Similar Things and Uneccessary Things
Stranger Things was a runaway success when it was released last year and it surprised everyone as it became one of the biggest TV shows. The first season of the show felt new and original whilst also giving viewers a feeling of nostalgia about watching VHS, playing with your best friends, everything about the 80’s and this ET/Goonies-style adventure movies that used to be huge blockbuster hits. Season two is one of the most highly anticipated TV events of the year and it’s good if you loved the first season, however, don’t expect too much from it.
Stranger Things season two continues on a year after the events of the first season and sees Will back with his best friends only something is up and he keeps having strange PTSD style visions of the Upside-down and a large monster lurking over the top of Hawkins. Over the course of the season the monster slowly tries to take over Hawkins as the cast from the first season try to save their beloved town, and lives, again. The cast is filled out with a few new additions such as Max, a new girl member of the group, her 80’s style jock of a brother and Ben, Sean Astin, who is with Joyce and oblivious to what is going on.
Season two of Stranger Things is exactly what you liked about the first season but that is its problem, unfortunately. There are many great things to say about season two and that’s where I’ll start. The new characters are interesting and fun, Sean Astin’s Bob is the best new addition to the cast. If you liked Sean Astin in Goonies and Lord of the Rings then you’ll like him in Stranger Things. Max and her brother Billy are good additions as well however Billy is pushed to the side until he needs to be used as a reason to further the story. Its small things like that which ended up making this season of Stranger Things less impressive than the first season. There are some fantastic visuals and special effects, some great directing work by Andrew Stanton, but there’s a sense of familiarity and a lack of execution in season two compared to season one.
There is one particular episode in season two that is the obvious outlier, that episode is episode seven The Lost Sister. The Lost Sister focuses on Eleven’s search for a girl that she knew from the lab that also had powers. The whole episode is just that, no other characters from the main cast or anything about what is going on in Hawkins. This episode is right after the two best episodes of the season, up to that point, the two episodes directed by Pixar Alum Andrew Stanton. Those two episodes slingshotted the season forward and before them, the episodes were slow and almost reunion series like in nature. The Andrew Stanton episode brought a sense of urgency and panic that made the end of the last season so exciting, you didn’t know what was going to happen to everyone. As soon as episode seven starts it completely cuts off all of this urgency and panic that was built up. All for a 47-minute story that was only in place so that Eleven could be included in the season. A decision that inherently slowed down the pacing of this season and a decision that, in the end, is ultimately our own fault.
In season one Eleven was everyone’s favourite character, not including Barb, and she shined a little more to the rest of the cast, even having Millie Bobby Brown being nominated for awards. We all liked her so much that she needed to be included in season two or else there probably would’ve been a riot by Stranger Things fans. Her inclusion in the season ultimately holds the season back as you tend to know what is going to happen most of the time. Without spoiling anything Eleven basically isn’t with the main cast most of the season and everyone still thinks she is missing or dead. The characters in the show don’t know whether she is alive or not and they have a sense of panic as they’ve never really had to face off against monsters from the Upsidedown before without her but you know she is alive and that feeling of panic that everyone or anyone could die isn’t mutual between the characters and you. Instead, the season becomes more like every superhero movie now, you know that no matter what Spider-Man isn’t actually going to die because well the Avengers are always nearby. No matter what situation any character is in that situation is watered down because the nearest superhero is a phone call or news report on a nearby TV away. Having Eleven being shown early on and you knowing that she is alive not only makes the season longer, adding in quite frankly a boring story about other people with powers which I’m bored of and if I wanted that I’d watch anything involving X-Men, and also taking away the fear you have that your favourite character might die.
I’m not saying I didn’t like season two, I loved season two when it was being slightly scary and cool Stranger Things, but one decision has, unfortunately, put a sour note on top of the rest of the season. I could’ve done without last season’s stat character. There is a moment where Steve Harrington talks about how the main players are doing what they need to do and that he and some of the other cast are the bench players who have to wait until it’s their time. Eleven should’ve been kept on the bench until it was her time, the season is a four out of five because it’s Stranger Things being great which will always be good to watch and the characters, especially some interesting matchups this season which were good, are fantastic to get to know. It’s also a four out of five because it didn’t have its big moment and its star character wasn’t put in the game at the right moment. A buzzer beater to win a close battle with the Upside-down would’ve been much better than knowing you won already like a regular season of a familiar TV show.