The first season of Stranger Things was released in July 2016 and grew to become the second highest streamed Netflix show and a growing pop culture sensation. Not only did the first season rate highly with viewers but it had high critical acclaim as well, with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score.
“[Stranger Things] Is exciting, heartbreaking, and sometimes scary,” Rotten Tomatoes critic said. “It acts as an addictive homage to Spielberg films and vintage 1980s television.”
Since the first season kept fans itching for more, Netflix has announced that the second season will be released this Friday, Oct. 27. Buzz of the series is returning by word of mouth and social media, but many fans are wondering if it can live up to the glory of the first season.
But, Stranger Things fans should keep their hopes up, early reviews are coming in from critics, and the reviews are close to that of the first season, with Rotten Tomatoes at 93%, just three points shy of the first season. And fans can expect for binge-watching it to get them into the Halloween spirit, all the while answering the questions they had left from the first season.
“The Halloween-themed season will continue to evolve the Stranger Things plot from the first season, which left fans with several pressing questions and theories,” TIME magazine writer Ashley Hoffman said. “Leave it to Stranger Things to make everything a mystery.”
Despite many of the ideas in each season are entirely science fiction, such as traveling to alternate realities and monsters, but the second season also tackles some issues that hit close to home for many. This includes the effects of PTSD and abuse in the younger characters, as well as Winona Ryder’s character, Joyce, trying to mend her broken family.
“She’s trying to mask a lot,” Ryder said. “I think she’s made this choice because she wants a good father figure in her son’s’ lives.”
What is quite masterful that the show has succeeded in doing, is allowing these intense, personal themes to be present without feeling the strain on the science fiction-based plot.
“The show’s chief accomplishment is getting so many people to greedily binge on a story that is, at its core, about profound and lasting trauma,” Variety Chief TV Critic Maureen Ryan said. “The men, women and children of Hawkins have PTSD or worse, and the pop-culture trappings help lighten the earnest examinations of painful memories and harrowing relationships.”
Regardless of your opinion of the first season, Netflix viewers should turn on the TV, grab a pack of Eggo waffles and binge this Halloween.
Image source: Wikimedia
