Stranger Things Season 2 Review: 9 Ups And 3 Downs

1. A Movie Sequel That Is Somehow Worth The Hype

After the first season aired, there wasn't an obvious direction for the show to go in. It had some loose ends, but largely felt self-contained, and a second season would've been welcomed but wasn't totally necessary. The Duffers, for their part, have spent the past year hyping this up as something more akin to a movie sequel than a Season 2, and they've delivered remarkably on that promise.

While it does build on the events of the first season, it doesn't try too hard to tie up those plot threads but instead focuses on telling its own story, which again works in the context of a Stranger Things franchise, rather than typical TV series.

The way the narrative works as a whole does make it feel more like one long movie rather than a TV show, and it nicely expands the characters and mythology while being something new as well. There are familiar elements, naturally, and a couple of points that tread too closely to the first, but mostly it's a hugely successful sequel - and one that somehow lives up to the hype surrounding it. It's also a sequel that betters the original in most ways; Stranger Things 1 was very good, but this is something really great.