TV Series Review: Stranger Things S2

By now I am sure that everyone and their dogs has watched Stranger Things Season 2 and, as usual, I am behind. If you’ve noticed a lot of TV series reviews lately and you’re thinking that I’m watching a lot more TV than usual you’re partly right: It’s awful outside and I’m trying to save the pennies for Christmas but also I had a bit of a backlog of TV reviews to post so they’re going out roughly once a week until I’m caught up. Anyway, where were we? Ah yes, Stranger Things.

I loved Season 1. I loved everything single episode. I find it slightly hilarious that people are now nostalgic for the 80s (I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later) but I even enjoy that aesthetic somehow. The atmosphere is great, the soundtrack is great, the characters are great (even the child actors are actually fantastic and not, as can so often happen with kids, annoying). Oh, and Winona Ryder is perfection itself. Needless to say, I could not wait for Season 2.

Perhaps I built it up a bit too much, but I don’t think I enjoyed it quite as much as Season 1. Shocking, right? I guess the main reason being is that now so much of the world has been built and we understand that the paranormal is going to be fairly, well… normal, and that The Upside down is going to be terrifying, there are fewer surprises. That’s not to say that it wasn’t still wonderful because it totally was still wonderful.

By the way, did you know that Dan Cohen is involved? I just found that out and suddenly the entire Stranger Things concept makes a whol lot more sense.

So all the favourites are back. We get Dustin, Mike, Lucas and Will. Eleven is hanging out with Hop, who is doing his best to protect her. The season starts with Nancy and Steve still dating but after a drunken teen party their relationship suffers a bit of a collapse and for a while Nancy kinda dates Jonathan Byres instead. Meanwhile, Joyce dates newbie nerd Bob and the cool, fascinating Maxine (aka. Mad Max) shows up at the school to cause Dustin, Mike and Lucas all kinds of confusion in deciding whether or not she should be allowed to join the party. He step brother is a monster, jut fyi.

So, Will still isn’t very well after Season 1’s events and a lot of effort is expended in figuring out what’s going on with him. Nancy and Steve, and then Nancy and Jonathan seek justice for Barb, Dustin gains a pet from another dimension and Eleven goes on a mission or two of her own, much to the dismay of Hop. If you liked Season 1 you’re going to love Season 2 in spite of the aspects that are a little predictable, mostly because everyone is getting the chance to grow (Dustin has teeth!) and because The Upside Down is just as terrifying as ever.

So, long live Stranger Things! And not only because I’m looking forward to the point when we’re a few more seasons in and I can persuade a group of friends to dress up as the various incarnations of Eleven with me.