Stranger Things 2 Review

I completely skipped out on the first season of Stranger Things, hearing ever increasing great things from everyone I decided to jump into it for season 2. I was very impressed with what I saw and immediately was hooked onto this series. It's very much a horror driven show that follows a group of young kids growing up in the 80's. This doesn't at all mean any of the adult focused content is toned down as the gore and creepiness is always fully present. It just gives an interesting setting and a different perspective than one might be used to during these types of shows.

This is backed by some incredible acting all around and a nice balance between varying age groups. You of course get the core group of young kids joined by some new cast arrivals this season, the slightly older group that's trying to do their own thing and some adults that are a mix of ignorant to what's happening or heavily involved. The general focus of the story is around the ones who have a connection to this dark land called the Upside Down World. It's a scary place that tries to blend over into reality and this second season builds on this continuing battle or good against evil.


It's very much a season of growth as a year has passed since the first season and everyone is slightly more grown up being at different places now. This is in terms of their emotional strength, how they're handling the aftermath of the first season and how key individuals have shifted their location. The various episodes each deal with a couple different story lines as these work towards converging and mixing at various points across the nine episodes.

It all comes together in an excellent way and the journey there was interesting. At times these multiple stories might feel sporadic with some being less important, but it does fill out the universe. It got the time era very right and it's really engaging. The sense of horror was well presented and the look of the show was very cinematic. I loved how the scenes would smoothly transition and they did this in some really unique ways. There's a good sense of dark scenes, some suspense and straight up horror as everyone deals with the darkness in their own way.

The Conclusion

Stranger Things 2 picks up at a great spot and shows a nice progression across the entire cast as they continue to grow into their roles. Despite many of them being younger the performances are spot on and really help to present this 80's world to its full potential. I really did enjoy this series and was completely surprised by how easy it was to get into.

The whole look and cinematic style for the season was great with some enchanting transitions. The gore was great, well developed and fit into the narrative without feeling out of place. For the most part everything was incredibly smooth, highly entertaining and helped further develop the characters. The story continued with a sense of progression, helped to fill out the background and left things open for possible future events.

Stranger Things 2 Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 9.2