I will also cast my vote for episode 7 being completely terrible.

Rest of the season was good tho.

+1 to S2 sucking

extraneous characters, random trip to Chicago to visit cliche gang of outcasts, on and on. I was binging, but for the Chicago episode I stopped in the middle and came back 2 days later.

even Dustin started to get annoying

I thought S2 was pretty good for the most part, albeit not quite as good as S1 in the end. Ultimately it felt like too much of a rehash of S1 and lacked S1's thrill of discovery. Episode 7 being uniformly terrible didn't help its cause.

All that being said, whatever. Still love most of these characters. Still love the nostalgia. Not sure that most of the new characters were necessary but thought on the whole they added value to the show.* Still love the opening credits. Still love the show at its most supernatural moments. Thought the actor who played Will killed it in a challenging role. Most of the comedic moments worked great.

Looking forward to S3!

*EDIT:

Watching it all in one go means that weaker episodes don't matter as much. But I imagine episode 7 was setup for later seasons. It's hard to make Eleven stronger or discuss the leader of the lab in S1 without it, and it ties up the story of her mother.

Yep, for me the show really started to fall off in episode 6. Prior to episode 6 I was really into it. There was still that thrill of discovery that you mention that made season 1 so interesting but episode 6, 7, 8, and even 9 dragged on with so many seemingly unnecessary scenes that didn't add much to the story and others that seemed overly extended in my opinion or just to cliche.

Also, how do you start off season 2 with a "new" character while making the audience feel that character will have a relevant and probable significant roll in the season only to have that character only seen once again in that easily forgettable and almost unconnected to the story all together episode 7.

Still enjoyed it overall though and the actual plot line and ending were decent. It's probably difficult to write nine good solid episodes in at this point with the audience having already discovered the gist of the unknown plaguing these characters from season 1. At this point it probably would be better suited for a movie or mini series if you wanted to continue the story.

I like that the kid actor that got sidelined last year (Will), and didn't get to enjoy being a star like the other four, might actually be the best actor out of all of them.

that chicago girl is just a classic example of adding plot points so you can continue the series. don't expect it to stay good now that the "real" storyline is done

Like most, I thought it was really good overall, though I think I preferred season 1.

Like everyone, I thought episode 7 was garbage and it made me question my faith in the future of the show.

Eleven GOAT

Also thought Steve Harrington helping the nerdy kids made zero sense. Then I read a review that said he was supposed to be killed off, but the creators "liked the actor so much" that they kept him around and fit him in the plot. These are elite show creators?

Maybe I just have low standards, but I'm really enjoying the season and I actually liked episode 7. Maybe expecting a **** episode made me enjoy it more, but I felt it was necessary for the eleven story arc, not to mention future seasons.


and I didn't mind steve helping the kids at all. he knows the demogorgons are real and even fought them before, why wouldn't he want to help the kids? it's in line with his character so far. and I love his interactions with dustin.

Yeah I didn't think Steve helping the kids was out of character at all.

And that thing about the creators keeping him around was from season 1. He was just supposed to be a jerk and then die but they liked the actor so they changed his story and had him help fight the demogorgon.

keeping STEVE around is indeed elite show creation

Steve is possible the best character story in the series. He basically was evil step brother but realised what matters, him helping Dustin out and fighting evil stepbrother to the death (his old self) was basically full circle. The man grew.

S7 sucked. Hooked as F on this show, 11 owns so hard.

I was kind of disappointed in the Mike character this season, was really bland.

Yeah mike is really underused.
At episode 7 now, I liked S1 much more. Fun seeing kai greene in episode 7 haha

Just finished both seasons this last week. Great show, both seasons were good. Don't get the hate, this show is head and shoulders above almost every show out right now. It's top two for me right behind GOT. Great cast, those kids can act. Especially the kid who played Will, very impressed. Production value and 80's vibe is spot on. All the great stuff from classic 80's movies thrown into one show. Love it.

Side notes: I like Steve, and like his character arc. Seems like they're setting up something sinister for next season though.
Max and her brother didn't quite fit in.
The Chicago stuff, while slightly necessary was out of place.
Punk rock Jane is bad-ass, just looks more powerful when using her abilities.
Love Dustin. Especially when he tripped running in the tunnels and looks up with his teeth missing. "What?!" "nothing......" Great comic relief in a very intense scene. And the heart breaking prom scene.

Can't wait for season three. Although the upside down is a little played out now.

I enjoyed this season. Need more.

Am I the only one who liked max's brother? Fun character imo. I actually enjoyed the filler more than the upside down story

Just finished the last episode of season 2. Loved it. I even liked episode 7 because I was marathoning it and it was actually a good slow down for the rapid pace of everything happening in Hawkins. I have a natural inclination to dislike Sean Austin, but ended up really liking his addition.

The actor who played Will absolutely stole the ****ing show. That kid can act, man.
Really love Steve, and I think he fits in just fine. I lived for him helping Dustin. It makes sense that he would be involved in the storyline since he was involved so much in beating the **** out of the monster.

I like Max, not so much her brother. I’m interested in finding out more of their storyline too. What their story is. Interested to see if El ever stops hating her. What brought them into Hawkins? How Nancy handles him eventually banging her mom... I think there’s gotta be a point of him. Dislike how the actor who played billy tried to explain away his racism, though. (Something about how any man is a threat to him?) also obviously max’s Step dad is going to be abusive as **** to her and her mom at some point. Maybe some bonding with el through that story line?

Liked the actress who played 8 pretty well. Interested to see what happened to 1-7, 9 and 10? I’m sure they’ll factor into the story and the upside down at some point?

Anyway, show left me wanting much more. Hopefully the next year flies by.

Anyone think Dustin getting infected by that Demo-Dog will matter in S3?

I don't know what there was for Mike to do since Eleven was doing her own thing. I liked the season but not as much as S1 mainly because the group was broken up with El being gone.

Steve is great and of course he will help the kids, he knows there is a Monster, it would be wierd if he didn't help.

I must have missed this part.

Ya he wasn't infected, it was only the other kid.

season 1 was great, and it also had going for it that it was completely new and that made everything interesting and unexpected. pretty much the whole way, never really had any idea where the story might be going.

Season 2 didn't overwow me like season 1 did, but i think it's probably still close to as good...it's just not new anymore. Season 1 you had no idea what to expect. Now i pretty much knew what was happening and gonna happen the whole way through.

also there seemed to be absolutely no point to 008.

I'm maybe 1-1.5 episodes into this "Dart" thing being around and am extremely skeptical of them making this good. I was liking the rest of it, even the Teen Wolf HS hoops.