Netflix is understandably wary about spoilers, and much of the joy of “Stranger Things” is in watching how it unfolds narratively, so I’ll be very cautious about spoilers. To start, “Stranger Things 2” feels a great deal like its predecessor. Once again, nostalgia is a MAJOR part of the narrative of the show, and it’s even less subtly so in the first two episodes of this new season than it was the first. Remember arcades and games like “Dig Dug”? Remember “Ghostbusters”? You loved that, you’ll love this! If the nostalgia aspect of season one frustrated you, be warned the volume has not been turned down in season two, at least to start. The overwhelming wave of the past seems to pull back a bit in about episode three (of nine this season) when the show becomes more of its own defined thing, but even the casting this season taps that vein. It’s not just Reiser. Who do you cast as a love interest for Winona Ryder in a show that’s been compared to “The Goonies”? Sean Astin, of course.

While the nostalgic stunt casting is fun (and both Reiser and Astin are quite good, for the record), “Stranger Things 2” doesn’t lose its focus on the kids of Hawkins, Indiana. The quartet of boys—Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Will (Noah Schnapp)—is still the beating heart of this show, and it’s essential that theirs are the most prominent and developed characters this season. Mike is broken over the still-missing Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown); Will is deeply traumatized from what happened in season one and working with a new doctor, played by Reiser, to define exactly how tied he remains to the Upside Down; and Dustin and Lucas get well-developed interesting subplots as well, which I won’t spoil. Tossed into this young-male mix is “Mad” Max (Sadie Sink), a new redhead in town who first dismisses but becomes involved with the Scooby gang of the show. Of course, Winona Ryder returns—again mostly concerned about her son’s fate and with a similar aesthetic of house remodeling in the way she tries to communicate with him—and David Harbour is even better this year than he was last, particularly in the final episode.

There are other new characters, new subplots, and even new monsters, but “Stranger Things 2” undeniably echoes the first season to a degree that could turn off some viewers hoping for something different. Many of the themes, villains, and even character arcs recall what happened last year, to the degree that the disappearance of Barb even returns as a major plot point. Should the Duffer Brothers have distanced themselves more from the first year and done something completely new? Once again, if we consider the Cameron model, the answer is obviously no. Hit sequels like “Aliens” and “T2: Judgment Day” very consciously echoed the films that came before them, and we didn't seem to care. It's the execution of the very '80s "bigger/faster/more" aesthetic that matters.