*Spoiler Alert!* This post contains spoilers from the first season of Stranger Things.
After months of hype and build up, it’s finally time to return to Hawkins, Indiana for another sci-fi horror adventure with Stranger Things. While the first season ended with the Demogorgon destroyed and life back to a certain state of normal, there were more than a few questions left unanswered. Questions we hope will be explored when Stranger Things 2 drops on Netflix October 27th.
Where has Eleven been?
The first season of Stranger Things ended rather dramatically with Eleven destroying the Demogorgon and possibly herself in a huge psychic conflagration. But with Eleven being such a big part of the series, Netflix didn’t even try to pretend she may not return for the sequel. We’re still left with a lot of questions though, like where exactly has she been in the nine months between then and now? Has she been fending for herself in the Upside Down this whole time? Or did she get out, only to end up trapped in the Hawkins Laboratory again?
An extended stay in the Upside Down sounds like a terrible way to spend your summer vacation. But an experience like that just might make the difference between Hawkins being saved and a gargantuan fog monster devouring everyone. While Nancy and Jonathan showed that Upside Down creatures are susceptible to normal physical damage, I’d take a leveled up Eleven over Steve’s baseball bat any day, no matter how cool he looks when swinging it. Whatever Eleven has been doing, we can only hope it results in her having a better hold on her powers, because it looks like they’re very needed.
Will the Department of Energy be a force for good?
If there’s one lesson to be taken away from Stranger Things season one, it’s that the US government is not to be trusted. Who knows how deep into its core the dark machinations go? Dr. Brenner has CIA, NSA and military connections, but it was the Department of Energy that provided him with the funding and legal carte blanche to pursue his experiments in Hawkins. They also appeared perfectly willing to murder anyone who learned too much about any of it. Were they just a pocket of rogue baddies, or is the whole damn system corrupt?
Will the people involved in this conspiracy beyond Hawkins National Laboratory continue to try and bury this story along with everyone involved? Or will they ditch the cover-up attempts and work with the residents of Hawkins to stop the Upside Down from bleeding into our world? Hopper’s previous interactions with the Department of Energy seem to prove cooperation is a possibility. But when push comes to shove, can the government be trusted to help stop this phenomena, or are they only interested in harnessing the powers of the Upside Down for their own gain, no matter what the potential costs?
What is the nature of the Upside Down, anyways?
The Upside Down is still a complete mystery, with no definitive answers to what exactly it is. Another dimension amongst endless dimensions? A slightly altered phase of existence? Did the strange dark mirror world of Hawkins always exist, or did it come into being after Eleven made contact with the demogorgon, pulling it close enough to our reality to break through and feed?
The Duffer Brothers have said they have a 30-page document that lays out exactly what The Upside Down is and how it works, but I wouldn’t expect any straightforward explanations to be given through the show. Instead, we’ll just have to keep watching for clues on how the Upside Down behaves and see if we can use that information to understand what kind of realities may exist outside of our own.
What other monsters are about to become a big problem?
Things looked bad enough for everyone on Stranger Things when there was just a single demogorgon to face. Now Stranger Things 2 is expanding the ecosystem of the Upside Down to include who knows what. There’s the Demogorgon, whatever that tendril was in Will’s throat, and some nasty looking slugs. Let’s not forget that massive fog monster Will keeps seeing in all the trailers. We’ve also seen eggs laying around the Upside Down. All this implies Hawkins’ infestation of inter-dimensional monsters is only going to get worse.
Is there some sort of rhyme or reason to the lifeforms living in the Upside Down? Or are there just endless HP Lovecraft style horrors that exist in the realms beyond our perception, mindlessly feeding on whatever life drifts near enough to their plane of existence?
Will we finally get justice for Barb?
For a show that was all about the search for a missing kid, Stranger Things sure did completely gloss over Barb’s disappearance. But while part of that had to do with the Department of Energy’s cover-up efforts, fans of Barb still felt like she got shafted, what with being left behind for slug food in the Upside Down and all.
All nine episodes of Stranger Things 2 arrive on Netflix Friday October 27th. We’re sure we’ll get some answers then … along with a whole new batch of questions.
