Stranger Things Honest Trailer Is a Hilarious Bike Ride Through Nostalgia

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“The following trailer only spoils season 1 of Stranger Things. The bad men will get us if we spoil season 2 before it’s on Blu-ray.”

After Honest Trailers’ triumphant return with Spider-Man: Homecoming, it seems fitting that ScreenJunkies would turn their attention to TV’s biggest phenomenon. Season 2 of Stranger Things still has its claws in the viewing audience and the Internet zeitgeist, and it feels like a perfect time to revisit how it all began.

I have to say that this Honest Trailer is one of my favorites; it perfectly encapsulates my mixed emotions regarding season 1 of Stranger Things. Let me guide you through some of the trailer’s best moments and provide pictorials in case you can’t watch the video right now.

“From a directing duo that’s like Tarantino, if he referenced movies you’ve actually seen …”

And the truthiest truth about the show:

“No, I don’t want to skip intro, this song is awesome!”

It’s hard to argue that a great deal of Stranger Things‘ popularity and widespread appeal came from its excellent (but freakin’ constant) use of ’80s nostalgia, and Honest Trailers nails just the reason why:

“You love the ’80s. You love Spielberg. You love most of Stephen King. Now the world is terrible. So escape to a slick bingeable series you’d watch at double speed if it meant you could get it into your brain sooner.

Must … revisit … childhood … escape … horrible … present … day—”

Then they help summarize the season’s biggest plot points:

“Will may be missing, but there’s plenty of other strange things to go around. Like … Mike’s sister, trapped in a love triangle between two haircuts …

… Will’s mom, who copes with her son’s loss by getting really into arts and crafts …

… Hopper, the cop on a one-man quest to cold-cock every guard in town …

… and fan favorite Barb, the most talked-about character with the least amount of screentime since Boba Fett.

Look I get it, she’s awkward and she didn’t deserve to die, but what about the dude at the beginning who gets shot just for helping a lost child? Where the hashtag #justiceforbenny, huh?”

One of the highlights of Honest Trailers is always their amusing spin on end-credits, and this is the most extended and detailed that I’ve seen so far. It’s also quite a perfect (and yet relatively spoiler-free) summation of the entire season, in case you’re still on the fence about starting the show or are trying to convince a holdout friend to join you. How will they be able to resist this?

STARRING:

“You know what’s gonna suck? When people get nostalgic for 2017 and show kids dabbing on a hoverboard like it wasn’t the worst time ever.”

I love you, Honest Trailers. This is truly the most incisive take on Stranger Things that I’ve seen yet.

I hope the bad men will let them get around trailer’ing season 2 before that Blu-Ray. I’m actually a little surprised Netflix hasn’t gone full-blown nostalgia and announced a promotional release on VHS. They’d sell a lot of tapes.

(via Honest Trailers, images: screengrabs)

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Kaila Hale-Stern
Kaila Hale-Stern (she/her) is a content director, editor, and writer who has been working in digital media for more than fifteen years. She started at TMS in 2016. She loves to write about TV—especially science fiction, fantasy, and mystery shows—and movies, with an emphasis on Marvel. Talk to her about fandom, queer representation, and Captain Kirk. Kaila has written for io9, Gizmodo, New York Magazine, The Awl, Wired, Cosmopolitan, and once published a Harlequin novel you'll never find.
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