Season One was brilliant. Equal parts King, Carpenter and Spielberg. Wonderful season.
Season Two was still very good but not quite as impressive as season One.
Season Two Episode Seven was one of the worst hours I've ever suffered through in my television watching history. Carried SOLELY by Millie Bobbie Brown's genius acting ability and the empathy she can instantly evoke for her character. Other than that, it was ill timed, ill placed and had one of the most annoying groups of side characters of all time. It is a testimony to the show's brilliance that it overcame that miserable speed bump.
That episode should have been an 'Interlude' movie on Netflix between Seasons Two and Three, debuting in Summer 2018 as a 'Here's what Eleven did when she went to Chicago'. But honestly, it was a meaningless and unimportant episode that provided no further important development for Eleven. She already overcame the darkness within her. If she's going to yo-yo back and forth between moral extremes every time she learns something new about who she is, then she will go from being one of Stranger Things' best characters to one of its worst in the blink of an eye.
I also didn't buy how stupid Dustin was acting about Dart, but that was an excusable flaw in the writing in my opinion.
Max is a great new add to the cast, and I'm glad her older brother isn't just an asshole for its own sake. Being abused and rolling it downhill is an excellent flaw for him to either overcome or succumb to.
Season Two's ending was really satisfying.
Sean Astin was brilliant in this show. His 'face' turn made me want to root for him so much once they revealed he was going to be more than a milquetoast annoyance.
Wynona Ryder is the show's strongest asset, although Finn Wolfhard (Mike) and Noah Schnapp (Will) are also remarkably emotive actors. May they, and all of this young and talented cast, stay far, far, far from the disgusting immorality of the Hollywood elite's predations. So many promising young careers have been ruined in the past.
Season One: 5/5
Season Two: 4.5/5