Believe us, we know how great the afterglow is after binge watching Stranger Things 2. You probably still have warm fuzzies from Steve Harrington and Chief Hopper dadding all over our bizarre things, unless you're a heartless, unfeeling demo dog.

The nasty, upside-down truth about Stranger Things 2 is that it's a hot freaking disaster, so let's set our emotions aside for a second.

Definitely a fun mess! including some outstanding standout instances! But not even close to the well-paced, tightly knit storytelling of the first season. Season 2 can be summed up in large part as "Stranger Things:" You cover more ground this season than you did last. once more. Additionally, it's kind of... pointless. The Duffer brothers revealed that their goal for Season 2 was essentially to make Season 1 bigger in the Beyond Stranger Things after show.

It's obvious that they made an effort to make Aliens their follow-up to last year's unexpected summer success. But instead of adding fresh concepts to the first season's cosmos (like in Aliens), they simply added a tone of drooping weight. Additionally, the needless overabundance of new, bizarre elements in Stranger Things 2 merely drags down all of the bizarre elements from the first season that we enjoyed.

The main criticism of the cultural phenomena last year focused on its obvious derivativeness as a mash-up of our favorite horror and sci-fi clichés from the 1980s. But that derivativeness typically worked in its favor to unaware millennials and sentimental Gen-Xers. Despite being well-known, Stranger Things managed to succeed thanks to two essential elements: 1) The Upside Down's broader, overwhelmingly illogical but hostile mystery; and 2) The close bond we formed with its characters. In a manner, the show submerged us in the community spirit of Hawkins and used that relatability to anchor even its most surreal components. Dustin, Steve, Joyce, or you are one, are people we all know. We became interested in what happened to them and their town as a result.

The Upside Down is also expanded in perplexingly predictable ways in Stranger Things 2, which entirely destroys these close ties (you thought one Demogorgon was bad? Consider trying on a lot of baby demo dogs!), and ultimately robbing season 1 of its impact.

Instead of honoring the past while creating a fresh story in Season 2, the program began honoring itself, turning into a self-referential ouroboros of nostalgia that was unable of stopping devouring its own derivative tail. When the new character Max (more on her later) responds to Lucas telling her the story of Stranger Things Season 1, a scene from episode 5 brilliantly captures this. She declares, "I enjoyed it, but I had a few problems... In some ways, I felt it was a little derivative. Simply put, I wish it had more creativity.

Aspiring screenwriters: Please make sure that painfully obvious meta winks to the audience like this are at least earned and avoid forcing your character to serve as a mouthpiece to excuse your own narrative flaws after producing only 13 episodes (or only half a season of a traditional broadcast show). I'm sorry, Stranger Things, but you'll need to mature a lot before you can really take off. And honestly, we can't say that we envy the Duffer brothers because it was always going to be uncomfortable to introduce new characters to Hawkins' small-town atmosphere. But the two new significant ones, Max and her violent brother Billy, made it even harder to integrate strangers into a close-knit group because they were also incredibly pointless additions.

The majority of our time with them is spent attempting to unravel the puzzle of who the hell they even are, why we should care about them, and what they bring to the Stranger Things world. Even in doing these fundamental duties, both fall short. Let's not forget that Max's character growth culminates in her frightening a bruised, drugged, and bleeding Billy, appearing to forever end the problem of domestic abuse in her home. Once.

In an attempt to humanise Billy, a tragic past is forced into the show towards the end of the season, but it is never further explored. Now contrast that with Steve Harrington's dual-season character development. Can you see why we're a little... underwhelmed, really?

Overall, despite its repetitive plotline, Stranger Things 2 is still pleasant, largely because Season 1 did such a great job of developing its endearing characters. At this point, we just love spending time with them. The powerful emotional beats that the production accomplishes aren't hindered by the narrative blunders (RIP Bob, who was the sole outstanding new cast member before being hauled off stage left). The show is continuously amusing enough to keep you satiated, if not completely satisfied, provided you view it as a weekend diversion meant to pass the time temporarily.

Thank you for reading…

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