STRANGER THINGS

I have recently dived in to Netflix's new series, Stranger Things. I will try not to spoil anything, but all I can say is ...

What's not to love?

This tromp through '80s nostalgia is just rich enough in plot to work, with the perfect amount of predictability and vintage cheese to balance it--all told through the acting of old faves like Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine as well as plenty of new faces.

Imagine E.T., Goonies, and the more recent Super 8 all rolled into one delicious rice ball. Plus, a few shout outs to Poltergeist and Alien mixed in for flavor. There's a troupe of adorable Dungeons & Dragons nerds (I use that as a term of endearment. We've played D&D with our son. Sadly, I am not cool enough to be any good at it). An orphan girl turned LSD lab rat. A classicly down-on-her-luck single mom. A gaggle of good-for-nothing teenagers, a la Brat Pack. A blue-collar small town. An elusive government science lab. And a missing boy. Did I leave anything out? Oh, and an unidentified predator from another world lurking in the shadows.

Toss in a dozen LOTR references, memorabilia from my early childhood, bad fashion, good music, and credits with a font that looks like it was ripped straight off the cover of a vintage Stephen King paperback. As well as all the obvious tropes like man-pain and slut-shaming.

If you aren't entertained by the mysterious monster/psuedo-alien plotline, then you will at least be titillated by the best '80s version of seek and find since Hot Tub Time Machine. I've already spotted a Dark Crystal poster in Mike's bedroom. And I'm pretty sure Steve's bedroom might be the same set from Weird Science. Just sayin'.

And then there's Will's older brother, Jonathan, who is like the love child of River Phoenix, Christian Slater, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Maybe with a little of that Terminator kid thrown in for good measure.

My favorite quote thus far? "Science is neat, but I'm afraid it's not very forgiving."

Favorite '80s find? Barb's stirrup pants as she sulks on Steve's diving board. Don't believe me? Rewind that mother and look again. You'll see 'em. She slipped the stirrups off her heels.

My favorite character? Steve's hair. It deserves its own Twitter handle.

If you haven't binge watched it yet, scoot it up on your to-do list. But don't blame me if you don't like it. They had me at the Dark Crystal poster.