Have you seen the trailer for Stranger Things, season two? Halloween 2017 can’t get here soon enough, as far as I’m concerned!
If you watched Superbowl LI, then chances are you saw the Stranger Things, season two trailer during the game’s commercials. Unlike the season two announcement Netflix released last August, this new trailer has footage taken directly from the hit show’s second season. This latest trailer only shows roughly 20 seconds of footage from the upcoming season. While that’s not much, it does leave some tantalizing clues as to what’s coming to the tiny town of Hawkins, Indiana roughly one year after the events from season one. So without any further ado, let’s try to decipher what’s to come from this tasty morsel from the Duffer brothers.
Eleven is Back!
Well, at least I think she is. The trailer starts off with footage from an Eggo waffles commercial, which happened to be Eleven’s favorite food. After some strobe-like on-screen flashes, one of the boys – possibly Mike – shouts “Eleven!” A quick cut at the seven-second mark shows what I believe to be an upside down Eleven open her eyes. And since Millie Bobbie Brown’s portrayal of Eleven was such an integral part of season one, it makes perfect sense that she’ll be brought back for the second season. How else are the boys going to fight the monster?
The Monster…
There’s a monster in season two, and it appears to be bigger than the beast from the first season… much bigger. At about the 17-second mark in the trailer, there’s a pencil drawing of a huge, eight-legged creature looming over what I assume to be the town of Hawkins, itself. This somewhat spider-like leviathan appears again at roughly the 19-second mark, this time actually looming over the town, much like the drawing. There are red lights flashing and what appears to be Eleven or Mike staring at this creature through the open door of a house. This scene has all the makings of a dream or vision sequence, but who knows?
Ghostbusters References
There are two Ghostbusters references in this trailer. The first appears at the eight-second mark. Here we see three of the four protagonists pedaling hard on their bikes, each dressed in a Ghostbusters jumpsuit and wearing a replica “Proton Pack” on their backs. You can’t quite tell that’s what they’re wearing, though, until a few seconds later. Here we see the same three boys – Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair – standing outside Hawkins Middle School, dressed in the same garb.
My Predictions…
So what kinds of hints are the Duffer brothers trying to give us with this tantalizing trailer? I do have my theories as to the rollercoaster ride that season two of Stranger Things will likely present. In a nutshell, these theories are:
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The character of Will Byers is deeply affected by his time in the upside down and is likely going to be in peril at least once during the season. He coughed up a strange, alien-like slug at the end of season one, after all. Under no circumstances is that normal. And the two scenes of the boys without Will is another hint that things are far from normal in the Byers household. Lastly is the name of one of the episodes, “The Boy Who Came Back to Life.” Fans of the show will surely recognize that this is a direct reference to the Will Byers character. Whatever happens to him, it must be significant to have an entire episode named after him.
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The monster they face in season two will be more deadly than the monster in the first season. But who or what is this monster? I still believe that the monster in season one was Eleven, or a manifestation of her subconscious, to be precise. My guess is that season two’s nemesis is the full-grown version of the slug that Will coughed up in season one… or the slug is part of it. Again I refer back to the season two episode titles, this time one called “The Pollywog.” A pollywog is another name for a tadpole, i.e., the small, eel-like creatures that eventually become frogs. See where I’m going with this?
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The eventual showdown with the gigantic creature will mirror the Ghostbusters team’s defeat the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man at the end of the first Ghostbusters film. Remember how the boys’ Dungeons and Dragons game in the first seasons was a foreshadowing of things to come? And how the Demogorgon they fought in the game was similar to the monster? Well, the Duffer brothers made sure we had two scenes of the trailer showing the boys in their Ghostbusters Halloween costumes. I have a hunch that this season will pay homage to the first Ghostbusters film, much like season one paid homage to The Goonies, E.T., and other 1980s sci-fi hits.
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I think that 1980s arcade games might play a big part in season two, the way that Dungeons and Dragons was pivotal in the first season. Right after the trailer’s Eggo commercial, a rotating electric sign that reads “arcade” can be seen before the screen flashes to syrup being poured upon an Eggo waffle. With the trailer being only 20 seconds long, there are many other things the Duffers could’ve shown us… if the arcade sign were insignificant, that is. That they deigned to include it, if ever so briefly, tells me that the phenomenon of arcade games in the 80s will likely be a prominent sub-theme.
That’s All I Have
That’s about all I’m able to deduce from this short yet intriguing trailer. Like I said before, the Duffers didn’t give us much, but they did provide enough to captivate my imagination. Since Stranger Things is, by far, my favorite thing to stream – and that’s saying a lot because I do a lot of streaming – I will be on pins and needles until Halloween. I have a feeling that newer trailers will be released as we get closer to the launch date for season two. Until then, if you listen to the wind on a quiet night, you might hear my voice saying, “Is it Halloween yet?”
