Stranger Things 2: Episodes 1 – 3 recap and review

Stranger Things 2 publicity photo. Image courtesy Netflix

Upon returning to Hawkins, we learn that basically everything has changed as a surprising amount of questions are answered within the first three episodes of Stranger Things 2.

Obligatory warning: It’s a recap and review. We’re going to talk about things and there will be spoilers.

As a continued demonstration of the power of Netflix and what makes it the premiere streaming service, Netflix dropped all nine episodes of Stranger Things season 2 on Friday, about four days ahead of its original premiere date of Oct. 31. Though dropping it on Halloween would’ve been a cool marketing move, people might not have started watching until the next day, and since it’s a Tuesday, wouldn’t have finished it as quickly as some people already have in the 24 hours between Friday and Saturday morning.

Whether you believe it’s overhyped or not, Stranger Things appears to be very aware of what people were talking about in the year between seasons. Right off the bat, they hit a few of the things that people wanted to see. Eleven climbs out of the Upside Down, there are new characters and Hawkins isn’t quite what it used to be.

But there are three specific tidbits I’d like to get out of the way before we talk about three of the most interesting dynamics of the show I’ve extracted from the first three episodes.

There are other experiments

In the beginning, we see a group of people pull off a bank heist. In their escape, we see a young girl ditch the cops by collapsing a bridge. Except, she didn’t really do it. She only made the cop who was driving think he saw the bridge collapse. When he hits his brakes, his partner asks why he stopping pursuing the robbers and we see the girl reveal a tattoo on her arm, “008.”

We do meet the parents

While Stranger Things is packed with tons of cool characters, both kids and adult, I did feel kind of curious about the other parents in the group who weren’t the Wheelers or Joyce Byers. In season 1, Lucas was a very pragmatic man and I wanted to see how he came to be that way.

In season 2, Stranger Things generously introduces us to Lucas’ family, and more importantly, his little sister, Erica. Meanwhile, we meet Dustin’s mom, Claudia, played by Orange is the New Black alum Catherine Curtin. She’s exactly what I’d envision as Dustin’s mother: Only slightly overbearing but ultimately more focused on her cat, Mews.

And nobody forgot about Barb

It quickly becomes apparent that Nancy’s struggle this season will be her guilt about Barb. Sporting a new haircut, Nancy has taken her new role in the community in stride — she’s Steve Harrington’s girlfriend, after all. But as threads start to unravel, we see Nancy wrestle with what happened as she tries to remain connected to Steve without letting the past go altogether. In fact, she makes him go to dinner with Barb’s parents, too. He’s very polite, but to his credit, it’s an awkward circumstance for him to be in.

Still, I loved that Nancy pushed to do that, even if meant she was going to find out that the Hollands were moving and that the investigative journalist from Chicago had agreed to pursue their case. (More on him later.) As the story develops, it’s nice to see that Nancy recognizes her role in Barb’s death and resolves to do something about it.