Five observations about Stranger Things

1. The Netflix series Stranger Things is a parable: it is about adolescence, and about the hopes, fears, and (quite literally) the demons that children wrestle with during those terrifying years when everything seems to be changing, and nobody knows why, or what things will become.

2. The show is at its very best when it is most firmly rooted in those middle-school years, helping us see and remember what it was like to be that age, and it is most rewarding when it shows how children develop those coping mechanisms that sustain and guide us through our lives.

3. The portrayal of the differences between those adults that "get it" (Will's mom, Sheriff Hopper, the middle school science teacher) and those that don't (pretty much everyone else) is particularly fine and elegant.

4. The government research lab, and all the scientists that work there, are evil to the core? Bleah. Weak and cliched. But it is an easy way to stage a show that really wants to focus on the children, and keep nearly everyone else anonymous.

5. The single worst part about Stranger Things, though, is the notion that El's power derives from her anger. Boo! Hiss! Shame on all the script writers and creatives! This is more than just vastly disappointing, it's so completely unnecessary. If they had just done this one single thing right, Stranger Things would truly be a show for the ages. Instead, it's in that list of stuff I'll watch, but won't really actively recommend to people.