Firstly, when I started watching this season I didn't know that it was going to be split into 2 volumes, so I got increasingly worried that things were not going to get resolved neatly by the end as the episodes ticked by. Because clearly nothing gets resolved at all, this volume is a big "set up" for the next volume. Hopefully there is only one more volume and volume 2 doesn't also end with "aha, now just wait another month for volume n+1".
Having said all that I did enjoy this. There is still an element of "The Red Hand Gang" (and other kids vs adults shows from the past that you really shouldn't bother looking up) about it... but unlike those shows, which I hated as a kid, this kind of works... or is it just because I'm old now? Who knows; maybe both.
The back story of 11 is well told in between Hopper trying to escape from Russia (oops, SPOILERS, yes he is alive and somehow didn't get blown to bits like we thought) and this mysterious new bad guy in the upside down, Vecna, who is killing off people who go near Dungeons and Dragons players (ish). Less fun are the sterotypical bigotted sports jocks bullying everyone into lynching D&D players because they think they are some kind of demonic cult. I guess that bugged me for personal reasons. It does play its part in the overall narrative quite well, I grudgingly admit.
MORE SPOILERS
The cleverness of the backstory becomes apparent in the final episode when it is revealed that we are also seeing Vecna's backstory! Didn't see that coming... although I did guess that the nice orderly helping 11 was going to turn out to be the original special child (number 1).
I'm looking forward to volume 2 now. I read somewhere that there were 2 final seasons of Stranger Things to come... I hope that is season 4 v1 and v2 plus a season 5... if not then this next volume has a lot of ends to tie up.
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