We didn't have to think too hard about number one.
It could easily have fallen victim to the difficult second season syndrome, but Stranger Things maintained and arguably surpassed the standards set in Season One this time around.
Sure, it wasn’t perfect.
Episode 7 was unnecessary and forgettable and it says something when a storyline based on a town under attack from monsters coming from a place called the ‘Upside Down’ still required quite a stretch of the imagination.
That said, it managed to remain entertaining and recommended viewing for brand new audiences as well as the perfect nostalgia trip for viewers reared on classics from Steven Spielberg and his ilk in the 1980s.
Here’s our ranking of some of the major and minor players from Season Two.
11. Maxine ‘Mad Max’ Mayfield
In Eleven’s absence, ‘Mad Max’ stepped up to the plate as her replacement in the gang, with her initially mysterious nature prompting Lucas and Dustin to up their games in the pursuit of her affection.
A far more rounded character than her testosterone-fuelled older brother, ‘Mad Max’ gradually revealed more of herself as the season progressed, although how she chose Lucas over Dustin (with THAT hairdo) remains a mystery.
10. Karen Wheeler
Obvious parenting concerns aside – given what happened a year previously, should the Wheelers not have been a little bit more concerned about the whereabouts of their children on the night everything kicked off? – the mother of Nancy and Mike left a more lasting impression on audiences in this season than she did in Season One.
The reason she did so is almost entirely down to THAT doorway exchange with Billy Hargrove in the season finale, providing Karen with a fleeting glimpse of life outside of her mundane marriage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9FldMu8Dws
Clip via TV Show Clips
9. Will Byers
Fair play to Noah Schnapp because, let’s be frank, playing Will Byers for the last two seasons hasn’t been a walk in the park.
In Season Two, Will was mostly to be seen violently shaking, shouting or shivering as he was overcome by the shadow monster, all of which required plenty of acting chops on the young man’s behalf.
Fingers crossed for Noah’s sake that Will catches a break in Season Three.
https://twitter.com/Stranger_Things/status/927634172633591808
8. Doctor Sam Owens
Although you could never quite trust him given his position, Doctor Owens presented a far more human side to the Hawkins lab than Brenner ever did and always gave the impression he wanted to help Will and later Hopper and Joyce in their attempts to determine what the hell was going on.
The meeting with Hopper at the end was a nice touch and a suggestion that, of all the wrongdoers at the lab, he wasn't high on the list.
7. Eleven
We’re not going to visit episode seven in too much detail (did that arc really require an entire episode… really?), but one of the few positives to come from it was Eleven trusting her moral conscience and resisting the pursuit of vigilante justice.
Even if its difficult moments, you could see a real connection in Eleven’s relationship with Hopper, while her belated reunion with Mike finally allowed him to stop being such a mopey arse, as he had been for most of the eight episodes beforehand.
6. Erica Sinclair
Lucas had a bigger role to play in Season Two than Season One because of his pursuit of ‘Mad Max’, but he still managed to be completely overshadowed by his younger sister Erica, a breath of fresh air in Season Two.
Like Billy Hargrove, Erica’s cameos were few and far between in Season Two, but she made them count, usually at the expense of her older brother and much to the amusement of the audience.
https://twitter.com/Stranger_Things/status/925039310327484422
5. Bob Newby
Ah Bob, poor Bob.
When blood hungry monsters from another dimension are given a sniff of human flesh, casualties are inevitable, but it’s a pity that easily the most gruesome death of the season befell easily the nicest character in the show.
Sure, Bob, played to perfection by Sean Astin, is goofy as hell and a bit of a dweeb, but he makes no attempt to disguise who he is and his kind-heartedness overshadows any of his less appealing qualities.
Fare thee well Bob, we hardly knew ye.
4. Billy Hargrove
The Stranger Things casting team did a good job with archetypal 1980s jock Steve Harrington, but they went one better when getting Dacre Montgomery to play Billy Hargrove, a teen rebel who wouldn’t look one bit out of place in ‘80s classics like Karate Kid, Teen Wolf or St. Elmo's Fire (he's a dead ringer for the young Rob Lowe).
His cameos were brief but memorable, none more so than the encounter with Karen Wheeler in the season finale that was positively dripping with giddy sexual tension. The more we see of Billy in Season 3 and beyond, the better.
Whisper it, but he might, MIGHT, even have better hair than Steve too.
3. Jim Hopper
Once again, Hopper was seemingly the only adult who gave a shit about the beyond-crazy events going on in a town small enough that you’d think other people would notice.
Without ‘Hop’, Hawkins would have fallen apart (again) in Season Two and glimpses of affection to Joyce and Eleven in Season Two only added to his appeal as a sometimes troubled but all-round good dude.
2. Dustin Henderson
The best character in Season One, Dustin would’ve retained the title for the second season with ease had his new best buddy not taken top spot, a position largely owed to the relationship he developed with the coolest member of the gang.
Intelligent without being too nerdy and never afraid to call bullshit on the older characters, Dustin once again lit up the screen in every scene and not just with his new-found mating call…
https://twitter.com/Ztrangerthingx/status/926074328948539392
1. Steve Harrington
In the first season, it was hard for viewers to make up their minds about Steve.
Sure, he helped kick some monster ass at the end and showed plenty of signs of being a genuine guy, but there was a feeling that he was one moody episode away from reverting back to being all hair and attitude.
In the second season, he obliterated all doubt about him and became the best character in the show bar none; still a jock, but a jock with a heart of gold.
The key to this transformation was not him taking his break-up with Nancy in his stride – which he was very cool about – but becoming a mentor to Dustin in what was easily the best and most relatable relationship in the second season.
That conversation about the hair though…
https://twitter.com/NetflixUK/status/927959639244922880
Steve Harrington, you’re alright.
