Chapter One: MADMAX
Talk about starting off strong. This might be a very boring review as I can't find much to fault about this episode as an isolated season premiere of television. First, a little backstory. I was a big fan of Stranger Things' first season. It dropped with almost no advance buzz but word of mouth built up enough that I was completely aware of it and decided to give it a go. As a result of this hype I found the first season perhaps slightly overrated. Not bad by any stretch but a little slow to start and shy to show it's supernatural hand. But I didn't realise at the time that this was effective character building. The main group of children, the older teens and the various adults are all rich, developed and relatable and across the board are played brilliantly by great actors and actresses. And the second half of the first season blew me away, building up brilliantly into a highly entertaining horror/ mystery/monster movie hybrid to complement it's excellent period coming-of-age elements. I was pretty excited for the show to return, especially given the promise of the double cliffhanger ending. And with every new trailer I got more pumped as I just kept loving what I saw. One episode in and this seems justified so far.
The episode is almost entirely set-up but that makes sense. There's a reason this is officially titled on-screen as chapter one rather than episode one. I imagine it's why the nine episode story is so ripe for bingeing but I personally want to savour it so I'm thinking of limiting myself to one episode a day. I'll still be done in nine days with far too long of a wait until season three. And so far this first chapter has me very interested to keep "reading", far more so than any of the first three episodes of season one. So it's even a vast improvement on itself in a way.
The show and season opens with a rare pre-credits sequence which, somewhat surprisingly, takes place outside the main town of Hawkins. The reveal here that one of the random bank robbers we see is "8" (via a tattoo and some familiar psychic abilities) is a brilliant way to draw us in. It shows that there is a wider world of possibilities still to explore and that now the show has established itself it's not afraid to dive straight into the sci-fi/horror elements, as becomes clear later via Will. I absolutely applaud this.
After the credits we rejoin our familiar faces and, dang, it immediately feels good to see them and settles us right back in. Establishing everyone's current status quo, all of which are believable and make sense, is handled without heavy handed exposition and so we are caught up quickly. This starts with the group of four boys (joined by the returning Will) hitting an arcade. At this point I should mention that the show continues to feel like a lost movie made in the actual 80s. The look and feel continue to be captured so perfectly. Anyhow this one scene alone introduces us to the titular Maxine, or MADMAX by the clever device of having her as competition who has overwritten the boys high scores. This allows the boys' competitive animosity to flip brilliantly into adoration on the discovery that this fellow nerd is a pretty girl. Perfect and entirely rings true. Even more interesting are the little hints about the character; she's moved from California, seems reserved but angry and is seemingly in conflict with her older brother, who accompanies but argues with her. The fact that he was played by the newest movie Red Power Ranger was a momentary distraction but he is a great actor and good on him. I'm intrigued to learn more about this family. The arcade scene early on establishes our potential threat as well as Will begins to see the world flash to the dark tones of the upside down with the hint of a giant and palpable menace approaching. Brilliant, creepy, and weirdly exciting in both the scenes we see of this.
Oh, and Hopper's exposition scene sets up his own mental state, the nature of general belief in the supernatural and a super intriguing mystery involving poisoned pumpkins.
We are introduced to 80s stalwarts Sean Astin (The Goonies) and Paul Reiser (Aliens) next and both seem to be playing on their famous 80s roles. Whilst the feeling is that Astin's Bob is perhaps too nice and we suspect something without any real evidence (or at least I do), the show is not subtle about Reiser's character at all. Though he initially seems to be caring for Will's psychological well-being he is soon revealed to be another shady government type with a secret lab who is sending people into, or at least near, the upside down in hazmat suits and with flame throwers to take out a small, obscured, but clearly otherworldly creature or creatures. Brilliant. I need to know more, again!
Without making this review too long there are a lot of great character moments. Steve Harrington's conflict between college and career, Nancy continuing to try and be there for him as her boyfriend and for her friend Jonathan Byers, Mike's wistfully longing for the lost Elle, and a great scene at Barb's parents which shows the nature of grief and hope as potential denial as well as Nancy's guilt and devastation. Although I do wonder if this exploration was planned or a result of the huge explosion of #justiceforbarb as a cultural meme. We end the episode with the expected, and welcome, return of Eleven. Though this is not at all in the way we were expecting, throwing us straight into her already returned from the upside down and cared for secretly by Hopper. Though this better be explained more, like most of this episode as a set-up for a nine chapter tale it brilliantly raises questions and possibilities that we definitely want, nee need, to explore.
In conclusion: great characters, great storytelling, great direction, great writing, great acting, great set up, great horror, great sci-fi, great mystery and a really great soundtrack. One wonders if the success of the show has led to more money for the rights to songs as the soundtrack is almost intrusive in its sheer amount of presence. This and the fact that it's impossible to judge how satisfying the answers to these threads will be are the only things keeping the episode from being perfect. That and my personal bugbear of needing to have every adult character smoking in practically every scene. But these are minor niggles in a near perfect example of how to do a second season premiere. Yep, Stranger Things is back.
****1/2 (4.5/5)
MM
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