Being the geeky, nerdy man-child that I am, I absolutely loved the first season of Netflix's Stranger Things, the original sci-fi horror series released last year. With all its reverence for geek culture, the 1980s aesthetic and excellent cast, Stranger Things was a love letter to everything I loved, and I loved it for that. It was also a masterclass in suspense, a show that knew how to make you desperate to find out what's next at the end of every episode.
Objectively, however, the first season had admittedly jarring problems with pacing towards the middle, spending time meandering in various subplots and characters that felt far less significant and interesting compared to others. Nevertheless, the show managed to tie everything back to the main plot well enough for the payoff to feel genuine, and was certainly one of the better shows to be released in 2016.
Stranger Things Season 2, which was released in full on Netflix last Friday, manages to be everything its predecessor ever was, and more. The stakes are higher, the threat is scarier and the lead-up to each episode never felt more exciting than it does now. The child-star leads have matured well as actors, delivering even better performances. It's the kind of show you binge because you genuinely want to, not because you have nothing to do.
A short while after the end of the first season, things seem back to normal in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), the boy who disappeared in the first season, is back among his friends and family, enjoying arcade games and Halloween dress-up with his friends. As the series reveals in the opening episodes of its nine-episode season, however, things aren't as they seem. Will and his friends Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) find themselves in the middle of yet another conspiracy involving the Upside Down.
It's tough to talk too much about Stranger Things without spoiling anything, as every little detail adds up. Every episode ends with a new nail-biting revelation, as things seem to spiral more and more out of control, and the stakes seem to climb higher and higher as the season goes on. Much like the first season, Stranger Things Season 2 is a masterwork at the art of building suspense, with almost every little detail eventually circling back towards the greater mystery. The series also takes less time letting us in on the main plot compared to the first season, making it ultimately even more gripping at the onset.
Another highlight of the season is the payoff from many established character relationships. Whether it be the sweet affection between Eleven and Mike or the brotherly friendship between Dustin and Steve (Joe Keery), the improved dynamic -- and acting chops -- of the returning cast makes many of the slower moments just as fun to watch as the suspenseful ones. Not all of these subplots work, however, like Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy's (Natalia Dyer) ultimately pointless attempt to uncover the true whereabouts of their friend Barbara (Shannon Purser). These moments do sometimes work to rob the plot of its momentum.
It is also unfortunate that much of the momentum built in the first two thirds of the season comes to an abrupt halt towards the end, when the plot takes a break right at a crucial point to dedicate an entire episode to a subplot involving Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), which up to that point was largely meandering and slow compared to the increased pace of the rest of the season. After that, the season wraps everything up almost right away, leading to an ending that -- while not unsatisfying -- feels more than a little rushed and convenient. You can't help but wish that more time was taken from these tangential subplots and dedicated to all the ones more closely related to the mystery instead, which probably would've made for a more cohesive experience overall.
I still greatly enjoyed binging the second season of Stranger Things. There were still plenty of genuinely interesting, grade-A horror and sci-fi tropes sprinkled throughout, even if the series does trip over its own feet at certain times. Stranger Things is one of those shows that's made to be binged, and you'll struggle to pull yourself away from the screen after every episode.
