Commentary: ‘Stranger Things’ Took A Lesson From ‘Fast And Furious’
by Frank Martin
It’s hard crafting an action franchise as there is a constant need for escalation. Sometimes sequels try to outdo the original in terms of action and stakes. This means bigger stunts, fights, and spectacle. The Fast And The Furious franchise is a great example of this as it began with just street racers stealing DVD players and pivoted an ever-growing list of wild stunts, culminating with some characters even going to space. Now that Stranger Things is over, it is clear it was following a similar trajectory to outdo itself with the finale.Th
The series is about many different things featuring alternate dimensions, Cold War espionage, and covert military experiments. However, its core centers on a group of friends — Max (Sadie Sink), Will (Noah Schnapp), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) — who try to fight an evil plaguing their town. Along with their super powered friend Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), the group uncovers the mystery of a parallel dark dimension and the dangerous monsters originating from it.
The first season of Stranger Things was incredibly tame compared to the last. It was about Will going missing and the strange monster that was responsible. It was even implied that there was only one monster roaming around rather than the dozens that will be featured in future seasons. The stakes and action increased with every year. By the time the final season came around, the heroes were traversing a wormhole in order to enter a far-off dimension and slay a gigantic spider-like monster. Eleven even became a genuine superhero capable of leaping great distances. Fans of Fast and Furious are familiar with this kind of drastic escalation, and it was always a foregone conclusion that Stranger Things would get just as ridiculous with its action by the end.
Stranger Things is now streaming on Netflix.
