WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR STRANGER THINGS 2 SPOILERS AND PLOT ANALYSIS. If you have not yet watched / finished season two; 1) what else are you doing?? 2) Do not read on!
After over a year of eager anticipation, Stranger Things 2 finally landed on our screens at the end of October - I finished it in a mere two days. Once again, the Duffer brothers managed to thrill and scare me, make me laugh and cry, and leave a massive Demigorgon shaped-hole in my heart that will not be filled again until who knows when. If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I have not shut up about ST2 for the last few days (I have a lot of feelings and thoughts ok??) and today I wanted to share with you all moments, characters and sub-plots I both loved and hated from the second season, as inspired by this article.
THE PLOT
I LOVED... WILL BYERS
Although season one centred around the character of Will and his abduction into the Upside Down, he was noticeably absent for the majority of the season, leaving us to get to know his lovable, nerdy friends who left no stone upturned in their attempts to find him. This season we actually get to know Will, well, until he becomes possessed by The Mind-Flayer and starts acting really, really weird. Without a doubt, Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown were the stand-out child actors from the previous season, but Noah Schnapp gives them a serious run for their money. He perfectly balances the reality of what it's like to be a shy, strange kid with few friends, and an over-protective mom and an evil, demonic force that is so utterly terrifying, he left me covering my eyes for the majority of that exorcism scene. He makes us feel uncomfortable, but also leaves us wanting to hug him at the same time, and I can't wait to see where he takes the character of Will in season three.
I HATED... THE OSTRACISATION OF THE BYERS FAMILY
Last season, Winona Ryder's portrayal of a mother desperate to find her son, left me in tears the majority of the time. But one thing I hated that seems to have unfortunately carried over onto the second season, is how the rest of Hawkins reacts to Joyce and her boys. Joyce is treated like the local whacko; an overprotective mom who won't give her youngest son space to breathe. But if your son had been abducted into a parallel dimension, possessed by a monster and had the whole debacle covered up and blamed on the Russians, I think you'd be a little bit protective over your son too. Of course, no-one outside of our main squad really knows what happened to Will (instead, they're fed the line that "he got lost in the woods") but even then no external citizens make the effort to check up on the family and see how they're doing. Except Bob of course, but we'll get onto Bob in a second. Will is mercilessly teased and isolated by the majority of the school, and when starts to experience visions, now-memories and everything in-between, Mike is really the only friend to stay at his side and attempt to help him through his ordeal. And as for Jonathan... well, was Jonathan even in season two, apart from being Nancy's sidekick in her #JusticeforBarb campaign?? He had such a great role last season, and this season he may as well not even have been there. Basically, I just want everyone to be nice to the Byers family next season, okay?
NEW CHARACTERS
You can't have a new season without new characters, and what I loved about their introduction, was that the show gave us time to get to know them before throwing them into the action. But that doesn't mean I liked all of them.
I LOVED... BOB NEWBY, SUPERHERO
I guess it wasn't all bad for Joyce this season, with the introduction of Bob the Brain bringing everyone's favourite erratic mom a little sliver of happiness. Bob is a giant dork, who takes her family for what it is. He doesn't ask too many questions, and instead accepts all the peculiarities that come with her and her boys (even if Jonathan doesn't accept him). When weird things start happening to Will through his now-memories, Bob advises and comforts him, even if that piece of truly awful, but well-placed advice becomes the catalyst that leads Will into possession by the Mind-Flayer. My favourite Bob scene was when Joyce, Mike and he started to connect the tunnels that Will sketched; he didn't ask too many questions, but instead got his hands dirty, figured everything out and helped rescue Hopper from certain death. His sweet, self-sacrificing and helpful nature was to be his demise though, as Bob is the only major character to die this season, sacrificing himself to the Demidogs at the laboratory, to ensure that the others manage to get out unharmed. Sadly, this is the spoiler I knew was coming, so thankfully I managed to contain my tears, but my love for Bob grew exponentially with every episode and he will be sorely missed.
I HATED... MAX AND BILLY
Before the Billy brigade get on my case, let it be known that I dislike both Max and Billy equally. The character of Max is based around every tomboy cliche that I've seen time and time again in historical fiction. She's tough, rough and doesn't give anything away but obviously has a tragic backstory behind her that makes her the way she is. I really, really wanted to root for her, but I felt like she filled the token role of girl of the gang in Eleven's absence. Had she have been a character we sort of knew, but weren't really invested in, in season one, I think her storyline, and Billy's would have made more sense, and allowed the audience to connect with her on an emotional level. Season one was fantastic for the sense of friendship, and togetherness it brought between Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will, and with the introduction of the Max / Lucas / Dustin love triangle this season, I feel like we lost the group dynamic. To reiterate an earlier point, Mike was the only friend who made any attempt to help Will throughout the majority of the season, with the others not really showing up until the end because they were too pre-occupied with trying to impress Max. Not cool guys.
If you've watched this season, I don't think I really need to go into too much detail about why I despise Billy. He's mean as shit to almost everyone, seemingly for no reason until we discover that his dad isn't the nicest to him and he's finding it oh, so difficult to integrate into a step-family. I'm sorry, but none of that makes me feel even the remotest bit sorry for him, and he is one character I wish would permanently disappear into the Upside Down forever.
OLD FAVOURITES
The introduction of new characters doesn't mean that the originals we know and love are pushed to the side and under-developed. My opinions did a full 180-turn on everyone this season.
I LOVED... STEVE HARRINGTON, SHITTY BOYFRIEND BUT THE WORLD'S BEST BABYSITTER.
I don't think I'm alone in saying that I absolutely despised Steve in season one. His popular jock, IDGAF about anything except shagging Nancy attitude got really boring, really quick. But I know I won't be alone in saying that, *Kanye West voice* Steve Harrington had the best character development of all time (sorry Carol from The Walking Dead!)
In all seriousness, Steve began this season acting pretty much as he did in season one, dismissive of Nancy's concerns over #JusticeforBarb, but doing his best to support his girlfriend as she went through an existential crisis over her involvement in the cover-up of Barb's death. That is until, she gets drunk, overuses the word "bullshit" and basically makes it clear to Steve that she doesn't love him like he loves her. As much as I willed for Nancy and Jonathan to be together throughout season one, that season broke my heart a little bit, and left the audience wondering what would be next for Steve. Well fear not friends, for Steve goes on to have the best redemption arc I have ever seen, becoming big brother to Dustin, and protecting our young protagonists from harm and any costs, even if that means getting attacked by Billy and ending up in the backseat of his car with Max behind the wheel. He's funny, he's brave and his hair has never looked so good, and I have gone from wishing Steve to be banished into the Upside Down, to number one Steve Harrington fan. My only wish for season three is that we don't lose his relationship with the kids, Dustin in particular.
I HATED... NANCY AND JONATHAN
As I mentioned above, in season one I rooted for Nancy and Jonathan to get together with every fibre of my being. However, when our favourite rumoured IRL couple, finally became an on-screen couple it left a rather bitter taste in my mouth, and not just because I've become Steve Harrington's biggest fan. Nancy was my favourite character in season one by a country mile; she was a well-dressed badass, smart, determined, and someone who stopped at nothing to right the wrongs done to her friends and family. These aspects of her character became a little lost this season, and although I'm thankful that she, along with Jonathan's help, managed to finally get #JusticeforBarb, the entire storyline lost it's momentum for me. Not to mention that Jonathan really doesn't have any stand-out moments this season, apart from final getting the girl of his dreams and agreeing to follow her around on her campaign. I feel almost let-down by these two characters this season, and I only hope that something bigger is in store for them next season.
EVERYTHING ELEVEN
Arguably the most memorable, and well-known character from season one, we were left pondering her fate at the end of the first season. What did happen to Eleven?
I LOVED... ELEVEN AND HOPPER
If you cast your mind back to one of the final scenes in season one, we saw Hopper leaving a packet of Eggos in a small chest in the woods, in an attempt to draw Eleven out of hiding. Well it worked, and the two formed an unlikely adoptive father / daughter relationship which we get to see blossom throughout the second season (and it is by far, my favourite thing about this season). Eleven is being hunted by Hawkins' Lab, which means for almost a year, she's been living in Hopper's grandfather's cabin in the woods (which he lovingly fixed up for her whilst pulling off some seriously cool dance moves) communicating with Hopper via radio and morse code. He teaches her to speak fluently, feeds her all the Eggos she desires and he even ruffles her rather funky new hair-do. However, she longs for her freedom, and to see Mike again who she attempts to communicate with telepathically, which leads to numerous arguments and fights, eventually leading to Eleven discovering the truth about her mom and running away. Obviously no one told Hopper that raising a telekentic teenager was not going to be an easy job. Their relationship has its ups and downs, but the manage to reconcile in the end, and Hopper is by her side when she closes the gate between the mortal world and the Upside Down, stopping The Mind-Flayer from crossing the dimensions. After learning about the tragic loss of Hopper's daughter last season, it's nice to see both he and Eleven find a little bit of happiness with each other.
I HATED... ELEVEN'S STORY
As much as I disliked that season one became "The Eleven Show", I disliked the fact that Eleven was barely in season two even more. Her relationship with the boys made the first season special, and removing her character from them until the final episode, left a giant hole in the group (that Max definitely could not fill). Instead, Eleven was given her own storyline, as she discovered the truth about her mom, and she eventually sets off to find her, and gets way more than she bargained for. You may remember from season one that we've already met Eleven's, or Jane's, mom Terry Ives. Remember that woman Joyce and Hopper went to visit in their attempts to find out what happened to Will, and how Eleven knew what happened to Will, but who wasn't much assistance because she had essentially been lobotomised? Yep - that's the one! It comes as no shock to the audience that Eleven sets out to find her, but it is a shock when we learn that her mom has been attempting to communicate telepathically with her daughter, providing us with her full, tragic and horrific backstory, and the introduction of Eleven's sister Eight (or Kali).
Eleven eventually reconnects with her sister, in an entire episode dedicated to her story. Episode seven feels really disconnected from the rest of the season, and eventually proves meaningless anyway, as Eleven refuses to aid her sister's gang of vigilantes intent on getting justice (not for Barb this time) for all of the children who were experimented on. The only real purpose this storyline serves, is to allow Eleven to harness her powers and expand her telekinetic abilities. But this is an episode, and a storyline I could have done without.
THE SERIES AS A WHOLE
There were a lot of differences between season one and two, not just in terms of character developments and storylines. With a bigger budget, comes a bigger production and bigger scares.
I LOVED... THE CREEPY ATMOSPHERE
What I love about Stranger Things, is that it appeals to every aspect of my sci-fi, horror nerd, inner teenager, in a way that no other show does. It manages to find the right balance between scares and slapstick, emotions and humour, darkness and light. Season one was dark, with some scary moments, but season two is suspenseful, darker and creepier with some genuinely terrifying moments. The pace this season was just right, with the introduction of new monsters done in a creative, funny way, with Will's eventual decline into evil paced just right. Seeing everything from his perspective, made this season that much more frightening, and season two combined every scary thought and feeling you have as a child, into one terrifying nightmare that escalates with every episode. The final two episodes are filled with shocks, scares and sad moments that bring season two to a satisfying conclusion, whilst also leaving us with enough room to grow even more in season three.
I HATED... THE CINEMATOGRAPHY
Season two received a lot of praise for it's slick, sleek production, and bright cinematography, but sadly, I can't join in on that praise. One thing I adored about season one, was how rough and realistic it felt - I genuinely felt like I was watching a show from the 80s, and I loved it. But, as with all successful shows, budgets grow and the ability to up the ante to exceed audience expectations is an inevitable factor of all second seasons. However, there were times it felt like I was playing a video game, rather than watching a tv show, particularly with our first glimpse into Will's now-memories at the arcade. The production became less noticeable as the season went on, but I definitely feel like we lost some of the raw grit that made season one such a success.
STAND-OUT SCENES
To bring my list to a conclusion, I thought I would talk about my favourite and least favourite scene from the show, starting with everyone's favourite...
I LOVED... THE SNOW BALL
After the darkness of the final two episodes, I thought it rather fitting that the season concluded with a light-hearted, typically teenage scene that left our group feeling whole again. Dustin waltzing into the gym to Olivia Netwon John's Twist of Fate (which also left every little RuPaul's Drag race fan G A G G E D), his hair perfectly coiffed thanks to four puffs of Farrah Fawcett spray, made my little heart melt. Who wouldn't want to dance with that cutie?? Everyone, apparently, which broke my heart until Nancy finally pulled through and lit up Dustin's face with his pearly white smile. Lucas got his girl, and even Zombie Boy Will got asked to dance. Which left Mike and Eleven finally reunited, and our pals were left to boogie the night away. Of course, until we were let in on the terrifying secret that The Mind-Flayer is still at large, and about to wreak havoc on the high school.
I HATED... THE LABORATORY
As much as I love science-fiction, I am not a huge fan of science, so any of the scenes involving Hawkin's Lab, asides from the final episodes, leave me feeling bored and struggling to understand most of what is going on. Something about men in white coats just makes my brain switch off, but admittedly, there was less science this season than in the previous one.
There is a lot of pressure on tv shows, movies, musicians, to produce a sequel that lives up to the reputation of their first season, film or album. Stranger Things 2 surpasses season one in my opinion, making the 14 month wait well worth it. Asides from one shitty episode towards the end, this season is full of highlights, memorable moments and talking points to keep fans going until season three. Thus beginning our long, long wait to return to the Upside Down.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my opinions on season two, let me know if you agree or disagree with any of the points I've raised!
Until next time,
Rachel x
- November 04, 2017
- 10 Comments
