Stranger Things: All 4 seasons ranked from worst to best

2. Stranger Things season 2

Perhaps the most-anticipated second season in Netflix’s storied history, Stranger Things‘ sophomore outing was appropriately held until Halloween 2017, offering some welcome spooky entertainment for the occasion.

Set almost a year after the events of the previous season, it focuses heavily on aftermath as Will Byers struggles to fit back into his life after his ordeal in the Upside Down (largely due to the fact that the Mind Flayer has not relinquished its grip on him) and Mike tries to move on after Eleven’s apparent death.

But Eleven is a lot closer to him than he knows, as Hopper has taken her in in order to protect her, and it’s a good thing too as the gang quickly realize how helpless they are without her when the world of the Upside Down begins bleeding into Hawkins.

Stranger Things 2 does suffer from 2 “sequelitis” on occasion in that it revisits a lot of the story beats that its predecessor did (and there is that divisive standalone episode), but it ups the scares, doubles down on the shocks and increases the stakes without getting too gruesome, and its final two episodes are nothing short of spectacular.