Thoughts on Stranger Things Season 2 (strengths and weaknesses)

Season 2 of Stranger Things was great but it had a few shortcomings for me. The new season added new people and new creatures but it was hard to know how much relevance some had to the central story line. A lot of it felt like they were laying the groundwork for a third season.

These were some things I think Season 2 did very well. Steve's character growth and his babysitting of the group were some of the most entertaining parts of the show. The interactions between Steve and Dustin, then later Lucas and Max, were funny and exciting and unlike what Eleven, Jonathan, and Nancy were up to, appeared like they actually belonged. 

Will Byer, played by Noah Schnapp, didn't have much of a role in Season 1. But in Season 2, he gave a standout performance. A lot of people are saying he deserves an Emmy. There's no doubt about that. 

I loved how the show dealt with the aftermath of Season 1. The characters haven't merrily gone on with their lives after all the things that happened to them. We see how they're all still traumatized and struggling emotionally. There's a great scene where a very drunk Nancy tells Steve they killed Barb. She's been tormented with guilt and is angry that he seems unbothered by what happened. 

The biggest shortcoming was Eleven's role, or lack thereof. She spends most of her time watching TV and hiding out in Hopper's house. The interactions between Eleven, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were some of the best moments from Season 1. All Eleven really does in Season 2 that has any relationship to the central theme is show up at the end to save the day. I did like some of her scenes like when she went to visit her mother and the back and forth between her and Hopper. Hopefully Season 3 will bring Eleven back in a meaningful way. 

Nancy and Jonathan had an excellent story-line in Season 1. In Season 2, their parts, much like Eleven's, seemed to have been written simply to give them something to do but it all felt like it was very peripheral and had little to do with the rest of the story. Their subplot attempted to make up for the fact no one seemed to care that Barb had gone missing in Season 1 (even though she was the second child to disappear in a matter of days). But it very forced and tacked on, and had little relevance to everything else that was going on. 

In Season 2, we find out that Eleven has a sister named Kali. Kali is an interesting but wasted character. The only point of her existence is the teach Eleven how to channel her anger at the end of the show. 

A new girl Max joins the show for seemingly no other purpose than to have a girl in the group, since Eleven was sadly no longer being utilized that way. Other than as a love interest for Lucas, she didn't seem to play much of a role. Like with Kali that's a pity because she could be a genuinely interesting character. She also has an abusive step-brother but it's hard to know what the point of his existence was supposed to be.