Stranger Things was an absolute blast to watch. As we have come to expect from Netflix, the production side of things was spotless. The show is visually stunning, the score is compelling, and the performances are excellent across the board. However, the writing does suffer from an over-abundance of cliché. Of course, Stranger Things is, at its core, a callback to the classic monster movies of the 80s meaning that much of this cliché is not only forgivable, but even adds to the overall atmosphere of the show.

My main problem with this is that the characters were only barely interesting enough to keep me invested in their stories. Again, much of this was intentional, but I feel that it was a bit overdone on the character side of things. We have all seen the alcoholic, loner, cop with a tragic past, the attractive, straight-laced young girl that yearns to break out of her shell despite the protestations of her more sensible friend, and the frustrated kid that sees what is going on, but is ignored by the adults so he takes things into his own hands. With all the other clichés - those of plot, visuals, and music - Netflix used them, but added a layer of production value that elevated them to the next level. However, with character, they are more-or-less tired old reruns of characters we have all seen a thousand times.

That being said, Stranger Things is definitely worth the watch. For the most part, it rides the line between familiarity and mystery, and, for all my griping about the characters, I did care enough that I never lost interest in their fates. Were they complex and compelling? No. However, they were good enough. Besides, Stranger Things' calling card is not the writing or the characters. It is not a moving drama or a character study, it is a nostalgic revitalization of an out-dated genre. On this front, the show succeeds admirably. It will not challenge you, nor will it leave you with any lingering emotion, but it does provide 8 hours of some of the most beautiful, thrilling, and binge-able television in recent memory.