TV Review: Stranger Things Season 2

"One of TV's simplest pleasures."

(aka The Kids Aren't Alright.)
Release Date: Oct 27th.
Country: USA.
Rating: NR.
Written by: Matt and Ross Duffer.
Directed by: Matt and Ross Duffer.
Starring: David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Winona Ryder, Natalia Dyer, Joe Keery, and Charlie Heaton.

Like us, we're pretty sure that you've been itching to return to Hawkins, Indiana since the finale of Season One, and if you haven't made the journey yet, just what in the hell are you waiting for?

Get going!

When we last saw our favorite crew from Hawkins, Indiana, Eleven sacrificed herself to save Will from the Demogorgon, which left Mike heartbroken; Hopper was leaving waffles in a box in the woods; Nancy was back with jerky Steve, leaving Jonathan in the cold; and Will coughed up a slug and had a vision of the upside down, which left things on an ominous note.

AND BARB WAS STILL MISSING.

One year later, and Will is known around town as zombie boy, and the fact that he's having strong visions of the Upside Down don't make his life any easier; Mike is still missing Eleven; Hopper's got a secret hidden away in a remote cabin; Joyce is dating Samwise Gamgee; Nancy, Steve and Jonathan are in a love triangle; and a new girl named Max and her asshole brother have just moved to town.

WHAT IS UP WITH THEM?

After it becomes apparent that something from the Upside Down is using Will to cross over into their world, our gang of unlikely heroes once again has to find a way to save Hawkins, and their friend.

DON'T OPEN THAT BOX.

Season One of Stranger Things gave us plenty of 80's nostalgia, pop culture references, and creepy atmosphere that made it a special, and different, watch. This time around, all of that gets amplified and then some, while the relationships between the characters power the show into a comfy zone that we don't get from most other TV offerings.

We don't want to spoil too much of the plot, but suffice it to say that:

• Bob was awesome.
• Dustin and Steve stole the show.
• Eleven's dramatic return was a kick ass moment.
• The last two episodes had way more feels attached to them than we expected.
• Watching David Harbour play Hopper makes us believe that he could actually make for a good Hellboy.
• Max was a good addition to the gang, and we still think there's more to her brother than has been revealed so far.
• The Snow Ball scene was all kinds of cool, and illustrates just why the show is so good.
• The soundtrack rocked.

POOR WILL...

I'm not sure why the Duffers decided to introduce the subplot about Eight and her band of Emo edge lords, but it felt like filler to us. Sure, it gave El's story some much needed context, but it really didn't amount to much.

UM...

Alright, so in Season One, we hated Steve. This time around though, Steve became a boss, and his friendship with Dustin made him our favorite character, so... it sucks that he's all alone at the end while Nancy cozies up to Jonathan!

Steve is the man, and he deserves better!

HOW COULD YOU DO HIM LIKE THAT!

The Demogorgon brood chew there way through plenty of people, some of which gets bloody.

AWW, HOW ADORABLE.

Not that kind of show.

AH, THE AWKWARDNESS OF TEENAGE ROMANCE.

Every scene with Dustin and Steve. Honestly, their awkward buddy Cop routine was the highlight of the season. They need their own spin-off series.

"PULL MY FINGER."

There's less of a primary focus on Eleven, and it's definitely darker, but if you liked Season One, then Season Two should delight the hell out of you, albeit in different ways. We can't wait for Season Three.

A

Season Two of Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix now.

The lovely ladies of Hawkins., Indiana.

ICYMI: Our Stranger Things Season 1 Review

"The worst thing about this show is that it was over way too quick."

(aka John Carpenter's E.T.)
Release Date: July 15th.
Country: USA.
Rating: NR.
Written by: Matt and Ross Duffer.
Directed by: Matt and Ross Duffer.
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Matthew Modine, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, and Charlie Heaton.

Stranger Things is a love letter to the 80's. We grew up in the 80's, so the Dungeons & Dragons gaming sessions, the infectious pop music, the rotary phones, and TV antennas felt like a snapshot of our past to us.

In a way, we were the kids in this show. We were way cooler (obviously), but we played D&D, rode our bikes all over the place, and were totally afraid to talk to girls. Alright, fine. Maybe we were awkward too, but we're cool now. We think.

Even though we're going to keep things as vague as possible, mild spoilers do follow.

Hawkins, Indiana, 1983: After a particularly harrowing all-day session of Dungeons & Dragons in which Demogorgon lays waste to the entire party when one of the players rolls a shitty 7 (all you needed was a 13!), four middle school friends call it a night and part ways. One of them, Will, never makes it home.

"HAVE FUN NOT MAKING IT HOME."

Will's mother, Joyce, is frantic the next morning when she realizes her kid never made it home, and heads off to report him missing to the local Chief of Police, Hopper. He, along with everyone else, thinks that Joyce is crazy, because she kind of is, and so they aren't sure whether to believe her or not.

I WONDER IF SHE HAS CALL-WAITING?

Will's friends are worried, and since no one else is making any progress finding him, they decide to take matters into their own hands, and search the woods for him. What they find instead is a little girl in a hospital gown with a shaved head, and a penchant for remaining silent, named Eleven.

And that's all we're saying.

YEAH, THINGS GET STRANGE.

From the get-go, Stranger Things did not feel perfect to us. The story felt all too safe and familiar; the acting was cheesy at times (calm down, Winona!); and even the cast felt odd at first, as most of the kids weren't your cookie-cutter, good-looking Disney types (which was a really good thing, btw); but man did it ever pull us into its world and keep us engaged through its entire 8 Episode run.

Stranger Things is a show that is deeply rooted in the 80's, and not just because it takes place then; it feels like E.T. and The Goonies meets The Monster Squad, with a bit of old-school John Carpenter flair thrown in to make it darker. It also had obvious nods to Alien, and it reminded us of Silent Hill more than once, so really, it's a bunch of things thrown into one big, 80's-centric pot that made us nostalgia in a big way.

Had "Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter Presents" popped up during the opening credits, it wouldn't have shocked us at all.

US, CIRCA 1983.

As nostalgic and comfy as the word of Stranger Things feels, there's a steady stream of darkness and danger that runs through it, which makes it much more than some kid-friendly throwback. The monster is real (and creepy as hell); Eleven is dangerous, and we're never sure just who she's going to take her anger out on; and the proverbial "men in black" are a real threat who kill indiscriminately to cover their tracks and get back what is theirs.

It's all very dire, and as sweet as it can be, it's all very serious.

It was also over far too quick, and it left us hanging on a few plot points that have us really hoping that Netflix gives it a Season 2. Seriously, the waffles!

IS THAT A OUIJA BOARD PAINTED ON THE WALL?

Violence aplenty in this one, but the gore factor is low.

WINONA WENT DARK IN THIS ONE...

There's a bit of sex, but nothing gratuitous at all.

THE PANGS OF FIRST LOVE ARE APLENTY THOUGH.

One of the coolest things about Stranger Things is how it uses 80's music to accent its story. It's like an awesome mix-tape. Our faves were:

Should I Stay or Should I Go (The Clash)
Africa (TOTO)
I Melt With You (Modern English)
Waiting For a Girl Like You (Foreigner)
Sunglasses at Night (Corey Hart)

*GOONIES THEME SONG INTENSIFIES*

Sentimental, intense, nostalgic and creepy, Stranger Things took us by total surprise. It's one of the best things that we've seen all Summer, and we can't wait to see the story continue in Season 2. There's going to be a Season 2, right?

If you have Netflix, stream this bad boy asap.

A

Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix now.

From the I we saw her in Lucas, Winona Ryder was one of my biggest crushes as a kid. She's still beautiful today.

TV Review: Mindhunter (2017)

"David Fincher strikes again."

If any guy can make a disturbing, slow-burn of a story like this one come to life in the proper way, It's David Fincher. With Se7en and Zodiac, Fincher gave us two of the best movies about Serial Killers ever made, and as co-producer and co-director on Mindhunter, he's given us another disturbing gem to savor.

It's kind of like watching a 10-episode run of Zodiac.

Based on the book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas , Mindhunter tells the story of real FBI agents John E. Douglas and Robert K. Ressler, who essentially created criminal profiling in the 70's, which has since become an invaluable tool used to catch killers, especially those of the serial variety. The two agents, called Holden Ford and Bill Tench in the show, travel across the country to interview killers like Edmund Kemper, Richard Speck, and Jerry Brudos, in an effort to gain insight into their mindsets, so that they can catch other killers before their body counts mount.

Sound familiar? Well John E. Douglas was who the character of Jack Crawford of Silence of the Lambs was based on, as well as Will Graham, and the profilers on Criminal Minds.

LIKE WILL GRAHAM GOING TO VISIT DR. LECTER.

The show is a new, fresh spin on the Police procedural, showcasing the FBI agents and their personal lives as much as it does the criminals and their heinous crimes. We see Holden go from an odd but likable guy, who slowly loses his shit as he delves deeper into the minds of the killers. His partner, Bill, is an old school guy who is hesitant to go down the path that Holden is making, as his home life is less than ideal, and weighs on him heavily.

And the killers, well they're terrifying to behold, in a subtle, all-too-creepy way, especially Ed Kemper, who is played brilliantly by Cameron Britton; if his matter-of-fact, emotionless description of his crimes doesn't give you chills, I don't know what will.

MOTHER'S, PLEASE LOVE YOUR SONS, OR THEY'LL GROW UP TO BE THIS GUY.

Surprisingly, for a show with such a grisly plot, there's very little graphic violence in Mindhunter. It's a procedural in which cases-of-the-week are worked, but the Horror of it shines through in the interviews with the killers, not in watching them work.

I have to imagine that in Season 2, we'll get more about BTK (the guy in the cold opens of every episode), and let us not forget that Serial Killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez, and Henry Lee Lucas were at work in the late 70's/early 80's, so there will be no shortage of disturbing ground to cover.

HOLT McCALLANY IS WAY UNDERRATED.

Mindhunter is an addicting piece of drama, anchored by top-notch directing, cinematography, and excellent work by everyone in the cast. David Fincher is the perfect storyteller to tackle the world of Serial Killers, and that's evidenced by the fact that he's able to do so with little to no bloodshed, and it's not even an issue.

Binge this show this Halloween Season. You won't regret it.

A

Mindhunter is streaming on Netflix now.

Anna Torv and Hannah Gross are in this.