# Stranger Things **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183 "2016-07-18T03:12:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/101 "2016-09-04T21:56:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I’m only four episodes in, but for some reason my wife thought it was a horror anthology, not a miniseries. So I was kind of disappointed coming in. > > So far, so meh. I find many child actors annoying, and this is no exception. Aliens, evil government conspiracies, androgynous children with mental powers - been there done that. A combination of _X Files, Firestarter_ and _The Goonies_ is pretty much what I am expecting and don’t want. My wife likes it, and she makes me watch it with her because she gets scared. > > How many episodes are there? > > Regards, > Shodan 8 episodes. Supposedly the next season comes out in 2017. I wasn’t impressed by it, I don’t get the appeal. The kids were so damn annoying, especially the black kid and the toothless kid. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/102 "2016-09-04T22:41:40Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > ] > Second, yeah, Hopper’s decision to give up Eleven to Brenner was totally sketchy, and it strained his characterization for me. Yeah, screw spoilers. I’m holding out hope that there is some grand design behind it all. At the end we get implications of definite shenanigans when Hopper jumps into the car with the mystery men (and the writers have to be holding something back or else the fact he wasn’t killed outright the second time he was caught in Hawkins’ Lab makes no sense.) That’s leaving aside the fact he knows how to de-bug a house. Then in the final scene, we see him secretly leaving Eleven some eggos. Yeah, something’s up. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/103 "2016-09-04T23:41:41Z")
LOL. I’m trying to imagine what the “girl’s show” version would be like. Are we just going to gender swap everyone? So it’s a story about three girls rescuing a super-powered boy escaped from a secret government facility run by evil women? Hm. I would watch that. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/104 "2016-09-05T01:23:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > 8 episodes. Supposedly the next season comes out in 2017. > > I wasn’t impressed by it, I don’t get the appeal. The kids were so damn annoying, especially the black kid and the toothless kid. How old are you? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/105 "2016-09-05T01:34:41Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > 8 episodes. Supposedly the next season comes out in 2017. > > I wasn’t impressed by it, I don’t get the appeal. The kids were so damn annoying, especially the black kid and the toothless kid. Those two kids were my favorite part of the whole show. They were brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/106 "2016-09-05T04:26:17Z")
It was okay. I really don’t get the love though because it was so derivative, and the kids were kind of annoying. Except Will and El. As for El, I’m not sure what gave people the impression she’s a great actress. Don’t get me wrong, I do think she is - in **Intruders**. In _this_ show she wasn’t given an opportunity to be 1/4th as impressive as she was on Intruders. I’d wondered if it was there were viewers who liked it because of how old they were - in 1983 I was closest in age to Mike’s baby sister Holly - but I know people who were infants or not even born yet when the show was set, and they liked it more than I did. As for a second season, I wonder if they’re reveal that 1-10 are the monsters. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/107 "2016-09-05T13:55:50Z")
I suspect one through ten were the women who were the original test subjects, including Eleven’s mom. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/108 "2016-09-05T14:20:40Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Just watched the first episode and am pretty impressed. (I haven’t read anything in this thread; just went from the general interest and one personal recommendation I give it a try.) > > One minor question from the first episode: It’s 1983, and at the middle school there is a sign for the “TOWN NAME School Drop-Off Lane” or some such. > > My recollection is that kids being driven to school and formal drop-off lanes and such is a much later phenomenon, not being common until at least the early 1990s. Am I misremembering? And in a small town in the Midwest, how likely was it to be a middle school, rather than a junior high? I know the middle school concept originated in the 60s, but where I’m from in the Midwest, the concept didn’t take off til the mid-90s. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/109 "2016-09-05T14:33:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > It was okay. I really don’t get the love though because it was so derivative What does being “derivative” mean to you and how is it a detriment? Almost all creative works can be called derivative in one way or another. The point of any creative work is whether it tells a story well. > [@Katriona](#): > > And in a small town in the Midwest, how likely was it to be a middle school, rather than a junior high? I know the middle school concept originated in the 60s, but where I’m from in the Midwest, the concept didn’t take off til the mid-90s. When I was a kid in the Midwest, middle schools did exist, although junior high schools were certainly much more common. There was constantly talk of realigning the schools in our district for various reasons. It didn’t happen until after I graduated, but there were districts not too far away that had done it decades earlier. But what’s the point of asking this kind of question? What does it matter how likely it was? What if it was 5 percent likely? Or 90 percent likely? What difference does it make? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/110 "2016-09-05T14:41:34Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > What does being “derivative” mean to you and how is it a detriment? This involved callbacks to previous works more than most art, I think. But they did it in a fashion I found charming and wonderful. It wasn’t Sword of Shannara, where it felt like lazy writing; the callbacks were homages, and the story built on them rather than substituting them for original thought. > [@](#): > > But what’s the point of asking this kind of question? What does it matter how likely it was? What if it was 5 percent likely? Or 90 percent likely? What difference does it make? It’s a minor point, but one of the show’s strengths was its immersion in eighties culture. If the school had been a junior high rather than a middle school, it would’ve been one more, very small, touchstone of the era. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/111 "2016-09-05T14:49:26Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I’d wondered if it was there were viewers who liked it because of how old they were - in 1983 I was closest in age to Mike’s baby sister Holly - but I know people who were infants or not even born yet when the show was set, and they liked it more than I did. I was born in 1983. This show is pure nostalgia, not only for the setting (those faux wood wall panels, omg) but the fact that it pays homage to so many things I loved that came from that era… some of the best Stephen King novels, Alien, the Goonies, Poltergeist, ET, Stand By Me just to name just the references I caught. I think the show was made for kids like me who cut our teeth on that stuff. I can’t honestly say if I would have liked it so much without the setting, but the setting, and the particular elements of which it is derivative, is a huge part of what it is and what it means. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/112 "2016-09-05T14:57:08Z")
I was in college in '83, but it reminded me of growing up in the late 70s. Close enough. I don’t miss the styles. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/113 "2016-09-05T17:38:19Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > What I want to know is why Brenner was so upset that #6 on your list died. He even tried to abort the mission to save the guy’s life. He didn’t seem to give a rat’s ass about anybody else who was killed in the line of duty. Made me wonder if that guy was some other experiment he felt strongly about. My guess is that he wasn’t so much concerned about the guy as the fact that if he doesn’t come back he won’t be able to tell them anything, and no one else in that room is going in now. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/114 "2016-09-05T17:49:51Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > My guess is that he wasn’t so much concerned about the guy as the fact that if he doesn’t come back he won’t be able to tell them anything, and no one else in that room is going in now. My impression was he wasn’t just a grunt with a security clearance, but was an experienced scientist on the project and there probably isn’t an unlimited pool of experienced scientists working there. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/115 "2016-09-05T17:55:23Z")
That too. In general I think we can posit that that loss directly affects Brenner, while the others are just a bunch of dumb small-town schmucks (except the scientist at the beginning, but not a lot he can do about that either). ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/116 "2016-09-06T03:36:42Z")
Now that I’ve seen it all, I can say I like it a lot. Growing up in the 80s helps, as does a tolerance for the character types from that era, but I think Stranger Things is more than just the sum of a bunch of 80s movies parts strung together. Each group of characters starts out acting more or less independent of the other, and each seems to be in a different type of 80s movie. The boys are obviously in a kid’s adventure movie a la The Goonies. Hopper (and Eleven) is in a sci-fi government conspiracy movie, Grace is in a paranormal/haunting psychodrama, and the teens are in a monster/slasher flick. The writers do a good job of weaving these strands together over the eight episodes. ---
**Author:** ![ganthet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@ganthet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganthet)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/117 "2016-09-06T06:27:45Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > That too. > > In general I think we can posit that that loss directly affects Brenner, while the others are just a bunch of dumb small-town schmucks (except the scientist at the beginning, but not a lot he can do about that either). Brenner doesn’t seem too concerned about anyone, including his employees/co-workers - the security guards who Eleven kills while they are taking her away to the “punishment room,” the guys in the van who may have been killed/seriously injured when Eleven flips it in the street, or the dozen or so people that Eleven kills at the middle school just before the monster pops out of the wall. And FYI, in case anyone hasn’t seen this already, the DoE issued a [half-press release/half-blog post](http://energy.gov/articles/what-stranger-things-didn-t-get-quite-so-right-about-energy-department) in response to “Stranger Things.” Revealingly enough, they don’t deny being involved in experiments to create clairvoyant/telekinetic super agents. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/118 "2016-09-06T13:09:38Z")
The middle school that I attended at the start of the 80’s is still one of several middle schools in the same district. In the Midwest. Not sure why this anecdotal point is even a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/119 "2016-09-06T14:06:10Z")
> [@BlueOhio](#): > > The middle school that I attended at the start of the 80’s is still one of several middle schools in the same district. In the Midwest. Not sure why this anecdotal point is even a thing. That’s what I was trying to get at. So long as there were any middle schools back then that’s good enough. Fiction creates a particular fictional setting—thetes no reason every detail must adhere to averages. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183/120 "2016-09-06T14:14:43Z")
How do we know it was the Midwest? I assumed it was a warmer climate because there was no snow at the beginning of December. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things/760183.md?page=7)