 |
| Stranger Things is back; and creepier |
In less than a week after it premiered last Friday night.
After watching the brilliant season finale last night, I literally had to force myself to close the Netflix app on my iPhone and pick up a book to read to avoid starting the second season over again.
As a sci-fi fan and political junkie, it must be mentioned that in my last blog about Stranger Things back on July 31, 2016, I debated whether Donald Trump's emergence as the Republican Party's candidate for president was more terrifying than the creepy things going on in (and under) the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.
I'm starting to think that the terrifying reality of the scandal-plagued Trump presidency is even scarier.
Especially after learning that conservative radio host Sam Clovis (who has no scientific experience or educational background) withdrew his name from consideration for the Department of Agriculture's chief scientist post on Thursday because he personally approved ex-Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos' visit to Russia in 2016 to meet with Russian operatives who offered stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign.
That said, Matt and Ross Duffer, the brothers who created, wrote, produced and directed (some episodes of) Stranger Things, have definitely upped the creep factor in season two.
No pun intended, but they've successfully managed to bring even stranger things to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana (and to the city of Chicago as well in one memorable episode).
The annals of entertainment history are littered with series that were breakout smashes in the first season only to follow up with disappointing second seasons - the dreaded term "sophomore slump" is used to describe promising first-time film directors who follow up box off hits with movies that are panned by critics and fans alike.
 |
| Regulars Lucas, Dustin and Mike are joined by Max Mayfield (played by Sadie Sink) in season two |
If you scour the internet long enough you'll find people who'll nitpick about season two, but from my take it's arguably as good as season one.
The show doesn't rest on its laurels, rather it ups the ante and pushes the boundaries of what the show can be.
One of the strongest aspects of the show is the casting, and season two introduces some really cool characters to bolster the ranks of both the kids and adults who join together to battle the mysterious forces that plague the town of Hawkins.
For my money, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, played by actress Sadie Sink, is the most interesting new addition.
A no-nonsense, tom-boyish redhead who skateboards, Max arrives at Hawkins Middle School after moving from California with her family - including her older step-brother-from-Hell, Billy Hargrove (brilliantly played by actor Dacre Montgomery), a violent, brooding psycho who adds a nice menacing touch and is effective as the childhood bully we all remember, feared and loathed.
The series regulars, Mike Wheeler (played by Finn Wolfhard), Lucas Sinclair (played by Caleb McLaughlin, Dustin Henderson (played by Glenn Matarazzo) and Will Byers (played by Noah Schnapp) first encounter Max when she's dropped off in front of school by her crazy older stepbrother Billy in his souped up Camaro Z-28 - which he drives like a delusional maniac.
The gang are intrigued by (and attracted to) Max, but only learn who she is after they discover that she's a video game ace who outscores everyone on the game Dig-Dug at the local video arcade - where multiple scenes are set in season two.
 |
| Dustin (center) Lucas and Mike dressed as the Ghostbusters for Halloween |
She's absolutely hilarious in the scenes she appears in as the Duffer brothers begin to introduce more of Lucas' family and home life; including his parents, who appeared briefly in season one - it's refreshing to see an average middle-class black family from the suburbs on screen too.
Dustin's mother is also introduced as a minor character in multiple episodes as part of a plot line involving a strange pet that Dustin finds in his trashcan and decides to bring home.
The verbal exchanges between Dustin and his mom played by Catherine Curtin reveal a loving but amusingly quirky relationship as the series spends more time in Dustin's home as well.
On the adult side, the Duffer brothers bolster the talented cast with the addition of two well-liked veteran actors who are familiar to fans of both television and sci-fi / fantasy movies - Sean Astin and Paul Reiser.
Astin, recognizable as Frodo's loyal companion Sam from Peter Jackson's brilliant Lord of the Rings trilogy, joins the cast as Bob Newby, a likable former high school classmate of Will Beyer's mother Joyce, played by Winona Ryder.
 |
| Paul Reiser as Sam Owens in Stranger Things |
Reiser, known for the NBC series Mad About You and the 1986 box office hit Aliens, joins the cast as Sam Owens, who's sent by the Department of Energy to take over the mysterious lab in Hawkins.
After the death of the former head scientist Dr. Brenner (played by Matthew Modine) at the end of season one, Owens presents a far more human face to the government than Brenner - a detached, robotic, cold fish who ruthlessly tried to recapture Eleven in the first season after performing cruel experiments on her for years.
Where Brenner was essentially a villain, Owens, sent to get the "project" back under control, becomes more of an ally to the group.
Without giving away any spoilers, season two picks right up where the season one finale left off, Will Byers, after being rescued from the horrors of the Underside at the end of last season, is back home with his family and friends, but must endure the after-effects of having been trapped in the Underside for so long.
Even though he's back in school, where some students taunt him for having been mistakenly thought to be dead in the first season, he's still traumatized by his terrifying experience.
 |
| Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven |
Saving the best for last, the enigmatic character Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown) is revealed to be living "off the grid" in a remote cabin with Hawkins Chief of Police Jim Hopper (played by David Harbour) - where he's been trying to keep her safe from the government forces pursuing her.
Season two finds her mysterious powers growing stronger, and her more determined to uncover the links to her murky past.
But she's also a willful teenager, and in defiance of Hopper, she sets out on her own journey of self discovery to find answers to her real family's fate, as well as that of another girl with strange powers who was kept prisoner in the lab by Dr. Brenner for years.
Millie Bobby Brown plays Eleven with equal parts sweetness, introspection and intensity as the character taps into her own powers to probe the mysterious circumstances of her childhood.
She also comes to grips with her growing feelings for Mike, as the presence of Max forces Eleven to confront feelings of teenaged jealousy that are sure to strike a universal chord with the audience.
 |
| The erie malevolent entity that haunts the fictional town of Hawkins, IA in season 2 of Stranger Things |
In the first season audiences were given a terrifying glimpse into the strange, dark world known as the Underside.
In season two, elements of the Underside come to Hawkins.
The same portal revealed in season one becomes the same avenue by which the same four-legged carnivorous beasties (which Dustin names "demi-dogs" in season two) that first escaped into Hawkins from the Department of Energy's lab, venture further into the town of Hawkins.
Both above ground, and below.
Unquestionably the introduction of a strange, malevolent entity cranks the creepy factor up a notch.
An erie non-corporeal spirit-like being of enormous size (pictured above), it strongly suggests elements of the Ogdru Jahad, those were the huge cyclopean tentacled creatures that almost reached earth from another dimension at the end of the movie Hellboy, as well as the strange "smoke monster" in the ABC series Lost.
I have no idea what it is, nor do the Duffer brothers give it a name, but it suggests that we've only begun to scratch the surface of the evil that dwells in the Underside.
Based on the final scene of the season two finale, the Duffers brothers will be giving audiences a dose of that in season three - which I (and millions of others) already can't wait to see.
If you like sci-fi and still haven't gotten Netflix, you're missing out.
There's nothing like Stranger Things in the movies or on network television - don't miss it.
No comments:
Post a Comment