- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: Jul 15, 2016
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Critic Reviews
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There really is a kind of sophisticated genius behind Stranger Things, and while others may try to imitate what the Duffers are doing, it’s harder than it may seem. If anything, the pair have moved the game forward in the second season by making the show scarier without losing the wise innocence of ’80s films as embodied by a bunch of kids, riding around Indiana on bikes in the middle of a real adventure.
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The goings-on in Hawkins snowball during the second half of the season to deliver a rather breathless series of nailbiters.
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The sequel to Netflix’s surprise hit seems as satisfying as its premiere season.
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As with last year’s introductory season, a Spielbergian sense of wonder and a John Hughes-like knack for underage anthropology invigorate the show’s approach to scary science-fiction.
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All in all, Stranger Things season 2 is ultimately more of the same, but still a very worthy sequel, which is good news for those of us (like me) who only hoped for the Duffer Brothers to manage to carry through the success of the original run with an affecting, and believable, continuation of the story.
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Entertaining and warm in appropriate 1980s fashion, “Stranger Things 2,” now streaming, fills its nine episodes better than season one filled its eight episodes.
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Stranger Things hasn’t yet fallen into the Home Alone 2 trap. But it’s telling that the most exciting moments of season two are the ones when the characters evolve and change, and when the world around them does too.
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The characters are deftly drawn, and irresistible.
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Stranger Things 2 is a blast. [30 Oct 2017 - 12 Nov 2017, p.12]
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The first five new episodes are better than most of the first season; they’re more emotionally developed and resonant.
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Stranger Things 2 occasionally struggles with balancing its time between new and old characters, and the first three episodes have to labor through a degree of catch-up that slows down the pace. Once the series picks up momentum, though, it’s a thrilling ride.
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These new chapters gives us just enough of what we want, satisfyingly earning our continued endearment with all the title represents. It’s not perfect, but it is a good sequel and well worth the anticipation that preceded its release.
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The new season of Stranger Things isn’t as good as the first. The Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers notwithstanding, sequels hardly ever are. Though, as with so many sequels, what happened before happens again only more so, it is somehow more than the sum of its disparate parts.
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It affirms all the reasons you liked the first Stranger Things, and deepens your knowledge and affection for its storytelling and characters.
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Season 2’s first three episodes top the suspense, weirdness and fun of last year thanks to sharper writing, more dynamic storytelling, a honed sense of humor (some of it self-referential) and a young cast that has developed its acting skills alongside their adult teeth.
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Stranger Things 2 is marginally better and more satisfying than the original.
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Though it takes two or three episodes for the various story lines to fully kick into gear, Stranger Things 2 is a suspenseful, thoroughly satisfying follow-up that goes to emotionally deeper places than its predecessor did.
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Even when scenes border on getting mushy, as in the final moments of Stranger Things 2, the sentiment feels earned, not plastered on. Scary, witty and sweet, Stranger Things 2 just might give sequels a good name.
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Stranger Things 2 is quite good and, if your expectations are in check, largely satisfying. The Duffer Brothers fall into very few traps of self-importance or self-awareness and they deliver a second season with an expanded assortment of '80s influences, an expanded cast of instantly embraceable characters and some expanded Stranger Things mythology without the bloat that inevitably dooms sequels.
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The narrative’s not quite as propulsive early enough as a result, but the character work largely compensates for it. And even the various slow burns converge into a huge, thrilling flame for the season’s climactic hours.
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Until Stranger Things 2 really gets going--and that takes a while--it trails an air of self-consciousness that veers into strained fan service at times. The good news is, the show’s core cast remains an extremely versatile and effective ensemble, and once the story kicks into a higher gear about halfway through the nine-episode season, a lot of the old magic returns.
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Like that first season, not everything works perfectly, but its cumulative effect is one that is again joyous, emotional, satisfyingly spooky, and most of all, makes us care deeply about the fates of these outsiders who band together as heroes.
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Stranger Things 2 ultimately feels less like a cash in on the success of the first season and more like its narrative complement, allowing the creators to fully explore the ramifications of the world they created.
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Bigger, bolder, in some ways better--and some ways not--2 avoids a sophomore slump by sticking with what worked so well.
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And, man does Stranger Things 2 stick the landing. The season finale is just excellent, finding surprising grace notes for some of its most beloved characters.
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Stranger Things isn't so tired that the repetitiveness overpowers other strong elements. Season 2 is still a mostly satisfying binge-watch that makes good use of a talented multi-generational cast and an intriguing mythology.
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Though repetitive in places and absolutely bursting with plot, the reference-heavy, nostalgia-driven “2” still succeeds at bringing families together for nothing but a good time.
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Nine more episodes of a surprise phenomenon that might be uneven, but still has plenty of power up its sleeve.
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The pace is brisk, the gang’s all (eventually) here and there’s a lot coming down the pike--so settle in for the ride.
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I’m not sure Stranger Things creatively needed a second season, and for several episodes it seems like Stranger Things 2 isn’t convinced of it either. But it’s a still a good time, it’s nicely paced at nine episodes and it blends the suspense of ’80s horror with the heart of an ’80s teen romance.
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The result is a second season that replicates and, indeed, enhances the show's central charms -- its group of pubescent nerds, and nostalgic sense of time and place -- while still feeling less compelling with its teenage contingent. All told, it's an impressive follow-up, if one perhaps burdened by expectations raised by the over-the-moon reaction, to couch it in the fantasy of the era, to the debut.
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While it might be frustrating to have sat through nearly 300 minutes of television only to realize not much has happened, the Duffer Brothers have constructed such a rich, vibrant universe and populated it with such entertaining characters--those kids really are a hoot--that it’s still fun to go along for the ride, slower though it is.
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The cast remains full of delightful performers, but they sprawl in different directions, many of them boring.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 757 out of 890
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Mixed: 62 out of 890
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Negative: 71 out of 890
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Oct 28, 2017
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Nov 28, 2017
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Oct 30, 2017