And so once again, the end is almost nigh on the town of Hawkins as progressively stranger things insist on assaulting a small group of people that continue to find themselves knee deep in sci-fi shit. I have to say, even with the drag factor of the frustrating seventh episode, Stranger Things 2 has, in many ways done absolutely everything a good sequel needs to to surpass it’s predecessor in style. Getting all the reintroductions out the way early meant that the second half of the season still kept up the whole mystery aspect of the show while moving as quick as a killer Pollywog hurled across a Slip ‘N Slide with the force of a wrist rocket (that’s pretty fast, by the way). But it’s time for the Duffer Brothers to stick that landing, and with more epic threats and bigger stakes than ever before, can they bring the show home while satisfying the thirst of sci-fi enthusiasts, horror nuts and 80s nerds everywhere for a second time?
The small, meager forces of Hawkins are ready. After managing to squeeze vital information out of a mind controlled Will, they now know that to end the threat of the Mind Flayer and its army of flesh rending Demodogs, all they have to do is close the vast, interdimensional gate that lurks beneath Hawkins Lab. After coming together to escape that very place mere hours ago, they agree to split up and compartmentalise the job at hand – Hopper and the newly returned Eleven will go back to the lab an use the girl’s hefty, telekinetic shazzam to close the glowing, red rift, but they can’t do it until they get word from the second team who have taken Will out to Hopper’s cabin to go full Exorcist on the boy and purge the Mind Flayer’s hive mibd influence out of him lest he dies if the portal closes.
The third team basically involves Steve continuing to babysit the kids, which he intends to do despite their excitable plans to create a dangerous diversion to lure the Demodogs away from Hopper and Eleven. However, when a pissed off Billy shows up looking for his step sister, Max, Steve is promptly beaten unconscious by his rival until Max jabs her psycho step-sibling with a sedative and threatens him with a nailed baseball bat. A battered Steve awakens to find that he’s been bundled into Billy’s car and the kids are driving him to carry out their plan that very well may prove to be fatal.
So while Hopper and Eleven fight Demodogs at Hawkins Lab; Joyce, Nancy and Jonathan try to literally sweat the Mind Flayer out of Will and a concussed Steve tries to keep Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Max alive in the tunnels under the town, the fate of everyone hangs in the balance. But even if anyone is left standing when the smoke clears, will they be able to handle the emotional turmoil of their next harrowing encounter – the Winter Formal dance?
Even though this is only the second season finale Stranger Things has ever had, there’s a sense that the showrunners have always had a good handle on what the climax is supposed to do. Everyone is given a task to do and a part to play as we intercut between them trying to stave off their personal corner of the apocalypse and it usually proves to be exciting and epic as hell. However, while The Gate certainly takes care of that aspect with flying colours, the Duffer Brothers know that these characters now deserve endings that go way beyond simply vaquishing the bad things and having a group hug in the aftermath. In fact, as gripping as the final battle is, the episode truly manages to hit the gold standard by what happens after the big, special effects finish has died down and how emotional this show can now get you even in its quieter, seemingly more significant moments.
But first, let’s wrap up that imminent armageddon and while Stranger Things 2 doesn’t exactly rewrite the book on final battles, it’s certainly more expansive and confidently directed by the Duffers who pretty much nailed it the first time. Spreading the characters across three groups to perform three interlinked tasks that have to be completed in a particular order, it seems to be the sweet spot that lay between Scooby Doo and a Mission: Impossible movie. To be fair, one of them feels a little extraneous by force feeding the kids back down into the tunnels because they believe they can help out, but it still gives us more time with the continued exasperation of Steve Harrignton as his transition from the classic dude who’ll peak at high school, to the all-protecting entity the world now dubs “Daddy Steve”.
Beyond that, we finally get some resolution in the slightly vague Max/Billy storyline when the rage soaked step brother comes looking for his sister and gives us the sight of Steve losing another fight after Billy beats the crap out of him (hey, just because he’s a great babysitter, it doesn’t automatically mean he can throw hands). In retaliation, Max responds in a language that the mental case understands when she sticks the fucker with one of Will’s sedatives, threatens his manhood with a bat with nails and then steals his car – which actually works a treat.
But while the disaster-thwarting hijinks come with a bunch of air punching, stand out moments (Hopper and Eleven fighting as a team, Joyce remaining steadfast that they really have to fuck Will up to save him), it’s the genuinely sweet epilogue that fully manages to seal the deal that sees your youthful heroes timidly ask for dances in the face of steely gazes from various girls. Will manages to get a dance without really trying, and Lucas and Max finally manage to hook up, and even Eleven is allowed to break cover long enough to show up and finally share some long awaited Mike time, however, if you aren’t blinking away at least one tear about what happens to Dustin, then I truly think you need therapy. After getting a pep-talk from his new BFF, Steve, on the drive over, not only does Dustin lose out to Lucas in the Max stakes, but he spectacularly crashes out with every other girl he asks. Witnessing him trying to hold back tears while sitting alone on the bleachers is Nancy who, in an act of adorable kindness, immediately goes over and asks her brother’s friend to dance, subsequently making his entire year. It’s a truly sweet moment that not only can’t be scuppered by a closing shot of the Mind Flayer looming over the Upside-Down version of the school hall as it plots its next move, but it once again confirms that there’s a lot more to Stranger Things than just empty 80s worship.
While you could say that there was a few sticking points here and there (Mike was a prick for the majority of the season, that Eleven episode was technically unnecessary), Stranger Things 2 did what all good sequels need to accomplish: offer up more of the same, but raise the emotional stakes and make everything bigger to make it feel different. However, while the procession of Mind Flayers, Demodogs and weird, creepy vines has been nice and cool, once again, it’s the way you embrace the characters that continues to make the show so special. From Bob buying the farm to Steve Harrington’s season-making rise to babysitter extraordinaire, you really feel for these guys – of course, that doesn’t mean the writers should stop them having to eat supernatural shit when the next season arrises. I love these people, but they still need to get dragged through Hell for my enjoyment.
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