![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Stranger Things (Netflix, Season 2)
Hawkins, Indiana is a very exciting place to live. And that's terrible.
Just in case you'd forgotten, the first episode assails you with a montage of, “It's the 80s!” I appreciate the attention to detail throughout the series, from the arcades to the campaign signs to the classic commercials.
I also appreciate that Mike actually told people about his flashing into the upside-down, and though they're treating it poorly, they acknowledge that he has PTSD. While this season has a few, “Yes, I should have told you about this” moments, they're reasonably in character and on the whole, the main characters acknowledge what happened in the previous season and remember the need to work together. The Steve/Dustin two-man team is perhaps the best pairing of the lot. Big brothers for everybody!
They drag out the “not accepting Max into the group” / “Max vs. Eleven rivalry” thing a bit too much, probably just to give Max more to do in more scenes. And man, I'm so glad they didn't try to “redeem” Billy after revealing his father was abusive—he's a high-end shit and I was hoping he'd get eaten by the demodogs. I'm sure they have plans for him in season three, but I really, really hope they involve pain and suffering.
I loved Bob. He was so hapless, and then so useful, and then so stupidly genre blind. I wish we'd had more Bob.
I'm guessing the Barb-related plotline was written as a response to the “Justice for Barb” online campaign. It occurred to me that I was appreciating that Hopper gets a turn as the damsel in distress, when actually, the female characters spend much less time needing rescuing than the male ones. (Even putting aside Will the perennial victim.)
Overall: It hits a lot of similar beats to season 1, but is generally fun and ties up a lot of loose ends. If they made a third season, they'd have to start a bunch of new threads, because this led much more into “they lived happily ever after” territory. And I'm okay with that.
Just in case you'd forgotten, the first episode assails you with a montage of, “It's the 80s!” I appreciate the attention to detail throughout the series, from the arcades to the campaign signs to the classic commercials.
I also appreciate that Mike actually told people about his flashing into the upside-down, and though they're treating it poorly, they acknowledge that he has PTSD. While this season has a few, “Yes, I should have told you about this” moments, they're reasonably in character and on the whole, the main characters acknowledge what happened in the previous season and remember the need to work together. The Steve/Dustin two-man team is perhaps the best pairing of the lot. Big brothers for everybody!
They drag out the “not accepting Max into the group” / “Max vs. Eleven rivalry” thing a bit too much, probably just to give Max more to do in more scenes. And man, I'm so glad they didn't try to “redeem” Billy after revealing his father was abusive—he's a high-end shit and I was hoping he'd get eaten by the demodogs. I'm sure they have plans for him in season three, but I really, really hope they involve pain and suffering.
I loved Bob. He was so hapless, and then so useful, and then so stupidly genre blind. I wish we'd had more Bob.
I'm guessing the Barb-related plotline was written as a response to the “Justice for Barb” online campaign. It occurred to me that I was appreciating that Hopper gets a turn as the damsel in distress, when actually, the female characters spend much less time needing rescuing than the male ones. (Even putting aside Will the perennial victim.)
Overall: It hits a lot of similar beats to season 1, but is generally fun and ties up a lot of loose ends. If they made a third season, they'd have to start a bunch of new threads, because this led much more into “they lived happily ever after” territory. And I'm okay with that.