New Monsters!
New Mysteries!
New Hair!
New Romances!
New 80’s References!
Set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s, the first season of Stranger Things focused on the investigation into the disappearance of a young boy, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), amid supernatural events occurring around the town including the appearance of a psychokinetic girl who helps Will’s friends in their own search.
The second season is set a year after the first (around Halloween of 1984) , and deals with attempts of the characters to return to normal and consequences from that season.
This new season will explore the “bigger mythology” of Will’s disappearance, according to the to the series creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, known as the Duffer Brothers, best known for writing and directing the 2015 horror film Hidden. They have also written episodes for Wayward Pines..
Co-executive-producer Shawn Levy described the second season as being about the “determined desire to return to normalcy in Hawkins” for Will, his family, his friends, and the other residents in the town affected by the events.
Will suffers from “some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder” from his time in the Upside Down, and has visions of a “shadow monster” that is reaching down from the sky, and which serves as a “singular threat” that connects the various narratives in the season. Joyce is attempting to help Will deal with it, while trying to date her old classmate Bob to cover up her own emotions.
Nancy and Mike are mourning for the apparent losses of their friends Barb and Eleven, respectively; however, Eleven is still alive and is a “major part of the season”, according to Matt Duffer, and her backstory will be explored during the season.
Chief Hopper struggles under the weight of having to cover up for the events of the first season to protect Will and Joyce; while some residents of Hawkins will be aware of these events, “certain people… don’t know what happened”, according to the Duffers.
The laboratory, as well as the rift to the Upside Down, remains open and run by Dr. Owens. The characters will face “different kinds of horror” in contrast to the monster from the first season. Parts of this season will also take place outside of Hawkins, Indiana.
The second season will see the recurring roles of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) promoted to series regulars, along with the addition of Sadie Sink and Dacre Montgomery.
Despite revealing episode titles for the season in the announcement teaser in order “to provide some hint of where we were going in season two without giving anything away,” Matt Duffer stated that some of the titles would change, since there were some things “we didn’t want to put on there because we felt like it would give too much away,” and because “people are smart on the fucking internet” with fan-created “videos analyzing the chapter titles… right on a lot” of how the titles related to the plot of the season.
