‘Stranger’ attraction
Netflix’s sequel of sci-fi/horror hit brings new surprises
“Stranger Things 2” does the strangest thing.
The sequel to Netflix’s surprise hit seems as satisfying as its premiere season.
Creators, writer, directors and executive producers the Duffer Brothers have fashioned a follow-up every bit as addictive as the first.
That is no small feat. “Stranger Things,” with its love of all things ’80s, its offbeat sci-fi tale and its young cast, was not expected to be such a hit — nor did its creators or the streaming service initially imagine a follow-up. It was supposed to be one and done. Lucky for us, success turned their heads, in the best possible way.
The nine-episode season picks up the threads of the original and reinforces the bonds of family and friendship forged through frightening circumstances.
It opens just a few days before Halloween 1984, back in Hawkins, Ind., and everyone is trying to put the horror of the previous year behind.
Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is being harassed at school and is haunted by his experiences in the mysterious Upside Down. He suffers from moments in which he finds himself trapped in that realm — and something big and bad is coming his way.
“Nothing’s going to go back to the way it was,” Chief Hopper (David Harbour) tells Joyce (Winona Ryder). He’s really trying to be comforting. For the first time in years, he has something to live for. But he has a new worry — the destruction of several fields of crops.
There’s a new girl in town — Maxine (Sadie Sink), she prefers to be called Max — who skateboards like a pro and is even better at video games than the boys. Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) is especially intrigued. Max is holding her own secrets.
In a canny bit of fan service, the show responds to the most popular meme the series inspired — #justiceforbarb — as Nancy (Natalia Dyer) begins to fracture under the weight of the knowledge of her best friend’s fate.
The Duffers have cast two ’80s icons — Sean Astin (“The Goonies”) and Paul Reiser (“Aliens”) — in key roles. Astin plays Bob, the new man in Joyce’s life. Reiser is a doctor monitoring Will’s episodes and making diagnoses that are absolutely no help.
And what of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), everyone’s favorite psychokinetic powerhouse?
Last season’s finale left her fate up in the air, and while I am sworn to secrecy, it’s hardly a spoiler to say she is a big part of this season. And the series gets to work answering another ominous question:
What of those who came before Eleven?
“Stranger Things 2” takes fans down some dark paths.