Stranger Things (Season 2)
When the first season of the Duffer Brothers’ creation, Stranger Things, arrived on Netflix in 2016, it was with very little fanfare – meaning that it then had to build its audience through word-of-mouth, rather than by an elaborate advance marketing campaign. This proved to be a very effective strategy though for a drama that draws the audience into its tightly woven web of intrigue, and causes us to become deeply invested in the fate of its brilliantly drawn characters.
Season 1 introduced the premise of the Upside Down, an alternative dimension which seeps through into ours in a military facility in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana in the early 1980s. A group of local children become embroiled in strange occurrences when one of their number – Will Byers – disappears in the pilot episode. As a mysterious young girl with psychokinetic abilities appears in the community, the local children, the mother of the missing boy, and the local Sheriff all work to understand what’s happening in their town – and save Will.
That first season became a small screen phenomenon, winning several awards, reinvigorating the careers of Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine, propelling actor David Harbour to leading man status and creating young stars of Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Joe Keery. Season 2, meanwhile, takes that early success and builds on it in every way.
The returning cast is bolstered by the additions of Sean Astin, Sadie Sink, Dacre Montgomery and Paul Reiser. The overall premise progresses to present a renewed, greater threat to the community, while also specifically targeting the character of Will, who here’s promoted to series regular, having been the ‘missing child’ in season 1. References to 1980s culture go much deeper, while the story also spreads itself geographically beyond the confines of Hawkins, Indiana.
It was a tough job to follow up on the tremendous debut season that Stranger Things had, but by all accounts, Netflix succeeded.