‘Stranger Things 2’: new characters, unfinished business | The Triangle

‘Stranger Things 2’: new characters, unfinished business

Photograph courtesy of Netflix

Although Will Byers is physically back in Hawkins, he is still not safe from the “upside down” just yet.

Netflix released the second season of the nostalgia-inducing smash hit television show “Stranger Things” Oct. 27. Each kid returns to the season with the accompaniment of new members joining into the chaotic quest that left people on the edge of their seats in the first season. Answering many, but not all, of the cliffhanger questions from the first season, “Stranger Things 2” still gives enough excitement of the unknown for its viewers to eagerly await going into the next season. Watching the new season, it is safe to say that its audience is given the satisfaction of knowing that Hawkins is guarded by the bravest party around and that the “Shadow Monster” has no clue what’s coming.

Aside from the beloved original characters from the first season, the new season includes five new characters that bring new life to the series. The first new character to be introduced, in the first five minutes of the season, is Kali (Linnea Berthelsen). As another girl from Hawkins Lab with Eleven, Kali is a misfit who hangs around a gang of punks who commit crimes for a living. She plays a crucial role in Eleven’s life which is revealed later in the season.

The second new character is Max (Sadie Sink). As the new girl in school, she has a sour attitude and seems to always be in an unpleasant mood every time any of the boys from the gang interact with her. She later gets involved with the group of boys and becomes part of the Shadow Monster dilemma.

The third character is Max’s threatening older brother, Billy (Dacre Montgomery). This character is an the abusive brother who takes his parent’s divorce out on Max and functions as the main human antagonist in the story.

The fourth new character to come into play is Dr. Owens (Paul Reiser) who is Will Byers’ doctor in Hawkins Lab. The final new character is the beloved Bob (Sean Astin), who is Joyce Byers’ boyfriend. Bob is depicted as the boring father figure that the Byers boys need and is the cuddly bear of the series who wants nothing but good in everyone’s lives.

Altogether, these five new characters form a tremendous impact on the series while also managing to keep the flow of the series running smoothly. The season includes two major stories happening at the same time, one being Eleven’s story and the other being the town’s story. Eleven’s story is one that is tracked from the moment she is sheltered in Hopper’s shed to the moment that she finds her “sister” Kali (whose number is 008).

This story later merges with Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Max, all the grown ups and the older teens, who are trying to find out what is wrong with Will and ultimately, how to fight away the Shadow Monster and the upside down. Alongside these major stories are small substories of the teens (Steve, Nancy, Jonathan and Billy) and the grown-ups (Joyce, Hopper, Bob, Murray and Dr. Owens) that all mesh together with the main stories to form the final picture of season two.

Overall, “Stranger Things 2” did a wonderful job in answering many dilemmas of unfinished business that occurred in the first season while opening up the floor to new and exciting questions on what’s to come. The season perfectly incites curiosity as to what Eleven, the gang and the upside down are bringing to the new season. Everyone will most definitely be raving about the third season of “Stranger Things” upon release.