Stranger Things – ‘MADMAX’

It’s back! After a year of 1980s nostalgia, praise for Millie Bobbie Brown and #justiceforBarb, last year’s breakout hit is back. Much of this opening episode, ‘MADMAX,’ dealt with the fallout from the season one finale – such as Mike pining over Eleven, Will suffering from PTSD – as well setting the stage for this season, with the introduction of Max and Will’s visions of a very, very large Hydra-esque monster.

As the season premiere, this episode was relatively light on the supernatural side of things, and was largely a set-up for what’s to come and an introduction for the new characters. Not that this is a bad move at all – it allowed us to focus on some character beats, such as Jonathan’s touching conversation with Will over not fitting in or Nancy’s heartbreaking conversation with Barb’s oblivious parents. Barb was such a minor character in the first season so it was interesting that a fan campaign was built around her, or indeed that the writers are following through on her death – the cast have confirmed that there will indeed be justice for Barb this season, so we will have to see how that plays out.

‘MADMAX’ was solid set-up and promises great things for future episodes

Talking of new characters, there were several introduced this episode, who show promise despite only a handful of scenes. Feisty video-game whiz Max looks set to challenge the dynamic of the four kids in a refreshing way, and seems like she wouldn’t be afraid to help fight monsters. Her brother on the other hand had barely anything to do this episode other than strut to school – let’s hope he doesn’t end up being a bad-boy Steve clone. Joyce’s new boyfriend Bob, played by Sean Astin no less, seemed far too nice that I can’t help but feel that something terrible is going to happen to him, especially if they decide to make a love triangle with Chief Hopper.

Despite not being a new character it made a rather pleasant change to see Will featured heavily this episode, after his absence acted as the driving force of last season. Those tests performed on him really were eerie, especially given the 1980s technology, and actor Noah Schnapp did a good job of displaying both his vulnerability and his pluck. The regular cast were of course amazing as usual – Dustin still never fails to make me laugh, and David Harbour did great work exploring the sensitive side beneath the grumpy Jim Hopper. Millie Bobbie Brown was great in her single scene as Eleven – could she be there as part of the deal Hopper made?

While there was relatively little in terms of great plot development or monsters, ‘MADMAX’ was still solid set-up and promises great things for future episodes. It’s also a success as it leaves us with way more questions than answers – about what Eleven has been up to, the pumpkins, the monster and indeed the psionic woman in the pre-credit scene who, for now, is unconnected to the main characters. Let’s hope the quality keeps up.