It's been fifteen months, but Netflix's most popular show is back. It sounds like we may not get another season until 2019, so savor this while you can. If you've watched the first season a dozen times, I recommend going into this one with moderate expectations. The second season cannot match the surprises of the first because we all love it now. Stranger Things 2 is more Stranger Things: more creepy crawlies preying on the small town, more lore of the Upside Down, and more character development for one of TV's most lovable ensembles. It's another order of that fun meal you had last time.
The season puts its weakest foot forward, taking about four episodes to really get in motion. It’s a hard contrast to the first season, which in one episode set up everyone’s motivations and half of the major plot threads. The difference is that now the Duffer Brothers know exactly how much pop culture loves their kids, and so they don’t mind having them hang out, slowly get into needless conflicts with each other, and lather up in 80s references. The slower early episodes are thickly decorated in Punky Brewster and “vintage” and KFC product placement.
In both seasons, Stranger Things is at its best when it uses
its influences quietly. The first season was highly influenced by Spielberg’s E.T.
and Stephen King’s Firestarter. It honored its influences by doing things like
the bicycle escape scene where Eleven used her powers to save them – flipping a
van rather than making the bicycles fly.
At its best, this season handles its influences in the same
way. One particular episode dives deeply into visual queues from Alien and
Aliens, but no one brings it up, and the outcomes are very different. In another plot thread, Dustin tries to adopt a
little monster of his own, promptly feeds it after midnight, and the synth-heavy
soundtrack echoes notes from the theme to Gremlins. These are homages embedded in
the plot without derailing it. It’s much defter, say, than when the kids scream
at a Dragon’s Lair arcade cabinet, or watch a vintage commercial for Oreos and The
Terminator.
The newcomers fit the show very well. Sadie Sink plays the
new girl who penetrates the all-boys club, and she has just enough
self-confidence and vulnerability to go stride-for-stride with them. Paul
Reiser is the ultimate 80’s reference joke, playing the new face of the evil
organization. Sean Astin almost steals the series as Bob, Joyce’s new boyfriend
– he’s an affectionate dork who is exactly as sweet and supportive as Joyce
deserves after the hell she went through last year.
You can tell these actors are fitting in when Paul Reiser
and Sean Astin’s characters go through an action scene together, with no
original cast members in sight. The friends I watched it with fully tensed up,
fearing for their fates. They were selling a scene purely on what they’d done
on the show so far. Especially on a show like this, where people are so protective
of the cast, it’s an achievement that everyone fits in.
The best part of the season is the ending, with the
survivors coming together with a desperate plan to protect the town (and
perhaps THE WORLD!) from “The Shadow Monster.” The cast has such chemistry that
every reunion and conciliation between them is heartwarming. The show knows you’re
waiting to get that parasite out of Will, and to see Mike and Eleven meet
again, and it’s going to make you wait. It’s worth the wait, although the wait
is the worst part.
Especially the early episodes are filled with irritatingly
shallow conflicts. Hopper keeps Eleven alone in a cabin in the woods for a year
because “it’s not safe,” but we never know what he’s keeping her safe from. Nancy,
Steve, and Jonathan revive their love triangle of someone feeling spurned while
the other two sweat. In fact, there's a point when two entire love triangles converge and yell at each other. Max enters in the series along with a bully brother
who immediately demeans her; later joins our beloved boys, only to get into squabbles with all
of them, and only gets along with Will long enough for Eleven to show up, think
she’s been replaced, and run away crying. These are the misunderstandings and
transgressions the show tears down later for catharsis, but they suck up
airtime while they last, and most could be resolved by people just
communicating their desires to each other.
Which reminds me to give you this PSA: if you like someone,
talking to them is a better way to their heart than secretly raising a pet
monster to impress them.
You’re welcome, America.
As for the pet monster, its CGI is some of the best I’ve
seen in a TV show. In its various forms as it matures, it looks slimy and
reasonably realistic. The key here is light matching: when the critter is in bright
light or shadow, its skin tone matches the light source like its environment. Thus
the unreal creature looks like it belongs in its environment. This isn’t just
good because of money. There’s intelligence behind the effects, and by the time
Hopper finds out what’s “poisoning” the local pumpkin patch, we see some truly
wild effects. I dread the fanfic it’ll spawn.
Every so often, I rewatch Stranger Things. The blend of
homages, Horror, humor, and characters standing up for each other are so
potent. If the season is uneven, it’s something I’ll happily go through again
on my next visit to the series.
This ends the Halloween List. Thanks to everyone who's watched and read along with me! Let me know if you found anything you loved. Or, that spooked you. That's just as good.
Most people went into the first season with no expectations, which is why it blew everyone away. The second season just falls short, but still way ahead of most everything else out there.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me? I would be impressed if someone raised a pet monster for me. Colour me shallow.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a good Halloween, John. I haven't seen this show before but the trailer is pretty spooky!
ReplyDeleteI love Stranger Things so much! I'm with you on everything you said. I was nodding along the entire post. Season 1 was such a punch in the gut and we didn't quite get that this time around, but I still loved it and I loved the new characters and I will watch it forever and always.
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