Stranger Things Series 2

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last couple of months you will know that Stranger Things is back. I honestly don't think I'd been that excited for anything in my life before. I binge watched it in one night and have rewatched it countlessly since, I am a big ol fangirl. 

Having rewatched both series I'm finding it really hard to pick a favourite, but I think maybe season 2 slightly wins just because I feel like theres a bit more depth in this series as we see more character development and background stories. I also love that this season is set in the 80's so we are treated to all the 80's style, pop culture and movie references. 

Since Stranger Things is probably one of my all time favourite tv shows, I thought I would share with you my favourite bits... I hope it doesn't suck. (If you know, you know.)

This post will contain spoilers so if you haven't watched it yet then first of all, what the hell have you been doing? Second of all, make sure you binge before you read because you don't want this show ruined by spoilers. 

Will Buyers.

We barely saw any of this kid in season one and he came across as a bit of a drippy character, but through that you could definitely see so much acting potential. I really wanted them to utilise Will more in season 2 and have him as a more involved character. So, it's safe to say I was very pleased to see how much he features in Season 2. It was so great to see him interact with the other cast members but also keeping that sense of internal loneliness. I love the way they gave him a connection to the Mindflayer, giving him so much more depth and layers. That scene where he has having a fit in the field gave me actual goosebumps. For me Noah Schnapp gave the standout performance of the series, such a talented young actor, this kid really deserves all the awards for that performance. 

Halloween.

The series is set during and around Halloween which just makes it all the more better, the American halloween vibes are so dreamy. I love that the kids went as Ghostbusters and arrived at school being the only ones dressed up. That's definitely the kind of thing I'd have done as a child. It being set around Halloween made the whole thing so much more spooky and gave it an extra sci-fi element. The fact that the series was released in October and Halloween elements in it made it all the more enjoyable and was the perfect autumn night viewing.

Mad Max.

Season 2 introduced some new characters, which I must admit I was apprehensive about because I loved the chemistry between the cast in the first series and loved the set up, but of course it is essential for progression to introduce new characters into the mix. One of the characters we are introduced to is Mad Max, who the boys first encounter when they discover someone has been beating their video game scores at the arcade. She is a fiesty, sassy and slightly cynical pre teen who ends up knocking her step brother out with a syringe and despite the others initial rejection, becomes a valued member of the group. I'm really excited to see how she integrates with the other characters more in season 3, and I'm really hoping her and Eleven will actually get to become friends.

Hopper & Eleven.

I loved their relationship this season, and I love how it came to be. From him finding her to them developing a father and daughter type bond. Being from completely different settings there are no doubts plenty of arguments, and with a confused, angry telepathic pre teen in the house you can definitely expect a lot more than door slamming. I love the way they come back to one another, you can see that they both care and want to protect one another. That final scene when Hopper is given Eleven's birth certificate with his surname on it melted my heart and I love how he made sure she had time outside to go to the snow ball. These two are so cute and I can't wait for more of their relationship next season.

Dustin.

He's always been my favourite of the gang, and this series really reiterates this for me. He has all new attitude, sass and teeth. Prrr. I really feel for Dustin in this series because you can tell he just wants to be accepted and appreciated, and that's why he makes the somewhat careless decision to befriend 'Dart' a 'Demodog.' I loved his and Steve's relationship this series, with the latter even giving him a sick new hairdo for the dance. The scene when no one wanted to dance with him made me sob, and I'm so glad Nancy saved the day for him. Dustin is such a little cutie and Gaten Matarazzo is such a talented young actor. 

Bob.

I'm not entirely sure I can talk about Bob with out blubbing. 

Another new character we were introduced to in season 2 was Bob, Joyce's new boyfriend. Bob is shown to be the slightly clueless but heart of gold, genuine nice guy who I believe was perfect for Joyce. He was so caring to her and to Will & Jonathon. I loved that he was a bit of a nerd, and his entire scene dressed as Dracula was absolute telly gold. I had an inkling in the beginning that there was going to be a twist with his character, initially I was worried he was going to turn out to be a baddie but the truth was much worse. His death scene was so heartbreaking to watch, I had genuine tears. Portrayed by Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee in Lotr.) And much like Sam, Bob was an under appreciated hero. I'm so annoyed that their wasn't any mention of him again at the end of the series.  Not ok. RIP Bob Newby. Superhero. 

Elevens Back Story.

This time around we learn about Eleven's real back story before she was Eleven at all. She finds her birth mother who is barely with it and using her telepathic powers discovers her true identity and that she has a sister with the same powers also. This entire story line was so essential for the character development of Eleven, and also broke up the sci fi action to give raw emotional elements. 

Joyce // Winona Ryder.

Joyce is back being her usual wacky self, just a few steps away from a nervous breakdown, and do we blame her really? I feel like it's not really Stranger Things unless her living room is covered in some sort of random wall scribblings; last time it was the iconic Christmas lights, this time we have Will's scribbled mind map. Winona Ryder in this role will just always be epic, she plays the role so well and I actually couldn't imagine it being the same without her. 

Papa Steve.

And the award for the biggest character development goes to: Mr Steve Harrington. It's safe to say that in the first series that Steve was a bit of a dick. I really wasn't a fan. I'm pleased to say my mind has been changed. I love how we see a more vulnerable and caring side to Steve. I love that he takes on the role of baby sitter and basically keeps the kids alive whilst dealing with their disobedience. The Meme's that have come out of Steve being the typical 'Soccer Mom' are probably some of my favourite things on the internet. I especially love his relationship with Dustin, how he takes him under his wing, the way he dropped him off at the dance was so cute. He's definitely earned his stripes as a proper member of the Stranger Things gang. 

There we have some of the things I loved about Stranger Things series 2, if I'd have mentioned all the things I loved about it, we'd be here all night. 

What were your season 2 highlights?

Which season is your favourite?

What are you hoping to see in season 3?

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13 thoughts on 13 Reasons Why

Image found on Google.

13 Reasons Why seems to be one of the most talked about shows at the moment, and after Umming & Ahhing I finally decided to do give it a watch. I finished it last week and after gathering all my thoughts together I thought; like the rest of the internet I would share my two pennies worth.

If you don't know what the series is about then have you been living under a rock? The premise is that Hannah Baker, a high school student commits suicide and leaves 13 tapes for the people who were involved or who impacted in a way that caused her to take her own life. The programme is mostly from the perspective of Hannah making the tapes and Clay, one of the people on the tapes who is trying to figure out what he has done, trying to come to terms with what others have done and trying to come up with a solution to what has happened.

Before beginning this series I had heard really mixed reviews, a lot of people praised it for tackling the issue of mental health, bullying and suicide in a way that young people can relate to and understand. Whilst others criticised it for romanticising mental health and being a run of the mill cliche teen drama. I'll admit I began watching it completely spoiler free, but kind of ready to hate it.

I'm still not 100% sure what I make of the programme but here are 13 thoughts - both positive & negative - that I had whilst watching.

1. Dialogue.

I appreciate that this series tackles a lot of sensitive issues and addresses them in different ways, the representation of rape and sexual assault, whilst being incredibly tough viewing, opens a dialogue about consent and what constitutes as rape, and how it isn't necessarily how we would perceive it to be from what we are normally presented from mainstream media.

2. Bullying.

What this programme does very well is capture the different forms of bullying that takes place in current society, be that through social media, physical or emotional. It demonstrates to those still in school what is not okay and what they might deem as harmless banter can actually be detrimental to destroying someones life. It is also an eye opener to adults just how real bullying in school can be and that it can be a lot more dangerous than we might naively see. It also offers social commentary about how as a society we have become a lot less empathetic as we view these characters who are told they caused a girl to commit suicide and their first concern is themselves and how it will affect them.

3.  Sexuality.

It is important for young adults and teens who may be questioning and exploring their definition of their sexuality to have LGBTQ characters visible to them in mainstream media. In 13 Reasons Why we witness a huge variety of relationships, openly gay characters and characters who are coming to terms with their sexuality. It is so important that programme's like this that are meant to be a representation of young people today talk about sexuality in a way that is relatable and supportive.

4. Graphic/triggering content.

Obviously a programme about suicide was never going to be sunshine and roses, but I think it is important that there is the appropriate trigger warnings. There were ones prior to the really graphic episodes but I think the series as a whole should point out more how upsetting some of the scenes can be. I applaud the creators for creating something so raw and upsetting, and in ways it is good that it's graphic because it doesn't dilute how difficult and serious these things are but I think it's incredibly important to make sure people know exactly what they are going to witness and ensure there are support systems available. I found some of the scenes incredibly difficult to watch for my own personal reasons, and I didn't quite realise just how graphic some of them would be.

5. Lack of discussion about Mental Health. 

I think this programme has missed a trick in the sense that it does not address the issue of Mental Health, not one bit. The programme focuses on what has happened to Hannah and how she has been bullied and skips straight to her suicide. It fails to address the glaringly obvious thing that stands in between those things; her own mental health. It baffles me that they did not use this platform to talk about how teens and young adults are affected by Mental Illness. So many young people suffer from Depression, Anxiety and many other mental illnesses but this programme doesn't talk about it. I think it's irresponsible to miss out a key thing that causes people to commit suicide.

6. Grief is multilayered.

We are presented with grief in two ways in this series; one is a deliberate death and one is accidental. Both are tragedies in different ways, and with that bring a lot of different responses. We see sadness, guilt, hysteria, shame and anger. I think it is important to see the different sides of grief, it is multilayered and there is no one right way to experience it. There is also no way to prepare yourself for it and it can bring about extreme reactions. I think the programme deals with the experience of grief well.

7. Parental Relationships.

Parental relationships are complicated things, we all know that, but we don't often seen it presented to us. Especially in American dramas where we are far too often shown cookie cutter families sitting around the dinner table eating far too extravagant meals for a Tuesday night. In 13 Reasons Why we are shown a huge variation of different types of parents and the relationships they have with their children. We witness physical abuse in Justin's home from his mums boyfriend and we see emotional abuse and neglect from his mum who allows this to happen and is more focused on drugs and drink than her child's well being. We see over involvement from Clay's mum and we see detachment in Alex's family where the use of 'sir' replaces any form of parental terminology. This shows how parental upbringing affects a child's development and ultimately affects their behaviour and how they handle relationships.

8. Unlikeable Characters.

One thing I really struggled with when watching was how unlikeable I found Hannah Baker and her parents. Obviously I felt sympathetic towards them but I found them incredibly irritating and didn't care all that much for them. I don't know if that makes me a terrible person, or if it was in a way intentional? I don't know. Did anyone else feel this way? or am I just a bitch?

9. Slutshaming.

Slutshaming is a thing. Most women have experienced it in one way or another. This programme broaches the idea of slutshaming and how it impacts young women, but it could have delved in so much more to demonstrate what a problem it has become in current society.

10. Technical/aesthetic elements.

I thought the show was well put together structurally. The use of flashbacks and merging of time was an effective method of storytelling whilst helping to keep the show fast paced, which was incredibly beneficial to a programme focused around storytelling and dialogue.

11. Teenage Stereotypes.

In a programme about American teenagers there was always going to be some American teen stereotypes: the jocks, the cheerleaders, the loners & the geeks. Whilst there is a cringing amount of that the show does well to push past the teenage cliche and address realistic teen behaviour and activities. It shows that being a teenager isn't all sunshine and roses. We are shown chaotic relationships, the dissolution of friendships, teens that swear, underage drinking, awkward underage sex and recreational drug use. Whilst obviously being dramatised for entertainment purposes it is refreshing to see a more gritty and realistic representation of being a teenager.

12. Unlikeable Characters 2: Character Development.

As I briefly touched upon before, most of the characters are or at least begin quite unlikeable, we are introduced to these characters as villains who are only out to cover their own backs. As the series continues we see an incredible amount of character development which I think is 100% important when tackling an issue like this to show humanity to these characters, because despite their actions none (well mostly) are inherently evil. They have made bad decisions which have snowballed.

13. Conversation Starter.

The main response that I came away from this programme with is that it is an important conversation starter. It creates the opportunity for young people to talk about the issues I have briefly mentioned and many others and for things to be addressed. But I don't think it should be used as an education tool to prevent suicide. I think it doesn't delve into the issue enough for it to be used in that way.

After watching 13 Reasons Why and mulling it over a bit, I'm still not 100%  how I feel. Which I think is an okay response. I found it entertaining and gripping as a programme. I found it in some ways refreshing as a social commentary and a conversation starter. But I'm not fully convinced by how they handled some of the issues. The series is obviously left on a few cliffhangers and since I finished watching a second series has been announced. I am intrigued to see in what direction they will take it and how they will develop these characters more.

Have you watched 13 Reasons Why?
What are your thoughts?
Do you have any new programme recommendations for me?

Speak Soon
Char xx 

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