Review: ‘Strange World’ boasts a weird, vibrant world where fathers learn important lessons while they’re still in diapers
If you’re a fan of weird and off-kilter, it’s hard to explain exactly how Stranger Things is the kind of show you could fall in love with. At times the show plays out with the kind of over-the-top style that has made the show’s other shows so beloved, but it’s also packed with heart and some of the most well-developed characters in recent memory.
The series has always drawn on childhood memories and the memories of many fans, but never in quite the way that it does. In season one, the show introduced the main characters who would eventually become the Eleven and the rest. But in the first season there was the world of Hawkins, Indiana, so you could say Stranger Things was its own separate entity.
Season two found the show taking place entirely in Ohio. The show went dark for a couple of episodes, and then in season three, a whole new season found the show taking place in Oregon. Stranger Things season four takes place solely in Iowa, and as much as the show doesn’t show, we hear from characters about their real life counterparts. The show also introduces the theme that the best of us can make it in the real world despite our mistakes and foibles.
The most recent season, season five, has also brought us a new kind of fan. Season five sees these characters get married, and as is typical with Stranger Things, there is a new family of characters who must learn to make new bonds with the people in their new home.
It’s an intriguing thing to imagine, and even stranger to watch, because Hawkins, and the other real life version we see in season five, isn’t as strange as it seems. The Hawkins depicted in the show is the place where the young boys of Hawkins were raised.
The most interesting thing about the real life Hawkins is that, like the show and its characters, the place is a mix of normal and just over the top. The town has a thriving, thriving business community, with the town’s chief of police being a man named Steve
