After the success of the first season, the return of Stranger Things was a big event with lots of hype, and lots of internet chatter all across the days after it was fully available to watch. I was a bit slower to pick it up and watch it, but it was one I was looking forward to, because despite some flaws, I did enjoy the first season. This season returns bigger, but not necessarily better. The scale of the threat is increased, and the show plays with its additional resources very well; more creatures, more horror elements, more polish, and a lot more delivery in the effects department.
It does all this with a plot that to be fair, does build on the events of the previous season. It does so in a way that mostly makes sense, but yet keeps a lot of the same elements from the first season. In doing so it is entertaining and will please fans, but at the same time it is hard not to feel like it lost a bit of spark - almost like they didn't know how to specifically develop that element, so they just went ahead and made everything else bigger. This is in no way to say the second season is no good (it is good), but just that it is not quite as good as the first one. The plot is also part of that though, and there are some elements and conveniences that don't quite work, and they serve to sap the energy and spark a bit. The cast are consistently good though - all playing their roles well in a way that fits not so much the period, but rather the movie/nostalgia version of that period, while also being able to work as characters in their own right. Of the additions, I enjoyed Reiser's casting the most since so much of this season felt like Aliens already.
All told, Stranger Things 2 is a very enjoyable bit of television, that is bigger than the first season, even if it is not better. The spark is a bit lost, but there is plenty still there, and lots to enjoy despite some of it not working, or feeling like it could have hit its marks better.
