Written by: Kevin Berge
I never even once had a Halloween costume that impressive. (Image Courtesy of: digitalspy.com)
Quick Take: Stranger Things Season 2 has a more creative tale to tell, not quite as beholden to its homage aesthetic, but it also lacks as much clear focus as the first season. By focusing on many of the lesser used characters, it succeeds more as a series, creating more wide-ranging intrigue, but stumbles a bit as a contained story.
Stranger Things Review: Season 1
***This is a review of the second season of Stranger Things with the expectation that those reading further have seen the season. There will be heavy spoilers, so those wanting to watch the series should not read further if they wish to remain unspoiled.***
There may not have bigger craze that Netflix unleashed on the world than Stranger Things. It became such a cultural phenomenon that it was easy to get lost in the hype for better or worse. By the time season two came out, I had forgotten much of what happened in the first season, overridden by the simplistic hype.
Returning to the series reminded me why it was so effective. Yes, it is once more completely beholden to Steven Spielberg with clear references to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The world is heavily inspired by the trappings of Stephen King. It is drenched in its 1980s world.
However, that clear and purposeful intertextuality is not the guiding force behind the quality of this series. Rather, it is one that uses that framework in a fresh way, to create its own intriguing cast of characters and stories. As nice as it is to return to a time of great storytelling, it is the fresh elements that make Stranger Things worth watching.
In its second season, consequences are the name of the game with a heavy focus on what happened before. Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) return to face a new threat that is haunting the saved Will Byers (Noah Schnapp).
The Upside Down is an inescapable threat, and it is using Will as part of a plot to escape to the real world. As Will's mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) frets over him, Sheriff Jim Hopper (David Harbour) attempts to find the root of the threat and hide Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) from the scientists now led by Sam Owens (Paul Reiser) investigating the growing problem.
Last season, the focus was fairly narrow. The monster was the Demonogorgon, and everyone had a part to play in stopping it particularly Eleven. This season, the threat is the entire Upside Down which is shifting with each story.
Even discussing those two main sides of the plot does not get into the love triangle between Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), and Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) or new girl and potential addition to the kid's party Max (Sadie Sink) or Joyce's new boyfriend Bob Newby (Sean Astin).
***This is a review of the second season of Stranger Things with the expectation that those reading further have seen the season. There will be heavy spoilers, so those wanting to watch the series should not read further if they wish to remain unspoiled.***
There may not have bigger craze that Netflix unleashed on the world than Stranger Things. It became such a cultural phenomenon that it was easy to get lost in the hype for better or worse. By the time season two came out, I had forgotten much of what happened in the first season, overridden by the simplistic hype.
Returning to the series reminded me why it was so effective. Yes, it is once more completely beholden to Steven Spielberg with clear references to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The world is heavily inspired by the trappings of Stephen King. It is drenched in its 1980s world.
However, that clear and purposeful intertextuality is not the guiding force behind the quality of this series. Rather, it is one that uses that framework in a fresh way, to create its own intriguing cast of characters and stories. As nice as it is to return to a time of great storytelling, it is the fresh elements that make Stranger Things worth watching.
In its second season, consequences are the name of the game with a heavy focus on what happened before. Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) return to face a new threat that is haunting the saved Will Byers (Noah Schnapp).
The Upside Down is an inescapable threat, and it is using Will as part of a plot to escape to the real world. As Will's mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) frets over him, Sheriff Jim Hopper (David Harbour) attempts to find the root of the threat and hide Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) from the scientists now led by Sam Owens (Paul Reiser) investigating the growing problem.
Last season, the focus was fairly narrow. The monster was the Demonogorgon, and everyone had a part to play in stopping it particularly Eleven. This season, the threat is the entire Upside Down which is shifting with each story.
Even discussing those two main sides of the plot does not get into the love triangle between Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), and Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) or new girl and potential addition to the kid's party Max (Sadie Sink) or Joyce's new boyfriend Bob Newby (Sean Astin).
The Demogorgon got real big. (Image Courtesy of: slashfilm.com)
Everyone has a purpose in this story, but there are so many stories to tell. It is nice to finally see that the other kids have families and their own problems not connected to the direct threat. However, this leaves many of the supposed clear protagonists in marginalized roles.
In the first two-thirds of this season, Mike and Eleven are basically stuck in holding patterns, waiting to find each other again. Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown sell dramatic scenes with a degree of depth that should not be possible at their age, but Wolfhard especially disappears into the background often this season.
This is not a problem for a series that should continue to develop through seasons, but season one felt contained and tight in such a way that you could watch it and leave satisfied. Season two is more a first step in a longer journey even if it is actually a second act.
The Upside Down is too complicated to boil down. The threats are dynamic and obtuse. Character relationships shift wildly with it sometimes hard to decide what we are being asked to root for. This is particularly clear in the portrayal of Will who should have been a heavy focus as an individual given his sparse appearance in the first season.
Will plays victim again, and his relationship with the shadow monster makes understanding and sympathizing with him difficult. The audience has only really known him as the friend and son of other characters better understood.
I found myself more worried for Mike and Joyce than Will himself as many asked if he had to be killed to save the world. Will himself is constantly a symbol so much that it is hard to see what he wants. He is less talkative than Eleven despite having more screen time and focus this season.
On the other side of the storytelling, the introduction of Max, subtle development of her character, and her growing romance with Lucas is well done and welcome in showing who Lucas is more clearly. There are some attempts to slip Dustin into this story as well, but they are a bit hamfisted.
In the first two-thirds of this season, Mike and Eleven are basically stuck in holding patterns, waiting to find each other again. Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown sell dramatic scenes with a degree of depth that should not be possible at their age, but Wolfhard especially disappears into the background often this season.
This is not a problem for a series that should continue to develop through seasons, but season one felt contained and tight in such a way that you could watch it and leave satisfied. Season two is more a first step in a longer journey even if it is actually a second act.
The Upside Down is too complicated to boil down. The threats are dynamic and obtuse. Character relationships shift wildly with it sometimes hard to decide what we are being asked to root for. This is particularly clear in the portrayal of Will who should have been a heavy focus as an individual given his sparse appearance in the first season.
Will plays victim again, and his relationship with the shadow monster makes understanding and sympathizing with him difficult. The audience has only really known him as the friend and son of other characters better understood.
I found myself more worried for Mike and Joyce than Will himself as many asked if he had to be killed to save the world. Will himself is constantly a symbol so much that it is hard to see what he wants. He is less talkative than Eleven despite having more screen time and focus this season.
On the other side of the storytelling, the introduction of Max, subtle development of her character, and her growing romance with Lucas is well done and welcome in showing who Lucas is more clearly. There are some attempts to slip Dustin into this story as well, but they are a bit hamfisted.
And this was the moment when Max realized she had chosen the wrong group to hang out with. (Image Courtesy of: digitalspy.com)
Perhaps no episode better exemplifies the most glaring weakness of season two than episode seven. While I honestly enjoyed it on its own, seven is a wild derivation from the story that finally lets Millie Bobby Brown stretch her dramatic muscles but amounts to nothing. It is just a diversion, almost a backdoor pilot to a spinoff.
Luckily, it is followed up by episodes eight and nine which are both fantastic, ramping up the action and drama to a point that the slow foundations feel well set up. These episodes are the science fiction horror that this show does best and may be the best the series has produced to this point.
From the desperate escape from the lab ending in the death of Bob to the desperate attempt to appeal to Will through the mist that controls him to Eleven's arrival, episode eight is pure intensity. What follows is a finale that finally forces everyone to come together and do their part in fighting the Upside Down's infection especially Eleven, growing as a party in a way that had been lacking somewhat earlier in the season.
The Duffer Brothers have crafted an experience that genuinely stands on its own this season, but the writing does at times lag behind. This is particularly true in the show's reliance on intertexual allusion. Many interactions between characters slip into familiar even cliche patterns that reveal a falseness about the characters that is humorous but takes away from the drama.
In particular, the series cannot seem to decide how to portray romance. Eleven and Mike's honestly strong connection is undercut by a random outburst of anger when she misconstrues a friendly conversation between Mike and Max. Meanwhile, Bob's simple role as support to Joyce and father figure to Will and Jonathan is questioned randomly for reasons never well explained.
Even with all these faults, the brilliance of the series shines through. The direction is spot on and the acting top notch to take a solid if derivative concept and make it infinitely watchable. These characters are the crux of a series that can last far beyond its first ideas.
It is hard not to keep watching Stranger Things after an episode ends. It is flawed but affecting, and it always pushes forward. The second season may widen its reach a bit too much, but it keeps the focus on its great characters and tells an engaging story.
Luckily, it is followed up by episodes eight and nine which are both fantastic, ramping up the action and drama to a point that the slow foundations feel well set up. These episodes are the science fiction horror that this show does best and may be the best the series has produced to this point.
From the desperate escape from the lab ending in the death of Bob to the desperate attempt to appeal to Will through the mist that controls him to Eleven's arrival, episode eight is pure intensity. What follows is a finale that finally forces everyone to come together and do their part in fighting the Upside Down's infection especially Eleven, growing as a party in a way that had been lacking somewhat earlier in the season.
The Duffer Brothers have crafted an experience that genuinely stands on its own this season, but the writing does at times lag behind. This is particularly true in the show's reliance on intertexual allusion. Many interactions between characters slip into familiar even cliche patterns that reveal a falseness about the characters that is humorous but takes away from the drama.
In particular, the series cannot seem to decide how to portray romance. Eleven and Mike's honestly strong connection is undercut by a random outburst of anger when she misconstrues a friendly conversation between Mike and Max. Meanwhile, Bob's simple role as support to Joyce and father figure to Will and Jonathan is questioned randomly for reasons never well explained.
Even with all these faults, the brilliance of the series shines through. The direction is spot on and the acting top notch to take a solid if derivative concept and make it infinitely watchable. These characters are the crux of a series that can last far beyond its first ideas.
It is hard not to keep watching Stranger Things after an episode ends. It is flawed but affecting, and it always pushes forward. The second season may widen its reach a bit too much, but it keeps the focus on its great characters and tells an engaging story.