8 Things Missing From Stranger Things Season 2 We’d Like To See in Season 3

Stranger Things season 2 1

Cultured Vultures spoilers

Stranger Things season 2 has been out for a week, which of course means fans have long since finished binge-watching and are already chomping at the bit for more. Having had some criticisms about season 2, here’s a list of ten things it was missing that we’d like to see in Stranger Things season 3:

 

1. New creatures

Stranger Things

While Dart and his fellow demo-dogs, as Dustin so aptly nicknamed them, provided plenty of action, visually they weren’t very different than their Demogorgon predecessor. They certainly weren’t as terrifying. Meanwhile, we never really get a great view of the Lovecraftian shadow monster, dubbed the “Mind Flayer.” Hopefully next season will give us a better look, and introduce us to some new horrors from the Upside Down.

 

2. A Unique Plot

Stranger Things
Image Source:
The Verge

Season 2 was definitely enjoyable, but let’s be honest – the story was essentially the same as the first season. Will is in danger from the threat of the Upside Down. Our heroes are hunted by monsters with faces that open up. Joyce and Hopper try to figure out what’s going on. Joyce hangs up tacky decorations. The kids get in over their heads looking for a way to help. Nancy and Jonathan go on a sexually-charged journey of their own. They all team-up to share what they’ve learned. And then Eleven uses her mind-powers to save the day. Stranger Things has great characters. Can they do something new next time?

 

3. Give Mike Something to Do

Mike Stranger Things
Source: DIYmag

In season 1, Mike was ostensibly the leader of his D&D party, and one of the show’s main point-of-view characters. His burgeoning friendship with Eleven was one of the season’s primary emotional arcs. But once Eleven was gone, it became apparent that Mike just wasn’t that interesting without her. Duffer Brothers – in Season 3, please give Mike something to do other than worry about Will, pine for Eleven, or be a dick to Max.

 

4. Government Bad Guys

Stranger Things Papa

Season 1’s spooky charm came as much from the faceless government agency hunting down our heroes as it did from the Demogorgon itself. The lab run by Dr. Owens this season was a poor substitute, it’s scientists more incompetent than sinister. With Dr. Brenner’s survival teased, it seems like we can look forward to some more threatening G-Men in season 3. Silent dangers from beyond are scary, but human beings can be even scarier.

 

5. A Proactive Will Byers

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Source: Vulture

Both seasons saw Will in need of rescue, first from the Upside Down, and then from possession by the Mind-Flayer. With more first-hand experience of extra-dimensional dangers than anyone, Will should be prepared to take on whatever comes next. After two seasons of needing to be rescued, let’s give Will a meatier role than dude in distress.

 

6. Better Use of Eleven’s Past

Stranger Things season 2
Source: IGN

Season 2’s most divisive and out-of-place episode was its seventh, entitled “The Lost Sister.” In a distracting digression from the main plot, Eleven travels to Chicago, where she meets fellow test-subject and “sister” Kali, who leads a crew of vapid 80s punk cliches too cheesy to be taken seriously. With the name Eleven, it was inevitable that she’d meet at least a couple of numbers One through Ten. Unfortunately, Kali’s introduction was rushed and clumsy. When Eleven further explores her past, we’d like it to feel more like a natural part of the plot, rather than a shoehorned gimmick.

 

7. New Mysteries to Explore

Stranger Things season 2

In season 1, we learned that there was an alternate dimension that was a dark mirror of our own. We learned that a secret government experiment had granted a child psychic powers that allow her to move objects with her mind. And we learned that these powers allowed her to tear a hole between our world and the Upside Down. In comparison, in season 2 we learned that there’s a big tentacle monster, and that Billy’s an asshole. Next season will definitely need to ask and answer some new questions to keep Stranger Things’ air of mystery alive.

 

8. Bring back Barb/Bob

Stranger Things Bob

This one is more of a suggestion from a fan than a criticism of Season 2 or expectation for season 3. As the first major casualty of the show, Barb’s death in season 1 established that Stranger Things had stakes. Fan outcry over the show’s use of Barb as a plot device just to be killed off with no consequences resulted in the popular #JusticeforBarb meme. Nancy’s plotline this season addressed the issue, concluding with some measure of justice for Barb. Similarly, season 2’s Bob “the Brain” Newby was a fan-favorite who was cut down by the forces of the Upside Down, though he went out heroically, defending the woman he loved and her son.

In both cases, an innocent was dragged into someone else’s fight, and lost their lives as a result. What if the Upside Down drags them back again? Season 3 could bring Barb and Bob back as dark reflections of themselves. We’ve already seen that the Upside Down is a mirror of our world, where rotten, cancerous life grows unabated. Does death even exist there? What if the Upside Down could resurrect humans it had consumed? Imagine rotten, corpse-like, or even Demogorgon-esque versions of kind-hearted Barb and goofy Bob. Encountering Zom-Barb and Zom-Bob would prove traumatic for our heroes, who would have to grapple with their responsibility for the death of their loved ones. Picture Barb, Bob, and other dead characters, fully under the sway of the Mind Flayer’s hive mind, all saying the same words simultaneously – a terrifying chorus of voices speaking the creature’s nefarious goals. Get chills yet?

What do you think of this idea? Disagree with any of these criticisms? Something else you’d like to see in season 3? Drop us a line in the comments!


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