Thoughts on: Stranger Things 2

Last night I finished the second season of the Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things, and my feelings about the show are mostly positive, with some caveats. Seeing as this is the first post on this blog, I figured I should look into a piece of fiction that is and has been widely watched.

Please note that all these points are my own thoughts and opinions, and should not and are not final verdicts on the show. YOU should watch it and make up your own mind. Just in case you haven't watched the series yet (both 1 and 2), I will warn you now: SPOILERS AHEAD

Man, I wish I'd come up with this title card.

To kick off, I'd like to say that I am incredibly impressed with the high quality present throughout the series. Every shot and scene felt like something out of a high-budget film released in the cinema. It may not be Roger Deakins or Vittorio Stroraro behind the camera, but nor is it your run-of-the-mill TV broadcast shot at 25/30 frames per second. It looks great. To top this off, I believe that Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein's work on the score for the show is also stellar, the use of synthesizers and electronic beats giving the show a unique sound. The editing is pretty tight too, with a few exceptions (looking at you, unnecessary flashbacks in Chapter 7).

The bromance between Steve (Joe Keery) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), two vastly different characters, was very neat. Given the dialogue and interaction between the two, it will be interesting to see how it will develop in season 3.

Another strong element of the show, from a personal perspective, is the quality of acting from all age-groups, and how in touch with the characters each of the actors were. While watching the series, it really felt like a year had passed, and the characters felt a year older. I am a bit of a sucker for creative content that delves into this form of child-turning-teen and teen-turning-adult limbo that most of us have experienced in our lives. Its relatable, and it makes the characters pop out from the screen. Another good element I found were the little issues that each of the characters were struggling with. Nancy (Natalia Dyer) dealing with the guilt of Barb's death. Steve (Joe Keery) struggling to find his place after being dethroned. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) attempting to reach Eleven, with no success. Joyce's (Winona Ryder) fear for her son was legitimate and understandable. To summarise, I felt like this was a nice way of ensuring that every character had something to strive for or something that had an influence on  their actions.

On that note, I must really commend the move to focus more on Dustin and Will. In season 1, Will  (Noah Schnapp) was this relatively non-existent character that we, as the viewer, had very little information on other than what was shown in flashbacks and from the dialogue from Joyce  and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). In this season, we got to see more of him and his personality, and honestly, I found him to be a really interesting character. I also found the team-up of Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Steve to be a really interesting decision. For me, it helped give Steve some form of redemption following season 1, and provide Dustin with a brotherly (some would say even fatherly) figure. I (and I am fairly certain many others) would definitely like to see more of this dynamic duo.

Having to find 80s outfits for all these kids must have included some nice letters to their parents asking for their old clothes.

One department that I feel also needs some serious recognition in this show is the art department. Now, I was born in the mid-90's, so I can't say I'm much of an expert on 80s tech, fashion or what would nowadays be considered memorabilia (or at least things you'd find in Snooper's Paradise down the Lanes in Brighton), but I was nonetheless impressed at how much thought had been put in to catching the look of the 1980s, down to the smallest details. Season 1 did well in this aspect too, but it wasn't until season 2 that I personally really noticed it. My hat goes off to you, Chris Trujillo, and your art department on doing a bloody great job.

Personally, I enjoy it when films reference, pastiche or pay homage to other films or works of art. One particular example that caught my eye was in Chapter 6: The Spy, when the soldiers enter the Mind Flayer's tunnels under Hawkins Lab, in what seemed to be a direct reference to Aliens (James Cameron, 1986). There are obviously tonnes of references kicking about throughout both seasons 1 and 2 - another example being E.T. and Eleven's ghost costume for Halloween, or Will's opening of the front door in a shot ripped straight out of Close Encounters - which many other fans of the show have covered extensively. Stuff like this really rocks my socks.

Game over man, game over!

There were mistakes, however. One of the biggest issues I had with the show was the filler-episode that felt somewhat... messy. Let's examine the divisive episode: Chapter 7: The Lost Sister. Here, we see Jane/Eleven travel to Chicago to meet her "sister", Kali/Eight (Linnea Berthelsen), unravel more of her history, go through some Empire Strikes Back-esque training, face a moral dilemma and eventually realise that she must get back to Hawkins.  It was already hinted in the opening of Chapter 1: MadMax that Eleven and Kali were to meet, so I cannot fault the creators for including this particular meeting. But, Chapter 7 felt like it wobbled in terms of how it was executed, and its a shame, because it could have worked, and it should have worked. But alongside the introduction of a rather large group of underdeveloped characters and a severe lack of focus, it also wasn't well placed in relation to the rest of the episodes and overall continuity - especially following the intensity and explosivity that was the ending of Chapter 6: The Spy. Interestingly, this episode is also the lowest rated episode of season 2, which I think says a lot about how the episode was structured. 

Supporting characters that are just there for nothing else but to fill out the episode and provide little else in terms of character development? Come on, man.

Perhaps I am being a little too harsh on episode 7. In an interview with the Duffer Brothers from Entertainment weekly, they responded to the criticism by stating that the episode was about trying something new. I can get behind that, I actually think it's very logical. Eleven needed to have an episode for herself, so that her character could grow further. She needs to evolve and discover more about herself. And, most importantly, she can't deal with the Mind Flayer by herself. If that means building up a roster of telekinetic, psychic heroes to help the people of Hawkins, then episode 7 is the set up for that.

Despite this, I still enjoy Stranger Things what it is and for the ideas that it brings forth, riding on a sense of nostalgia and the classic tale of the transitional period between child and teenager, whilst infusing horror conventions and intertextual references to enhance the show. The Duffer Brother's have provided us with an engaging story of growing up in a scary world, and it appeals to all ages. I honestly hope that season 3 will be just as exciting and fast paced, but also leave a little more room for some character development and perhaps some more interactions between Eleven and Max - as long as it doesn't dive into some pseudo-love triangle.

If you enjoyed this, check out this piece on Stranger Things:
Stranger Things and Intertextuality (A Response to The Nerdwriter)