Stranger Things Observations

Couple of days before Season 3 dropped, I started a rewatch of Stranger Things from the beginning. In no particular order, couple of things struck me about the show in general during this rewatch and starting Season 3:

1. I love Sheriff Hopper. I really do. I like how human he feels. How honest and real he is. How he’s not perfect--he's struggling with his past--but he tries to be a good man. The fact that he stress eats is such a nice touch (take note crime writers – people deal with stress other ways than the bottle in the desk drawer, it’s not 1950 anymore). And little things like him shaving his beard but keeping his mustache and then seeing him watching Magnum, PI. Those are things so many writers and so many shows miss out on. Those make a character real.
2. Joyce is one of Winona Ryder’s best performances. And maybe it’s because she was the first actress I ever had a crush on (Lydia in Beetlejuice), but even as a poor and tired single mom—she’s still hot.
3. I know it’s not shot in Indiana and every now and again I’m like, that’s not Indiana, but, man, sometimes they so perfectly capture the feel of Indiana that I don’t care.
4. I catch something new every rewatch.
5. I like how all the adults aren’t just dismissive of the kids. Sooooo tired of that trope. Sooo tired of it.

A couple of other things that really struck me, I see as as writing lessons:

• ST gives ever character a chance to shine.
• ST isn’t afraid of giving you other moments. It’s not just scary and tense all the time. It’s not afraid to be funny or sad or sweet or just exciting or just give you something you cheer for or even just more of something you liked (like Lucas's little sister). Too many shows and writers think everything has to be dark and serious and depressing constantly as if that makes it “deep”.
• ST is amazing at coming up with unlikely character pairings and finding ways for them to connect as people.
• ST understands what it means for a character to be likable and realistic. Too many shows and too many writers don’t get that. So they create shows and write books and stories full of unlikable people always constantly being horrible to each other and then scratch their heads when people don’t respond.
• Because ST understands that it means for a character to be likable. We can see a character fuck up and come back from it, like a real human being. It’s why the show is so good at the redemptive character arc.