Created by The Duffer Brothers, the series takes place in the year 1983 in the town of Hawkins, Indiana and revolves around the disappearance of a young boy named Will Byres and the subsequent efforts of his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder), police Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and Will's friends to locate the boy. Throw an otherworldly monster, a secret government agency and a mysteriously powered girl named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) into the mix and you have yourself the best sci-fi piece to possibly come out in this decade.
I really can't praise this show enough. It takes a lot to get me hooked to a TV series, but Stranger Things drew me in straight away, with the one key element that immediately impressed me being how effectively the show utilised nostalgia while also setting itself apart as an original property and story. It pays homage to 80's culture, with references to early Spielberg (the kids running away from a secret agency on bikes), Stephen King (the whole tone of the show could have easily have been taken from a King novel) and even George Lucas (the underlying light and hope characterised by the boys) all very clear to see. It's like everything that made 80's media great has been thrown into a melting pot and mixed together with better filmmaking technology to give us this absolute gift of a television show. In saying this, the references aren't necessarily on the nose: they are just below the surface, clear enough to make you feel something but not enough that it makes the story feel like a retread or a parody. It is nostalgia done perfectly. Furthermore, the story is impeccably paced, gripping the viewer with every twist and turn it takes from the opening episode. As you gradually learn more about the mythology of this world and all of the conspiracy going on within it, I can almost guarantee you will not want to stop watching. It is really that good. The tone shifts as you move between plot threads (eg a dark and dreary supernatural mystery with Joyce and Hopper, an ET-like naivety-laced adventure with Will's friends etc) giving the viewer a literal smorgasbord of different emotions and experiences on each watch. Some have said that the series borrows a bit too much from the culture it is trying to emulate, but for me it strikes the balance just right.
Another thing Stranger Things certainly got right is the casting. Winona Ryder gives what might be one of my favourite performances of all time! I'm not gonna lie, I don't know whether her performance was brilliant or whether it was terrible, all I can tell you is that I freakin loved every single moment she was on my screen. Her character, Joyce, is meant to be a bit unhinged, a single mother who is a bit out-of-touch with society due to working full-time to support her children. So when Will goes missing, she goes completely off the edge, and the viewer is unsure if her POV is in-line with the supernatural elements of the show (I'll say no more to try and keep this spoiler-lite) or represent her descent into insanity. Ryder never once breaks character, she is so beautifully consistent throughout and, while admittedly her portrayal is sometimes over-the-top, it remains unfathomably believable throughout. If I could speak to Winona Ryder right now I would give her a sincere "Thank You", no person's acting has brought me greater joy than she did playing Joyce on Stranger Things. David Harbour is also impeccable as Chief Hopper, the troubled hero of the story. His arc is the most intriguing as he goes from a broken man succumbing to addiction to a man who will do anything to reunite this mother and her son. Harbour makes us believe in Hopper as a genuine bad-ass and with Season 2 on the horizon, I can't wait to see how he develops further moving forward. To be honest though, the real stars of this show are the plethora of great child-actors that Stranger Thing's is lucky to have at its disposal. Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalie Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp and Joe Keery all give strong, consistent performances throughout all of the show's 8 episodes and in any other show at any other time, any one of these guys could have stolen the spotlight. However for me there were two standouts: Gaten Matterazzo who played Dustin and Millie Bobby Brown who played Eleven. Dustin is the moral centre of his group of friends, as well as being the most hilarious. The show does well not to portray these kids as stupid and the dialogue written for them is very natural and flows well, but Dustin stands out because he is the most relatable: he's loyal, level-headed and a bit of a goofball. Probably the most complete character of his group of friends, Dustin's pragmatically functioning brain alongside his natural fun-loving charm makes him a standout in my book. But as good as Matterazzo and his cast mates are, Millie Bobby Brown is simply better. I'm saying this right now, if she doesn't win all the Emmys for this performance then something is seriously messed up with the world. Not once does she break character! Not once! She gives a more nuanced and bleak portrayal than the majority of actors twice her age could even dream of. I won't say much more because her character's arc is pretty vital to the story, but Brown has put herself on the map with a simple yet powerful performance here.
Other things I enjoyed included the CGI used to bring the creature and the "Upside-Down" to life, the technical mastery on display concerning how the show was shot and of course the awesome title sequence. Slight criticisms for me would invoke gaps in character logic relating to their actions (as interesting as the story was, these characters don't take very much convincing to buy into the supernatural events going on in this town) and the lack of a compelling villain, with the secret government agency and the so called "Demagorgin" seemingly having no redeeming attributes between them (although there is a popular theory surrounding the creature's true identity which could create a new wrinkle in the story). On top of this, with the show heading into its second season I feel it is important that the showrunners try and develops the tone, perhaps shifting it in a darker direction. In saying this, The Duffer's have already been quoted as saying that the second season of the show will take inspiration from classic 80s sequels such as Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and The Empire Strikes Back, so my slight apprehension will most likely be put at ease as soon as the next instalment in this saga is released early next year.
Overall, I bloody loved Stranger Things. It was fresh, excellently crafted, passionately made and had me hooked to my TV for several hours at a time. The acting is superb and the story is filled with so many glorious twists and top-notch character arcs that it reaffirmed my belief that TV is giving us a far higher level of quality content than the movie industry nowadays. Probably the most impressive first season of any show since Game of Thrones, Stranger Things never once undersells its mythology and builds on this world with such detail that it is truly hard to criticise the show's execution in any way.
Stranger Things is the media event of the year so far. If you haven't seen it, please start now.
Watch or Avoid: Watch
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