A tight-knit group of four middle-schoolers confront the disappearance of one of their own and the appearance of a girl with paranormal powers in this homage to the 1980s. A compendium of plots and ideas ripped out of 70s-80s sci-fi/thriller classics (such as “Alien,” “Close Encounters,” “E.T,” “Altered States,” “Twin Peaks” and especially “Poltergeist“—which itself was a rip-off of a “Twilight Zone” episode), this series has a very shaky start. The first two episodes feel like a Goosebumps retread through Sillyland. But the entertainment level rises significantly starting with Episode 3, when the series takes its situations a little more seriously and becomes a delightfully suspenseful program with engaging characters.

2021 Update: By 2021, we’re getting to season 4. These “kids” are practically adults by now. Season 2 was OK. But they lost that kid charm by season 3, of which I couldn’t get past the first two episodes after finding it too cheesy.  

Not for Kids