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Stranger Things Season 2 just arrived on Netflix and binge racers¹ all over the world flew through all nine episodes already. I was one of those racers. Was it worth the time to watch?

Stranger Things was an absolute phenomenon when it debuted last year. It was creepy funny and eighties as hell. The Story centers around four friends Will, Mike, Lucas and Dustin. Will disappears in the first episode and the rest of the season is spent searching for him. The show has been described as The Goonies, meets E.T., meets Close Encounters, meets Aliens, meets Jurassic Park and The Lost Boys. It is an incredible series with a great cast of characters and awesome eighties references.

You can see some side by side comparisons between the movies and the show in this video.

References to 70-80's movies in Stranger Things from Ulysse Thevenon on Vimeo.

The Second season picks up about a year after the events of the first season. Will Byers was saved from the Underground but he’s not quite right. He keeps having episodes where he is sees terrifying things. These portents are of things to come. The boys are back in school and there are a couple of new kids who have come to Hawkins, IN. Max and her step-brother Billy. Billy is a total bad-ass with a bitchin’ car. Max is a tough girl who is also a gamer, when the guys discover that she has taken over the top spots in some of their favorite video games they can’t get her out of their heads. They eventually bring her into their inner circle.

Other new characters include Will’s Mom’s new boyfriend, Bob played by Sean Astin. There is a new doctor, too, played by Paul Reiser. Both excellent additions to the cast.

The existing characters go through some major character development in the course of the season. I found the performance of David Harbour to be awesome. His character of Hopper gets to spend a lot more screen-time this season.

The danger is far more prevalent this season. Not only is there a danger from the upside-down but there is also a dangerous human factor as well.

I had heard that it would be more full of horrors his season but I didn’t find it as scary at all. There are some gory moments in the episodes. There was one particular scene that was quite hard to see but it made sense. At the same time it was something I could see coming in a classic horror movie way. Actually it made me think very much about Jurassic Park.

After all the episodes there are 7 short episodes called Beyond Stranger Things where Jim Rash of Community acts as host. He sits down with the people who create this show or are actor in the series.

¹ Binge Racers are defined as members who completed a season of a TV show within 24 hours of its release on Netflix. Data accommodates for time zones and is reflective of a show’s launch within 24 hours of a country’s release.