Stranger Things was the breakout television phenomenon of the summer. Saturday Night Live takes the summer off. So you can excuse the comedy institution for not getting around to a Stranger Things parody until like three months after you shotgunned the whole thing in a day.
In this “sneak peek” at the Netflix hit’s second season, we find out what’s happening with Lucas’s family and learn what scares black people more than the Demogorgon. We also get some pretty great work from Lin-Manuel Miranda as the stuttering Dustin, Melissa Villaseñor as Winona Ryder, and Kate McKinnon as the Eggo-starved, telekinetic Eleven. The racial aspect gives the sketch a little bit of an edge, but mostly this is the kind of harmless but fun parody Saturday Night Live periodically does of TV shows that hit the zeitgeist. Think that Twin Peaks sketch from 25 years ago, or the Mad Men one from Jon Hamm’s first episode. Of course the Netflix binge model tends to shorten the amount of time a show like Stranger Things sits at the center of the pop culture conversation, but that’s a thought for a different piece. Watch this thing and maybe you’ll dig it.