Stranger Things, Season 1, Chapter 5

I wrote a long vitriolic post about Stranger Things Chapter 5, but decided not to post it. Suffice it to say that I’m reminded how little I enjoyed (or engaged meaningfully in) popular culture during the 1980s. All the suspense is gone from this show for me after the 5th episode. Several jump scares have tried to get me in the right fight-or-flight mood. Several cavalier, desperate choices the characters have made have done their best to serve the plot. The characters have become cardboard game pieces that are being pushed around the game board (and through to the underside of the game board, wink-wink). I am a little curious to see how they fill 3 more episodes given the pace of the series up to now. Maybe there will be some surprises, or new curtains drawn, but, more likely, the wool has been pulled away now, and there is little left other than several hours of a TV show jerking me around from one plot twist to the next. I would just stay up late to finish all the rest of it, but sleep is too important. And that’s my more reserved synopsis of Stranger Things, Chapter 5.