'Stranger Things 2' Review: A Wider Narrative For The Heroes of Hawkins

I never thought I’d be able to hold myself back on binge-watching. I’ve promised myself to keep it in moderation, especially for “Stranger Things 2.” I wanted to enjoy every bit of it at least twice a day, with a 5-day completion period. Boy, how I failed! The first season made people go crazy about it. The second season made us all need it. I was never able to control myself. And I’m pretty sure that everyone had a hard time too.
The best trait of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” is its nostalgia factor and huge callbacks to popular 80’s tropes. But probably the main come-on factor of the show is how it’s able to capitalize on these traits and not over saturate it with elements that make it already good. That being said, “Stranger Things 2” is an awesome new take on the story of Hawkins, Indiana albeit retaining the main themes that made it as iconic as it is, to begin with. One would think that as you go back to watching the show, you’d be treated to the same old feeling that you got in the last season. But for the second season, it’s dialed up to 10. It legitimately feels like you’re in the 80’s, and it even made me pause it for a bit to remind myself that it’s 2017.
“Stranger Things” jumped to massive popularity by virtue of an effective word of mouth. It’s a good show overall, but like any other great show, it does come with its own set of flaws. But despite these good and bad aspects of “Stranger Things,” it’s no denying that the show is definitely now a tentpole in pop culture.

Stranger Things 2’s insanely awesome cast dynamic

“Stranger Things 2” welcomes back Eleven/Elle/Jane (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), and Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) as they take on another challenge of defeating a greater enemy than before. The threat that they all experienced back in Season 1 focused on a singular foe—the Demogorgon. But now that everything’s back to normal, it’s safe to assume that things will go smoothly—or so they all thought.
One of the good things about the show is its impressive child actors. They’ve been widely acclaimed back in the first season, but for “Stranger Things 2,” their talent for acting is highly emphasized and even reaches up to a higher standard.

Eleven and Hopper

The biggest question back in Season 1 was about Eleven’s whereabouts. Towards the end, we saw Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) hide a bunch of Eggos in the forest. “Stranger Things 2” provides a logical answer to that, and we now know that Elle escaped from the Upside Down and wandered in the woods for quite some time. Eventually, Hopper found her and acted as her father figure by taking her under his care and successfully hiding her from everyone, even from Mike. Hopper promises her that she’ll be seeing them soon, to which Elle becomes very impatient. This ushered in arguably one of the best scenes in the show—Elle and Hopper’s fight.
Hopper is enraged as he finds out that Elle left the house and went to the school, almost bumping into Mike. A mother sees her and informs the police about it. Once Hopper found out, he storms in the house and then engage in a heated argument. Honestly, the scene builds up into a beautiful exchange of emotions ranging from sadness, longing, to sheer anger. Hopper gets mad at Elle, calls her a brat and breaks the TV (Elle’s only source of Solace). Elle lashes out too, and her powers manifest. The place is in disarray, and we’re left with an overbearing sense of anger and frustration. This scene between Hopper and Elle further solidifies the bond that these two will have all the way to the end, and I cannot, for the life of me, imagine a far greater father for Elle than Hopper.

Mike and Will

Another highlight for me is the deeper bond that Mike and Will has. This wasn’t really explored back in Season 1, considering how Will was stuck in the Upside Down for most of the show. For “Stranger Things 2,” it’s clear that Mike and Will have a unique connection that ultimately stands the test of time—or even the Shadow Monster. You can already see from the start of the season that Mike is on the lookout for Will. When Will had his first Shadow Monster episode, Mike was the one who snapped him out of it. Come Halloween night, Mike also comes to the rescue when Will sees the monster in its entirety. It’s clear that when there’s danger, Will would always ask for Mike’s help. From the incident at the arcade to helping Will get better in the Hawkins Lab, Mike never left his side. It’s a touching relationship for these two, and it even goes deeper than Will’s friendship with Lucas and Dustin.
The dynamic between Wolfhard and Schnapp is overly impressive, and you could see how their narrative fleshes out as they partner it with authentic acting and a bond that deepens their attachment to each other. Every time their scene comes on, you just can’t help but be touched and feel so much for them. Again, it’s an impressive dynamic, and I could see how this could work out for the next season.

Steve and Dustin

Perhaps one of the greatest twists of “Stranger Things 2” was Steve Harrington’s (Joe Keery) complete 180. From the annoying and cocky high school bully to everyone’s favorite older brother, Steve—according to public consensus—is a new fan favorite. Part of the change that he underwent was being the older brother that Jonathan never was to Will, or to any of the kids. The most touching, though, is his relationship with Dustin.
They start to work together in the first few episodes of “Stranger Things 2,” and from there on, their relationship blossomed into a heart-warming show of brotherhood. Dustin never really had someone to look out for him, and Joe was the one who filled in the role. What started out as an accidental team-up ended up being a lasting friendship that would not only mean good things for Steve but also tons of good advice for Dustin.
Throughout the season, Steve acted as a guardian and babysitter for Dustin, and eventually to Mike, Lucas, and Max. He was the one who made sure that they won’t die, and that he did accurately. And once the show ended, he’s already established as the kids’ favorite guy, even taking Dustin to prom and styling his hair.
For what it’s worth, Steve might as well be the new Hopper.

RIP, Bob.

Bob Newby (Sean Astin) turned out to be a great addition to the cast of “Stranger Things.” At first, you’d think that he’s inherently a bad guy. But as you go through his entire narrative, you’d fall in love with his character and feel as if he shouldn’t have died in the end. He’s one of the people that made the show warmer and positive, acting as the resident adult nerd and underdog-to-hero character.
However, the show is known for killing off innocent and lovable characters. Take Barb for example. Sure, she was given a proper send-off at the end of “Stranger Things 2,” but it doesn’t make things easier to accept. Bob’s death at the hands (jaws? flower face?) of the demodogs was a bit of a surprise, and it would always go on to be one of the saddest character deaths in the show’s history. All throughout he was a good person with a good heart and genuine concern for the Byers family. It’s definitely heartbreaking to see him go, but at least he went out leaving a lasting legacy.
Oh and have I mentioned about this crazy theory about him belonging in Stephen King’s “IT” universe?

Forget about Billy and Max

Like I said before, “Stranger Things” is a good show with awesome cast dynamic, but it doesn’t come with a few bad ones. For one thing, the addition of Max (Sadie Sink) and Billy (Dacre Montgomery) seemed a little bit off for the show’s entire story. Think about it, Billy did little to contribute to anything. He was just placed there to be a bully and an ass. He never even collided with the entire cast and has no clue what the hell is going on in Hawkins. I honestly think he’s dead weight and a boring character. There’s no progression and no point in having him—unless he undergoes a big change in the next season, like Steve.
And then there’s Max. True, she had a bit of a role in helping fend off the demodogs, but other than that she’s just a forced love interest who’s wedged between Lucas and Dustin. I feel like we can treat her the same way as Mike did—an outsider who won’t belong to the group no matter what she does. Having the four boys and Elle is already an established thing, so adding someone to the group is a huge gamble that didn’t work.
That being said, the writing for these two characters is entirely one-dimensional, and if they’re still going to be around for the next season, they’d need a little bit more than a skateboard and a fast car.

What the hell is up with Kali?!

Another distressing addition to the “Stranger Things” story is “The Lost Sister.” A lot of fans would agree that most of the nostalgia and magic that made us fall in love with the show are still present in the new season.
HOWEVER—hold on, let me emphasize that. HOW-FREAKING-EVER, I would describe that episode as a very bad intermission number for “Stranger Things 2.” Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) is a cop-out character that never amounted to anything of relevance to the show and even to her story. I mean, sure, we could’ve cut her some slack and think that maybe she’s going to have a change of heart and her purpose would show when Elle battles the Shadow Monster. Well, it turns out giving her the benefit of the doubt didn’t matter. Elle’s journey to finding herself didn’t need to involve a surprise sister. Hell, she could’ve had that realization with Hopper or even Max!
But it’s good that she’s out of the picture for now because I can’t even imagine her being back for Season 3 and not helping out in any way.

Overall Verdict

“Stranger Things 2” is another iconic show that furthers the importance of 80’s tropes in modern shows. And with a character this vast and this talented, I can’t imagine how it could’ve gone without them. But in any case, the trip back to Hawkins, Indiana is something that I would look forward to every year. As for the story, well, there’s a lot more to it than the Shadow Monster. There are still lots of questions that need to be answered and more characters to explore (ahem BobMaxKali).
“Stranger Things 2” will go down in history as one of the best TV sequels ever. And with a story that will soon close in the next two years, it’s still amazing to know that we’ll always have them around—and we will all be treated to yet another wider narrative for the heroes of Hawkins.