This summer, I rekindled my love for science fiction by watching the hit Netflix original “Stranger Things,” produced by Shawn Levy. The show centers around four young partners in crime–Mike, played by Finn Wolfhard; Lucas, played by Caleb McLaughlin; Dustin, played by Gaten Matarazzo; and Will, played by Noah Schnapp.

The young science fanatics often find themselves on adventures in their fantasy world run by dungeons and dragons. Everything changes, however, when their friend Will mysteriously disappears and they lead the entire town in uncovering an underground human experimentation site.

Along the way they meet a young girl called Eleven, played by Millie Bobbie Brown. Her character was named after her position within this secret science lab and serves as their link between the real world and a parallel universe, the Upside Down.

If you have not already watched the show–and I think most would agree as indicated by the show’s 9/10 rating on IMDb and 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes–you need to.

Levy does a brilliant job of blending the guilty childhood pleasures of fantasy, monsters, and superpowers with meaningful themes such as power, faith, and the ethical boundaries of science. I also appreciated the thrill behind the show which, for me, comes hand in hand with science fiction.

My favorite characters were Chief Hopper, played by David Harbour, Eleven, and Dustin.

At first, I viewed Chief Hopper as a miserable, self-inflated cop with drug issues–this was probably influenced by my personal bias regarding police officers in general. However, as I made my way through the show and more and more was revealed about his painful past, I began to grow fond of him. I also appreciated the remarkably courageous steps he took throughout the plot.

The complexity of Eleven’s character assists in revealing the true nature behind what exactly was going on at the lab. She cycles through being mute and even still remains very quiet throughout the show, opening up only to Mike. Her strength is in her mind, in which she retains a pseudo-force the equivalent potential of a thousand men. Moreover, I admire Eleven both as an essential plot driver and as a dose of formidably impressive action.

As for Dustin, I just loved his comedic role.

The only issue I had with the show was that the only black main character, Lucas, better known as Luke, stood in opposition to and created conflict within the close-knit friend group for a majority of the show, thereby provoking negative feelings from the viewer. I was not exempt from this.

The last episode leaves us viewers at a cliffhanger, making it all the more necessary that there be a second season for fans of Stranger Things.