Turning it Upside Down: What works and doesn’t in Stranger Things 2
By Joey Click
With Stranger Things 2 currently devouring fans’ time like a Demogorgon on Netflix, everyone’s talking Hawkins’ the second year. But does it work?
The world is turning upside down — Tag
The Intro
Last year, Stranger Things seemingly came out of nowhere to reign high atop the mountain of pop culture. One part Stephen King with a dash of Steven Spielberg, the Netflix series made legions of fans with great scripting, interesting characters and the unique world of Hawkins being turned upside down.
So when The Duffer Brothers series began its media push for the sequel, many fans seemingly became nervous. While the SDCC trailer put most speculation to rest, questions still remained: Would this year live up to the great inaugural opus? Was last year’s greatness a fluke? Like its powerful character, would the series keep it cranked it up to eleven? Well Strangers, I’m here to say it most certainly did.
So don’t forget your walkie-talkie, grab a map of Hawkins and heat up those Eggos as we take a look at Netflix’s juggernaut event series , Matt and Ross Duffers’ Stranger Things 2.
The Good
— Courtesy of Netflix
Bob Newby. Superhero — Bob Newby
While not quite as successful as its initial year, Stranger Things 2 does everything a sequel should. From the menace plaguing Hawkins to the scope of the story, everything is getting building to bigger things in one of TV’s greatest shows.
The Upside Down? Bigger. The possibility of the world ending? Bigger. Relationships and how they are interacting? Expanding. Hell, looking at the evolution of Steve Harrington will tell you this series is getting, not only bigger, but stronger in the process.
And speaking of characters, the series introduces new faces that you instantly accept. In total, there are six new characters and, for the most part, you’ll enjoy each being around. Personally, my two favorite are Madmax and Bob Newby. In fact, Newby is one of the best character to come along in a while — due to the underrated work of Bob Newby.
Ultimately, Stranger Things 2 works because the Duffers look inside of what they’ve created for story instead of out of it. The creators could’ve made Paul Reiser’s Dr. Sam Owens the new Brenner — just another authoritative bad guy from easy villain that is the governmental. But they chose not to. Likewise, Will could have been a forgotten piece of the puzzle, or just part of it. Instead, he’s part of the narrative driving forward. Not to mention the brilliant Hopper/Eleven stuff.
Simply put, Stranger Things 2 is the real deal.
The Bad
More from Stranger Things
- Stranger Things Season 4 Finale: Thanks, I Hate It
- Running Up That Hill with Stranger Things Season 4
- New Stranger Things comic finally reveals what happened to the demodog in the fridge
- Stranger Things season 4 is not coming out in 2021
- Netflix reveals Stranger Things season 4 episode titles
While everything’s working on all cylinders here, there’s one big problem with the sequel. That’s right, I’m talking about you Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister.
In the middle of an extremely intense situation — where Hopper and others are in real danger — the series gives us an episode almost solely on Eleven. Involving the telekinetic titian finding her lab-experiment sister, the biggest problem with the episode is it cuts off season momentum.
Something The Walking Dead doesn’t understand, storytellers are doing themselves a disservice by organizing their stories like this. You earn all this suspense, causing your audience to becoming excited (the desired effect right?), but then give them a break with a sub-story — stories are not exactly the sum of parts but how they’re melded together. And stopping for this doesn’t meld well.
While the narrative needed to get Eleven to where she’s at the end of The Lost Sister, there are better ways to do this at the scripting level. Strangers, I have a bigger article coming out about this in the next few days. Stay tuned.
The Vicious Verdict
Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things 2 is the apex of sequel storytelling. Sure, the sister episode does the season harm, but there’s so much working at such a high level here not to call it glorious. From new characters to bigger stakes, there are few sequels getting this much right. If you haven’t been back to Hawkins, stop reading this and watch it now. You trust me don’t you? Come on, friends don’t lie.