Your Weekend Binge Watch: Stranger Things

Your Weekend Binge Watch: Stranger Things

Available to watch on Netflix; 4 Seasons currently on air, 34 episodes; Season 5 premieres its first four episodes today (Wednesday November 26^th) just in time for a long Thanksgiving weekend, Episodes 5-7 will be released on Christmas Day (December 25^th), and the final episode of the series will premiere on New Years’ Eve (December 31^st). 

Listen to Johny read blog

0:00

Watch Stranger Things seasons 1-4 for 1980s nostalgia, high stakes thrills, strong acting, the power of friendship, and all-around great television (especially if you’re like me and love Dungeons and Dragons). 4 seasons totaling 34 episodes is a big lift, so please know I wouldn’t recommend this show if the journey wasn’t worth it. I can’t yet speak on season 5, but I have a feeling the show’s got some big surprises up its sleeves, and having now listed out when the different episodes of season 5 are airing, you’ve got over a month to binge before the final installment on December 31^st.

Synopsis

In 1980s Indiana, a group of young friends witness supernatural forces and secret government exploits. As they search for answers, the children unravel a series of extraordinary mysteries.

Thoughts

I don’t know a single person who hasn’t heard of or seen at least one episode of Stranger Things. To say that it’s been a cultural phenomenon is not an exaggeration. There are Lego sets of the Upside Down (if you haven’t seen it, you’ll find out what this is in season 1), I’ve crocheted a mini doll of Eleven for my niece, and several of the show’s actors have gone on to act in other projects.

Stranger Things is a fantastic show, and my one complaint about it is how long it takes to release new episodes. Season 1 premiered in the summer of 2016, and as this is a show where the main characters are all kids, time is an issue. Season 2 premiered only a year later in 2017, which was great, but then season 3 took two years before it was released in 2019. Now, I know that three seasons in four years is not the end of the world, but then it took another three years before Season 4 premiered in 2022, and it’s now another three years later before we are going to get the anticipated conclusion with Season 5 premiering in 2025. That’s 9 years for 5 seasons of television, averaging 8-9 episodes per season. I know I’m dating myself here, but I miss the days when TV seasons were 22 episodes long and you could count on them for a weekly release.

Okay, now that my whinging is out of the way, there’s a reason Stranger Things Lego sets exist. It’s because this show has invigorated viewers by presenting a truly original concept. Of course there are some themes we all recognize: childhood friendship and how things can change as we grow up, adults getting labeled ‘crazy’ when they’re grieving (and since this is a fictional show, how the ones labeled ‘crazy’ usually aren’t), a group of outcasts finding power in their unique abilities and shared commonalities, and the nostalgia of some of our favorite 1980s films.

But Stranger Things is also absolutely terrifying at times. Dungeons and Dragons is a recurring theme of the show, and man, it is handled so well my nerd heart sings. Anyone who has played DnD knows that although it is very fun to sit around with your friends and battle pretend monsters, it’s not ALL fun and games and dastardly hijinks. For Stranger Things, there is legitimate evil lurking in Hawkins, Indiana, and the more the locals find out, unweaving a web of mystery and both supernatural and human-induced danger, the higher the stakes and more present the danger.

I am ready and excited for season 5 and will be watching the first set of episodes this weekend (partially so I can also show my younger brothers I’m still cool). Stranger Things, totally BingeReady.