I remember sitting down last year to watch the first season of "Stranger Things," and I was thoroughly surprised by the genre of the show considering how popular it was. The show itself was exactly the kind I would watch normally, and I was so moved by Joyce Byers' love for her son that I was inspired to write one of my first articles on Odyssey about her.

So, when season two came out a few days ago, the first thing I did after I came home was watch the first few episodes. I have to say that it's tough for complicated storylines to continue being magical after the first season ends, but the Duffer brothers blew me away with how captivating the newly-developing plot was. Although I haven't finished the season yet, here are my favorite parts of the storyline that make season two of the show as good as the first.

1. Dustin and Lucas find a girl that they both like.

She definitely isn't one of my favorite people in the world, but it's nice to see the problems that Dustin and Lucas deal with. Of course, they have to figure out how to handle the "new species" that Dustin found in his trashcan, but seeing that they both like a girl makes you realize how young these kids really are. While other eighth graders only worry about normal teenager issues, these boys have to save the world, so knowing that there's a bit of eighth grader in them makes them seem more like their age.

2. Eleven searches for her true mother.

After she had disappeared at the end of the first season, I had no idea how the show would bring her back. But at least she decided to branch off on her own and find answers to help her discover who she really was before she became "Eleven." She had a personal dilemma with discovering her identity, and she'd have never found out who she was if she listened to Hopper and stayed in the cabin.

3. Eleven meets another victim of Papa.

The number "008" was printed on the girl's arm, meaning she had suffered through the same pain that Eleven did. Meeting Kali was interesting to watch because I didn't know who she was when she was introduced in the first scene of the first episode, but she showed Eleven the way her pain could be harnessed and used to reveal the amount of power she really possessed. It was a bit heartbreaking to see Kali's expression when Eleven ran to go find her friends because it showed that Kali had felt a true connection when meeting someone else who shared her unique gift.

4. Dustin has a special friendship with a Demogorgon.

I got really mad at Dustin for this one. If you find a new species, you really shouldn't develop some kind of a special bond with it. Knowing nothing about it means it could potentially be dangerous, and that's pretty obvious when it comes to the literal Demogorgon creature that Dustin grows in his room. Thanks, Dustin.

5. Will isn't done with the monsters who took him in the first season.

The poor kid just can't get a break. The ending of the first season pretty much gave away that Will would still have problems with the creatures that infested him, but it became serious when he was hurt every time the laboratory soldiers attempted to burn the tunnels. Since I haven't finished the season yet, I wonder what they'll do to save Will and destroy the underground maze.