What TV SHOWS are you watching?

The Dustin/Steve teamup- never saw that coming, and it was one of the best parts of the entire show! Those guys really had a neat, unexpected chemistry...and that scene made Steve even more likable- you almost feel sorry for him having to keep up with the social expectations. I really thought he was going to bite it on the siege- glad he didn't.

The writing was poor. And I wouldn't call it a "change of pace" so much as a jarring shift of tone. We go from "small town encounters government perfidy and cosmic horror" to "Grim and gritty Marvel Superheroes... Guess we should call them 'Morlocks'". I get what they were trying to do in terms of setting up next season (Hello, Kali) and giving Eleven/Jane the opportunity to fully grow into her powers with the guidance of someone that understands. Otherwise, the jump from her blowing out windows and seemingly sacrificing herself to do something big at the end of season 1 to closing the gate at the end of season 2 might have seemed too much of a leap to take. I just think the route they took was cheap. It was a shortcut and, like Frohike said, felt like it because it was typical 80s superhero script, post Return of the Dark Knight. The episodes in Hawkins all had tension and uncertainty; two elements that are key for any kind of horror teleplay. The stuff in Chicago was obvious. There was no way that Eleven was going to stay there and no way they could introduce that many new characters on a recurring basis with only two episodes left. So it was the vacation into the big city with stock characters to bridge a gap in the story and put Eleven in touch with her background so we don't really have to go there anymore, but it lacked all the atmosphere that the rest of the show had held together for 14 episodes. I really think it was a misstep but I still really liked the second season and will gladly watch again next year.

I expected Steve to buy it in the tunnel; I'm glad he didn't.
Some minor negatives:
I did think that Winona AGAIN trashing her own house was going back to the well too much.
If you have a giant orange mohawk, maybe a mask is a bit useless.
I don't think it would have made much of a difference, but if I was in Samwise's position, I think I would have remembered the handgun.