With the first episode having effectively established all the central characters that will be focused on throughout the series, episode 2, ‘The Weirdo on Maple Street’, follows up on it very well. I hesitate to say it’s as good, but the majority of this is excellent.
The central focus of the episode is Eleven; after being found by the main boys, she gets taken to Mike’s house and has to be kept a secret from the rest of his family. All the stuff between Mike and Eleven is easily the highlight of the episode. While Eleven doesn’t talk much, you can still tell a lot of what she’s feeling based on Millie Bobby Brown’s stellar nonverbal communication, and what little she does say tells us a lot about her shy nature and lack of knowledge of the world outside the facility she escaped from. With Mike informing her about the various things in his house that she expresses curiosity in, he demonstrates a genuine desire to make her happy and keep her in good spirits, while blending in a chance to geek out on stuff he’s passionate about. All the moments that Mike and Eleven have together here are adorable, and with the other boys getting involved later, it naturally leads to an eerie implication as to where Will is, which makes for an excellent cliffhanger for their story.
Joyce continues to showcase her drive to find Will and keep him out of harm’s way, and Winona Ryder continues to impress. While not much new is done with her here, what we do get is still effective in increasing her desperation, and Will attempting to use the lights to communicate with her is an amazing reveal that will get expanded on in the episodes to come. It’s a good showcase of the idea that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for her, a nice touch of optimism in an otherwise scary ending.
As Jonathan tries his own hand at finding Will, we get to encounter his father and his new wife, and…well, they’re very hateable, but they’re clearly meant to be. The father is constantly condescending, he clearly doesn’t care about his own sons’ safety, and his attempts to gaslight Jonathan into living with him don’t do him favors either. After the hints we got about the kind of person he is, it’s nice to have our notions about him confirmed, and his new wife showing romantic interest in Jonathan…if that’s not a way to hate her right off the bat, I don’t know what is.
The cliffhanger of the episode involves Nancy going to a party with her boyfriend and his douche friends, and while her own friend is all alone, one of the mysterious creatures takes her away. This side plot isn’t nearly as interesting as the others, but it’s serviceable enough for what it is, and the ending is quite shocking and ominous, so it’s at least worth it in the end. Also, Jonathan is sneakily taking pictures of them all during all this, hinting at a bit of a dark side in him. At the moment, I don’t remember how that goes, but this little bit of nuance to him does intrigue me all the more to him.
While this episode isn’t quite as good as the first, it’s still excellent all around, and the various cliffhangers for each characters’ story are the kinds that will make you want to see more. See ya for episode 3!
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