Speak Now Storyteller

Summary: When a young boy disappears, his mother, a police chief, and his friends must confront terrifying forces in order to get him back.

This is such an overdue review as the show came out in 2016 and while it took me a while to get to it, I watched it at like the end of 2016, but I did know that Season 2 was already announced by Netflix due to its popularity. With season 5 right around the corner, I’ve decided to rewatch the show since I haven’t done that since I rewatched with my bestie in preparation for season 4. It was her first time watching the show. But a lot of feelings haven’t changed much in how I view the show; it’s storytelling and the characters. In fact, I’ve been irritated with how people interpret the characters and the show in general in a lot of ways. But anyway, let’s jump right into this review. I already reviewed season 4 when it premiered. Season 4 Review.

Spoilers. Obviously.

Pros:

Cast and Characters. This will be broken up in “kids”, “teens”, “adults” similar to how they do it in the show’s credits. I’m only going to touch on the characters who I feel like were active and important. Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler and Noah Schnapp as Will Byers did their jobs this season.

The Kids.

The kids steal the show. I generally enjoy everyone in the show, but the kids really make the impression, and I would enjoy watching them the entire time.

• Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler. Mike is my favorite character. I like his steadfast and loyal personality and how he’s always so quick on the draw when it comes to figuring things out. I always like characters like him because he’ll do anything for his friends, like when he was willing to jump into that ravine to keep the bullies from hurting Dustin or when he stood up for Will against the bullies after the assembly knowing they could potentially beat him up, standing up for El against Lucas’s suspicion and being upset at El for Lucas when she interfered in their argument. And how he was adamant about having more than one best friend when Dustin brought him Lucas being his best friend. I’ll touch more on character dynamics later. He’s the most open minded of the 3 boys we spent our time with in S1. He’s willing to believe there’s supernatural things going on because it just makes sense to him. He’s smart and caring. He took El in immediately and wanted to help her, romantic feelings aside. He was determined to find Will even going against police advice and his parents’ requests. Even after a little falling out at the junkyard, he still told El that she wasn’t a monster. Mike feels like he’s the “leader” of their group. We learn in a later season he’s the Paladin of the party, but I think you see that clearly even in Season 1. He’s a kid but there’s maturity there. Watching him clearly be irritated while Lucas and Dustin argue when they were questioned about Will early on. I remember upon my first watch, liking Finn Wolfhard in the role. I still like him in the role. I like his different look. I like how reactive he is when he’s not the one talking or the focus in the scene. He’s also funny, when he screams at his mom “I’M CoMiNg!” is always so funny to me. I like Finn and I love Mike.
• Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven (“El”). She is badass. End of story. lol She is a young girl with psychokinetic abilities and a limited vocabulary. She escapes Hawkins Lab, where experiments were performed on her to test the limit of her abilities but also for finding people. She’s discovered by Mike, Dustin and Lucas in the woods after finding quick solace with Benny (justice for Benny!). She learns little things while with the boys, particularly with Mike as he’s eager to show her some of his interests. She learns “friends don’t lie”, an iconic line, is introduced to Eggos and “mouth breather”. She learns what a promise is. Gets to wear an actual dress, ride a bike, wear a little makeup, be told she’s pretty. A lot of preteen experiences in a short amount of time. She gets to be a little happy even though she’s running for her life. But also, just because she’s quiet doesn’t mean she’s docile. Obviously. She uses her powers to flip vans, break bully’s arms, slam doors, throw kids who shouts at the boy she favors. She doesn’t take anything laying down. If she can fight back, she does. She may not know what every word means but she says “no” when she means it. I can’t stand how people act like she has no agency. Watch the show again. MBB is amazing as El, especially in this first season when she doesn’t have as much to say but it’s mostly facial and body language. When she clearly starts to develop a little crush on Mike, she stares at him, she leans in, she interacts with him that shows more than how she was interacting with Lucas and Dustin. She can also scream like nobody’s business. I remembered being very impressed with her. I haven’t seen a ton of what she’s done outside of Stranger Things yet but I unless she retires from acting to focus on a family for a while, I hope to see her in more quality work as I think she’s very talented.
• Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson. Dustin is part of the party and literally in the first scene, you get a sense of his personality. He curses but he also tells Will to cast protection. He plays it a little safer. He’s extremely intelligent, often being the one who understands scientific situations really well. He was the one to call Mr. Clarke about creating a deprivation bath. Very observant in how his friends are interacting with each other. He’s the middle ground between Mike and Lucas this season. He’s also the funny one, very quick-witted in that he often snaps back with a retort. I appreciate how they incorporated Gaten’s real-life condition of cleidocranial dysplasia, and I appreciate that Dustin isn’t limited because of it and if he feels like he is, his friends encourage him, like when Mike said he’s like a superhero. He has a little crush on Nancy but that’s not a huge factor, just an addition. He’s the loudest of the group but arguably the sweetest. He’s very understanding. I really like Dustin in season 1. Gaten is fantastic in the role. His delivery is great, his comedic timing is natural and he’s just naturally charismatic.
• Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair. Lucas is part of the party and in the first season, he’s the most cynical and realistic one of the group. He is hard focused on finding Will that he overall has no interest in entertaining things with Eleven. He’s wary of her (understandable) and often short. I know people disliked Lucas (outside of racism) in the first season due to his immovable personality which I understand, I was often irritated with him as well but that’s mainly because the audience knew what was going on (to an extent) and he didn’t. As a 12-year-old with limited information, he was doing the best he could. Lucas is clearly very loyal to his friends and didn’t want to waste his time with some weirdo who they don’t know and can’t trust when they could be finding their other party member. He feels betrayed when Mike seems to take El’s side over his and feels like he’s the only one who actually cares about finding Will. He takes it upon himself to go looking for the gate and he finds out a lot of truth which brings him into the fray of believing in El. I like Caleb and I think he plays Lucas’ no-nonsense really well and while he’s being bullied as well, there’s a natural cool factor to him which comes into play in later seasons.

The Teens

• Natalie Dyer as Nancy Wheeler. Nancy Wheeler is the oldest daughter of Karen and Ted Wheeler and the older sister of Mike and Holly. It’s implied that she might have been a bit of an outcast, but not like a weirdo, just not popular since she was smart and reserved and focuses a lot on her studies. Until Steve Harrington starts taking an interest in her. At the start, she seems to hold firm to not letting her relationship with Steve change who she is and how she moves through the world. Her best friend Barb is concerned about this, but Nancy is sure it won’t happen. Until she goes to a party at Steve’s house and his loser friends and Nancy ends up acting like she’s trying to fit in, which alienates Barb. After Barb goes missing, she gets locked in trying to find out what happened while feeling responsible. She ends up partnering up with Jonathan and she starts to discover a new side of herself, the more badass side as she’s great with a gun. She’s willing to fight and traverse weird places for the sake of finding her friend. She pulls away from Steve, connects with Jonathan and finds out the truth about Barb. I think the emotions Nancy goes through are handled well. I think it makes sense that she’d start to feel a little confused about her feelings for Jonathan and Steve considering what’s going on. Plus, she’s like 15, so it makes sense. Natalia Dyer is very good as Nancy. She really plays that reserved, quiet but snappy version of Nancy at the beginning, portraying her fear and then her confidence as the season goes on.
• Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers. Jonathan is Will’s older brother. He’s shy, reserved and definitely an outsider at school. He’s an aspiring photographer and is very close with his family. Especially with Will as they’re very similar and Jonathan tries to introduce him to things that could help his interests. When Will goes missing, he blames himself for not being vigilant however, he spends the first half of the season trying to keep his mom from losing it even though he’s emotional too. He’s bullied by Steve and his friends for taking photos of Nancy at the party, which causes Nancy to be set on her path. He apologizes though and they end up working together to figure out what the creature is in the background of his pictures. Jonathan has bundled up anger and beats up Steve after he talks some shit. They make it seem like he just defending Nancy’s honor, which yeah but Steve also made a disrespectful crack about Will, I would have beat him up too. But Jonathan basically plays a huge supporting role to both Nancy and his mom who take more active roles in what they’re doing, which is fine. He serves his purpose. Charlie Heaton is good as Jonathan in this first season. He plays weird well and earnestness. I like the moments he has with Joyce and Will.

The Adults – there’s not a lot to say about them I think because they’re great.

• Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers. Joyce is Will and Jonathan’s mom. She’s frazzled, a little over-protective, but very caring and strong willed. She’s also super quick on the draw. The fact that she picks things up the way she does is insane. Joyce doesn’t believe that Will ran way, she refuses to believe that he’s gone by choice. She knows her sons and I think that’s very clear even if she comes off frazzled. She figured out that Will was somewhere else, she figured out how to communicate with the lights. It’s really impressive and inspiring. Winona Ryder is an 80s icon, so it makes sense that she’d be in the show. I think she’s great as Joyce.
• David Harbour as James “Jim” Hopper, nicknamed “Hop,”. Hopper is Hawkins’s chief of police. He’s a huge mess. He drinks for breakfast, has a cigarette while getting ready for work in the morning. He’s always late to work and it takes him 2 business days to get focused on his job. He’s very apathetic and rude. He’s working to find Will but as he starts to find out more about Hawkins’s lab, he starts to get a bit more interested and involved, showcasing that he’s actually good at his job. This was my introduction to David Harbour and he’s great as Jim. He’s mean, big and protective and scary when need be.

Amazing Friendships. One of the strongest aspects of the show is the friendships that are developed whether they exist before the show or not. Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Will are best friends, and it shows. It seems like they’ve known each other for so long that to see Mike and Lucas fight in this season was hard because you know they need to get their acts together. It also attributes to the chemistry these young boys have because they work so well together, not to mention how seamlessly Eleven was incorporated into the group. I know Lucas wasn’t on her side for a while, but he trusted his friends who trusted her and while he was still the voice of reason in terms of “this doesn’t seem right” he was loyal. For a time, we just see the dynamic between Mike, El and Dustin and their hug after she saves him from the ravine was very sweet. Mike and El’s friendship is handled well even as it clearly teeters on first love. Plus, the friendship that develops between Nancy and Jonathan and how they grow to trust each other, even if it also teeters on blossoming romance. I think the show really handles the friendships very well. Truly a highlight. It also helps that the actors have amazing chemistry.

Family Dynamic. This is mostly in the Byers family and the relationship with Mike and Nancy. The Byers family is just Joyce, Jonathan and Will and it’s clear that she loves her boys, and she tries to do whatever she can to make sure they have a good life even if she can’t give them everything. They have their system, and it works for them. Throughout the first season, we see just how close the Byers family is because both Joyce and Jonathan understand Will’s quirks and his quietness and they never make him feel like he’s weird because of it, which I think is great. No kid should feel like their interests make them “weird” or “different” when it’s just what they’re interested in. The shared love of music between Jonathan and Will as well, it really helped show their closeness. I also loved how Joyce never gave up on her son, true dedication there. Mike and Nancy Wheeler are the main Wheelers we spend time with, and I like the big sister-little brother dynamic because it felt natural with them arguing, teasing and even Mike almost telling her secrets at the dinner table. I also liked at the end of the first season how they came to an agreement to trust each other, especially after he saw his sister being a badass which of course is always great to see your sibling, who is your annoying sibling do something awesome. We did get to spend time at the Wheeler house and the dynamic there is interesting with Ted being hilarious and just there and Karen trying to hold it down.

Great Writing. The writing in this show is so good. Season one is full of so much suspense, and they manage to do a great job with explaining how all of this works. I’ve always considered Back to the Future to be a great movie that explains time travel and I think Stranger Things does a great job in explaining other dimensions and all of that sciencey stuff. I never feel lost, but you definitely have to pay attention while watching it though. I appreciate that we follow characters with different levels of interest in these kinds of things. You have the kids who are in AV Club, play DnD and are into other nerdy things that while it’s farfetched in the real world, they roll with the punches and use their game as an analogy to help them understand. Then with Nancy and Jonathan, they don’t really know what’s going on, but they figure it out along the way just because they go looking. Lastly, with Hopper and Joyce, Hopper doing a lot of heavy lifting with getting into the lab and Joyce doing her thing with the lights. I think all of that is super impressive and tightly handled. In addition, the “normal” life stuff too was handled well. I was indifferent to Steve throughout and then disliked him for allowing his friends to slut-shame Nancy and then insulting Will’s disappearance to get a rise out of Jonathan, just for him to do a 180 and try to be helpful. I appreciated that even though it didn’t endear him to me lol. But I appreciated the effort.

Tension Filled. I remember when I decided to give the show a try. I’m not a huge horror fan, but I will dabble depending. I don’t think the show is “scary”, but it has scary elements, and I can understand why someone would be scared. The first season really leans into the sci-fi horror aspect while keeping it grounded. Something I appreciate. When Barb is at the pool alone, you know whatever attacked Will is out there and you’re worried for her. You’re worried for Will when he made it home and found the gun, prepared to shoot just for him to disappear. Or when Mike jumps off the cliff. There are so many great moments that tighten your chest and make you hold your breath, but it doesn’t feel cheap. Even ending on those cliffhangers were quality.

Cinematic/Effects. This show has such a movie quality about it. It’s set in the 80’s and it looks and feels like it. Stranger Things was the start of a time where studios really tried to bank on nostalgia, or ST was the peak of it, especially the obsession with the 80s. The way things are shot to keep the Demogorgon’s presence there without actually being seen until the reveal was great. As the show also has horror elements, I think they do a great job with those effects. All of Eleven’s powers look great. When she faces off with the Demogorgon at the end was well animated, shot and acted. Every time we saw the Upside Down; it’s not like something I’ve seen before. The void that Eleven goes into to find people was also a very interesting choice. I liked it.

Cons: I really have no notes for season 1.

Except for the fact that I didn’t like that Jonathan took pictures of Nancy. I don’t know what I would have done if I was in Nancy’s place, but I feel like there were opportunities for him to take a picture of Barb at the pool, without getting Nancy on camera undressing. I have mixed feelings because I don’t like bullies, and I hate Tommy and Carol. But I think Steve being upset at Jonathan for taking pictures of them is justified. I think him being upset at seeing Nancy with Jonathan in her house that night is fine, even if he didn’t know what was going on, but it’s not okay that he let Tommy and Carol do what they did. I just think there was a better way to handle this.

Overall, Stranger Things season 1 is a perfect season and it really could have existed on it’s own. I’m not sure if that was always the plan or if the Duffers made sure to end it well enough in case they didn’t get more seasons. But regardless, if it ended, it would always go down in history as one of the greatest shows ever made. I still think it would be on that list but not as high as it was with S1. The characters are all great, wonderfully written, with amazing character depth and arcs and fantastic actors to go along with them. I don’t feel like anyone was miscast and everyone has such amazing chemistry. I could really sing S1’s praises but for the sake of not having a super long review, especially since it’s been years since I could have done this review. The writing is tight, snappy and well thought out for this season. The tension is amazing and the horror elements work for non horror fans and horror fans alike, I think as a non-horror fan regularly. Season 1 of Stranger Things is perfect. No actual notes.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

As I continue my marathon of Stranger Things in preparation for Season 5, I will do reviews for Season 2 and Season 3. Considering the show doesn’t take long to binge, they might come out pretty rapidly.

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