Forgive me for starting with a bit of nostalgia and sentimentality, but both concepts are so inextricably tied to Stranger Things that a discussion without them seems impossible. In the summer of 2016, I had just finished grad school and moved to Providence, Rhode Island for a temporary job. I didn’t know anyone in the city (let alone the state) and was several hours away from my family, friends and girlfriend (now wife).
Without much opportunity for socializing, much of that summer was spent on a new project: writing articles for The Pop Break.
I had just joined the site that year following encouragement from my brother, Aaron, who was the TV Editor of the site at the time. For one of my first assignments, he asked me to review a new series coming to Netflix that I had never heard of. Despite my unfamiliarity with the show, Aaron thought I’d enjoy reviewing a series that seemed heavily inspired by the works of Stephen King, of whom I was a big fan. Unbeknownst to me, I would not only fall in love with the show’s characters, setting and story, but reviewing the series would also be a defining moment in my career at The Pop Break.
Covering Stranger Things over the last 9 and a half years has unlocked so many opportunities for me, including the chance to write dozens of articles for the site, co-host three different monthly podcasts with well over a hundred episodes and make many wonderful friends from around the country who share my love of pop culture. Stranger Things turned that quiet summer in Rhode Island into a moment that changed my life for the better.
Putting my personal history with the show aside, though, Stranger Things has of course been a cultural phenomenon that holds a special place in millions of viewers’ hearts. The rise of Netflix as a media juggernaut is due in no small part to the series. While Netflix had prior hits (such as Orange is the New Black and House of Cards), Stranger Things was arguably the first must-watch show of the streaming era. Netflix became such an entertainment hub in the summer of 2016 that even our very own Editor-in-Chief, Bill Bodkin, had to reactivate his then dormant Netflix account to watch the show. The streaming service has had many successful shows since, but none are as clear an example of how a mail order video rental service became the biggest name in television and film this century.
But what has made Stranger Things one of Netflix’s greatest triumphs over the last 10 years? A plethora of allusions, pastiche and direct references to ’80s pop culture have certainly been key ingredients in the show’s not-so-secret sauce. For those that grew up in the time period, the showcase of the music, fashion, and films of the era were an instant dopamine hit. For those born or raised after the creation of the World Wide Web, the styles (ex: leg warmers) and artists (ex: Kate Bush) of the past were retro novelties ripe for a comeback.
A winning combination of homages to Stephen King, Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter was baked into the series from the start and instantly pleased many viewers’ palates. The Duffer Brothers, the show’s creators, even went so far as to cast several actors who made a name for themselves in the ’80s, including Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, Linda Hamilton and more, to honor the works that inspired the series. And of course, no inspiration of the show was as apparent as its loving references to Dungeons & Dragons. For generations of tabletop RPG fans, Stranger Things constantly paid tribute to a form of storytelling and worldbuilding that was on the fringes of pop culture for decades. Altogether, this perfect recipe for nostalgia was crucial to the show’s immediate and sustained appeal.
But the series’ greatest strength, which has sustained the show through bloated runtimes, ballooning budgets and Byzantine lore, is this generation’s definitive coming of age story. Told from the perspective of outcast adolescents and their traumatized parents, Stranger Things introduced us to beloved (and yes, sometimes infuriating) characters as they overcame supernatural foes to progress through natural stages of development. We followed these characters on journeys of self-acceptance, including Will’s (Noah Schnapp) embrace of his sexuality and coming out to his mother (Winona Ryder) and community.
We witnessed these characters engage in acts of self-sacrifice, such as Eddie’s (Joseph Quinn) dramatic efforts to save his friends at the cost of his life. And we watched these characters achieve self-actualization, especially Hopper’s (David Harbour) evolution from a grieving father to a man finally willing to pursue a life of happiness and Eleven’s (Mille Bobby Brown) growth from a lab experiment and a weapon to a young woman with agency willing to sacrifice herself to save the world. Stranger Things took us on these and many other adventures, and while not perfect, these stories beautifully captured the passage into adulthood and the battle to overcome trauma for the sake of a brighter future.
And so, 9 and half years after we first traveled to the Upside-Down, Stranger Things has thus come to a close. Much like Mike (Finn Wolfhard) walking up the basement stairs and leaving behind the game that defined his childhood, I must also step into the future knowing this stage of my pop culture journalism career has ended. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to have covered Stranger Things since that quiet summer I spent in Rhode Island, but I also excitedly look forward to the many shows and movies my colleagues at The Pop Break and I will cover in the months and years ahead. Thank you for taking this journey with me and seeing where the future takes us.
