I blew it
Yes, last month I promised all three of my readers that I would be blogging every single day for the month of October. I planned on watching at least one horror film per day and then reviewing it or an aspect of the film, a character, actor, etc. I made it thirteen days in and then I missed day fourteen. I blew it. Day fifteen came and went (and I even watched films to blog about) and that quickly turned into day twenty, twenty-five, and then Halloween showed up. I’m sorry for dropping the ball, gang, but life and laziness got in my way.
With that said, however, I did watch a ton of horror flicks (that I didn’t blog about) and the second season of Stranger Things. I really enjoyed the first season and had high hopes for season two. Other than one episode, season two was great. I’m hungry for more!
A few mild Season Two spoilers lie ahead! Season One will definitely be spoiled if you haven’t seen it yet.
Season Two of Stranger Things opens with a quick look at a young lady named Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) who possesses mental powers and a tattoo similar to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her gang as they enjoy a little criminal activity in Pittsburgh. We are then transported to lovely Hawkins, Indiana where our four heroes, Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Will (Noah Schnapp), are getting back to a somewhat normal life minus their friend and savior, Eleven. It has been almost one year since the events of Season One, and after seemingly sacrificing herself to the Demogorgon, the boys assume that Eleven is either dead or lost in the Upside Down. Mike repeatedly tries to make contact with her, but with no success.
Faithful viewers know that at the end of Season One, Hopper (David Harbour) is seen leaving Eggo Waffles and other food in a container in the forest near the lab. In Season Two we learn in the first episode that Eleven is alive and well and being hidden by Hopper in his grandfather’s old cabin.
We’re also introduced to a couple of new characters in the form of Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery from the recent Power Rangers film) and his stepsister, Maxine “Mad Max” Mayfield (Sadie Sink, Blue Bloods, American Odyssey). Billy plays the big bad that provides trouble not only for his sister, but for last season’s “started-off-as-a-jerk-but-became-a-cool-guy,” Steve Harrington (Joe Keery). As the new girl, Max is viewed by Lucas and Dustin as a potential new member to their group, especially when they find out that she has beaten Dustin’s top score on Dig Dug.
Nancy (Natalia Dyer) feels terrible that she can’t tell her friend Barb’s parents about what really happened to Barb (Shannon Purser) during the events of Season One. She dogs Steve about it but he’s afraid that something bad could happen to them if they expose the truth. After telling him off, Nancy teams up with Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), to take on the lab and gets an assist from a humorous conspiracy theorist (Brett Gelman).
Will’s mom, Joyce (Winona Ryder), has fallen for her old classmate and perpetual nerd, Bob Newby (portrayed by 80’s legend and Lord of the Rings actor, Sean Astin). He goes out of his way to normalize life for the Byers family, usually with goofy results. I was suspicious of his character at first, but he proves to be a loyal companion not only to Joyce, but to Will as well. Be sure to watch for a few winks and nods to some of Astin’s classic 80’s roles.
Paul Reiser, known for successful films such as Aliens, Beverly Hills Cop I & 2, and Diner, as well as the highly successful sitcom Mad About You and the somewhat successful My Two Dads, portrays Sam Owens, who has assumed direction over the Hawkins Laboratory. I really liked his character in this series. Reiser has always been one of my favorite actors, and he knocks it out of the park in Stranger Things.
Another character introduced this season that deserves mention is Lucas’ little sister, Erica (Priah Ferguson), who doesn’t have a lot of screen time but completely steals every scene that she’s in during the season. I hope that we see more of her in the future. She was hilarious!
Eleven quickly becomes tired of being cramped up in Hopper’s cabin and repeatedly asks him to let her explore the outside world. Fearing for her safety, Hopper denies each request. After one too many broken promises, Eleven starts to venture out on her own and soon finds her real mother (Aimee Mullins). This leads Eleven to discover that she has a “sister” who shared a room with her at the lab. This girl is Eight, or Kali, and Eleven sets out to find her.
Kali (center in the picture above) has the ability to create visions in the minds of anyone that she faces off against. When Eleven finds her, they form an uneasy bond. Eleven is glad to find someone else like her, but doesn’t agree with the shady operation that Kali is running with her friends (Kai L. Greene, Gabrielle Maiden, Anna Jacoby-Heron, and James Landry Hebert). In a very Yoda moment that is ripped almost directly from The Empire Strikes Back, Kali shows Eleven how to channel and focus her powers to move an eighteen wheeler much like Luke attempted to free his X-Wing from the swamps of Dagobah. While Luke failed due to the distraction of his friends being in danger, Eleven succeeded. Like Luke, she also left her “training” to help her friends in need.
The episode where Eleven finds her “sister” completely derails the season for a moment. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why Eleven needed the guidance of Kali, but it just seemed like the episode was shoehorned into the season. I didn’t completely buy into Kali and her gang. They seemed too over the top and unbelievable even though they were based off of standard street thugs common in 80’s films. That’s saying a lot considering the fact that this series also features an Upside Down world, Demogorgons, and a girl that can rip you apart with her mind. The episode broke the rhythm established by every other episode in both seasons, and it’s my least favorite episode so far.
While all of these events are going down, Will is experiencing “episodes” where he briefly breaks into the Upside Down (not intentionally) and then pops back. These “episodes” get worse as the season plays out, and he is eventually taken over by them. His situation is what draws Eleven back to Hawkins, but I don’t want to spoil what’s going on with him just yet. This season is still too fresh and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone that hasn’t seen it.
Mike feels like an outsider in his own group. He can’t find Eleven and doesn’t like the fact that Lucas and Dustin have allowed Max to infiltrate their group without consulting him first. He’s also extremely (and rightly) worried about Will.
Lucas falls for Max, but so does Dustin, which puts some tension between them. Lucas also suffers at the hands of his little sister, whom I’ve already mentioned. He and Dustin eventually get over their squabble about Max and with her and Steve set out to help Will. Again, I won’t give away too much so as not to spoil anything.
Oh, and Dustin raises a Demogorgon in his bedroom. He finds a “puppy” in his trash can and secretly keeps it in his room. As it quickly grows, it becomes a “demidog,” or young version of a Demogorgon. You’ll have to watch the series to see what happens next.
One character that I want to bring special attention to is Steve Harrington. Considered a big jerk for most of Season One, Steve finds himself in a state of limbo at the beginning of Season Two. Despite still being considered a couple, friction over the death of Barb and what to do about it creates a divide between him and Nancy. With the arrival of Billy Hargrove, Steve is no longer the top dog on the basketball team or with the ladies. He basically ends up as an outsider who ends up in a friendship with Dustin due to the events happening with the rest of the core Hawkins kids.
Steve comes to realize that Dustin looks up to him and takes on the role of a leader. Does he have all of the answers? Absolutely not. Like most of us, he figures things out as he goes along, makes great decisions, makes terrible decisions, but does it all with the intention of helping the ones that need him. Dustin needs Steve’s guidance with girls. Max needs Steve to stand up for her whenever Billy tries to stop her from seeing Lucas. Dustin, Lucas, and Max need Steve to stand between them and sure death when a pack of demidogs attack. Steve stepped up big time this season, and it shows us that Joe Keery is an excellent actor. He took a run-of-the-mill character that could have easily fallen into the background and made him one of the best characters on Stranger Things.
The guy is a hero. We all need a Steve in our lives.
Thanks for reading. I hope that I haven’t spoiled too much for anybody. I highly recommend watching this season of Stranger Things as well as Season One.
Go out there and find your Steve!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 