It’s Halloween 1984 in small town Hawkins, Indiana. A group of nerdy kids (and their parents) are getting their lives back together after some highly questionable happenings a year earlier. Young Will is suffering PTSD (not surprisingly), the pumpkin crops are inexplicably decaying in the fields and things are not going well at a certain nearby government laboratory. Welcome to Stranger Things season two. 

Hitting Netflix last Friday, I’m sure no one reading this is surprised that I binged the show over the weekend. It’s only nine episodes though, so it wasn’t a huge time suck of a binge. But, much like the first season, this season feels like a really long movie cut into easily digestible one-hour increments and, especially as you near the final episodes, you don’t want to stop watching. It also still successfully evokes the time it’s set in (fantastic soundtrack, once again) and still has that slight eeriness underlying every episode – even when there are no monsters around.

The plot this season is pretty similar to last – monsters (more than one this time) from the “upside down” are attempting to invade this realm – but there’s a noticeable increase in intensity, as the majority of the characters were around for the first battle. If you’ve seen any promos for the season, you know Eleven is back and you get more of her story this time around, which mostly works (I’m trying to be non-spoilery, so I’ll just say the whole Chicago thing felt rushed and underdeveloped). And even though there’s still a big focus on Will and Mike, you see more of the lives of Dustin and Lucas. There are some new characters too and they fit in with things pretty well – I think many will be surprised at Sean Astin’s contribution.

So it comes down to this: if you enjoyed the first season of Stranger Things, you’re going to enjoy the second season as well. With an expanded plot and more characters, there are a few issues that weren’t really in season one. But overall, it’s a fun ride. And knowing there’s already a third season in the works means so many theories about how far upside down things will go!