Stranger Things season 1

"Nobody normal ever accomplished anything meaningful in this world." - Jonathan Byers

release year: 2016
genre: TV drama/sci-fi (8 episodes)
viewing setting: home streaming 12/18-19/22 and home DVD 6/15-17/20

synopsis: There are strange goings-on in the small town of Hawkins in 1983.

impressions: I'd heard good things about this, and finally took the plunge when I found the first season on Bluray for $5. This season was 8 episodes long and for me, it had two fun draws: it was set in the early 1980s, and it had sci-fi/horror elements. The premise is that this nearby laboratory opens a portal to another dimension, allowing a monster within to venture into the real world and take people. One such victim becomes the object of multiple searches, which eventually lead to evidence of cover-ups - and worse. Everything's circa 1983 - the houses, the cars, the hobbies of kids, the Dungeons and Dragons, the Atari, the lack of cell phones and internet. Very refreshing, and brings back memories of life as a kid in that time.

acting: David Harbour is the police chief, who seems to deal with his past issues by helping people now. Winona Ryder is the mother of the midding kid, and starts off as a total basket case but gradually moves out of it. Finn Wolfhard is the leader of the kids, Gaten Matarazzo is the observational one, and Caleb McLaughlin is the fiesty one; together, these three make quite a team as they try to figure out what happened to their friend. Millie Bobby Brown is the escaped girl with weird powers. Natalia Dyer is an older sibling who helps despite her own problems, ditto for Charlie Heaton. Matthew Modine (with gray hair...my God, it's been so long since Vision Quest) is the evil guy in charge of all the experiments.

final word: Quirky, nostalgic, and fun.

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