WARNING: If you have not watched Stranger Things season two yet, then go watch it before reading this article! Major SPOILERS.
Before I get into anything, let me say that I am a huge fan of Stranger Things and season two was a lot of fun to watch! My boyfriend and I planned to pace ourselves, taking the time to watch and enjoy season two rather than binge it all in one night. We make dinner together every night, so we decided we would watch one episode with dinner each night. Some nights adhered to our plans more than others, but overall we got a good week of Stranger Things.
However, I have to say that season two was not as good as the first season. Season two was a lot of fun; I enjoyed the whole punk road trip Eleven went on and, as an aspiring journalist, I enjoyed seeing Nancy and Jonathan seek help from a defunct, conspiracy theorist/former journalist. Nevertheless, there were a few issues I had with season two.
1. Plot heavy season two versus character driven season one.
One of the strongest aspects of season one of Stranger Things was the fact that it was heavily focused on the characters. In season one, the Duffer brothers created characters that felt so real and that viewers really connected with. In season two, the new characters introduced into the show seemed somewhat superficial in comparison to those introduced in season one. For example, the new character named Max was a strong young female — which is great — but we really did not know much about her. Her rather tough home life and relationship with her brother were hinted at, but never fully explored. Whereas the cast of season one won a SAG Award for ensemble cast, and season two’s cast felt fragmented. Season two also felt rather plot heavy, like so many of the 1980s sci-fi/ action sequels; maybe the Duffer brothers did that on purpose.
2. Too much love-related drama.
Season two had too many love triangles and love-related drama! I can easily count three love triangles: the Dustin, Max and Lucas triangle; Steve, Nancy and Jonathan; and Bob, Joyce and Jim Hopper (you cannot tell me that they are aiming to hook these two up next season). That is just too much! I know that they hinted at Eleven and Mike’s romance as well as Nancy and Jonathan’s in season one, but did Joyce really need a love interest? I love Samwise Gamgee [Bob], do not get me wrong, but Joyce is a bad-ass mom all on her own. Also, it felt as if Nancy’s entire storyline revolved around her break up with Steve and then her new relationship with Jonathan. She only held a gun once this season. Where is the Nancy from season one?
3. Slow start to the story.
Season one felt like a bit of a slow burn too, but season two felt like it was painfully dragging along unnecessary storylines for a good part of the beginning of the season. Unlike the first season, season two gave us much less information on the big-baddie of the season and it took until much later for us to actually see any plot line directly involving the mysterious ghost octopus from the Upside Down. Yes, Will was having visions of the creature in its natural habitat from episode one, but we did not really see any action until episode four once the monster entered Will. Though season one only gave us hints of the monster at the beginning too, we at least saw some action and mystery early on. They killed off Barb in the first few minutes of episode three.
Overall, season two was great. It was a lot of fun to watch and the story was well-done. I cannot wait to see where they go from here and how they plan to explain these creatures from another dimension. Sadly, we will have to wait another year for a new season, but we at least we can binge the first two seasons over again. We also have other similar shows like Netflix’s The OA to watch in the meantime.
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