Is Stranger Things Vol. 2 Actually Good? | Explained - squidgame.quest

Is Stranger Things Vol. 2 Actually Good? | Explained

Karsten Runquist
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465 Comments

  1. I could’nt care less about max . She should’ve died. And mikes speech was so bad. plus how the fuck max is still alive man what did eleven do. How many different powers she got? at this point she resurrects people? she is jesus now let her walk in the water in next season

  2. Is no one going to talk about the scene with Dustin and Eddie’s uncle? I bawled my eyes out- Gaetens acting was so good

  3. It felt like they were relying on the shock factor and also are holding certain things for season 5, so they were just trying to fill screen time. Honestly, the Russian storyline, after they escaped the prison, was just a time filler. I thought for sure Murray or Enzo were going to die, but once they broke back into the prison, the stakes felt pretty low tbh. They also didn’t wrap up anything over there—like where is Murray now and what’s Enzo doing, do people know he’s an enemy of the state now? Etc.

    They did nothing with Will this season…or the season 3.

    Eddie dying was gonna happen from the moment he first talked about how he seems to always run away. They did two flashbacks scenes after he cut the cloth to keep Dustin out of danger. They didn’t need to play flashbacks then—flashbacks from this season. Like, we all know—we watched the show. It would’ve been more meaningful if he just stared off for a second, mustering up the determination to leave the RV.

    Max was just for shock factor tbh. I didn’t expect it at all—and the scene with Lucas after was really good. So I don’t mind it, but what got me was the Pizza Team’s reactions when they got back to Hawkins. Why did they run out of the van, asking frantically if Max is okay, if they’re all okay. When they said, “oh, where the Lucas.” The Hawkins crew was like, “Oh, you don’t know.” And then the Pizza team just looks confused.
    Obviously he’s with Max. (I know Mrs. Wheeler was there, but they’ve had no issues huddling off to the side to talk about important matter before, so why stop now.)

    And when they got to the hospital, why didn’t El say anything about Max? Even if she was ashamed for not being able to keep Vecna from attacking Max, she still would’ve told Lucas about how hard Max fought, and how El is trying everything she can to save Max. There could’ve been a moment where Lucas remains still—processing all that went on while Max and El were fighting Vecna. Then he would give El a hug and say it’s okay and that Max wouldn’t want El to blame herself. We could’ve had a sweet moment there, where, even though Max isn’t mentally there with them, she’s still helping to glue the team together.

    Idk. The moment they went to Hopper’s cabin, you knew Hopper was going to show up.

    Also, the massive openings to the upside have been…open…for days. Like, where’s the national guard? It’s obvious it’s not just an earthquake. Idk. I just feel like they’re going too big with it and are sacrificing what made the show special in the process—we don’t need a world-ending threat for the show to be heartfelt, engaging, and exciting.

  4. The only thing the July 1st release for vol 2 did was kill off half the hype, and I think they should have killed Nancy and Lucas so it feels like no one is untouchable

  5. What’s Vecna’s favorite cereal?

    Rice Krispies

    Cuz they go Snap, Crackle, and Pop

  6. I think this season had some great moments but honestly missed its mark. was very mid for being a top echelon tv show. i get this is more for younger audiences but compare this dialogue and writing to better call saul or even earlier seasons. so much corny not enough meat.

  7. also i get we had two movies to finish it off but give me 21 hours of content. you have the storylines to do so and clearly like to spend the money. not enough resolution to all that they set up, conclusion felt sped up

  8. Personally, I'm a bit conflicted about Max this season. I don't think her life should've been on the line AGAIN after her escape from Vecna the first time. We were already demonstrated that she was strong enough to escape once and putting her in danger kinda ruins that moment imo. So while I'm glad she's not dead, its still sad to see she's blind and will (probably) still be in danger of dying next season.

  9. I definitely do think the stakes should be higher and at least ONE member of the main cast should be killed off for real, but why does everyone think it should have been Max!! Fr that would be a terrible message to have her whole journey this season be about depression and finding a reason to live again but then in the end brutally murder her and prove she couldn't overcome her trauma after all??? That would be so unsatisfying and send such a bad message

  10. Apparently Will has a larger role in season 5. Might have some kind of a connection to Vecna tracing back to season 1.

  11. After watching a bunch of these reviews from different people, I completely understand a lot of these criticisms. I’m usually a much more critical viewer myself, but for some reason with this show I haven’t been. I even loved season 3 and the Russia stuff.

  12. I enjoyed volume 2 but damn, the intense use of flashbacks got annoying. I was glad Will and Jonathan got time to shine but it felt jarring when there were like 5 different fake-out climaxes that all resorted in flashbacks and reused footage. for the Kate Bush scene in S4E4 Dear Billy, it worked having max's flashbacks because that was really the first time it happened for a while in this TV show, but like 50 flashbacks in the same episode?
    overall I'm hopeful that season 5 will be good but I honestly have no clue how Mike will get relevance. every other character so far has setups that can work following into season 5, but mike? he only ever really interacts with Will and Eleven, and honestly every time he talks to Eleven its the same thing over and over.

  13. Answer: No. Max’s immediate “resuscitation” and the “2 days later” title card destroyed the flow of the finale. And it was so poorly wrapped up

  14. I honestly don’t like how they added so many characters this season. There was the two that got killed by Vecna right away, Eddie (even though I do believe he did add a little something to this season), Jason and his basketball friends, plus Argyle. With all the side new characters we didn’t really see much of the main ones. And with all the drama of the friend group split AND everything happening in Russia, everything felt like too much to deal with in one season. The way this whole season was written made it feel impossible to focus on one character and it felt so scrambled and unorganized.

  15. wait but why did eddie decide not to run away it makes no sense who is he saving by swinging a glorified stick at a horde of bats

  16. They really killed off some of the best characters this season

  17. I’m not sure I understand: Why did Eddie have to go back? He said to ‘buy more time’ but like, for who and what?

  18. Will better be back as a relevant character in S5. I feel like they put him in the background since S3 for no reason. I love the new characters, but this show is the most interesting when it's about El and Will.

  19. Mikes monologue to eleven and vecna somehow not killing max completely in that timeframe felt like some extreme plot armor. I know max is still basically braindead but still….

  20. i really thought that volume two was… interesting. vecna looked like the grinch LMAO. i didn’t like how they left us with sooo many unanswered questions. like where is enzo? is max going to die? like i don’t think she’s going to die because if they want to kill her they would have already done it so hopefully she will be ok. also why didn’t will come out to mike… and my last complaint is killing eddie like I knew they were going to do it but.. he was a character I LOVED and i totally agree that it seemed like no one cared. like wtf?

  21. wow this is the first time I agree with you wholeheartedly on everything. nice.
    edit: O totally agree with the cringyness of the climatic scenes, I could practically feel the editor smirking thinking "this is amazing" & yeah I basically watched this season to understand the memes, FOMO is really a b*tch

  22. Glad I'm not the only one that felt this way. I feel like most of Strangers Things is awesome build up and suspense and then somewhat underwhelming/predictable endings. The end of volume 1 is so much incredible, but I really didn't feel as engaged for these 2 episodes.

  23. I couldn’t have put it better myself! Also side not the fact that NO ONE outside of Dustin and his uncle even seemed to give a damn that Eddie died was so shit to me like??? He was Mike and Lucas’ friend too?? And he had decent chemistry with the other characters it was so weird to see them not give a crap. Im calling it he’s alive and in hiding that’s why they’re not upset. If Max can live so can he

  24. Will is the most underutilized charater in the show. They could use him to create an interesting link between Hawkins and the upside-down, but nope he is just a character with terrible diaglogue and an even worse haircut.

  25. Damn I’m the complete opposite. Volume One nearly ruined the show for me, whereas Volume Two saved it as well skyrocketed my opinions on Season 4

  26. The final 15-20 minutes of Vol 2. felt RUSHED, like SO rushed. How does this happen with such long run times lol

  27. I do really have beef with how much this ENTIRE season relied on flashbacks. Like even in volume 1 we did not need to see Billy's death like four-five times like yeah we know. Have some faith in your audience.

  28. the first video that totally matches my opinion on this season!! loved it

  29. I say whatever I want and you gotta deal with that says:

    I have a feeling Karsten feels more need to overcomplicate his explanation and analyze whatever's surrounding the media or one aspect of it rather than being straight forward or… you know? Being funny!

  30. just.. don't be scared to get rid off the old characters as much as you "don't care" about the new ones!!! the guitar guy (forgot his name for a sec, sorry) totally could have lasted a little longer, and, if max had died (in which, wow, such an impactful scene) it'd have made so much sense!!! she was depressed and angry and scared and POSSESSED, yeah, these kind of shit totally can kill you lol

  31. One of my biggest complaints is that every new character in Stranger Things is killed off. Bob, Alexi, and now Eddie. Kill one of the old characters for god’s sake.

  32. Game of thrones really ruined storytelling for a lot of people you don’t have to kill off a main character for emotional impact she’s great actress and Max a great character the whole Vecna storyline subtext is about suicide and overcoming those thoughts and feelings it would’ve been pretty dumb to just have her die in end after all that

  33. I feel like season 3 is the best season

  34. I feel like max is already clinically braindead. When 11 tried to hop in there was nothing there so I assumed she has no brain activity and cannot be revived

  35. In my opinion, they fucked up the ending so bad. The whole, "town being destroyed by the gate" tension buildup was totally messed up by the 'two days later' schtick, which was the aftermath of the "earthquake." Now, this could've been fine, but it feels like no one gives a shit about what just happened. Everyones reuniting and being all trigger happy, acting like impending doom isn't on the horizon. Fucked up the groove, man. Also, stop trying to make us think the main characters are in trouble, because they never are. the plot armor on these guys is so strong not even a goddamn meteorite could penetrate it.

    anyways it was pretty good 8/10

  36. WELL THANK YOU I WAS ALSO SAD ABOUT DR BRENNER 😭😭😭 idk I feel like he was just so misunderstood and he wasn't inherently evil, he really believed he was doing a good thing for Eleven 😭

  37. Stranger things has evolved into what can only be called a BAD show

  38. I can agree that V1 was good! They introduced the characters well in the beginning and left us on a interesting cliffhanger. They hyped up V2 and I was so excited for it. Then I watched it expecting for so many main characters to die, for the end to also leave us on a cliffhanger, etc. But no. V2 felt so rushed and it left us with too many unanswered or uninteresting parts:

    – I loved all of the scenes with Hopper, Joyce, Murray, and Yuri. I was also happy that Joyce and Hopper kissed instead of just looking at each other for 2 minutes and saying that they're friends. But then they went back to the Russian camp. Now I understood why they went back but when Hopper went out to fight the dogs I was worried that he would be the one to die in V2. But no. He managed to hold back a DEMAGORGON with his bare hands (lets not forget the fact that he is probably low on energy after being tortured, starved, etc) and save enough time for Joyce to come and rescue him. Like why didn’t Murray help Hopper fight? And I just felt like the scene where he fought the big dog with a SWORD was just too easy. Hopper was seriously able to decapatate the dog with a sword? It felt like Hopper was doing all the fighting and none of the adults were shown. Plus what happened to Murray, Enzo, and Yuri in the end?

    – I agree with the part where Steve telling us his whole future was weird. Like I knew that Steve wasn't going to die because the brothers love his character too much. But it was obvious that he was talking about the kids and being with Nancy. Not only that but in my opinion I found it weird how the brothers were hinting at Stancy. Like what was the build up for Jancy then? They built up Jancy for 3 SEASONS just to tear it down again? Seriously? Like Nancy just feels like Betty (from Riverdale) where she can’t decide whether she likes Archie or Jughead and is just going back and fourth between the two. Jonathan was basically high this whole season and did nothing but watch and I feel that they did him dirty this season. Robin was the only good character this season.

    – Eddie's death was also such a cop out. I know people don’t want this but I feel like Steve should've died instead. The reason is because his story arc is complete. He started out as a total dutche but has grown to be the most lovable character in the show. I mean if he met Robin in season 1 then he would definitely out her to everybody. He established a good relationship with everybody and became a role model that the boys (especially Dustin would want to be). They also hinted at his "death" in V2 but it obviously never happened. Steve's death would have a huge impact on the whole group and would make them want to get revenge. Dustin would be the one to make plans (and make sure that nobody would have to make sacrifices) next season and it would give us hope at defeating the upside down with their rage. Plus we already saw that Dustin built up a good relationship with Eddie so he could be the next leader. He fits well into the group and would be a good replacement for Steve. Yes it would obviously be very sad but it would be good for the show. It shows us that every main character is at risk, the seasons aren’t just repeating over and over again, it would give the kids a motive, and we get a new character to further develop and make it more fun.

    – I have this huge feeling that in season 5 max will come back just fine. I do think that they're planning on using her as another body for Vecna but once they defeat him she'll probably be fine since they've clearly shown that the main characters will live. It did bother me how they once again didn’t do anything with Will. He had so much potential to be used this season but they forgot about his birthday and I just feel like they queerbaited us. I really hope the brothers do make a full circle (like they said) and give Will a much bigger storyline in season 5. Mike didn’t do anything this season besides make his whole personally about dating eleven. Speaking of Eleven, I also feel like they don’t know what to do with her. All she really does is do the work and beat the villains . Her personality is also dating Mike and it was stupid of her in the ballroom to just lift up Vecna into the air, throw him in the bleachers, and check up on Max. I understand she’s her best friend but you had a chance to tear him in half but of course it won't be that easy. Lucas was another good character that I feel like they built up well, along with Erica but I do wish that she had more lines since she's always funny on screen. Argyle was a good character this season. I have no idead why so many people dislike him. I mean we finally have some Latino representation and he was also funny. I do feel like he might sacrifice himself in season 5 because they did the same with Billy and I just feel like the brothers won’t know what to do with him.

    – The ending was okay?? It was stupid how they just skipped to 2 days later since I wanted to see their reactions to Eddie's death and have them mourn him since it was only Dustin, and his dad, who we saw. I wanted to see how the kids reacted when they found out about Max, etc. The last scene was weird since none of the characters looked concerned even a lit and were just like "oh great now this" which I get but its basically hell breaking loose so you have to be at least a bit worried. It didn’t hype me up for season 5 and I'm not expecting for anyone to die. I just think that they’re going to seal all of the gates and live happily, or just completely destroy the upside down and live happily, orr they will all die and then meet each other in like heaven or something

    I know I complained a lot ☠☠ its just that they hyped up V2 so much and I was expecting something big but it came with so little.

  39. I think the way they released the season was very calculated and did exactly what they wanted it to by striking a compromise with binge watching but synchronised the audience right when it got good at the end of vol 1. You may personally not like it as well as many others but I suspect this won't be the last time shows will release in this way, espcially if it can soften a bit of a lackluster finale

  40. The way steve was talking in the fourth season reminded me of hawkeye in Age of Ultron where it was very clear he was a dead meat character

  41. i don’t know why people complain about the runtime of the episodes. we waited four years so it feels really good to see episodes be long. i was bummed when i got to know the season would be 9 episodes only but satisfied when the episodes were long.
    also the multiple filming scenes thing tbh worked really well for me. i enjoyed the editing of the episodes in fact, it felt really engaging.

  42. Feel like people aren’t talking about how Robin was really useless this season. She was more of a “haha remember I had good chemistry with Steve last season” but aside from that, felt like she didn’t bring anything to the season.

  43. Max died, that's why the fourth gate reopened and the upside down took over

  44. 0:34 "July 1st really did feel like a whole holiday" cries in Canadian 🇨🇦

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