Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Stranger Things - Season 1

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Stranger Things debuted on Netflix in September. I have finally finished watching the first season. Basically, a kid named Will Byers disappears after a night of playing Dungeons & Dragons with his friends. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas go searching for him, and come across a girl named Eleven. Stranger Things plays out like an eight hour long movie. There's sort of an 80s Spielberg vibe to this show, with a dash of Stephen King for good measure. Most of the characters feel well-rounded. There's a sort of mystery to the character of Eleven. She's odd, but carries a likability and loyalty to the people she perceives as her friends. She speaks very few words. All of this, actress Millie Bobby Brown portrays excellently, and I hope to see more from this young actress in the future. Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, the missing boy's mom, is the best she has been in a very long time. This is a character who may or may not be going crazy, and Ryder pulls it off with apparent ease. David Harbour portrays police chief Hopper. This is a broken man who is trying to help Joyce, due in part to his daughter dying of cancer prior to the show's beginning. The one character who I felt was a bit too one-note was Troy. He was a bully that didn't really have any depth to him, or any redeeming quality. I never understood why he was the way he was. He was just a bully. The show takes place in 1983, which makes that 80s feel work in the show's favor. Great pacing, awesome writing, and generally excellent characters make for a show that I highly recommend. There's a second season coming in 2017, and I can't wait to see what's coming next.

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