Stranger Things 2 hits Netflix this weekend, so chances are good that your weekend plans, like mine, consist of:
1) Stranger Things 2
2) eating and sleeping at some point, probably
Unlike the first season of Stranger Things—which quietly appeared on the streaming service, then grew into a cultural juggernaut—this season is arriving with fanfare and hype, all of it promising what worked the first time around: a weird, fun, ’80s-set series that mashes up horror, sci-fi, drama, and comedy. With Stranger Things’ first season, creators the Duffer Brothers captured something addictive and memorable, though it’s hard to nail down what. Stranger Things swiped its story from Spielberg’s E.T., borrowed its outcast kids from Stephen King’s It and Stand by Me, and lifted its moody, synth-driven creep-outs from John Carpenter. The show felt new, even if its bones were old; at each turn, the Duffer Brothers balanced retro (kids listening to the Clash!) with contemporary (CGI monsters and drawn-out, mystery-based storytelling!). It felt both fresh and nostalgic.
Commodifying nostalgia isn’t anything new—Hollywood’s been doing it for the past decade. So far, America’s 10 biggest box-office hits of 2017 are nearly all sequels, remakes, adaptations, or franchise entries, with each relying on audiences’ affection for earlier entertainments.
