“Those morons!” “Those total morons!”
“Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum” opens with action, but it’s not generic action and fight scenes that, if we stop to think about them, are implausible and impractical. (Flourish or no, Steve Harrington, basketball star and ice cream scooper, isn’t going to defeat a trained soldier, no matter how junior, in hand-to-hand combat.) Instead of their implausible, easy triumphs, it’s so much better—and so much worse!—to witness Steve and Robin struggling hold the door against a flood of Russian staffers and soldiers. It’s more plausible, and more frightening, to see them finally thrown against the facility’s paneled wall by the sheer force of their captors shoving at that door.
It’s so much more distressing, and so much more dramatic, to see Nancy (an ace reporter and a bad-ass, but also a person we met as a hapless teen) thrown once, hard, against the hospital’s half-constructed wall, than to watch Hopper beat up Russian agents or see El face off against Billy in a fight we know is premature. Fights are only suspenseful when we fear the outcome, and prior to the sixth chapter of this season, the outcome was always going to let our heroes triumph, or at least escape to fight again.
Much more suspenseful than Hopper’s fights, even his gleefully unmatched assault on the mayor, is watching him throw Alexei the keys to his handcuffs and their stolen car, bar the door, and wait. “I have dealt with assholes like this my entire life,” Hopper tells Joyce and Bauman, promising that Alexei will be back and eager to cooperate. Hopper reasons that if he didn’t run in the woods, he won’t run now. That’s especially true, he assures them, since returning with no signs of interrogation (torture, Hopper means torture) would make Alexei’s security-conscious colleagues ”think that he spilled his guts.”
Watching Steve’s interrogation (again, that’s torture, and we know it doesn’t work) is… well, it’s torture to see Steve The Hair Harrington—“Mr. Funny, Mr. Cool”—smacked bloody for telling his captors the truth: He works at Scoops Ahoy. “Look at my outfit, look at my outfit!” he screams in desperation.
Even Robin is terrified by Steve’s injuries. But it’s awful in the best way, because we know and care about Steve. And, though she’s newly introduced, about Robin. Her personality is strong and clear. She swiftly charms her way into the gang of protagonists, not only because she’s so fast to get in on the top-secret action, or even because she, like Steve, puts Erica and Dustin’s safety above her own without hesitation. It’s because, even with her background unexplored, she’s a rounded, complete character, with her own quirks and interests and personality.
It’s not always necessary to see a character’s entire backstory to understand and identify with them. In Billy’s case, it’s a serious misstep. When El plunges into Billy’s memory in search of “the source,” she first falls unbidden into a replay of his childhood traumas: his father screaming taunts at him, his mother cowering from his father’s blows, his mother leaving his father… and leaving him behind.
Like season two’s “The Lost Sister,” “E Pluribus Unum” relies on clumsy literal flashbacks, muddying the series’ otherwise elegant expression of traumatic flashbacks as a source of pain and conflict. The montage seen in El’s vision gives details to the vague, unhappy shape of Billy’s childhood, details we don’t need, a childhood whose essential shape we’ve already been told. Billy has spent so long as a sleazy enigma, and now—now that he’s in league with the Mind Flayer to build an army of quislings—is no time to dispel his remaining sense mystery. And it’s never the time to do it so clumsily.
Billy’s trauma is real, and its effects are life-altering. But Stranger Things has always been about trauma, about its immediate crushing impact and its lingering effects. It’s about a single mother, survivor of a turbulent marriage, ferociously guarding her children… too ferociously, sometimes. It’s about a grieving father, afraid to love after the agony of seeing his daughter die. It’s about a boy lost in a hellish underworld, suffering long after he is supposedly safe. It’s about the unfocused sorrow and pain his friends feel while he’s missing, and after he’s reported dead, and after they help save the world, and their need to keep all those gnawing secrets.
Above all, it’s about a girl raised like a lab rat, whose only childhood experience of affection was the stingy facsimile that was her reward for punishing her body and mind with unearthly feats. Most of Stranger Things’ characters are survivors of trauma. But El’s trauma was immersive, formative, total. She has never lived a life the rest of us would call normal; even as Hopper’s daughter, she’s lived in relative isolation, under strict rules—some his, some hers.
This is the problem with Max’s logic, and with the entire scene in which Max and Nancy shout down Mike’s concern about El’s limits. The simple reading—that El must be granted agency over her own body and mind, that Mike’s impulse to protect her is paternalistic—sounds true and right. “Who do you think should decide El’s limits? Mike? Or Eleven?” asks Max, and the simple answer to that question is obvious: Eleven’s body, Eleven’s choice.
It should be a stirring testament to a person’s right to choose what risks to take for themselves, and their right to control their own body. But it’s also a shallow argument for ignoring the unspoken pressures around someone making a choice, even an informed one. There are many circumstances where a person—even someone uniquely gifted, like El, and uniquely aware of their own limits—might push themselves farther and harder than is safe for them in the moment. A lifelong test subject, raised without any concept of personal and bodily autonomy, is an extreme example.
A much more common situation: a child actor joining a series that’s already launched other child actors to fame, being open about her discomfort with an unscripted kiss, and then being told by her bosses that her discomfort is the reason she has to do it, that is was “your fault.”
I don’t want to harp on that kiss. Sadie Sink, who plays Max, has said publicly that she “never objected” to it; Netflix and the Duffer brothers have both denied any undue pressure on-set. But Stranger Things keeps presenting reasons to talk about its showrunners’ decision, to its detriment. At worst, Mike and Max’s argument is self-serving rationalization for behind-the-screens choices. At best, it’s clumsy and artificially simplified.
There’s too much clumsiness in this episode, including a (perhaps unintentional) invitation for racists and fascists to identify not with the murderous, repressive, unified force plotting to take over Hawkins, but with the band of scrappy individuals defending their home in America’s heartland. “You let us in,” flayed Billy tells El, his eyes unwavering, “and now you are going to have to let us stay.” As he delivers his speech, the innocent populace of Hawkins wave flags and set off fireworks, celebrating Independence Day. They don’t know their freedom is being encroached on, even now, as their neighbors and family members become “activated” and begin to gather with blank, unstoppable purpose. Happy Fourth of July, Hawkins.
Stray observations
- The longer I look at Will Byers, the more I see Noah Schnapp pulling a Bill Haverchuck, using posture and body language (and his slightly oversized wardrobe, shout-out to the costume department!) to make himself look smaller, younger, and more vulnerable.
- Does Brett Gelman miss a beat, ever? Murray Bauman and Jim Hopper, such different characters, look like bookends as they stand at Bauman’s sink, drinking big slugs of chilled vodka in frustrated unison.
- “How big did you say that Demogorgon was?”
- “Philadelphia Public Library,” answers the dispatcher at the DoE’s secret call center. A second phone is labelled “Kennedy Space Center.”
- “Hey, Henderson!” Steve calls as his young friends break into the torture chamber, “I was just talkin’ about you!”
- “Hop, he did ask for cherry.”
177 Comments
Can we get an estimated time of when AVC is going back to being a regular site and not 100% a stranger things blog ?
I know y’all weren’t working yesterday, but god damn there is like 3 pages of only stanger things articles…
this is only review for episode 6 ? how many are there ?
Should I just come back in a week ? 2 ?
The Geeks Who Drink trivia night I went to this week was entirely Stranger Things Sponsored Content.The show is essentially just a list of 80s pop culture artifacts. I can’t wait for this to go away.
I felt the same way about GoT, but fans of Stranger Things (myself included) have been waiting almost two years for this.
I don’t mind the articles about it, I mind that that’s all there is been for 2 days.
I didn’t watch GoT either but that was a lot more diluted into other interesting content.
This looks like the only person that worked on the 4th is paid by the show…
Contributor, The A.V. Club. Emily L. Stephens writes about film, television, entertaining, gender, and cake. A lot about cake, really.
WHERE ARE THE CAKE ARTICLES !!??!?
Fair point. Agree about the cake.
You could always,i dunno,go outside or something?
Lighten up, Francis. The show is a cultural touchstone and came out yesterday. Eight episodes, eight recaps. By Monday, everyone will be on to the next thing. Deep breaths.
I think it’s just a function of all the episodes of a very popular show amongst these parts, long awaited, dropping on a public holiday. Really nothing to get worked up about.
Not to mention every other Gawker site is in holiday mode – be grateful for small favors. 😉
Which makes it… almost identical to GoT.
Yeah…it does. And I didn’t comment on GoT threads because I appreciate that other people enjoy shows that I don’t enjoy.
Ah OK – that wasn’t clear. The “but” seemed to suggest the situation was somehow different, rather than it was the same situation but for different people. Got you now.
this is only review for episode 6 ? how many are there ?
There’s 8, and the season came out yesterday.
Ok then, back here next week I guess ^^
I feel you pain. The amount of GoT coverage earlier this year was obnoxious, bordering on undisclosed spon-con.
yeah and GoT was massively popular.
Like, I know dozens of people that woke up at 3am on god damn monday mornings every week to watch the episodes of the last season here.
Stranger thing is weird horror based in a time that people who lived during are probably a bunch too old to watch a horror tv show starring kids.
I know it’s popular too, but it must be a few orders of magnitude less deserving that GoT, number-of-articlewise.
And here I thought we Gen Xers were the target audience, child stars or not. We were that age at the time, so we can identify with the kid actors, with the bonus of being adults and thus able to identify with the adult characters.
Most of the people who watch this I’m pretty sure are 46 year olds like me who are just fascinated to see our childhoods portrayed accurately at least from a fashion and set dressing standpoint. And it’s an ensemble show. Many of the protagonists are children but there are also many adults including Gen X icon Winona Ryder
Fuck Game of Thrones.
At what age does one become too old to watch a horror tv show starring kids?
honestly, man? just try and enjoy the regular coverage of a show because we don’t get as many as we used to. it’ll literally be over in like 2 days and you’ll completely forget about it in 3-4 days.
it’s a UI problem more than anything. the old AV Club layout allowed these things to exist much more organically and not take over the timeline.
Considering it’s a popular show with a new season that came out yesterday, yeah, coming back in a week or two seems like a good idea if it bothers you that much. Maybe by then it’ll be a blog about something you like.
This happens every time a new streaming season for a show comes along. The hype leading up to it and the review of all the episodes that all fall at once suck up all the space.
There’s literally only 8 episodes, take a jog and you’ll be back in time for Mentalist re-runs.
You can….not click on the recaps? Which are generally released in bulk with the episodes?
I loved Steve, but I think I love drugged-up Steve even more.
In the space of 8 episodes, they cement Steve as the greatest character and even give him the amazing Robin to hang out with.
and even give him the amazing Robin to hang out with.Wait, is Steve really Batman?!
Even before the drugging, how could Keery be so funny WHILE PRETENDING TO BE TORTURED?
I think that both the border policy read and the reference back to Sink’s kiss scene are *extremely* far stretches here.
Yeah,that’s reading way too deep.
Thank you! I mean, sure, it’s hard not to view things from our current POV, but yeah, not everything is an over-reaching allegory.
I’m trying to understand the border policy paragraph and I… cannot even get close. it’s such a massive stretch even Nancy would go “hang on, this isn’t quite supported”
I think she’s trying to say the show was drawing parallels between the Mind-Flayer/Flayed and the Latin American immigrants in the US. Seriously.
The fact that both rants took up almost 3/4 of this “review” pisses me off for some reason.
I think they’re both pretty easy conclusions to draw, but whether they’re warranted is the more interesting question. One of the real bummers of the up-to-the-minute constant reporting on the administration is that it’s so ubiquitous that Trump gets associated with everything; same thing goes for the breathless coverage of every possible violation in the #metoo era.To me, it’s clear that Billy’s referencing the old “sealing the gates of hell” trope; yes, it’s easy to also associate that with jingoistic views on immigration, and maybe even interesting, but that’s not really an ‘80s trope. As for Sadie Sink’s experience with the kiss scene in season 2, and her reporting that she didn’t feel violated, you can’t tell her that she’s wrong, and that she has been violated. (One thing that’s interesting is that I don’t think I’ve seen Max and Lucas kiss once in this season.)
Actually, this may sort of be an issue with this season: as they dig further and further into constant recycled tropes, it becomes more and more established and mythology-based, and less and less relatable to current life. The tapestry being woven is interesting and entertaining, but it begins to feel like something you need to really be a superfan to appreciate and understand.
You think?? Talk about a left turn. Feels like she’s been waiting just to drop that in there, along with her mic.
I don’t know. My mind also immediately went to some of the current discourse surrounding immigration during that Mind Flayer monologue. “You let us in. You have to let us stay. Now we’re building things up to destroy you and your way of life.”—that’s pretty close to what some of the xenophobe red hatters think is going on in the minds of all immigrants. However, I quickly checked that impulse to interpret things that way, since I don’t think Stranger Things is really interested in or equipped to make social/political commentary. I think the show is more about making a collage of 70s/80s movie references devoid of political commentary. For instance, I don’t think they’re trying to stoke Russophobia or make some statement on Russian nefariousness in the present by having the Soviets carry out this plot in the show, but rather they’re working in the oeuvre of 80s-style Russophobia. I’d say the same thing about the mind flayed people. They’re doing an Invasion of the Body Snatchers homage without the socio-political commentary of the original.
It’s a fucking sci-fi show about an extra-dimensional entity. You might as well say that “Close the gate” in S2 secretly meant “Build that wall” or that every sci-fi or fantasy movie where an alien or type of creature is portrayed as evil is secretly racist/xenophobic. Give me a break.I’d say the one thing that is political commentary is the inherent destructiveness of commercialization/capitalism and how it literally brings destruction from the exact thing it claims to hate, “the red ‘menace’”.
But the flayed aren’t portrayed as the hated Other from which society recoils. They’re portrayed as an extreme of social conformity. They’re a hive mind of small-town folk converted around the dining room table while “American Pie” plays on the soundtrack. They’re sexist good ol’ boys still seething with contempt for uppity young women right up until the moment when they’re mashed together into a sickening amalgam of hate. They’re a shambling horde that comes together in horrifying, self-obliterating unity on the Fourth of July in an episode titled “E Pluribus Unum.”
If that’s a political indictment, I don’t think it’s directed at any sort of outgroup. It’s more about the dangers of denying nonconformity and change; “You let us in and now you’re going to have to let us stay” is another way of saying, “This is the way we’ve always done things, so we have to keep doing them this way.”
Yeah, this has a lot to do with why I didn’t hear that as an echo of anti-immigrant discourse at all. What’s been “let in” is just the hatefulness and repressiveness that was always existing and always hidden inside (or underneath) the American dream.
Thank you for spelling that out, because I honestly had no idea what the author was getting at. Seeing it laid out, I guess, maybe?
Horror is innately xenophobic. Fear of Dracula or witches or zombies or the Upside Down is fear of something that seems like “us” but is not “us.” Some horror stories actively grapple with this aspect, some just embrace it, but it’s a valid reading of most horror stories. It’s particularly tricky to say that a show set during the Cold War doing a riff on politically loaded Cold War stories like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Thing is capable of being apolitical, regardless of its intent.
Vampires. You have to invite them in.I can be as aggressively political as anyone, but I thought it was a vampire thing to go with the ongoing mash-up of scary stuff the Mind Flayer is: an alien, zombies, a huge spider, etc.
I mean, you could just as easily say the mind-flayer represents colonial-era Europeans, “assimilating” native inhabitants while blaming it on them. In fact, that would be way more believable. The above is a scorching hot take.
This “blogger” cares more for politics then the show, it’s obvious from the agenda she self inserts into every other paragraph. She really needs to go post for splinter and never look back.
This “blogger” cares more for politics then the show, it’s obvious from the agenda she self inserts into every other paragraph. She really needs to go post for splinter and never look back.
I’m inclined to make that type of reading – and it poisoned Bird Box for me last year – but I didn’t feel it here. Which isn’t to say it’s an unreasonable reading; the juxtaposition of the lines with the July 4 event is conspicuous. I just tend to see Stranger Things as neither especially interested nor especially equipped to comment thoughtfully on current events.
I don’t think the border policy read is that much of a stretch, but I also think it might not be intentional. This season is heavily inspired by The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, both classics about Cold War fears about commie infiltration. Those fears are still there, but now they are about immigrants from Central America and Muslims, so if you metaphorically reference 80s fear of communist infiltration, you almost automatically reference modern xenophobia.
Without spoiling anything. El’s flashbacks into Billy’s life play a pivotal role later on.
Pointing out the crumbs that pay off later IS spoiling things. Poor form. You can also just not say anything or comment on the review of that future episode and link back to this review.
That … still kind of felt like a spoiler to me. :/ No worries, I definitely appreciate you trying to be gentle and vague, but maybe next time something like “I bet those flashbacks will be relevant later” rather than “BTW, they definitely are”?
That “Philly library” scene is straight out of Three Days of the Condor. A great late 70’s movie about the CIA.
Exactly!! “This is the Major.. ” I’m absolutely sure that’s what they were going for. Great movie.
is watching him throw Alexei the keys to his handcuffs and their stolen car, bar the door, and wait. Hopper as Axel Foley worked very well, especially with the Pointer Sisters doing the Neutron Dance in the background.
Murray Bauman’s bunker is where plotlines go to die.Yeah, the argument about “El’s choice” was a really clumsy attempt at girl power, as was Joyce yelling, “Don’t patronize me!” (even if that was part of an act). There’s also the failure to acknowledge that El isn’t doing this for herself so much as for everyone else, to keep them safe.I guess I can see the anti-immigration analogy, but I truly think that’s something you’re only going to notice if you’re tuned in to it on a daily basis, which, frankly, most people aren’t. I’d imagine that if this season is uncomfortable for anyone to watch, it’s probably Russian-Americans (or even Russians on the other side of the globe, assuming that Netflix is accessible there). Even if the surplus of brutish Russian villains here is inspired by 1980s pop culture, there is still something a bit cartoonish about it.
Did you really just do this entire recap without mentioning the taut, suspenseful, painful, TERRIFYING hospital battle ONCE? A gesture to Nancy getting thrown at a wall, a couple words for BRUCE and then… nothing? Nothing at all about Jonathan’s astonishing bravery in the face of a horrifying beating, never once giving up on helping Nancy even though he’s literally limping, bleeding down a hallway? Nothing about how satisfying it was to watch them kill Tom and Bruce, Nancy’s cleverness in that scene (“POLO!”), Jonathan’s AMAZING scissors to the throat kill? Nothing about his desperation to get to Nancy when she’s locked in the room with the beast, bashing at the window with an oxygen tank? Really? REALLY? Or the team effort it took to end that battle?
If you’re gonna recap the show, recap the SHOW. There was more to this show than Steve and Robin and Mike and Eleven and Hopper. You’ve mentioned Jonathan’s name MAYBE twice in 6 episodes, even as the Jonathan/Nancy/Kids plot has been as rewarding, if not moreso, than the other groups. This is bad. Truly, truly bad.
I mean I’m a big Jonathan hater but I agree that the battle in the hospital was a really intense and big part of the episode and it was weird not to talk about it
I feel like I’m just piggybacking on your comments this season, but cosign on the Jonathan hatred.
maybe bitch about it in the episode 5 review?
Well half the fight is in episode 5 and half the fight is at the beginning of episode 6 so maybe fuck off out of here, it’s a valid critique in both episodes?
This “blogger” cares more for politics then the show, it’s obvious from the agenda she self inserts into every other paragraph. She really needs to go post for splinter and never look back.
Amen
YES. Jonathan is AMAZING in that scene, and it really cements the growth of his character’s devotion to her over time going from weird high school fixation to genuinely being willing to face his own death trying to get her out.
Hopper and Alexei remind me a little of Dorothy and Magda (Stan’s cousin) from a Golden Girls s5 ep.
Remember when Steve was an awful dick in season 1? Now he’s the best character in existence.
Even he remembers it, if not everyone he snubbed back then.
Honestly, it makes perfect sense. He’s the guy who was a dick in high school who actually tried to grow out of it thanks to a series of life experiences that made him see that being a dick in high school wasn’t something to be proud of – and he’s dealing with teh consequences of prioritizing popularity over school as he’s stuck in a dead end job with no idea what to do next.
If you are going to complain about knowing the fight doesn’t have stakes because there are two episodes left, then you might as well stop watching anything fictional. I admit it’s true that you can often tell if a fight is the big fight – it’s not like anybody thought Endgame was over when Thor chopped off Thanos’ head 15 minutes into a 3 hour movie – but if you can’t look past that then there really is no point to watching most of the entertainment in existence today because it will just frustrate you.
Emiley is forcing some bizarre modern day narrative so very hard. Seems odd, or is it me?
I agree. That’s sort of the theme of the site these days, though. For better or worse
It’s either bad criticism or when you decide to make a reviewer watch and drop 8 reviews and episodes in 48 hours. It’s not good for Emily, consumers, or anyone. Maybe if she only had to do 2 a day and could actually process what she’s watching, make competent observations and criticisms, she could recap/review the season properly. I say that having read reviews and recaps from Emily on weekly shows where they were much more thoughtful and relevant.Just a thought…
Agreed. I am coming at the reviews later and it feels like a theme was chosen early and has been adhered to too well. If shot-gunning reviews for the streaming-crazed maybe go “here’s what happened/what was cool/ what sucked” and then do a series of deeper dives.
It isn’t just you. She is politicizing something that is apolitical because even if you are doing a 1980s cultural homage in the form of a wonderful television series, not waxing political about today is apparently unacceptable.
This entire review felt like criticisms that could apply to almost any production/work of fiction.
Mediocre writers spin the wheels by teasing plot developments that would alter their typical three-act structure. It’s not a universal feature of fiction, it’s a universal feature of stories with schematic, uninspired writing (even clever, polished ones like Stranger Things or the MCU).
“…it’s not like anybody thought Endgame was over when Thor chopped off Thanos’ head 15 minutes into a 3 hour movie.”Oops. Apparently I should have stayed in the theatre.
South Park kills Kenny, Family Guy insults Meg, Stranger Things beats the shit out of Steve. The Classics are classics for a reason, ya know?
I loved Erica having no comeback to Dustin identifying her as a nerd. She tried that weak, “How do you know so much about My Little Pony?” But Dustin is quite comfortable with who he is.
“Because I’m a nerd.”
Murray Bauman seriously needs to give the conspiracy biz and start a couples’ counseling center, already.
Not a bad idea, except his only advice is “You all should fuck already.”However it works, as apparently Murray’s bunker is like Niagara Falls for bickering couples.
his only advice is “You all should fuck already.”Nevertheless, he was right, both times.
What in the hell is going on in the middle of this review?
Bat-shit insanity brought on by sleep deprivation, and a will to force an agenda into everything regardless if it applies.It’s downright frustrating, especially when major plot points and scenes aren’t even addressed.
It makes more sense once you understand Emily’s Patented Television Review Algorithm (patent-pending):
[Show Emily wishes she was watching] – [Show she actually just watched] = [”Review”]You might not learn anything about the show, but you are guaranteed to learn how it doesn’t live up to the show in her head.
*Furiously takes notes*.
Am I the only that caught a major flaw in the Season 3 writing? The Russians were referred as the Soviets in the 80s NOT R Russians.
Colloquially, everyone referred to Soviets as “Russians.” Most Americans in 1985 would be hard press to name any other of the Soviet Republics unless they played Risk.
Are you sure about that?
I just want to point out that Woody Woodpecker spent much of his time annoying a large walrus with a moustache.
DAVID HOPPER IS NOT A WALRUS
I can no longer hear walruses mentioned without flashing back to the second episode of Our Planet and that (frankly traumatizing) walrus sequence at the end.I didn’t think I even cared about walruses, but holy shit.
*spoilers*I like the argument about eleven’s limits, i also like how it leads to eleven losing her powers. Not that there should ever be a punishment for exercising a person’s own agency, but outside input can be lifesaving.Framed solely in the context of a woman’s agency, infinite levels of ick in it all. Framed as say, an athlete pushing themself into harm, it makes a good argument for being smart and listening to outside concerns.I get what the duffers were aiming for with it, and wholeheartedly agree, but damn did they not take a step back and realize they were setting themselves up to be misread.At least i hope this was the case.
There are a lot of plot holes bugging me. Why did the Russian run from the US facility after attacking Hopper? All he did was confirm his existence. Why did the code say when and where, when every Russian knew when and where already? Why was a steel mill that looked like it had been closed a decade ago have an ad in the current yellow pages? How did they know Billy would be the last person left at the pool, showering after every other employee had gone home? Is the Russian the only person with a motorcycle in Hawkins, considering I don’t think Hopper saw the bike, just the helmet.Still liking it a lot, more than the last seasons, but these feel like easily avoidable issues.
They were in Hopper’s cabin, I could easily believe it was a very old yellow pages.
Why didn’t Will sense the Mind Flayer as soon as they entered the hospital? What exactly does the Mind Flayer hope to achieve by destroying everyone, and why did it give El an ominous yet vague monologue? Why would a top secret cadre of Russian soldiers operating at great risk in the United States imprison two presumed American spies rather than killing them? Best to go with the flow.
The mind flayer placed the ad. To draw in people who wanted to, uh, work for a steel mill. Or buy steel. And then, bam, take over their bodies. Listen, even a mind flayer has shitty ideas now and then.
Maya Thurman Hawke is the best bit of this season.
Agreed.
Good avatar name. Yes, she was awesome. Really the character with the most development of the season, arguably
The dialogue with her and Steve about high school was one of my favorite parts of the whole series so far.
El’s body, El’s choice,sure… But one can’t express concern for her without being part of the patriarchy? Fuck you. There is a physical sign that she’s doing at least SOME damage to herself every time she uses her abilities. Since her manifestation mirrors Charlie’s dad in Firestarter, and we know that every time he used HIS abilities, he was causing pin prick hemmorages in his brain, Mike is right to be concerned. Everyone in the team is fully, openly aware that Eleven is the most capable of them. They can still worry that she’s taking all the hits.Aldo, there’s far too much yelling and over emoting this season. It’s like a fucking telenovela.
This. So much. Especially since Mike was expressing something I’ve always felt towards most of the characters’ (particularly the adults’) treatment of El. They use her over and over, with littler regard for her safety. And they use the fact that she is desperate for affection and basic human relationships and will hurt herself to please them.
That hospital sequence was one of the best parts of the season, I was hoping to see more said about it~
I think the last two or three episodes have captured that cinematic magic that ST did so well in seasons 1 and 2. The team is intact, they’re all thinking and acting and talking in concert based on their shared histories, and they’re fighting on several fronts. Is it implausible that a bunch of kids has unearthed the Russian conspiracy threatening their town? Sure, but that’s just proof the Spielbergian influence is as strong as ever.
Hopper wins as worst of the main cast parents? I’m kind of sad about his descent into terrible person.
Why do you say that? He was really Spun into a stereotypical buffoon here, but I felt like he was really working at trying to be a decent father. I’m really asking, what did you feel he was or wasn’t doing?
Where do I start? His interest in El’s relationship with Mike was entirely based on his own comfort and selfish needs. El is an isolated kid, with few normal relationships/friendships and he isolated her further because he was uncomfortable with kissing. Does he consider whether breaking up with Mike will make her sad? Does he take an interest in her emotional response to have one of her few friends lie to her? Does he show an iota of care for El as opposed to what he wants? He staggers around as a drunk when El has Max over. He spends huge amounts of time focused on random crap and needs Joyce to remind him that his super-powered kid with a direct connection to the conspiracy and the monster might maaaybe need his presence.My overwhelming impression of Hopper in this season was that he was an extremely selfish parent. Better than El’s previous “papa” of course, but still pretty awful.
I think any parent would be uncomfortable with a 13 year old kid macking on her boyfriend on a bed. He didn’t handle it with aplomb, I agree, but the reaction is understandable. The drunkenness I agree with. And El was purposely staying away from Hopper. That’s my perspective, anyway
Any parent would be uncomfortable dealing with any number of things related to raising kids. That’s one to comically obvious basics of parenting and it starts when you have to change a poopy diaper. It’s the reaction that’s the issue. If your reaction to “My daughter’s completely healthy behavior makes me uncomfortable,” is “I alienated her from her closest friends and laughed about how upset she was when he lied to her on my orders. Oh and I reveled about her being left all alone by her friend because I didn’t want to have to see him and it never once occurred to me to be even concerned about whether this might affect her, so I made a date so I’d be out of the house that very evening,” you’re a ridiculously selfish parent.I don’t have an issue with Hopper’s discomfort, it’s the fact that he acted as if his discomfort was the only concern that makes him selfish.
I completely agree. Hopper has been served terribly this season. After a couple seasons of being a basically likable everyman’s take on an action hero now he’s a disturbingly angry, grumpy, sad drunk treating basically everyone in his orbit like shit. The good thing is you can immediately tell who’s a reactionary moron by who defends him on here
I got so sick of Hopper screaming at everyone. Like, I could not believe that we were supposed to think that he and Joyce should be together after he spent the better part of the season shouting at her and belittling her.I liked most of this season, but Hopper, and the idea that we were supposed to find him amusing/endearing, was a big nope for me.
I was disappointed but certainly not surprised when the Hopper stans defended his actions in the first episode or two.To see people still defending him and his toxic bullshit is downright depressing.
“My daughter’s completely healthy behavior makes me uncomfortable”Ditching all of your friends so that you can make out with your boyfriend/girlfriend every single day is not healthy teen behavior. Not by a long shot. It’s borderline co-dependence. Hop is on the right side of this one.
So you’ve never seen a 13 year old date before then? Because what you describe is incredibly typical. Kids are obsessive. That’s how they’re wired.
He alienated her from *Mike* – Max he was cool with, hell – the group as a whole he was likely to be cool with, but a girl who’s just getting comfortable with complete sentences and the outside world making out like a girl about two to three years older than she is in her closed bedroom with a kid who doesn’t really like you anyway (no love or respect at *all* had on Mike’s part given his hiding El for a year as he mourned) is quite a lot. He even was trying to be coached on how to approach the issue sensitively but Mike was being an enormous douche/he made the mistake of not finding a neutral place to do it and so that happened.
He was shocked Max was there. He apparently expected to her to be alone and miserable. And kissing with your dad in the next room is not incredibly mature behavior; it’s pretty normal early dating stuff
Whether he’s write or wrong, he was trying to protect her. Should she just be snogging Mike every night? He doesn’t want to isolate her (any more than he himself is isolated in that cabin); look at his surprised pleasure in her having Max for a BFF. She even apparently has enough allowance for a mall shopping spree. While he took things to an extreme with Mike, he was being completely disrespected as a caretaker and authority figure by both kids.
I’m unclear why making out with Mike every night would be a problem. What is he protecting her from? And where is there any evidence that he was “protecting her”? His reaction to Mike not coming over is to leave the house for the evening to go on a date. And he’s not pleased that El has Max over as a friend. He’s pleased that Mike isn’t the one who is visiting. He expected and was completely fine with El being all alone.
He’s protecting her from too early sexual and emotional experiences for her maturity level. He can leave the house BECAUSE Mike is no longer there. If he really wanted El to be alone, he would have forbidden Max from coming over too. In his fatherly role (do you not think he sees El as his daughter surrogate now?), he has far less problem with El having girlfriends than with El making out nightly in her bed with a boyfriend. He’s also fine with her having a sleepover at Max’s (having never encountered Billy before I imagine). This may be sexist and old-fashioned, but it’s perfectly reasonable for Hopper and 1985 and not even uncommon today. You’re accusing him of being insensitive when the whole text of the show has been about his impaired but not absent sensitivity. There’s a reason Joyce leans on him.
I actually am not accusing him being “insensitive”. I’m accusing him of being outrageously selfish. His behavior towards El is entirely based on his own feelings of comfort. It has nothing to do with her happiness or needs. Of course he doesn’t “forbid” Max from coming over. Because that doesn’t affect whether HE feels comfortable. Did you miss that he was surprised Max was over? He was surprised that El wasn’t sitting alone, friendless. Because he didn’t care about anything to do with El’s happiness once the cause of his discomfort (Mike) was gone. And nope. Kissing with the door open while your dad is in the next room isn’t likely to lead to bad sexual experiences. And it’s weird that you’d think Hop’s behavior was protective considering his reaction was to immediately leave El alone for an entire night.
What he was surprised about was that it wasn’t Mike. He heard voices, and jumped to the wrong conclusion, and the girls both laughed at his confusion when he found Max instead. Thus his embarrasment as he backed out of the room, and his glee when he closed the door. I’m confused that you haven’t noticed that Jim loves El. Yes, Mike kissing El makes him uncomfortable. Not because he needs to ruin whatever she likes; but because she’s his responsibility and he wants her to be safe and secure. I’m not saying he’s very good at this, but that has always been his goal since he started feeding the homeless waif in the woods.
Right… He thinks it’s Mike. Which, logically, means that he doesn’t expect other people to be visiting El. From his perspective, until he sees it’s Max, El’s options for friends are Mike or no-one. And, if he really thinks Mike is so dangerous AND thinks that Mike would still come over, why exactly did he leave El alone at the cabin to get drunk? Why not hang out with this beloved daughter and keep her company? And saying things like “he loves her” and he “want her to be safe and secure,” is meaningless when his actual actions didn’t demonstrate those things. What they did demonstrate was that he kicked out Mike, made her sad, reveled in that, and then left her alone in a cabin and got drunk.
Fully agreed, and you’re only scratching the surface, really. Look at the way Hopper has treated every adult character he’s spoken to this season. He’s become a dick.
I don’t understand why they took his character in this direction either. Like, Season 2 was all about him learning to let El live life despite the danger she’s in, culminating in her going to the dance. It’s like they regressed him into this boor who spends his time shouting at everyone.
Yes! I understood the E1-2 stuff: it makes sense for a dad in the 80s, especially a cop who’s lost his daughter and who’s current daughter is in a “different” situation, to have some toxic masculinity issues. But it carries in an uninteresting way THE WHOLE SEASON. He’s *so* mean to Joyce, which I think is what really gets me. He also lied to her about how he dealt with El and Mike, and using Mike’s grandma as an excuse was troubling.
I have some sympathy towards Hop. He lost his first daughter to cancer, which was something he could not control. He gained a daughter in El, who has gone through a horrible childhood and still has supernatural abilities that make her a target. It makes sense to me that his protective nature would go into overdrive, and override his ability to see what’s right for El in a misguided attempt to keep her safe. I don’t think he’s terrible. I think he’s a father in a fraught situation, trying to do the right thing but can’t see that everything is always black or white.
The problem is that “keeping her safe” wasn’t his concern. His concern was his own feelings of discomfort at her kissing a boy. I mean, his reaction to her being upset with Mike lying was to leave the house for the evening, come back drunk, and then throw another hissy fit because he thinks Mike is there instead of El sitting alone in an isolated cabin. Also, Hop being overly protective of El and stunting and isolating her was his plotline in the second season and he had to learn from that. As far as I can tell, he got even worse and forgot everything he learned this time around.I really liked a lot of things this season but Hopper was an enormous disappointment for me.
Yes, very much this. I have two episodes left and I have really enjoyed this season but Hopper was a huge disappointment/frustration. He seemed to barely remember or be aware of Eleven outside of her making out with her boyfriend, which also casts what is typical sitcom father stuff into a more uncomfortable light, intentionally or not. And apparently she wasn’t “allowed” to go to the mall, so if you want your kid to have other interests outside of making out, maybe allow her other interests. And his bullshit with Joyce was insufferable, full stop.
I can easily put myself in Hopper’s shoes and excuse many of his present behaviors (especially his overprotectiveness of El) for the simple fact that…HE SAW his daughter die!! I’m a single dad of an only child (a daughter). My biggest fear in life is my daughter dying. I imagine if it ever happened, I would be an absolute wreck. My previously good-natured character traits would be replaced with anger and hopelessness. The only real behavior of Hopper’s I can’t excuse is the drunk driving, because now you’re letting your own personal tragedy possibly result in another innocent family’s tragedy.
Except his reaction to seeing her die is to isolate her and then leave her alone in a cabin while he goes on a date and then gets drunk. He wakes up in the morning with no idea where she is. That’s not being overprotective. It’s being ridiculously self-involved.
He can do more than one thing. He can love her and be an over-protective ogre. He can plan a nice date and then end up stood up and drunk. We’ve known about his addiction issues from the start. But let’s look at the other parents on the show. Nancy’s mom is horny for a lifeguard. Will’s dad is unreliable and far away. Heather’s dad ridicules an employee the same age as his kid, and her mom is a drunk. Dustin’s mom is supportive but over-indulgent. Billy’s dad was an abuser. The only super-Mom in town is Joyce, and she lives her life in an isolated way in order to focus on her kids. On this scale, Hopper deserves Dad of the Year.
You’re confusing general character flaws with parenting. Being “horny for a lifeguard” didn’t stop Joyce from being a supportive and loving mother to Nancy. Mike’s dad is obviously very loving with his daughter. There’s no evidence that Heather’s mother or father are bad parents to her. If you’re talking about parenting, we’d need to actually talk about them as parents.Hopper’s “overprotection” began and ended with his own personal desires. It’s selfish. It has nothing to do with El or her needs or her welfare.
He’s been an asshole from the get-go (he was basically the prime antagonist for the first few episodes of Season 1), it’s just that David Harbour is charismatic as all hell, so the character has become a fan favorite. To the writers’ credit, they’ve been pretty consistent portraying Hopper as a graceless, selfish prick whose conscience eventually gets the better of him.
I actually don’t agree at all. A selfish prick wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble investigating hamburger-man’s death or hiding El. I actually think Hopper regressed this season. Like season 2 was all about him learning to let El have more control over her life and live a little despite the danger and then, in Season 3, he isolates her and then pretty much acts like she doesn’t exist until the final episode.
I am all in for critical analysis and I may agree on most of the points, but oh my God this review really needed a couple of spins more to make it readable and not a SEO bait.In any way, seeing how avclub is dropping the ball on TV reviews, a badly written one is more welcome than the HUGE void of content here otherwise.
How are quotes from the show “observations?”
“There’s too much clumsiness in this episode, including a (perhaps unintentional) invitation for racists and fascists to identify not with the murderous, repressive, unified force plotting to take over Hawkins, but with the band of scrappy individuals defending their home in America’s heartland.” Well, it is set in the mid-80s, after all. What did you think Aliens, Wrath of Khan, The Stuff and Halloween III were about?
Well, Wrath of Khan was about grappling with aging and paying the debts for your youthful misadventures.
That’s one thing it was about, but Khan’s exotic virility is coded as other to Kirk’s all-American bravado from the start, and so in another way it’s about the vengeance of a marginalized, nomadic tribe that deserved more than the pain and suffering they endured at the hands of the dominant society who supposedly treated them with benevolence so many years ago.
That’s an interesting interpretation. I hadn’t thought about it that way before.I’m not sure it really works. The primary attribute of Khan and his followers is their belief in their genetic superiority, not their ethnic otherness; indeed. I think the rest of the Khan Gang is white, or at least played by whitish actors. And, of course, if we look at the history of the character, he was originally intended to be a white, “Viking” type, but when Montalban became available, they were able to free themselves from that Aryan narrative. What’s striking about Khan, from this point of view is not his “exotic virility”, but rather the fact that a brown man (a Mexican playing a Sikh, to be sure) was presented as a genetic superman, the product of superior breeding.The primary theme of STII, in my opinion, is Kirk’s mistakes catching up with him. If you watch Star Trek (what we now call TOS), as the makers of STII did before writing the movie, you see Kirk making all sorts of rash decisions and then moving on to the next planet, never sticking around to see what happened when he blew up the computer that had been running society for generations, or whatever. The only costs he ever paid were in anonymous redshirts. And of course he used his masculine wiles on various space women without consequence. Then he finds out he had a son he never knew about, an enemy he thought he had dealt with comes back looking for vengeance, and he has to pay the ultimate price: no redshirt, but Spock (then he gets Spock back in the next movie, but has to pay with the Enterprise. Then in the movie after that he gets the Enterprise back, which is one reason I don’t like ST IV).
I’m well aware Khan was based on the TO episode; even there, however, Montalban was both other and curious mirror to Kirk. He kept trying to usurp his role, and he was smarter , stronger and sexier while doing it. Thus he had to go, but Kirk didn’t just deal with him. He thought he’d found him a safe harbor, and he left him with the woman he’d won from Kirk’s crew. How was he to know he’d actually abandoned him and his super race to a hell hole, one the woman couldn’t survive? He thought he’d done Khan a solid. Was he right, or was he blinded by his privilege?
What you’re describing is less an “other” and more an antagonist.The implication of WoK is that dropping a bunch of space newbies on an alien planet and then not checking on them was irresponsible on Kirk’s part. You could argue it either way. Certainly the Reliant doesn’t seem to realize that Khan and his buddies are in the Ceti Alpha system, which suggests that Kirk didn’t file the proper paperwork with Starfleet. On the other hand, it seems excessive to blame Kirk for not anticipating that other planets in the system might go kablooey. And it’s not clear exactly what Khan and his pals were doing on the Botany Bay. The name suggests they were being sent into exile, which seems like an expensive punishment, but implies that they should at least have some supplies for colonizing a strange planet. Anyway, Kirk always thinks he’s done the guest stars a solid. “Look, I broke your tyrannical computer! No need to send flowers!” And then he doesn’t check back to see whether society has fallen into savagery. Every other episode seems to end with Kirk doing something that could be viewed as either noble or irresponsible, depending on the follow-up. And in episodic television there is never any follow-up.
BUT in a multi decade phenomenon like Trek there not only can be (to judge by Discovery alone), there almost inevitably will be follow-up, eventually. And antagonists often make the best others of all, especially against ostensible heroes like Kirk.
I’m just saying that an antagonist is different from an “other”.
Billy’s childhood visions weren’t all bad; he had the successful surfing day with his beautiful mom. I saw it as him trying to protect some part of himself from that intrusive storm on the horizon.
I read it as the same day: a great day gone worse, making even the joy damnpened.
There were scenes of him meeting Max for the first time, of his mom leaving, I think it was meant to be a flurry of family dysfunctions that culminated in the bragging bully we met last season. To me, the storm was the Mind Flayer, feeding on all that bad stuff while he built a refuge in a rare moment of happiness.
I know this is AV Club’s schtick but… all this about the unscripted shtick, whether this or that is about character trauma, completely downplaying the creature effects, claiming Stranger Things is about “characters” and not “thrills”… is amusing, to say the least. I wonder what TV show the reviewer is watching.There is little to no depth in any character from Stranger Things. The show deals in pastiches and cardboard cutouts of 80s tropes. The show is one big giant trope. There’s nothing wrong with this: it is what it is. But there’s no sense in analyzing this as if it was an in-depth treatise on interpersonal relationships.AVC sometimes veers into self-parody. I can’t tell if this is intentional or not (I suspect it is).
Put your agenda aside and fuck off with the torture bullshit.Works when it works.
The bodies falling/plopping into the Flayer is one of the most disgusting, and genius, things i’ve ever seen in monster design. Unique to me, anyway
It was so nasty. I loved it.
Ugh came here to say the same thing. No THANK you. (Except…please more.)
Too. Many. Hyperlinks.
super quick question: what was the flayer building? He had all those people’s bodies that he infected…they all could turn into goo at a moment’s notice…why were they back with their families, why didn’t he just build himself up as it went?To your point, reviewer, and I think you shaded this but put a pin in it: El makes a mistake in the episode by taking control of her own power. Sadie is wrong (and way underwritten), she is basically screaming girl-power and they make her incorrect and put El in danger instead of listening to magic mike. Bad lesson from two brothers who did that kiss, which is still REALLY FUCKING CREEPY.This show is stupid.
Dustin bringing up the original 1984 My Little Pony special as a perfect example of nerddom was dead-on. As a 6 year old boy I was not the intended audience for this brand but damned if I didn’t find this surprisingly well-animated (thank you, Toei) “girls’ cartoon featuring cute little ponies turned into chariot-pulling demons absolutely fascinating. (Even if he did pronounce Tirak wrong.) Seriously. Shit was unusually dark! And also the “Sea Ponies Theme” was just insidiously catchy.
Imagine how long these reviews would take to read if you clicked every link.
I am! (Some are the same article twice)
Ok, I think I might be crazy, and everyone can tell me I’m crazy, but I got the sense that Maxine was kidnapped by Billy’s dad. There was no woman around in the flashback, and something about the introduction to Billy made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Did I read something in that wasn’t there?
I can’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure we met Maxine’s mom in season 2. Basically, Billy’s dad remarried (to Max’s mom) and they moved to Indiana, but Billy’s dad is still a total asshole.
You are SO right, thank you for taking the time to answer. I re-watched season 2 after finishing 3 and there she was… afraid of her husband, but there nonetheless!
This wasn’t as bad as “The Lost Sisters” but it was close. I’m not sure what’s happened this season, maybe the show’s popularity has slightly ruined it. The first couple of seasons felt a little like Indie movies, with a good balance of horror and humour. This season, although I have enjoyed parts of it, feels off. The humour feels forced and too in your face. The characters seem to be the most extreme versions of themselves constantly.
Put simply there’s nothing remotely subtle about this show now, and the Russian stuff is starting to really make me cringe. The laughing sadistic army general, the torturing “doctor”, sigh. Billy having a cliched back(sob)story. I’ve had plenty of friends over the years whose parents were abusive assholes, it didn’t turn them into bullying sociopaths. Please. The “torture” scene where Robin declared her unrequited love for Steve (even noting what breakfasts he’d eat at school) was just eye rolling, really bad writing. Hopper is completely manic constantly. The abysmal, sardonic beyond her years Erica.
It’s a shame because this show used to be something special, now it’s just average fair with some neat effects and the occasional flash of genius (the use of the Day of The Dead soundtrack in this episode was sublime). Hopefully the last two episodes can save the season, because so far it’s been mostly disappointing for me, and I was jonesing for this season for so long.
100% re: Billy’s story. I think this is my favorite season so far but…I still don’t care about Billy except as a plot device for the others. Being an asshole because of trauma *in itself* isn’t a complete personality/characterization. (“You are more than your trauma” is a super important message, actually.)I think I like what he REPRESENTS as one of the mind-flayed. I also feel like the show’s trying to make us forget his racism like they tried to do with Jonathan’s creepiness, or excuse it because abuse.
Yes, good point about the racism. I get the feeling he became a “fan favourite” after season 2 and now the writers just want everyone to forget his disgusting comments about Lucas in season 2.
Maybe I’m going the show too much credit but I thought the fact that the argument between Mike and Max was simplistic was sort of the point. They were each sort of wrong and right.
I love that Steve is completely aware of how much of a dick he used to be in high school. He’s come a long way, and Joe Keery deserves all the credit in the world for continuing to make him one of the best characters on the show.
Even though Erika does frequently fall too hard on the Scrappy Doo side of things, the scene in which Dustin reads her for her own nerdiness (You’re good with math! You know obscure facts!), was pricelessOwn it, girl. Live it.
The girl power autonomy bit felt unearned. El bleeds when she uses this power – there’s little regard over what it does to her body, what it could do to her years down the road. What notes were there regarding what El can do? Surely there were brain scans performed and I imagine she’s not keen to open herself up to new ones to ensure that she’s still OK. Still, her body/her choice but the concern… where’s the concern? At least in S1/S2 there was Joyce to provide that concern, but here there’s only Mike in a perceived douchy place.
This review did not have anything to do with the show being reviewed. It’s like a season-long journal entry.
Erica is one of the worst characters in TV History. Terrible writing combined with an awful performance. She’s been teleported in from a bad Family Matters knock-off on UPN or some shit. Yeesh.
What did the mind flayer mean that it was all for Eleven?
You mentioned Noah Schnapp’s body language, which goes to show how shockingly great all the young actors are on this show. I’d like to give a shout-out to Wynona Ryder’s shoulders. Even when she’s relaxed there is a lifetime of tension in them. It’s not showy. It just resides there, ebbing and flowing but never leaving.
The flayed melt off their skeleton and help form the physical mind Flayer
“I don’t want to harp on that kiss.”Really? Because your preview reviews paint a different picture.