The “sophomore slump” or the “difficult second album” has generally been an expression that’s applied to music. After a band or a solo artist launches their career with a hit record, it can be challenging to recapture that same energy and excitement. After all, it’s one thing to work on your best idea in solitude for years. It’s another to suddenly feel immense pressure to follow-up that first hit with something even better. The same can hold true for TV. Many of the greatest television shows fail to deliver on their second outing — like Heroes and True Detective, to name just a couple.
Because of that common stumbling block, many people wondered if Stranger Things could match the excitement and storytelling for its second season after the literal phenomenon that accompanied the first season. Fortunately, the creators of the series, brother Matt and Ross Duffer, delivered with a worthy second installment that maybe didn’t quite hit the same storytelling heights of the first season, but proved to be deeply satisfying nonetheless thanks to some extraordinary new characters and the further development of its existing ones in incredibly satisfying ways.
Stranger Things 2, which premiered nine years ago this week, picks up a year after the events of the debut season. After being rescued from the Upside Down by Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is finding it difficult to readjust. Making matters worse, he keeps having visions of a giant, spider-like monster that will eventually be named the Mindflayer by Will and his friends. Meanwhile, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) is still mourning the loss of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who seemingly disintegrated after defeating the Demogorgon at the end of season 1. Unbeknownst to Mike, Eleven has been secretly living in Hopper’s cabin deep in the woods, where he is keeping her safe. Also, Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) compete for the affections of a new student named Max (Sadie Sink).
Still, everyone seems to be getting better until a blight on the local pumpkin patches is discovered, which eventually reveals a series of underground tunnels beneath Hawkins that have a connection to the Mindflayer. The Mindflayer also sends younger Demogorgons — nicknamed “Demodogs” — to Hawkins to guard the tunnels, but they begin to wreak havoc on the surface.
Why season 2 of Stranger Things is so good
Personally, I do not think that season 2’s story matched the mystery and excitement of the first season of Stranger Things. Don’t get me wrong, season 2 is excellent, but it achieves that excellence by developing its characters, both new and preexisting.
For the new characters, Max added a unique dynamic to the group. Originally, the four boys were all a bunch of nerds on the same wavelength, and while they were definitely distinct characters, none of them was anything like the smartass, unscientific skater Max Mayfield. In the first season, the party felt fractured by Will’s absence and it was clear that Eleven was becoming a part of the group, but when Max became the sixth member, the party finally felt “whole.”
Max’s older stepbrother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) also made for a great villain that would really pay off in season 3. Joyce’s new boyfriend Bob (Sean Astin) saw the addition of a lovable new adult character that was on the kids’ same nerdy wavelength. Paul Reiser was also a really interesting addition as the new, kinder face of Hawkins Lab who you were never quite sure if you could trust. Brett Gelman’s Murray Bauman was an irresistibly funny conspiracy nut who would definitely pay off in later seasons. Finally, Lucas’ younger sister Erica (Priah Ferguson) proved to be a hilarious scene-stealer.
Season 2 also added layers to preexisting characters. Will, for example, mostly just needed rescuing in the first season. We finally get to know him in season 2. Eleven and Hopper also develop a profound bond over the season which sees them evolve into a father and daughter. That said, it’s Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) who experiences the most significant change. In season 1, Steve was the cocky, mostly unlikable jock boyfriend of Mike’s older sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer). But in season 2, he realizes what a jerk he’s been and he makes a conscious effort to become a better person. This is most clearly shown in his unexpected, odd couple friendship with Dustin.
The problem with season 2
Because this is Stranger Things, which is mostly remembered now for being wildly inconsistent in its later seasons, I feel compelled to point out that some of its strengths in the second season led to some bad habits in future seasons. The most notable one is the addition of new characters. The Duffer Brothers added a lot of new characters to the show in season 2 and they were successful with all of them, which was impressive. Perhaps because of this, every future season also introduced a slew of new characters, and while some were also wonderful — like Robin (Maya Hawke) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn) — by the latter two seasons the show became overwhelmed with characters.
Season 2 also saw the central group of kids split up for a good chunk of the story and then reunite in a triumphant way in the second half. This worked out pretty well in season two, but it seemed like every season after that involved the gang coming back together again, which eventually felt formulaic and made you miss when these characters were just buddies.
I wish I could just praise season 2 of Stranger Things without lamenting the show’s later missteps, but its failures in later seasons really do color the whole series. I guess that’s only natural, but part of the reason why it’s so upsetting is that Stranger Things genuinely was that good in its first season, and managed to hit the mark in season 2 as well.
Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.