Stranger Things - MadMax

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I admit to being a bit of an odd duck. While most Stranger Things fans perhaps immediately watch the second season immediately upon release on Netflix, I take nearly a whole fucking year to get to it. I’m one of those, I guess, that likes to anticipate and not get in too big a hurry watching the shows I enjoy. I’m also a rather patient fan, not necessarily always needing to get content as soon as it gains accessibility. Granted, I had actually planned to see it just once all the fanfare died down a bit. The talking points have probably been treaded underfoot and details lay bare. So I’ll more than likely cover across familiar territory already trampled across multiple times. But that is okay. I’m cool with that.

I can see why some might balk at the “and a year later” approach because a lot of “life” has went by without our notice. I love that the episode begins during Halloween season. It gets my excitement up as October approaches. So I like starting the second season now right before we are officially in the Halloween month.

We are dropped into the cast’s lives on the anniversary of Will’s return from the Upside Down, how he feels like a freak, is considered “zombie boy” by the students in school who often want to avoid him (except his gang), and must visit a doctor at a special hospital (Paul Reiser; “Mad About You” & “Aliens”) occasionally for “checkups”. His mother, Joyce, has since become romantically involved with just a lovable “Average Joe” (Sean Astin; “Lord of the Rings” movies” & “The Goonies”), while his brother, Jonathan, still pines for Mike’s sister, Nancy, who since rekindled her teen romance with senior, Steve. Something about the Upside Down continues to re-emerge as Will finds himself “back there” when at the Arcade with Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. Speaking of the Arcade, cue the Devo “Whip It” music and visit Dustin as he fails to upend the game, Dragon’s Lair. But the gang realizes there is a new gamer among them starting to make notice, Max, later to be determined as a skater girl they nickname “MadMax”, a red-head with plenty of ‘tude. Her older brother rocks a mullet and pops the pistons on his muscle ride when parking into high school. So while the gang become smitten with Max, Will begins to really envision the Upside Down, feeling that this isn’t so contained in the hospital of the first season…later, after the visit to the doc, it is revealed that Reiser’s Dr. Sam Owens has essentially replaced Modine, watching as an officer goes near the Upside Down “gateway”, using a blowtorch in what appears to be an attempt to burn “it” away.

The emphasis on 80s pop culture is quite extensive with plenty of nods in regards to music (the aforementioned “Whip It”), movies (“The Terminator” on the theater marquee), Presidential race (Reagan/Bush sign in the yard), arcade games, form of dress, hair/clothing styles, and vehicles. Fans of retro 80s everything will be more than satisfied, I think. And I thought the coupling of Ryder and Astin as a fun touch considering their nostalgic ties to many of the show’s fans who grew up with them. The rotting, maggot-infested pumpkins Sheriff Hopper is called to investigate at a farmer’s field sort of nods at the Upside Down’s potential invasion of Hawkins. It connects to what Will is also experiencing. While Joyce is finally happy for a change, although her consistent worry is obvious, poor Jonathan remains a lonely outcast who, at the very least, isn’t ignored by Nancy. And Jonathan’s chat with a troubled Will about his treatment by those around him (not intentionally trying to bother him, but nonetheless a bit too precious towards him due to his disappearance) gives the brothers a warm moment…embracing being a “freak”, not letting it get to him, Jonathan eases Will’s pain. With Hopper trying to avoid Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman), hired by Barb’s parents to find her, who brings to him what he believes to be a “Russian spy” theory he might want to investigate (Murray’s reporting of aliens in the past has him the brunt of ruthless jokes in the sheriff’s department), the sheriff has continued to remain associated with Will and Joyce, not forgetting what happened a year ago…and the nice twist involving Eleven hiding away at his cabin, sort of having become a surrogate daughter and safe from the probing experimental eyes of others, establishes that he has provided her a stable environment, a sense of some normalcy considering what happened to her a year before.

 

 The episode opens with a peculiar scene away from Hawkins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, following a robbery and ensuing chase as a van of hoodlums try to ditch the a parade of police cars, as one among them turns out to be just like Eleven. A bridge "collapse" ("Boom") seems to be just a "planted hallucination". It is just mentioned in a news broadcast back in Hawkins, so it appears this is an introductory seed to flower in the future.