the best part about stranger things is that they can’t solve anything until they put the three groups together because each group is acting within a separate genre
mike, lucas, dustin, and el are in a weird sci-fi coming of age story where the group of plucky misfit kids solve the mystery and test their friendship along the way
nancy and jonathan are in a horror movie where the teenagers have to kill the monster set against a backdrop of high school drama and romance
joyce and hopper are in a conspiracy thriller where the adults have to figure out what shady stuff the government is up to while also dealing with the difficulties of their personal lives
they all approach the issue within the confines of their genre, but none of those approaches work because none of them are seeing the whole picture. it’s only when all the threads start to converge that they can actually get anything done.
