The follow-up to last summer’s surprise hit, Stranger Things, is set to drop this weekend, just in time for Halloween. Alan Sepinwall has chimed in on the new season with his review, but below, here are some of the other things we’re hoping to see. Call it a wish list, if you will.
Some answers
Keith Phipps: You know what I’d like to see a bit more of in Stranger Things 2? Hawkins’ past. The first season hinted the fictional Indiana town had a long, rich history, but we only saw a few corners of it. Surely a place that grew up alongside a mysterious research center has unusual stories that predate the arrival of the Demogorgon. Did nobody blink an eye when mysterious government types set up shop on the outskirts of town? And when was that, anyway? What deals were struck? How deep does the conspiracy go? Hmm… The more I consider it, the more that sounds like material for a prequel series. Still, while it helps the show in some ways for Hawkins to be Anytown, USA, it’s going to be increasingly hard to sustain this illusion the longer weird happenings keep visiting it.
Dan Seitz: Myself, I kinda want to know why the hell the Byerses stayed in Hawkins. The rest of the kids, I get it, their families are clueless. Hell, we don’t even see Dustin or Lucas’ parents. But the Byers family would have qualified as “going through hell” even without the supernatural goings-on. Why haven’t they put Hawkins and its freaky government facility (which the trailers hint is still open, no less!) in the rearview mirror?
Childlike innocence
Alyssa Fikse: I want these kids to stay kids forever (or as long as the show is running). I don’t want these adorable moppets to turn into awkward teens completely overrun with hormones and acne. The dynamic between these kids is just so perfect, and the earnestness of childhood is the ideal background for Stranger Things’ particular brand of nostalgia. I’m normally in the camp of “child actors are the worst,” but this friend group changed my mind almost immediately. Let me know what trickster god I need to make a deal with for this to happen.
Whatever the opposite of childlike innocence is
Jessica Toomer: Let me preface this by saying that I respect David Harbour as an actor and a person, but that does not mean I’m above objectifying him on this show. I don’t know if it’s the whole “tortured father struggling to cope with his daughter’s death by drowning in alcohol” thing, his give no f*cks attitude, that sheriff outfit, or a combination of all three, but Sheriff Hopper can get it. I mean, how can you not be attracted to a man who leaves Eggos for nourishment for a little killer psychic living in the woods and saves a nerd with a bowl cut by digging monstrous slugs out of his mouth. If that doesn’t get your ovaries to pop up and say, “We’re ready,” I don’t know what does. So, as a service to fans (because it’s all about the fans here. I’m not thinking about myself at all in this scenario) I’d like to see the Duffer brothers gift us with a shirtless Hopper, plowing down a pumpkin patch in search of a Demogorgon nest, maybe covered in oil or slimy monster goo – whichever makes more sense for storytelling purposes.
Dark Reiser
Jason Tabrys: I grew up watching Paul Reiser eek his way through fatherhood beside Greg Evigan and Greg Evigan’s amazing hair on My Two Dads. As a teenager, I saw Reiser play the rare TV husband who seemed happy in his marriage on Mad About You. Yes, I know he was in Beverly Hills Cop and Aliens, but those were the roles that came to mind when I thought about him. But for the last few years, Reiser has taken on supporting roles as somewhat complicated older men in dramedies like Red Oaks and Married, redefining his perceived limits as an actor along the way. And now Reiser is set to play what sounds like an evil doctor on Stranger Things and I am 100% down for it because it’s pretty exciting to see actors surprise you and Reiser has shown he is capable of that. So I want to see Paul Buchman get mean and yell at these children, essentially.
Other things!
Brian Grubb: My main hope for Stranger Things is that it maintains the levels of quality and fun that it had in season one. This is no small task. The first season was a phenomenon that snuck in under the radar, which is a nice way to make an entrance. No expectations, no stress, all glory. Now that’s flipped a little and we’ve seen things go south before when that happens. Think, like, the second season of True Detective. If this season ends with Hopper slowly marching to his death in the desert while hallucinating mean teens, I will not be very happy. So that’s my primary hope. That it be good and not bad. Fairly reasonable, I think.
In addition, on a smaller level, I think I would like to see:
– Eleven fly in a bicycle like E.T.
– The hormone monster from Big Mouth show up and start terrorizing Mike.
– Jason Statham show up as a cop or Demogorgon.
– Mr. Clarke get arrested for teaching kids how to make a pipe bomb, which he will do innocently because they had questions about combustion, but will get him in trouble when they use the information blow up old cars in the junkyard.
– Dustin swear a lot.
– Hopper take two bad guys and bonk their heads together like coconuts.
Again, all reasonable requests.
