulls a gun on her company, only to be shot by Albert and Tammy. Diane then vanishes to the Red Room, where MIKE (Al Strobel) realizes she’s been manufactured. Meanwhile meanwhile, Audrey Horne (Sherilynn Fenn) after two episodes of will she/won't she FINALLY goes to the Roadhouse with her husband. After a performance by Eddie Vedder, it’s announced the band will play “Audrey’s Dance.” Audrey then recreates her iconic dance from the pilot episode only to be interrupted by a sparring match between two men. “Get me out of here” Audrey says to Charlie, only to awake in a white room somewhere in front a mirror, crackling with electricity. And we still don't know where THAT is! (Seriously, David Lynch, do what you want but why include Audrey only to leave us hanging?!)

2) Stranger Things (Netflix)

One of the best surprises of last year has rightfully become a pop culture phenomenon and become one of the best made, best acted and just most fun shows on any medium right now. Set a year after the Vanishing of Will Byers, we rejoin the gang in Hawkins as Lucas and Dustin (Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzzo) vie for the attention of new girl Max (Sadie Sink) who just might be able to hang with the gang, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) still coping with the loss of Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown), Joyce (Winona Ryder) has a new beau (Sean Astin in a role that is just awkward HIL. AR. ITY.) oh and Will (Noah Schnapp) is having episodes (flashes of the Upside Down) on the regular. Things all begin coming to a head as something new from the Upside Down is coming, and it’s not going to stop with Will, it wants Hawkins, it wants the world. And it provides some of the best TV this year. This show’s word-of-mouth in season one is what contributed to its success, and I think the Duffer Brothers were able to build on that and make this season a standout, a great companion to the first and reset everything for its next two seasons.

Outstanding Episode: Chapter Two-Trick or Treat, Freak (Original airdate: 10/27/2017)

After we find out that not only is Eleven alive, but out of the Upside Down AND LIVING WITH HOPPER - you know I clicked NEXT EPISODE and FAST! We learn how El escaped, setting up a great set of small flashbacks for the rest of the season. But the main event here is Halloween with our heroes, taking full splendor of 1984 with Ghostbusters. (And being the only kids in Hawkins to wear their costumes to school - didn’t you hate when this happened to you?) I really enjoyed seeing the gang begin to try and let Max (Sadie Sink) into their ranks. But our focus this episode is two fold. We first get to see the boys trick-or-treating and we see Will being bullied as “zombie boy” and other nicknames (kids are the worst and its even driven home more later when Joyce, knocked back into the Upside Down. But this time with a video camera that will prove to be very crucial later. We also are privy to the high school’s Halloween party as Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Steve (Joe Keery) begin to have issues. Nancy, especially, still wracked by guilt over the death and disappearance of her best friend Barb. It’s weird to see the dynamics shift of Steve being the responsible one and Nancy spiraling out of control. We’re still setting a lot of things up here, but the binge continues as Halloween winds down as Dustin finds something in his trashcan that changes the course of the entire season.

1) The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Even if the election of 2016 hadn’t essentially made this work of fiction a bit more real, I would still have given this the #1 slot. Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel has been a favorite of mine for years and the world of Gilead has needed an onscreen revival after its entertaining but bare ‘90s adaptation. Enter creator and show runner Bruce Miller who took the novel and made a series that is equal parts terrifying, inspiring and breathtaking. The world of Gilead is expanded, lived in, and utterly terrifying in a post-11/8 “45” presidency. But it’s the best show on any platform right now. This is Elisabeth Moss’s show, because she absolutely vanishes into the role of Offred. We get to see how Gilead came to be, through Offred’s eyes and it’s one of the many strengths Miller has made for the series. A first person narrative is amazing, but can only go so far. The series goes beyond only what Offred sees in the novel - we see WAY more here and it sets a lot up. And it’s not just Moss, the entire cast is just fantastic, whether it’s Yvonne Strahovski’s cold and calculating performance as Serena Joy, Samira Wiley’s inspiring Moira - a Handmaid that has escaped, or the Emmy-winning talents of Ann Dowd as the cruel Aunt Lydia. Atwood’s novel is seen during season one and I’m curious what season two is gonna bring us with things never seen in the novel. This is the best 2017 gave us and I knew on its first day of release. The series is a warning, it’s a rally cry, and it is also an inspiring message to never give in, even when things are absolutely horrid. As was written by a Handmaid, and found by Offred: nolite te bastardes carborundum.

Outstanding Episode: “Late” (Original airdate: 4/26/2017)

This isn’t even Elisabeth Moss’ best episode. The reason this episode is the best of the year is because of Alexis Bledel’s Emmy winning performance. AND DOESNT EVEN SAY A WORD DURING THE WHOLE HOUR. We focus on Offred adjusting to the new Ofglen that has replaced Bledel’s. Aunt Lydia interrogates her and Serena assumes Offred is pregnant and defends her against her treatment. (She’s not.) Later when Serena finds this out, Strahovski’s anger and malice play beautifully as she forcibly drags Offred upstairs to confine her to her room. But that’s not the highlight and not why this is the best episode of TV this year. For this we must go back to Ofglen/Emily and Alexis Bledel. She’s been removed from her assigned residence for being a lesbian, a gender traitor and a crime in Gilead, especially the fact that she’s had a secret relationship. She and the Martha (another class of female servants) are sentenced - the Martha hanged (in a tracking shot as a van pulls Bledel away to her own punishment and sentence. We don’t see that until the episode’s end when Dowd’s pious Aunt Lydia comes in to tell Emily she won't want for what she can’t have. We then look down to see she has under gone genital mutilation. Bledel’s silence is finally broken as she screams, and it’s a chilling end to a brilliantly tragic hour of TV.

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how2to18 · 5 years

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Fame, if you win it, Comes and goes in a minute.

— Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green, “Make Someone Happy”

The pure products of America go crazy.

— William Carlos Williams, “To Elsie”

DRIVE DOWN some of Hollywood’s major thoroughfares or visit some of its celebrated tourist attractions, like Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and you’re bound to see at least one mural featuring bona fide pop icons like Marilyn, Elvis, and James Dean. Depending on the artist, the players joining Marilyn might include Sinatra, John Wayne, or Chaplin. If Duke Haney, the author of Death Valley Superstars, commissioned his own mural, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce might not approve. Yes, Marilyn would still be there, but her supporting cast would be a bunch of troublemakers as obscure as she is famous — Steve Cochran, Sean Flynn, Mark Frechette, Christopher Jones — as well as the notorious Lee Harvey Oswald and William Desmond Taylor, the victim of one of Hollywood’s greatest unsolved mysteries.

The personalities on Haney’s mural are just some of the subjects he profiles in his engrossing new collection of essays, Death Valley Superstars: Occasionally Fatal Adventures in Filmland. All but one of Haney’s pieces were originally published on Brad Listi’s literary website The Nervous Breakdown, where I discovered his work in December 2013. Familiar with Haney’s experience writing screenplays and acting in low-budget films, Listi, who had published Subversia (2010), Haney’s first collection of essays, invited him to begin writing about Hollywood. Haney twice demurred, not wanting to be known as just another Kenneth Anger. “I had been struggling to start a novel for two years to no effect,” Haney recently told Listi on his podcast, “and it might rejuvenate me to work instead on a quirky tour of a neglected career and colorful life [tough guy actor Steve Cochran] — an appreciation with elements of biography.” He accepted Listi’s invitation and began writing biographical essays on some of destiny’s darlings, and a number of also-rans who briefly achieved a measure of fame only to see it undone by scandal, misbehavior, or malign fate. Superstars isn’t restricted to luminaries of the screen: Hugh Hefner, Jim Morrison, and the aforementioned Lee Harvey Oswald show up in its pages. Haney’s deep research, fresh insights, and engaging prose bring these subjects to life. He also includes several lively accounts of his own experiences working for legendary cheapjack producer Roger Corman and even more marginal Hollywood operators.

Haney leads his book with a powerful memoir, “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth,” a real cri de coeur recalling how the New Hollywood films of the ’70s celebrated in Peter Biskind’s book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls inspired him to journey to Hollywood to make the same kinds of films, only to discover that the blockbuster success of Star Wars and its successors had already killed the New Hollywood movement, torpedoing the career Haney had imagined for himself in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he had immersed himself in movies screened at the palatial Paramount Theater and a local revival house. There, he discovered the Holy Trinity of Method acting — Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and James Dean — and their ’70s equivalents — Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, and Dustin Hoffman — all of whom he had hoped to emulate once he hit Hollywood.

Haney’s essay could easily be titled “Star Wars and Its Discontents.” He spends a hefty chunk of “Dinosaurs” expounding on the detrimental effect of that beloved franchise. Star Wars did more than merely change Hollywood’s commercial ecosystem, infantilizing movies. It became a cultural Death Star, Haney contends, whose puerility pervaded society, reducing adults to Peter Pans who are not ashamed to line up at the box office for movies that would once have been considered strictly kid’s stuff and to buy “adult” coloring books.

In the powerful conclusion of “Dinosaurs,” Haney recalls his childhood self going to see a movie (When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth [1970]) for the first time:

I can picture him now, about to see a movie alone for the first time. He walks up the long corridor, carpeted in red, of the Paramount Theater, pausing at the concession stand to gawk at thumbnail photos of the posters for sale, and a voice in his head says, Don’t look. God doesn’t want you to look. But the voice is quiet in the darkness of the auditorium, where the boy watches a girl in a fur bikini cavort anachronistically with a dinosaur, and the boy thinks, Man, I would love to be that dinosaur, never dreaming that, when he’s a man, a dinosaur is just what he’ll be.

Someone once wisely said that participation in sports doesn’t create character, it reveals it. The same can be said of the effects of fame and its pursuit, something personified by Marilyn Monroe and Lee Harvey Oswald, Haney’s most famous subjects. They were both pathetic wretches who thought that fame would enable them to escape the pain of anonymity. Monroe was a perpetually unhappy woman who never knew her father and whose mother had a disordered mind. The response she got for modeling for some rather chaste cheesecake photos set her direction. With considerable effort, she became a worldwide sex goddess, but her fame only exacerbated her unhappiness. She finally found release in a bottle of Nembutal one lonely night.

In “Golden State Girl,” Haney argues that Monroe was a genuine artist whose greatest creation was her inimitable screen persona. “There’s no pathos in the image they propose,” Haney writes, after describing several instances of her hateful behavior,

but there’s pathos aplenty in the image of Marilyn as a wounded stray, as the candle in the wind of Elton John song, as a martyr of celebrity, of Hollywood, of men and patriarchy and the male gaze. This image — and it’s finally a single image — excludes those traits it can’t, and doesn’t want to, accommodate: opportunism, toughness, willfulness, petulance, all of which, and then some, can be found in a convoluted woman with a genius for appearing the opposite.

Lee Harvey Oswald was born two months after his father died. His mother was a kook. He believed that he deserved to be a major actor on the stage of history, not just some nobody sweating his life away stacking boxes of schoolbooks in an old warehouse. The secret delight he must have enjoyed after making himself the focus of the world’s attention lasted only two days before a .38 bullet in his belly ended his life. In “Oswald Has Been Shot,” Haney explores the possibility that three movies that Oswald saw — We Were Strangers (1949), Suddenly (1954), and The Manchurian Candidate (1962) — may have inspired him to kill the president.

As his essay on Oswald demonstrates, outsiders fascinate Haney. And that fascination extends to Hollywood’s outsiders, the nearly forgotten actors who were deserted by fame in their own lifetimes. Haney is their champion. In Superstars, he tells the stories of Sean Flynn, Mark Frechette, Steve Cochran, and Christopher Jones in captivating detail and provides us with the most complete biographies these men are ever likely to get.

Sean Flynn inherited the handsomeness of his father, legendary screen swashbuckler Errol Flynn, but lacked his casual élan in front a movie camera. Sean sought adventure as a photographer in war torn Vietnam and Cambodia, where he disappeared in 1970. Steve Cochran possessed a kind of oily charisma that suited his portrayals of shady characters in films like White Heat (1949) and Private Hell 36 (1954). He was an uncomplicated man who cared only for masculine luxuries — exotic sports cars and boats — and women: he had an insatiable sexual appetite. He could also be physically violent with them. He died horribly when a mysterious disease suddenly struck him as he was sailing his yacht Rogue in the waters off Guatemala, while a crew of barely legal Mexican women he had hired to help him promote a film project could only look on helplessly.

Mark Frechette never wanted to be an actor. He didn’t know what he wanted to do until he fell under the spell of cult leader Mel Lyman in Boston. After a talent scout for director Michelangelo Antonioni spotted Frechette in New York, Antonioni cast him as a campus radical running from the law in Zabriskie Point (1970). Frechette often sparred with Antonioni during the shoot. It didn’t matter; he was only doing it for Mel. Frechette’s misbegotten idea of a revolutionary political statement was to rob a bank, which got one of his accomplices killed. Frechette died in prison when a barbell fell on his neck, asphyxiating him. He was only 27.

Christopher Jones rocketed to stardom in only his second film, Wild in the Streets (1968), a political fantasy about a 22-year-old rock star who becomes president. He bore a striking similarity to James Dean, with the same mesmeric ability to seduce an audience. Jones quit acting abruptly after filming Ryan’s Daughter (1970) and became an enigmatic recluse until his death in early 2014 at age 72. In what may be the most fascinating piece in Death Valley Superstars, Duke Haney does much to unravel the shadowy mystery of Jones’ post-Hollywood years for the first time.

“I think Hollywood is the true Death Valley,” says Haney, “because it’s where dreams go to die, and sometimes the dreamer.” Fortunately, Haney is still with us — and we owe him our thanks for Death Valley Superstars, a dream of a collection.

Peter L. Winkler is the author of Dennis Hopper: The Wild Ride of a Hollywood Rebel (Barricade Books, 2011) and the editor of The Real James Dean: Intimate Memories from Those Who Knew Him Best (Chicago Review Press, 2016).

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