The last episode of season one of Stranger Things left us with more questions than answers. Barb is gone, Eleven is out there somewhere and Hopper is leaving her Eggos, Hopper could possibly be working with Hawkins Lab, and Will is throwing up slugs. Now with the official season two trailer out, it's time to talk. What's on our plate for season two?
I'll go ahead and say it. I've watched the trailer many times, and each time my heart has been racing and I've been shocked by something new. This trailer broke my heart, so I know season two is probably going to take us on a trip on the feels train. I have a few theories and observations about what's going on.
Let's talk about one thing we know for sure about season two -- the episode titles. "Mad Max," "The Boy Who Came Back to Life," "The Pumpkin Patch," "The Palace," "The Storm," "The Pollywog," "The Secret Cabin," "The Brain," and "The Lost Brother." How wonderfully vague. Well, maybe not as vague anymore. We also know there are several new characters being introduced this season, which is where I will start this analysis.
Max (played by Sadie Sink) is a new character that will be joining the group of boys, presumably in the first episode judging by the title. We also know she rides a skateboard instead of a bike, she is super sassy, and she will be involved in a "love triangle" of sorts with Dustin and Lucas, who both have a crush on her. She also has an older brother named Billy (played by Dacre Montgomery) who is meant to be the show's human villain to prove that evil does not always come in the form of a monster. They'll both be introduced in the first episode, and we'll see at least a little bit of how they fit into the overall story arc.
The second episode is a reference to Will, who had supposedly died last season. This will probably be a largely Will-centric episode, and we'll probably be seeing him struggling to try to fit back into normal life, even though this takes place a year later. We'll probably see his powers/PTSD progressing more here. I'm personally excited to see this because Noah's acting in the trailer was flawless. He's twelve, guys.
The only thing I can say about a pumpkin patch is that we see one in the trailer, and the pumpkins are black and rotting, almost like they got burned. This could have something to do with Will's powers, the new monster, the two realities beginning to merge, or even Eleven. I haven't quite figured this one out.
The Palace is the arcade in town, which I feel is going to be very, very important this season. There were plenty of clips here in the trailer, including the boys playing a video game called Dragon's Lair (more on this later), and Will falling into one of his visions and having to hide it from Mike.
"The Storm" is probably what we've been seeing since the Super Bowl commercial, where the sky is red, that monstrous thing is in the sky, and Will is standing in the doorway looking up at the sky. Like the first season, I think this halfway point might be where we start getting answers.
The pollywog is what the creature Dustin adopts from the Upside Down will be called. This will most likely be the episode where we see the boys in their cute Ghostbusters costumes. In the trailer, we see Dustin approaching a trash can cautiously while holding a flashlight. This is probably the moment he finds his new pet. We also see the boys in the AV room around a box, with Mike holding a mic (ha) in defense. The pollywog is in that box.
The last three episodes are a little more mysterious, which is exactly what they wanted. I feel like the cabin might be referring to a place in the woods El might have been staying. "The Brain" might be referring to Will, since we see him being examined in Hawkins Lab with all those scientists and machines. The last episode is still a huge question mark to me. This could easily be referring to Mike, Jonathan, Will, or new character Billy, and I can see reasoning behind all of these, which I won't get into.
A few scenes need to be addressed. Let's remind ourselves of the Dungeons & Dragons happenings occurring at the end of season one. We can assume that this means something because it certainly meant something in the first episode when Will got hurt by the Demogorgon in the game and then taken just a few minutes later. Then again, the writers could have completely thrown this in as a red herring rather than foreshadowing. If we take it as foreshadowing, then we know they will be referring to the new monster as the thesselhydra. There are also questions asked a princess and a knight, which I thought might have been referring to Nancy and Jonathan, but now, I think that might have been referencing Steve instead. Here's why.
The first scene we see in the season two trailer is the boys in the arcade playing Dragon's Lair. They are playing as a knight, and in one moment, we see the knight standing with a sword held up, prepared to fight. Then we see the knight turn to a skeleton and die. This is absolutely a parallel. Later in the trailer, we see someone standing with a bat in the same stance as the knight from the game. Although it's just the back of the head, it's very obviously Steve. We also know that was his weapon of choice in episode eight last season. The writers have said someone is going to die this season, and from this, I can guess it will be Steve.
We know Will is having hallucinations, but we don't exactly know if he has powers and can switch back and forth between here and the Upside Down or if he is having severe PTSD. Either way, it broke me big time watching that poor angel cry in the trailer. Again, I have to praise Noah's acting ability. This is a really heavy part to be played by a kid, and from what I can tell, he's handling it perfectly. We see him drift back and forth into hallucinations several times, and once, it gets so bad that his mom has to shake him and try to get him to wake up. If you pay attention, you notice that he's wearing the same shirt in that scene as he is in the scene where he is walking into school looking sad and nervous and in the scene where he confesses to his mom about his hallucinations and he is crying. I don't really know what episode that might be, but I'm guessing maybe the second, which will be largely about Will. Either way, it's going to be heartbreaking to watch.
Judging by the trailer, I can guess that Will isn't the only one seeing things that aren't there. We see Mike sitting in his basement looking at El's little fort, which is still set up a year after her disappearance, and he says something along the lines of how he still thinks he can see her sometimes. Later on, we hear him beg El to give him a sign if she's still out there. I think there will be a few dream/nightmare sequences, including one that might take place at the Snow Ball. Again, we're going to have to see these kids in pain, and it's going to be hard.
There are a few other guesses I can make from the trailer. There is going to be a Halloween party at Steve's, and a party at Steve's means something wicked this way comes. In the trailer, we see Nancy sitting on the toilet crying, and while I would like to think we're wrong, a lot of people are speculating she is pregnant. I don't think this show would go down that route, but I definitely believe we could get a pregnancy scare. I also think she might be crying because something could have happened to Steve or Jonathan. Or both. Either way, I don't like seeing Queen Nancy crying.
We also know Joyce has a new boyfriend played by 80s icon Sean Astin, Ted and Karen Wheeler are wanting to Make America Great Again, Nancy is looking fabulous with her new hair, Hopper is still on the case, Nancy and Jonathan are going to have lots of scenes together, and there will be justice for Barb. I think because Nancy said she was in the library last season and Hopper found her dead in the library in the Upside Down last season, we might actually see lots of the library this season.
Last but not least, I think we need to talk about Eleven. We think that she responds (wherever she is) when Mike calls her name, and in the new trailer, we see her busting out of the wall in the school. The writers left a lot of questions regarding her, which makes sense. I would like to think she wasn't in the Upside Down for a year, but it's equally painful to think about her wandering around by herself for a year in the woods. Obviously she'll be important, but the writers are giving us very little about her role in the season. Personally, I would just like her to be happy. Can we do that, Duffer brothers?
The trailer is insane. We're in for a rough season, ladies and gents.