If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the last 15 months desperately waiting for more episodes of Stranger Things. The great thing about shows on streaming platforms is we can binge all the new episodes in one day when a new season premieres. But the agonizing part is that then we have a year to wait (maybe even longer) for new episodes. While many of us wish we had the patience to watch one episode per week, it honestly just might be impossible. Why prolong the anxiety of not knowing WTF is actually going on?!
At this point, most of us real fans have watched every episode of Stranger Things season 2 already. New monsters! New friends! New mysteries! What more could we possibly want? Well, more episodes, duh. After watching the season, reading through countless articles and watching numerous interviews, there are still a bunch of questions left unanswered.
Spoilers for season 2 of Stranger Things ahead!
1. How are many others like Eleven are out there?
In the opening moments of season two, we don’t begin in Hawkins. We’re introduced to a group in Pittsburgh. It appears as if they’re robbing someone (we later learn that’s not the case) and as they escape from the cops, we realize the punk rocker girl in the passenger seat is just like our beloved Eleven. She’s Eight (but goes by Kali). While we can guess there are 11 (at least), how many more exist?
2. How well did Kali actually know Eleven in the Rainbow room?
Based on her mama’s limited memories, Eleven realizes there are others like her and she seeks out Kali. Kali tells Eleven she ran away, but she doesn’t say how old she was, nor does she tell Eleven how long they actually knew each other for. Was Kali actually good, or did she just want to use Eleven’s stronger powers for her own benefit?
3. Is there ever going to be a season where Will is safe?
Poor Will barely had any screentime during season one while he was stuck in the Upside Down. But in season two, Will more than made up for the previous season. That said, the poor kid was seriously troubled. His episodes turned out to not be PTSD, but the Shadow Monster coming for him. Will he survive season three?
4. How was Hopper able to get to the Upside Down so easily?
All he had to do was dig a hole in that rotting pumpkin patch and boom, he was in the Upside Down. Didn’t we like, spend most of season one trying to figure out how to get into the Upside Down? Also, if all you had to do was dig around a particular area, wouldn’t someone have stumbled upon it accidentally at some point?
5. Will Joyce and Hopper finally get together?
What can we say? We ship it. It felt like we were heading into romance territory when season one came to a close. But then Sean Astin showed up as Bob the Brain (RIP) and it seemed to be off the table. Now that Bob is out of the picture, will Hop and Joyce realize just how meant to be they are?
6. Is Joyce the next person to be a victim of the Upside Down?
In movies and TV shows, vulnerable people are always easy prey. Joyce’s life for the last year has been a bit traumatic. Her son went missing, then when he came back he got possessed by a Shadow Monster, and then she witnessed her boyfriend get eaten alive. If Will is safe, does that mean it’ll come after his mom next?
7. What other creatures exist in the Upside Down?
Right now, we’ve only seen demogorgons, demodogs (demogorgons + dogs), and the shadow monster. In the most recent season, we got to watch the demodogs grow from their “polywog” state into cat-eating monsters. In season one, we only saw the Demogorgon. So they really upped the game for season two. Does that mean in season three, the shadow monster will have a new Upside Down ally? TBH, probably. The more terrifying creatures, the better, it seems.
8. Is every creature in the Upside Down actually evil?
In the finale, we see the boys and babysitter Steve fleeing the Upside Down. Just as they’re about to get out, a demodog comes at them, but Dustin realizes it is Dart. He’s able to give him some of their favorite nougat candy, 3 Musketeers (happy Halloween), and Dart lets them go by. So, clearly, Dart isn’t completely bad (even though he did eat a cat). Doesn’t that mean there could be other creatures that could be used as allies for the humans?
9. What the hell is up with Billy?
Bullies are pretty damn common in Hawkins, but Billy’s aggressive behavior goes beyond a typical bully. His scenes with his stepsister, Max are so intense that they border on uncomfortable. But then there are his scenes with Steve that make me wonder if Billy is hiding a big secret. There’s something happening underneath the surface, we just need to find out what.
10. Will Steve realize he’s better off without Nancy?
Talk about character development! Steve went from a jerk with good hair to a guy that actually cares about these kids! He wasn’t about to let anything happen to them and he even acted like a mother hen when trying to keep them safe. Nancy strung him along and he was ready to apologize, even though she was the one who was wrong. Steve, you can do better!
11. Will these best friends ever learn to be 100% honest with each other?
Dustin didn’t tell everyone about Dart at first. Mike and Will didn’t tell the others about Will’s visions until it was a little too late. When will they learn to just call each other after every bad/weird thing that happens to them? This is a lesson we all have to learn at some point or another growing up, we just hope it’s not too late when they finally do.
12. Will Eleven’s bad behavior be handled?
Don’t get me wrong, if anyone’s going to act out, it’s going to be the kid who was locked in a lab her entire life. But Hopper was nothing like Papa. He actually loves Eleven and wanted to keep her safe, even if he should have been honest and told her he didn’t know when she’d be able to see her friends again. That being said, Eleven got in a stranger’s truck, took a bus to Pittsburgh, shattered the windows in the cabin, and threw a couch into Hopper’s leg. That is a little worse than being a brat like Hop calls her.
13. Is Papa actually Eleven’s dad?
Kali refers to Dr. Brenner as “the man who calls himself our father,” but she and Eleven share pretty different experiences with MKUltra and the laboratory. Eleven was taken as baby Jane, right after her mother gave birth. Brenner was even in the delivery room. The question would be whether he raped Terry as part of another experiment. It is a little darker than the show’s gone so far — but it’s not that far-fetched to think they would go there.
14. And is Dr. Brenner still alive?
Kali uses a vision of Dr. Brenner to scare Eleven and in it, she suggests that he is still alive. Eleven never searched for him, so she doesn’t know for sure if he is alive or dead. Can that be the plot twist for season three? It seems like they wouldn’t let a character that complex leave the show so quickly.
15. How did Dustin know about Steve’s bat?
This is a very small question in the grand scheme of things, but Dustin wasn’t there when Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan tried to trap the Demogorgon in season one. The kids barely even saw or spoke to Steve in that season, so how did Dustin know about it?
16. Can the Shadow Monster break through from the Upside Down?
In the final seconds of the show, the camera pans away from the innocent fun the kids are having at the dance and begins to spin, revealing the Upside Down and the Shadow Monster lurking over the school. A great cliffhanger, but WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
17. Will Jonathan be back for season three?
This one doesn’t really have to do with Stranger Things 2 as much as it has to do with Charlie Heaton‘s (who plays Jonathan) recent legal troubles. While heading to a premiere party in LA, he was busted at the airport for having cocaine on him and denied entry into the U.S. Netflix couldn’t comment on if he’d be able to work during future seasons — and we kind of doubt they’d actually recast him. We’re curious!