https://youtu.be/XWxyRG_tckY
By Jessica Wheeler, AliveTampaBay Columnist
Should You Stream…examines the options available on popular streaming services to help you decide what new shows to check out. In this installment, we take a look at the Netflix original Stranger Things.
What’s it about?
It’s November, 1983, and Will Byers is a nerdy middle school student who disappears on his way home from a D&D session with his three best friends. His mother, his outcast older brother, the small-town police chief, his buddies and a mysterious young girl named Eleven all join in to search for him—but is there more to this disappearance than meets the eye? When other townspeople also go missing, our group of searchers realize they’ve stumbled onto something much bigger than any of them could have anticipated. This series has it all—monsters, government conspiracies, great tunes by the likes of Joy Division and New Order, and even the much-longed-for comeback of Winona Ryder.
A loving homage to E.T., Poltergeist, Close Encounters, and other classics of the era, Stranger Things doesn’t cover much new ground, but makes for some riveting television nonetheless. You’ll probably want to watch the whole thing all at once.
Who’s in it?
Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine are the big names here, but the newcomers hold their own, especially the child actors. Millie Bobby Brown is a particular standout as Eleven, in a performance Vulture calls “a real revelation.”
What are some other shows like it?
Twin Peaks, The X Files, all the classic Stephen King miniseries.
Where can I stream it?
Netflix has all eight episodes of season one streaming now.
While you’re at it, check out an earlier installment of Should You Stream, where we discuss Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.