Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers

My older sister saw the show during the summer of 2016 and she convinced me to watch it because it reminds me of the classic 80s movies and TV shows that I watched when I was growing up. So, I checked it out and to my surprise, it turned out to be very intriguing. I'll review the episodes of the first season starting with Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers.

The episode takes place in Indiana in the year 1983 where four kids named Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will are playing Dungeons and Dragons. Later, after they finished the game, Will encounters a creature that escaped from the U.S. Department of Energy and after running towards his home, he mysteriously vanishes. The next day, as the adults of Indiana try to find him, a young girl in a hospital gown steals food from a local diner and Benny, the owner of the diner, finds out that her name is Eleven. Suddenly, a bunch of armed men find her before she quickly escapes. Later, while Will's mother Joyce Byers hears his voice on a phone call, Mike Dustin and Lucas try to find Will only to find Eleven.

This pilot episode to the show is with no doubt a intriguing and solid start. Not only is the writing strong, but the characters are well introduced. Will Byers and his friendship with Mike, Dustin, and Lucas is very unique it reminds me of The Goonies, a movie that also has a strong friendship between Mike, Mouth, Chunk and Data. Needless to say, that's a great way to pay homage to the 1980s media. Also, the opening and closing sequences are really great from the disappearance of Will Byers to the his friends' encounter with Eleven with competent directing and beautiful atmosphere. The music score represents the 1980s synthesizers it respects the year and decade the episode takes place and compliments it really well.

The acting is also great. The adult actors David Harbour and Winona Ryder (who starred as Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice (1988)) did respectable jobs as Chief Hopper and Joyce Byers, the young adult actors Charlie Heaton, Natalia Dyer and Joe Keery also did respectable jobs as Steve Harrington, the bully, Nancy Wheeler, the older sister of Mike, and Jonathan Byers, the older bother of Will, and the kid actors who played Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas, including Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb Mclaughlin, and Noah Schnapp filled their respective roles perfectly as did Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven (El), a mysterious young girl with telekinetic powers.

Overall, Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers is not only a solid start to the show, but a great reminder of presenting a story that takes place in the 1980s with horror and science fiction which is blended seamlessly well. It leaves you wanting more and there are a lot of other things to come in the first season. This deserves a thumbs up from me. :)

So i finally decided to watch this show, and.after this first episode, i am hooked! The premise is ingaging and it is very much about the mysteries! You know something is going on, but you don't know what! The child actors are also doing a great job! If you, like me, haven't watched this show yet, i suggest you do it now!

Mornings are for coffee and contemplation says Chief Hopper (Harbour). And the debut episode of Netflix'd latest offering certainly leaves a lot to contemplate.

The setting is 80's Indiana as the show opens with an ominous scene and notable presence which sets the tone nicely leading to the vanishing of Will Byers (Schnapp).

The stars are 3 three dungeons and dragons loving kids embroiled in their own quest to find their missing friend. The three boys Mike, Dustin and Lucas (Wolfhard, Matarazzo, McLaughlin) are at the centre of the show and fill their roles brilliantly. The chatacters are the usuall high school nerds seen many times before, but it's their combined comradeship that is their strength. The bounce off each other seamlessly and they really out shine the adults of the show at times, often showing more eagetness to find their friend. Mike especially has a breakout scene before the boys initiate their search.

The adult cast compliments the kids nicely. Joyce (Ryder) plays the panicked single mother. She spends much of the episode almost not facing the gravity of the situation, but following a mysterious phone call she breaks out her shell and the hysteric mom comes flooding out, in an emotional scene with her elder son Jonathan (Heaton). Chief Hopper is reluctant early on to get involved the story but this grows greatly after a revelation to his back story. He is a lot more subtle against Joyce's panic driven mum but no less valuable to the cast and has a lot of room to grow in the story.

The final notable cast member is Elle/11 (Brown) and my pick for the most exciting entity of the show. Shows up (not alone) as Will goes missing, very little to say but it's her actions that build intrigue into the character.

There is a minor teenage love story here with Steve and Nancy (Keery and Dyer) which I am sure will connect to the main plot soon enough.

From the Poltergeist-esque opening to the Goonies style friendship. This is a direct throw back to the 80's. Even down to the music and credit font's. Some may say it is outdated in 2016. But giant walkie talkies and biking adventures will always be cool.

The opening and closing minutes were faultless and with about 10 minutes combined outline the entire show leaving this writer eager for more. I can't fault any of the cast who each gave us a good idea of what their character is about. The Chief remains the adult with the most potential with Elle clearly being positioned at the centre of all these Things which by design promise to get even Stranger from here.

There is definitely a lot more contemplation to come...i'll grab the coffee.

A good start of the best series ever. Loved the performances

Eleven is the most promising prospect on this series. Interesting enough to see the next episode.