Hey everybody, I’m Andrew, and I am so hype for the return of ‘Stranger Things.’
But before you binge on Netflix and nostalgia,
We’ve got a guide on
Everything You Need To Know About ‘Stranger Things’ Season 2.
It’s been a year since we were introduced to the fine folks of Hawkins, Indiana,
And the mysterious terror of the Upside Down.
So let’s refresh our memories with a quick, spoiler-filled
Season 1 Recap.
Back in the ‘70s, the U.S. government was involved in a classified program called Project MKUltra.
This is our government. They're on our side.
For years, the CIA conducted secret mind control experiments using torture and all kinds of crazy drugs, especially LSD.
I have conditioned them, or brainwashed them, which I understand is the new American word.
This was actually a real thing, by the way, and probably one of the most fascinating things about this series.
In the world of ‘Stranger Things,’ a pregnant subject named Terry Ives gave birth to a daughter, Jane.
The baby was born with psychic powers,
Y'know, shit you can do with your mind.
so the head of the project, Dr. Brenner, abducted her and covered up her existence.
He raised her in a lab where the only name she knew was ‘Eleven.’
Brenner used her abilities to spy on Russian agents from across the globe,
But during one session, Eleven encountered a monster we’d later come to know as the Demogorgon.
Their connection opened up a gate to an alternate dimension called the Upside Down, a ruined version of our world covered with ash and spores.
In the chaos, Eleven and the monster escaped into the woods around Hawkins.
On the same night, three boys named Lucas, Dustin, and Will were riding their bikes home after a late night Dungeons & Dragons sesh at their friend Mike’s house.
Will runs straight into the Demogorgon, which kidnaps him into the Upside Down.
While searching for him, Will’s friends meet Eleven in the woods and invite her to stay in Mike’s basement.
Meanwhile, Will’s mother Joyce starts experiencing weird noises and electrical disturbances in her house,
which turn out to be Will’s only way of communicating with his home dimension.
Joyce enlists the help of Jim Hopper, an alcoholic cop haunted by the tragic death of his daughter,
And, arguably the best character on the series.
And together they uncover the truth about Dr. Brenner’s experiments.
Will’s brother Jonathan, Mike’s sister Nancy, and a bad boy named Steve become mixed up in the whole mess too, after the Demogorgon kills Nancy’s friend Barb.
Hashtag #justiceforbarb, hashtag #teamsteve.
He's a very handsome boy. Absolutely.
Hopper strikes a deal with Brenner to give up Eleven’s location in exchange for access to the Upside Down.
He and Joyce find Will strung up with a tendril jammed down his esophagus, but still clinging to life.
Meanwhile, Nancy, Jonathan and Steve lure the monster to the real world and soften it up,
He's in the trap!
But not enough to save Eleven.
After going HAM and crushing the brains of a dozen federal agents,
She uses all of her power to destroy the creature, seemingly at the cost of her own life.
Eleven! El! El, where are you?!
With the threat vanquished for now, things in Hawkins return to normal.
We see Hopper enter a mysterious car, which means he might be working with the Feds from now on.
He also drops off some tasty Eggo waffles in the woods, Eleven’s favorite food.
The boys are back together, but Will is secretly still phasing into the Upside Down,
and coughing up disgusting black slugs.
Woah, woah, woah, that's not it, is it?
The first season left us with a lot of loose ends and incredibly high expectations for Season 2.
And the Duffer brothers have a plan to make sure the second season doesn’t suffer from
Sequelitis
The brothers are extremely open about their influences,
Read any Stephen King?
and when it comes to crafting a sequel, they’re taking from the best:
James Cameron.
Think about it.
‘The Terminator’ was basically a slasher movie starring a robot, but ‘T2: Judgement Day’ redefined the blockbuster action epic.
It’s the same with ‘Aliens.’
The first film was a slow-paced, cerebral horror movie, but Cameron’s sequel ‘Aliens’ was a masterpiece of sci-fi action.
Get away from her, you bitch!
He was able to pivot genres away from low-budget, sparse horror movies into huge action classics,
The man knows how to pivot.
That's the approach the Duffers are taking.
They're moving the show in a different new direction, and drastically raising the stakes.
I mean, we’ve gone from one scrawny little monster to a giant Lovecraftian beast that blots out the sky,
But luckily we still have a group of hilarious kids with awesome chemistry to give the story heart and keep things grounded.
Not to mention, there will be plenty of great
New Characters
To sink our teeth into.
There’s Max, the tough new skater girl in town.
Her stepbrother Billy is also going to be a major antagonist.
Inspired by Stephen King, who usually includes a human villain that’s almost worse than the supernatural monsters running around,
He’s going to disrupt our heroes’ lives the same way Henry Bowers messed up the Loser’s Club.
I guess you're the first.
Speaking of villains, Paul Reiser is playing a Department of Energy official named Dr. Owens,
Probably as a tribute to his classic role as the sleazy corporate baddie Burke in ‘Aliens.’
Don't let that fool you, I'm really an okay guy.
And rounding out the new cast with another ‘80s icon,
We’ve got ‘Goonies’ star Sean Astin as Bob Newby,
the nerdy manager of the Hawkins Radio Shack who’s dating Joyce at the beginning of the season.
I am so happy Sam finally got over Frodo.
What about Rosie?
What about Rosie? This is farthest I've ever stepped from home!
Shut up.
We don’t yet know what roles the new additions are going to play.
Even with the premiere so close, the second season is still shrouded in mystery.
Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?
But we might have an idea of where it’s going, thanks to 'Dungeons & Dragons.'
When the boys play in the first episode of Season 1, a demogorgon defeats Will’s character, Will the Wise,
The Demogorgon. It got me.
foreshadowing his abduction by a real life monster that same night.
The season ends with another 'D&D' campaign that drops a bunch of potential clues:
What about the Lost Knight? And the Proud Princess? And those weird flowers in the cave?
I don't know!
Let’s run these down.
What is it? Thessalhydra, I'm telling you.
It's not the Thessalhydra.
I'm telling you, it's
The Thessalhydra
In Season 2 previews, we can see an enormous tentacle creature hanging in a stormy red sky,
It’s not strictly a 'D&D' Thessalhydra, but the Demogorgon wasn’t 100% accurate either,
In some editions of 'D&D,' Demogorgon is a two-headed baboon creature.
It's a far cry from the plant, bulbous, attacking monster we got in Season 1.
Thanks, Kya. You're welcome!
So maybe there’s still something we can learn.
A Thessalhydra is a massive beast with eight snakelike heads surrounding a central toothy maw.
The boys seem to think it’s only got seven, though,
and they end their campaign after Lucas chops them off and jams them in a bag of holding.
A classic 'D&D' item that holds a lot of stuff, basically.
Could this symbolize the boys’ false sense of security that the threat is over?
Does it represent their childlike naivete that evil can truly be destroyed?
Or did they just misread the ‘Monster Manual?’
I mean, I've done that.
It's not in here. Thessalhydra is not in the 5th edition.
Maybe 'Monster Manual II?' I feel dumb for bringing this up.
Thessalmonsters are also genetically unstable, which explains why they’re such a hodgepodge of different creatures.
Mix a hydra and a chimera, you’ve got a Thessalmera.
Throw in a Gorgon to create a Thessalgorgon.
You get the idea.
But what if you mix Will Byers with a nasty slug from the Upside Down?
We know they can reproduce by infecting hosts with their larvae,
So it’s possible that he’s slowly mutating into a hybrid of human and…
Whatever the hell lives out there.
In 'D&D' lore the Thessalmonsters were created by an evil lich named Thesselar,
So it might be an indication that government scientists are trying to splice together a superweapon using monsters from the Upside Down.
Either way, Eleven’s gonna have to roll a natural 20 to stand a chance against it.
Moving on, who could be
The Lost Knight?
We’ve got a couple options.
Eleven’s already proven her bravery and skill in battle,
And when the season ends she’s literally lost in the Upside Down.
We know she escapes in season 2, so maybe it refers to Hopper instead.
I guess a beer swilling cop is kind of a knight?
What the--?!
Allright, let's go.
And while he’s not literally lost,
between the angst over his dead daughter and his shady connection with the people in the car,
It could refer to a more internal struggle.
The same goes for
The Proud Princess.
It might be Eleven, but she doesn’t really seem the princess type.
Is that my dress?
It’s possible that it might be referring to the mysterious new girl, Max.
Shit, it could even be Will.
I mean, he basically spent the first season as a prime example of the damsel in distress trope.
I’d compare him to Peach but she’s way more badass and proactive.
What about those weird flowers in the cave?
This one we’re a little unsure of.
It could be referring to the veiny yellow egg Hopper found in the Upside Down.
We still have no clue what it gave birth to, or what other kind of creatures might be lurking in there.
There’s also a shot in a trailer of Dustin holding a bouquet of roses,
but that’s kind of pushing it.
Look, there’s still plenty of mysteries left to uncover,
And since the Duffer brothers still have two more season of ‘Stranger Things’ planned,
We’ve got plenty of time to figure them out.
In the meantime, though, bust out your snack packs,
Polish your d20,
grab your favorite miniature,
And prepare yourself for a new Halloween tradition:
The return of ‘Stranger Things.’