netflix's stranger things evoked a lot of emotions in fans of 1980s sci-fi and horror. a love nostalgic love letter to the classic works of stephen king and steven spielberg, from stand by me to e.t. the extra-terrestrial, the first season revolved the frantic search for 12-year-old will byers, the appearance of a mysterious girl named eleven, and the dangers posed by a shadowy mirror dimension, the upside-down.
related: stranger things 2 final trailer: eleven returns, but will is the key
arriving friday on the streaming service, the second season of stranger things will return viewers to fictional hawkins, indiana, in 1984, about a year later, where any attempts at normalcy are destined to be disrupted by intrusive government agents, the further encroachment of the upside down, and whatever’s wrong with will.
as fans await the new episodes, we revisit the key events of season 1, to get you up to speed for whatever comes next.
will's still connected to the upside down
after bicycling home from a dungeons & dragons session with his friends, 12-year-old will (noah schnapp) was abducted by a creature, later dubbed the demogorgon after a monster in the game, and dragged into the upside down, a shadowy mirror dimension breached by researchers at hawkins national laboratory. the search for the boy leads his friends mike, dustin and lucas (played by finn wolfhard, gaten matarazzo and caleb mclaughlin) to find eleven (milly bobbie brown), a girl with extraordinary abilities who escaped from the lab.
although will’s body was purportedly discovered, his mother joyce (winona ryder) refused to believe it was her son, who continued to communicate with her from the upside down using strings of colored christmas lights. despite a conspiracy by scientists and the u.s. government to keep secret hawkins national laboratory’s and will’s true fate, eleven was able to use her own connection to the upside down to help joyce and hawkins police chief jim hopper (david harbour) recover the boy.
that came at a price, however, as eleven disappeared while seemingly destroying the demogorgon. what’s more, even as everyone attempted to pretend life had returned to normal, will tried to hide the after-effects of his stay in the upside down: in the final episode of season 1, he excused himself to the bathroom, were he coughed up slugs as flashes of the mirror dimension appeared. we're not sure whether it was all in his mind or if he actually teleported there, leaving season 2 to explain this connection.
eleven's origins
when the boys found the silent and terrified eleven, she recognized will from a photo, cementing his friends’ belief that he was still alive. after the sinister mkultra program tried to fake will's death, by planting a fake corpse, hopper and joyce to investigate hawkins national laboratory and its test subjects.
they tracked down terry ives, a former test subject of dr. brenner (matthew modine), whom she claimed stole her daughter jane at birth. that baby is believed to be eleven, whom brenner used in experiments to telepathically eavesdrop on the russians. however, in the process, eleven discovered the upside down and the demogorgon, leading a rift to open to the real world, forcing her to flee the mkultra lab in hawkins.
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mkultra's history
the mkultra program was headed by brenner, who manipulated eleven by posing as a father figure and exploited her telepathic powers. he forced her her to max out her powers in crushing coke cans before graduating to being a scout traversing the upside down.
it was shocking seeing him sequester the young girl into sensory-deprivation experiments, leading viewers to wonder, do more test subjects like eleven exist? are there other mothers like terry? how long has mkultra been conducting these experiments and discovering other dimensions? brenner was seemingly killed by the demogorgon, but we're hoping the secrets he took to his grave will reemerge.
the teenage love triangle
a reclusive photographer, jonathan byers (charlie heaton) had watched mike’s popular sister nancy wheeler (natalia dyer) from afar. but after the disappearances his brother will and nancy’s best friend barb holland (shannon purser), the two grew close during their search for whatever took them. the only things standing in the way were the demogorgon and nancy’s jerky boyfriend steve harrington (joe keery).
initially infuriated by their bond, steve ended up helping nancy and jonathan fight the demogorgon. when will was rescued, nancy remained with steve, but she gave the impression she was still thinking of jonathan. who had a lot of catching up of his own to do with his brother.
hopper and joyce's chemistry
hopper and joyce had a lot of chemistry of their own, stemming from his persistence to expose mkultra, and her determination to find will, even when everyone else thought she was crazy. they eventually discovered the truth about eleven, while trying to protect mike and his friends from the harm..
things came to a head when hopper sold out eleven to brenner to access the rift and get will back. when the demogorgon went after eleven, they rescued will but brenner, several of his agents and eleven appeared to have been casualties in the fight. hopper was clearly guilt-ridden at season's end. so it'll be interesting to see how he charts forward with joyce, her new beau in sean astin's bob newby, and will's latest predicament.
the demogorgon's death
when eleven located will in the season finale, she gave away her hiding place at the high school to the demogorgon. the monster came for her, but she used her telekinesis to destroy it. however, it was uncertain if she died or simply went to the upside down. season 2 promos showed her return , and fans are eager to see her defend hawkins from new monsters.
the main threat of season 2 appears to be the enormous thessalhydra, foreshadowed in the season finale by mike and his friends as they once more played dungeons & dragons. when we saw will coughing up slugs and still connected to the upside down, it more or less confirmed new entities were set to breach the rift.
no justice for barb
barb's death was a point of contention with viewers, something that took the producers of stranger things by surprise. perhaps fans believed she was mistreated, first by nancy, who abandoned her by the pool, where she was easy pickings for the demogorgon, and then by the townspeople of hawkins, who were more concerned with finding will than barb. even nancy didn't seem to miss her best friend that much.
we were teased with the hope barb survived, but we eventually saw her dead, with slugs emerging from her mouth. hopefully series creators the duffer brothers will, as they promised, help to get justice, or at least closure, for barb.
mike and eleven's romance
amid all the suspense of season 1, mike and eleven developed an endearing relationship. it was cute seeing them crush on each other, offering spots of warmth in a bleak story. he cared a lot for her well-being, and eleven's affinity for him was obvious as well, made all the more special by mike being her tether to humanity.
he eventually let his guard down, defending her from bullies, telling her how beautiful she was, and when they shared a kiss, we're certain fans everywhere rejoiced. that made it all the more heartbreaking that she had to sacrifice herself to save will, giving mike back his friend but taking away his first love. we've already been teased with their reunion, so let's hope this season gives them a happier ending.
debuting friday on netflix, the second season of stranger things stars winona ryder, david harbour, finn wolfhard, millie bobby brown, gaten matarazzo, caleb mclaughlin, natalia dyer, charlie heaton, cara buono, matthew modine, noah schnapp, joe keery, sadie sink and dacre montgomery.