The Duffer Brothers revisit their Emmy-nominated love letter to all things 1980s in Stranger Things 2, the rare sequel that outpaces the original.
Netflix’s Stranger Things premiered in July 2016 under little pretense. It held zero Emmy intentions and boasted buzz only in very small, isolated circles. And that was kind of the beauty of the thing. People gradually discovered it. You know, like TV used to be in the 1980s. Stranger Things wasn’t mass-marketed down our throats. It didn’t come to sell lunchboxes or action figures or video games or t-shirts. It emerged quietly as a love letter to 1980s cinema and the novels of Stephen King. Audiences found it organically, and they loved it. Intensely. Stranger Things 2 premieres under the polar opposite circumstances, but fortunately, the product supports the hype.
The omnipotent kids are minor celebs now. You can buy Stranger Things 2 merchandise at Target that bear their faces. There’s even a free (very fun) Nintendo-esqe throwback video game on the app store. Actually, can I pause for a moment to marvel at that? Stranger Things: The Game plays like something I most definitely would have bought for my original Nintendo. Now, it’s free on the App Store to play on my iPhone. Fuck, I’m old.
Anyway, Stranger Things 2 doesn’t feel like an extraneous cash grab. Instead, it gradually (almost too gradually) builds an intensely thrilling series that (shock) actually has consequences for its main characters. It’s not perfect, but in its own way, it delivers a bigger, more cinematic experience than its predecessor. Some will prefer the original’s simplicity, but I dug the sequel’s Aliens-like approach to the original material.
The new season begins roughly one year later, just before Halloween 1984. Reagan/Bush and Mondale/Ferraro signs dot the suburban front yards. Dragon’s Lair and Dig Dug are the hot arcade games. Ghostbusters is the Halloween costume of the day. Fully realizing the 1980s setting is a particular strength of the Duffer Brothers and their production team. Stranger Things 2 continues the fetishistic adoration of the era with exceptional skill. Everything looks and feels exactly right. The shoes, the clothes, the hair, the cinematography, and the set design all work perfectly. As with the original, you feel like your’e watching the latest Spielberg. It’s a warm, fuzzy hug from the era of greed.
The story kicks off with our four heroes – Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Will (Noah Schnapp) – living it up as pre-teens do, waiting for the school bell so they can waste quarters trying to one-up each other at the arcade. The troubled Will, however, continues to experience visions of the Upside Down, complete with an enormous spider monster looming in the distance. His mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) is aware of Will’s episodes and takes him for observation to the Hawkins Lab, now staffed by the friendly Owens (Paul Reiser). On the other hand, Hopper (the Emmy-nominated David Harbour) lives in seclusion with a secret of his own.
And that’s about all I can say. I understand not wanting to accidentally share spoilers, but Netflix takes early reviews incredibly serious. I have a list of things I cannot describe in my review. So, you’ll have to take my word for it.
Better to continue with things I loved about Stranger Things 2. The Duffer Brothers and crew smartly address one of my biggest complaints with the original series – everyone has a purpose here. There are no characters who just exist as background. Every actor receives a storyline, some smaller and some obviously more critical to the central story. But there are no wasted actors here. I also loved the vastly increased sense of foreboding. There is a tangible sense of danger there. Lives are at stake. People die. The Duffer Brothers aren’t playing around this time.
I loved the performances of David Hopper and Millie Bobby Brown, both Emmy-nominated actors likely to repeat next year. They’re the real emotional core of the material. Their journey feels authentic and sad. It gives the second season a stronger emotional resonance over the first.
That brings me to the things I didn’t like. Winona Ryder’s troubled interactions with her son and new boyfriend Bob (Sean Astin) also provide some emotional heft, particularly toward the end. Yet, you have to sit through early scenes of painful dialogue and poorly staged romance to get there. I was a major fan of Ryder the first time around, but this time, she disappoints with a flat, misguided performance. Also, the first two episodes drag quite a bit. So much so, in fact, that I wondered if the sequel would deliver at all.
Give it two episodes. Then clear your calendar to binge the rest. Once it gets going, it never stops.
Final Verdict
Stranger Things 2 feels, to me, more accomplished in every way. Yes, there are quibbles here and there, but overall, it’s a far better, more engaging season. Partially, that’s because we already know and like these characters. We know their relationships and their backstories. With the world building out of the way, the Duffer Brothers have a stage set for havoc, and havoc they create. The action builds to a fantastically thrilling conclusion that doesn’t insult our intelligence.
The storylines merge to create a honorable ode to 1980s action and horror cinema. This isn’t just a throwback anymore. It’s a fully fleshed paean to the things we loved as the 1980s progressed. Aliens. Ghostbusters. Thriller. Gremlins. Yet, it stands on its own as an unexpectedly emotional piece of filmmaking. At its quiet center, its about growing up, about coming of age in the 1980s. And I kind of love it for that.
