Review - Stranger Things 5

Stranger Things 5 Poster - Amazon

I'm posting late in the day because I started prepping the house and garden for the approaching winter storm.

All of the talking heads say this storm will mimic the icy apocolyptse that descended upon the Houston area on February 10, 2021.

LET'S TALK ABOUT STRANGER THINGS

If you haven't watched this final season yet, I think you'll either love it or hate it or possibly yawn and not give a lot of thought to it.

As for me, I think Seasons 1 and 2 were the strongest of the series. They were full of surprises and introduced us to some great characters. There were laughter, tears, and shocks which made those seasons watchable again and again.

Season 3 was good but the plot elements and characterizations relied too much on cliches that we're all seen until we merely roll our eyes. Examples: teen angst and rebellion, a controlling father who can't commuicate so he shouts and issues orders, characters who don't ask obvious questions when they're tryng to discover what's going on, etc.

Season 4 was okay, but it was a mishmash with characters who were changing from the way we knew them—not evolving but becoming cliches like stoner, pot-smoking teens you see in a lot of movies aimed at a teen audience.

The characteristics that made use love them were being erased. With some characters that were hated, there seemed to be an effort to make the audience understand and sympathize with them.

SEASON 5

Suddenly, all of the characters are cursing—from the youngest to the oldest with GD this and that. What was funny when Dustin did that in the early episodes was funny because it was so unexpected. 

When all of them were doing it, it wasn't funny. It was odd. Also, the constant squabbling between all the characters was off-putting. Everything the characters did took the focus off the rising drama of the dire situation in which they found themselves.

Again, characters don't tell each other pertinent details when they should. In fact, it's weird that they don't. They also don't ask questions about what's going on when they should. Agh. Drives me crazy when characters don't behave as if anyone would in real life. 

Yeah, I know it's not real life, but characters are supposed to be believable and do what people really would in similar situations. Otherwise, they don't seem "real" and aren't believable to the audience.

Then there is the whole dynamic with the Army. If any Army is as stupid and robotic as the one portrayed in Season 5, then whatever country they defend is doomed from the start. It was like a "paint-by-numbers" characterization of an Army from an old anti-war movie.

Then there's the whole fake science of the situation which tries to make everything that happened from beginning to end make some sort of sense of everything.

SUM IT UP

I discussed Season 5 with my daughter. The one thing we agreed upon was the ending. It's a open-ended hook. If the Duffer Brothers are ever in need of money, they have a ready-made franchise into which they can breathe life.

After all, Eleven is out there exploring the world but pining away for Mike. When the world needs saving again, she can mentally get in touch with Mike, and they can get the band back together.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Well, I guess I had a heck of a lot more to say than I thought. Should you watch it? Of course, You may have a different opionion. My daughter liked it. Let me know what you think about it.

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