TV Show Review: Stranger Things, Season One

Details: Released on Netflix in 2016. Eight episodes in total with each episode about an hour-long. Stars a bunch of kids. The most recognizable adult actor is Winona Ryder.

After the overwhelming barrage of positive reactions to the Stranger Things show, I finally decided to give it a watch. It was okay.

The premise is this: a kid disappears in a small town in 1980’s America. The kid’s friends and family try to find him and discover a supernatural horror is responsible.

This is a horror story, through and through. I enjoyed the interplay between the kids and it really reminded me of Spielberg’s use of nostalgia in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The majority of the series did not go in that direction though. I should confess that I am biased against the majority of horror movies and shows. Jump scares are cheap cinematic devices and show a lack of creativity in my opinion. Furthermore, when I see characters making obviously stupid decisions, the fourth wall just falls apart for me and I get yanked out of the experience. I deal with enough meaningless stupid in real life. Watching this kind of stupid in a work of fiction just makes me want to turn off the television, or in this case, my computer.

The performances were all pretty good. The kids were great. However, it’s hard for me to enjoy the performances of children because it always reminds me of the innumerable number of children whose lives were messed up by Hollywood. Show business often times fucks kids up. The kids still did a great job. Maybe they’ll grow up all right.

Of the adult actors, Winona Ryder stands out, not because she was particularly good, but because her performance was memorably hysterical. She reminded me of Claire Danes in Homeland in her portrayal of constant, hysterical craziness. Actually, she reminded me even more of Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Claire Danes in Homeland when Hathaway was on Saturday Night Live. What I’m trying to say is Ryder was unconvincingly crazy to an almost comedic degree.

Overall, it was just okay. The show attempts a lot of things that mostly fell flat for me. I’m unsure if my reaction to this show is my own bias against horror or the show’s own failings. Either way, my reaction to the show is mostly one of indifference.

Score: 5/10

TV Show Review: The Flash (2014) Season Finale and Season One

Details: Airs on the CW.

The Flash is an interesting show in how it contrasts with the other comic book shows that are airing. We currently live in the age of superheroes; mainstream media is filled with superhero movies and TV shows based on comic books. Some have less to do with superheroes (iZombie), the rest are absolutely about superheroes (Gotham, Arrow, Agents of Shield). The Flash is unique in that it has some level of recognition (prior two season TV show a decade ago), but is not as dark or gritty as other shows. Further, a large part of the Flash’s character and canon not only deals with fighting super powered villains, it also deals with high science fiction, such as parallel universes and time travel. The Flash then has the potential to be Batman, Superman, Quantum Leap and Back to the Future all rolled into one show.

It’s an interesting prospect and a lot of fun to watch it play out through this first season of the show. The writers clearly have some grasp of the attractive portions of the character’s canon. It’s an avoidance of a mistake that has plagued the Fantastic Four movie franchise. Filmmakers/show runners always ignore the high science fiction of the Fantastic Four; the wonky, mind-bendy, existential stuff that science fiction nerds love to pontificate on. I understand the sentiment since creating a show with all these science-y ideas almost always sucks the life out of a show’s budget. It also creates plot problems when writers ignore, forget, or outright discard certain science fiction rules they’ve previously established in this world and, as a result, create a show with conflicting plot points that damage the believability of the narrative.

Here, that does not seem to be a problem. While the first season spent much of the time setting up Flash’s rogues gallery, the season finale delves straight into what makes this character great and distinct from other shows: the science fiction. Eobard Thawne’s existence reminds us that, despite the inclusion of super villains, this show has always been a time travel story from the very first episode. Flash’s greatest conflict isn’t the villains, the primary of which (Captain Cold) he shares a secret agreement where Captain Cold will not stop committing crimes but will not reveals the Flash’s identity and the Flash will stop him completely as long as no one gets killed. It’s a game of sorts. The real conflict in the Flash’s life is dealing the power to go anywhere in time and space as well as fighting anything that may emerge from that great beyond. Kind of like Doctor Who. My hope is that, like in the comic, the Flash will also explore alternate timelines or dimensions, and meet alternate versions of himself as well as of other villains and maybe even other superheroes (I’m looking at you Supergirl on CBS). It’s a lot to think about.

In any case, the first season does what a first season/first act is meant to do: it introduced us to the setting, the characters, and the protagonist’s great conflict/problem. I only hope that the writers continue building on what was established here and super speed themselves straight off the deep end into the science fiction/superhero craziness.

Score: 7.8/10 Can’t wait to see what happens next.