When Halloween rolls around, we're going to be just as pumped for candy, costumes and scares as everyone else, but this year is pretty special,. After all, October 31 is when Netflix will be releasing Season 2 of its horror hit Stranger Things. And while we're not dead set on everything we can expect, it sounds like the most fantastic element of Season 1, the kids, will get changed up a bit, and perhaps not in the best way. Here's how star Gaten Matarazzo put it:
The great thing about this season is that you get to see insights into each character on their own. You're gonna see a lot more into the lives of how the characters are coping with what's been going on. . . . I think they're all very emotionally scarred. They feel alone, because they're best friend is back and he's not acting like their best friend anymore. He's changed.
Well, dammit. Certainly part of Stranger Things' immediate big buzz came from fans' enjoyment of the horror/sci-fi aspects, the weirdness of The Upside Down and the rise of Winona Ryder's episodic strengths. But it's hard to argue that anything had a bigger impact on pop culture than the young cast, and fans got to watch them rise to fame through social media accounts and the random places they would appear elsewhere on the small screen. And we've seen them together behind the scenes for Season 2, such as when the Super Bowl trailer dropped, but perhaps their constant companionship will soon be short-lived.
Of course, I'm not expecting Dustin, Lucas, Will and Mike (as well as Eleven, whenever she returns) to each just spend every episode alone in their separate bedrooms, so we'll almost definitely get to see group outings like bike rides through the woods and stuff. And maybe a tabletop game sesh or two. But is that all? Why don't they understand that trauma needs friendships in order to heal?!? (Not actual medical science.)
During the interview with People, co-star Finn Wolfhard also shared a way in which Season 2 will be different from last year, and this is one that we can definitely get behind.
I think this season will be a lot more dark, a lot more horror-oriented. I think people are gonna like it better than the first season.
Not that it'll just be the kids' relationships that will be different, since we also know that Sheriff Hopper is going to be in a strange predicament when it comes to the things he knows. And there are other townsfolk, both new and old, that will alter the story's direction as it moves forward. That's not even mentioning Will himself, who might still be busy hocking up otherworldly creatures, which I guess wouldn't be a big change from how we last saw him in Season 1.
Stranger Things Season 2 will turn your life upside down when it lands on Netflix in its entirety on Tuesday, October 31, at 12:01 a.m. PT. Head to our summer TV premiere schedule to see what else is hitting the small screen in the pre-Halloween months.
