skybridge

Rated Stranger Things 9/10

It has its ups and downs, but a very good show overall. Season 1: A very solid season of television. Great mix of horror and humour, and very well paced. Every character is multi-faceted and has their own interesting personality. I think Joyce is a particularly compelling character. Season 2: Feels very similar to season 1, just not quite as good. Season 3: Kind of marks the beginning of a new era of Stranger Things. I love all the mall scenes. They are just so goofy and fun. Robin is one of my personal faves. Other than that, the rest of the season is fine. Annoying at parts, but not bad. Season 4: The mid-season climax of Max's story is clearly the high-point of the season. The first half is mostly just annoying, and the second half is just fine. The final episode is also very frustrating. A giant rift to the upside down opens throughout the entire town and everyone thinks that is just an earthquake. Not only does this make zero sense, it is also less interesting. The secret being revealed could have been super interesting, just like Spider-Man: No Way Home. And then for the final cliffhanger, they do something similar which leads to absolutely nothing. So despite the epic music, the ending just doesn't work. Season 5: There are way too many loud bangs this season. Like any time anyone drops anything, the sound is amplified, even if it's not a scary situation. Will's character got a lot more focus this season, and he even got powers. It really fits his story, and solidifies him as one of my favourite characters. He also got a cool light motif! Jake from Woman Carrying Man described the season as "the plot is in service of character arcs". I can certainly see where he's coming from, but I personally don't mind this type of story telling. It reminds me of Lost in Space. The final episode does a pretty good job at giving every character some focus and a conclusion. Some of the story beats are easy to predict, and maybe a little too safe, but overall it's decent. It also has many parallels with season one's ending.