Benny

THINKING........ DURING & AFTER STRANGER THINGS

Benny
THINKING........ DURING & AFTER STRANGER THINGS

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS SHOW DO NOT READ. I REPEAT IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS SHOW. DO NOT READ! THERE ARE SPOILERS. IF YOU CONTINUE BEYOND HERE THEN THAT'S ON YOU. 

I almost cancelled my netflix account. I was getting bored with it so it made no sense to keep paying for it. I'll just reactivate it when I'm ready to watch it again. I came across "Stranger Things" and boy was I glad I held off on canceling Netflix. 

Fuck it. There will be spoilers in this. This show too fucking gangsta to not go into detail. So if you haven't seen the show stop reading here.

Stranger Things is a sci-fi show that centers around the disappearance of a kid named Will Byers and a bunch of discoveries since his disappearance. I recently ran through Season 1 and I just want to share my thoughts while I was watching it. Here are the characters. 

THE NERD PACK (THE KIDS)

Mike Wheeler - He sort of the leader 

Lucas Sinclair - 1 of 2 Black people in Hawkins, Indiana. Assuming he's adopted. 

Dustin Henderson - The kid with no teeth. Spits more than Sylvester The Cat. He's the comic relief of the pack and show. 

Will Byers - The mothafucka who disappeared. 

Eleven - A special child with a special gift. Sinead O'Connor would be proud of her. 

ANNOYING TEENS

Nancy Wheeler - Mike's older sister. Typical cute, perfect suburban girl. Straight A's, perfect hair, yada, yada, yada. 

Jonathan Byers - Will's older brother. Photographer. Outcast. Basically he's emo. 

Steve Harrington - The Rich Douche with the hair. Nancy's boyfriend. 

ADULTS 

Joyce Byers - Will and Jonathan's Mom. Crazy, on edge lady who works in a department store. 

Jim Hopper - Hawkins Police Chief, Alcoholic, maybe Drug Addict. Very solid guy though. 

Karen Wheeler - Mike and Nancy's Mom. She just wants someone to talk to. 

Dr. Martin Brenner - An asshole. A doctor. A dickhead. 

 

THIS IS SOME RESIDENT EVIL SHIT

The show starts off with this older Stewie looking mothafucka from Family Guy running for his life as if his girlfriend figured out his passcode and unlocked his phone and she's chasing him. All of sudden as he gets on an elevator his body is lifted and he disappears. I was like "This is some Resident Evil shit." 

THE 80'S WERE THE BEST

I really like this show a lot because the 80's is my favorite decade. The show is based in the 80's so everything is amazing to me. The Trapper Keepers. The 80's synths on the show theme song. The way the whole series feels like one long John Carpenter Film. The fashion. I just love this shit. I was looking like a "Those were the good ol days" head ass boy watching this show. The kids remind me of the 80's classic film "Stand By Me" as they're searching for their friend. The scene where they were walking on the train tracks was evident of that. The kids also remind me of the movie "IT" written by Stephen King. The series took a lot of it's direction from E.T also. The only difference is that this show is more sinister I guess. The Duffer Brothers really love the 80's and it shows. 

EL IS SUCH A SWEETHEART 

When Eleven (El) first appears if you didn't say "Awwwww" we can't be friends. She just wanted some fries bruh. Fries hella delicious. Eggo's too. Throughout the whole series she is so thoughtful and brave it's really awesome to root for her while watching the show. She is without a doubt the best character in the series. She will most likely get a Emmy nom. She's a cool kid with telepathic powers. What's not to like? She's being hunted the whole show and it makes you wonder why do they want Eleven so bad? Mothafuckas are disappearing because of some other shit but they didn't really seem to care about anything else but capturing Eleven. I think she is key to something I didn't see this season and I'm sure it'll be revealed down the line. Like why is 11 tattooed on her? Are there other kids like her and if so where are they?

During the flashbacks of El's life you don't understand what they're really testing her powers for? Do they plan to use it as a weapon? Do they plan to try and make more El's? It's so much mystery surrounding Eleven that keeps you glued to the series. 

THE UPSIDE DOWN IS REAL 

Call me insane I don't care but alternate universes are real. Joyce Byers realized her son was in another world and everyone called her crazy. The Upside Down as they called it in the series is some real shit. Do this. Say your name out loud. Okay. Now say your name in your head. Okay. I have a question. When you said your name in your head. Who's voice was that? How are you able to hear it with no vibration? Exactly. That is how powerful the mind is. The voice in your head is from another dimension and we're connected to that dimension. Shit is real. 

HOPPER IS A DAMN GOOD COP/DETECTIVE/PERSON

When you seen first seen him he's drinking while brushing his teeth in the morning. Very sad and sluggish. Didn't really give a fuck about his job he was just enjoying the perks of it I guess. Once he had motivation for the Will Byers case he was just on a roll. You know you're doing good cop work when fellow cops want to persuade you to get off it and think about something else. You literally see him evolve into a better person as the series progresses. He actually starts putting his life on the line for other people. You could tell his heart was always in the right place he just needed something for him to show it and the Will Byers case did that. Once he figured out that this situation is bigger than just a missing kid he became obsessed with trying to bring down Hawkins Energy. 

There are a few questions I have about Hopper. Maybe they're theories. Who knows. When he was captured by Hawkins Laboratory. What did he truly learn about Hawkins experiments and history? Why did they pick him back up at the end? Could he be apart of Hawkins now? Does he know where Eleven is or what happened to her? Why was he leaving food in a box. Hopper seemed a little too calm at the series end. The flashback with his daughter was really terrifying too. Not because she had cancer but when they showed Hopper playing with her in the yard and she looks like she's seen a ghost it's seriously some scary shit. What did Hopper's daughter truly see. She wasn't in pain. She was terrified of something. Did she have a gift like Eleven? 

WINONA RYDER CAN ACT HER ASS OFF

Winona played Joyce Byers and I think the best performance under Eleven goes to her by far. Everyone did great but her performance was very convincing. I really started to feel sorry for this woman who had everyone from the police chief to her piece of shit ex boyfriend tell her she's crazy for believing her son is still alive. When a fake body was recovered she knew instantly it wasn't her son. At that moment I wondered why are they trying to cover this up so badly? Will wasn't the only person missing but they focused on him the most. 

DR.BRENNER IS A BITCH 

Dude a straight up hoe. I don't think he's really Eleven's father. She calls him "papa" but I think she was just trained to do so. No way a hoe like him can be the father of a child that sweet. He might be dead or he might not. I always learned if you didn't see the death then there is always room for the character to be alive. So his bitch ass might still be breathing. I hope not though. 

IS THERE ANYTHING MR. CLARKE CAN'T DO? 

Whenever the kids ran into a road block when it came to information they would turn to Mr. Clarke. Mr. Clarke broke down the alternate universe that is called "The Upside Down." He knew how to make a Sensory Deprivation Tank. He was on a date watching the 80's classic "The Thing" with a fine ass asian woman. Is there anything this man cannot fucking do? All the nerd shit I seen coming but the woman who was a clear 9. I did not see coming. I paused my Netflix to stare at that woman. Beautiful. Well done Mr. Clarke. 

THE NERD PACK (THE KIDS) MAKE THIS SHOW

The best part about Stranger Things is the kids. The writing of the show is dope. You have 3 different teams searching for Will Byers or the reasoning behind his disappearance. Nancy & Jonathan are looking for Will and Barb and the monster. Joyce and Hopper are looking for Will and exposing Hawkins Energy. The Kids are looking for Will and hiding Eleven. They all learn about "The Upside Down" in different ways. Once they all finally get together they figure out what's going on. It was like each team had a puzzle piece and they couldn't get further without each other. Then the writers center the whole story off of the Dungeons And Dragons game the kids were playing in the beginning was just masterful. 

I think the kids search was more interesting because it was more fun and had this innocence to it. All of them were so smart and yet so naive because they're children. The writers of the show get it. They didn't try to make them seem mature for their age. They were all very immature. They acted like children. It seems like that's not a big deal but I see in a lot of movies and tv shows where writers try to make kids wise beyond their years or have them act like adults. The kids make this show because they're kids. Dustin was fucking hilarious. Every time that kid spoke there was a good chance you would laugh and him having no front teeth made him funnier. He just cared about comics and snacks. Lucas was the kid with attitude. He was the realist of the bunch. Mike was the most intelligent of the kids to me. The kids really are the best thing about this show. 

THE DOUCHE WITH THE HAIR

I cried tears of joy when Steve got his ass beat by Jonathan. There's no way a bitch with hair like him is whooping my ass. I wouldn't allow that shit. I was glad to see he got that work.

HOW DO YOU KILL A DEMOGORGON?

This mothafucka took more damage than Arnold in Terminator 2 Judgement Day. Got shot more times than Alonzo at the end of Training Day. Caught on fire. Bear trapped. How in the fuck do you kill this mothafucka? 

WHAT IS WILL'S FUTURE?

Okay you saw how The Demogorgon (The Monster) finally caught Will. He stuffed a huge slug down Will's throat which was removed when Will was saved but we saw Will cough up a little slug when he returned home. He also was still seeing The Upside Down. What does it mean? Did Will just connect The Upside Down with reality even more by doing that? Is he infected? Is he becoming a monster? 

THE UPSIDE DOWN

This alternate universe can't just have one predator alien venus fly trap in it (All inspired by the 80's monsters). There has to be more creatures. Is it possible that there are humans who are in there that actually want to live there? How does the portal work? The Demogorgon could just pop out anywhere but humans couldn't. 

THE WHEELER DAD 

I think Mike and Nancy's dad is a alien. He a weird mothafucka. 

 

Overall I think Stranger Things is the best Netflix Original Series ever so far. Beautifully written. The way the story all pulls together in the last 2 episodes is incredible. It's a series that kept me on the edge of my seat. It kept me guessing. It was fun, fun, fun. I'm not really into Sci-fi that much. When I first read the description for the show I felt it wasn't something I'm into but after just episode 1 I was hooked. The best part is that it's 8 episodes so there is NO FILLER. The show gets straight to the point. I wouldn't be mad if they go to 10 episodes but I pray they stay in that 8-10 episode range. Other Netflix shows try to do 12-13 episodes and of course they force a lot of bullshit into the seasons. It's to the point it leaves you wondering "Why does this episode exist?" 

Stranger Things is the show of the summer and I can't wait for Season 2.