Stranger Things - Season 2

Bigger, stronger, faster. It moves along without any major hesitation but is actually a bit too confident at times. I have no doubt that at the age of thirteen, kids could escalate their relationships even in the 1980s, and I'm a little sad about the cautious treading. Regardless, this year, even a little more so than a year ago, you can see how much of a Duffer child it is, which they understand best. The directorial crumbling is quite striking and it only really gets going at the very end. I flirted with the idea last time, but this unacknowledged cinematic portal into Black Messa is appreciated by nine Doctor Freemans out of ten. (19.11.2017)

The second series of Stranger Things has managed to do the same thing as the first one; it came up with a mysterious story that smoothly connects to the first one, all while creating its own confident environment which was fun from the beginning till the very end. The 1980s atmosphere is apparent from the hairdos alone and there are nice moments where the creators paid homage to some film legends from Terminator to Indiana Jones. By the end, I wished that the main gang with Eleven in the lead never got old and stayed this awesome forever. Let’s hope that the third series comes as soon as possible. (16.11.2017)

The film makers make no secret of the fact that they do not take it as a second series, but as a classic 80's (not surprising at all) sequel, hence number two in the title. So it has all the attributes of the second movies, bigger, longer, more expensive, more epic, more relying on what worked in the first move, more characters, more at stake, and it is conceived (and built) in a way that the second Alien relates to the first Alien. You can hear criticism that it has a rather slow start, the individual story lines are independent for too long, some of the songs are used solely to impress and the stand-alone seventh episode is from another series (in terms of style but what is even worse, quality). And these are legitimate and true complaint. Especially the last complaint, I hope, does not foreshadow the direction it intends to take in the future. But... The pros (from the cast and the work with the characters, through the purely non-serial cinematicity to the impressive atmosphere mastering the multi-genre style and the congenial ball epilogue) still overwhelmingly prevail, and it is still in every thinkable respect tailor-made for me by Duffers, especially the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth episodes. (05.11.2017)

Typically, season two offers more of everything, everything is bigger and everything happens faster. Pairing up of characters sets of in unexpected directions, but the discovery of the world inside out still takes place only very gradually. Jane is put off onto the sidelines so that some sort of danger that wouldn’t matter could arise, but the whole storyline with searching for her sister just holds back the action. Otherwise again it’s a great watch in Stephen King style. Still pleasant entertainment. (23.11.2017)

Longer, more epic, more action, more horror... I mean, a typical second film that still knows the level and does not cast shame on the first film. I would actually say that this series is even better than the first, thanks mainly to the characters of Eleven and Hopper, who are really great and amazingly-acted characters that simply capture your heart. Above all, the ultra-sympathetic David Harbour (he reminded me a little of Jack Nicholson) deserves all the praise and is now one of my main hopes that the new Hellboy will be at least a little worthwhile. (06.04.2019)

Four stars after nine episodes is a decent score, but I was disappointed by Ellie's journey to her mother. The whole Episode 7 felt completely out of place. I wonder how the child actors' growing up will affect my rating of future seasons (I still haven’t gotten over Brandon Stark). I was otherwise very happy with this season, even though it failed to keep up the atmosphere I was used to in the first one. Despite my occasional nitpicking and the constantly overplaying Winona Ryder, I did enjoy Season 2 and look forward to the next one. (09.02.2018)

I found the second season a bit weaker than the first, but I have to admit that it's still very good and I enjoyed the last episode. The retro feel has faded a bit, which I thought was a shame, but there were a few bright moments. Some of the plot digressions seemed almost unnecessary, but you'll end up liking the characters anyway. (07.11.2017)