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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 8650227" data-attributes="member: 18182">The Hellfire Club's game was amazing . . . the entire episode and it's lead up to the game was amazing! I knew guys like Eddie back in the 80s, who built their entire identity around D&D and enjoyed being "king of the geeks" and were just as controlling as Eddie, and as dismissive towards other concerns, like Lucas' b-ball game. Eddie felt very real to me.I remember the stronger divide between "freaks" and "jocks", and the bullying . . . I remember the Satanic Panic, and the ignorant, judgmental, and fearful attitudes aimed at freaks like us. The game itself was a lot of fun, but the lead up hit me hard and took me back. Not the first time Stranger Things has done that to me . . . I'm the same age Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas would be today in 2022 . . . . assuming they all survive that long!The Hawkins of Stranger Things is pretty darn accurate portrayal of American life in the 80s . . . but also more inclusive. It was rare for people of color to be playing D&D (at least in my neck of the woods, which was not Indiana) . . . and girls!?!?! Of course, Eddie wasn't very welcoming to Erica at first until she proved what a bad-ass she is!The episode did make me regret something from my own time in the 80s . . . . why didn't my friends and I come up with a cool name for our D&D club? We just had "D&D night", not "Hellfire Club"!!! Missed opportunity.I felt like this episode really sets up Eddie to be the next Billy . . . . as fun as watching the Hellfire Club's game was, I was feeling a lot of dread and tension building, and feeling both annoyed at Eddie for being so controlling, but sad that something bad was likely going to happen to him!!! I won't spoil the rest of the season yet, however . . . .</blockquote>

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