”I specifically didn’t agree to be Winston.”
A lot of stuff happens in this episode and there’s more than the usual quotient of pop culture references to boot. That ought to give us a lot to talk about.
We begin with a short flashback explaining where Eleven went at the end of last season, how she came to be hiding with Hopper- heartbreakingly, she sees Mike being told by his mother that she’s dangerous- and, as if we hadn’t guessed, why Hopper was leaving food in the Mirkwood at the end of the season. That ties up a loose end. Hopper, of course, is mourning a daughter; you can see what’s in it for him. They’re both damaged together in an awkward but rather sweet dynamic.
It’s Halloween, a traditional day to dress up at school, and the gang are all very topically going as Ghostbusters, although I like how Lucas insists he doesn’t want to be Winston just because he’s black, as Winston “isn’t even a scientist.” Smart lad. Unfortunately no one else has bothered dressing up, which is embarrassing, but in a rather funny little scene Lucas and Dustin rather presumptuously invite Max trick or treating later. We get to know Max a bit; she has a dodgy, Ted Nugent-liking brother Billy (a Will and a Billy?) who hints that they’re both stuck here in Indiana because of her. And where are their parents? Although we finally do get to see Lucas’s family, making it four out of four.
It’s interesting that Joyce and Hopper have become close friends- although, of course, they’ve known each other since childhood- but she’s still having a passionate affair with likeable dork Bob, who does an interesting impression of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula and, in a scene which is bound to lead somewhere, gently suggests that they might all want to leave Hawkins.
Meanwhile Nancy is being driven madder and madder by guilt about Barb and the way she’s unable to give her parents closure, and lashes out at Steve while a bit rat-arsed at a very ‘80s party where Motley Crue meets Duran Duran in the soundtrack, flat out stating that she doesn’t love him. Ouch. Paving the way for an unlikely pairing of her and Jonathan, perhaps? I notice Jonathan also meets a girl called Samantha, mind, and the scene wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t leading somewhere. Watch this space, shippers.
Meanwhile there are two possible avenues for the actual threat- the destroyed pumpkins in the field, covered by something gooey, stretch to all the local farms, while Will keeps being pulled back to the Upside Down, Where something big, multi-limbed and shambling is trying to get him, and it’s evil. The former threat leads to Hopper letting down Eleven while being late, leading her to lock herself away, upset, and look at Mike telepathically. It’s heartbreaking to see the two of them separated like this. Plus Eleven is a fugitive and Mike, well, his parents’ House has a sign saying “Reagan/Bush ‘84”, which is pure evil even if 49 states would vote for the forces of darkness that November.
It’s all very entertaining. But it’s hard to get a handle on what the main focus of the season is to be. It’s
No comments:
Post a Comment