The Women of Netflix -Season 2

Here's a couple of late notes on the second season of some Netflix series that I wrote more detailed reviews about the first seasons of...

whew.

Stranger Things

In this case, exceptionally late, but considering how long it will be until the show returns, I don’t feel too bad.

The Eighties Horror-Action-Nostalgia train continued on full bore.  Adding in Sean Astin and Paul Riser to Winona Rider's "I was there" Eighties awesomeness definitely enhanced that ride, but all the other new characters also matched the "time period kid movie" meets Stephen King vibe.

And a lot of crazy, spooky stuff happened…

Um…

I guess it was too long ago, as I’m having a bigger problem than usual forming coherent thoughts about it.

I do know that the character arcs were handled particularly well, and seeing many of the individuals grow and change throughout the season was cool.  (Especially Steve.)

I'm hoping to see Will get one next season. Based on the interviews the actor is a pretty cool kid and he’s spent most of two seasons missing or unconscious.

I was originally in with the group that didn't like the “Eleven in the City” episode, for cutting into the main narrative. However, after seeing the making of show, where the brothers explain it was to homage other types of Eighties films that had urban settings they couldn't reference otherwise I appreciated it more.

The ending was definitely an improvement over the first season's. It still left a few things open to continue but had much more closure.

Last thoughts:

Additional plugs for Dungeons and Dragons are always welcome.

I’m convinced Dustin’s Winter Ball outfit was a deliberate shout out to Buckaroo Banzai.
Woo!

Jessica Jones

The adventures of this dark and cynical corner of the Marvel Cinematic universe continued.

Luckily, the excellent writing, direction, cinematography and performances continued as well.

I guess that’s why the show was still compelling and enjoyable, even though the few characters who were likable in season one shifted into darker unpalatable places along this season's journey.

Krysten Ritter took us further  into her character’s world and mind, carrying the show admirably.

The first season focused on Killgrave’s mind control forcing people into bad situations. This season was more about a person’s own choices putting them into those undesired situations.

Two spoilery thoughts:

Avert your eyes, people slower than me at watching stuff.

1) It's about time for Trish to be getting her powers.  Maybe we’ll get to see one of the real, original, comic book Defenders in a Netflix series.

2) David Tennant playing Killgrave as a remorseless sociopath with mind control powers- Completely Terrifying.

David Tennant playing the hallucination of Killgrave representing Jessica’s self doubt- Completely Hysterical.

Miraculous Ladybug

My daughter discovered this French/ Korean (possibly Japanese/ Italian too) super hero in high school series in Peru, for maximum internationalness.

It does exactly what Stan Lee set out to do with Spider-man, making the point of reference character for the audience the main super hero instead of just a sidekick.

It also handles the “drama” of high school without getting annoying about it.  One of the chief ways it does that is the villains being “Akumatized” versions of the normal characters, exaggerating their fears and flaws into amusingly over the top bad guys.

Season two opens the crazy throttle even wider, which is impressive for a show that went with Mr. Pigeon less than a quarter of the way into the opening year.  (Dear Lord, The Owl.  Hoo Hoo Hoooooo-boy!  What is it with this show and bird people?)

Granted, nothing is as flat out nuts as the musical Christmas episode with its evil singing Santa, but the mythology is growing with each story, and there’s still half the second season that hasn't been released yet.