***WARNING: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED STRANGER THINGS 2***
At 3 a.m. on Friday, October 27, the much anticipated second installment of Stranger Things began streaming on Netflix.
The first season of the Netflix original series was released July 15, 2016, and instantly became a huge phenomenon. For Halloween, many people dressed as the infamous character, Eleven, and were torn between shipping Mike's sister, Nancy, with Steve or with Will's brother, Jonathan.
Because of the success of Season 1, fans had high expectations from the show's creators, the Duffer brothers, for Season 2. The first initial tease of the second season came during a 20-second trailer shown during the Super Bowl in February 2017. The trailer showed one-second clips of Will, Mike, Eleven, Hopper, etc., and did not give a specific release date; It vaguely had the word "Halloween" shown on the screen. Unfortunately, this trailer did not satisfy many of its viewers (including me.) For four long months, this had to make do for fans of the show.
The official Season 2 trailer was released at San Diego Comic-Con at the end of July, and provided fans with images of what they wanted most: Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and an upside-down recovering Will reunited and playing Dragon's Lair at the arcade, Hopper frantically searching for answers for the mysterious happenings in Hawkins, and of course, Eleven finding her way back to Mike from the Upside Down after sacrificing herself to the Demogorgon. It certainly left fans more than satisfied for the upcoming season, set to release October 27, 2017.
After viewing the official trailer, I was more than excited. I could not wait for the upcoming season and did not know how I would wait until October. It felt like light years away. But I suppose between the rest of summer, beginning college, and tests/projects/presentations, October was here before I knew it.
On October 13, also conveniently Friday the 13th, the Stranger Things account released another teaser trailer on Twitter. The trailer ensured the excitement of its fans and left viewers questioning even further what was bound to happen in the second season.
Finally, two weeks later, the series was released on Netflix. On the east coast, the show began streaming at 3 a.m., and I started watching around 5:15 a.m. I was able to watch the first three episodes before class began, which was difficult because I couldn't focus on my next three classes after being left on a cliffhanger from episode 3. After I finished my classes at 12:30, I went home and binge-watched the rest of the season, which was a total of 9 episodes.
As a whole, I loved the season, and believe it most definitely lived up to the hype. The Duffer brothers provided (most) fans with what they wanted, such as Nancy and Jonathan finally getting together, an emotional reunion between Mike and Eleven, funny scenes with the boys, and lots of monster-fighting and supernatural beings. Fans were also provided with a new treat: the unexpected friendship of Dustin and Nancy's ex, Steve Harrington. I love this new pairing, and I love the new role Steve has taken on. While I shipped Jancy more than the next person, I did not enjoy the way Nancy and Steve's relationship was handled. Steve underwent much character development from season one and became a better boyfriend and overall person, and he deserved better from Nancy than her drunkenly telling him off in the bathroom of a party and calling their relationship "bullshit" after dating for an entire year.
Because of my issues with Jancy's hook-up, I had placed the rest of my high expectations on the relationship between Mike and Eleven, or "Mileven." I was definitely not disappointed with Mileven. Although I was sad that their reunion did not occur until the end of the eighth episode, I was more than pleased with the reunion. It begins with one of the demodogs flying through the window at the Byers' house. Immediately, I knew this was Eleven. Her entrance was nothing short of ICONIC, and Mike's face when he saw her for the first time is something that will make me cry every time I see it. They hug, and Mike finds out Eleven heard him calling her every day for 353 days, but because Hopper was trying to protect her and Mike, he did not allow her to answer. (Which reminds me--Eleven and Hopper's father-daughter relationship is everything I could have hoped for and more?)
Eventually, everyone works together to defeat the "Mind Flayer," and Eleven supposedly closes the gate to the Upside Down. Also, I just got chills typing this because Eleven (or should I say Jane Hopper) is amazing and I aspire to be her. Eleven learned more about her past during this season as well, with her discovering her sister, "008," in Chicago. While I did not enjoy this episode as much as the others, I do believe it was necessary and interesting to show just how far the Hawkins Lab extends. She also visits her mother, Terry Ives, and learns what happened to her and why she got separated from her as a child. I liked the direction the Duffer brothers were going with Eleven, but I'm happy that Hawkins and the people there are Eleven's true home.
The season ends at the Hawkins Middle School Snowball, which if you remember from the season one finale, Mike promised Eleven they would go together. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will all dress up for the Snowball and Lucas goes with the new female character, Max, who I did not like at first but ended up loving. I like her personality, and I also sympathized with her because she has to deal with her asshole older brother, Billy, on a daily basis. Dustin could not find anyone to dance with him at first, and I cried a little bit. But, Nancy steps in and dances with Dustin. Good job, Nancy. Will also gets asked to dance, and Mike is left sitting at the table by himself. At this point, I was alone in my room screaming, "WHERE IS ELEVEN?" as "Every Breath You Take" by the Police played in the background at the gym. Finally, she walks into the gym, and she and Mike unite on the dance floor and slow dance together. They also shared another kiss, and again, I was left wondering to myself, "why am I so invested in a relationship between two fourteen-year-olds?" But, hey, I'm not complaining.
However, since they're never allowed to have anything nice in Hawkins, the season officially ends with the middle school being shown upside down, and the Shadow Monster hovering over the school. And since the Duffer brothers want to kill us, they left us on this cliffhanger, and season three can be expected in late 2018 or early 2019. So, rest in peace to all Stranger Things fans. Let's hope we make it to season three because I seriously do not know how I'm going to wait that long. I'll probably tide myself over by watching the Mike and Eleven reunion scene and Snowball scene over and over again. Until next time, Stranger Things fans!
