STRANGER THINGS Season 1: An entertaining perspective on supernatural horror and government conspira

The mindboggling world of Stranger Things takes place in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, a quintessential small town in 1980s America. We follow the lives of four gregarious and imaginative 12-year-old youth, Lucas, Mike, Dustin, and Will. The story tells how they seemingly stumble upon a string of issues occurring in their town in finding one of their lost friends, namely, Will.

The beginning of the season was slow and dullish in the development of the primary plot, as it primarily revealed the varied backstories of the main characters in the series, including the Hawkins Chief of Police on the brink of depression, and their connections in getting to the bottom of the horrific occurrences overtaking their passive small town.

It successfully dabbles in elements of conspiracy fiction as it brings into focus for the viewer the highly suspicious activities of the US government that relates to the disappearance of Will. The cold and calculating demeanour of the fictional government agents symbolizes the fear and suspense underlying government conspiracies such as with UFOs in the US. This contrasting with the raw and candid emotion expressed from the 12-year group and other characters, especially Will’s mother, in navigating these events while frantically finding this lost member of their small community. These were feelings that one could greatly empathize with.

The source of anguish circulating throughout the ordinary small town of Hawkins is a dreadful and hideous creature as Dustin called it that travels from its alternate world to Earth. There were a few moments of horror surrounding the creature that were compellingly frightful when it terrorized the town. However, it was eventually downplayed by the heroism of 11, a young girl subject to US government experimentation with telekinetic and telepathic abilities.

Moreover, as with the Dungeons and Dragons and sci-fi cultured minds of our young protagonists, the season had become just as action-packed during the latter part of the season as the main characters worked together to defeat the mysterious creature and save Will. For a television series on Netflix, it managed to create some rather realistic special effects in depicting the creature in the show and its interactions in Hawkins and with its many residents.

The plot was not only entertaining in evoking supernatural horror and conspiracy fiction, but it was also nicely carried by a balanced mixture of comedy and drama among the group of 12-year-old boys in their adventure going up against this supernatural being. Stranger Things should certainly appear on one’s recommended list for TV today. Season 2 has some big shoes to fill as it premieres back on its original platform of Netflix this 2017.