WARNING!!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!! IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE ENTIRE SEASON OF STRANGER THINGS SEASON 2 THEN YOU NEED TO STOP NOW! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
(Don’t let this be you after reading this…)
Alright everyone. What a whirlwind that season was! Eleven came back, Will was possessed, Nancy and Jonathan started having a “thing”, and of course, all of Hawkins was on the brink of disaster! You know…regular small town stuff.
This season, Netflix and the Duffer Brothers definitely did not leave viewers feeling like they had been gypped from any answers from Season 1. The two major questions being, what happened to Will and where was Eleven? This season also showed us more of the “Upside-Down” and more backstories of the gang’s families. That being said, Erica is now my all time favorite character.
This season was more than anyone could wish for, but can we talk about those last few scenes for a second? What is one thing we all wanted from Season 1 that never came to pass? The Snow Ball, of course! The event where Mike and Eleven were going to go as dates and they finally would have a happy ending. Then Eleven was taken from Mike and everyone was genuinely heartbroken for months. Until….
The moment had finally arrived! We were granted the moment to watch the gang at the Snow Ball! Even the moments leading up to the dance were worth the wait! The sweet Byers family having a well deserved moment of pure familial bliss and Steve giving Dustin some brotherly advice. Just to interject on this for a second, obviously Dustin does not have a father figure, so the fact that Steve took Dustin as his little brother is absolutely adorable. I mean, Steve literally tells him how to style his hair and pick up the girl he likes. This just warms my heart a little bit!
Doesn’t he look like a young Steve, and like he’s going to be the most handsome guy at the dance?
Jump ahead a little bit, everyone is having a nice time, Nancy and Jonathan share a “glance”, and then it happens. “Time After Time” comes on and it’s time for the slow dance. Lucas tries so hard and fails to ask Max to dance, but lucky for him she picks up on it and they both cross to the dance floor.
Next thing you know, Will is getting asked to dance! Not a fan that she called him “zombie boy”, but it was good seeing something normal happen to the poor kid.
Things are going great for Lucas and Will but what about poor Dustin and Mike? Dustin, feeling unnoticed by Max, decides to pluck up the courage and ask out the most popular girl in class. It filled my heart to see him build up the courage to ask her! He was then turned down by not just her, but two more girls, and I’m not gonna lie, I almost cried seeing him look all lost and alone. It killed me, it really did.
Props to Nancy in this scene, though. Her dancing with Dustin is one of the nicest things anyone could have done for him in that moment. Oh my goodness, when he got excited about being her favorite, I thought I was going to squeal with happiness. His little smile is just so adorable! (If you haven’t noticed, these kids are my favorites.)
Now for the best part of the final scene. There is Mike just sitting there all sad looking.
Then all of a sudden…
Eleven arrives! She looked so pretty and the way Mike looked at her was genuinely so amazing. I don’t know if it was “Every Breath You Take” playing in the background or that I am emotionally attached to these characters, but I was living in this scene.
(BRB, dying).
There was then a little montage of everyone dancing looking all happy and I genuinely felt that they finally ended this season well and all the kiddos were gonna be happy forever. My heart felt so full! Lucas and Max kissed, but the real kiss was between Eleven and Mike!
Literally living their best lives. I am so proud of all of them for finding something normal to do after they just stopped destruction of the entire world.
My next thought: they will end this season really nicely then! Everyone’s happy! The squad is happy, I’m happy, so nothing to worry about! Then this happens…
ARE YOU KIDDING ME DUFFER BROTHERS?! LET THESE KIDS HAVE JUST A NIGHT OF HAPPINESS! And that’s how the season ended- leaving us with a feeling of dread after the sweetest scene, letting us know that our favorite kids are still in trouble. It didn’t help that the closing song had the lyric, “Every night you stay, I’ll be watching you,”while the Mind Flayer was watching them, looking all menacing over the school.
Now to wait another year to watch our favorite squad in action! It can’t come soon enough!