Stranger Things Season 2

[Tahquitz]

"I'm sorry.  You ate my cat."  --  Why Dustin remains my favorite character.

I enjoyed the season.  I know, folks will compare it to the first and find it lacking as there's no change to the setting or layers to peel back than what was already seen.  But it does put a nice wrap around the first season and set a stage to season 3 (which just got greenlit.)

[Tenzhi]

The episode to episode cliffhangers got ridiculous.  Were they that bad first season, too?  I don't remember.

Max's brother could've been in a Stephen King novel. And they really made him into the seediest looking hair metal dweeboid they could.

Kali and her group of misfits reminded me of the crazy van based group in Dirk Gently. Also, they were a pretty odd side trip.  Not quite Bombadil level, and maybe it'll payoff in season 3?

That Dig Dug score seemed well under impossible.  Stupid kids made me Google things that were vague memories.

I enjoyed it at least as much as the first season... accounting for the slight loss of mystique.

[Codewalker]

The episode to episode cliffhangers got ridiculous.  Were they that bad first season, too?  I don't remember.

YES. They were.

Maybe it's just me, but I felt less of the 'next episode' urgency when watching Season 2 than I did with the first season. I think because the plot was slower-building (but larger in scope).

I agree that "fear of the unknown" and having no idea what was going on / what to expect was a big factor in S1, and that was of course much less present in S2. I think the showrunners were aware of that and adjusted their storytelling for it, so it was still a highly enjoyable experience despite being different than how S1 did it.

My only real complaint is that we learned very little in the way of unanswered questions from S1 about the nature of the upside-down. Hopefully S3/S4 will address some of those. It was still a great way to wrap up the other loose threads in Hawkins.

[MyriVerse]

Yeah, the cliffhangers were ridiculous (awesome) in S1 too.

Max's brother (Billy) could have been in a Stephen King novel. But Bob was in a Stephen King novel (sorta), and he was awesome! Poor Bob. Who caught the Bob Stephen King references? Seems that he was from Maine ("Well, my parents are selling their house in Maine.") and the whole Mr. Baldo and balloon story. This guy survived Pennywise encounters only to die in Hawkins. So sad.

I was generally very pleased with the season, even episode 7. It sucked that Jane/El was separate from the kids so long, but I think her character was better for it. I also wish Mike had more to do, but Dustin, Lucas, and Will shined this season. Steve was brilliant. And I like Max. Jonathan was pretty weak though.

I really don't think we need answers about the Upside Down. Its beauty is that it's so mysterious.

[Tenzhi]

My biggest take away from "Bob" was that Sam Gamgee likes Kenny Rogers.  And Newby was a cute name for the newby.

[eabrace]

You know, Max was awesome, but it annoyed me to no end every time she said "zoomer".

I mean, seriously, the way she swings a baseball bat when she's pissed, she's obviously the party's new Barbarian.

[Tenzhi]

You know, Max was awesome, but it annoyed me to no end every time she said "zoomer".

I mean, seriously, the way she swings a baseball bat when she's pissed, she's obviously the party's new Barbarian.

Only if she gets a pet unicorn.

[eabrace]

Only if she gets a pet unicorn.

[Tenzhi]

Her hair even matches Uni's.  It totally makes sense.

[Angel Phoenix77]

Her hair even matches Uni's.  It totally makes sense.

I saw something interesting the other day. According to what I read Stranger Things is based of a real life incident it was called Montauk project.

[MyriVerse]

You know, Max was awesome, but it annoyed me to no end every time she said "zoomer".

I mean, seriously, the way she swings a baseball bat when she's pissed, she's obviously the party's new Barbarian.

Yes! I've been saying the same thing. And by D&D lore, Barbarians and Wizards (Eleven) don't get along.

I saw something interesting the other day. According to what I read Stranger Things is based of a real life incident it was called Montauk project.

Yeah. The original title of the show was supposed to be "Montauk."

[Tahquitz]

It was originally going to be set in Montauk, New York and in various locations off of Long Island.  But location fees in New York are a little outrageous, which means either shooting in closed studios and emulating the setting (which grossly limits what you can do outdoors), or paying up and watch production get that much smaller with the remaining budget.  Plus, as the seasons would be released annually, shooting would occur in Winter, which is difficult to do in New York.

So they changed setting to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.  This allowed them to shoot in Atlanta, Georgia (which is becoming the go-to setting for affordable film permits) and use studios to emulate other settings (Pittsburgh, more Metro areas of Indiana, etc.)

Spoiler for Hidden:

The building used for the Hawkins National Laboratory in Georgia is unfortunately not returning for Season 3.  It was an abandoned mental health institute that was donated to a university who failed to redevelop it.  It's slated for demolition.