First Things First…
I’m excited for a new season, especially because I have no idea where we’re going. The Season 1 finale gave some clear hints about Season 2, but last season’s finale didn’t tease much about Season 3—unless seeing the Mind Flayer back in its Shadow Monster form, hovering over the middle school in the Upside Down, means it’s going to remain the Big Bad.
Beyond that, I’m excited to see how the kids continue to grow. Are Mike and El a real couple now? Are Lucas and Max? Is Dustin continuing to push himself to be bolder? Is he still getting advice from Steve? Is Will okay? Will there be a time jump? So many questions!
3 Things I Like
3. Joyce’s Dilemma
Joyce misses Bob. There’s a cute flashback to them cuddling on the couch, watching Cheers and laughing hysterically. We also see the “Bob Newby, Superhero” drawing multiple times during the episode. His shadow looms larger than I expected.
On the other hand, the show has always had a Hopper/Joyce romance card in its back pocket. It looks like they’re finally playing it this season.
Nothing major has happened yet. Hopper asks Joyce to have dinner with him, but she declines by lying about having plans. That’s it. But Hopper looks at Joyce differently than before, especially as he watches her interact with others. It’s as if he’s just now realizing how wonderful she is.
2. Drifting Apart
The friendships are what make this show great, even more than the horror, weirdness, and nostalgia. So maybe it’s strange that I like the friction that’s developing in these friendships as the kids are growing up.
But this is what real life is like.
Dustin’s anger as his mom drives him home after a month away at science camp is telling. He seems to think the other boys have been anxiously waiting for him all this time, and that they’re going to get back to business as usual with their party.
But his other party members all have other, less childish things going on…
Mike and El are in a relationship and only want to spend time with each other… Lucas and Max are also together… and Will is forever dealing with his trauma… so it makes sense that things are more challenging for their party. I imagine they’ll come together and sort out their differences. But for now, I like how they’re depicting them drifting apart.
1. Exploding Rats
There isn’t much I liked about this episode, but this was cool. Hundreds of rats—maybe more—seem to be drawn or called to what looks like an abandoned warehouse. Then later in the episode, they start exploding!
I have no idea what to make of it yet, but of course I attribute anything weird like this to the Upside Down.
The episode also ends with Billy crashing his car and getting sucked into this same place. I have to assume it’s related, though I don’t know how.
3 Things I’m Mixed On
3. Hot for Billy
I guess they’re doubling down on the chemistry between Billy and Mrs. Wheeler that we saw at the end of last season when he flirted with her in her doorway.
Now Billy is working as a lifeguard at the local pool, where Mrs. Wheeler and her friends check him out.
I didn’t think they’d move so fast—he already invites her to a Motel 6 for a rendezvous. (I guess he’s staying there instead of with his dad and stepmom now?)
His car accident and subsequent supernatural encounter put a damper on those plans, though, and Mrs. Wheeler may be having second thoughts anyway.
I just don’t know how I feel about this. I mean, I think he’s supposed to have just finished high school, so he should be at least 18. Still feels kinda icky… though I have to admit, Billy is at his best when he’s trying to be charming.
2. More Mind Flayer
As I said in the opening, the end of last season teased that we aren’t done with the Mind Flayer. But I didn’t love the Mind Flayer as a villain to begin with.
I don’t want to write it off until I know where this is going. But in terms of what kind of threat from the Upside Down our ragtag group will face this season—if it’s just the Mind Flayer again, I won’t be excited.
1. Russian Interference
If I remember Season 1 correctly, the whole reason Dr. Brenner was experimenting on El to begin with was to gain an advantage in the Cold War. So it shouldn’t be too surprising to see a lab in Russia experimenting with a machine that opens their own gate into the Upside Down.
This could be cool… but in a story with such fantastical, supernatural elements, geopolitics feel out of place. But I’m willing to be wrong about this.
2 Things I Don’t Like
2. Steve Forgets How to Talk to Girls
“Ahoy, ladies! Didn’t see you there. Would you guys like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I’ll be your captain. I’m Steve Harrington. Can I get you guys a little taste of the Cherries Jubilee? No? Anybody? Banana Boat? Four people, four spoons? Share it in the booth? Anybody? It’s hot out there.”
Steve
Okay, so typing out that line, it’s pretty funny. But Steve acts like a complete moron here.
I mean, I get it… he mentions how his dad is trying to teach him a lesson and he “couldn’t even get into Tech,” and that’s why he’s stuck working for minimum wage at an ice cream shop in the mall, dressed like a doofus.
But did we just forget all the personal growth he experienced last season. He was really coming into his own as a leader and more of an adult.
Now that things haven’t gone his way for a few months, he can barely function?
1. Hopper Forgets How to Act Like a Human
“A heart-to-heart? What is that?”
Hopper
Even worse than Steve, though, is Hopper. Who is this man pretending to be our beloved Hawkins police chief?
From the moment he first appears on screen, sitting in his chair, eating chips, drinking a beer, sporting a new mustache, he looks absolutely miserable.
Now just like Steve, I get that he’s in a new situation, too. He’s a dad again. But for the first time, he has a teenage daughter… and she has a boyfriend. That sounds terrifying.
It doesn’t help that Mike’s a little shit.
Regardless, Hopper is painful to watch in this episode. Whether it’s in the beginning, when he spots El and Mike making out through the crack in the door… or when he’s trying to memorize the script Joyce wrote for him… or trying to have the heart-to-heart with them… even the way he talks to Joyce as he bitches about El and Mike—he sounds like a whiny child. It’s just not who he is.
Tim Matassa
