Chapter Eight: The Upside Down

Wow wow wowwwww. i cannot describe in words how much i love this show. the Duffer brothers are amazing and so is everyone involved in making this. i was bawling by the end, and a good show should tug on the heart strings. stranger things did exactly that. please watch this, your life will be better for it.

It's amazing for end session and sad end omg I cry it's very very good

"Stranger Things" is a show that is genre-diverse. That is probably the greatest compliment I can give a television program, as I really enjoy when shows tackle more than just "one thing" over the course of a number of episodes. In the case of "Stranger Things", it is science fiction, character drama, dry humor, all mixed together with a heavy helping of 1980s nostalgia. It doesn't all work, but most of it does...easily enough to be a very engaging experience.

For a basic plot summary (only minor spoilers), "Stranger Things" focuses on a sleepy little town in 1983 suburbia. Well, sleepy until it becomes the site of shady government activity, led by the mysterious Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine), which slowly unfurls over the course of the eight episodes in this first season. A group of childhood buds is first to experience the weirdness, with one of their own, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), abducted by a monster of sorts. This spurs group leader Mike (Finn Wolfhard), wiry Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and gap-toothed Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) into action. At the same time, Will's mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) teams up with Sheriff Jim "Hop" Hopper (David Harbour) to try and find an "official" explanation for what is happening.

Of course, the auxiliary characters also help drive the story lines of "Stranger Things" as much as anything. Mysterious stranger Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) factors heavily into the proceedings, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Barb (Shannon Purser) are the classic yin-and-yang, and even chemistry teacher Mr. Clarke (Randall P. Havens) plays a key role the deeper the rabbit hole gets.

"Stranger Things" is the perfect binge-watch show in that each episode ends on a momentous cliffhanger...almost a throwback to the old cinema serials of years gone by. It's almost physically difficult NOT to boot up the next episode, as they each contain such an engaging mix of plot, humor, character development, and nostalgia.

That being said, when one "steps back" for a moment and looks at the show, it is sometimes easy to see that not everything works in terms of plot direction and pacing. The mystery is really strung out, certain characters are up-and-down in terms of focus, and it can lag a bit in spots (treading the same water over and over).

Yet, as evidenced by my 8/10 rating, "Stranger Things" easily does enough things right to make it a very fun show to watch. Simply put, it is best enjoyed "in the moment", without a lot of time for reflection or contemplation. I usually look for the opposite in TV programs (I love to deeply think about the material), but in this case it was kind of a breath of fresh air to just be swept away by the sheer entertainment of it all.

Overall, "Stranger Things" became a bit of a pop sensation, and that designation is (mostly) earned. It will be interesting to see if subsequent seasons are able to recapture that bottled lightning, or if it will be a "one hit wonder".

TV shows now are becoming bigger and better than ever, budgets have grown, casting has improved and the demand for good Television is more intense than ever. Netflix has played a huge part in this, within its own Netflix Originals series it has produced some fantastic TV and Stranger Things is a fantastic addition to its growing collection. Television has changed massively over recent years, it is competing with Hollywood Movies in terms of popularity and demand and this allows them to be created with much more quality.

Not only is Stranger Things set during the 1980's it also goes the extra mile to really pay homage to this era and to the movies that were produced around that time. It doesn't simply create sets and props to fit in with that era but It makes reference to things that were relevant at that time such as films, books, games and music and this detail is something which makes this show so special. The 80's score is utterly fantastic and it really goes a long way to adding to the nostalgic 80s vibe.

The cast is quite large and varied but it ultimately centres around four young children who well and truly, completely steal the show. Their acting is superb and believable from them; they are convincing in all aspects of the role whether it's portraying comedy, sadness or fear. It has a corny feel to it at times, like many 80s shows did, the dialogue can be cheesy with some childish scripting. The rest of the cast are also good with David Harbour and Winona Ryder giving superb performances as the Detective and the troubled Mother.

I have seen many negative reviews slating this for not being original and adding nothing new to the genre. 80s Sci-Fi/Horror isn't a genre that I am very experienced in so I cannot say that I found it unoriginal. It did however contain some very cliché moments and was very predictable at times.

Filmed over 8 episodes with various runtimes between 45minutes to 1 hour in length, the pacing is done quite well. The main story moves along at a well-structured pace and the mystery isn't revealed early on in the show. Tension and the unknown are what makes this show so great and the creators do a fantastic job of not ruining this, keeping our attention throughout the duration of the series. The scene in which Wills Mother sets up all the Christmas lights in their home was a fantastic scene. However I did feel that there was plenty of filler stories which weren't completely necessary to the telling of the story. I wouldn't say that these scenes dragged as such but I did find myself questioning their importance as they sometimes felt out of place.

I'm not an 80s child so I hold little affection to that era, however that didn't discourage my enjoyment for Stranger Things. It's a very well made show which is only made better by the 80s nostalgia. I binged on this in two sittings and the time completely flew by, every minute was fulfilling and I'm very glad that I jumped onto the hype. Series 2 has been confirmed and I can only hope that they do series 1 justice and keep true to their roots, please don't ruin such a great show with a shallow, rushed, money-spinning sequel.

9/10

Answer every questions that Season 1 had started. and again, all solved but the new questions comes up again. This episode is well directing. good soundtrack. good story. really fun to watch.