This show captivated the minds of Netflix users everywhere, it was difficult to navigate through social media without seeing some post related to either the story line or the actors. So, is it worth the hype?
Stranger Things is a Netflix original science fiction horror TV series. It currently has two seasons available through Netflix and a third on the way. Inspired by a time when science fiction fascinated audiences, this show takes place in a small Indiana town in 1983.
So, what is it about this show that garnered so much attention?
It definitely was not the plot. While creative in concept, the first season has no real direction and to be quite frank, I couldn’t really tell you what the show was supposed to be about when I first watched it. There were so many story lines that the creators attempted to pursue that it all got lost and the character development was severely lacking. It isn’t that the show was hard to follow, it was that the concept of the show was so ambitious, and the directors were not able to fully explore it within a mere season. The second season seemed to have a more defined purpose and it really gave viewers the chance to better understand the characters being portrayed.
What (in my own, very humble opinion) captured the attention of so many viewers was the cast. Actors Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo. Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and Sadie Sink are young and captivating actors. For myself, I found that Finn Wolfhard’s portrayal of Mike Wheeler reminded me of my younger brother. It is refreshing to see actors portraying characters the same age as them as well as displaying interest in things associated with that age group. These actors (as well as the other stellar casting choices) captivated audiences on and off the screen.
Along with this, the 80’s themed show felt very nostalgic and did a good job overall staying true to the era that it was trying to allude to.
This was by far not the best show that I have seen this year and to be completely honest, I avoided watching it for a good period of time because of all of the attention that it was getting. While trying as little as possible to spoil what happens in this show, I will share this, it was genuinely funny. The memes and jokes associated with the show that were posted and still continue to be posted on social media are spot on and they are some of the best entertainment-oriented material that I have seen online. This wouldn’t be my top recommendation as a show to watch, but if you’ve got the time, I recommend giving it a chance. The second season had more direction than the first and I cannot wait to see where they go with the third.
I love this show! I watched both seasons so quickly, and now that the third one is coming out, I think I’ll have to go back and rewatch them so I know what’s going on. I didn’t really pay attention to the loss of smaller story lines because I was so caught up in the suspense. But, I definitely see where you’re coming from. I definitely agree too that the second season had more of a direction.
Great passion blog! I started watching Stranger Things about a year ago, but never ended up getting past the second episode unfortunately. Perhaps it was the shows lack of a plot which you mentioned and thoroughly explained in your blog. This blog did a great job with explaining not only the positives of this breakthrough show, but the negatives as well. I agree with your point that the actors in the show played a large factor in the show’s success. I always seemed to be interested in the actor’s lives from hearing about them constantly on social media.