Summary: The Russians discover Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica's presence in the secret fortress. Steve and Robin are captured and interrogated. Dustin and Erica escape but they go back and save the other two. However, Steve and Robin have already revealed everything they know to the Russians after extensive torture. Nancy and Jonathan barely escape from the monster with El's help. El attempts to locate Billy to figure out where the Mind Flayer would be located. She finds Billy and discovers that the location is Brimborn Steelworks. However, the Mind Flayer is able to locate El as a result and the Flayed all go to the Steelworks to prepare for an attack. Alexei reveals that the Russians are trying to access the Upside Down, terrifying Joyce and Hopper.
The Good: I liked parts of this episode but not the episode as a whole. I thought there were a few excellent scenes but the stories overall didn't live up to my expectations. The best parts of the episode were with Steve and Robin as they got tortured by the Russians. The Russians were intimidating and the two of them were in a genuinely dangerous situation with no way out. It was tense seeing Steve get beaten as the Russians try to force information out of him, and it was emotional seeing Robin and Steve open up to each other while in the face of certain death. The part where they both reflected on their high school life in contrast to the life they wanted was genuinely sweet. They developed a nice bond over the course of this season. I also enjoyed the cinematic way that we were shown Billy's backstory. I loved the idea of El trying to read his mind to find the Mind Flayer's location, and I thought the execution of the scene was wonderful. I was also a big fan of the reveal that the Mind Flayer can now track El as a result of her approaching Billy. It's fitting that her bold move would have some major consequences, and now the stakes have been raised for the final two episodes of the season. The start of the episode with the monster attacking Jonathan and Nancy was a really strong start. The scene was tense and I was on the edge of my seat because this moment felt like a point where the story could take an unexpected turn and have Jonathan or Nancy or even both of them get captured. But unfortunately the show took the safe route. The Bad: This episode ended up being one of the show's most uninspired efforts. The story is predictable and boring, and it's filled to the brim with tropes and clichés that drag down the plot completely. As a result, this becomes a wholly unsatisfying hour of television and it doesn't do a great job of getting me hyped up for the season's endgame. The characters remain a weak part of this season. Each character gets maybe one episode to be relevant and to do something important, but outside of that everyone is a boring caricature of themselves. This appears to have happened because the cast has expanded far too much with too many characters being given nothing to do. Joyce and Hopper have been part of a rather dull side story for a long time now and they still haven't contributed much of note to the story. Their characters haven't been treated well either as Joyce doesn't seem to care for her kids at all and Hopper has become a complete joke with all of his worst traits played up for comedy. It's funny for sure, but his character's destruction has disconnected me from his story. The kids are just as bad. I can't recall Lucas contributing a single thing to the story this season. Dustin has been relegated to a side character when he is given his own storyline as the emphasis is always on Steve and Robin. Erica is just awful and remains that way in this episode. Then we have Mike, El and Max heavily involved in this cheesy romance story which I'm somehow managing to get more and more annoyed by in every episode. The problem I have with this is that nobody is likable. Max is the annoying friend, Mike is so overprotective and obsessive that it's impossible to sympathize with him, El continually shifts from sensible to foolish with every scene, and due to this story, Will is just forgotten all together. This season's poor treatment of its characters has been present from episode 1, and it still hasn't been addressed. A few good scenes and some entertaining plot movement does not make up for the sabotage of the show's characters. This episode is also far too convenient with stupid ways to advance the plot. Hopper giving Alexei the keys is stupid enough and I can't understand why he would take such a risk. What's worse is that his plan actually works as Alexei stops driving and submits in what is one of the show's cheesiest moments ever. Next, we have Nancy and Jonathan just standing there as the monster forms before they somehow manage to survive long enough until El finds them to save them. If the show had any sense of consequence, both of them should have been killed in seconds because they couldn't get away, and moments like the monster taking its sweet time to kill Nancy really hurt the show's credibility. Then we get the absurdly terrible Russian security. According to Alexei, the Russians have their most elite security systems in place, yet they can be breached by 4 dumb kids. That is completely implausible. Furthermore, Dustin and Erica somehow remain hidden after escaping, despite the Russians actively looking for them, and then they somehow stage a rescue mission to get Steve and Robin out of confinement. These scenes were all awful, and it made the Russians look like cartoon villains instead of a competent government organization. Was Billy's backstory really necessary for the show? Its timing was very odd as the character of Billy hadn't been focused on for a long time. Furthermore, Kline is a terrible character. He is cartoonish in the worst ways and the scene where he is threatened by the Terminator was bad. The Unknown: What is the Mind Flayer going to do now? Will it attack the city or just go for El? How are the kids going to fight this? What role will Hopper and Joyce play in the story? Did Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica seriously just escape that easily? How will the Russians respond to this? Best Moment: Steve and Robin opening up while facing certain death was excellent. Character of the Episode: Steve. Conclusion: This had a few strong moments, but overall this episode was very badly done and continued the disappointing run of this season. Score: 45
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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