‘Stranger Things’ After-Show Announced… But It’s Not Really An After-Show?
The after-show is fast becoming just as ubiquitous as the multitude of scripted prestige dramas in the age of Peak TV.
The phenomenon was kicked off in 2011 by Chris Hardwick’sTalking Dead, a complement to AMC’s hugely popularWalking Dead, but has since spread to every series fromOrphan BlacktoBachelor in Paradise. NowStranger Things, as Netflix’s flagship show, will be the first original series at the streaming service to get its own after-show programming.
Netflix is launchingBeyond Stranger Things, a seven-episode after-show program hosted by “super fan"Jim Rash(who played the dean inCommunityand is also the Oscar-winning screenwriter ofThe Descendents), according toThe Hollywood Reporter. The after-show program teases an exploration of the “inspiration for the series, behind-the-scenes stories, and analyzes every aspect of the second season – answering all the burning questions.”
But the after-show comes with a curious warning to viewers: don’t watch the spoiler-filled after-show until after you’ve finished season 2. Which kind of negates the point of an after-show. An after-show to accompany a series made to be binged in one setting was already a bit odd, but unlike other after-shows, viewers are encouraged to watch the seven episodes after the final episode ofStranger Things 2. The show even automatically plays for viewers after the last episode of the new season.Why does this show even exist if this is the format? It sounds to me vaguely like a special feature from a movie Blu-ray — which ties into the Duffer Brothers' insistence that the series is a “9-hour movie not a show” — but then why call it an after-show?
Netflix released a preview of the first episode ofBeyond Stranger Things, showing the group sit in a recreation of the Wheeler’s basement, around a gaming table with Dungeons & Dragons pieces scattered about.
Watch a Clip from the Stranger Things After Show
Rash will bring on guests with each episode, including showrunnersRoss and Matt Duffer,executive producer and directorShawn Levy, andStranger Thingscast membersMillie Bobby Brown, Sean Astin, Linnea Berthelsen, Natalia Dyer, Brett Gelman, David Harbour, Randy Havens, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Dacre Montgomery, Paul Reiser, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink and Finn Wolfhard.
Here’s the synopsis ofStranger Thingsseason 2:
Stranger Things 2 is set a year after Will’s return, and everything seems back to normal… but a darkness lurks just beneath the surface, threatening all of Hawkins. It’s 1984 and the citizens of Hawkins, Indiana are still reeling from the horrors of the demagorgon and the secrets of Hawkins Lab. Will Byers has been rescued from the Upside Down but a bigger, sinister entity still threatens those who survived.
Stranger Things 2and its after-show premieres on Netflix onOctober 27, 2017.
