True. Routh can be stiff (and used to be so much more stiff than now), but stiffness works for a character like Superman. I really liked him playing that part.

Good. It’s a crime that this guy isn’t already Superman 5 times over by now.  

Easily one of my favorite scenes of the entire season, along with their bit at the video store in the finale. I’m so relieved they went in this direction with Robin’s character and didn’t shoehorn another romantic relationship into the story. Kudos to Joe and Maya for bringing these characters to life.

As much as I was shipping the two of them by then, this scene was so perfect that I didn’t care that they’ll be friends rather than dating. Their shared coda at the video store was promising as hell, too. I hope for a lot of scenes of the two of them (and Dustin and whomever) together next season.

Steve did comment about already being covered in blood and vomit, so what's a little more.

I have to give Maya Hawke and Joe Keery credit for playing this scene beautifully, despite their ridiculous ice cream shop costumes, and Steve having the battered face makeup on that he usually has for about a quarter of the season, which has to make it at least a little difficult to emote

This article and these criticisms are to me off base as well. He is trying to be a parent to a 14 year old girl with superpowers. No parent wants their 14 year old daughter making out with her boyfriend every day all day. Yeah, he was tough, but that is realistic and totally in character for him as he is a new parent.

It’s accurate up to Episode 7. They deliberately string along the romantic tension between the two characters so that her big reveal is a surprise. It’s a nicely written and acted surprise, so it works, but it’s an intentional misdirect.

and stretches it out for basically the entirety of the season

So an alcoholic, pill-popping guy with PTSD from his daughter’s death, goes without his alcohol and pills to- uncover a vast gov’t conspiracy that opens a portal to a hell dimension, raise a psychic daughter and protect her while she nearly kills herself to save their hometown all while performing an exorcism on the…

I absolutely love what they did with Steve and Robin. Also she lies about him being a chick magnet to get him the job at the video store in the final episode, when her research in the first episode (tracking all the female customers at the ice cream shop he struck out with) empirically proved that he was in fact a…

Instead, the series takes the encounter after Joyce stands Hopper up for their arranged date—in which he’s hurt and lashing out at her, while she defensively yells back about his need to focus on more important matters—and stretches it out for basically the entirety of the season.

100% disagree. He helped save the town (possibly the world) and everyone in it from an interdimensional monster twice, and is now disrespected to his face in his own home by two of the kids he had put his life on the line for, one of which he adopted out of his own kindness. He has to protect those closest to him from…

The responses to this take seem to divide pretty neatly into people who have actually dealt with raising/teaching teenagers and those who are convinced they know better. Hopper doesn’t handle it gracefully, and the weird lie about Nana is definitely a bad move, but the way he brings down the FUCKING HAMMER on Mike…

Gee. It’s not as if people in real life, who are sometimes known to be big lovable goofball, sometimes have bad patches where they’re unpleasant to be around. Wow. What a concept.

The entire season takes place over, what, 3 days? You expect hardcore character growth over 3 days? She stood him up, he was salty about it and still helped.

I don’t agree with anything in relation to Elle and Mike. His job as a father is to make sure Elle doesn’t end up pregnant by the age of 14, and if that means he has to put the fear of God into Mike to ensure that happens, then so be it. And don’t give me any of that “oh but that’ll push them that much closer…

I both agree and disagree. He was a bit much this season. A bit too gruff when the situation needed nuance and understanding. Kind of an asshole at times! It especially grating in the first two or so episodes. Fortunately, he mellowed out at the end. But also: No, this season didn’t ruin Hopper. Mike and El were being…

You deal with a teenage daughter that should be in the X-men, secret government shenanigans, being heart broken and living in small town America in the 80's and see how you handle it. And this season takes place over a week? We know he’s not always like that. It’s like people are becoming more less imaginative and…

I was honestly surprised to see this opinion in another article on io9. I guess maybe I’m just so used to Hollywood conventions in writing romances that I never took it as anything more than a nod to romcom-style characters. If this were a super-serious drama about character relationships I’d get the criticism a…