Strange(r) Things are Happening: You Better Boo-lieve You Are in For a Frightening Season

by The Cowl Editor on October 26, 2017


Arts & Entertainment


A still from a trailer for Season 2 of Stranger Things.
Photo courtesy of variety.com

by Patrick Fuller ’21

A&E Staff

When we enter our late teens, the biggest question of our life blindsides us like an inter-dimensional monster snatching up innocent children: what do we do after we are too old to wear costumes and go trick-or-treating? Well, Netflix has the perfect answer. On Oct. 27, the Friday before Halloween, Netflix is set to release the second season of the sci-fi horror series, Stranger Things. Several trailers promise a season filled with further exploration of the Upside Down, an alternate universe accessible via  portal in the Hawkins National Laboratory.

Now the fall of 1984, the original cast of kids (Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Will, and Dustin) team up with some new faces to discover the supernatural forces affecting the town of Hawkins. According to executive producer of the show, Shawn Levy, “There’s definitely a handful of really compelling new characters this season, but absolutely servicing the core group first and foremost. Like the show itself, it is multigenerational new characters and really, really intriguing ones.”

Those new characters includes Max (Sadie Sink), a “tough and confident 13-year-old female” with a difficult relationship with her stepbrother, Billy. Billy is a “super muscular, overconfident 17-year-old” who “steals peoples’ girlfriends, is a drinking game pro, and drives a black Camaro.”

Entertainment Weekly reported that a character named Roman is, “an emotionally damaged, magnetic young woman who suffered a great loss as a child.” Apparently, she has a connection with the unusual events occurring at the Hawkins National Laboratory.

Twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, who created the show, directed and wrote the first and last two episodes of the nine-episode season, allowing for other people like Levy and Andrew Stanton to contribute. The two siblings reflected, “The [sequels] we look up to aspire to pivot and do something different,” citing Stephen Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as well as James Cameron’s Aliens and Terminator 2. Meanwhile, season one veteran writers Justin Doble and Jessie Nickson-Lopez wrote one and two episodes respectively.

Furthermore, some of the cast has revealed minor spoilers for season two. During a panel at New York Comic Con, David Harbor, who plays Chief Jim Hopper of the Hawkins police department, insinuated that season two might delve deeper into the death of his daughter, Sarah.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the love triangle between Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan will continue. At the same time, Chief Hopper will attempt to keep the past year’s events covered up in order to protect the kids and Joyce Byers, Will’s mother.

Meanwhile, Max will befriend the boys and attract the interest of Dustin and Lucas. Additionally, Dustin will bond with a polliwog-like creature that is not from this planet or this dimension. Overall, Matt Duffer teased that Eleven would once again play a major part in season two, saying, “We do get into her story and backstory. We learn about where she came from and how she came into the world and the program that resulted in her.”

Surely such a show about monsters and love, written and directed by seasoned veterans and featuring an experienced cast, has the potential to replace Halloween traditions. In fact, binging Stranger Things on Netflix could be a Halloween custom for the next couple of years, as the Duffer Brothers have confirmed at least another two seasons. Until then, snuggle up with some candy corn and enjoy season two of Stranger Things.