Was Stranger Things 2 worth the 15-month wait?

AFTER more than a year, Stranger Things is finally tonight. The big question is, was it worth waiting 15 months?

STRANGER Things became such an unexpected phenomenon last year precisely because it told its story really well.

The homage to childhood adventure and Eighties pop culture had eight episodes that were perfectly contained — the few dangling threads in its finale was symbolic of its sci-fi/horror genre conventions.

If Netflix had left it as a miniseries, it would’ve been a satisfying decision. But then it was renewed for a second season — understandable really, considering the runaway success it became.

If we had to have a second season, then this is a solid result. Stylised as Stranger Things 2, it will delight fans by giving them more of what captured everyone’s attention in the first place, even if you had to wait 15 months to return to the land of arcade games, Ghostbusters and synth music.

Picking up a year after the events of the first season, life in Hawkins, Indiana more or less returned to what it was, the comings and goings of a small town in a US flyover state. The boys are still talking on their walkies and Sheriff Hopper (David Harbour) is still gruff but thoughtful.

Joyce (Winona Ryder) is a much more over-protective parent, fussing over Will after his return from the Upside Down.

The anniversary of Will’s disappearance coincides with the mysterious poisoning of the town’s pumpkin crops and the arrival of two new kids at school, Max (Sadie Sink) and Billy (Dacre Montgomery).

They’re watching you.

The fallout from Will’s abduction forms the backbone of the four episodes made available for review. And Matt and Ross Duffer, the brothers who created Stranger Things, got lucky in casting Noah Schnapp as Will Byers — Schnapp wasn’t called on to do much in the first season and it’s great to see the young actor actually has the chops to carry off a more emotionally demanding storyline.

The addition of Sean Astin to the line-up is Stranger Things at its peak ’80s love. It’s kind of weird seeing Astin in this setting as an adult — you almost wish the season was set in 1985 so it could work in some super-meta Goonies reference.

Time and distance from the hype of the first season has also allowed for a bit of perspective on some of the things that didn’t work so well last time around, mistakes repeated here — namely a tendency to overact and a slow-moving pace.

There’s an extra episode in this instalment and it’s not clear that’s necessary — the first four episodes could’ve been condensed down to three, maybe even two.

New look for Eleven.

The weakest part of the early episodes is the Duffers have obviously responded to fan reaction to Barb’s death and the viral #JusticeforBarb memes. Which is a shame because that character was a barely-written minor part designed to be narrative fodder — that she became such a viral sensation was always a bit befuddling.

The subplot dedicated to Barb and her death takes up far too much of the story — honestly, it’s just not that interesting and an example of shameless fan service taking priority over narrative faith.

But these are small quibbles.

On the flip side, it has doubled down on some of the stuff that worked really well, including harnessing Gaten Matarazzo’s comedic timing, giving us more of Dustin being Dustin.

While it’s not really venturing into new territory, it didn’t have to — not yet anyway. But one imagines a creative evolution will be necessary at some point if Stranger Things ends up being a five- or six-year series.

Stranger Things is still a fun, sometimes creepy ride with good writing and charming performances. It even had a bigger budget this time around so the production value and CGI has been kicked up a notch.

Anyone who fell head over heels for the first season will find themselves racing through season two and find few reasons to leave their house this weekend.

Stranger Things 2 will drop on Netflix tonight at 6pm AEDT.

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