Stranger Things – Season 2 Review 🧇🎃

Since Season 5 is releasing soon in 3 parts, I thought I’d re-tackle the first 4 seasons to ride the hype.


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🎬 Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers, shall we?

Also here’s the iconic opening theme.

Since season 5 has officially arrived, I decided to revisit the previous 4 seasons going through each season 5 parts come out, so come with me and take this ride down nostalgia train.

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📜 Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

Season 2 takes place one year after the events of the Upside Down and the disappearance of Will Byers. Hawkins appears to be healing on the surface, but underneath that small-town calm, something even darker is growing.

Will begins experiencing strange visions he can’t control — flashes of a storm, a monstrous shape, and an approaching threat no one understands. Meanwhile, Eleven is alive but hidden away, struggling with isolation, anger, and her place in the world.

A new girl, Max Mayfield, joins the friend group, bringing tension, curiosity, and conflict — especially when her stepbrother Billy arrives and immediately becomes Hawkins’ newest problem.

Hawkins Lab is under “new management,” but their promises of safety don’t match the scale of the threat emerging beneath the town. Something huge is coming… and Will is at the center of it again.

Season 2 is bigger, heavier, more emotional, and more horror-focused than Season 1 — and sets up the mythology of the Upside Down in a way that shapes the entire future of the series.

🎭 Character List & Actors (Season 2)

Main Returning Cast

Mike Wheeler – Finn Wolfhard

Eleven (El) – Millie Bobby Brown

Will Byers – Noah Schnapp

Dustin Henderson – Gaten Matarazzo

Lucas Sinclair – Caleb McLaughlin

Max Mayfield – Sadie Sink (new character)

Jonathan Byers – Charlie Heaton

Nancy Wheeler – Natalia Dyer

Steve Harrington – Joe Keery

Hopper (Jim Hopper) – David Harbour

Joyce Byers – Winona Ryder


New or Newly Prominent Characters

Max Mayfield – Sadie Sink

Billy Hargrove – Dacre Montgomery

Dr. Owens – Paul Reiser

Bob Newby – Sean Astin

Murray Bauman – Brett Gelman


Secondary / Supporting Returns

Karen Wheeler – Cara Buono

Holly Wheeler – Anniston & Tinsley Price

Ted Wheeler – Joe Chrest

Erica Sinclair – Priah Ferguson

Mr. Clarke – Randall P. Havens

🧩 Category: Billy Hargrove — Steve Harrington’s Dark Mirror

One thing people don’t always catch right away is that Billy was intentionally designed to look like the “evil mirror version” of Steve Harrington.
This wasn’t an accident. This wasn’t a coincidence.
This was 100% planned by the Duffer Brothers.

When Billy enters the show in Season 2, the Duffers were very open about what they wanted him to be:

> “Billy is what Steve could’ve become if he never grew up.” — The Duffer Brothers (behind the scenes commentary)



They wanted a character who looked like he walked straight out of Steve’s archetype:

same floppy 80s pretty-boy hair

same athletic build

same popular-kid vibe

same “king of the school” aesthetic


But twisted. Darker. Meaner. Weaponized.

Basically:

> “Billy is the version of Steve we didn’t follow — the version raised in a toxic household.”



The Duffers said they wanted the audience to immediately feel:

the visual parallel,

the social parallel,

and the emotional contrast
between the two.


That’s why Billy’s design is so specific:

Steve = soft edges, glossy hair, warm colors

Billy = sharp edges, wild mane, harsh colors

Steve is the arc of growth and empathy.
Billy is the arc of violence and inherited trauma.

The Duffers literally described Billy as:

> “A Steve Harrington who went wrong.”



And it shows in every frame:

Billy is introduced taking Steve’s spot on the basketball court.

He threatens Steve’s place in the friend group.

He targets Steve with intimidation and dominance.

He even targets Nancy for the sake of undermining Steve’s confidence.


He’s not just another bully —
He’s the anti-Steve.
The Steve from the upside-down timeline.

And that’s exactly how the Duffers wrote him.

Hopper, the Cabin, and the “This Feels Kinda Creepy” Problem

One of the most questionable choices in Season 2 is Hopper’s decision to hide Eleven in the forest cabin for nearly a year and keep her existence a secret from literally everyone — including Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and the rest of the party. And look, I get it: on paper, Hopper’s intentions come from a protective place. He just lost his daughter, he formed a bond with El, and he wanted her safe from the lab and the government breathing down her neck.

But in execution?
It crosses a line that feels out-of-character for the man we met in Season 1.

This is the same Hopper who:

demanded justice when Will went missing

broke into a government facility

risked his own life for other people’s kids

never accepted secrecy when it meant someone else was suffering


Yet suddenly, in Season 2, Hopper becomes the gatekeeper of information — the guy who isolates a traumatised girl from her friends, her support system, and the only people she considers family.

Even if he meant well, it’s hard to ignore how unsettling it is:

He limits her movement.

He isolates her socially.

He controls when she can eat, leave, talk, or even approach the outside world.

He punishes her by withholding freedom.

And he never tells her friends she’s alive — which emotionally destroys Mike for an entire year.


There’s a difference between hiding someone for safety…
and cutting them off from everyone who loves them.

And Hopper crosses that line.

It doesn’t make him evil — but it DOES make the dynamic feel:

paternalistic

controlling

emotionally suffocating

and slightly creepy in a way the show never fully addresses


This behavior doesn’t match the Hopper who fought tooth and nail to expose the truth in Season 1. It feels like a plot decision first and a character decision second — and viewers noticed. Hopper’s “cabin parent mode” feels less like safeguarding El and more like trapping her, mirroring the same institutional control she escaped from.

The intention was love.
The execution?
A little too close to the thing they were trying to protect her from.

⏱️ Pacing / Episode Flow

Season 2’s pacing is generally strong, but noticeably uneven in the middle. Here’s the breakdown:

Episodes 1–3:
Slow burn, character-heavy, focusing on Will’s trauma, Eleven’s isolation, the new dynamics with Max, and the tension building at Hawkins Lab. Good atmosphere, but deliberately paced.

Episodes 4–6:
The season’s strongest stretch. Stakes rise, mysteries deepen, the horror elements kick in, and Will’s storyline intensifies. This is where the emotional weight skyrockets.

Episode 7:
The infamous detour episode. Tonally jarring, slows the season to a halt, and doesn’t match the main plot’s urgency. Most fans consider it the weakest episode in the show’s entire run.

Episodes 8–9:
Tight, intense, emotional. The finale is fast-paced and packed with high-stakes moments that bring multiple storylines together.


Pacing Summary:
Strong beginning, excellent middle, awkward detour, great finish.


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👍 Pros

Will Byers finally gets the spotlight and Noah Schnapp delivers one of the best child performances of the 2010s.

The Upside Down lore expands dramatically, adding depth and mystery.

New characters (Max, Bob, Dr. Owens, Murray) add real value to the story.

Steve Harrington becomes a fan-favorite, shifting into his protective big-brother role.

The horror atmosphere is stronger and darker than Season 1.

Emotional arcs (especially Joyce, Will, and Eleven) land extremely well.

The finale is excellent and ties most story threads together effectively.



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👎 Cons

Hopper’s treatment of Eleven feels overbearing, out-of-character, and borderline uncomfortable.

Mike becomes a frustrating, angry, and less likable version of himself.

Billy’s storyline feels disconnected from the main plot until the very end.

Episode 7 derails the momentum of the entire season.

Some characters (Nancy/Jonathan, the lab storyline) occasionally drag the pacing.

Max gets uneven writing, sometimes strong, sometimes messy.

The Infamous “Lost Sister” Episode Completely Derails the Momentum
Season 2 was building solid momentum — the Mind Flayer’s presence was intensifying, Eleven’s powers were evolving, and the tension in Hawkins was escalating. And then… Episode 7 happened. You know the one: the standalone detour where Eleven meets Kali (Eight), a fellow lab escapee, and gets punk-rock eyeliner and some edgy vigilante advice.

While the intent may have been to expand the mythology of the Hawkins Lab children, it came at the absolute worst time. This episode yanks Eleven away from the main plot just as things are reaching a boiling point. It feels like a backdoor pilot for a spinoff show that would never come — and honestly, thank god it didn’t.

The aesthetic shift is jarring, the new characters are thinly written and forgettable, and the emotional payoff leads absolutely nowhere. Kali is never mentioned again, her arc is dropped like a hot potato, and the whole episode ends up feeling like filler fanfiction that somehow made it past the writers’ room. It’s the one episode in the entire series that most fans agree could’ve — and should’ve — been skipped entirely.



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🎶 Favorite Songs Featured:

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💭 Final Thoughts:

Season 2 expands the world and raises the emotional stakes. Eleven’s arc hits hard, the Mind Flayer is a chilling upgrade, and Steve’s evolution is one of the best glow-ups in television history. The only stumbles are Episode 7 and the fact that Billy is a human migraine. But overall? Solid season with a lot of heart, humor, and horror.

Also, in conclusion, this is the most forgettable season. I mean for a while.I completely forgot what happened in this season.Except for that terrible episode that they tried to make a spin off show about that went nowhere because the episode failed, to put it bluntly, this does not feel like a season. This feels like an aftermath of season. One stretched onto one full season.

8.8/10


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning:


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🧠 Full Spoiler Recap (No Bullet Points):

Season 2 begins with Hopper secretly keeping Eleven hidden in a remote cabin in the woods. She’s been gone for almost a year, presumed dead, but Hopper’s been secretly raising her while feeding her Eggo waffles and lying to everyone else about her fate. Eleven grows frustrated, wanting to reconnect with Mike, but Hopper keeps her isolated for her own safety.

Will starts having nightmarish visions of a giant storm-like creature looming in the sky—a being we later learn is the Mind Flayer. It’s a monstrous, towering shadow with tentacles, always seen in flashes of red lightning from the Upside Down. These visions get worse until the Mind Flayer fully possesses Will, turning him into a spy for the Upside Down. Joyce, Hopper, and a scientist named Dr. Owens begin working to save him. Will starts giving cryptic warnings and maps the tunnels growing under Hawkins—roots of the Upside Down invading the real world.

Dustin, meanwhile, finds a weird creature he names Dart. He thinks it’s a rare species at first… until it eats his cat. Turns out, Dart is a baby Demogorgon (aka a Demodog). A whole pack of them is running loose underground. Dustin links up with Steve—yes, that Steve—and they form an unexpected bromance. Steve becomes the monster-hunting babysitter of the group and actually manages to hold his own in battle, swinging that nail bat with pride. It’s the full evolution of his redemption arc.

Max and Billy arrive in town. Max tries to join the friend group, and eventually does, but Billy spends the whole season being a walking threat. He abuses Max, nearly runs over kids with his car, gets into a brutal fight with Steve in the Byers house, and only stops when Max injects him with a sedative. He’s a menace from start to finish.

Eleven runs off after discovering Hopper lied about her mother. She searches for her family and finds her “sister” Kali, a punk-styled illusionist who’s part of a gang. The entire episode feels like a backdoor pilot for a failed spin-off. It’s widely disliked and disrupts the season’s momentum.

Eleven eventually returns just in time to help everyone. Will’s possession worsens, and they realize the only way to free him is to burn the Mind Flayer out. So they trap Will in the cabin and crank up the heat in a disturbing scene that plays out like an exorcism. He screams, thrashes, and begs them to stop—while they desperately try to save him.

Meanwhile, Joyce’s boyfriend Bob (played by Sean Astin, who deserves better) helps the team escape the lab. He’s the one who figures out how to reset the security system, opens the doors, and nearly makes it out—until he gets cornered and torn apart by Demodogs right in front of Joyce and Hopper. It’s devastating. Bob dies a hero.

In the final showdown, Eleven closes the massive gate to the Upside Down using her powers while Hopper defends her from a horde of Demodogs. The Mind Flayer is forced out of Will’s body, the rift is sealed, and Hawkins returns to normal—at least for now.

The season ends at the Snow Ball. Eleven shows up in a dress and dances with Mike. Dustin gets rejected by all the girls but ends up dancing with Nancy in a genuinely heartwarming moment. Everything feels happy… until the camera flips to reveal the Upside Down version of the school, and the Mind Flayer is still looming in the dark.

This is by far my favorite Stranger Things cliffhanger.

On a side note did any y’all get The Exorcist vibes from this season? If so it was intentional, and its appropriate for this season.


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📺 Here’s the trailer to Season 5 to get hyped for what’s next.