It wasn’t derivative at the time, that’s why it became successful and also why Gen X nostalgia bait became such a trend for a while there. But your first impression is correct; it’s always funny to me when people pretend this show is any deeper or more interesting than that.
Obviously, tastes vary, but the nostalgia crack part of the show is fairly minor compared to the actual story. It’s really there more to establish that it is set in the past and give a quick handwave to character background.
It gets used less after the first episode or two of each season, which do tend to be a bit more focused on set-up and “vibe” building to some degree or another each season.
There’s no guarantee you’d like it, but the first episode of the first season isn’t really a good example of the show as a whole, nor are the first episodes of each season. Imo, they tend to be a way to let both established audience and new viewers “settle in” rather than being integral to the overall plot arcs. They do tend to serve as character updates (after season one where they serve to establish characters) though, so skipping them entirely wouldn’t be ideal. It is doable though.
Which only matters if you’re remotely interested in watching it at all
I never saw stranger things; I watched the first episode and it just seemed very derivative of a lot of gen x nostalgia slop.
It wasn’t derivative at the time, that’s why it became successful and also why Gen X nostalgia bait became such a trend for a while there. But your first impression is correct; it’s always funny to me when people pretend this show is any deeper or more interesting than that.
Obviously, tastes vary, but the nostalgia crack part of the show is fairly minor compared to the actual story. It’s really there more to establish that it is set in the past and give a quick handwave to character background.
It gets used less after the first episode or two of each season, which do tend to be a bit more focused on set-up and “vibe” building to some degree or another each season.
There’s no guarantee you’d like it, but the first episode of the first season isn’t really a good example of the show as a whole, nor are the first episodes of each season. Imo, they tend to be a way to let both established audience and new viewers “settle in” rather than being integral to the overall plot arcs. They do tend to serve as character updates (after season one where they serve to establish characters) though, so skipping them entirely wouldn’t be ideal. It is doable though.
Which only matters if you’re remotely interested in watching it at all
Yep. Though first season is pretty decent. Second would be good if it was half as long.