Obviously, people love this show. Currently, it has 8.9 on IMDB, it has 94% on Rotten Tomatoes... so, yeah. It's one of the most popular shows out there now. But is it really that good? Let's see.

First of all, Stranger Things is an extremely well-made series. The atmosphere is there, it's well-direcred, acting is surprisingly good (even kids are doing great here), it's very stylish, soundtrack is very solid and has a lot of licensed songs from the past... It's some really high quality job we have here. The problem is - the story.

Long story short, Stranger Things is some sort of tribute to 80s and 90s. Which (technically) may be a right choice. People love 80s, after all. People who were born back then love them because of pure nostalgia, millennials love them because of all that pop culture thing that makes them want to feel "rad" too from time to time... 80s can sell stuff. Any kind of stuff. From video games to expensive movies. So, the choice do feel right. Especially since, like I said, Netflix did some really good job here. Not only Stranger Things is a stylish show, it was able to create the right atmosphere. Like 2017 version of It did. It does feel like 80s. Like real 80s. Even if you were born back then, you won't feel like somebody's trying to fool you here. It feels like a real deal.

Unfortunately, Stranger Things went too far in its chase for vintage feeling. If you wasn't born yesterday, you'll be able to see that this show has nothing new in it. Exactly nothing. It just takes a lot of stuff from the old movies and TV shows and just throws it at you all over again. E.T., The X-Files, It, Twin Peaks, you name it. I'm pretty sure they did it on purpose, just because some scenes were re-created as is, without even trying to hide it, and it may be OK as some sort of tribute, but... there's nothing else here. Only those recycled ideas and images from the old shows. And that's exactly what kills the show to me. The Duffer Brothers are clearly love retro, but they literally lost themselves in it. And all that reminds me a lot of Ready Player One effect. It's cool to see a town with heavy Twin Peaks feeling in it with those mysterious guys from The X-Files and kids interacting with strange and scary things like in E.T., or It. But every single minute I keep asking myself "What's new here?" And the answer is - nothing. The whole writing feels like it was done by some schoolkid. A very nerdy schoolkid, who just loved all those old movies and TV shows and therefore wanted to make "something like them". You know how it is when kids begin to write their first stories. They just collect everything they like, mix it together and call it their own. That's pretty much what happened here. Back in my school days there was no chance to get a good grade for such a lame work. Just because you can barely call it a proper writing. It's just that - an imitation.

Like Ready Player One (the book came out in 2011, so, I think it's OK to compare stories), story in Stranger Things isn't that important. Because the whole thing is more like an amusement park. It shows you 80s, you can see a lot of vintage stuff you probably used to have as a kid, it lets you hear some popular music from that period, it makes you remember about the old shows you used to love as a kid... but it doesn't really create anything new. It's not a thing on its own. Just a high quality tribute. Stranger Things may be fun to watch with some pizza and beer on your day free, but, like I said, it's just a way to enjoy the atmosphere and remember the real deals you used to see before. There's nothing to remember. Nothing to keep in your heart for years. Nothing to contribute to pop culture. It's an imitation. And when it's about imitations, it doesn't really matter how nicely they're done. Those are imitations and that's it. So, sorry, no high rating from me. You don't put an imitation of good paining in your living room. You put it in your toilet.