First Things First…
Having Nancy get trapped in the Upside Down was a hell of a cliffhanger last time. More than anything else, I want to see how that’s going to be resolved.
6 Things I Like
6. Patsy
There’s a scene in the beginning where we see a woman knocking on the door of an unfamiliar house, and we hear classical music playing. So whose house is it?
It’s our guy Mr. Clarke!
This guy is so much fun, with the goofy mustache and his enthusiasm for science. He’s low-ley one of the most underrated characters in the show.
Now, I don’t know what the deal is here exactly. But I’m pretty sure the woman who visits him and tells him about this statewide AV club, or contest, or whatever it is, is the agent who killed Bennie in episode one.
So I think our guy is being played for a patsy here. But they don’t return to this storyline in the episode, so we’ll have to see.
5. RAMPAGES!!
I’ve never seen anyone cause such a ruckus over Eggo waffles.
But I have a feeling El’s rampage is about more than needing to eat and not having any money. She seems to have had enough of everyone’s shit.
Causing the automatic glass doors to shatter on the mouth-breathing store manager is a bit extreme, of course. But still kinda awesome.
Mike also has his own mini-rampage in the beginning of the episode. When he looks over at the makeshift tent he improvised for El, and she’s not there, he kicks it over and over.
It’s just blankets — not exactly a lot of damage to be done there. But it’s a good reminder that these are kids we’re dealing with. And they often have very little control over their emotions.
In Mike’s case, he’s mad at Lucas because of the fight, he’s mad at El for hurting Lucas and then not coming back, and he’s mad at himself for being so mean to El. And he doesn’t know what to do with his anger.
Haven’t we all been there?
4. Steve Gets His Ass Kicked
He had it coming.
Steve had actually grown on me a little bit, the more it seemed as if he really cares about Nancy.
And I still think he does care about her. But in his arrested development, he’s got roughly the same emotional maturity at Mike — if not less. Slut-shaming Nancy is awful behavior. And the fact that she’s not even sleeping with Jonathan is beside the point.
That said, I also think Steve has a redemption arc coming.
Admittedly, part of the reason I think that is because the Netflix graphics are not from Season One, and they show Steve looking like a Ghostbuster. But it also just seems like he’s going to eventually outgrow Tommy and Carol, and become a better guy, with or without Nancy.
3. The Fear Lingers
Nancy’s fear after escaping the Upside Down eventually leads to conviction — which is why she and Jonathan begin prepping to go monster hunting.
But when Jonathan tries to comfort her after her ordeal in the Upside Down by saying the monster can’t get them where they are, she says, “We don’t know that.”
She’s right. They don’t know anything, really.
Not that Jonathan is thinking clearly in that moment — he’s just trying to help — but he’s the one who caught the monster in a photo by Steve’s pool. He knows it’s not trapped in the Upside Down.
Ultimately, when Nancy theorizes that it’ll come out and hunt for food, that’s what leads to their plans. But I like that they recognize that they still need to be afraid — even in their world.
(SIDE NOTE: I wonder how many monsters are in there. Is it just the one? Is the same one that stalks Nancy and took Barb also the one that took Will?)
2. In and Out Fast
I’m dying to get an extended scene in the Upside Down. Even a whole episode.
But I’m glad this was over fast.
The opening scene is incredibly tense — impressive considering I figured there was roughly a 0% chance Nancy was going to die in there.
I like how it flips back and forth between the real world and the Upside Down. When we’re in the real world, Jonathan hears Nancy’s echo, and vice versa when we’re in the Upside Down.
Also, every time it flips back to Nancy, there’s a heartbeat overlaying the scene.
It’s extremely well done.
But now that we’ve seen for ourselves how scary it is in there, it’s time for everyone else to clear out. Because the search for Will is the heart of the story. And that search is really about the boys and Eleven.
So if and when we finally get that extended scene in the Upside Down, it should be with them.
1. A Showcase for Dustin
With Mike being blinded by love, Dustin has had to step up and become more of a leader.
Last episode he was the compass master. And he would’ve guided them to the gate if El hadn’t sabotaged them.
In this episode, he’s the voice of reason. Even though he doesn’t get Mike and Lucas to reconcile — yet — he’s the one trying to get them to realize they’re both to blame for their fight.
Even before they go to Lucas’s house, and Mike tries to blame everything on Lucas, Dustin says to him…
No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! I was the only reasonable one. But the bottom line is… you pushed first.
And then, as Mike tries to refuse to be the one to say sorry first, Dustin decrees…
The isn’t a discussion. This is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?
Then, when they make it to Lucas’s, and he’s willing to shake Mike’s hand on the condition that they forget about El and go to the gate themselves, which Mike won’t agree to, Dustin says…
Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass? We couldn’t agree on what path to take, so we split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!
It also helps that he’s hilarious. And he’s trying to inspire them while wearing a shirt for an artichoke festival.
2 Thing I’m Mixed On
2. Searching for Jane
Hopper continues to try to unravel the conspiracy, with Joyce’s help.
I’m glad they’re following up on their discovery of this woman, Terry Ives, who sued Brenner years earlier and claimed he abducted her baby.
It’s not quite confirmed, but sure seems likely, that Eleven is her daughter, Jane.
These scenes just aren’t as much fun as Hopper punching people out and breaking the law to get to the bottom of things.
But I’m always happy to see Amy Seimetz show up in anything. She’s good here as Terry’s sister, Becky, who has to do all the explaining since Terry isn’t “all there” anymore.
Of course, Becky thinks her sister is crazy — and she believes Terry miscarried and never even had a baby. I’m interested to see if these two are recurring characters, and if Becky will eventually see she’s been wrong — and Terry has been right — all these years.
1. “Wet Yourself”
I keep coming back to the two bullies, Troy and the other kid, for being so one-note.
In this case, I don’t really buy that Troy would take his revenge so far as to pull a knife and hold it to Dustin’s throat — and force Mike to jump off a cliff, probably to his death.
But all that happens, and Mike jumps, and the image of him being suspended in midair and then flying back up to the ledge is pretty ridiculous looking.
The saving grace of this scene is El walking in like a badass, saving Mike’s life, breaking Troy’s arm, and giving Dustin a reason to call the bullies “sons of bitches” as they scamper off.
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. The Monster Is Here for You — Go to Him
I can buy Brenner’s complete disregard for El’s wellbeing when it serves him. But if he sends her directly to a monster, he’s got to realize he could get her killed.
She can’t help him “fight the commies” then.
So something strikes me as terribly wrong about the way he so brazenly has her make contact with the monster again, and how he wants her to approach it instead of running from it. He even tells her it’s there for her, as if that’s going to give her confidence.
I also thought it was a given when we saw her make contact with the monster last time that she opened the gate between worlds. I guess they technically didn’t show that happen last time. So as we see the walls crumble this time and the gate opening — and she apologizes to Mike for being responsible — it falls a little flat because it’s not much of a reveal anymore.
Final Thoughts
I’m happy Dustin gets his chance to show out here. He knocks it out of the park.
And I love the opening scene in the Upside Down. I want to see more of it.
But for the most part, this episode is about moving chess pieces into place. Once again, we have multiple groups — or individuals, in Lucas’s case — making their own plans, either of hunting or investigating.
I’m guessing it will all start to come to a head in the next episode as we near the endgame.
Tim Matassa
