From a content standpoint, there is nothing better than a new series popping up on the scene, right around the same time you start a blog. The series is Netflix's "Stranger Things" (2016). I've been hearing a little bit of chatter about this show and figured after one too many suggestions I would come to the party. Now I am not one to jump on the bandwagon with shows. I was late to the party with Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Sons of Anarchy to name a few. Other than House of Cards this is more or less one of the first series, that I am going to hit the ground running with. So far I'm into it. That being said, I will be recapping/reviewing going forward.
We start off with a scientist booking it to an elevator, in some sort of lab type facility. Once reaching the elevator he gets in only to get taken away by something. Mind you we are getting a pretty bad ass soundtrack from this point on, with some pretty groovy synth. Flash forward to the above image and we are in a basement watching a D&D Campaign take place. The only thing that could make this scene more 80's would be if a kid was taking his rolls with a power glove on his hand. We learn the boys names are Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas. After Mike's parents make the boys call it a night, we follow Will home on his bicycle. After some mysterious circumstances Will is missing and we get the opening credit roll.
We are then introduced to Chief Jim Hopper of Black Mass (2015) fame. We follow him in his morning routine all the way up until Will's mother played by Winona Ryder is in Hopper's office trying to find her son. Meanwhile we come back to our opening lab facility to see some goons in suits on the lookout for whatever took out their friend and a girl. Scene change and you guessed it we are in the woods looking at the girl in question. After a run in at what appears to be a diner and the owner, Benny, gives our missing girl some food and asks her a few questions after seeing a D11 mark on her arm. (She isn't talkative) This leads to Benny giving a call to social services, and when they show up they are anything but that.... We quickly learn D11 has some powers that some type of agency is after. (Or perhaps created) Search parties are out looking for Will and we learn an interesting fact about Chief Hopper.
Flash forward and Mike and Co. take it upon themselves to look for their missing friend Will out in the woods. Back at the Byers house Ms. Byers (Ryder) receives a strange phone call that gives her a "shock" quite literally and figuratively. And we close out with Mike and Co. stumbling upon D11 in the woods.
I quite enjoyed the first episode. Mike and his friends give me a big "Stand by Me" vibe. The group of boyhood friends uncovering something that they do not understand is a formula that tends to work, and is leading to an exciting premise of this series. The supporting cast including Winona Ryder and co. bookends the rest of the ensemble nicely and seem to have a lot of depth that I'm sure will be explored as we progress through the season. The 80's theme is a nice touch and going back to the "Stand by Me" vibe, puts me in the mindset that I am viewing something from that era. Hopefully if you have read this far, you already took the first episode in. If not, be sure to keep up as we move through the first season together.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment