"Stranger Things" is an adventure, sci-fi, and thriller series carefully created by the Duffy brothers, starring Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, David Hope and other powerful actors. The drama premiered on Netflix in 2016 and received enthusiastic responses from audiences at home and abroad for its wonderful plot and excellent production quality. The positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes is as high as 94%, and the average score is also 82 points, while Metacritic, which has a more serious taste, gave 75 points, and IMDB, which is biased towards drama fans, also scored 9A high score of 1. Now that it has been updated to its fourth season, the average score on Douban is as high as 9 points per season, which is undoubtedly a wonderful drama not to be missed.
The Duffy brothers mentioned in an interview that the original intention of making this show was to pay tribute to the classic science fiction movies of the 80s, and also hoped to bring the audience a long-lost retro movie-watching experience. In the 80s of the last century, a large number of B-grade film classics emerged in Hollywood, and the main characteristics of these films are strong cult style, bold story setting, absurd plot, and integration of science fiction, thriller, astringency, violence and other commercial film elements, so they are deeply loved by teenagers. "Stranger Things" is based on the integration of various elements, the story is set in the 80s, and many details that pay tribute to the classics are added to the play, coupled with the popular song and dance music of the time, so that the audience can watch it both exciting and enjoyable.
In order to give you a better understanding of the synopsis of this show, without spoilers, let me briefly introduce it. The first season takes place in 1983, in an unknown town in the United States, Hawkins. One day, Will, an elementary school student, is kidnapped by a mysterious force on his way home and his whereabouts are unknown. At the same time, an unknown and terrible event occurs at the town's National Energy Laboratory. In search of Will, his friends Dustin, Mike and Lucas embark on a difficult adventure. They don't find Will, but they accidentally meet a little girl with special abilities, Xiao Yi. The show's heroine, Xiao Yi, is played by Millie Bobby Brown, who is as fragile and sensitive as a frightened little sheep, but can burst out with amazing power at critical moments.
Faced with the disappearance of her youngest son, Will, Joyce became extremely mentally broken, often hallucinating. And Jim, the sheriff in the town, is initially unconcerned about everything, but as the investigation deepens, he discovers that the laboratory hides an ulterior secret. Just a few days after Will's disappearance, Mike's sister Nancy and best friend Barbara also disappeared. These mysteries gradually involve everyone. They gradually discover a terrible fact - a door to the upside-down reverse world has appeared in the town, and the demon king dog inside is trying to invade the real world by sucking souls. And all this seems to be closely related to Xiao Yi.
In order to save Will and the others from being trapped, they must try to enter the reverse world and defeat the monsters there. The story is tense and suspenseful, and the whole process revolves around a big suspense. The narrative pacing is clean and unobtrusive. Each season is controlled within 8-9 episodes, and the main line and branch lines are clear and clear. The story setting is consistent with the worldview, constantly throwing out suspense, bringing out characters, advancing investigations, interweaving character clues, and detonating climaxes in the final episode, which can be called a standard full-score script paradigm.
Many high-scoring American dramas may be stunning in the first season, but gradually deviate from the main line as the plot develops. Stranger Things manages to circumvent this problem. Each season is limited to about 8 episodes, keeping the story setting consistent with the worldview. While throwing out suspense and introducing new characters, it also pays attention to the advancement of investigation and the interweaving and concentration of character clues. The last episode is even more climactic, leaving a deep impression on the audience.
The plot of Xiao Yi turning the tide at the end of the second season is impressive. The distinctive personalities of the main characters and the likable setting are one of the outstanding features of this series. Despite the fact that teenagers are the protagonists, with the blessing of the screenwriter's strong strength, their behavior and abilities in the play do not seem abrupt or exaggerated. These teenagers are realistic and consistent with the usual behavior of American children: curious, bold, rebellious, assertive, precocious, and so on. Especially for people who like to stay at home, Dustin from "Stranger Things" is definitely a character to enjoy. In addition, the show's absence of pesky ghosts and pig teammates is also one of its highlights. Although new characters are added every season, they all have their own unique perks and roles. In the last episode, the plot of everyone working together to tide over the difficulties is even more exciting.
The narrative rhythm of "Stranger Things" is clean and neat, and the whole process revolves around a big suspense, with the main line and branch lines staggered and parallel, and there are no superfluous plots, dialogues, and scenes. In a slightly terrifying atmosphere, the suspense is solved one by one, making the audience feel cool and hilarious. At the same time, the show has also successfully avoided the common problems of many American dramas - the shortcomings such as too deep foreshadowing in the early stage, too much in the later stage, too many characters in the later stage, etc., and each season is controlled to about 8 episodes, maintaining the stability of the story setting and world view. The main characters have distinct personalities and likable settings, especially the performance of the teenage protagonists is not abrupt, which is completely in line with the consistent characteristics of American children.
In addition, there are no pig teammates or nasty ghosts in the whole show, although new characters are added in each season, they all have exclusive specialties, and everyone works together to tide over the difficulties in the last episode. This well-planned story design allows the audience to fully immerse themselves in the story and enjoy this perfect combination of retro and innovative viewing experience.
The show's solid performances, wonderful soundtrack, and excellent special effects are also key factors in its success. The performance of the young actors is very good, and the interpretation of joy, anger and sorrow and line skills are very good. The soundtrack features a large number of pop songs from the 80s, allowing the audience to feel the atmosphere of the times. In terms of special effects, the production standards of "Stranger Things" are very high, presenting oppressive visual effects.
Overall, "Stranger Things" is a sci-fi drama full of surprises and innovations, which skillfully blends elements such as suspense, adventure, and sci-fi to present the audience with a world full of surprises. Whether you're a sci-fi fan or a mystery drama fan, you can give this series a try and I'm sure you'll be hooked to it.