First Things First…
Four episodes left, including this one I’m about to watch, and the season is taking shape nicely. We’ve got momentum with the Vecna storyline, and hopefully more answers are coming.
Despite my misgivings about Dr. Brenner being back, and not loving the scenes of El reliving her memories, I’m intrigued about what’s happening with her. Does Brenner really understand why she lost her powers? And can—and will—he really help her regain control of them now that she has them back to some extent?
Hopefully we’ll finally wrap up the Russia storyline. And we’ve got Mike, Will, Jonathan, and Argyle on their way to Salt Lake City to enlist Suzie for her hacking skills. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet. Her role last season was a little too cute for me.
And one of the things I’m most anxious to find out about is Eddie. Is he safe—at least for the time being? Or is Jason still going to come after him, even after watching Patrick die a gruesome, supernatural death right in front of both of them?
6 Things I Like
6. Nancy + Robin = Friends
Nancy and Robin are actually cute as friends, and it’s nice that they both acknowledge their friendship. With so many boys around, plus El gone and Max being younger than them, they need each other. I wasn’t on board with them the first time they were paired, but they’ve grown on me a lot.
5. Unexpected Anarchy in a Mormon Household
Will and Mike know Suzie comes from a super-religious family. They’re expecting a quiet house, well-behaved kids, and probably lots of prayer.
Instead, they walk into total anarchy.
Between little Cornelius in war paint, the other little brother with the fake mustache filming his sister pretending to be dead, and the older sister who curses and leaves to smoke with Argyle in the van, this is a fun twist on what I was anticipating.
4. Jason’s Satanic Panic
“How do you expect to stop the devil if you don’t believe he’s real?”
Jason
I was hoping the end of the last episode, when Jason witnessed Patrick’s gruesome death while Eddie was right there in the boat, clearly not doing anything, would’ve ended the “jock vigilante” storyline, but I knew it could go this way, too…
And now that it has, I think it’s a much better choice.
Jason isn’t evil. But he’s clearly misguided. He lost his girlfriend in a grisly manner, with no real explanation but a highly suspicious suspect at the scene of the crime.
Then he watched helplessly as one of his best friends died the same way. It seems like blaming Eddie and believing there really is some sort of devilish practice involved is the only way for Jason to wrap his mind around this.
There’s a small part of me that actually feels sorry for him. This is heavy for anyone to take—especially a high school kid.
But knowing he’s leading the charge—no longer with just his teammates but with anyone in town who would listen to him—and they’re pursuing the wrong guy, who happens to be someone I really like, all while quoting Scripture—that’s what doesn’t sit well with me. But it does make him a compelling villain.
3. Prepping to Fight the Demogorgon
I kept forgetting throughout the Russia storyline that there’s a Demogorgon being kept at the facility where Hopper is, which means it would obviously come into play eventually.
That time has arrived.
And once again, I still want this storyline to conclude so Hopper, Joyce, and Murray can get back to Hawkins for the fight against Vecna. But in the meantime, at least Hopper’s scenes are mostly good.
After his monologue in the last episode about how he is the curse, and he hurts everyone he loves, it seemed like he might just drown himself in self-pity and resign himself to death.
Instead, he uses his and his fellow inmates’ “final meal” to prep for the fight. Instead of allowing himself to indulge in his best meal in months, he discreetly swipes the resources he’ll need to fight the Demogorgon with fire, which is their only chance to survive.
2. Papa Doesn’t Always Tell the Truth
There’s a lot going on in El’s memories. I don’t like all of it, but my favorite part is the orderly.
I still say there’s something off about this guy. He still reminds me so much of Tom Riddle. And I still wonder if he might’ve been responsible for the massacre at the lab. It seems El has determined she’s responsible for it, but we haven’t seen her actually commit the murders. So I wonder if they’re trying to manipulate us into thinking that, and the orderly’s culpability will be a twist.
I’ll try not to be disappointed if my theory is wrong. But either way, I like his role. He certainly seems to have taken to El. Most interesting is that he told her Papa doesn’t always tell the truth. For some reason, he wanted her to know she wasn’t safe, and that there was more going on at the lab than she realized.
For his trouble, he got beaten and tortured—under Brenner’s watchful eye. It makes me think Brenner is even more of a villain than I thought he was.
1. Finding the Gate
Through some literal and figurative misdirection—and some hilarious banter between Dustin and Steve—we finally realize there’s another gate to the Upside Down. That’s how Vecna crosses sides.
They track it to the bottom of the lake, and we end the episode with Steve courageously diving to the bottom, finding it, then getting dragged through the gate and into the Upside Down, where he’s trapped while some big bat-like creatures are trying to peck him to death.
It looks like Nancy, Robin, and Eddie might soon join him, though, and try to make the save. Hopefully we’ll get some time exploring the Upside Down, hunting Vecna, next episode.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Hatching a Plan
It looks like Murray and Joyce will FINALLY reunite with Hopper very soon. They’re on their way and have a plan for getting into the prison.
I haven’t disliked their scenes, for the most part. But as I’ve said again and again, this storyline continues to stall. And while Hopper’s scenes—though also stalling—have included some great material, these ones have kind of just been there. I have much more of a dislike for the overall storyline than for any of their individual scenes, including this one. It’s fine.
3 Things I Don’t Like
3. Lucas “Sees” Max
I’m all for Lucas and Max getting back together eventually. And I’m all for how much Lucas has been there for her as a friend in the meantime.
That’s why I don’t like their exchange in the woods. Lucas talks about how he hadn’t truly seen Max before, but he sees her now.
Max tries to tell him it was never his fault… that she pulled away… but he insists.
I have to say, she has much more self-awareness here. And I think she always did. She always knew she was pulling away from him, even as she was doing it earlier in the season.
Not only does Lucas not have anything to apologize for, but it really feels like he’s not reading the situation accurately if he can’t see that.
2. What Happened After Patrick’s Death?
I hate when they don’t address something like this, especially when it’s relevant.
The last episode ends with Patrick’s death. As I mentioned already, Jason and Eddie witnessed it together, mere feet away from each other. And how Jason viewed what he saw would be hugely important.
So what happened between them?
Did Jason just swim away from Eddie in a panic? Did Eddie try to tell Jason that’s exactly how Chrissy died, and he isn’t responsible for either one? It kind of makes a difference.
1. El Gets Bullied
I’m not as invested in this part of El’s memories. They’ve set up the massacre at the lab as a mystery, and they’ve done a good job of hooking me into finding out whether she’s really responsible for all those deaths.
But beyond that mystery, why would I want to spend more time in her memories at the lab? We’re so far beyond that in the story. And knowing her history at the lab from Season 1, I never felt there was more there that I wanted to explore. So finding out she got bullied at the lab, and the other kids didn’t like her—and even threatened to kill her—falls flat for me.
Tim Matassa
