Stranger Things 2 review: The danger is bigger this year but sadly, the show is not

Mike (Finn Wolfhard) is pining for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), while she is trying to break free from the new prison she’s in. Like many girls her age, she has a punk phase after which she realises that her true home is back in Hawkins, with her party. The whole track of her trying to find her mother and sister is built up by the makers in a fashion that leads you to believe that there would be a huge pay-off but sadly, there isn’t much there. Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) has a new pet this year and unknown to him, it’s a demogorgon. His relationship with the pet, who eventually becomes a threat, is probably one of the nicest tracks this year.

The love triangle between Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Steve (Joe Keery) continues this year as well and it is honestly surprising that Steve is given much more to do this year, and deservedly so. Steve’s character is one of the few ones to have an individual story arc. Also, his banter with the party makes for some truly amazing scenes.

The boys’ party has a new member, Max (Sadie Sink), who is introduced with an entire episode to her name. She’s the quintessential bad-ass girl who can even drive a car and though we expect her to do great things in defeating the dangerous creatures, all she does is act like an anger trigger for Eleven. Yes, there is some pre-teen romance happening as well. Max has an elder step-brother, Billy (Dacre Montgomery), who is also introduced as the new bad boy but his relevance to the plot is zilch. Of all the new characters introduced this year, Bob (Sean Astin) is the one to watch out for. He starts off as the silly man who’s dating Joyce and is completely unaware about the events of last year but his involvement in the integral plot of the series is organic.

For all those who were left wondering why no one cared about Barb (Shannon Purser), there is some solace this year but it’s still feels quite underwhelming.

As promised in the trailer, the threat is actually bigger this year and with creatures entering and exiting between the two worlds, the danger is real and the execution of those scenes is truly nail-biting.

Stranger Things jumps between the upside down and the real world constantly and while you want to believe that a smart story is being narrated, much of it is just there to complicate matters. The bad guys from the Hawkins lab are non-existent this year but one keeps waiting for the return of Eleven’s Papa. With some strange exorcism-like activity towards the end, one starts wondering about the events that led up to this and even though the makers try to rationalise it, it becomes a little too whimsical for this science-fiction show.

In a nutshell, Stranger Things tries to achieve more this season but in trying to be better than the previous season, it fails in recreating the charm.