SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRETY OF STRANGER THINGS SEASON 2 TO FOLLOW. THE. ENTIRETY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Even though the Stranger Things season 2 ending might have your heart simply bursting with happiness - it was surprisingly wholesome, after all - we weren’t given quite all of the answers. Whether it was snatches of a conversation, a minor plot point that was left hanging, or merely just us wondering what plans the ominous entity lurking in the Upside Down has planned for Hawkins, there are plenty of questions we still have for the Duffer Brothers. So sit down, grab some eggos, and see if you can help us untangle these queries...
1. Why has no-one noticed Hopper lives in a cabin in the woods now?
In season 1 when Hopper had turned his trailer upside down, his two deputies arrived at the scene, apparently fully aware of where he was living. Yet in season 2 no-one appears to have realised that Hopper is no longer living in his trailer, instead having relocated to his grandpa’s old cabin in the woods.
I find it odd that no-one’s got suspicious about Hopper’s sudden move to the countryside. But knowing Hopper, if anyone did ask him the question he’d probably have a dry response at the ready about reconnecting with nature or growling about how much cheaper it was. However, having Eleven there would mean that if he revealed the location of his new home he runs the risk of having her discovered, so perhaps he’s carrying on the façade of living on the trailer. Either way, it seems like tempting fate. Anyone from the police station could turn up at the cabin if they were aware of it. Or a hunter meandering through the forest. Though at least we now know that Eleven would send a smouldering log towards their head pretty fast if that was the case.
2. Who is Eleven's aunt talking to on the phone?
Just after Eleven is done settling into her new home, she runs downstairs to chat to her newfound Aunt Becky. But it looks like Becky isn’t entirely alone, as she’s talking to someone on the phone about Eleven turning up on the doorstep. She mentions her visit from Hopper, and the fact that Eleven has been communicating with her mother - but who is she talking to?
An easy guess would be the government that’s stationed at Hawkins Lab, but under Dr Owens they’re not nearly as dodgy as they were in Stranger Things season 1. So it might not be an entirely bad thing, especially as Dr Owens seems to be on Hopper’s side by the end of season 2 and has grudgingly agreed to let Eleven lead a normal life after things have quietened down. Perhaps some new, more cutthroat agents will appear in season 3 to snatch away Terry Ives, Eleven’s mom. Until then we could assume that Becky was merely talking to a close friend. If we’re feeling particularly optimistic, that is…
3. Where are Eleven’s other siblings?
So we have Eleven and Roman (AKA, Eight), but that leaves at least nine other children missing (001-007, 009, and 010). Where are they? We know that Roman escaped by using her powers to presumably create an illusion of herself still imprisoned while she ran for it, but she doesn’t say anything about helping anyone else escape.
Roman has different powers to Eleven, so it’s likely that their other siblings will have different abilities too. Getting the gang back together would be incredible, if only as a showcase of all the different powers they’ve been born with. Oddly Roman didn’t mention any other kids at the Hawkins lab, so it’s possible that the test subjects either were moved to different labs, were kept in their own separate rooms, or (get ready for a morbid suggestion) died when they were very young. Terry Ives spotted the Rainbow Room, so I’m betting there were other ones scattered around the lab. Which means other kids. Why else would you need to distinguish one by painting a rainbow outside of it? Plus, as Roman’s been keeping tabs on the officials who used to work at the lab one of them would surely have mentioned other children at some point in a bid to save their own lives, right? Odd that she didn’t mention it if they did - so either she kept things from Eleven or the other kids were shipped off to different parts of the country. Making it even more difficult to reunite them. Insert sad face here.
4. How is Lucas going to get Keith a date with Nancy?
The shudder-worthy, cheez-it-eating Keith who works at the arcade has been promised a date with Nancy. In return for letting Lucas use his office to plead with Max to believe his story about Eleven, Lucas has done a deal with the devil… all that remains is for him to deliver. While it definitely isn’t a major plot point, a little scene with Nancy nope-ing the hell out of the potential date would be a nice nod in season 3 to Lucas’ deal. Who knows, maybe she’ll go out with Keith and fall in love, dumping Jonathan in favour of someone who always has orange-dust-covered fingers… yeah, maybe not.
5. Is Dr Owens still working for the government?
Granted, the government has been kicked out of Hawkins Lab thanks to the work of the Holland’s investigative journalist. Yet Dr Owens is seen in the last episode talking to Hopper in a diner, which implies that he remains in town. That’s odd. Considering he headed up the government’s attempting at clearing up Brenner’s mess, I’m wondering whether he’s still working for the Powers That Be.
It would be just like the government to retain a couple of undercover agents in Hawkins to keep an eye on things. Although Dr Owens was surprisingly not a bad guy in this season, perhaps he’s playing the waiting game and bonding with Hopper to get some information out of him at a later date. Or maybe he’s just being a nice guy. Which is definitely likely, it’s just… come on, after Brenner you can’t blame me for being suspicious?!
6. Is Will still connected to the Upside Down?
At the beginning of season 2 Will sees visions of the Upside Down - and, more importantly, the Shadow Monster looming over it. While Joyce exorcised the monster from Will’s body using a ton of heaters, that doesn’t get rid of the fact that Will is still probably connected to the alternate dimension and has merely gone back to square one. Sure, he doesn’t have an evil creature spying on Hawkins through his young eyes anymore, but we’re yet to find out whether he can still see what’s going on in the alternate dimension.
What that could mean for season 3 is that Will is still a potential target for the Shadow Monster. Now that it knows it can possess him easily, Will could be hunted by it and have to get some kind of tutoring from Eleven about how to fight the Shadow Monster. She did know how to destroy the Demogorgon, after all. Or Will might have learnt something from the Shadow Monster, giving him new powers over the Upside Down. Who wouldn’t want to see him and Eleven have a showdown against a legion of Demodogs? His connection to the Upside Down could unwittingly make him look like a rather attractive experimental subject in the government’s eyes… though I’d like to see what Joyce and Hopper have to say about that.
7. Are Eleven’s powers getting stronger?
She went from being able to lift a model of the Millennium Falcon to hauling a train towards her. In terms of getting more powerful, the latter example could have been the equivalent of going to a gym to do some bench-presses. Plus, Eleven also, y’know, closed a mile-high gate to the Upside Down. That must have taken a ton of strength. Are her powers getting stronger?
I’m going to say yes. After taking Roman’s advice to heart, accessing that anger within her appears to have powered up her telekinetic prowess. Sealing the gate to the Upside Down at the end of season 2 also begs the question whether Eleven has power over the Upside Down. As well as the gate being a physical rip, it was also a tear between dimensions. Perhaps Eleven has power over the connection between the Upside Down and Hawkins, as it was her who opened the gate in the first place. Being able to jump into the Upside Down at a moment’s notice might come in handy in season 3 to escape any pursuers, or to bring a Demogorgon (or Demodog) into Hawkins to protect her. I wonder what the Shadow Monster will have to say about that…
8. What's the Shadow Monster up to at the end of the season?
You’re a fool if you thought that all the drama with the Upside Down would be neatly tied up at the end of season 2. Just to confirm that the danger hasn’t passed, the last shot of season 2 was the spidery Shadow Monster looking down over Hawkins High as the Snow Ball goes on below. With its giant, smokey limbs surrounding it on all sides. Not worrying at all.
But what does it have planned? We can safely assume that it wants to devour the whole of Hawkins, as its snaking tendrils and the decay of all those pumpkins implied. The Upside Down looks very much dead and sapped, so the vivid life coursing through Hawkins is probably akin to a delicious feast for the interdimensional beast. Getting back into our realm is going to be tricky, however - unless Will is still available to be used as a conduit.
Squid Game creator says he changed the ending of the Netflix show halfway through: "This is not where the story should be headed"
Squid Game season 2's star Lee Jung-jae says he felt "horror" stepping back into the arena on the Netflix show: "It's a kind of feeling that I would never forget in my life"
