I actually liked it quite a bit more than the first season. I liked season 1, but I didn't LOVE it. I thought it was good, but a little overhyped/overrated for what it was.
However, I think they really built on that, and took it from good to pretty great. A couple misses as far as I'm concerned, but mostly really good.
I'm about half way in. Still trying to figure out what's up with Young Robert Downey and his ginger not-sister. Paul Reiser is surprising me with his role.
Just finished it last nigh! I agree on the 2nd season being better than the 1st. I really really like the first season, it was everything that made the 80's awesome and scary. I think they really nailed in season 2!
Things I didn't understand...
How did Riser's character not get @dead? The whole trip for El to Chicago,it was awesome, but... maybe it'll add some context for season 3.
Three episodes in, I like it, though have many questions regarding the real world, upside down world, and maybe whatever is a blend of them -- hoping for some clarity as I watch more tonight.
Great show, and was really impressed that Season 2 delivered. Not only was the storyline equally as good, if not better, but the 1980's nostalgia was also equally on point in Season 2.
Definitely worth the watch if you're looking for something to binge watch.
Yeah, I’m way behind on my tv watching as well. Too much interesting stuff with all of the breaking UF news and breaking fake news. I’m enjoying every minute of both. Sooner or later I’ll catch back up and Marathon Stranger Things. I absolutely LOVED the first season and my only friend that has so far seen the second season swears that it’s even better than the first season and that it’s her favorite show this year.
Yeah, I’m way behind on my tv watching as well. Too much interesting stuff with all of the breaking UF news and breaking fake news. I’m enjoying every minute of both. Sooner or later I’ll catch back up and Marathon Stranger Things. I absolutely LOVED the first season and my only friend that has so far seen the second season swears that it’s even better than the first season and that it’s her favorite show this year.
People loved S1 so much, I thought I might be out on a limb saying S2 was better, but I'm glad to hear that's generally in the consensus.
Not spoiler specific, but things I thought made it better...
1) I thought at times that S1 coasted on the nostalgia, or maybe got a little enamored of itself...not enough "there" there at times, in terms of the plot momentum. S2 is a tighter, more propulsive plot, yet somehow still doesn't give up a thing nostalgia wise. When it comes to the nostalgia aspects of things, I think S1 probably over-relied on it, while a show that I love, The Americans, often doesn't leverage it enough. S2 is perfect...they don't push it to the back at all, but it feels more intrinsic...not just for it's own sake.
2) Similarly, it perfectly launched off from Season 1. Some of my less than enthusiastic feelings about S1 are partly due to the world building and character introducing of any first season being a bit clunky, which means a second season can be more easily wound up and just set off. Which S2 does do...but like the nostalgia, they don't abandon the character development. I definitely feel like we continue to get to know the characters better, and they grow and change some, and we get to meet new characters that mostly really work.
3) The acting is great. They did a great job casting the kids, because even a bit older, they're still very good to exceptional. We didn't get much of Will in the first season, but he's excellent it turns out...really, really good. The new actors are great. Hopper has become one of my favorite TV characters...I think he's Emmy worthy. But most of all, Winona Ryder nails it this season...she gets to be a lot better this season, instead of mostly acting hysterical. One of the biggest improvements is just making her character much better and giving her more to work with.
Just a general thought...while this season went from 8 to 9 episodes, I really dig the trend to not try to make everything 12 or 13 episodes. That is really a great thing about the streaming services. I've tended to see a lot of prestige TV that feels like a 6 episode miniseries stretched to 10 episodes or 10 stretched to 13. Much better to leave you wanting more than to get bloated or repetitive, and I think shows are much better hitting their natural running times.
Just finished it last nigh! I agree on the 2nd season being better than the 1st. I really really like the first season, it was everything that made the 80's awesome and scary. I think they really nailed in season 2!
Things I didn't understand...
How did Riser's character not get @dead? The whole trip for El to Chicago,it was awesome, but... maybe it'll add some context for season 3.
I'm thinking that the Reiser thing is just the show being true to it's 80s vibe and resisting the temptation toward the "kill anyone anytime" trend. I hated to see Sean Astin go, because his character was awesome too, but realistically someone had to go. Reiser can serve the plot better going forward, where Astin's prospects were limited...they weren't going to move to Maine. I spent a lot of time worrying that they were going to kill off Steve or Hopper or even Will's mom, because that's what TV does today...glad they aren't like that. I could be wrong, but I doubt it because there's some bigger secret like Reiser is a demagorgon himself or something.
I also am ambivalent about the Chicago thing. I totally like the concept, but not sure about the execution, and not sure I love the timing of the detour right in the climax of the action. It sort of feels like it either deserved more time, or less time. It was too rushed to be its own contained sub-plot, but if it was a setup/teaser, they probably should have done with less. The revenge narrative also seemed a bit too cliche, even for a show that traffics in exactly that. But I definitely like the idea of where they can go with that in the future. I just hope they don't too closely just replicate a mutant vs. mutant scenario that we've seen through a half dozen X-Men movies.
Also, maybe my favorite part was Max summing up her reaction to Lucas' story:
“It’s crazy, but I really liked it,” Max said. “I mean I had a few issues. I just felt it was a little derivative in parts. I just wish it had a little more originality, that’s all.“
Both because that sums up my reaction to S1, and also because it's awesome meta TV. It's not mean spirited...it's almost as if they own it...they tweak their critics without being defensive. They put the words in the mouth of a good character, and not a villain. I just love they owned it, and had the confidence to do that, because they knew they were putting together something that actually improved upon a very beloved and generally well received debut.
I disagree with most of you. Season 1 was better. I enjoyed season 2, but it just wasn't better.
I was completely lost by the Eleven story arc where she had to go find her mama, then her sister. And what did she get out of all that? Me, I got confused by it. Just filler I guess.
I disagree with most of you. Season 1 was better. I enjoyed season 2, but it just wasn't better.
I was completely lost by the Eleven story arc where she had to go find her mama, then her sister. And what did she get out of all that? Me, I got confused by it. Just filler I guess.
I disagree with her finding her mother. I thought that worked, and it tied with S1. We knew her mother was out there...it was logical and made sense to build on that. And what she got out of that was finding out (and us finding out) more about where she came from.
I don't disagree with you necessarily on her sister part. I don't think that quite fit, and I think they could have skipped to her going straight back. They could have focused on the girl in the flashback and left it at that, and let the viewers tie it in with the woman in the opening sequence. They could have saved everything else for the future. They either burned a plot for no real reason without giving it enough time, or they devoted way too much time to a teaser/easter egg.
I'm thinking that the Reiser thing is just the show being true to it's 80s vibe and resisting the temptation toward the "kill anyone anytime" trend. I hated to see Sean Astin go, because his character was awesome too, but realistically someone had to go. Reiser can serve the plot better going forward, where Astin's prospects were limited...they weren't going to move to Maine. I spent a lot of time worrying that they were going to kill off Steve or Hopper or even Will's mom, because that's what TV does today...glad they aren't like that. I could be wrong, but I doubt it because there's some bigger secret like Reiser is a demagorgon himself or something.
I also am ambivalent about the Chicago thing. I totally like the concept, but not sure about the execution, and not sure I love the timing of the detour right in the climax of the action. It sort of feels like it either deserved more time, or less time. It was too rushed to be its own contained sub-plot, but if it was a setup/teaser, they probably should have done with less. The revenge narrative also seemed a bit too cliche, even for a show that traffics in exactly that. But I definitely like the idea of where they can go with that in the future. I just hope they don't too closely just replicate a mutant vs. mutant scenario that we've seen through a half dozen X-Men movies.
Also, maybe my favorite part was Max summing up her reaction to Lucas' story:
“It’s crazy, but I really liked it,” Max said. “I mean I had a few issues. I just felt it was a little derivative in parts. I just wish it had a little more originality, that’s all.“
Both because that sums up my reaction to S1, and also because it's awesome meta TV. It's not mean spirited...it's almost as if they own it...they tweak their critics without being defensive. They put the words in the mouth of a good character, and not a villain. I just love they owned it, and had the confidence to do that, because they knew they were putting together something that actually improved upon a very beloved and generally well received debut.
People loved S1 so much, I thought I might be out on a limb saying S2 was better, but I'm glad to hear that's generally in the consensus.
Not spoiler specific, but things I thought made it better...
1) I thought at times that S1 coasted on the nostalgia, or maybe got a little enamored of itself...not enough "there" there at times, in terms of the plot momentum. S2 is a tighter, more propulsive plot, yet somehow still doesn't give up a thing nostalgia wise. When it comes to the nostalgia aspects of things, I think S1 probably over-relied on it, while a show that I love, The Americans, often doesn't leverage it enough. S2 is perfect...they don't push it to the back at all, but it feels more intrinsic...not just for it's own sake.
2) Similarly, it perfectly launched off from Season 1. Some of my less than enthusiastic feelings about S1 are partly due to the world building and character introducing of any first season being a bit clunky, which means a second season can be more easily wound up and just set off. Which S2 does do...but like the nostalgia, they don't abandon the character development. I definitely feel like we continue to get to know the characters better, and they grow and change some, and we get to meet new characters that mostly really work.
3) The acting is great. They did a great job casting the kids, because even a bit older, they're still very good to exceptional. We didn't get much of Will in the first season, but he's excellent it turns out...really, really good. The new actors are great. Hopper has become one of my favorite TV characters...I think he's Emmy worthy. But most of all, Winona Ryder nails it this season...she gets to be a lot better this season, instead of mostly acting hysterical. One of the biggest improvements is just making her character much better and giving her more to work with.
Just a general thought...while this season went from 8 to 9 episodes, I really dig the trend to not try to make everything 12 or 13 episodes. That is really a great thing about the streaming services. I've tended to see a lot of prestige TV that feels like a 6 episode miniseries stretched to 10 episodes or 10 stretched to 13. Much better to leave you wanting more than to get bloated or repetitive, and I think shows are much better hitting their natural running times.
I think this show nails the 80's, more than any other show, ever. I sometimes forget, while watching, that I am not 10 years old sneaking to watch TV, while my parents are asleep.
Finished S2 last night. S1 was great but I think S2 was great for different reasons.
I like that they played satire in to this one a bit more. Max's personality was a great compliment to the rest of the Party's. Dustin growing some balls was a solid development. Hopper and Eleven/Jane developing their familial relationship is endearing.
Wondering a) if there will be a S3 and b) if there is one, which way they go? The ending with the shadow monster was obvious foreshadowing, so that could be one route, that it's a constant "cloud" hanging over Hawkins and the Party continues to act as the guardians. But the side plot of continuing to find the experiment kids from the lab is almost more intriguing to me.
Finished S2 last night. S1 was great but I think S2 was great for different reasons.
I like that they played satire in to this one a bit more. Max's personality was a great compliment to the rest of the Party's. Dustin growing some balls was a solid development. Hopper and Eleven/Jane developing their familial relationship is endearing.
Wondering a) if there will be a S3 and b) if there is one, which way they go? The ending with the shadow monster was obvious foreshadowing, so that could be one route, that it's a constant "cloud" hanging over Hawkins and the Party continues to act as the guardians. But the side plot of continuing to find the experiment kids from the lab is almost more intriguing to me.
Her MO was never to help with the spiritual. I think that some of her revenging will lead her to Hawkins though, paths will cross, and I think that's what leads to one of my thoughts on potential plots for S3 if it happens.
Finished S2 last night. S1 was great but I think S2 was great for different reasons.
I like that they played satire in to this one a bit more. Max's personality was a great compliment to the rest of the Party's. Dustin growing some balls was a solid development. Hopper and Eleven/Jane developing their familial relationship is endearing.
Wondering a) if there will be a S3 and b) if there is one, which way they go? The ending with the shadow monster was obvious foreshadowing, so that could be one route, that it's a constant "cloud" hanging over Hawkins and the Party continues to act as the guardians. But the side plot of continuing to find the experiment kids from the lab is almost more intriguing to me.
I think I read somewhere they had 4-5 more seasons envisioned, they could follow them to college age or whatever.
I agree with your thoughts, I definitely liked what Max brought to the table, and grounded their group in reality. I enjoyed how much they were broken up into different groups throughout.
Which points me where I would like to see this go in S3. They'll be in high school, and will likely all undergo growth spurts by the time of filming, so they could easily jump 2-3 years ahead. I'd like to see a scenario where things have been calm and they've drifted apart a bit in high school, because that's pretty realistic. It plays out pretty clearly...you could easily see Lucas and Max becoming popular kids, Dustin being kind of a class clown/dork, and Mike becoming kind of a surly outcast. Mike and Will would probably stay close. And then something happens again, and they have to get the band back together. To me, that almost writes itself, and has the chance to be entertaining and emotionally poignant, and also right in the exact wheelhouse of 80s movies like Can't Buy Me Love and Breakfast Club. I hope they go in that directions somewhat.
I think I read somewhere they had 4-5 more seasons envisioned, they could follow them to college age or whatever.
I agree with your thoughts, I definitely liked what Max brought to the table, and grounded their group in reality. I enjoyed how much they were broken up into different groups throughout.
Which points me where I would like to see this go in S3. They'll be in high school, and will likely all undergo growth spurts by the time of filming, so they could easily jump 2-3 years ahead. I'd like to see a scenario where things have been calm and they've drifted apart a bit in high school, because that's pretty realistic. It plays out pretty clearly...you could easily see Lucas and Max becoming popular kids, Dustin being kind of a class clown/dork, and Mike becoming kind of a surly outcast. Mike and Will would probably stay close. And then something happens again, and they have to get the band back together. To me, that almost writes itself, and has the chance to be entertaining and emotionally poignant, and also right in the exact wheelhouse of 80s movies like Can't Buy Me Love and Breakfast Club. I hope they go in that directions somewhat.
They've announced seasons 3 and 4 are greenlit, but it may be a while before season 3 as they'll have a time jump to age up the characters a bit.
They also currently plan to end after season 4. I really like that idea of having an end game in sight and working towards that rather than simply having a show that they're going to milk for as long as they can.
Finished season 2 last night. Thought it was great all around, and they did an excellent job in building the characters and world. Can’t wait to see what they do in the next couple seasons.
They've announced seasons 3 and 4 are greenlit, but it may be a while before season 3 as they'll have a time jump to age up the characters a bit.
They also currently plan to end after season 4. I really like that idea of having an end game in sight and working towards that rather than simply having a show that they're going to milk for as long as they can.
It seems like it's almost universally a positive thing when they've got the future seasons locked down and a game plan in place for the rest of the run. Every show seems to benefit from that.
I disagree with most of you. Season 1 was better. I enjoyed season 2, but it just wasn't better.
I was completely lost by the Eleven story arc where she had to go find her mama, then her sister. And what did she get out of all that? Me, I got confused by it. Just filler I guess.
I don't know that the "spoilers" or "easter eggs" really show anything more than the Duffers' attempt at authenticity with 80s references. That was 6 minutes of neat, but also nothing that I'd classify as earth shattering, or even enough to turn my thoughts upside down.
agreed, I don't see any foreshadowing just because they have callbacks to back to the future. They have callbacks and easter eggs to all type of 80's nostalgia. It's just part of the show's appeal. Sure, there's some side shadowing such as all the DND comparisons to the monsters, etc... which give clues as to what they're fighting, but they haven't really been known to go all Lost and try to give away the future with veiled hints via easter eggs.
With that said, a time travel idea isn't outside of the realm of stranger things they could go after.
What’s interesting is to read the original pitch for Stranger Things when it was called Montauk (after the allegedly true Montauk Project which was a Government project dealing with telepathy, alternate dimensions, time travel, aliens and more). It’s got some interesting little tidbits like Murray from Season Two was supposed to be in Season One but was named Terry Ives (later used for Eleven’s Mom), Papa was originally called Agent One, that the Middle School science teacher was supposed to be like “Indiana Jones” rather than a nerd and that Will is gay.
The main reason I feel like time travel could be a thing or at least a part of the show moving forward is they can't tell the same story for a 3rd time in a row. I also hope they don't go all lost (smoke monster/jacob) or matrix (neo/agent smith) and say the only way to end the show is to kill off bot the villian and the hero (11/whichever bad guy is left as there seems to be several).
I feel the show needs a new direction as compelling as it is. I want them to evolve the story. With that said, I'm all in on this show.
Loved Season 1, think we watched it in 2 days, almost all in 1 day actually. Struggled through Season 2. I had to go back and re-watch episodes, didn't keep my interest as much. It seemed to jump around a lot more, particularly in episodes 4 thru 6.
I really liked Bob, but I also thought it was going to be something different.
The kids annoyed me a lot more in this one, maybe because they were older and seemed less innocent.
Loved Season 1, think we watched it in 2 days, almost all in 1 day actually. Struggled through Season 2. I had to go back and re-watch episodes, didn't keep my interest as much. It seemed to jump around a lot more, particularly in episodes 4 thru 6.
I really liked Bob, but I also thought it was going to be something different.
The kids annoyed me a lot more in this one, maybe because they were older and seemed less innocent.
Yeah, I think I expected both Bob and Max to be something more than they turned out to be. I kept expecting Bob to work for Hawkins in the end and be the bad guy. As for Max, they kept building this storyline that she had some shady past and had been forced to move here, but they never followed through on that story. Maybe it'll come out in season 3. Part of my expectation of her was built off the Stranger Things Mobile game (Which is really good by the way). They introduced her as a character after the release and she was the most powerful character with psionic abilities that exceeded 11's. So I expected her to suddenly manifest at the end to save them. I still think there's more to come from her in season 3. Otherwise she seems like a wasted character that's only there for the love interest, and they spent too much time developing her for that to be all she is.
I think 80% of the LR most closely represents the older kid that works at the arcade.
I liked S1 a lot better, like Desi, It took me a few tries to get into the second one.
They need to just go ahead and figure out that 11 and Will are the access for the upside down, and if they kill them they will close the portal and their little town will be safe.
As for Max, they kept building this storyline that she had some shady past and had been forced to move here, but they never followed through on that story.
Minus the side story I loved this season so much more. I wish they hadn't sacrificed screen time for the Mike and Hopper character as they are at least compelling to the 11 story line.
The cliff hangers were much better this season. That kid playing Will can do strange things with his face when he screams.
Rumor has it Season Three is going to introduce a new 35ish year old District Attorney named Troy Score who starts creeping on Nancy and Eleven at the Hawkins Mall food court.
