# Stranger Things

23 Hacker News commenters recommended Stranger Things and 38 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A well-known Netflix hit that fans praise for its 80s nostalgia, high budget and strong early seasons, though critics say quality dips and plots recycle in later seasons.

## Why people recommend it

- Among Netflix's best-known hits (6 comments): "Stranger Things, and back in the day Orange Is The New Black and House Of Cards were the reasons to have Netflix." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48109106)) "major hits like Squid Games, Stranger Things, (both became cultural phenomena)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46160976)) "the counterpoint is: House of Cards, Queen's Gambit, Stranger Things" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46165628))
- Strong early seasons (2 comments): "First few seasons Netflix keeps it together before crapping the bed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47546578)) "The first season was the only really good one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46430111))
- High quality, high budget, well done (2 comments): "Stranger Things is also high quality and high budget." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46161684)) "As a fan of the franchise it was really well done." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46169038))
- Good ending that sticks the landing (2 comments): "I thought is was a good ending to a good show. It wasn't great, but it didn't need to be. They stuck the landing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46465506)) "paying off invested time and staying true to the show's core themes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458705))

## What people warn about

- Quality drops in later seasons (4 comments): "there is a dip in quality this season, it is no where near as bad as what happened to GoT" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46428359)) "Stranger Things is a great example, the decline is visible not just in the story but in the visuals" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47545978)) "it verges on being garbage itself, a profound drop in quality compared to previous seasons" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46431135))
- Recycled scenes and thin plot (4 comments): "ran out of ideas three years ago and have just been recycling the same scene over and over and over again" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46439412)) "constant action, little real plot, character interaction felt a shallow reflection of prior seasons" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46431497)) "it's turned into a long sequence of Obligatory Scenes that feel increasingly forced" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46407550))
- Improbable plot and heavy exposition (2 comments): "there's a wild amount of in-scene exposition, where the characters explain what's happening while it's happening" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46161699)) "The story line requires constant suspension of belief based on the endless succession of improbable events" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46430210))
- Stretched over too many seasons (2 comments): "imho had too many long breaks between seasons" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46164824)) "It was a show that should have been two seasons, which they stretched into five." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46435845))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Halt and Catch Fire](https://hackerapproved.com/p/halt-and-catch-fire.md): 166 recommend
- [Babylon 5](https://hackerapproved.com/p/babylon-5.md): 86 recommend
- [Silicon Valley (TV series)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/silicon-valley.md): 52 recommend
- [Andor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/andor.md): 52 recommend
- [The Wire](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wire.md): 39 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Stranger Things", https://hackerapproved.com/p/stranger-things/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).