Stranger Things A Reminder of How Good TV Can Be and Why We Shouldn’t Have to Lower Our Standards
This year started with a lot of hyped but ultimately disappointing shows on TV. The Book of Boba Fett, Halo, and the early episodes of Obi Wan Kenobi are the ones that come to mind. Star Trek: Picard was another painful disappointment. There was probably plenty of good TV that I missed but these were what I foolishly chose to watch. It was looking to be a bleak year for entertainment until the premiere of Stranger Things.
The Netflix show has never disappointed and did not for volume one of Season 4. There are a few more episodes to go but we got to see the first seven. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it does so many things right that the awful examples above failed to do.
Fan Expectations
The writers for Star Wars, Halo, and Star Trek were convinced that subverting audience expectations was the way to create something truly special (though, maybe that is giving them too much credit). They did not want to follow formulas or just do what the great creators did before them. They wanted to create something of their own… using someone else’s ideas. Each one deviated from fan expectations, altering the behavior of characters, making enormous changes to world-building, and refocusing the stories on themes that interested the writers.
Not Stranger Things. The show is heavily influenced by early Stephen King and Steven Spielberg, in particular the horror and coming of age movies of the 70s and 80s. From season one until now, the Duffer Brothers have never strayed from the style, themes, and feel of these founding influences. Now four seasons in, there are signs it is starting to repeat certain story beats to the point of diminishing returns but the audience is still getting what it wants.
Stranger Things is a novel franchise and has not changed hands creatively, so there is no challenge of trying to recreate someone else’s magic. Yet, in four seasons there has been no sign the Duffer Brothers have had the temptation to experiment or, God forbid, subvert expectations. They continue to pop out the hits and I have yet to hear anyone complain.
The Writing
The plot and dialogue of Stranger Things are things of beauty. Plot holes are hard to find, the world-building is tight, and the show acknowledges mysteries and tries to solve them rather than putting them in a box like J.J. Abrams. Whenever there’s an unknown, one of the kids calls it out, usually Dustin or Lucas. Their D&D background combined with their growing experience fighting monsters from the upside down makes their intelligent questioning of events credible.
The dialogue has always felt authentic given the characters’ ages and background. It is smart but not too smart. They are prone to emotional outbursts and immature behavior. It all makes sense and makes every single one of them feel real.
Then there are their diverse personalities, their group chemistry, unique quirks, and moments of bravery. They are all heroes and adorable. The casting director did a spectacular job discovering these young stars.
Then there are the big time Star Wars, Star Trek, and Halo shows. Each riddled with plot holes, world-building problems, canon-breaking choices, and sometimes nonsensical dialogue. Their biggest crime is completely rewriting characters, making them say and do things that are inconsistent with what we know about them.
Examples include Boba Fett and his sudden pacifist attitude, Picard’s broken old man routine, Seven of Nine’s descent from cold Borg logic to irrational histrionics, and the Master Chief who is the most unreliable, incompetent, and mentally unstable war hero ever written.
Production Values
Here, Halo actually did a decent job. The special effects are adequate, although not always depicting things consistent with the games. Star Trek: Picard decided to do a time travel story to the 21st century to save money. Book of Boba Fett and Kenobi come off as cheaply shot and made, with a few scenes as exceptions.
These are among the biggest sci-fi/fantasy franchises ever! Why would the producers behind them think producing them on a budget would be a good idea? Talk about failing to meet expectations.
Stranger Things has never looked cheesy. It doesn’t have the best special effects ever but it is consistent and is more than adequate to terrify the audience.
In a normal marketplace, there would be a cost for failure. However, I don’t if there is one for Disney or Paramount. They might continue spewing out garbage and collect money from the part of the fan base that will consume just about anything. What gives me hope is that there is one example of greatness. Stranger Things demonstrates what a show can do if done right. There has to be some kind of financial incentive there as well but I don’t understand how streaming services monetize individual shows or quantify how much each is contributing in revenue.
Maybe that is why there is so much mediocrity. Bad shows can hide among the good shows on streaming services. What an awful model. Hopefully, I’m wrong. One thing I do know: Stranger Things is still one of the best shows on TV.