Toho Kingdom

On the contrary, I've seen nothing but warm reception for Bob in all the communities I've visited.

I'm glad that Eleven escaped the Upside-Down early in the season and wasn't trapped there throughout. Her dynamic with Hopper was one of my favorite subplots and something I've wanted since last season. The shot of her new birth certificate in the last episode made me so goddamn happy.

Poor Will. Poor freakin' Will. This entire season he was a punching bag and I felt so sorry for him and his family. Noah Schnapp can fucking act and that scene at the end of episode five with him spazzing out on the ground was extremely disturbing. Major props.

Steve is the MVP of the friggin' season and an excellent example of an 80's trope turned upside down (no pun intended). We saw his development a little in Season 1 but it's awesome to see the "pretty boy jock" archetype turned into a smart and badass character. I love that he really does care about Nancy's well-being and I'm kind of sad to see them split apart. Steve really is a good guy and doesn't deserve this.

Speaking of Nancy, her and Jonathon's romantic angle is...eh. I'm okay with it (and it's backed by one of the funniest lines in the entire season), but man I just can't help but cringe at poor Steve's dilemma.

The new characters are...hit and miss. Bob, as mentioned earlier, is probably the best out of them. Sean Astin is really good at portraying a guy who, despite having no clue what's going on, is willing to help out because of the genuine love he has for Joyce and the Byers. His death, while slightly predictable, was extremely emotional. A true hero.

Murray (the crackpot conspiracy theorist) was a little grating at first, but turned out pretty hilarious at the end. Like I said earlier, he delivers one of the best lines in the season and I loved his tiny sideplot.

Dr. Owens was a great contrast to the vicious Dr. Brenner from last season (Who, in all honesty, I want to remain dead. There's bits and bobs of him being still alive and I just don't really feel like they should backpedal with this character. Just my own thoughts though). I'm glad he survived the onslaught of the Demodogs and helped Hopper and Eleven (Or Jane now I guess) with their new lives.

Max is okay. She's likeable enough but aside from giving Lucas something to do, she doesn't really have a reason to be there. I don't mind her being there at all; I'm looking forward to seeing her next season, but she just doesn't really have a purpose besides "love interest for Lucas".

And then there's Billy. Oh lord. What a waste of space. Billy's entire character is essentially meaningless. His only real purpose is to be a generic minor antagonist for the kids and Steve (for some reason) and his subplot about being "abused" or what not could have been dropped entirely from the season and nothing would have been changed.

Finally, the elephant in the room: Episode 7 and it's...inhabitants.

First off, moving away from the small town setting is a massive mistake. If I had to compare this to an 80's trope, it would be the crappy "Eleven in the Big City" sequel. Having the show take place in a tiny little insignificant town makes everything much more relatable and cozy. Suddenly jumping to Chicago or whereever is a huge u-turn for the show.

Kali (oooh really clever there!) is a generic "too-cool-for-school" character with an edgy personality and a costume straight out of the pages of Sombra's diary. It's so sad that a character with so much interesting potential turned out to be a shitty waste of time.

Her "gang" were literally rejects from the set of Chappie. Stale, over-the-top, and stupid.

Actually, this whole fucking episode was just Chappie meets X-Men First Class, and speaking of the latter, I hope to fuck that the other numbered children are not just kids with different powers. That would be such a huge letdown and another direct ripoff of X-Men.

It's such a bad episode that it managed to kill any and all interest I had in Eleven's origin plot. I seriously don't even care about what they do with it next season because this attempt was that bad.

the Battle for Eleven's Soul; she found a Yoda and a Palpatine all in one; she was tempted toward the Dark Side and yet not even by someone with evil intent, but who has lost their own way and genuinely thinks they're helping. And she made for a fascinating character, too; not the innocent she acts like with Eleven, not the hard-as-nails she acts like with her gang... she's someone in the middle, pretending on both sides.

Noooooooo! Son of a...! If you'd asked me what I wanted to change about the show at the end of episode two, it would have been "Please, please don't kill Bob!" Because I knew they were gonna, even early on- and I so desperately wanted them not to. I liked him so much as a character- what is it with this show and killing off awesome characters whose name starts with B? That episode kinda lost me.

But the way they did it was kinda... it was horrible. They dwelt on it was too long, in almost perverse delight and long, lingering shots. That was the one sour note for me in this season; the almost sadistic glee they took with killing him slowly and horribly and showing his corpse being eaten. That was... not at all cool. And not at all necessary to any emotional impact they wanted it to have. That was just... crap filmmaking.

Thankfully, it was the only crap filmmaking in 9 episodes.

and drew me back in after the aforementioned gratuitous death.

Seven and a half hours (approximately), and not a wasted scene that I can think of. Really interesting characters across the board. Character was king, and that made it so that even when the narrative wasn't advancing, nothing felt pointless or indulgent or like it should have been cut. Even the ending could've been anticlimactic, but it was perfectly 80s and perfectly paid off all the characters. It didn't meander as people often complain about Return of the King- it knew exactly where it was going, and earned enough of the character moments to make the whole thing work perfectly.

And seriously... how awesome was the monster behind the gate? The fight with Billy? The comic relief- Max driving, etc. It was a slam-bang, intense finale that paid off everything. Max and Billy. Steve's reform. Dustin and Dart's bond. Eleven and Hopper's relationship. Eleven's journey (I guess I should get used to calling her Jane?). Joyce's love for her son and pain and determination in the wake of Bob's death. Owen and Hopper's grudging bond. Everything!

And the characters... Steve actually became likable! Heck, i felt more for him than for Jonathan, and after series one, that's an amazing turnaround. Will, the perpetual outsider- even the character intros reinforced the bond of the other three but left him the perpetual outsider. Max, a great new character that avoided the 'spunky new character, accept me!'; trying-to-hard cliches that new additions to ensemble casts can often suffer from. The reporter guy (whose name slips my mind) whose smug smarminess is somehow endearing. Dr. Owen, who wasn't just another Burke as I expected- he still had his dark side, and some definite shady dealings, but in the end he actually did care about Will! And of course, Kali, as mentioned above, and Bob, the dad that poor Will (give the kid a break next season!) deserved. Such a great guy (I mean, when is Sean Astin not?), and just so great... from his pep talk to Will (despite its disastrous unintended consequences) to his solving of the map, to his going out on the journey we all knew he wouldn't return from. At least it's some comfort that the pistol wouldn't have helped him anyway.

Plus the regulars remaining great- Joyce is amazing, as always (give her a break, too, writers!)- Wynona Rider is a treasure- and the kids. Will was on a performance tour-de-force. Dustin came into his own, and his mentoring relationship with Steve is a great character beat. I felt like Mike was no longer the focus character this time around- in same ways, the most neglected of the four- but Lucas really came center-stage to shine this time around, and he was great!

All in all, this was fantastic. I almost want them to stop here (I appreciate the confidence in the brand they showed this time by tying up loose ends and not counting on a cliffhanger to bring the audience back... it was very satisfying, but I still want more), just so that there's no chance that they mess it up. But honestly, based on this track record, there's no reason to expect they would. Just a really brilliant second season, all around!

They did sort of end on a cliffhanger with the Mind Flayer not being defeated and the possibility of Brenner still being alive but those just make me more excited for season 3

The character development, Darts arc, dustin getting his happy ending after getting shit on all season, so much more focus on the characters other than mike.

I'm just so sad bob died though. it's going to mess me up for a while.