Summary: Max distracts Vecna while Eddie and Dustin distract the bats but Robin, Steve, and Nancy get caught by the vines. Mike’s group make a bathtub for El in the freezer of a Surfer Boy Pizza restaurant. El is able to find Max and saves her, fighting Vecna. Vecna overpowers El and starts to kill Max but El breaks out and defeats him. Nancy, Steve, and Robin defeat Vecna. Lucas is confronted by Jason and is unable to save Max. Max dies and an enormous gate opens in Hawkins, causing an Earthquake which kills Jason. El brings Max back but she’s comatose. Eddie, having been attacked by bats, dies while doing his distraction. Joyce, Murray, and Hopper return to the prison and kill all of the remaining monsters. Yuri and Dmitri provide an airlift and they get away safely. Everyone reunites in Hawkins, but the enormous gate remains open and Vecna has survived.
The Good: When the plan finally gets underway, it’s pretty fun to watch. Max luring in Vecna is a gripping sequence that has the uncertainty of success, and Eddie playing Master of Puppets as a distraction was awesome. Vecna’s scenes with El are pretty strong, especially how Vecna makes her feel despair. Mike giving her the motivation to keep going is an effective moment that finally gives Mike something to do in the season. Eddie’s death and Max’s coma gives the episode a sense of loss. Their final scenes are sad and impactful. Gaten Matarazzo in particular shines in his scenes grieving Eddie. Eddie finally becoming a hero as he died was predictable but no less effective. It was the perfect way to cap off his arc. The twist of the enormous gate opening was a surprise and it promises something hugely different for the final season. The closing scenes of the episode are fine and offer a decent resolution for the characters and the journeys they just went through. The Bad: The first hour of this episode was a chore. It’s over-indulgent because every scene feels drawn out. In place of a suspense-driven plot, we get interrupted with lengthy scenes of character interaction which fail to do anything of interest. This makes the pacing of the episode disjointed and frustrating, and the episode feels like a slog. The second half is also plagued with flaws. It has exciting moments, but there are too many storylines and too many characters to intercut between. We take forever to follow up again with some characters when they are in the middle of intense situations. Then after everything, the climax disappoints because it is another long, drawn out sequence that tested my patience. I don’t like the decision to have the Russia story stay permanently separated. Outside of a few moments, it was entirely uninteresting to follow and its relevance is extremely limited. Its only purpose is to bring Hopper back, which should have taken just one episode. Instead we’ve wasted a whole season on it. El being able to reverse death is kind of silly and damages the stakes of the show. The Unknown: What are the consequences of the enormous new gate opening? Did nobody notice this somehow? How is it that people have not found it? What happened to Murray, Yuri, and Dmitri? What happened with the military? They didn’t appear at all in this episode. What about Dr. Owens? Will Max wake up? Will she be back to normal or will she have some permanent damage? Best Moment: Eddie’s guitar performance was an epic spectacle. Character of the Episode: Eddie. Conclusion: This was too damn long. A lot of stuff here was pretty good, but the pacing and the exhaustive length turned this into a much tougher watch. Score: 55
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Summary: Vecna gives Nancy visions of the future before she wakes. The group come up with a plan to fight Vecna and get weapons from a store called The War Zone and have an encounter with Jason. Max, Lucas, and Erika enter the Creel house to begin their plan. El learns that her friends are going to fight Vecna and tries to leave but Brenner doesn’t allow it. The military attacks the base and Brenner tries to smuggle El out but is shot down in the process. El defeats the military with her powers and is reunited with Mike when the group finds her. Hopper, Murray, and Joyce escape from the prison and Yuri offers to ride them back to America on his helicopter but he needs to fix it.
The Good: Everything involving El and Brenner was pretty good, and we got a satisfying resolution to their story as Brenner dies without El giving him any satisfaction because he did not deserve it. There are good layers to that scene. The helicopter crash scene was visually spectacular and a great moment. There were some other strong scenes. Nancy’s experience with Vecna at the start is suitably scary. Her encounter with Jason in the gun store was a surprising burst of tension that I greatly enjoyed. Noah Schnapp gave a good performance as he was there for Mike while obviously being conflicted by his own feelings for him. The Bad: The LA and Russia storylines have been a slog this season. I’m waiting for them to connect with the main story because they don’t have me interested right now. The Russians having a Demogorgon isn’t a surprise, but I have no idea how they ever managed to contain it with their terrible security. It’s embarrassingly bad. All of the scenes that slow down the plot to address love stories haven’t worked this season. They are cheesy, predictable, and uninteresting. The Unknown: Is there another gate in Russia? What plan did they come up with to fight Vecna? Will Jason get involved with this somehow? Will Yuri’s helicopter be good enough to get Hopper, Joyce, and Murray out of Russia? Best Moment: El standing up to Brenner and telling him that he’s the real monster. Character of the Episode: El. Conclusion: A solid episode of table-setting with an emotional edge from all of the El/Brenner stuff. Score: 65 Summary: Steve is saved from the bats. The group find a way to communicate with Dustin and head to another gate where Chrissy was killed to escape. They manage to get out, but Vecna entraps Nancy. The kids are interrogated by the cops but they escape to help Steve, Nancy, Eddie, and Robin. El continues through her memories and learns that Ballard was One, Victor’s son, and also Vecna. El freed him from his restraints and he massacred everyone, but then El banished him to the Upside Down and forgot everything. Murray and Joyce get into the prison as Hopper and Dmitri fight the Demogorgon. Murray and Joyce give Hopper and Dmitri an escape and Joyce reunites with Hopper.
The Good: El’s story impressed me in the end. I made a few guesses about Ballard, but I did not tie everything together. I expected that One was Vecna, but I was surprised that Ballard was One, that he was responsible for the massacre, that El banished him, and that he was Victor Creel’s son. The reveals were plentiful, surprised me, and answered so many of my questions in satisfying ways. We even learn how the first gate was created! I was thrilled by all of this, and I’m glad to see that “Stranger Things” opted to create a three-dimensional villain this season, someone with differing beliefs, a clear motive, and a fascinating relationship with a main character. I love the added layers to Vecna’s villainy, and it sets up the end of the season to be a dramatic thrill ride. The scenes with the main group are fun. It’s enjoyable to see them communicate with each other, and the show had some fun with the magically suspended rope. I liked the reveal that Vecna could open gates, mainly because the characters’ reactions to it were hilarious. The Russian story had an exciting climax as Hopper and Dmitri battle the Demogorgon, which looked fantastic and was horrifying with its killing ability. Murray impersonating Yuri was a delight and there was some good suspense in his interactions with the Russians. The Bad: The only big issue I have is that this episode is enormous. It certainly could have been trimmed down. The rest are small things that detract from the story. The opening scene should be intense, but it isn’t because it’s filled with character quipping which undersells the danger. I’m also confused why these creatures didn’t immediately inform Vecna of their presence. This season is trying way too hard to shove Steve/Nancy down our throats, and it is way too much. None of their scenes are good. There is still plenty of incompetence, mostly from the Russians, the cops, and the parents. How is it that Vecna was immediately able to get to Nancy when he had to wait before fully trapping everyone else? There are some moments where the show cuts away from a storyline for a long time during a really suspenseful moment. That disrupted the flow of the episode. The Unknown: Why is the Upside Down stuck in the time period of Will’s disappearance? Why did Vecna take so long to make his move? What happened to him when El sent him to the Upside Down? Will Nancy survive her current experience with Vecna? Will the others be able to help her? Did the military learn El’s location? Best Moment: Vecna’s speech that slowly revealed the truth about everything. Character of the Episode: Vecna. Conclusion: This was a good midseason finale with a huge twist at the end that elevates it significantly. One of the show’s very best episodes, even with its length. Score: 67 Summary: After Patrick’s death, Eddie is officially announced as a wanted man. The Hawkins group see that Eddie’s location has been compromised and they meet him at Skull Rock. Dustin realizes there is a gate nearby which they track to Lover’s Lake. Cops show up and get the kids, while Steve, Nancy, Eddie, and Robin end up going through the gate. Steve is attacked by bats. El continues to go through her memories and after seeing that she was bullied by the other kids, realizes that she murdered them. The LA group gets to Suzie’s house and track down El’s location. Hopper, Dmitir, and others are prepared to fight the Demogorgon. Murray and Joyce prepare to infiltrate the prison with Murray posing as Yuri.
The Good: This episode does a lot of things right. The ending sequence is dramatic and intense as the walls close in on the group at the lake, and having half of them in the Upside Down and half captured by cops is a good shake-up in the narrative. Jason is better defined as a character after witnessing Patrick’s death. I didn’t buy into how vengeful he was before, but it makes more sense now that he witnessed something awful firsthand. He’s still not written well (see: The Bad), but he’s more plausible. The Russia story was more enjoyable in this episode. Seeing Murray and Joyce messing with Yuri is surprisingly entertaining. The reveal of Hopper’s plan at the end of the episode was delightful and true to the character. I’ve come to enjoy his dynamic with Dmitri. I appreciate that El’s past parallels her experience with the bullies in her high school. The Bad: Again, this episode suffers from being too long and from being plot-heavy, falling into a lot of this show’s typical trappings of cheesiness, lazy plot development, and predictable storytelling. Jason’s speech to the community is so bad. It’s unfathomable that the police wouldn’t immediately shut him up, and it’s even stupider that people would believe this kid who sounds like he’s out of his mind. Seriously, is there nobody that questions Jason’s hilarious logic of Hellfire Club being a cult, seeing that he has zero proof? Stupid stuff like this hurts the story badly. Suzie’s house feels like it belongs in a cartoon, not a TV show based on the real world. Everything about that storyline was bad, from the over-the-top kid characters to the laughable “hacking” scenes. El’s bullying in the past doesn’t work for the same reason it doesn’t in the present. It’s so cheesy, and the fact that it’s even happening in such a tightly controlled lab is absurd. The scientists look like morons for allowing cameras to go off, and for not soundproofing the walls. El’s discovery at the end of the episode doesn’t have much emotional impact, particularly because we already knew what happened ages ago. The Unknown: Who was One? What happened to him? Is he responsible for Vecna? Thematically it makes sense since Vecna seems to be empowered by the traumatic memories of his victims, similar to how One gets his power. How did the gate open in the lake? Is Steve going to survive this attack? Will the others save him? How will the kids interact with the cops? What will they say? Best Moment: The reveal that Hopper was preparing a plan to kill the Demogorgon was a nice twist that was in-line with the character. Character of the Episode: Hopper. Conclusion: Another flawed episode, but this one had better drama and more excitement compared to the last one. Score: 58 Summary: El is taken to Nevada where she meets Dr. Brenner who will help her restore her powers. She’s forcibly apprehended and sent into her old memories. El tries to escape and her powers start to return. Mike, Jonathan, Will, and Argyle bury the agent that was with them and receive a phone number to find El. They head to see Suzie, in need of a hacker. Nancy determines that Vecna was in the Creel house in Max’s experience. The group explores the Creel house and find Vecna in the attic. At the same time, Jason’s group checks out Reefer Rick’s place and finds Eddie. Eddie escapes into the water and is chased, but Jason stops when Patrick is suddenly killed by Vecna. Hopper grows closer with Dmitri after being imprisoned with him. Joyce and Murray break out from Yuri’s imprisonment on the plane and it crashes.
The Good: The scenes with El are pretty interesting. It’s creepy how she can’t escape her memories, and these scenes are done well. It’s interesting to see everyone combing for clues in Victor’s house and there is some suspense there. Jason finding Eddie, and Patrick’s death was a dramatic climax to the episode. The Bad: The worst episodes of “Stranger Things” are the ones where a lot of plot happens because these developments are never interesting, well-written, or exciting to follow. It’s just hopping from one discovery to the other with no nuance and that’s what happened here. A lot of this is pretty bad, like Max inexplicably being able to remember every detail of Vecna’s world perfectly to the point that Nancy can rearrange Max’s drawings into Victor’s house. That’s so stupid and cheesy. Speaking of stupid and cheesy, that’s what all of the Nancy/Steve teasing feels like right now. It’s just a waste of time and uninteresting. The Russia story does not do much for me. The scenes in this episode are poor and I do not care since the conclusion is obvious. The plane fight and crash is laughably ridiculous, and they all should be dead. Hopper’s heartfelt speech doesn’t do much for me because it feels like a tacked on guilt story. El’s story suffers from the same problem of having an obvious conclusion. We know the secret that El has to uncover from her past, so there is no suspense or excitement. I’m just left to lose my patience as the show lazily meanders its way to an obvious conclusion. The Unknown: What is the monster from America? Is it a Demogorgon? What is the significance of Vecna’s clock? How about the spider jars? Why does Vecna kill from that one specific spot? How does this process of returning El’s powers work? We are already seeing it in action but I’m not sure how it’s happening. I thought it was supposed to take months. How will Jason react to Patrick’s death? Will this make him realize Eddie is innocent, or will he be more convinced of Eddie’s guilt? Best Moment: The sequence of El experiencing the same thing over and over. Character of the Episode: El. Conclusion: A frustrating episode that falls into the worst trappings of “Stranger Things”. Score: 50 Summary: Lucas reunites with the group. Nancy and Robin sneak into a mental asylum and speak with Victor. They are caught but they run away with the knowledge that music can save Max. Max makes letters for everyone she has to say things to. She speaks with Billy at his grave when Vecna attacks. Dustin, Steve, and Lucas play her favourite song and she is able to escape. Jonathan, Mike, and Will are under house arrest but the house is attacked by the military. They escape in Argyle’s car. Joyce meets Yuri as Hopper makes his escape. However, Yuri betrays Enzo and turns him in, capturing Joyce and Murray in the process.
The Good: Max has a really good episode as she stares down death. We get to see who she really is, and we even see her learn an important lesson about the value of reaching out to people while you’re still alive, which is something she definitely needed to learn. There are some good emotional scenes here, like the meetings with her mother and Billy. The climax of the episode becomes predictable in the end, but it’s still tense and exciting because it is directed and acted extremely well. Max surviving was a cheer-inducing moment that nicely concludes this story. Nancy and Robin are fun once again as they somehow manage to get the meeting with Victor. Victor’s story is horrifying and was a unique and engaging side story in the middle of the episode. Hopper’s escape was fun, and the Yuri twist at the end of the episode caught me off guard. Yuri’s demeanor is funny and it successfully lowered my guard to make this twist work. The shootout at the Byers’ house was exciting, and pulling off the oner was really impressive. Argyle continues to be a delight in every scene. The Bad: Again, the episode is too long. This has the necessary pieces to be great, but it is hampered by having so many storylines that have dragged out scenes. The experience is diminished by this. I am upset that the Hopper story is being dragged out even more. We know he will reunite with Joyce and there is nothing else that can surprise us along the way. I just want this aimless side story to resolve itself already. The cure to Vecna’s attack being music is a bit too convenient. The Unknown: Where will Jonathan, Will, Mike, and Argyle go now? Will Nancy and Robin be wanted for what they did? How will they get out of that situation? What happens now that Joyce and Murray are captured too? Is Victor’s house the same house that Vecna resides in in the Upside Down? Is Max safe from Vecna now? Why can’t he attack her again? Best Moment: Max escaping from Vecna was thrillingly tense and well put together. Character of the Episode: Max. Conclusion: An exciting and dramatic episode, even if it does feel overly long. Score: 66 Summary: Joyce and Murray go to Alaska. Hopper prepares a plan. El is arrested for what she did to Angela but she is pulled over by Dr. Owens who offers to get her powers back. The gang arrive at Fred’s crime scene where they meet with Nancy. Nancy and Robin investigate Victor Creel and discover that his family was killed by Vecna. Max, Steve, and Dustin break into the school to look at the counselor’s files. Max realizes that she is going to be the next victim. Lucas leaves Jason’s group.
The Good: This episode is really funny. There are lots of great comedy scenes, with a highlight being a Byers family dinner scene with Murray, which is great awkward humour. The rest of the episode utilizes character dynamics very well. We get plenty of great character interactions to keep things interesting, some old ones and some new ones too. From t e new ones, I’ll highlight Nancy and Robin’s story. I think it’s great to have two characters who don’t quite get along having a story together. It’s a unique dynamic. The reveal that Max is the next target was a great moment that raised the stakes significantly. The Bad: The plot development in this episode is classic 80s and fun to watch, but overly reliant on exposition. There also aren’t many surprises here, so the development isn’t that interesting. The Hopper story is progressing too slowly to be interesting. Nothing of note happens here. Jason’s group is boring. They are typical stupid jocks who do unrealistically terrible things. I’m still bothered by El’s story. The predictable result was for her to eventually get her powers back, and everything building up to this feels like a waste of time. More conflict between her and Mike does nothing for me. The Unknown: Will the military follow Dr. Owens to El? What is giving Vecna power? It seems like he has to be “fuelled” by something. How was he around back in 1959? Why was he dormant for so long after that? Will El be able to get her powers back? How will this happen? Did Lucas abandon his new friends to join the others? Best Moment: I’ll go with the funny dinner scene at the start of the episode. Lots of great awkward humour, which has become a staple of “Stranger Things”. Character of the Episode: Max. Conclusion: Another solid episode that hinges a lot on how funny it is. An enjoyable watch. Score: 60 Summary: Hopper has been captured and imprisoned in Russia. Joyce has been contacted by Enzo, a prison guard, who offers her a deal to save Hopper. She goes along with it. Max sees Chrissy’s body and tells Dustin that she suspects Eddie. Dustin goes to Steve and Robin, and the group find Eddie and he tells them what he saw, dubbing the new monster as Vecna. Mike arrives in California and goes on a date with El. Angela interrupts and bullies El until she snaps and smashes her head with a roller skate. Nancy and Fred investigate the murder to get a good story but Fred is attacked and killed by Vecna. Jason goes after Eddie for vengeance.
The Good: There’s some more fun stuff here. The fallout of Chrissy’s death gets the plot moving and we get some solid sequences in this episode. Fred is the next victim and the horror scenes are still effective. I particularly like how the Victor Creel story overlapped Fred’s experience. We haven’t seen much of Jonathan but his scene with Argyle was good comedy. Dustin is as great as ever as he immediately hops on the case. The Bad: While the scenes are all well made, several stories feel like filler at this point. Nancy and Jonathan don’t feel as important as they used to be, Joyce going after Hopper feels like an extended side story, and Steve and Robin feel like extraneous characters even though they are fun to watch together. This episode’s biggest fault is the Angela storyline, which is a cookie-cutter bully story with nothing interesting. There is plenty of dramatic exaggeration in these scenes and they do not work at all. I’m not at all interested in a Will/Mike conflict. It feels like the writers don’t know what to do with Will this season. Hopper’s survival feels really cheap. There was mystery built on how he survived, and the answer we’re given is that he just… survived. It’s absurd. The Unknown: Who was listening to the police reporting about Chrissy? How does Vecna choose his victims? Does he capitalize on past trauma? Would this make Max a possible candidate since she is still processing Billy’s death? What exactly do the Russians want from Hopper? Have they given up by imprisoning him? Will Joyce’s deal with Enzo go off without a hitch? Was it Hopper’s idea? Is there any substance to the Victor Creel story? Best Moment: Wayne’s story about Victor Creel was interesting to listen to. It’s neat to see how an average person would try to rationalize such a horrific sight. Character of the Episode: Nancy. Conclusion: Another decent episode, but this one was more flawed than the last with the same problems. Score: 54 Summary: A flashback shows Eleven murder many of the other child subjects in 1979. In the present, Will and El are adjusting to high school life. El is getting bullied by Angela. Joyce receives a doll in the mail and learns that Hopper is alive. Mike prepares to leave for California to meet El, and on his last day he finishes the school’s D&D campaign with Dustin, and the group’s leader Eddie. Lucas doesn’t attend and instead finds glory when he scores the winning goal for the school basketball team. Chrissy is having strange mental problems and goes to Eddie to get some drugs. At his house, she is brutally murdered by a new monster.
The Good: As always, the first episode of the season has some strong horror scenes. The opening and ending scenes are both unique, well produced, and very engaging. The horror in this series is always great. The show had fun reintroducing everyone and the scenes are mostly solid. Max’s grief stands out as she struggles to overcome her past trauma. I liked the intergroup conflict as Lucas finds himself preferring basketball to D&D, alienating Mike and Dustin. Eddie is a bit too much, but for now I will put him in The Good because he’s so damn fun. He’s funny, unpredictable, likeable, and entertaining. I enjoyed his presence. I liked the creativity that this episode had. Lots of clever editing and directing to make the most of the episode. The Bad: This was too long and that’s mainly because the episode is very slow. Some of the scenes here are frivolous (pretty much everything involving Steve/Robin and Nancy/Jonathan had no momentum or sense of relevance/direction), or overly stretched out (Joyce’s scenes, the needlessly stretched out D&D/basketball game scene). This show has always had extensive melodrama and that doesn’t change here. While the conflict between Lucas/the others is actually logical and has been set up, much of the rest feels overly dramatic and tacked on. El’s bullying for example is really bad to watch. The plot is uninspired and unoriginal, and it feels like it is adding nothing to the story. The Unknown: When did El kill everyone? Why didn’t she remember this? This feels like such a strange addition to the show. How did Hopper send the doll to Joyce? Why? What is this monster that killed Chrissy? How did it get to her? Why did it kill her? Who is next? Will Lucas choose his new friends over his old ones? Is Will gay? Who is that painting for? Best Moment: The ending sequence is superb, disgusting horror. Character of the Episode: Eddie. Conclusion: This was a pretty good season premiere, even if it was overly long and melodramatic at times. Score: 60 Summary: A new threat arrives in Hawkins: Vecna. He kills Chrissy and Eddie is framed for the murder. Dustin, Max, Steve, and Robin start investigating and eventually recruit Nancy when her partner Fred is also killed. They learn more information about Vecna and realize Max is his next victim. They discover that music gives her a way out and they save her using her favourite song. The group discovers a new gate in Hawkins and they hatch a plan to defeat Vecna. Meanwhile, El is bullied in LA and gets arrested after an outburst. She is then taken by Dr. Owens to restore her powers and she revisits her memories. Her memories reveal that Vecna is One, another test subject, and that El banished him to the Upside Down. El regains her powers and assists in the plan to fight Vecna. El manages to defeat Vecna, but Eddie is killed and Max is comatose. Vecna manages to open up an enormous gate in Hawkins despite being defeated. Meanwhile, Joyce learns that Hopper is alive and goes to Russia with Murray to save him. Hopper is in prison and makes a deal with Dmitri to escape, but the plan goes wrong. Joyce and Murray infiltrate the prison and save him.
The Good: Season 4 felt like a return to form for "Stranger Things" with horror and mystery once more taking center stage to make for the most engaging and interesting season since the first. Mystery and horror were what initially made this show so unique, so I was extremely pleased to see it take center stage again, at least in the Hawkins storyline. The deaths were all done in an unsettling and terrifying way to play up the horror, and there was a genuine mystery to uncover surrounding Vecna, his history, and his powers. Because of this, the story in Hawkins was easily the best part of the season, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everything unfold. As for the specific characters, Max's story was a definite stand-out. She's been one of the more forgettable new additions to the show, but her arc in this season was excellent. It was a powerful story about how easy it is to get lost in grief, and about the importance of staying open with the people that you are close to. It's an optimistic and beautiful story which allows Sadie Sink some time to shine, and nicely incorporates Lucas, giving him a greater purpose as her love interest to further the themes of the story. This is a big step up since in previous seasons Lucas and Max simply felt like an additional couple because the show had no idea what to do with these characters. This season gave Max and Lucas some great moments to shine. The episode "Dear Billy" was a stand-out for this story as it focused on Max's arc and featured a wonderfully tense scene as Max manages to escape from Vecna with her life in very real danger. Another highlight is the conclusion of Max's story. Max ending up comatose is a sad yet fitting conclusion for the season. Max has learned to value the people around her, and Lucas has stood by her ever since she almost died, but they don't get a happy ending. It's a win for Vecna, which creates a somber feeling of loss to conclude the season. It's a downer ending that sets up nicely for the final season. The other characters in Hawkins are a lot of fun too. Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Robin are as fun as ever and I thoroughly enjoyed their interactions with each other. This is a good crew of protagonists to experience the mystery through. Nancy is clever and resourceful, Steve has heart and is unabashedly loyal, Dustin is the brains but also offers a lot of witty comedy, and Robin is the new recruit who is a bit of a wild card in terms of what she does and what she figures out. The characters play off of each other well and they are a good unit. But the standout character in my opinion is Eddie. Eddie isn't always there, but he is a breath of fresh air. He's portrayed well and is immediately likeable as a charismatic and unexpectedly well-rounded quirky character with a good character arc. Eddie is a good guy, but he starts the season running away instead of taking any risks, and as the season goes on, he gradually learns from everyone else about the value of being a hero. This leads to a great story in the season finale where Eddie decides that he is going to be a hero, and he gives his life to ensure Vecna's defeat. It's a simple arc, but effective mainly because of how well-written and well-cast Eddie was. The LA story isn't as effective as the one in Hawkins, but it has its moments. Specifically with El as she goes to recover her powers. This was always going to be her story for the season, and it was surprisingly engaging to experience El's suppressed memories, uncovering what exactly happened. I'll talk more about Ballard/Vecna later, and I'll instead focus on what this means for El as a character. The show teased that El's violent streak as we saw with Angela may be a lot more sinister than what we expected, and this story forced El to come to terms with who she really is. The twist is that it turns out that El actually doesn't have to accept that she's a violent brute, but to acknowledge that she is still a good person even if she happens to be violent at times. At heart, El is not a murderer, and it gives her more personal clarity when she realizes that, allowing her to confidently re-emerge with her powers. Another bit of depth to this story comes from El's relationship with Dr. Brenner. Brenner's return is a bit absurd (seriously, HOW is he alive?), but it is good to see the toxic nature of his relationship with El once again, emphasizing El's need to break away from any sort of relationship with him. Brenner's death scene is excellent because he does love El and he gives his life to save her, but El does not give him emotional satisfaction, because Brenner's love was misguided and he never cared about El as a person. Seeing El break free from his manipulations at the end was fitting and emotional. The rest of the LA story isn't much to write about, but I did like the introduction of Argyle, who offers some much-needed comic relief. He is the kind of character that could get tiresome extremely fast, but the show uses him sparingly and gets the most out of him. Now, I'm going to talk about Vecna, arguably the best thing about this fourth season. After three seasons of having monsters as the main villains, it is so refreshing to have an active character take over the role of the big bad. Vecna was fantastic in this role because it was immediately clear that he was more sentient than the Demorgorgon and Mind Flayer, making the character an interesting hook for the season. We spend much of the season gradually learning more and more about Vecna, until in the midseason finale we finally learn everything about him. And I won't lie, Vecna completely exceeded my expectations. The series of reveals about who he is was glorious, and I would be surprised if anybody watching managed to connect every single dot about who he is before that episode. Even with the reveals, what pleased me most was how directly connected Vecna was to El. This connection gives El a personal reason to take him down, given that she was the one who freed him and trapped him in the Upside Down. Furthermore, Vecna is extremely powerful and intimidating because of how unstoppable he is. He carries an enormous threat factor, and there is a palpable sense of danger when he is on screen. That's the sign of a good villain, one who is certainly worth building an entire season around. The decision to bring in Vecna as a villain is certainly one of the best writing decisions in this season, and I am excited to see where this character goes in season 5. The comedy and character interactions are a high point of this season. Almost every character is fun to watch, and there are plenty of laughs to go around in every episode. Whether it's Argyle being woefully uninformed, Dustin being a witty asshole, Robin getting freaked out, or something totally different, the show manages to make you laugh consistently. Comedy is an essential aspect of almost every TV show, and I think that "Stranger Things" nailed it in this season. The characters continue to develop fun relationships. While not every relationship is a winner, I did end up caring about a lot of the new connections in this season. Joyce teaming with Murray was lots of fun, Dustin's relationship with Eddie was a joy, and I liked the new connection between Nancy and Robin. This show always does a good job of making its characters connect with each other, and this fourth season is no exception to that. The presentation this season is better than it has ever been. Even with the excessive length, this season looks better than the previous three with hugely impressive special effects, tremendous editing, and memorable directing choices that gave this season some extra visual flair. I have no doubt that this is the best looking season of "Stranger Things", and every episode offers some sort of impressive looking sequence to watch. The Bad: This season's biggest problem is its length. Not that it's 9 episodes long, but that every episode is at least 60 minutes long, with several being much, much longer than that. The average episode is 75 minutes, and in some extreme cases, the episodes are even longer than that, with the season finale being nearly two and a half hours! This is way too much. TV shows are meant to be hour-long for a reason, because it is tough to craft engaging episode-long stories that can remain interesting for more than one hour. That is the problem that plagued "Stranger Things" this season. It was very rare that an episode in this season was consistently engaging for its entire runtime. Every episode had scenes that either went too long, or felt unnecessary to the show as a whole. This made it tougher to keep engaged with the story being told, and it brought down the quality of the season overall. Had the Duffer Brothers not overindulged into the story, this would have been a stronger season. One reason for this season being so long-winded is because the show is now bloated with characters. Every season introduces new characters, and that becomes a problem when the show is not removing characters at the same time. The result is that there are far too many characters who are being given storylines, leading to an excessive amount of storylines. Several characters felt extraneous this season. Robin feels like the odd character out in Hawkins because she isn't doing very much of note, and her main story is a romance that I'm not interested in. Steve and Nancy are teased heavily as well because the show is forced to give them a story. Meanwhile, the LA story suffers because nobody there is interesting. Jonathan, Will, and Mike all have nothing to do this season, and the characters are all spinning their wheels, making for a storyline that feels somewhat pointless overall. The worst offender is Will, whose whole story is bent on the fact that he may or may not be gay with a crush on Mike. The season spends nine episodes toeing around this, and doesn't even make any progress because it is never confirmed! This was immensely frustrating, and despite Noah Schnapp doing a really good job, he can't save a storyline that spends more time teasing than actively progressing. The worst result from having so many characters is that some storylines feel pointless, and as I mentioned before, that's exactly what happened. The LA story is the biggest example since nothing about it is important outside of El. I was always itching to get back to the main story whenever we spent time with the LA group. Even worse is the Russia storyline. Joyce reuniting with Hopper always should have been resolved in a single episode, but instead we ended up witnessing a season-long side story as Joyce saved Hopper. This story was nowhere near interesting enough to justify how much time was spent on it, and it had absolutely zero relevance to the main plot. Sure, there were some good scenes, but this story desperately needed to be condensed and streamlined because it was limited in storytelling, and uninteresting the entire way through. Much like with the LA storyline, I was always eager to get back to Hawkins whenever we spent time with Joyce, Murray, and Hopper. It's a bit of a shame because I did like Dmitri and Yuri as side characters, but we spent far too much time in this storyline for me to fully appreciate the few good things about it. This show has a bit of a problem with how it develops its plot. I noticed this about halfway through the season. It happens so often where the plot develops because a character intuitively happens to figure out exactly what they need to figure out to move on to the next situation. A lot happens because of coincidence and characters getting lucky, and when it keeps happening back to back, the plot becomes completely uninteresting and even frustrating. Its been a flaw in previous seasons, and it still is not fixed here. Best Episodes: E04 Dear Billy: This episode was powerful, mainly because of Max's excellent storyline as she stared down death. There was great suspense and emotion throughout this episode. E07 The Massacre at Hawkins Lab: One of the show's best ever episodes, mainly due to the superb Vecna reveal, and a surprisingly strong sequence of scenes in Russia. E08 Papa: A strong episode of set-up that was aided by the emotional significance of El finally standing up to Brenner. Worst Episodes: E02 Vecna's Curse: The second episode of the season was plagued by the silly Angela storyline, and the feeling that some of these side stories were pure filler. E05 The Nina Project: "Stranger Things" doesn't do well when it has episodes with limited character scenes and focuses on accelerated plot developments. This was one of those weaker episodes. E09 The Piggyback: This episode had good content, it was just way, way, way too long. It's a shame because the story was really good, I was just utterly exhausted by the time the episode ended. The execution let this down. Character of the Season: Eddie. Conclusion: Season 4 was a mixed season, like every season of "Stranger Things", but I think that it was easily the most enjoyable since the first. This season was ambitious, took risks, and had some really memorable moments. It did have the major flaw of being far too long and poorly paced, but if you can overlook that, almost everything here was really good and this season provided the exact sort of popcorn-flick entertainment that I'm looking for when watching a show like "Stranger Things". This season was never going to be great, or a masterpiece, or anything like that. But it was adequate entertainment and I have no regrets watching it. Summary: El removes the bit of the Mind Flayer in her leg but she finds that her powers have vanished. Hopper's group arrives and they form a plan. Joyce, Murray and Hopper go to the Russian lab to infiltrate it while Steve and Robin drive Dustin and Erica to Weathertop so that Dustin can help them navigate. The others attempt to leave to go somewhere safe but Billy destroys their car and they are trapped. The Mind Flayer shows up and gets into the mall. Some of the kids manage to escape from the Mind Flayer and Steve and Robin arrive to help drive them away. Hopper and Joyce infiltrate the Russians and they prepare to turn off the key. The terminator shows up and fights Hopper at the key. Billy finds Mike, Max and El and he captures El. The Mind Flayer comes back to kill her but Billy's memories reawaken and he sacrifices himself. Hopper kills the terminator and sacrifices himself so that Joyce can close the gate. The Mind Flayer dies. Three months later, the Byers family moves out of Hawkins with El. Mike and El confess their love for each other. Steve and Robin find a movie store to work at together. El reads Hopper's letter about the heart to heart conversation he was supposed to have before she leaves.
The Good: Despite my gripes about this season, I thought that it hit something special in the finale, particularly with the final few scenes. After 7 episodes, the show finally captured the emotions of growing up and moving on, themes that the season had tried toying with before. Everything came together with these final scenes as the show impressively conveyed a wide range of different situations where characters were forced to move on from their past lives. Some were easy and familiar like Steve and Robin locating a new store to work at. Some were filled with optimism like Erica getting Will's D&D set. Others were extremely tough and emotional like El missing Hopper and Max struggling to accept Billy's death. And some were bittersweet like the Byers family having to abandon their old lives to discover a new place in the world. The entire sequence was heartfelt, and adding Hopper's voiceover did a brilliant job of adding to the intense emotion that was conveyed here. I can say with certainty that this sequence was the best that "Stranger Things" has ever been and it could easily work as a series finale because of the sense of finality that it had. The reunion at Starcourt was a lot of fun and it made sense for everybody to finally end up together in the season finale. The episode had a sense of unity between all of the storylines and I enjoyed how all of the various storylines interacted with the others. This episode felt like more of a complete story than every other episode before it. I also enjoyed the following scenes of the kids hiding from the Mind Flayer. The scenes were quite tense and I thought they were well executed for the most part. Then in the other half of the episode, we had a totally different story as Murray, Hopper and Joyce sneakily infiltrated the Russian fortress. The contrast worked and it felt like I was watching 2 unique climaxes which gave the episode a fresh feeling. The ending ended up being really poignant with the dual sacrifices coming from both stories. Billy's death was sad and it felt like a fitting, heroic way for Billy to go out. Hopper's death was much sadder and it only added to the gutpunch of Billy's death by having Hopper die just a few moments after Billy. Both deaths coupled with each other made the final victory over the Mind Flayer feel much more triumphant and hard-earned. The Suzie moment was very unexpected and it ended up being a surprisingly sweet comedy moment. Having Dustin and Suzie sing The Neverending Story was wonderful, and it worked as an emotional moment and also a comedic moment as the show kept showing everyone's confused faces as they listened in to the song. There were a few fun moments scattered throughout the episode. I loved The Cutting Edge show as it caught us up on what happened after the timeskip in a unique and thoroughly entertaining way. I also really liked the scene between Hopper and Joyce where they set themselves up a date, providing some nice pay-off for their season-long story. The Bad: I had some logistical problems with this as usual. The Mind Flayer seems much more interested in roaring and seeming threatening instead of actually killing El and the kids. This took away my investment because I was confident that the Mind Flayer will be defeated and having it be an incapable villain only amplified that feeling. Furthermore, I found it hard to believe that nobody saw or heard the Mind Flayer causing chaos all throughout the city. And also, the sheer amount of last minute saves made me confident that everyone would always be saved which didn't allow me to get as invested in every scene as I could have been. I was disappointed that the immediate fallout of the Mind Flayer was just glossed over. It would have been nice to see how everyone explained what happened to the public. Additionally, I was annoyed that we never got to see what happened to all of the other possessed people. Did they die? Were there clones that existed like we were shown in "The Mall Rats" or was that just something else? To not get these questions answered was pretty disappointing. How did the army get into the base? Did they all fit in that elevator? It's way too easy to get into the Russian fortress. It's the 1980s and the Star Wars prequels don't exist yet. So why is the first Star Wars movie called "A New Hope"? That name shouldn't exist yet. It's a small gripe, I know, but for a show that's usually so good with its 80s references, this is unusually sloppy. The Unknown: Why have El's powers vanished? Will they come back? What happened to all of the possessed people? Are they dead? Interesting mid-credits scene. Is Hopper still alive and is he the prisoner? Will the Russians play a role in season 4? Where does the series go now? This episode felt like a series finale in a lot of ways. Is there more story to be told? How can the show continue the story for another season? Best Moment: The final sequence was incredibly emotional. It's so impressive how the show nailed the feelings of growing up. There were so many varying examples of this, and that means that there is at least one moment in this sequence that any viewer can relate to and understand. Character of the Episode: Hopper. Conclusion: This was an exciting episode and it served as a fun conclusion to the season. But that phenomenal ending sequence turned this into the best "Stranger Things" episode yet and it worked as a tremendous closing scene. I do wonder where the show can go after this. As a whole, this season was disappointing. The characters were very different from prior seasons and a lot of the season's writing was uninspired, repetitive and boring. Still, the season was a fun watch overall like the previous two. And much like the previous two, I'll conclude by saying that I had fun watching this, but I don't see myself ever being motivated to watch this season again. Score: 68 Summary: The kids remain at the house where they fight the Mind Flayer. El is injured badly but they escape. As El recovers at a store, Dustin calls Mike on the walkie. Dustin and Erica get Steve and Robin out but they are trapped in the mall with the Russians closing in. Steve confesses his love for Robin but Robin reveals that she is lesbian. The Russians find their location and the team is trapped, but the other kids return and El kills the Russians. El then collapses in pain from her wound which has started to convulse. Hopper and Joyce go searching through the Independence Day festival to find the kids. They are unsuccessful and Kline notices them. The terminator arrives and kills Alexei. Hopper, Joyce and Murray eventually escape and head to the mall.
The Good: Steve and Robin were once again this episode's saving grace. Their scenes were extremely well done. At first, it seemed like their interactions existed solely for comedy as they were high as a kite and were just saying a bunch of stupid, funny stuff. But then their interactions took a surprisingly poignant turn with Steve confessing his feelings for Robin and Robin then having the tough task of refusing him. The moment was impressively emotional and I felt really bad for Steve who had to suffer losing the girl he loves yet again. But what was most striking to me was how quickly Steve and Robin were able to move on and keep their friendship intact, showing their maturity and demonstrating the closeness of their bond which has developed in such a short amount of time. It was a beautiful scene and it paid off of their season-long story in a beautiful way. The Hopper/Joyce story had a few good moments. The action sequence at the fair was pretty creative and it had its fair share of tense moments. I got a laugh out of Murray doing his thing where he predicts people's lives with striking accuracy once again. It was stupid (see: The Bad), yet it was still funny. The Bad: "Stranger Things" still hasn't figured out how to handle a season's climax. This show has been consistently good at heating up storylines with intriguing mystery and some surprising twists, but when it comes to providing an action-packed climax, the show has been consistently disappointing. That trend continues here as this episode completely failed in all of its big action scenes, and without the allure of mystery keeping me engaged, that gave this episode very little content that actually interested me. The Mind Flayer action sequence for example was absolutely atrocious. I never felt any tension because I knew that everyone would escape okay (this clearly wasn't the big climactic confrontation), and as a result, I found myself screaming in frustration at all of the absurd, convenient moments during this action sequence. For one, it makes no sense that everyone would not immediate;y leave the house when they learned that the Mind Flayer knew their location. Instead they perplexingly barred the doors and chose to make a final stand, which ended in them all running away anyways. Why didn't they just run away before? Why didn't anybody bring this up as an idea? I have no clue. Worse yet is the mechanics of the battle itself. The Mind Flayer doesn't immediately go for the kill for whatever reason and everything is set up purely to create the most drama, rather than making any sense. The Mind Flayer can send in multiple tendrils, yet it only starts with one. Then, it doesn't attack El right away, which makes little sense considering that El is its prime target. Another stupidity is that El takes forever to start using her powers. It's like she decided to give everyone else a chance to fight beforehand which is very stupid. And why didn't the Mind Flayer just send in a third tendril to kill El? After all she only has two hands to fight with. Then we have the Mind Flayer pointlessly just poking its head in and roaring until El could explode it, which is a perfect case of the villain becoming suddenly incapable so that the heroes could escape. Also, El was wounded pretty deeply, I find it highly unlikely that she didn't bleed out before they group arrived at the store. Murray's accurate estimation on Joyce and Hopper's relationship still feels too cartoony. It's also not as funny as the first time it happened in the last season. Thankfully, his intervention did stop the endless bickering between Joyce and Hopper which had gotten old 2 or 3 episodes ago. The scenes at the fair had their dumb moments. Joyce going back to punch Kline was a dumb action hero trope. Alexei's death didn't really work for me. His character hadn't been developed enough to make losing him feel sad. Furthermore, I can't believe that he died without anybody in the fair noticing. News flash, even if a gun has a silencer on it, you can still hear the gunshot if your close to it! Furthermore, did nobody stumble upon the dead body which was just around the corner from everything? That should be enough to send everybody into a huge panic. The Unknown: What is happening to El's leg? Will she lose her leg in the next episode? Or is the Mind Flayer starting to take over her mind? The story seems to be setting up for a big final confrontation at Starcourt Mall with all the major players heading there. What is going to happen? Will the gate be closed? Will the Mind Flayer attack the Russians too? What happens to Kline in the next episode? What is his character's resolution? If the Mind Flayer is killed, will all of the Flayed be returned to their normal lives? Or do they die too? Best Moment: Steve's confession to Robin. Character of the Episode: I gave it to Steve last episode, so I'll give it to Robin this time. Conclusion: "Stranger Things" still hasn't quite figured out how to do big climaxes and it shows with this episode. Outside of the one brilliant Steve and Robin scene, this was a major disappointment and it feels like this season is going to end on a real low point. Score: 47 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 Summary: Joyce and Hopper find a secret underground Russian base that they investigate. The man whoa attacked Hopper at Hawkins lab returns to kill them. Joyce and Hopper escape with a hostage, Alexei. Hopper takes them to Murray's place. Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica find themselves in a secret Russian facility. They quietly sneak around and discover a massive machine. Nancy tells Jonathan about Mrs. Driscoll and she speaks with the kids about it. They all figure out that the Mind Flayer has possessed tons of people and is doing it at a specific location. Nancy plans to follow Mrs. Driscoll back to this location so they all go to the hospital. At the hospital, Jonathan and Nancy find that Mrs. Driscoll is gone an dBruce and Tom are waiting for them. They fight and kill Tom and Bruce who melt into goo and transform into a monster.
The Good: The best thing about this episode is that it was very entertaining. There is loads of action, the comedy is fantastic, and the pacing is rapid. A lot happens here, and it is fun to watch. Joyce and Hopper's story starts with a bang with an exciting action sequence that sets up the story for the rest of the episode. They go on an episode-long journey with new character Alexei, who is a fun addition with entertaining mannerisms, but the episode is still pretty serious as they are chased by a Terminator-like villain who is right behind them. The story is fun and there are several funny moments like the commandeering of the convertible car, Joyce accidentally throwing the gun to the bad guy, and Hopper screaming at Joyce to drive over and over again. The Mrs. Driscoll plot is really strong as well. Like the Hopper/Joyce story, this is filled with comedy and some pretty important plot details which are given out early in the episode. The story reaches its climax with a really fun action/horror sequence as Nancy and Jonathan battle Tom and Bruce, though they do so differently than they may have expected. This leads into a shocking final scene as a monster is born out of Tom and Bruce's remains, leaving us on a pretty good cliffhanger. We also get a nice moment of Jonathan and Nancy making up, which was a solid scene that nicely addressed the tension between them. The Dustin/Steve story is also really fun. There are a number of fun setpieces, exciting moments, and big reveals. It's good for all of the same reasons that the other 2 stories are good. As a whole, all three storylines are moving the story forwards in the same way and at the same pace. As a side note, I really liked the transition from Hopper, Joyce and Alexei in the woods to El watching them. This show has gotten a little more creative with its cinematography. The Bad: The biggest issue with this episode is how little character work there is. The episode is far too busy with too many plot movements, and as a result there are fewer character beats infused into the action than usual. I enjoy some action and plot development as much as anyone else, but I certainly prefer there to be a character story told throughout. The result of a lack of character means that this episode doesn't have much under the surface of the suspense. The mystery of early in the season is nearly gone, so all the tension comes from the action setpieces which is too simple of a story to carry an episode. The characters are given very basic things to do and there isn't very much conflict for any of them to deal with throughout the episode. I had a few problems with this. Robin seems to have somehow picked up on the Russian language immediately which is too quick for my liking. I still don't understand why the elevator decided to go down at the beginning of the episode, and it seems that there is no explanation. That's pretty stupid. Lastly, the terminator villain is a little too ridiculous for me. The Unknown: What does Alexei know? Will he tell Hopper and Joyce anything? What is with that goo at the end? Are the possessed people actually just goo and not the actual people? Have they somehow been replaced by monsters? How does this work? What is that monster at the end? How did it form like that? How many of these monsters are there? What is going to happen to Nancy and Jonathan? Best Moment: Nancy and Jonathan getting back together was the only scene of the episode thta actually made me feel something. Character of the Episode: Hopper. Conclusion: This was entertaining, but it was lacking in character. I had fun watching this episode, but there is nothing more than ordinary TV drama here. Score: 58 Summary: Hopper and Joyce track the mystery assailant back to Kline and they confront him about it. Hopper kidnaps him and gets him to reveal that the culprits were the owners of Starcourt mall who are buying out various properties. Hopper and Joyce go to investigate but Kline warns the owners. The kids get back together when Will informs them that the Mind Flayer is back. Max and El suspect that Billy is possessed so they lure him into a sauna to test it. They confirm that Billy is possessed but Billy nearly kills El. Eventually Billy runs back to Heather and many other possessed townsfolk. Jonathan and Nancy are fired and they fight. Nancy goes to investigate more on Mrs. Driscoll. Robin, Steve and Dustin send Erica to infiltrate the room they found. She does so and lets them in. They discover that the room is an elevator and accidentally trigger it.
The Good: This episode was pretty explosive and I enjoyed it. The climax of the episode was brilliant and it provided an effective action sequence for early in the season's story. I thought that the plan to get Billy into the sauna made sense, and I enjoyed the drama once he was in there. Billy's begging was fascinating and created tension in an organic way. I was never sure if it was Billy actually talking or if it was just the Mind Flayer possessing him. The fight between Billy and El ended up being really intense, and it nicely demonstrated the overwhelming power of the Mind Flayer, setting up the story with a sense of impending doom as we learn that the Mind Flayer is building an army of superhumans like Billy. Nancy and Jonathan's story finally went somewhere I liked. Having them both get fired was a nice way to force change for the characters. It makes sense that their secret investigations would go unpunished when they were in high school (they are just kids), but in the adult world they are severely penalized for acting on their own without any thought. Nancy's follow-up story is great as her fight with Jonathan forces her to really look at herself as a person to get past this rough patch in her life. I was impressed with how the show managed to portray Nancy in a really relatable light, accurately conveying the emotions that a girl in her position would be feeling. Having the kids back together was fun, and their story in this episode was much better than the split stories of previous episodes. They have great chemistry together, but when they are on their own, the spark is missing. I especially liked how the tensions between characters continued on in their interactions despite them working together. The scenes between El and Mike, and Will and Lucas in particular were quite good. I like that Kline returned as a much more significant character than he initially seemed. He was never portrayed as a likable guy, so it was smart to have him return as a weak villain. I enjoyed Hopper's fight with him, and I really liked that Hopper took Kline with him to get information instead of just leaving him. The Bad: But then Hopper inexplicably leaves Kline in his own house so that he can contact his men. It's such a dumb move from Hopper, made worse by the fact that he was smart enough to take Kline with him earlier in the episode but not at the end. I'm not enjoying Erica at all. Robin toed the line for being an obnoxious character due to the fact that she frequently had the answer for just about everything. However, her great chemistry with Steve and Dustin made her an enjoyable character who didn't annoy me at all. With Erica, the writers send her way over the line as she annoys me in just about every scene she is in. Her personality is extremely hard to buy into for a child, and the fact that this little kid has all of the answers is much more annoying than with Robin. I don't like her as a new character to focus on, and I hope she goes back into the background soon. This show still doesn't quite engage me like other shows. It's fun to watch in the moment, but I'm never left spending much time reflecting on the episodes or desiring to watch them again. The show is only able to really hit "good" in terms of quality, and it never seems to transcend that. I think it has something to do with the show's format and its simplistic nature of storytelling. There's nothing wrong with simple storytelling, but this show just seems to do it in a very bland way. The Unknown: Is the Mind Flayer really just a remnant from season 2 like Will said? Or is its emergence connected to the Russians? Who are the Starcourt owners? What are they buying? Why is it so secretive? Are they the Russians? Why is Kline okay with what they are doing? What are they hiding that Kline had to warn them about? Where does the elevator lead? Why was Mrs. Driscoll getting the same body texture as Billy? Is the Mind Flayer also connected to the rats? Why was she freaking out like Billy? Is it a case where every possessed human gets a power-up at the same time, not just one? Was Billy actually indifferent to what the Mind Flayer was doing or is he actively working for it? Billy's scenes in "The Mall Rats" are purposely left vague for us to speculate about this. Best Moment: Nancy speaking with her mom and finding her strength again was a nice moment. Character of the Episode: Nancy. Conclusion: This was a good episode, giving Nancy some much-needed character development and providing an exciting climax. Score: 63 Summary: Hopper is mad at Joyce for standing him up. Joyce eventually convinces him to check out Hawkins Lab. They are attacked by a mystery assailant who knocks Hopper out and leaves. Dustin, Steve and Robin search for evil Russians. Robin eventually cracks the code and the trio watch a group of Russians accept a shipment. They are almost caught but they escape. El sees Billy while playing a game with Max and realizes that he is doing something questionable. They track down that Heather is missing and pay her a visit but everything is strangely fine. After they leave, Billy and Heather knock out Heather's parents. Will and Mike get in a fight when Mike is way more interested in girls that his friendship with Will. Will leaves and destroys Castle Byers in a fit of rage. He senses the return of the Mind Flayer. Nancy and Jonathan return to Mrs. Driscoll where they find her consuming the fertilizer.
The Good: This episode benefited from terrific structuring. It's impressive how every single storyline in this episode started off as dumb fun before building up to a super creepy sequence which culminates in a major reveal that nicely establishes the season's story. The perfect way that every story flowed, and the way that the writers got all the stories to fit into one another was downright impressive and it made for what is easily the season's best episode so far. El and Max's story is pretty good. I love the way that El accidentally stumbles on Billy's sinister actions. Of course the two teenage girls would abuse El's powers just for fun, and I love how the fun and games quickly turned into something sinister. There were a couple of excellent sequences here. El's bathtub scenes are always really well shot to convey creepiness and fear of the unknown. The scene with Billy and Heather at Heather's house worked really well too simply because of how odd and unexpected it was. It had its flaws for sure (see: The Bad), but I think that it worked pretty well. Robin, Steve and Dustin are simply excellent and their chemistry is fantastic. I had tons of fun with their storyline and the humour was simply great. Steve and Dustin's awful attempt at following the "evil Russian guy" was hilarious, and the payoff gag of him being a dancing teacher was awesome. Additionally, we have been treated to the wonderful arc of Steve failing to adjust to real life after leaving high school. Steve has consistently been given more depth than half of the cast. The Mike vs Will story is heartbreaking and I think it works really well. What makes it so good is that both characters have understandably gone in different directions with their lives and those differences have started to cost them their friendship. Will is sad because Mike no longer has any time for him and is so fixated on girls, while Mike is upset that Will doesn't understand how much he does care about El and how her dumping him has affected him. I've felt that this season hasn't done a very good job of examining the pains of growing up until now with this storyline. It's hard not to feel for Will who has to go through the tough act of leaving his childhood behind. Noah Schnapp puts in a fantastic performance (he remains my favourite kid actor on the show by far), and the scene where he destroys Castle Byers is particularly poignant. Joyce and Hopper's infiltration of Hawkins lab is fine television overall, but what really stands out is the reveal that Joyce is planning to leave Hawkins as a desperate bid to escape the horrors of her past. This is such a real emotion and it's easy to sympathize with Joyce. Additionally, Hopper finally comes off as a good guy in this season when he talks to Joyce about her decision with some kindness and caring. This is the guy I liked in seasons 1 and 2, not the stupid over-protective dad role that the show has thrust David Harbour into. The Bad: The mystery this season just isn't as engaging as it was before. I guess it's because we already know so much, so the thrill that was there in season 1 doesn't have a chance to return in this season. It becomes clear that the Mind Flayer is behind everything so his return isn't as big of a moment as the show thinks. It's also the most predictable direction to take the show, so I really hope there are some twists to this. Some of the main stories are hard to invest in. Hopper and Joyce's argument is really dumb and I was annoyed by Joyce's refusal to acknowledge how she left Hopper. Not having her even mention it at all was way too blunt and it made her seem like a total jerk. Their story was probably the least engaging to watch overall. Nancy and Jonathan are still horribly dull as characters. The Hawkins Post guys are somehow even worse as they are one-note "bad guys" who do the same shtick in every episode. Unfortunately they aren't funny so the gag has already run its course and has started to annoy me more than anything else. I wish the Mike vs Will story had gotten more focus in the prior episodes. The big moment of their fight is excellent, but I feel like it could have been so much more had it the fight been the boiling point of a conflict which had been given time to actually grow in the first two episodes. The writers also heavily botched the characters of Mike and Lucas this season as they come off as far too unlikable, and it's hard to sympathize with their cause instead of Will's. The Unknown: What is the ice for? The Mind Flayer? How was Heather taken down from the bath tub? Was that just a cool effect? Did Mrs. Driscoll get infected by the remains of the rat? Why is she eating fertilizer now? What are the Russians smuggling into the mall? Who attacked Hopper? Was it a Russian? Are Billy and Heather both possessed by the Mind Flayer? It seems like he is building an army of possessed people this time around. Best Moment: Will destroying Castle Byers was such a heartbreaking moment. It's a wonderful moment showing how life forces change regardless of who you are and how tough it can be to accept that people will go their different ways and that you need to move on. Character of the Episode: Will. Conclusion: This was a much stronger episode with some emotional moments and phenomenal structure and pacing. I still had my usual laundry list of gripes, but this was a fun episode. Score: 65 Summary: Mike tells El he can't see her today and makes an excuse but El can tell that he is lying. Mike goes to Lucas for help while El goes to Max for help. They all end up sending the day at the mall but at the end of the day they encounter each other. El dumps Mike for lying too much. Dustin goes to Steve to help decipher the transmission he picked up. Robin helps them and they realize that it's a code. Steve deduces that the transmission actually came from the mall. Hopper sets up a date with Joyce but Joyce doesn't show up because she has gone to Mr. Clarke for information about the magnets that keep falling. Billy returns but he isn't himself. He kidnaps a fellow lifeguard and takes her to the same monster that attacked him. Nancy and Jonathan investigate the mysterious rats.
The Good: The comedy was much better in this episode and I laughed a few times. The same goes for the character work that was done, and even the development of the plot. This episode improved everything that made me dislike the season premier so much and it served as a much better way to get me into this season. The El/Mike/Hopper story remains really stupid (see: The Bad), but it's certainly fun to watch in this episode. The awkward phone call between El and Mike was hilarious, and the reveal that Mrs. Wheeler was listening in the entire time did make me laugh. Mike's lies were quite terrible, and it makes sense that El would figure out that something is up. The branching storylines with the guys and girls were pretty good. I thought that the characters were all defined much better in this episode, and each of them served a prominent role in showing how everyone grew up and what kind of people they became. Plus, the mall sequences were very well shot and I liked the idea of ending the episode at the climactic point of El dumping Mike. It's a really fun moment because it nicely captures the reality of what pre-teen romances are like. Steve, Dustin and Robin definitely steal the show. The team has wonderful chemistry and I really enjoyed their conversations. Watching them decipher the transmission was fun and I liked that all three of them got to inject parts of their character into their conversations without any of them coming off poorly. Billy's story is really interesting, and the editing during his scenes was masterfully done. His insanity is shown really well and it's easy to understand why he is behaving so strangely and we can easily see what it wrong with him. The sequences with him are pretty horrific to watch, but very gripping nevertheless. The return of Mr. Clarke was fantastic, and I lived the use of "My Bologna" when he re-entered the story. His advice to Joyce was good, and I liked that Joyce continually asked good questions to give us the necessary information to try to theorize what could be going on with the magnets. The Bad: There were still problems with this. All of the lies were horribly unconvincing and I was left wondering why many of the characters decided to lie anyways. Mike's poor lies, while funny, felt extremely forced and I don't think he could have convinced my two year old cousin that he was telling the truth. I understand that this is the point, but I find it highly illogical that he would lie so poorly, especially after two seasons where the kids were forced to lie to just about everybody. Hopper's lies to Joyce were also terrible. Surely he understands that she is going to figure out the truth eventually. It's implausible that only Joyce would notice the problem with the magnets. It has happened to Joyce in two different locations, which likely means that it is happening all over Hawkins. Everyone would notice this, so why is Joyce the only one who is reacting? The idea of Dustin hearing a transmission all the way from Russia on his walkie would be nonsensical. That's why I'm confused that the range of the walkie wasn't used to decipher the fact that the transmission happened in Hawkins. It makes much more sense to go that route than to have Steve amazingly realize that one random tune from a ride is the exact sound that was playing during the transmission. Nancy and Jonathan's story is ridiculously dull. We don't learn any new information from their trip (aside from the fact that the rat remains are sentient), and their mission is ridiculously boring. It doesn't further the plot and it doesn't teach us anything new about their characters which makes it a dud of a storyline. Honestly, why is Will even tagging along with the others if he never talks to them and only asks if they can play D&D? The way he is ignored in every scene should really have ended his friendship with Lucas and Mike a long time ago. The Unknown: What happened to Billy? How was there a clone of him in the Upside Down? Are there clones of everyone? What does he plan to do with the lifeguard? Is he trying to raise an army of clones? What exactly is controlling Billy? Is it the Mind Flayer? Could it be tied to the Russians or the rats? What is that goop that the rats transformed into? Does it become some kind of monster? Or something else? I noticed that the rats were eating fertilizer, which I suppose feeds whatever it is that they become. Why do they need the fertilizer? What is causing them to explode anyways? What are the Russians doing in Hawkins? Is it something to do with the rats? Best Moment: The first Billy sequence when he returned and spoke to Mrs. Wheeler was excellently done. Character of the Episode: Billy. Conclusion: This was fine stuff and it improved on the many flaws of the season premier. Still, I feel like this show could use some better writing and more emotional engagement. Score: 58 Summary: In 1984, Russia started performing experiments, attempting to access the Upside Down. They failed and were given one year to succeed. In the present, lives have changed a lot. Mike and El are in an active relationship much to Hopper's chagrin. Billy works as a lifeguard, and Steve works at the new mall. Dustin returns from science camp and the gang meets up with him. Dustin takes them on a trip so that they can talk to his girlfriend. The trip takes too long and nobody answers so everyone leaves. Dustin picks up a Russian transmission. Rats have mysteriously started gathering and combusting at a steel works location. Billy is driving by for a date with Mrs. Wheeler when he is suddenly attacked by a mysterious force.
The Good: The opening and ending of the episode were classic "Stranger Things". I'll dig into the opening scene first. Of course we have an evil scientist corporation to open up the season, though the twist this time is that they are in Russia. I didn't expect that twist, but I think it makes perfect sense and it is a logical way for the Upside Down to be opened up again, since the US is likely not stupid enough to make the same mistake once again. The idea that Russia's experiments took place at the same time as the events of season 2 is a logical choice, and it makes it clear that the effects of their experimentation will be explored this season. The ending of the episode was a classic horror sequence that I enjoyed. Billy was ever the asshole as he returned in this episode (I absolutely loved his introduction scene as a lifeguard, brilliant comedy packed with 80s references). I was nervous that we would have to put up with his absurd, over-the-top character for a while, but it looks like he was immediately sacrificed to whatever the main monster of this season is going to be called, though I doubt he is dead. Still, the final scene was a strong way to give this season some momentum. The rest of the episode had some odd good moments. I liked Joyce missing Bob, it makes his death have more importance to the story, and it makes sense that she hasn't forgotten him over the last year. Hopper had some funny moments throughout the episode as expected, though he was pretty hit-or-miss (see: The Bad). Steve hitting on girls and failing in epic fashion was pretty funny and suitably awkward. Lastly, Dustin's return and his welcoming was a pretty fun moment. The Bad: But as a whole, this was a very poor premier. The episode did a pretty awful job of reintroducing everybody and showing how many things had changed. I do like these characters, but it was hard for me to believe that I liked everyone here because of how unlikable and unrecognizable most of the characters were. The kids hardly spent any time together and they seemed to antagonize each other more than they had fun which is a bad way to get me to care about their friendships. El and Mike's constant kissing got old fast and I don't really care about their relationship since it mostly developed offscreen, and from what I can see it's mostly just a physical relationship. Hopper as an overprotective parent is such a dull storyline that was filled with every trope possible, and it did absolutely nothing for me. Nancy and Jonathan weren't given enough time for me to care about anything they did. Honestly, nobody was put in a good position after this episode and I'm feeling surprisingly indifferent towards the show. A season premier should not make me feel that way. The fact that the repetitive plot was the best part of this episode is really telling of how much of a failure this episode was as a season premier. The pacing of the episode was also really bad. There were so many different stories and the episode was jumping all over the place at far too quick of a pace. It meant that nothing really got the chance to sink in. The scenes that were given time really didn't need so much focus given to them. Do I need so many scenes developing the Billy/Mrs. Wheeler romance? No, I don't. Did we really need to spend so damn long on the bad Hopper subplot, including an awkward scene between Hopper/El/Mike that overstayed its welcome? No, that time could have been used much more efficiently elsewhere. In fact, the wrong scenes were so frequently given too much screentime and that meant that this episode fell into that really awkward place where the pacing was both too quick and too slow at the same time. That made things flow very unevenly. The comedy was a pretty big flop too. Most of the "funny" moments in this episode completely missed the mark. The writers tried to make comedy by just lingering on a scene for longer than they should in an attempt to make the audience have some awkward chuckles. Unfortunately, scenes like these are never funny at all and they fell woefully short of genuine comedy. And I really need to address Hopper's story directly. Hopper is a fun character, so making him do something as bland as be worried about El and Mike's relationship is a really bad use of him. I'm certain there's going to be some big pay-off in an emotional scene later this season between Hopper and El/Mike, but I wish that it could have been built up to in a more interesting way than this. Hopper's "training" from Joyce was nonsensical (why does Joyce think that making Hopper behave so falsely is a good idea), and worse yet was Hopper's inability to memorize the lines or even say anything from his heart. Then the resulting scenes with Hopper and Mike were pretty bad too so it all felt like a pretty big waste of time. The Unknown: Who are the Russians at the beginning? What are their goals? Have they already been successful at accessing the Upside Down? Is the opening scene connected to the mysterious detonating rats? Why are they all gathering at the steel works place? What is in there? What was the monster that attacked Billy? Does it have something to do with the rats? Is it eating the rats? Getting power from the rats? Why did it take Billy? Is Billy dead? What about that mysterious power outage? What was that mysterious thing that was forming? Was that the monster, or something else? What is with the magnets that keep falling in Joyce's house? What is causing that? Is that happening everywhere in Hawkins or just her house? What was the significance of that Russian transmission? Will Dustin understand its importance? Did he record it somehow? Does Dustin actually have a girlfriend? Best Moment: Probably the opening scene. The Russia twist was pretty good. Character of the Episode: A really hard choice since nobody was very likable, even Dustin. I'l go with Joyce. Conclusion: This episode had a really solid opening and ending scene, but everything in between was bad. This is not s good way to start the season and it completely failed to get me excited. Score: 48 Summary: Chandler is offered a promotion at his job but doesn't want to take it because he wants a different job. he ends up taking it anyways. Ross dates a girl named Celia but is unable to talk dirty to her and goes to Joey for help. Phoebe brings Monica a job offer to be a chef for a gourmet restaurant. She cooks a meal for the owner, but refuses the job when the owner turns up high.
The Good: This was another awesome episode. Friends is killing it episode after episode currently. This time, I think Phoebe was the standout despite her not doing much. She was used very well and always interlaced a scene with lots of comedy and some very creative lines. She was hilarious all the way through and surprisingly stole the show with very little impact on the main storylines. Phoebe has always been in the background, but if her handling is continued like this, she could easily be one of the most consistently funny characters. The others were awesome too. Ross's storyline was hilarious and it had a great moment where Ross practiced talking dirty to Joey. Chandler's story was the least impressive, but it had funny moments for sure and it fit what we know of Chandler's character so far. Lastly, the Monica and Rachel story was great. Their short conflict was fine and made for some good laughs, and the climax with the titular stoned guy was well handled and created a lot of fantastic comedy. Overall, this episode is a big winner with tons of memorable and funny moments. The Bad: Nothing really bad. The stoned guy may be a little cliché, but it was handled well and produced enough laughs to not be considered bad. Best Moment: Ross talks dirty to Joey and then unknown to them Chandler walks in. This was the best visual gag the show has ever done, and is probably one of the funniest moments so far. It was excellently set up, acted and executed. One of the best moments so far in the show, if not the best. Character of the Episode: Phoebe, but everyone has a claim for the top spot in this episode. Conclusion: And another amazing episode of Friends. This show is providing consistently amazing comedy and is becoming must-watch television. Score: 85 Summary: El meets with everyone and makes up with Hopper. The 2 of them go to the lab to close the gate. Will is taken to a cabin by Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy who use heat to free him from the Mind Flayer. Steve and the kids go into the vines and set a huge fire to distract the demodogs from Hopper and El. El closes the gate to trap the Mind Flayer in the Upside Down. Dr. Owens legitimizes El as Hopper's daughter. Lucas dances with Max at the ball. Mike dances with El. Dustin still can't get a girl despite Steve's advice.
The Good: This was a solid finale. It was paced well and had a lot of exciting climactic moments. The El storyline was very well done. Her scenes with Hopper were excellent and there was a lot of emotion present as they both make up with each other, solidifying their father/daughter relationship. That was the most emotional moment of the episode for sure, and it made their subsequent mission a lot more gripping since we care about these 2 characters' relationship more than most others. Steve was a real standout. I have really come around to his character over this last season due to some excellent development throughout. His pairing with Dustin really helped and they have developed a fantastic relationship over just a few episodes. It really helped me come along more to his character. His interactions with the kids were very fun throughout and Steve came across as a real unsung hero throughout the episode. There was also a really powerful final moment with Steve as he gives a final look at Nancy, knowing she doesn't love him and accepting it even if he still loves her. It showed growth in the character and continued to make him very likeable and relatable. I would be happy to get a lot more of Steve next season. The final scenes were very good too. It brought some nice closure to the relationships we have seen throughout the season and also gave us a positive note to end off the season. Dustin in particular was great and he did a good job of taking most of the focus during the dance. I really liked that he followed Steve's advice and even went with the hair; it was the funniest thing for sure in this episode. I enjoyed seeing multiple storylines advanced throughout the episode. It provided a sense of urgency and gave the episode a sense of purpose and tension. It was also fun to see 3 different plans simultaneously get accomplished. The Bad: This episode had several issues though. There was a large issue with things we didn't get to see. El and Mike was an important part from season 1 and they got a solid 2 scenes together. More time was given to Mike being angry at Hopper which is a crime. The scene was good, but we desperately needed more from El and Mike. El ignoring Max was bad and it was a terrible idea to not revisit that conflict later in the episode. We also still haven't seen El meet Will which seems like a missed opportunity. Speaking of Will, his entire storyline was a miss here. Nobody in that storyline got any closure and there was no time given to anything happening there. It feels like a poor decision because Will has been an absolute highlight this season and we deserved to get an emotional closing scene with him. Billy remains a really weak part of the series. His arrival at the Byers' residence had absolutely no tension and he wasn't given enough of a role throughout the season to be a big deal. It just felt like filler to pass the time until the more exciting stuff happened. Also, the plan to talk to Billy was idiotic. Just don't answer the door and hide. And why would Max actually watch from the window, it is literally asking for Billy to see her. I was annoyed by some continuity too. How did El just kill all of the demodogs? How many were there, considering we only saw one? If there was only one, why not send more? Shouldn't recovering Will be a priority? And what is stopping the Mind Flayer from sending more anyways. We saw tons of demodogs in the gate closing scene, so why not send some to Will's house after the first wave died? Also, how did Dr. Owens live? It seems like one of them just conveniently stopped eating him which is just dumb. Dustin taming Dart was ridiculous and shouldn't be possible. The show introduced a hive mind concept, meaning everything is controlled by a single brain. So how did Dustin tame a part of the hive mind, not all of it? It's ridiculous and was entirely unnecessary. How would Dustin recognize Dart anyways? They all look alike and Dustin looks like an idiot for trying to just talk down one of the demodogs. The biggest flaw with this for me though was the same as last season: it was too predictable. Nothing surprising happened, this was just everything you would have expected it to be. That really damages the episode if there is little emotional engagement and I already know what will happen by the end of the episode. This took away from most tense scenes, since I knew that everyone would survive and that we were just heading to a happy ending 2.0. I wish this show would get a little more bold sometimes so that the predictability flaw can be overcome. The Unknown: How will the Mind Flayer come into play into the future? It knows of El's existence now, so will it go after her? How will it get back into the human world? And how will it be defeated for good? How will Dustin and Hopper be effected by the goop? Is it going to be how the Mind Flayer returns? They would not have included Dustin being sprayed if it led nowhere. Dustin got it in his mouth too, so surely something will happen there. What happened to the demodog in the fridge? There was a timeskip so I assume it was taken out. But the scene where it was put in the fridge was hilarious, and I would have loved to see a character open the fridge only to find a dead monster inside. It would have been hilarious continuity. Best Moment: I'll pick Hopper and El talking in the car. Such a powerful scene, and one that felt like it belonged in the finale from a storytelling perspective. Character of the Episode: Steve for his overall character arc. He's gotten more and more likeable and is now my favourite character (sorry Dustin). Conclusion: This was a decent finale. Not great but not terrible either. I can't say this episode felt special in any way, but it was easy to watch despite many flaws it had to overcome. As for the season as a whole, I enjoyed it. I think this season did a great job of starting storylines, but a poor job of concluding them. I enjoyed the show much more as it was building up to the climax, and the climax itself was rather disappointing and predictable, whereas the build-up was exciting, fresh and unpredictable a lot of the time. Compared to season , I will say that the buildup was much better, though the climax wasn't as enjoyable as season 1. The really poor El episode also took away from the season quite a bit. As a whole, I would say season 2 was slightly better without the El episode, bit slightly worse with it. If you liked season 1, this is more of the same and will be fun. But for someone looking for something new, it provides a little bit in the early episodes, but goes back to being ordinary around episode 6 or so. Score: 60 Summary: The group with Will are stuck in the lab as the monsters invade and kill everyone. Bob helps the group escape with his knowledge of computers, but he is killed by a demodog before he can leave. The others have to leave without him. Dr. Owens stays at the lab. The group goes to Joyce's house and Will is hidden in the shed to be questioned in an attempt to learn more about the monster, dubbed the Mind Flayer. Will learns where he is and the demodogs arrived, but El arrives and kills them.
The Good: This was a very exciting episode to watch. There was tension all the way through this episode and a lot of important information was given out. This episode was a big one and it sure felt like it. Because of that, it was easy to enjoy the episode despite its flaws, and there were quite a few (see: The Bad). I like the Mind Flayer analogy to help us understand what is really going on with the mysterious shadow monster. It was an easy way to feed us exposition, and the timing was good to give us all of the answers. Now that we know everything about the Mind Flayer, the tension is higher than ever and there should be some real excitement in the finale where it seems like everything will be on the table. Dustin's character change in this episode was impressive and very well done. I was surprised to see a child actor conveying a character's inner turmoil and conflict so brilliantly throughout the episode. Everything is subtle but Dustin is presented as different after everything that happened around him, letting him be even more human and lovable. Dustin remains one of the series' greatest accomplishments. The scenes with everyone sharing their memories with Will were very touching. They had an excellent emotional edge and felt real. The desperation and stakes of the situation with Will almost being lost were presented brilliantly, making it very enjoyable television to watch. El's return at the end was a nice moment and a pleasant way to end the demodog attack. It's going to be great to see all the reunions which will hopefully start out the finale. The Bad: There was a fair share of flaws in this episode however, which prevents it from being truly great. Billy remains the antithesis of enjoyable. He is bland, generic and downright annoying, not to mention hat he's accomplished absolutely nothing in 8 episodes of screen time. He bores me to death and I have no reason to care about anything he's doing. The kids arguing was also dumb. There is a LOT of threat in the area, so why waste so much time just arguing about things that don't matter? I understand that they are kids, but even kids aren't that dumb. Bob's death was an emotional moment and there was a very tense sequence leading up to it. I enjoyed that part, but a lot of his story felt a little lame. The main problem was that his death didn't surprise me. I had him marked for death or something bad the moment I saw him, and when I heard him say he was going to do something, I instantly knew he would not make it out alive. Though I will credit the show with making his death scene exciting and making it seem a little more surprising than I expected, I have to point out a lot of flaws with his storyline. First, how does Bob know how to use a super computer so easily? No man who works at RadioShack should be able to work a top secret government computer, whereas the qualified scientist is clueless. Next, what happened to all the demodogs? One minute they had occupied every hall in the lab, but the next they were just all gone, which felt convenient and dumb. And then one of the dogs is apparently a stealth ninja and it enters the room and blindsides Bob to kill him. That scene would have been more emotional if I wasn't completely taken out of my immersion when I called the convenient stealth attack which then bothered me during Bob's death. I also didn't like a lot of the Will story, though I did enjoy everyone talking with him. First of all, how is Will able to use Morse Code without the Mind Flayer's knowledge? The Mind Flayer should have total understanding of everything Will does so how does this Morse Code get through? And how come he can do that but not anything else? Furthermore, the location selected sucked. Wouldn't Will's house literally be the first place the Mind Flayer would check to look for Will's group??? And it seems ridiculous that Will was held in his own shed as if he wouldn't recognize it. I mean come on it's his own shed which we saw him enter in the first episode of the show. And to have Will hear the phone in the shed is stupid. The phone is so far away and inside of the house, how on earth would the sound carry so clearly to the shed? The Unknown: El's back! What will be her reaction to seeing everybody, and what will everyone else say? So the gate has to be closed to defeat the Mind Flayer. How will that happen? Will El have to do it? Will the Mind Flayer survive somehow? How is it going to get out of Will? Best Moment: I really enjoyed everyone talking with Will. It was excellent. Character of the Episode: Bob. Even though his death left a lot to be desired, I thought Sean Astin brought a lot of charisma to the role, making Bob a really likeable guy. Conclusion: This was a really exciting episode, but it was just as flawed as any other episode of Stranger Things. This show is well put together and easy to enjoy, but flaws always seem to make it through the cracks which is unfortunate. I see serious potential in this show, but it needs to stop with these consistent flaws. Score: 63 Summary: El leaves Terry's to look for her sister 008, a girl named Kali. She finds her in Illinois as a criminal getting revenge on the people who did bad things to her. Kali and El instantly bond and Kali helps El learn to use her anger as her power. El wants to help Kali but after seeing Hopper and Mike in trouble she decides to leave her group and head back to Hawkins.
The Good: This was a good episode for El. She had a nice character arc and went through a lot before making her final decision. Presumably she has more control of her powers now, which is an interesting development. Her bond with Kali was nice and I hope to see them meet again. It was good to get some continuation of the surprise season-opener with the introduction of Kali. She had a cool power and will likely play a role in the series later on. Perhaps in the season finale. The Bad: Unfortunately I really didn't like this episode. Now I'm fine if a show wants to do a bottle episode, but there are a few things that must happen for it to work. None of those things happened here. First, is the timing of the episode. For a bottle episode focused on a single storyline to work, it must come at a time where all other storylines have died down and become less interesting. Take the infamous episode "Fly" from Breaking Bad. This is an example of a great bottle episode and I will likely mention it several times. "Fly" came at a time where there wasn't a whole lot of exciting things going on in the show as it was transitioning from a huge midseason climax to the finale. Because of that there were no pressing matters and no major plotlines, thus making it the ideal time for a bottle episode. Now for this episode. El's storyline was NOT missed in the last episode as there was a load of excitement going on. The last episode ended with a wonderful cliffhanger that promised action and tension right from the get go in the next episode. What happens then? We are treated to an hour with a character we didn't miss while the important storyline gets absolutely no screen time. This episode was not at all timed well, and rather it killed any momentum the show had going off of the previous cliffhanger. This is the opposite of the masterful timing in "Fly". Breaking Bad fans will understand this comparison, but the jarring nature of this episode would be like if we got a bottle episode focusing on Hank in between "Half Measures" and "Full Measure" in season three. It simply doesn't work. The next factor is El's character arc. I know her real name is Jane, but I'm not going to start using it unless it is confirmed that it will be used in the show by all characters instead of El. Anyways, regarding E's character, it didn't go anywhere interesting that warranted an entire episode dedicated to it. Had El been forced to choose between seeing her sister and saving Mike, obviously she would go to Mike based on who she is. It's not like she changed at all in this episode, but rather the show put so much nothing into this episode to make it seem like El has changed and gone through a transformation. But she didn't. She teased sticking with her sister, but she never made up her mind about it. There was no change, just a short conflict which would have had the same impact had it been given just 5 minutes of build up. Too much time was wasted on this "character arc" that El had, which honestly should have been so much shorter. But I can already here the counter-argument saying that this episode was an episode exploring El's character. But it really isn't. What do we know about El now that we didn't know beforehand? Nothing. She behaved as we expected and did what we expected. This was just a whole lot of nothing for her. Just a single choice she made. To compare to "Fly" again, that episode showed a proper character examination that revealed things we didn't know. Walter White was too busy posing as a threatening kingpin for us to know exactly what was going on in his head, but "Fly" let us know how he is doing mentally, while also showing us where his relationship with Jesse currently stands. That episode had purpose despite being a bottle episode, whereas this one accomplished very little. This episode only accomplished one thing: establish a bunch of characters who are annoying and easily hateable. Kali was decent enough but the actress has done a terrible job and I struggle to truly care for the character. Everyone else was just annoying and didn't leave any impact. Even if these characters are used later on, I won't be glad to see them since they are really annoying. I'm displeased that the season opening scene built to this. Worse yet though, is if these characters don't return. Then the ENTIRE episode is given no purpose whatsoever and ends up becoming a total waste of space. The Unknown: While Kali's group return? What will their role be? Is Dr. Brenner still alive somehow? If he is, it better have a good explanation. Best Moment: Tough to pick since not much was enjoyable. Probably El saying that she is going home at the end of the episode. It was something of a catharsis for what was a pretty nothing plot line. Character of the Episode: El. Conclusion: The Duffer Brothers have impressed me in a lot of aspects, but bottle episodes is not one of them. This felt like a waste of time, which should have been spent elsewhere. This episode won't have a negative effect on the story overall thankfully, but it does feel like a real waste of my time and definitely hurts the narrative flow of the season. This needed to have more purpose to be justified, but since it didn't, I'm left wondering why this episode even happened. Score: 43 Summary: Nancy and Jonathan finally get together. Dustin and Steve team up to take out Dart. Lucas gets Max to believe him and they go to help Dustin and Steve. They are confronted by Dart, but he has brought other monster friends. The group is spared when the monsters leave. Will's condition worsens but he finds a way to defeat the shadow monster. The lab people send the soldiers into the vines, but it's a trap and the small monsters kill them.
The Good: This was another strong and fun episode. I really enjoyed Dustin and Steve together. They had funny interactions and seeing them talk about girls felt pretty fun and real. I care more about their relationship through these short funny scenes, and I think that's a big success for the show. Lucas and Max were good too, though not quite on the same level. I was happy to finally get some backstory on Max and more insight on her character. Her chemistry with Lucas is nothing special, but it's fine for what it is. The four characters interacting together was fun since we haven't seen much from these 4 together at all. The actual monster attack scene was very tense and there was a real threat with Steve being out in the open with monsters closing in. The scene was shot very well and the feeling of dread was conveyed extremely well with use of atmosphere, music and setting. Hopper apologizing to El was another strong emotional scene. It's good to see him feeling regretful about what happened between them and wanting for her to stay safe. There were some major flaws with this though, which took away from what should have been a beautiful scene (see: The Bad). Nancy and Jonathan had a decent enough storyline. It was filmed well as always and Murray was excellent as a comedic shrink-esque personality that pushed them to be together. He made some good comedy and helped push the plot forward in rather organic fashion. Will's story was very tense too as we get to see his deteriorating condition. It was easy to root for the lab people to come up with a cure to stop Will from becoming lost. The ending twist was awesome and I'm glad to say that it caught me by surprise. I thought the show had just pulled a Deus Ex Machina out of nowhere and I was prepared to rant about it, but when the real story became clear, I was impressed and gripped with tension to see what happens. The arrival of the dog monsters was a fantastic cliff-hanger and really leaves me reeling for the next episode. I'm very excited to see what comes to play in the last 3 episodes. The Bad: There were a few glaring issues with the episode though. Where did the many slug monsters come from? It was awfully convenient to see so many show up without any explanation from where they came from. Will only ever coughed up one of them so why are the others? It seems like a silly plot error. I wasn't happy with Steve putting himself in danger either. he was quick to jump to conclusions that the monster was tired of beef. What kind of reason is that? It's stupid, and if Steve can think of that so quickly, why wouldn't he have taken pre-emptive measures to ensure that there were other ways to prevent the plan from going wrong? The writing was very illogical here in order to put Steve in danger. I wasn't happy with Dustin's motivation for keeping Dart either. Apparently the whole time he was doing it to impress Max. WHAT??? That doesn't fit anything we have seen from this character at all. He obviously has an attraction towards her but it was never hinted to be at this extreme level that he would endanger everyone by keeping Dart just for a girl. And she was scared by it too, so he shouldn't have motivation to keep Dart after that. It was just a whole lot of stupid. It would have been much better to keep the reasoning that Dustin found him and as such felt responsible for him. Speaking of Max, there is set-up for a love triangle now after this episode. Ugh, love triangles are rarely a good thing in TV shows and a love triangle between 3 kids seems like a recipe for disaster. I am not looking forward to seeing more of that storyline. It also doesn't help that I really don't care about Max all that much, so I can't buy 2 kids being so in love with her. Hopper's apology to El had some problems. It implied that he really cared about her, but we needed to see more kindness from Hopper to know that he really does care. Also, the apology felt meaningless since he then proceeded to forget about El for the rest of the episode and go on with his life. The character accomplished nothing by apologizing. If the writers wanted to go for a heartfelt scene like that, they needed to have Hopper decide to leave Will to go see El. But he didn't, so in my eyes this apology essentially accomplished nothing to redeem Hopper. The Unknown: What is going to happen to Will when he is lost? Will the dog monsters take over the lab? Will they spread into Hawkins too and become public knowledge? Best Moment: Take your pick of any scene between Steve and Dustin, barring Dustin's ridiculous reasoning of why he kept Dart. Character of the Episode: Steve this time for being consistently funny and likeable. Conclusion: This was another strong episode that provided a lot of climactic scenes. However the usual writing errors took away from the overall impact of the episode. Score: 64 Summary: Dustin captures Dart and puts him in the cellar. Mike goes to Will's place and joins in with the plan. Hopper gets trapped in the vines and Will sees him. He goes with Joyce, Bob and Mike to save Hopper. The lab people arrive and burn the vines, which has a very big effect on Will. Nancy and Jonathan meet with Murray with a plan to shut down Hawkins lab. El goes to meet Jane and discovers what happened to her in the past.
The Good: This had more decent story continuity. Dustin was a highlight once more as he worked to keep Dart under control. The scene when he drew out Dart was extremely tense and had a very exciting and funny ending when Dustin smashes Dart into the cellar with a hockey stick. It was a fun little scene to watch and was easy to enjoy on the surface, despite its flaws (see: The Bad). This is mostly due to Dustin's charm which kept him likeable. His team up with Steve was also a welcome surprise and I'm interested to see where it goes. Will and Mike continue to work well together. Will has been spectacular this season and his scenes with Mike have been really enjoyable to watch. I like the scenes with him trying to piece thins together while under pressure, and the Bob storyline was also a good inclusion on the basic level, though it had issues (see: The Bad). Nancy and Jonathan working with Murray was nice too. I had almost forgotten about him, but I'm glad to see him again. I am excited to see where the story goes as it is the biggest unknown for me in the show right now. Lucas and Max's story was fine for what it was. Max has been extremely bland so far which takes away from it, but Lucas was at least likeable so I was somewhat into the storyline. I won't call it bad, but it wasn't particularly good either. El meeting Terry again was nice. It was sweet to some level and it felt like a long time coming. El learning the truth about what happened to Terry was very sad and a very good reveal too. It was great to get some meaning to the words she always repeats. The flashback sequence was a brilliant little short story showing the tragic fate of a character. The Bad: This episode had a few major issues plaguing it. Hopper was completely idiotic at the start of the episode. I had assumed that he would go back out and tell somebody what he found while coming back with some protection because the vines were obviously some foreign substance. But he didn't do that and stupidly poked his face around. He deserved to get what was coming to him. Why he didn't tell Joyce about what he realized in the last episode is utterly beyond me. That storyline had other problems too. How is Will able to make a perfectly to scale map inside of his house and how can they measure the distance properly, especially with some drawings on the wall. It's pretty convenient and Bob realizing it was a map was even more convenient. Nobody is that smart. I also didn't like that Bob just dropped his serious conversation with Joyce upon making connections with the map. It was pretty stupidly written honesty. And why on earth would all of them go into the vines without protection like Hopper? They had time to get something to protect themselves at least. The Nancy and Jonathan as a couple conflict felt forced and inorganic. It did nothing for me. The Unknown: Will people believe Nancy's story? Who will it be told to? Why did the lab people conveniently show up? Did they detect Hopper or something? Or did they follow Joyce's car, which would make little sense since Hopper went there before them. Why did they burn the vines? Surely they would have tried to get the people out first. And why would Will and Mike just stand there and let them do it? What is their motive for doing this? Were they aware of the vines or did they just notice them and blast them with fire? Why did that effect Will? What is his connection to the vines exactly? So many questions, I really hope they are answered in the next episode. Best Moment: The Terry flashback was wonderful and told a brilliant story in a short amount of time. Character of the Episode: I'll pick Dustin again for being so damn charming. Conclusion: This was a weaker episode of Stranger Things. There were writing flaws, and the story wasn't as exciting as the last episode. Hopefully things pick up again next episode. Score: 57 Summary: Hopper and El have a fight when El returns home. Hopper leaves when Joyce calls him leaving El alone. El discovers the identity of her mother in some old files. Will is still in the real world but has been infected by the shadow monster. Joyce and Hopper try to find out what's wrong. Hopper discovers that vines are growing underground, spreading from Hawkins lab, which are killing the plants. Nancy tricks the lab people into revealing their mistakes on audiotape in an attempt to shut them down. Dart has begun growing into a Demogorgon.
The Good: This was a very good episode of Stranger Things. Last episode may have just been a minor hiccup as the storylines felt fresh in this episode, having diverged from season 1 as I had hoped. I'm happy to see that the writers understand that the show needs to change and they are doing a decent job of telling a different story even if it does borrow some elements from season 1. The standout this episode was the Will and Joyce storyline. I loved seeing Will open up and let out his emotions. Season 2 has given us more scenes like this and I think that is the reason it has felt much more powerful than season 1. But on top of that the storyline has a lot of tension because we have no idea what is happening to Will and what is going to happen to him. Every new detail we learn has massive implications and ratchets up the excitement and tension. I'm very happy that we have gone with this approach, as it has proven to be extremely exciting and much more original than simply having Will be taken again. I thought for sure that we had seen Will's kidnapping last episode, so I was expecting him to have vanished again, but when he was found in the field, I was overjoyed and glad that the story is changing things up. The El and Hopper story was a standout. I'm glad that the emotional scene between them was a fight because their relationship has been set up as an extremely strained one. The fight was very tense and felt like a very logical place for that story to go, and because of that I liked it. This was also followed up with a fantastic scene where El gets to see her mother for the first time, which was another one of those great emotional scenes. Hopper on the other hand, joined with Joyce again which was very good and got some key details revolving his dead crop storyline. That storyline always felt like a background detail, so I'm glad that it was brought into the main plot the way it was. Nancy and Jonathan's storyline was enjoyable too. There was a lot of tension and it was great to learn more about the lab people and what they are doing, even if we can't trust their word (see: The Unknown). It was a good plot and the reveal that Nancy has played them was good and has my curiosity piqued for what happens next. For a show that is almost always predictable, that was a rare twist that has me genuinely intrigued to find out where the story goes next. The Bad: Of course Nancy's trick doesn't feel real. She relies too much on luck. I don't buy that she can figure out that the lab people have her phones wiretapped because she hasn't been established as such a clever person. Her plan also goes to hell if the lab people would search her bag, which they really should have done. If they are careful enough to listen in on her calls, surely they should be careful enough to make sure she isn't carrying anything bad. Max and Billy haven't been good. They were interesting at first, but their minimal screen time has made me lose that interest and they just seem to be taking up space and forcing conflicts for Lucas and Steve who are otherwise doing absolutely nothing. I don't like their characters either, so it feels annoying. Max's conflict with the party will obviously end with her learning the truth about Will so there is no tension there either. Are we just supposed to assume that Dustin's mom can't hear the loud screeching from Dart in his room? Or the glass breaking? That feels like very sloppy writing. The Unknown: What has happened to Will? What will happen to him in time? Will he still have episodes? What was going on with his eyes? The vines are every interesting. How are they being formed? Does it tie in with the lab's experiments? Or is it the monster? Could the monster have been created or at least summoned by the lab? Is Dr. Owens telling the truth? Is he actually a good person trying to fix things? That could mean that Nancy's actions may actually do way more damage than they do good. Or are they just bad guys trying to cover their tracks? I believe that would be much less interesting, but it is still likely. So Dart is a baby Demogorgon which is very interesting. Will he have an attachment to Dustin? Will Dustin be able to let him go? Surely he would because the thing is a monster. How will the others react to Dustin preserving Dart? How will Dustin explain it? There are so many questions regarding that cliffhanger. Best Moment: Will opening up to Joyce was great. This season has done a superb job of demonstrating PTSD in a child, and it has produced a lot of emotional scenes like this one. Character of the Episode: Will for being excellent in showing the change in the character. Conclusion: A very good episode which is my favourite thus far. There was emotion and tension with less flaws than there usually are. This was a great follow up to restore my faith in the story. Score: 67 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
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