This show is solid but very overrated. Season 1 was good, seasons 2 and 3 were bad, and season 4 was mediocre with some great moments. Season 1 was an interesting mix of Akira and E. T that had a lot of its own style, but I think a lot of that was lost in the later seasons. Even though seasons 2, 3, and 4 have their moments, this show really should have ended after season 1. It's similar to Umbrella Academy in that season 1 is easily the best season of the show and the other seasons are subpar, but unlike Umbrella Academy, Stranger Things wasn't open to any kind of continuation. Umbrella Academy season 1 ends on a pretty big cliffhanger that needed more seasons to be resolved, but Stranger Things ended. From what I've read, it was originally supposed to be an anthology series taking place over multiple decades, but if they had done that they would have lost the army of teenage girls who simp for the cast, and they would have lost that sweet, lucrative 80s nostalgia. This is frequently called the best Netflix original series when that is far from true. Off the top of my head, Daredevil, Punisher, and Cyberpunk Edgerunners are all better. Stranger Things is practically the definition of entertainment for the masses and it's just so shallow. I'm not going to pretend like the other shows I listed are thought-provoking masterpieces or anything, but Daredevil and Punisher are two of the best action shows I've ever seen, and at least Edgerunners made me feel something. Also, I want to mention how dumb the fanbase for this show is. I'm not talking about the average enjoyer of this show, I mean the really hardcore fans. They're almost as bad as the marvel fanbase at this point. After season 4 came out they tried to get the actor who played the villain to apologize to the actor of a character who was killed off. I won't go too in-depth with them because they've probably ratio'd this review already, but they're some of the most annoying people on the internet. Anyway, this show is okay. Season 1 is good but the rest aren't worth your time.