SAME ‘THINGS’
New ‘Stranger’ season keeps winning formula
THERE’S good news for fans of “Stranger
Things” — it’s back after a 15-month break, and it delivers the goods.
That’s because Matt and Ross Duffer, the show’s writers/directors, made it worth the wait by leaving well-enough alone — sticking to the ’80s-era sci-fi series’ formula with a logical progression vis a vis the story arc and the characters, both of which turned the Netflix series into a talker when it premiered in July 2016. The core cast is back, we’re still in Hawkins, Ind., and it’s less than a year since Will (Noah Schnapp) was rescued from the show’s evil “Upside Down” world just before Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) vanished — along with the monster she apparently slayed.
There are also a few new characters added to the “Stranger Things” universe, including a love interest for Will’s mom, Joyce (Winona Ryder) — the aptly named Radio Shack manager Bob Newby (Sean Astin) — and Owens (Paul Reiser), who’s treating Will’s fragile psyche and may or may not be shady. The opening scene of Season 2 includes a plot point that will be expanded as the season progresses.
It’s October 1984 and Halloween is just around the corner. Will and his pals Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are in middle school, reveling in their geekiness and thick as thieves, still riding their bicycles everywhere and communicating via walkie-talkie. A new classmate, Max (Sadie Sink), who’s moved to Hawkins from California with her older brother, has captured their attention. Police chief Hooper (David Harbour) is doing his due diligence, investigating a blight on the local pumpkin population that’s pitting neighbor against neighbor. Mike’s older sister, Nancy (Natalia Dyer), is still haunted by her best friend Barb’s (Emmy nominee Shannon Purser) fate, while Barb’s parents are holding out hope she’s just vanished — and that they’ll get closure one way or another from the investigative journalist ur na list( Brett Gelman) they’ve hired.red.
If you haven’t rewatched watched Season 1 of “Stranger Things”gs” —— or at least the season finaleale —— chances are that you’veu’ve forgotten a lot of whathat happened last year in Hawkins. But there’s enough earlyy context here to bringng you up to snuff, and you definitely won’t forget the timeframe since — like a lot of TV shows and movies — we’re inundated with 1980s background references: Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) on “All My Children,” “The Terminator” (twice), “Ghostbusters,” The Romantics and Bo Derek, to name a few.
The pace is brisk, the gang’s all (eventually) here and there’s a lot coming down the pike — so settle in for the ride.