Stranger Things: Season 5, Chapter 7- The Bridge

 "Guess you didn't need truth serum, huh?"

So Max is awake. Her muscles are weak, she's in a wheelchair for now, but these things will pass. It's very much penultimate episode from this point onwards, though, with high stakes. And, despite some oddly negative reviews for this episode (Far right culture warriors getting mardy about a certain scene I'll discuss later, foreshadowed early on by Joyce geeing up Will?)

Now, I saw this episode and its two predecessors in one sitting, with Little Miss Llamastrangler, and blogged all three based mainly on my note but, inevitably, also by a certain amount of memory. So I boobed by saying in my last blog post (now amended) that it revealed the lore that the Upside Down is not another dimension but merely a wormhole, connecting Hawkins to a not-very-nice dimension which Dustin dubs "the Abyss" and is presumably the source of the Demogorgons and such. It is, of course, in this episode that Dustin, armed with Brenner's notebook and a very big brain, gets that rather awesome exposition scene.

Plans are made. The gang is going in. Will is pivotal, he must be strong... so we have that amazing coming out scene, one of the most moving scenes in all of Stranger Things and also one of the most satisfying. Mike's musical taste- the Butthole Surfers and the Replacements- is exquisite. But not all is positive. There are unresolved issues between El and Hopper- will Hopper die with them unresolved in the finale? Then there's Kali telling Eleven that there's no hope and they both need to stay in the expunged Upside Down and die. Then there's Holly who, after all that, is recaptured and heavily gaslit. Henry has all the kids and begins his plan.

Awesome stuff, of course. But some predictions for the finale. Who will live and who will die?

I wonder if Hopper will die, as above. Kali, but not Eleven. Max is probably the safest character- the Duffer Brothers wouldn't put her through all that with the coma only to kill her, right? Surely not the core gang- Dustin, Lucas, El, Mike and Will. Not Nancy and Jonathan, who have just fixed their relationship. But, if that's the case... what about Steve?

Stranger Things: Season 4, Chapter 7- Massacre at Hawkins Lab

 "Where others saw order, I saw a straitjacket..."

SPOILERS. Be warned. .

But, like, wow. I mean, yes, there are other plot threads- although the California contingent are suspiciously absent from the whole episode, suggesting that they have big things to come. But, well before we discuss Eleven's memories and the huge bombshell, let's do a tour of the characters.

So the police are a bit wet. Dustin, Lucas, Max and especially Erica are awesome. Yet poor Nancy, Robin, Steve and interestingly Eddie fare well in the Upside Down- Eddie in particular being his cool metalhead, D&D self. The kids avoid the police materdfully. The bikes blatantly reference ET.

And we get the suspense of the veryblovely Joyce and the indefaiigable Murrat rescuing action hero Hopper and his mate... and the Russian Demogorgon.

Yet this is all about Eleven’s past, about who did. About who One is, who Vecna is. The revelation is masterfully handled, and will hopefully restore Eleven’s powers. It really does come as a huge revelation, masterfully delivered. Yet we end worried about Nancy.

There’s so much character stuff here. The bug between Joyce and Hopper. The chat between Steve and Eddie where they connect and Eddie tells him not to let Nancy go. Erica being awesome. Dustin being a genius.

I now need to wait until 1 July. Bastards.

Stranger Things: Season 4, Chapter 6- The Dive

 “What’s the Internet?”

Obviously, this is bloody good. It's Stranger Things. But things are getting pretty intense in all plot arcs, and something has to give.

There's one arc, pleasingly, which is there to provide contrasting light relief, as the California kids find Suzie in Salt Lake City, where her highly religious Mormon family prove to be... not quite as expected. But her dad is a dick, keeping her away from Dustin just because the lad doesn't believe in God. I hope he gets his just desserts. Still, Suzie fulfils her plot function while the whole plot thread lightens the mood. Plus it's always amusing seeing early Internet stuff.

But there are not many laughs elsewhere as the tension builds, although Joyce and Murray have some fun at Yuri's expense in Siberia. Hopper, though, isn't having much fun at all, facing imminent sacrifice to a Demogorgon.

Eleven is having a fascinating but horrible time reliving repressed memories in order to get her powers back, while the Hawkins contingent are caught between Vecna (not much apparent this episode, despite Steve finding the, ahem, "Watergate"), the cops and a frenzied mob whipped up by the conspiracy theory weirdos. This mob is by far the most terrifying thing in this season, Vecna included.

The cliffhanger is incredible. There's great character stuff here too- Nancy and Robin bonding; Max and Lucas slowly manoeuvring to hopefully get together again. This is simply awesome.

Stranger Things: Season 4, Chapter 5- The Nina Project

 "You're bigger than Madonna to them!"

Yet again we have an insanely long episode that juggles so many plot threads and so many characters, and does so with real aplomb. This season is extraordinary, and this episode, with the Creel mansion as a haunted house, is more Lovecraftian than ever. So much so that the subtitles keep describing sound effects as "eldritch".

Much of the episode is taken up with the splendidly directed sequences of Eleven in her own, very dreamlike, Groundhog Day, back with "Papa" in that hellish institute from whence she came, regaining her powers but at the price of facing the demons of her bloody past. Meanwhile, the conspiract theorist loons nearly catch up with Eddie, until Vecna gets one of their number. And there's excitement for Joyce and Murray as they escape from Yuri while crash landing a plane.

But it's all about the chatacter moments, too. A severely depressed Hopper thinking he's a curse who destroys all he loves. A sweet moment between Max and Lucas. An ironic conversation aboit the pains of potentially unrequited love between Mike and Will. A frisson, again, between Nancy and Steve. Robin being awesome, as ever.

There are, I think, a few more clues about Vecna. But I'm clueless, and that's how I like it. This is excellent telly.

Stranger Things: Season 4, Chapter 4- Dear Billy

 "I am still very much in Hell..."

No Eleven this episode, although her absence is very much felt. But we get a fittingly creepy cameo from an eyeless Robert Englund, and lots of arc stuff happening- as well as excellent character development- in what is the longest episode yet.

In California, Mike and Will reaffirm their friendship a little, but they and Jonathan are forced to flee due to the slightly alarming occurrence of feds with guns trying to kill them. Lucas has had enough, and abandons the cool but conspiracy theory-obsessed kids for his true friends. And, in the centrepiece of the whole episode, Robin and Nancy hear Victor Creel's story from his own lips, in a magnificently gripping performance from Freddy Krueger himself.

Oh, and we get a dramatic and nail-biting escape attempt from the tough-as-nails Hopper, only for him to be recaprtured through betrayal.. with Joyce and Murray also fated for the gulag.

But it's all about Max, Sadie Sink's aazing acting, and a focus on Max's demons, literal and metaphorical in an amazing bit of character development as she works through her complex feelings about Billy, and why she pushes people away. She seems doomed, although Vecna rather fortunately seems to be taking his time killing her, until her ever-reliable friends, and Kate Bush, come running up that hill to the rescue. It's phenomenal, and anything that makes young 'uns discover '80s Kate Bush has to be a very good thing indeed.

This is amazing. If only the episodes weren't so bloody long and hard to slot into your day.

Stranger Things: Season 4, Chapter 2- Vecna's Curse

 "I thought we were watching Thundercats?"

Once again, we have a movie length episode, and a bloody good one. Nt only is this top '80s nostalgia with plenty of period-style scares and a proper dig at those utter morons who equated D&D players with devil worshippers, it juggles what by now is a huge cast with aplomb-no mean feat- while handling a large number of plot threads.

Hence we have Vecna, a creepy new baddie who kills its second victim in as many episodes- this time a young man wrestling with guilt at killing someone in a car accident- as Dustin leads Max, Robin and Steve to investigate. Meanwhile Joyce has her own sub-plot looking for Hopper in some gulag hellhole in Kamchatka. Perhaps worst of all, bulling scum (I have no sympathy for Angela) get their violent comeuppance from poor Eleven in a way which seems to reawaken long-repressed memories.

There's more- a new sheriff, Jonathan facing a terrible dilemma and seeking solace in, er, "Palm Tree Delight", awesome visuals and perfect characterisation. As ever the performances are first rate. This new season is humming already.