* * * / * * * *
The second season has continued to prolong certain subplots
from the first season (such as the love triangle of Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve,
and the separation of Mike and Eleven) while continuing to homage the 80s
including the emphasis heavily on that decade’s music, film, and pop culture.
Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas, for instance, go to school dressed as the Ghostbusters
(when trick or treating, a homeowners calls them exterminators!), Duran Duran
is playing (as is the song, Shout Out at the Devil as kids guzzle booze from a
keg) during a party, and the ’84 Reagan/Bush campaign sign is visible in yard.
Max, the redhead skateboarder Dustin and Lucas have a crush on, scares the gang
in an Michael Myers mask and butcher knife. The episode, “Trick or Treat, Freak”.
I just want to go on a slight tangent. I had started to
watch Stranger Things right before October last
year. I regret that now. This would have been so cool for the month. But I will
always consider 2019’s October one of my favorites. It seemed like a brief
respite after a rather exhausting year where the political landscape of my
country has been draining. I do remember thinking after watching the first
episode that this season of Stranger Things
would be ideal for any October as it was obviously intended. Max’s scaring them
as Michael Myers was just the icing on the cake. Myers was a definite star
during Halloween season of 2019. It isn’t surprising that Blumhouse is mulling
another Halloween
movie.
The subplot with Max and her “ride”, Billy Hargrove, is
still a bit elusive. Billy’s unstable, proof when an outburst to something
rather minuscule (his fault they are currently relocated to this new
school/area) when interrogating and antagonizing Max leads to him nearly
driving his “fast car” into Dustin, Lucas, and Mike, on their bikes, after
school. Max, although she acts as if she’s too cool for Dustin and Lucas, who
go out of their way at school to win her interest in them, eventually hangs out
with them on Halloween night. Billy, though, questioned how she felt about
them, with her altering the course of his speeding car by grabbing the wheel
before he could plow into the boys during a rather frightening moment in the
episode.
Paul Reiser has assumed Modine’s villain spot as the doctor
who works with Will regarding his “experiences” (Will continues to see a black
creature “in the Upside down”, seemingly suffering “excursions” back and forth
between dimensions, in this episode shaken by kids dressed as Jason Voorhies
and a werewolf, collapsing and returning to the other dimension before Mike’s
shrugging his shoulders “brought him out of it”), still heading the research
project where scientists/officers in suits continue to investigate inside the
Upside Down. But this is brief in the second episode, while a past incident
involving Eleven inside the Upside Down, “encouraging” with her mental powers
an opening into our reality that allows her to exit kicks things off. Will
being able to alternate in and out, at the most awkward of times, Eleven
remembering her experiences, and Reiser’s Dr. Sam Owens’ continued experiments
there does seem to be repercussions as the crops of farmers are under a “blight”
that is killing everything, leaving behind “residue” that is very similar to
how our world looks in the Upside Down.
Nancy and Steve are hot and cold, with Jonathan pining for
Nancy but backing off because they are an item. But Nancy’s dead friend’s
specter haunts her and poisons her romance with Steve. It escalates when enough
booze is in her at the Halloween party causes Nancy to say that her “love” for
Jonathan—and their relationship—is bullshit. Eventually a heartbroken Steve
walks away, with Jonathan taking her home, putting her to bed. Introduced is
Samantha (Shea Jones), dressed as a goth before it was necessarily a way of
expression and lifestyle, saying hi to Jonathan who tells her his costume is “guy
who hates parties”. I would love to see this as a sidebar in the whole love
triangle, perhaps giving Nancy a rival for Jonathan’s affections. Especially if
Nancy decides to return to Steve and further discourage Jonathan to pursue her.
Why not have an alternative to Nancy? Jonathan deserves to be happy, too, not
always disappointed.
Will and Mike have their own bonding moment when away from
the others. Mike is a bit bummed at Dustin and Lucas for how Max seems to have
infiltrated their gang’s idyll. I think it is more about Eleven’s absence. A
great moment where Eleven revisits Mike speaking in a walkie talkie, trying to
communicate to her, before she returns to Hopper’s living room clearly reminds
us that this is an affection that doesn’t disappear. Mike tells Will how he
misses her, obviously wishing she were still around while Will shares with him
specifically his experiences with the reemerging Upside Down intrusions into
his life, along with the creature. Eleven remaining holed away in Hopper’s
cabin at his orders, as he emphasizes her safety, is eating away at her. She
doesn’t want to be in prison but what if she was to venture outside again? What
would be the consequences? An early flashback has the authorities pressing Mike
to give up Eleven’s location with the two of them locking eyes momentarily.
Their longing to be with each other remains quite strong but forces remain an
obstacle. I don’t know how long Stranger Things
will last on Netflix but its popularity could extend its run until the kids are
teenagers, so the Mike/Eleven kiddie romance might even evolve as they age.
Sort of like The Wonder Years.
Whatever is in Dustin’s garbage can, growling and rumbling
inside, is used as the hook for the next episode. The Ghostbusters costumes and
references are quite substantial. Fans should get a kick out of the callbacks.
I especially enjoyed the use of Frankenstein as Eleven remains stuck in Hopper’s
home, upset at the sheriff for forgetting to return home to have a happy
half-day Halloween fun, not allowed to go trick or treating but promised candy
and his time. Hopper serving as a surrogate parent to her makes sense
considering he was robbed of his own chance to bond with the daughter he lost.
But Eleven will eventually get too restless and long to leave the nest, and
Hopper will perhaps once again find himself without a daughter.
The embarrassment of being the only kids at school in costume is played up as are the parents all enthusiastic about their boys all dressed up.
Comments
Post a Comment