The highly anticipated second season of the hit sci-fi show Stranger Things focuses on the tight-knit group of middle-schoolers Dustin, Mike, and Lucas as they deal with the looming Upside Down, the suffering of their friend Will, and the disappearance of their other friend, the telekinetic Eleven. Meanwhile, Police chief Jim Hopper and Will’s mother Joyce continue to search for the answers to Will’s behavior, and Mike’s sister Nancy and Will’s brother Jonathan decide to investigate on their own.
Although Season 2 lacks the quality of Season 1, the more-than-solid follow-up is definitely intriguing. All the things I loved about Season 1 are prevalent throughout Season 2: the dynamic between the kids (and some of the adults) is as entertaining as ever, and the entire cast delivers a strong performance.
Actor Standouts
While Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Chief Hopper (David Harbour) were the standouts of Season 1, the stars of Season 2 have to be Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Nancy’s ex-boyfriend Steve Harrington (Joe Keery). Their character arcs intersect halfway through the season, and from there, sparks fly.
Everything out of Dustin’s mouth is comedy gold, accentuated by the actor Matarazzo’s stellar delivery. Meanwhile, the award for best character development goes to Steve Harrington. Over the course of the end of Season 1 and Season 2, he goes from a womanizing jock to a babysitter, of sorts, for the kids. The actor, Joe Keery flawlessly plays the confused, yet confident and reassuring Steve.
In addition, Noah Schnapp (Will) is a powerhouse in Season 2, which more-than makes up for his restricted role in Season 1. He absolutely sells the trauma and pain his character is forced to endure. Harbour, Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), and Winona Ryder (Joyce) also turn in wonderful acting jobs, as expected.
Disappointing Storylines
Season 2 had very few flaws, but I found Eleven’s storyline to be absolutely boring and, by far, the worst thing about this season. To be fair, there was nothing wrong with Millie Bobby Brown’s portrayal of the character. Nobody but one of the main characters, however, knew she was alive for a good portion of the season.
The way that the writers completely isolated her from the rest of the main characters made it so that her storyline was not entertaining at all. The joy from Stranger Things comes from the affable kids interacting and trying to figure their way out of forces that are bigger than each of them. Taking away one of the characters really diminishes this excitement.
Episode 7 focuses solely on Eleven and her quest to find out why she is who she is, and that episode might be the single worst bit of television I have subjected myself to for fifty, grueling minutes. There is almost no plot development, the supporting characters are one-dimensional, and Brown is unable to carry the entire episode without the rest of the cast. It is better off that you skip this episode as nothing really important is established.
Additionally, I was really disappointed that the character Mike was shifted from the forefront, in Season 1, to the periphery in Season 2. His character doesn’t do anything especially important this season, but, while that is disappointing, I still enjoyed his character and Finn Wolfhard’s performance.
New Faces
The new characters also had me torn: Joyce’s boyfriend Bob (Sean Astin), bad boy Billy (Dacre Montgomery), Billy’s sister, and, new addition to the group, Max (Sadie Sink). Out of the three, Bob is the only character that absolutely had to be in Season 2, but I still found him to be kind of annoying until the later half of the season. Since siblings Billy and Max were given nothing to do except to be a jerk and a love interest, I suspect they were introduced to set up coming seasons. The actors Sadie Sink and (especially) Dacre Montgomery gave good performances; it’s just a shame their talents were mostly wasted this season.
My last gripe with this season were the storylines of Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). While their character developments shined brightly in Season 1, their additions to Season 2’s plot seemed almost predictable. Their characters also suffered from the removal of Steve, a major part of their early developments.
As per usual, the plot and core narrative are strong. It takes a little time to set up the stakes and the new characters, but I was glued to the screen and on the edge of my seat when the story finally kicked in. The suspense is palpable, the stakes are set high, the action is engaging, and everything is written, directed, and shot flawlessly. Over all, I definitely recommend Season 2 to any casual fan; the season ends on a sweet, yet sinister note that left me craving Season 3.
Dominic Floreno’s (’19) Opinion
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Average Rating