While it’s certainly not the longest we’ve had to hold out for new Stranger Things episodes, the wait over the last month hasn’t been easy. Volume two brings us three new episodes packed with new revelations, game-changing answers and plenty of emotion-packed moments.
Picking up where the previous episode left off, the overall darker tone and endgame-approaching feel is increasingly prominent in these three episodes. There’s certainly hopeful moments, but the grief-stricken desperation that so many characters are experiencing throughout Hawkins and the Upside Down is the dominant force. This leads to an exponentially-increasing sense of danger that enhances tension to insane edge-of-seat levels. There’s moments within volume two drenched in so much suspense that you forget to move or breathe, and that level of engagement isn’t easy to reach let alone maintain. What makes these episodes even more impressive is that they kept me locked in from start to finish without the need for any enormous action sequences. The love and care felt for the characters is enough to keep you locked in, which is such a rewarding feeling when watching a series that has stuck around for this long.
Volume two has its share of horror sequences and tense action-heavy moments, but for the most part the focus is on the characters. The vast majority of time in volume two is spent wrapping up relationship conflicts, furthering key character arcs and building up the stakes leading into the finale. As a result there’s a lot of dialogue and serious conversations taking place across multiple locations and dimensions. Some would call it slow or filler, but every moment in these episodes is not only integral to the paths our characters have taken within the season, but also the series as a whole. I mentioned the sheer intensity and riveting edge-of-seat tension of these episodes, and the fact is that none of that is possible without these poignant emotion-heavy scenes. These three episodes get the tears flowing more than nearly every other episode of the series thus far, and that’s all thanks to the bonds the Duffer brothers have created and developed with these characters. These three episodes may be better than those in volume one, but they don’t work without the pieces they put in place a month ago.
Something everyone has been eager for going into this season are the reveals and revelations the Duffer brothers have been withholding. While we still have a finale to go, this volume is packed with character-specific revelations, payoffs to arcs that started last season, and delivering on answers people have been curious about since the show’s inception. These three episodes make huge strides in pushing us closer to the series’ final confrontation, with a focus on ensuring all of the big questions and confusing sci-fi elements are explained. Thankfully all of these answers come naturally through the story being told. It’s not forced or haphazardly pushed to the forefront; all of the scientific reveals and character-focused developments come naturally and at the perfect moments.
Pacing-wise, these episodes felt tighter than volume one. All of the necessary character reintroductions, stakes building and scenes focused on catching us up on the situation in Hawkins was covered in the first four episodes. That sacrifice has given these three episodes the ability to focus entirely on pushing its many arcs forward towards the climax. The balance of the narrative is consistently spread across every single arc, and since everything that’s going down with every character is engaging, there’s really not a second of downtime. Every second of every scene is essential at this point, with not a good time for a toilet break in sight.
Performance-wise, the slight shifted focus gave certain actors more time to flex their acting chops than in the previous few episodes. Once again, Noah Schnapp (Will) continues to grow as an actor as as a tour de force in this series. He’s got a few incredibly tense and deeply emotional scenes sprinkled through these episodes, and he hits every note to perfection. He brings the tears and the awe-struck shock through two enormous moments that will go down as some of the most impactful of the series. While featuring in volume one, Sadie Sink (Max) has more to do this time around and continues to prove her worth as one of the consistently best parts of the entire series. Her ability to sell the calm, emotional beats as well as the brutal life or death moments is an incredible testament to her natural talent growth as an actor. She also shares wonderful chemistry with Nell Fisher, who has taken the reins of Holly Wheeler this season and knocked it out of the park; carrying entire scenes on her back. When you see what Fisher has had to do performance-wise thus far, it becomes clear why they had to recast and age her up. Holly was so out of the spotlight in previous seasons that people forgot the character existed, and Fisher has single handedly turned the character into one that won’t be forgotten on rewatches.
In the end, volume two of Stranger Things 5 pushes things even closer to a climax that I, for one, am not ready for. It’s more tense than volume one, more emotional and packed full of epic character moments. While there’s fewer large-scale action and horror sequences, the moments we do get are so gripping and impactful that it’s honestly not felt. The sheer brilliance of the character development and wrapping up of multi-season arcs creates breathtaking tension all on its own – a testament to the Duffers and their understanding of the characters. If you didn’t pull out the tissues in volume one, you’re definitely pulling them out for volume two… on multiple occasions.
10/10
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