REVIEW: Stranger Things, Episode 101
I don’t watch that many shows from Netflix, but Stranger Things is definitely my favorite one from this company. This show is that kind of great combination between clichés and something you have never seen before. Even though it is inspired by some of Stephen King’s works, I don’t think Stranger Things’ goal is to terrify us and provides us with sleepless nights, but else to make us want to binge watch all of the episodes as soon as possible, and then hate Netflix for taking so long releasing the following season. And that is exactly what we are doing right now, because it usually takes about a year to release another season, but this time we will have to wait 15 months instead. The good news is that it is almost over (only about one and a half month away), so in the meantime, let’s take a look back into its first season.
For a show that almost wasn’t advertised (I think they only released a poster and a trailer a few days before the show premiered), Stranger Things was a huge success. Younger generations liked it, probably because it has so much suspense, mystery and science-fiction; while older generations also liked it, probably because it reminds them of the good old days, because I hear that the details (wardrobe, scenarios, relationships…) are really well represented, since that is how things were in the 80s, but don’t ask me about this, because I really wouldn’t know.
Some people ask what the point is of making this show take place in the 80s while it could be done in present day, and for that I have a few answers. Firstly, it seems like much more fun to play Dungeons and Dragons like Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas were playing right in the beginning of the episode, than playing it alone (or even with online friends) in your computer or PlayStation. Secondly, I think it is a lot more entertaining to mess with the past than with the present. Some weird and unexplained things have happened many times in the past, and I like it when a show/movie tries to “explain” it. Of course that in the end of the day that is still left unexplained, but it really does make you wonder “What if that is what really happened?” And especially when the movie/show has science-fiction and/or fantasy as a gender, that just makes the world much more magical. Lastly, because I think in the past there isn’t such a sense of safe as there is now. Of course that, like before, people can still be kidnapped, murdered, get lost somewhere… but now we all have phones and that is where the sense of safe comes from. If we get lost in woods, our phones have flashlights and it is just a matter of time before we get signal and call help. In the 80s the only phones they had were in the walls and had to be plugged, so they couldn’t just carry it around. Can you imagine if Will and the others had a cellphone? The story would definitely take some different turns.
But anyway, the pilot of Stranger Things is entitled “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” and it is definitely an episode full of mystery and suspense. As the title suggests, the episode was mostly about Will, even though he was only in 2/3 scenes. Unfortunately, most people’s favorite character (including mine) was a bit sidelined, but that didn’t make the episode any less great. I am talking about Eleven, of course.
Because it couldn’t happen in any other way, everyone was worried about Will and so everyone started looking for him. At first people wanted to believe that it was nothing, that he would eventually show up, but, even though that happens 99 times in every 100, that obviously does not apply in this case. But not all hope was lost, and there was an amazing scene close to the end of the episode in which Joyce became convinced that she got a call from Will. This was really an incredible scene where we saw a truly desperate mother who wanted nothing more than being with her son again.
Everyone knows that kids who are good students and who play nerd games in their parent’s basement have to be bullied, and so the 4 (now 3) friends are no different. I really hate bullies and I really hope they find out through the Stranger Kids that it is better to be a Nerd, than being like them. What I liked most about this scene was that they kind of don’t care about the bullies, and just think of them as a normal morning activity.
As I said, I really enjoyed this episode. There was mystery, death, action, girls with powers, confident Nerds, not to mention some funny scenes too in the middle of all this. Stranger Things is really a great show, and this pilot sets up Season 1 in a very good way. I am giving this episode an 8.6/10.
Don’t go anywhere because in episode two the Strangers and the Nerds won’t either, and the title of episode 2 is a proof of that: “Chapter Two: The Weirdo in Maple Street”.