"Stranger Things," Season 1 on Netflix

Review by Eric Renderking Fisk | August 2016

Plagiarized from IMDb or Google...

This thrilling Netflix-original drama stars award-winning actress Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, who lives in a small Indiana town in 1983 -- inspired by a time when tales of science fiction captivated audiences. When Joyce's 12-year-old son, Will, goes missing, she launches a terrifying investigation into his disappearance with local authorities. As they search for answers, they unravel a series of extraordinary mysteries involving secret government experiments, unnerving supernatural forces, and a very unusual little girl.

Throughout this first season, (and we obviously hope they are more seasons to come) we see through the perspective of many people in Will’s town deal with this disappearance and how it affects everyone. How exactly would the average citizen deal with losing a child, or how would a burned out police officer handle the investigation? What about the boy’s friends?

Things also take a strange turn into X-Files territory when the investigation turns towards a local branch of “The Department Of Energy” and what might be going on beyond the fences surrounding this federal building…

… And when at least one of the test subjects from one of the experiments escapes.

Believe it or not, that’s merely beginning of what can only be the strangest and genuinely disturbing show in recent memory.

My wife and I had this conversation about this show after we binge watched the middle chapters of this season and came to the conclusion that something really got under our skin. There’s something about this show that’s captivating, exciting, depressing, and genuinely creepy about this series. All of that and a bag of chips that we were eating.

I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing; as a series that’s perfect for the summer it’s exactly what it’s supposed to be; it’s entertaining and grabs the viewers attention and doesn’t let go with real characters that you can identify because they either remind you of your own situation back in the day, or remind you of people you knew. Like all great drama, most of the main characters of this series are audience advocates; because we see something of ourselves in them, we are them for a short bit of time and go with them on these trials and tribulations.

“Stranger Things” perfectly depicts the life of adolescents during that period, it’s a grim reminder that life wasn’t “Totally Awesome” for everyone, it wasn’t perfect as life was depicted in some sitcoms like “Growing Pains” or “The Cosby Show.” Life was hard for a lot of us on the fringe, there was a lot of frustration, grit, and worn out crap from the 60’s and 70’s that held on for too long.

On the plus column, “Stranger Things” perfectly depicts our thirst for adventure and excitement fueled by Speilberg and Lucas, and our fears stroked by horror films from the twisted imaginations of John Carpenter and Stephen King. This is a peak into the lives of many of us who would sneak out into the middle of the night and go in all the places our parents forbid us from going.

Because it’s too perfect in that regard that’s why I really enjoyed it and my wife was freaked out by it. It is so accurate in it is the depiction of reality that it makes the brief moments of supernatural horror that much more terrifying. … The sick thing, I actually love this type of terror and suspense.

Another way “Stranger Things” nails it is because it perfectly depicts the Adrenaline Junky’s thrill-seeking drive.

There's this strange phenomenon that occurs at the end of summer and early autumn when thoughts turn towards the supernatural and unexplained phenomenon. I seek out things that scare the Deuce Bigalow out of me. A fine example, I love standing on the deck while there is a nasty thunderstorm rolling through and there is lightning going off all around me. I like to stand too close to the edge of the subway platform, too close to the ledge of a cliff or a balcony, and I'll often try the most exotic thing on the menu.

Want to make sure I go somewhere, just put a sign that says "DANGER! KEEP OUT! NO TRESPASSING!"

There’s a reason why we’re supposed to be afraid of some things. We’re not always supposed to say “what’s the worst that can happen?” and we’re not always able to brag and laugh about our misadventures later. There’s a reason why we’re not supposed to go to specific places alone, and there’s severe consequences when reality betrays your bravery.

I could spend paragraphs explaining why you shouldn’t always ignore warnings but that will just make it more enticing to chase your adrenaline rush.

It’s exactly that kind of mindset and behavior that gets our main characters of this series into trouble. Some kid is at the wrong place at the wrong time and something horrible – yet character building – happens.

The greatest aspect of this show is what I’m not telling you, there are a lot of surprises in this show and I want you to experience them yourself. I’m so afraid of saying anything more because something I say about what happens in one episode might ruin something that happens in a later episode.

All I can say is that if you could imagine Raymond Chandler, Stephen King, Steven Speilberg, collaborating together for a story line in Chris Carter’s X-Files, this is exactly what you would expect. And more; “Stranger Things” reminds me of the first time I saw some of the classics from the Eighties, especially from Steven Spielberg's classic “Poltergeist.”

“Stranger Things” is classic horror that perfectly illustrates Alfred Hitchcock’s movie making philosophy; sometimes less is more so you make the audiences imaginations do some of the work. Eight Chapters is just enough, but we can’t wait for more that should come by next summer.