Netflix/the Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things has come to a close, but does any cultural phenomenon ever truly close? Consider Star Trek, The Walking Dead, Planet of the Apes, Dark Shadows, The Twilight Zone, Battlestar Galactica ... Harry Potter (though I'd love to see the latter fall off the recycled vine for its anti-virile, commie fodder. I mean, talk about some real, subversive shit, not to mention it being just plain, goddamn bor-ring!)
For the big, Stranger Things conclusion, many predicted that the Lovecraftian, cerebral entrapper, the Mind Flayer (a physical blending of King Ghidorah, Kumonga and the Destoroyah), would combat Jamie Campbell Bower's Vecna, aka Henry Creel, in Dimension X, the Abyss or wherever the showdown might prove convenient, but I wasn't quick to buy the Frankenstein creation-vs-creator projection. And yet lo and behold, what should unfold? A spree of grave regret with a reconnected allegiance, pre-eclipsed by a hearty, Earl Hamner "Bewitchin' Pool" segue, stuck to a smidgeon of Richard Matheson's "Little Girl Lost."
Ah, what the heck. I gotta admit, I do dig The Twilight Zone brand, even if it's the wannabe kind, in particular if it insinuates Poltergeist's Reverend Henry Kane (a "Little Girl Lost" stepchild no less, at that), in this case filtered through A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3, with a smack of the plugged-in schemes of Star Trek's Borg, squeezed through The Matrix and Fire in the Sky's comatose compartmentalization. Whew! Well, that's Stranger Things for you.
Noah Schnapp's Will Byers stepped it up big time, too, and it would have been a let down if he hadn't taken that El-stand-in, guru command, breaking from his intimidated, Vecna-spy relegation. The character has been an odd man out of sorts (his ardent actions often overshadowed by Gaten Matarazzo's analytical Dustin Henderson and Joe Kerry's level-headed Steve Harrington), though I've always enjoyed Will's breed of underdog, spun from the self-questioning, Rocky Balboa center and joined by his maternal Adrian, Winona Ryder's Joyce.
Still, there's that rock-the-boat, whiny, woke additive of Will coming out of the closet. Believe it or not, I didn't think it was that big a deal, unless one takes it as a genuine, allegorical tie. I do understand why some do, but I don't and won't, but what I do find strange (ahem) is that those who'll denounce this Stranger Things aspect will turn a blind eye to Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water, which is, in fact, slanted in the worse possible, woke way, but that's another quarrelsome story for some down-the-line, Gill-man day.
Even though I'm more-or-less okay with Will's controversial reveal, the real-life rift of David Harbour/Mille Bobby Brown still hounded me. I know the contention was laid to rest (or so publicity came to claim), but it still blunted the saga's precious, father/daughter alliance. The sour publicity wasn't as pungent as let's say, Titans, where one learned "odd" things about Vincent Kartheiser's behind-the-scenes behavior (which may not have been as rash as touted, but who can say unless one was there?), though in that instance, the actor was playing the Scarecrow. The gossipy buzz helped more than hurt the character's diabolical design. However, in Jim Hopper and El's case, it felt more like misdirected baggage heaped on a melodramatic mound. (How could one not reflect upon what may have happened when their scenes rolled with such contradicting camaraderie?)
At any rate, getting back to my opening point, Stranger Things may have bid farewell, but I believe it'll return given time, perhaps as another series or even as a movie or two to quell its open-ended quandary. It'll prevail in literature (whether of the professional or amateur line), comic books, action figures, novelty shirts, Halloween costumes ... you name it; perhaps its Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew/D&D angle will inspire imitations. (I'd rejoice in a Welcome to Derry merger, but realize that would be too sensible to seize. Oh, well, I guess that's just how unrequited, live-action, dreams spiral down the Rightside Up drain.)
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