Rewatching the pilot episode of Stranger Things, I realized that Netflix’s giant hit changed its entire tone after its first outing. As Stranger Things season 5 approaches, I’m far from the only one who has decided to rewatch the entire saga from start to finish before the show’s final outing.
While the entire Stranger Things timeline is pretty straightforward, the show’s story grows more complex and its world gets more sprawling with each new season. Thus, it is worth revisiting the first season before the final outing to reacquaint yourself with the story of Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will.
While every season of Stranger Things has its highs and lows, it is hard to deny that the show’s first outing felt like lightning in a bottle. The show, originally conceived as a standalone miniseries entitled Montauk, initially followed the search for a missing child named Will Byers.
As Will’s family searched for answers, his friends Mike, Dustin, and Lucas stumbled across a strange lost child named Eleven in the woods. So began the epic story of the series, but, revisiting season 1, episode 1, “The Vanishing of Will Byers,” one big difference is immediately, unavoidably obvious.
Stranger Things Season 1 Is Way Slower Than You Remember
Despite what viewers might remember of Stranger Things season 1, the show is shockingly slow in its early episodes. While Stranger Things is a horror show as well as a sci-fi series and a coming-of-age dramedy, viewers would not necessarily guess this from the pilot alone. Instead, the first episode plays out like a character drama.
Admittedly, there are moments where unambiguous genre elements rear their head, from an early glimpse of the Demogorgon to the Men in Black-style secret agents pursuing Eleven to the diner. However, for the most part, the show is remarkably subdued in its first outing.
Viewed as a standalone piece of television, “The Vanishing of Will Byers” feels more like an austere domestic drama than an Amblin movie from the ‘80s. This is entirely intentional, with series creators the Duffer Brothers admitting that Dennis Villeneuve’s Prisoners was a formative influence during the writing of season 1.
This is secretly vital to the show’s success, since many of the show’s later, more fantastical choices feel grounded by the slow, elegiac style of its opening episode. From the first episode’s cold open, Stranger Things is a show where shadowy scientists open up secret portals to other realms filled with monstrous beings.
However, the slow pacing and grim, understated tone ensure that this premise never feels inherently campy or silly. Compared to some of its contemporaries, like Riverdale or Wayward Pines, Stranger Things started out as a heavy, self-serious affair. This worked to the show’s benefit, allowing characters to come to the fore.
The Tone of Stranger Things Grew Lighter and More Fantastical In Seasons 2 and 3
As the series progressed, things grew much wackier, more surreal, and sillier. The zany nadir of this trend was Stranger Things season 3, where Hopper became a cartoonish meathead, Eleven and Mike struggled with a pointless breakup, and the kids took on a monster the size of a mall with fireworks and a Neverending Story singalong.
However, the Soviets hiding under the mall aside, season 3 wasn’t the beginning and end of this trend. Season 2 already introduced Murray, one of the show’s most divisive and over-the-top characters, while the same outing massively upped the show’s action quotient as the kids took on numerous Demogorgons instead of the lone monster seen in season 1.
Although the ending of Stranger Things season 4 was epic in its scope, the show still managed to dial back the worst excesses of season 3 in its most recent outing. Vecna’s pursuit of Max felt targeted and personal, whereas season 3’s big bad consumed dozens of victims on and off-screen indiscriminately.
Stranger Things Season 5’s Huge Scope Means It Can’t Feel Like Season 1
While Stranger Things season 1 is great precisely because of its limited scope, the show can’t return to this style in its final outing. Stranger Things started out as a small-scale, intimate mystery drama, but season 5 couldn’t be that now if it tried, as the series has too many characters and too many plot strands to tie up.
Even if Stranger Things season 5 killed off its most cartoonish characters early on to signal a tonal shift, the show has already established the massive scale of Vecna’s powers and Eleven’s abilities. The ending of season 4 saw much of Hawkins destroyed, and early season 5 trailers imply that the entire town will be placed under quarantine.
As such, it is tough to imagine a version of season 5 that would somehow conjure up the spirit of season 1’s pilot, with its modest storyline and small handful of characters. That said, I hope that the final outing of Stranger Things can bring the same care and attention to detail that its pilot boasted, even if it is on a bigger canvas.
