Lately, Netflix has been putting out some really amazing television series from their anime series like Ajin and Knights of Siddonia to their television series like Hemlock Grove, but none can compare to the major hit Stranger Things.  Check out the original trailer put out by Netflix below:

Stranger Things takes place in 1983 and it follows the story of the strange goings on in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana.  A boy, Will Byers (played by Noah Schnapp), disappears under mysterious (and terrifying) circumstances and his three best friends, the Chief of Police, and his frantic mother go to far lengths to find him.  The Chief of Police, Jim Hopper, starts to see that there is something very wrong happening in his town, and he is determined to get to the bottom of it.  Add in a strange girl (who goes by the name Eleven or Elle for short) who has psychic powers and a nefarious research facility tucked away in the woods, and you have an idea of what Stranger Things is about.  I won’t go into any more details as this is a show you should check out yourself.

All I have to say is that this show caught me off guard in a very good and surprising way.  I wasn’t sure what to think of it when I saw it on Netflix, but I was glad I gave it a watch.  I love the cast in it from the heavy hitters like Winona Ryder (who plays Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Chief Jim Hopper), Matthew Modine (mad scientist Dr. Martin Brenner) to the new break out stars as seen in Eleven and the three little boys (Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas)).  The acting in this is really stellar.  I was really impressed with the young actors in it especially the young actress who played Eleven, Millie Bobby Brown.

The story and the set up of the show are so well done and original to what is out there right now.  I love the vintage feel of it.  The vibe of the show, from the cinematography to the opening credits, is a nostalgic throwback to the eighties and reminds me of some of Steven Spielberg’s greatest hits like ET and The Goonies.  The Duffer Brothers did an excellent job in immersing us not only in this era of the eighties, but in a world where very strange things are happening.  And according to IMDB, I am not the only one who thinks so as the show has a rating of 9.1 out of 10.  People are clearly loving this show.

It is only eight episodes long, and an easy binge watching show.  If you have not seen it yet, check it out.  It’s scary, creepy, dramatic and at times funny especially when it comes to the kids and their friendship dynamic.

If you have not seen the show, stop reading at this point.  Spoilers ahead!

Again, stop right here if you have not seen the show as I will be going into more detail about the first season and my predictions for the second.  If you have seen it, read on!

What really pulled me into the story, other than the nostalgic eighties vibe to it, were the mysteries that were cleverly revealed throughout the season.  I loved the idea of this parallel dark “upside down” world that is so close to our own, and yet so different.  I thought the design of the upside down world was awesome and suitably creepy.

I also really loved the very real human drama in this.  We see Joyce Byers’s world start to crumble in an epic performance by Winona Ryder as she tries to deal with the disappearance of her son.  We really feel her desperation as she clings onto any scrap of hope there is that her son is alive, even if that scrap marks her as crazy.

I also loved the dark past of the Chief when we see the very sad story of what happened to his daughter, and how he has dealt with her death.  It was tragic and it really makes you understand why he does the things he does.

I also thought Matthew Modine’s character (Dr. Martin Brenner), though understated, was incredibly dark and twisted as we see in the few scenes of Eleven’s past.  I love the mystery that is surrounding the experimental facility hidden in the woods and what Dr. Martin Brenner’s true goal is.  I hope more of this will be explored in season 2 (though it did look like the mad doctor was done in by the demogorgon) .

Season 2?

Though the release date for season 2 hasn’t been confirmed, the Duffer Brothers have been hinting at what is to come in Season 2.  And the fans will definitely be keeping a close eye out for  it.  So what are my predictions?

Well I definitely don’t think the monster is gone.  The one we met in Season 1 is dead, but when Chief Hopper and Joyce were in the other world, he found what looked like a cracked open egg.  Does that mean there are more monsters to come?

The monster, named the demogorgon by the boys, was acting strange.  It kept stealing people, but it kept some of them alive like Will and killed others.  Why was Will spared?  This leads me to my next prediction: something is very wrong with Will.  When Will was rescued, Chief Hopper had to pull what look like a huge, long snake like creature out of his throat.  Remind anyone like the 1979 classic Alien by Ridley Scott?  It definitely did to me.

We see, in the last episode, that Will is definitely not all right when he spits up a slug that was connected to the monster and the other world.  He also flashes  into the dark parallel world and then comes back.

What does this mean for Will?  Well it could mean a few things.  First, Will could be turning into the Demogorgon himself or carrying it’s larvae inside of him.  It could also mean that, even if he may not turn completely into the monster, he is like the monster in that he can travel easily between the two worlds.  The monster always seemed to be able to escape to the other world pretty easily without any doorways.  Does this now mean that Will will have the same ability to travel between the worlds and what does that signify for him?

And then there is Eleven.  We see her disappear with the monster after she kills it, but where did she go?  Best bet, she went back into that parallel “upside down” world.  Isn’t it toxic for her?  Maybe she is like Will and can adapt to it.  We see, at the end of the last episode, Chief Hopper leave food in a box in the woods including Eleven’s favorite food Eggos.  It suggests that she is alive and he knows it, and that she can come into the normal world.  Question is: where is she and why hasn’t she come back to the boys if she can travel between the worlds?

And what about Chief Hopper’s betrayal?  Let’s not forget that he told the “bad guys” where to find Eleven in exchange that they allow Joyce and him to travel through their doorway to rescue Will.  It was also suggested that they would never talk about the incident again.  He put Eleven and the other children in danger by telling Dr. Brenner’s henchmen where to find them which led to the showdown first between Eleven and Dr. Brenner’s goons and then between Eleven and the monster.  It will be very interesting to see what will happen if this ever gets out.

There is also the little matter that Jim Hopper has an arrangement with the government, and he gets into what looks like a government issued car.  What exactly is that arrangement?  Is it the same as he originally agreed to which is telling them where Eleven is and keeping quiet about what they know?  Or is it much more than that?

Season 2 will definitely be interesting and hopefully answer all these questions and more as well as divulge more about this dark “upside down” world.  The producers of the show say they want to get “darker and weirder” in season two, which will take place a year later in 1984.  They also say that the second season will be influenced by the movies that came out at that time more specifically Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.¹   It is definitely something I am looking forward to watching!

1.) Independent Article