(July 2016)
"And you know it, and he knows it, but no one ever says anything until you both start punching and yelling
at each other like goblins with Intelligence scores of zero.
"Now everything’s weird.”
"Now everything’s weird.”
For
anyone who knows me, it should come as absolutely no surprise that Netflix’s Stranger
Things had me by the second scene of its first episode/Chapter.
The
scene in question: a D&D session
that’s been 10 hours running, threatened by the intrusion of…
dun-dun-dun-duuuun… parental concern that tomorrow is a school day.
Set
in 1983, Stranger Things is the kind
of show that resonates on a very
specific frequency, and should appeal greatly to Geeks of a Certain Age, those
who know exactly what that scene feels like, those who’ve lived that scene, in one variation or another.
“The bad men are comiiing!”
“Mad hen. Does that mean anything to you?
Like a code name or something.”
Stranger Things’ 8-Chapter narrative kicks
off with the disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), last seen headed home
after that marathon gaming session. The search for Will draws in not just his
gaming buddies, but also a bunch of adults, a bunch of teenagers, and a few
other characters besides.
With Stranger Things, the show’s creators--the
Duffer brothers, twins Matt and Ross--have given us a love letter to that very
specific ‘80’s Amblin strain of entertainment that Steven Spielberg
spearheaded. Taking that as their template, they’ve infused it heavily with dollops
of Stephen King, some smidgens of John Carpenter, and then sprinkled on many of
the pop culture markers of that era, from the music (Joy Division! Echo and the
Bunnymen! The Clash!) to the films (The
Evil Dead! The Thing! The Empire Strikes Back!).
It’s
a heady (and sometimes, emotionally-wrenching) rush of geek nostalgia, Stranger Things is. (And, speaking of
geek nostalgia, look! Winona Ryder!!)
Of
course, the thing about nostalgia is, it works on our emotional attachments to
the familiar, to the things we grew up with. As such, there are a whole slew of
visuals and story beats in Stranger
Things that will recall, to varying degrees, those benchmarks of our past.*
But,
given the way the show takes those elements and weaves them into the narrative
whole, we still end up with something new. Reminiscent of something(s) old, oh
yeah, definitely. But still, in the end, something new. (Or, new-ish, at the
very least.)
To a
certain extent, Stranger Things does
the same thing The Force Awakens
does, work from the template of something old and established, and dress it up
with some new elements.
In
point of fact, there’s something more pure and honest about the way Stranger Things uses that particular
approach.
Let’s
be honest: no matter how good it is, The
Force Awakens, is after all, still constructed to be a franchise
re-starter, while Stranger Things
appears to be simply, a new story that proudly wears its influences on its
sleeve. (Of course, should Stranger
Things suddenly explode into a multimedia juggernaut, then we can reexamine
that assessment.)**
“You always say we should never stop
being curious, to always open any curiosity door we find.”
“Dustin…”
“Why are you keeping this curiosity door
locked?”
Now,
while the contingent of young actors on the show are across the board
excellent, Millie Bobby Brown (who was also one of the noteworthy elements of
BBC’s Intruders) and Broadway vet Gaten
Matarazzo (Gavroche on Les Misérables)
must be commended for their performances; Matarazzo’s Dustin Henderson is
officially the latest entry on my personal Awesomest TV Characters Ever! list.
Oh,
and Amy Seimetz’s got a single ep guest spot here, too! (Just thought I’d throw
that out there.)
So,
if you happen to be a Geek of a Certain Age, you’d be doing yourself a mighty
disservice if you didn’t check out Stranger
Things.
And
you know what? Even if you aren’t, check the show out anyway.
Look!
Even Stephen King likes it!
My only question about the Netflix series
STRANGER THINGS is whether or not it will be popular enough to crash their
servers. It might be.
--Tweet
from Stephen King
* For
the record, there are also some visuals that recall more recent titles, like Silent Hill and Under the Skin. (You’ll know them when you see them.)
**
Having said that, I will still freely go on the record to say, given the way
they opted to close the 8th Chapter, please please please let there be a second season…
(Stranger Things OS’ courtesy of
impawards.com.)
