Stranger Things

While there's a fine line between Hawkins and the Upside Down, from a narrative perspective the portal separating epic from overkill can be just as narrow.

The nine hours have their moments; a midseason scene in which the combative Max (Sadie Sink) escapes the monster’s grip is particularly affecting. But there’s way too much filler — dull teenage melodrama, jokey but routine action, horror that doesn’t have the authentically creepy charge it used to.

The writers don't balance the series' plots well or make each of these three (eventually four, as Eleven ventures off on her own journey of self discovery) feel vital. It leaves you with the feeling that half of what you've just invested time watching was utterly pointless. But the bigger problem is the wild departure in tone.

The new season has its strengths – Episode 7 is a high point, for example, even at its lengthy running time. But other moments drag, and Hopper’s incarceration in Russia feels particularly endless.

It’s nice to have Stranger Things back, period, especially the Hawkins-based parts. But it would be nicer without having to wade through everything else to get to the scenes that work best.

Its formula is tried and true — but has also grown stale. Hardcore fans of Stranger Things will likely find nothing wrong with the new season, as is their wont. They’ll love the nods to Barb (Shannon Purser) and character reunions. They’ll obsess over potential love triangles and thrill over creepy new flourishes. I personally wish the show had reined it in a bit, focused on the core cast over the newbs, and tried something truly creative with its storytelling instead of just nostalgia baiting.

With all these characters to track, “Stranger Things” certainly does have its work out for it, and mostly manages to keep everything moving at a steady enough clip once it establishes the four or so subplots that end up defining the season. The problem is that pretty much every plot (except for Eleven continuing to explore her origin story) gets less compelling the further they get from Hawkins.

Unfortunately, the positives are overwhelmed by so many disjointed things going on at once. For the most part it doesn’t matter that these are 20-year-olds playing 14. What matters is there’s simply too much that feels like plot fodder for a show stuffed with too many characters.