Bowl cuts, rotary phones and excessive cigarette smoking – yes, this is the ‘80s, but without the synth pop and neon colors. Netflix Original Series “Stranger Things” is set in the suburban town of Hawkins, Indiana, where the mysterious disappearance of 12-year-old Will Byers and the equally mysterious appearance of a psychic girl with the number 11 tattooed on her forearm sets off a chain of events that pays homage to the classic, coming-of-age thrillers that were popular during the decade.
Originally, I wanted nothing to do with the show; the image of a girl with a shaved head wearing a hospital gown didn’t exactly tickle my fancy when scrolling through the options on Netflix, but lo and behold, as I got on Facebook and Twitter, endless posts praising “Stranger Things” popped up in my news feed; however, I wasn’t convinced just yet.
First of all, what kind of name is “Stranger Things”? That’s just lazy writing. Last semester, I took Intro to Creative Non-Fiction, and I wrote a story about going on vacation with my dad. I titled it “Vacation With Dad,” and my professor called me out on it. So yes, I do I feel the need the call the show out on its vaguely vague title. Then again, who am I to stress over free content on Netflix, right? Actually, on second thought, Netflix isn’t free. Point withdrawn.
After about the 9,000th Facebook post praising the show, I decided to try it out. Now that I have finished watching the first episode, I must agree – there are strange things happening in “Stranger Things.” From beginning to end, there’s enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. Okay, let’s be honest. There’s enough suspense to keep you locked on your laptop screen as you lay in bed and forget for a split second that you’re holding a forkful of food next to your mouth until it’s too late, and it drops on your keyboard and you have to pause the show, which only stresses you out even further because [retracted] was just about to [retracted] the [retracted] in the show, but now you need to clean off the grease/crumbs from your keyboard before you continue.
The point is this: plenty of shows are suspenseful. Plenty of shows are mysterious, and plenty of shows have likeable characters. “Stranger Things” is an example of a show that combines all of these. The cast of young actors only makes it more enjoyable due to the nostalgia of watching these kids fight, laugh, and most importantly, grow together as they search for their missing pal. There are no cell phones, no direct messages, and no Pokémon Go. What you have instead is imagination, determination, and good ol’ fashion friendship.
The show isn’t all about kids, though. There’s a police chief who hides his own demons, and a single mother desperate to keep her family together. All in all, “Stranger Things” not only gets you interested, but also attached. If you grew up in the ‘80s, or you’re like me and missed the decade by a smidge (by "a smidge" I mean six years, and even so, if you’re born in 1989, can you really say you’re an ‘80s kid?), this is the perfect show to binge watch before summer ends.
