NEW YORK, NY— If you have been alive at any point, 2016-now, you will have heard of Stranger Things. If you haven’t heard of it, where have you been for the last 5 years?! Stranger Things is my favorite show ever and the 9th most watched show on Netflix ever. The show is about a boy named Will Byers, who is abducted and possessed by a monster in another dimension. The show takes you to a whole world of mystery, horror, and romance. I would give the show a 100 star rating, but what does the rest of the world think of Stranger Things?
First of all, this is the story of the show. The Duffer Brothers, who grew up loving movies, came up with Stranger Things in 2015. They showed the idea to 15-20 networks and were turned down by all of them. Then, Shawn Levy read the pilot script and said it was one of the best pilots he’d ever read. The show first aired on July 15, 2016 and gained over 40 million views in the first 4 days. Why is it so popular? The show takes place in the 80s and is nostalgic to fans who grew up in the 80s. A lot of the props are really from that time. For example, Coke came out with “New Coke” in 1985. So the Coke cans in the show are the redesigned bottles. Also, there is only one character who really likes “New Coke” and the other characters look at him like he is crazy. Also, there is Starcourt Mall, where the stores are changed to look how they looked in the 80s. Finally, the show incorporates many genres including sci-fi, horror, mystery, and romance.
The show has 97% rotten tomatoes and a 4.9 star rating out of 32,000 reviews. But why is it not 100% and 5 stars? The first argument is that the plot is repetitive across the seasons. That is entirely wrong. The plot is the same in the sense that it’s the monster versus the kids, but the monster evolves and becomes more intelligent in almost every episode. New mysteries are being solved each season, and the world gets more and more complex and cool. An example of that is in season 3, when the Russians start undoing all the work that the kids have done.
Some dislike Stranger Things because it is scary. Stranger Things is scary. Has someone every jump-scared you, and you jump, but it’s not going to give you nightmares? That is how I would describe the horror in the show. It’s important for a show to be scary, but not too scary. You are scared on the edge of your seat while watching, and you sigh with relief when it’s over. But the scariness isn’t a reason to give a 1 star review. When you click on a show on Netflix, a preview plays and you see the genre. You can’t blame the show if you miss that. You also can’t blame the show if you think it is too scary or inappropriate for you. The show is how it is, and you can’t say the show is bad just because you are not the right age. If you are 10 when you try to watch it, and then you try it again when you are 13, you could like it way more.
A lot of the reviewers did not watch all of the seasons, so they couldn’t give a full review, and basically judged it by its cover. Based on this, a 4.9 or anything higher than 4.5 would be a solid, honest and realistic review.
I would give the show a five-star review for many reasons. The first reason is the perfect balance of genres, how it would always leave me screaming, “I NEED to watch another episode!” I would never get bored while watching it. Some shows have really, really climactic scenes, and the rest of the scenes are boring and repetitive. With Stranger Things, that is never the case; each scene is equally important. There is also so much character development. For example, Steve is the popular mean kid who is on all of the sports teams and dates the prettiest girl. In season 2, his girlfriend finds someone else and she becomes a better person. Steve is left to his own devices, helps out some of the middle school kids, and becomes like a parent to them. And then in season 3, he is a dork who no one wants to date. The characters are relatable, and they don’t stay the same throughout the show. If they stayed the same, the plot would never change and the show would be boring.
Stranger Things is beloved by many, including myself, and will go down as one of the best shows in history. To all those who don’t like it, I respect your opinion, though I hope you come around on the show one day!