"Chapter 1: MADMAX"
The season premiere of Stranger Things starts with a new top video gamer in town, new nightmares, and even a few days of shocking moments."MADMAX" was an excellent first episode of the new season that sets the tone for what's to come. Not only are there new characters for the folks of Hawkins, Indiana, but there's a new video game leader for Mike and the gang to deal with.
The episode starts with a robbery a year after the events of season one. A group escapes in a van, and while being chased by cops, one of the members in the van gets the cops to stop as he thinks he sees the bridge collapse, but it is all just in his mind the member that did it has a tattoo with the number 008.
Things in Hawkins, Indiana, seem to be well, back to where we were in the first season. Hopper is doing what he does best when he comes to work first thing, trying to ignore anyone who comes to see him, but this time, he deals with a freelance journalist who's investigating Barb's disappearance. Things do set when Hooper gets calls about someone's pumpkins being ruined by another pumpkin farmer.
Joyce is concerned about Will after he gets another vision/dream of the underworld, where he sees a storm cloud that scares him. Will was taken to see Owens, an executive of the DOE who's in charge of the place, who does tests and asks questions Will about these visions and thinks it's just PTSD.
With all of these new characters and such, you wonder where Eleven is. That is answered at the end of the question with a jaw-dropping moment. As Hooper drives in the woods and walks to a cabin, you think that it might be his new home and that he may be living with his girlfriend. But it wasn't, and it turned out to be Eleven with curly hair who walks in and eats dinner with Hooper.
"MADMAX" was a good episode that set a perfect tone, as I said initially. With the return of these characters we've loved and enjoyed so much, the one that I was glad to see was Eleven back and alive. Yes, I did want to watch Mike, Dustin, Will, and Lucas rushing to the arcade. I loved the music playing for the scenes and the new character, Mad Max, coming in. I did enjoy the Joyce and Hooper scene as I think that these two might be better together than Joyce and Bob. The writing for this episode was excellent. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.
"Chapter 2: Trick or Treat Freak"
It's Halloween, and the gang is ready for trick or treating, but when Max comes in, it doesn't play well for one of the members.It's Halloween, and Mike and the boys are set with their costumes, dressing up as Ghostbusters. But when they get to school, they notice that no one else is also dressed up. Dustin and Lucas ask Max to join them for trick or treating, leaving them with no answer, but that turns out to be a yes when she scares them with her costume. And that didn't sit well with Mike.
Will is still having visions of the underworld and seeing a giant creator. He's drawn it, and Joyce sees it and still gets worried about it. He has another encounter vision with the creator during trick or treating, and it is triggered when other kids call him "Zombie Boy," but Mike comes and takes him back to his place, and they talk about what he had seen.
The one story out of all this was Eleven and how she managed to return, thinking she was gone. After taking down the creator in the season one finale, she's in the underworld and tries to find Mike without seeing him. She comes to the same opening that goes back to the real world. She comes through and tries returning to Mike's house, but the FBI and cops are there. The FBI tells Mike that he needs to tell them where Eleven is, and he sees her through the window, and she quickly runs off. She uses her survival skills to hunt, protect herself, and wear proper clothing.
Back and forth with the present and past, Eleven wants to trick or treat and tells Hooper that no one will see her with her ghost costume. But he wouldn't agree to it and compromise by getting off from work early and bringing a lot of candy, but that doesn't work out well when Hooper gets pulled into investigating more of the mystery of the dead pumpkins and trees that have that goop from the underworld.
There's one moment where Eleven is upset and brings the TV into her room, and as she flips through channels, she decides to telepath her way to see Mike. When she does, for a minute,e Mike hears Eleven with excitement but then walks away with doubt that it's her even though she's right there, leaving her in heartbreak.
The episode ends with a surprise when Dustin gets home and, for the second time, hears a noise near his home. He sees the trash can moving and walks up to it and opens with a surprise that you'll have to see the third episode.
"Trick or Treat Freak" was an excellent episode, mainly for Eleven than the rest of the characters. I thought that it was Millie Bobby Brown's best performance with character growth and showed such emotion. The Johnathan and Nancy story was not the best, but it was enjoyable. Sean Austin in the last couple of episodes is good and brings the humor but makes that boyfriend awkwardness. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.
You can catch the second season of Stranger Things available now on Netflix, along with Season One.
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