9 Questions We Want Answered In Stranger Things Season 2

Glorious 1980s throwback Stranger Things has turned out to be the surprise TV hit of the summer and yet another jewel in the crown for Netflix’s original content. The trim eight episode first season told a strong sci-fi story weaved from the best bits of the works of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King and introduced us to great characters like telekinetic girl Eleven, put-upon mum Joyce and geeky Mike and his friends. But where will the now much-anticipated season two take the show? Right now we don’t have much to go on, but there are several dangling questions that the show’s season finale left unanswered. Here, we take a look at those questions and dive into what exactly needs to be answered when Stranger Things returns to Netflix. 9) Are There More Monsters Out There? From the opening scene of Stranger Things, we knew that there was something inhuman creeping about Hawkins, Indiana. Over the course of the show, we learnt that the faceless creature stalking the place was basically the personification of the scariest bits of various predators like lions, sharks and bears. Nevertheless, the monster was seemingly destroyed in the finale. But are there more of them out there? I think we can all agree that this is a given. The so-called Upside Down Creature was responsible for the show’s successful horror elements and served up some classic jump scare moments. It wouldn’t be Stranger Things without those. Eagle-eyed viewers have already spotted that an enigmatic egg appears in one shot in the finale. What’s the betting that it will have hatched by next season? 8) Is Nancy Going To Stay With Steve? It’s not all sci-fi and scares in Stranger Things, there’s some classic John Hughes-esque high school drama, too. At first, Nancy only had eyes for her jerk boyfriend Steve, but over the course of the show she grew closer to loner Jonathan. Still, she was seen cosying up to Steven in the finale. Will things stay that way? To be fair to Steve, he did turn it around in the final episode, as he defied his horrible friends and rescued Nancy and Jonathan from a monster. On the other hand, Jonathan has always been a nice guy who proved his bravery when investigating his brother’s disappearance. However, he also took photographs of Nancy while she was undressing (for artistic reasons, apparently). Maybe she made the right choice, after all. 7) What Deal Has Hopper Made? Sheriff Jim Hopper started out on the show as the stereotypical downbeat cop, but we grew to see him as the tragic hero that he really was. However, it seems that in saving Will Byer’s life he had to make a move to the dark side. One perplexing scene in the season finale sees him getting into a car with some shady government types, presumably representatives from Hawkins Research Labs. What exactly did Hopper agree to in exchange for reclaiming Will from the Upside Down? Has he just made a deal with the devil? There was also a moment where he left Eleven’s favourite food in a box in the woods. Does he know something we don’t know about what’s going on with her? 6) Is Eleven Really Gone? The breakout character of Stranger Things has got to be Eleven, a cross between Jean Grey and Frankenstein’s Monster wrapped in a 12 year old girl. Young British actress Millie Bobby Brown gave an outstanding performance in a very challenging role, so it would be a big shame if the character’s apparent end in the finale turned out to be for real. Crucially, Eleven merely disappeared when she destroyed the creature. By the rules of TV - if there is not a body, they probably aren’t dead - she could well be alive. Perhaps Mike, Dustin and Lucas will have to venture into the Upside Down to retrieve her in season two? Either that, or she will make a triumphant comeback all on her own at some point. 5) What’s Up With Will? After spending the whole of the season missing, everything turned out hunky dory for Will when Joyce and Hopper rescued him at the point of death from the creature’s claws. All in time for Christmas, as well. Ah, all is good in Hawkins again and – wait, did he just cough up a slug? Yes, it looks like Will is not as OK as he first seemed. Presumably the slug thing inside him represents that he has brought some of the evil of the Upside Down with him when he returned to our world. This will no doubt cause a lot of problems in season two. Is the boy possessed, maybe? Or just slowly dying from Upside Down poisoning? Whatever it is, Will Byer’s troubles definitely aren’t over. 4) Is Barb Really Dead? Despite appearing just three episodes, Nancy’s best friend Barb is now the unlikely star of her own internet fandom. It seems the unfashionable character who felt awkward at parties struck a cord with viewers who saw her as a highly relatable person. Unfortunately, Barb appeared to bite the bullet early on when the creature snatched her away to the Upside Down. And if we were left in any doubt about her fate, we then saw her in a desiccated state in a later episode. And yet in an interview with IGN, creators the Duffer brothers did admit: “There’s no closure at this point… We don’t want to forget about Barb.” Could they mean that Barb will somehow return next season? 3) What’s The Real Story About The Upside-Down? With all the high-octane drama and emotional gut punches of the finale, it doesn’t occur to you until after watching that we didn’t actually find out a lot about the overall mythology of the show. In fact, we don’t really know that much more from when it began. We know that using Eleven to spy on Russian secrets resulted in the breach between dimensions that brought Hawkins into contact with the Upside Down, but what exactly is that place to start with? Inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, the kids call it a dark mirror of our own world – supported by the fact that it resembles a nightmarish version of Hawkins. There is some talk of parallel worlds, as well. Is the Upside Down a timeline where there was some apocalyptic outbreak of monsters? 2) What Will The Reference Points Be? We’ve already mentioned just how marinated in 80s genre fiction Stranger Things is. We counted 17 key influences, but big ones for season one included E.T, Scanners, It and others. But now that this story arc has been basically wrapped up, will there be a new batch of reference points to spring ideas from in future? If the next run is based around the characters going monster hunting in the Upside Down, there could be something of an Aliens vibe to season two. Or if there is more of Will with alien life crawling around his insides, there would definitely be a more overt David Cronenberg (specifically The Fly) feel going on. Alternatively, it could further mine inspiration from the previously mentioned sources. As long as the story stays fresh, there would nothing wrong with that. 1) Can It Keep Up The Quality? The biggest question we want answered from season two is whether it can live up to the big shadow cast by Stranger Thing's debut run. As we have surely proved with all these things that remain unexplained, there is certainly enough story left to be explored. However, the pressure is on the Duffer brothers to nail that difficult second outing. The creators have said that, suitably for the movie stylings of the show, they see the next run as a sequel rather than a second season. The rule with sequels, though, is that they are usually guilty of diminishing returns. Still, if the Duffers can keep up the mix of invention and homage that they managed this time around, there's no reason lightning can’t strike twice. Stranger things have happened....