'Stranger Things' Recap - 'Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers'

Written by Scott Edwards

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Since I am always on the lookout for something new to come across my plate that will interest me, I got a notification from Netflix that they had something new coming out. an original show called Stranger Things. Now when reading the initial description about this show, it did not capture my attention at all, a single mother tries to cope with the loss of her son, but after getting a little bit deeper into the descriptions and Sci-Fi and Horror being listed as some of the genres it falls into, I decided to give it a watch.  As this is a new series, I know that I will have to give it a chance, but I have no expectations as of yet, since there is little known about it at this time.

After a ten hour session of playing ‘The Hobbit’ in Mike’s basement, all of the boys are sent home.  While Lucas lives a different direction, Will and Dustin decide to race back home. After getting separated, Will sees something strange in the middle of the road and swerves to miss it, crashing his bike. Running home to get away from whatever is following him, Will finds that he is all alone and must handle the situation on his own.  When he is ready for whatever is chasing him to make it through the door, he finds that he is unprepared for what is about to happen to him. In the morning, Joyce and her older boy Jonathan are working in the kitchen when she finds out that Will is missing. Calling Mike’s mother to find out if he slept over, she finds out that he should have been home around 8pm the previous night.  In a panic, Joyce turns to the police to have them find her boy before something happens to him. Not knowing what else to do, Joyce and Jonathan search around Will’s clubhouse to see if he could be hanging around there, but finding nothing, the single mother will need to wait and see what the police are able to find.

Hearing that their friend might be missing, Mike, Dustin and Lucas go about their normal school day, but when they are questioned by the police, they know that something is up. Even though the boys are willing to help, Chief Hopper does not want the boys investigating on their own, especially if there is a predator out there that could hurt the boys. Not being convinced that the police know what is going on, or can find their friend, the boys grab their flashlights and walkie-talkies and head out to where Will’s bike was found. Not knowing what they are looking for in the dark and stormy night, they find something that will lead to more questions and answers.

Doctor Martin Brenner has been called to the lab to see what happened the night before.  As the lab is a mess, and both inhabitants are missing, he knows that they will need to be found and the little girl should be the easiest to locate. As the girl has made her way through the woods, she stumbles upon Benny and his dinner.  Seeing food, she is able to get something to eat, but gets caught in the act.  Benny tries to talk to the little girl and only finds out that her name is Eleven and she does not say much else than that. When child services shows up to take the young girl, Eleven sees that she is being hunted and has the power to escape. Making her way back into the woods, away from harm, she is surprised when she runs into a gang of boys who do not have a clue what to even say. 

Not a bad opening episode to the series, you get to know everyone pretty quickly and see what their motivations are. The Joyce and Jonathan relationship is extremely strong for the mother and son pair, I can see that playing into the story more as the series goes on. I like Chief Hopper who is in charge of the police and wants to find Will before something bad happens to the kid. He seems to have a different style when it comes to investigating, but when he finds what he is looking for, he knows that it is time to move. The boys, Mike, Dustin and Lucas are all pretty much classified at school as dorks, but they would not change a thing since they seem to embrace it.  Mike’s sister Nancy has a new boyfriend, one of the most popular guys in school, and I am not sure why this will play into the story, but I am sure that it will not end well for either of them.  When seeing what the government is willing to do to find the little girl Eleven, I wonder what they will do when they find the bigger creature that escaped, that we assume took Will. With strange power outages and a kid with a special power of her own, this is a very intriguing story and now I need to find out what happens next.

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