Stranger Things Season 2 Review: 9 Ups And 3 Downs

2. It's A Little Bloated

Stranger Things Episode 7
Netflix

One of the biggest complaints of almost all Netflix dramas is that they're too long, since the majority come in at 13 episodes. Stranger Things smartly negotiated that with its first season of just eight episodes, but the second season, with just one extra episode, is prone to a little bit of Netflix bloat.

There's one episode in particular (which I'll come to shortly) that is the most egregious example of this, but a few of the episodes do run too long. The more engaging ones are those that stick to around 45 minutes in length, and the pacing of the longer episodes (around 54-60 mins) isn't quite as tight, and would've benefited from some stronger editing down.

The start of the season is a little sluggish in that regard too. The opening episodes could be condensed down, as it takes its time to get going, although it's so much fun being back in this world with these characters that it's a smaller complaint.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.