Everybody seems to be talking about Stranger Things. My son has been declaring for a while that it was good and that my wife and I should watch it. Kate Bush’s old song has rocketed up the charts on the strength of its inclusion in an episode. So we decided to give it a try, starting, of course, with Series 1. Within a few days we got to the last episode – and, yes, it is really good!
(Our link from Netflix to the telly decided to fall over, for no obvious reason, when we were about to watch episode 6. Fortunately we could huddle around the PC and watch it there, in the study, on a smaller screen – with the dark scenes looking very much darker. Such dedication! The following day, turning everything off and back on again seemed to do the trick and we could enjoy the last two episodes in our comfy chairs in the lounge again.)
Setting it in the 1980s makes a lot of sense – no ubiquitous mobile phones helping anxious parents to keep track on their youngsters wherever they roam means that there is more scope for building tension. And kids can’t get instant answers on their smart phones to try and solve a problem; they have to seek out someone to ask, decide who they can trust to help them.
The characters are strong and believable too. I particularly like Dustin, who reminds me a lot of Ben out of Outnumbered.
Looking forward to viewing the next three series.