All the characters have their own challenges for the various points they are at in their lives-challenges that they resolve through the course of the season’s strange events. Both characters are at a different point in their lives than the kids or the teens, but they too have their own personal issues in the series, and that’s what I like about the show. David Harbour also makes an impact as the stoic yet lovable Chief Jim Hopper-a man on a mission, as he vows to find the missing Will Byers at any cost. Winona Ryder makes a comeback in the acting biz with her raw portrayal of Joyce Byers, a struggling single mother who will do anything to save her son and bring him home. It was the little things-like Mike shouting across the house to answer his mom, or Lucas spitting on his hand before offering a truce-that made me think the younger characters were written better than most other child roles in the industry are handled.īesides the teen and child actors, there are, of course, a couple other stars in the cast. The writing for their characters made it feel like they were actual kids, from the way they spoke and swore at each other, to their awkward pre-teen mannerisms. The child actors- Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarrazo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and, to a lesser extent, Will (Noah Schnapp)-all put on believable performances.
Just like real teenagers, they had to make realizations about themselves on their own before they could commit to a relationship. Both Nancy and Steve realize that they don’t need the validation or acceptance of their peers to do the right thing, but they each reach this development on their own-not one or the other, or both together. The way the show handled high school ideas of popularity was unique and refreshing, as it felt more accurate to my own experiences when I was in high school. I found myself mostly resonating with the teenage characters of the show-particularly Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Steve Harrington (Joe Keery).
Series with huge casts like Stranger Things often struggle to utilize all of the cast effectively, but Season 1 succeeds at implementing everyone into the overarching plot. What really pulled me into this series was the way in which all of these characters-of different ages, identities, and walks of life-managed to tell one unified story that meshed together at the season’s end in an organic way. It is my firm belief that a show, movie, book, or any type of story is only great if its characters are, and Stranger Things has excellent characters in spades.
Stranger Things Season 1 is a masterclass in storytelling and atmosphere, with an outstanding and intriguing cast and mysteries galore. It took a long time and a lot of prodding by friends to convince me into watching the show, but from the first episode, I fell in love with the characters of Hawkins, Indiana. Stranger Things, brainchild of the brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, just might be one of the most popular ongoing series today, and for good reason, as I quickly realized when I first binged the series.