First Things First…
I loved the ending of the last episode. We had seen the ferocity of Vecna’s attacks, and the fear it elicits in anyone who understands what’s going on in Hawkins, twice already. Now, it’s that much scarier knowing one of our heroes is in grave danger. Max’s safety is top of mind for me.
But, we also have a new direction for El now that she’s with Dr. Owens. Is she really going to get her powers back?
And Joyce and Murray made it to Alaska. Is this the episode where they get Hopper back?
Oh, and what about Lucas? Let’s get him (and Erica) in the mix now that he double-crossed his basketball teammates.
8 Things I Like
8. Pennhurst
Separate and apart from the action that takes place there, I loved the look of the asylum. Once Nancy and Robin get to Victor Creel’s cell block, it evokes The Silence of the Lambs. But even before that, seeing the inmates wandering the grounds, practically unsupervised… the idyllic landscaping… the picturesque scenery… it’s all very unexpected and looks like it could be the primary setting for a horror movie.
I love that Pennhurst and Hawkins Lab both exist in Hawkins. No wonder the town is cursed.
7. BFF’s Again
“I have no idea what’s gonna happen next. But, whatever it is, I… I think we should work together. I think it’ll be easier if we’re… we’re a team. Friends. Best friends.”
Mike
I’m glad to see Mike and Will both recognize how they’ve acted poorly and immaturely. And Will acknowledges it was Mike and his family who saved him from the Mind Flayer—not El.
The dialogue is a little clunky—that’s to be expected when it comes to overwrought teenage drama—but I’d rather have them working together than awkwardly not knowing what to say to each other.
6. Robin Steps Up
“I’m starting to think that this whole thing is a colossal mistake. I’m breaking out in a rash, my boobs hurt, and I’ll tell you the truth, Anthony. May I call you Anthony? These aren’t actually my clothes. I borrowed them because I wanted you to take us seriously. Because nobody takes girls seriously in this field. They just don’t. We don’t look the part or whatever, but can I tell you a story?”
Robin
I may have jumped the gun when it comes to Nancy and Robin as a team. They’re still feeling each other out, but they’re much more enjoyable here than in the last episode. They even complement each other well when they’re with the head of Pennhurst. When Nancy falters in coming up with a reason to override the decision not to let them see Victor Creel, Robin’s impromptu lies and pleas to help two young women who are always discriminated against work wonders. This is the dynamic, clutch Robin I loved last season. (And it’s worth noting that if she didn’t come through here, Max would be dead.)
5. 100 to 1
This is the most I’ve enjoyed any of Hopper’s scenes in Russia. His escape is thrilling. I’m not sure I buy his ability to run away and do so much ass kicking after his feet were broken—and then escape through the snow barefoot on top of that. But it’s always fun seeing Hopper kick ass, realistic or not. Enzo clearly didn’t know who he was dealing with when he gave Hopper 100-to-1 odds of pulling this off.
4. Erica Punks Jason
Jason is a punk. He deserves every bit of Erica’s sass.
I’m worried, though, that he seems more menacing than I thought he was capable of when he stops her from slamming the door in his face.
3. Digging into the Upside Down
The boys are asking the same questions I’ve been asking, and trying to work through how Vecna is there just as I have. They point out that El didn’t create the Upside Down, she just opened a gate to it. But they also point out that, if Vecna was attacking people in the 50’s, that means there must’ve been a gate opened long before El.
Steve even questions why, if Vecna had first appeared so long ago, there haven’t been killings like these all along when he says, “Just pops out in the ’50s, kills one family, and he’s like, ‘I’m good.’ And poof, he just disappears. Just… gone? Only to return 30 years later and start killing random teens? No, I don’t buy it.”
I was afraid they were going to gloss over what could’ve been some wild inconsistencies. But now that they’re asking these pertinent questions, I hope they actually have answers lined up.
2. The Story of Victor Creel
“Survived? Is that what you call this? Did I survive? No, I assure you, I am still very much in hell.”
Victor Creel
They brought out the big guns, casting Robert Englund as Victor. And he tells a killer story about Vecna terrorizing his family in their house, and killing his wife and two kids. He also delivers the critical piece of information that saves Max’s life.
When Eddie’s uncle first brought up Victor’s name in Episode 2, I didn’t think much of it. But this is a really fun—and gruesome—method for giving us more information about Vecna.
Also, Englund kills it. He looks horrifying, with his eyes gone and his eye sockets gouged. His madness colors his storytelling. And despite his crazed appearance, the way his emotions overwhelm him as he talks about his long-dead family make him surprisingly sympathetic. He even still wears his wedding ring all these years later.
1. Surviving Vecna
Despite all the other good stuff, this is Max’s episode. She goes on an emotional roller coaster. She has a beautiful moment with her mom—even if it isn’t real—and she gets to tell Billy all the things she’s wanted to say to him, that have been eating away at her since his death.
She then also has a reunion with Billy—again, not real, but it must’ve felt real to her. And we see her in Vecna’s clutches while her friends see her in a trance, levitating off the ground. We know this is exactly what happened to Chrissy and Fred right before they had their limbs snapped, eyes gouged out, and they died. So seeing Max in this ultra-vulnerable state, knowing certain death is imminent, is incredibly suspenseful.
Luckily, Robin and Nancy deduce from Victor’s story that music might be able to get through to someone in that trance and break the curse. From there, Max’s escape from Vecna’s hellscape, set to “Running Up That Hill,” is one of the series’ best scenes to date.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. California Shootout
How is it that whoever shows up to the Byers’s house looking to kill everyone there can find them now, but they couldn’t find El while she was living in that very house for, like, a year?
It’s an exciting scene—and Argyle’s stoned ass is the perfect person to nonchalantly roll up to the house before being suddenly and forcibly roused from his haze so he can speed away like a maniac. But the whole premise of how easy to find they are now, when they weren’t before, is nonsensical.
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. A Russian Double Cross (Prolonging the Inevitable)
Now this was really annoying. Despite what I said about Hopper’s escape being the best of these scenes in Russia all season, he’s captured again by the end of the episode. Yuri double-crosses everyone, including Enzo, Joyce, and Murray.
This is egregious stalling!
Even if Hopper reunites with Joyce and Murray soon, they’ll still have to make another escape. WHY are we prolonging this extraneous storyline and keeping these three out of the main fight?
Tim Matassa
