Stranger Things

Score: 9/10

Recommendation: If it were a movie, I would pay full-price for the tickets in a luxury theater (If you don’t have a Netflix, then you should get one just for this show, and then you can cancel it if you like).

Summary: If The Goonies and The X-Files had a child, Stranger Things would be it.

Review: Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok that was one of the BEST series I have ever watched. I loved it, and it’s going to be hard not to shower Stranger Things with praise in this review, so put up with it. As I said in the summary, if The Goonies and The X-Files got married and had a child, then it would definitely be Stranger Things. It wouldn’t be just a normal looking kid, either. It would be that ridiculously attractive kid that everyone wants to take to the Snowball Dance (read this again after watching, and you’ll see what I did there). 

Stranger Things is a masterful piece of story telling that has the perfect combination of everything you could want in a series. The characters feel real, the comedy is well-timed and appropriate for the situation (yes, that was aimed toward you, Transformers series), the story is coherent and enjoyable, and the horror elements are less typical horror than they are intellectually thrilling.

Let’s start with a quick synopsis of the story. Stranger Things follows the lives of several separate groups who are all affected by the strange disappearance of a child in their quiet town. While everyone else is living their normal lives, our heroes find out that the boy’s disappearance is not only strange, but possibly paranormal. I’ll leave it there because saying any more would take away from the show’s wonderful storytelling. From my vague and somewhat cryptic synopsis, this sounds like so many other sci-fi movies, but give it a chance. I thought those exact thoughts, however, after watching the first episode, I was blown away. It’s truly amazing how the story weaved the overall narrative from what seemed like unconnected, albeit interesting, bits and pieces of the characters vastly different lives. I really can’t say much more without giving too much away, so I’ll move onto the characters, and just leave with saying that the story is fun, imaginative, and puts a refreshing twist on the suspense/horror genre.

The character writing is superb in this show. There wasn’t a moment when I didn’t feel like the characters acted how they should have. The writers NAILED every bit of how people would have acted. For instance, there were many times when the children would be talking, and then suddenly they would move to a new topic or just stop talking in general. Adults like to have more closure on their conversations, but to children, once they have made their point in their own minds, the conversation is over. Like when one of the children is trying to explain what a promise is to a character that had never heard of a promise. He says, “a promise is something that you never break.” To an adult that isn’t a sufficient explanation, but to a child, it explains perfectly what a promise is! That’s just one small example of how all the characters felt like real people. Beyond that, there is amazing character development that you simply don’t get in many professional movies or television shows anymore. There were also several times when the characters surprised me by acting out of their stereotypical boxes. Character development is fantastically turned on its head in this show, and I loved every minute of it!

Finally, I just have to say that Gaten Matarazzo played my favorite character, BY FAR. His character is Dustin, and he is hilarious. Every minute with him on the screen was gold, as well as every minute with Millie Bobby Brown, who plays a somewhat mysterious character that doesn’t speak much. The sheer amount of emotion she can express with one look is incredible. I truly hope that those two talented children have a bright future ahead of them.

In conclusion, I thought that Stranger Things was a masterpiece of storytelling. Directed by the Duffer brothers, it was a throwback to the 80s suspense/horror genre (and a little bit of comedy), that perfectly merges The X-files suspense and paranormal themes with The Goonies humor and adventure. Like The Goonies, there is swearing, and this is rated TV-14, so it might not be appropriate for children. I do think it is a show that should be watched, and it deserves all the praise it has received. It is a TV sensation for a reason.