“Dusty-bun!”
Here it is, then: not only the season finale but the last episode so far, bringing Mrs Llamastrangler and myself fully up to date meaning we’ll have to find something else to do with our evenings once we’ve finished adulting. Gulp.
We begin with Joyce and Hopper finally reaching the food court and joining the rest of the gang so they can all work out how they’re going to save the world this time. The first order of business, between a capable Jonathan and El herself, is to remove that nasty infection from that would- and it is indeed a nasty baby Mind Flayer. Eeeeuuurgh.
But then comes the plan, and fortunately Murray has a map. This time he, Joyce and Hopper are to close the portal, Dustin and his gang for most of the season are in charge of radio commercials, and everyone else has the vital task of being peril monkeys. Sorted.
Interesting that the Russians remain baddies throughout, but I’m not sure I but that, given the fact they don’t want the Mind Flayer to destroy everything- they want the world to be red, not dead- that they remain antagonists all the way through. Isn’t that nice young Mr Gorbachev someone we can do business with?
The plot proceeds as Hopper and co amusingly smile and nod their way towards the portal and the kids get well and truly imperilled by the Mind Flayer in a truly massive and highly entertaining set piece. There’s also a nice scene where Billy sabotages their cat and tries to ram them, but ultimately this is just a cool distraction, although Jonathan again shows himself to be very capable at the sort of car stuff that is most certainly a great mystery to me.
It’s cute that the way into the room with the portal requires Planck’s constant, and we get this from none other than Dusty-bun’s very own Suzie-poos, although it is of course necessary to do a duet of the entire theme tune of The Never-Ending Story first, as waded figure in the ‘80s. I mean, yes, the Mind Flayer is getting bigger, El’s powers seem to be MIA and the fireworks are running out, but standards are standards.
But the closing of the portal requires Hopper to win an epic fight with the evil Comrade Motorbike, and Joyce can only close the portal by letting him die. That last nod between them as she presses the buttons is heartbreaking. As is the fact that Joyce lost a boyfriend last season and now is losing another one before they ever got to have that date. Duffer Brothers, you are bastards, every bit as evil as Joss Whedon.
Oh, and Billy dies too. It’s nice that Max is genuinely devastated in spite of everything.
Joyce runs out to Will and hugs him.. and El has no father to hug. It’s utterly tear jerking and no wonder, three mo this later that Joyce, Jonathan, a newly nature Will and the still powerless but kindly adopted El are leaving, with some meaningful partings, especially Nancy and Jonathan, now truly in love, and while Mike can’t get the words out to El she is able to say “I love you too”. Aww! And do t even mention that last voiceover from Hopper, that speech to her he never really gave, except that it’s bloody clever plotting.
But what’s this after the titles have finished? A gulag in the Kamchatka Peninsula? A myseterious American Prisoner? Inmates fed to...a Demogorgon?
Utterly sublime. So much so that I’m running out of words to praise it. And no fourth season until 2021...? Real time sucks.
Showing posts with label Dacre Montgomery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dacre Montgomery. Show all posts
Monday, 9 September 2019
Sunday, 8 September 2019
Stranger Things: Season 3, Chapter Six- E Pluribus Unum
“You remind him of a fat Rambo...”
Dustin and co see the big Russian lab, they see the portal into the Upside Down... and things get chaotic. They run. Meanwhile, in the hospital, the monster, which looks absolutely bloody terrifying, is after Nancy and Jonathan. It's not exactly a relaxed beginning, and the monster really does look awesome, and clearly not all CGI.
The resolution is, of course, Eleven shoving it forcibly out of the window, from whence it oozes under the ground, returning to its home. More bad stuff ensues with the Mayor, who is completely under the control of the big boss Russian man, and with the Fourth of July going on and stuff, the anniversary of the Americans' independence from, er, us.
The scenes where Hopper, Joyce and Conspiracy Theorist Bloke interrogate Russian Alexis with brinkmanship threats of giving him the wrong flavour of drink from Burger King, a torture method almost as notorious as the comfy chair, are comedy gold. But these methods get results, and Joyce and Jim hear of the Russian attempt to open a portal to the Upside Down, right there in Indiana, beneath their feet, with the finest Soviet scientists in an impregnable fortress impossible to breach, guarded by the mightiest Soviet warriors. Getting in is simply impossible.
Meanwhile, having got in, unarmed kids Dustin and the splendid Erica are comparing notes. Erica now knows everything- and, wonderfully, her only note of scepticism is that her nerdy brother Lucas was part of it. Meanwhile, Steve and Robin are being interrogated by non-comfy chair methods, not a pleasant experience, especially when one’s interrogators won’t believe the truth. But at least there is a blatant connection between them being developed and it’s blatant that they will end up together. And Robin is really, really cool.
The kids, meanwhile, are progressing the main plot strand and, rather cutely, Mike accidentally blurts out to his friends that he loves El. Aaaw. El has the dangerous mission to psychically locate the Mind Flayer’s HQ via Billy, which she does, but not without a horrific tour of Bully’s abusive childhood; I hope his dad suffers an unpleasant death, I suppose, but sadly he represents a real life horror not hiding behind metaphor, rather than the fantastic.
Except.. it was all a trap. Billy’s final speech is chilling. The Mind Flayer now has El where it wants her and can see through her- and it plans to kill everyone...
Yep. That was bloody excellent, as per usual.
Dustin and co see the big Russian lab, they see the portal into the Upside Down... and things get chaotic. They run. Meanwhile, in the hospital, the monster, which looks absolutely bloody terrifying, is after Nancy and Jonathan. It's not exactly a relaxed beginning, and the monster really does look awesome, and clearly not all CGI.
The resolution is, of course, Eleven shoving it forcibly out of the window, from whence it oozes under the ground, returning to its home. More bad stuff ensues with the Mayor, who is completely under the control of the big boss Russian man, and with the Fourth of July going on and stuff, the anniversary of the Americans' independence from, er, us.
The scenes where Hopper, Joyce and Conspiracy Theorist Bloke interrogate Russian Alexis with brinkmanship threats of giving him the wrong flavour of drink from Burger King, a torture method almost as notorious as the comfy chair, are comedy gold. But these methods get results, and Joyce and Jim hear of the Russian attempt to open a portal to the Upside Down, right there in Indiana, beneath their feet, with the finest Soviet scientists in an impregnable fortress impossible to breach, guarded by the mightiest Soviet warriors. Getting in is simply impossible.
Meanwhile, having got in, unarmed kids Dustin and the splendid Erica are comparing notes. Erica now knows everything- and, wonderfully, her only note of scepticism is that her nerdy brother Lucas was part of it. Meanwhile, Steve and Robin are being interrogated by non-comfy chair methods, not a pleasant experience, especially when one’s interrogators won’t believe the truth. But at least there is a blatant connection between them being developed and it’s blatant that they will end up together. And Robin is really, really cool.
The kids, meanwhile, are progressing the main plot strand and, rather cutely, Mike accidentally blurts out to his friends that he loves El. Aaaw. El has the dangerous mission to psychically locate the Mind Flayer’s HQ via Billy, which she does, but not without a horrific tour of Bully’s abusive childhood; I hope his dad suffers an unpleasant death, I suppose, but sadly he represents a real life horror not hiding behind metaphor, rather than the fantastic.
Except.. it was all a trap. Billy’s final speech is chilling. The Mind Flayer now has El where it wants her and can see through her- and it plans to kill everyone...
Yep. That was bloody excellent, as per usual.
Friday, 6 September 2019
Stranger Things: Season 3, Chapter Four- The Sauna Test
”Commence Operation Child Endangerment!”
Another splendid episode of investigation, but also one of progress this time, plus some nice little character touches; Max is a regular reader of Wonder Woman! I’m afraid my knowledge of the ‘80s scene is very, very Marvel with my knowledge of the Disgruntled Competition focused mainly on Batman, John Byrne’s Superman, Justice League International and the usual stuff by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman- was Wonder Woman any good in 1985?
Anyway, editor Tom and his wife have been well and truly got at by Billy- and that horrible beast underground whom everyone seems to be sacrificed to, a kind of miniature Mind Flayer, seems to such up their faces which... well, uuurgh.
Tom is visibly sweating while bollocking Nancy and Jonathan for their unauthorised investigations, with Mrs Driscoll in hospital and an awful lot of trouble, but seems pretty much himself as he sacks the pair of them. Both of them are devastated and have a bit of a row, which is revealing; Nancy did it because she was fed up of being treated as a young woman in a man’s world, understandably. It went beyond being young and working your way up; this was real, nasty, misogyny. Then again, she comes from a well off family and can afford this setback. Jonathan doesn’t, and can’t.
One consequence, though, is a lovely scene between her and her mother, Karen. In the first season there were many scenes of Karen helplessly failing to connect with her daughter but they really bond over this, and Karen is fantastic, urging her not to give up.
Will knows that the Mind Flayer is back, which means the party- Max and El included- are back together, minus the otherwise occupied Dustin, in spite of the awkwardness meaning that even Mine explaining what happened with Hopper just looks desperate and butters not a single parsnip.
We get an interesting scene where Joyce and Hopper investigate the dodgy Mayor- that bloke on the motorbike was there the last time they visited Town Hall, and it seems he was handing a bribe to the Mayor- a bribe for getting people to sell land next to the land for the mall to expand there- a possible source of the magnetic weirdness? This goes well, so much so that Hopper offers Joyce a police job, which would be perfect for a detective like her.
Even more brilliant, super sleuth Robin manages to get plans to the Russians’ warehouse, and cones up with the idea to use, as is traditional, air vents to reach the inner sanctum. Cue the utterly superb Erica who wangles herself a lifetime of free ice cream for doing the crawling. Erica is awesome. An equally cool idea is for the gang to test Billy for Mind Flayer influence by shoving him in a sauna, a brilliantly executed scene.
We end with trouble, though. Robin, Steve, Erica and Dustin arrive in the inner sanctum, see some mysterious glowing green object, but end up travelling down several floors as the room turns out to be a lift. And the gang’s confrontation with Billy turns out to be a tad dramatic, although at least it ends up revealing how much El and Mike are willing to do for each other. Once again, a splendid marriage of character and plot structure in what is a slow building but clever season based, unusually, more on intrigue than scares.
The final scenes see an investigating Nancy present as Mrs Driscoll is about to e pride, while Billy has turned dozens of people via that underground monster and, surreally, they all start creepily channelling Dame Vera Lynn...
Another splendid episode of investigation, but also one of progress this time, plus some nice little character touches; Max is a regular reader of Wonder Woman! I’m afraid my knowledge of the ‘80s scene is very, very Marvel with my knowledge of the Disgruntled Competition focused mainly on Batman, John Byrne’s Superman, Justice League International and the usual stuff by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman- was Wonder Woman any good in 1985?
Anyway, editor Tom and his wife have been well and truly got at by Billy- and that horrible beast underground whom everyone seems to be sacrificed to, a kind of miniature Mind Flayer, seems to such up their faces which... well, uuurgh.
Tom is visibly sweating while bollocking Nancy and Jonathan for their unauthorised investigations, with Mrs Driscoll in hospital and an awful lot of trouble, but seems pretty much himself as he sacks the pair of them. Both of them are devastated and have a bit of a row, which is revealing; Nancy did it because she was fed up of being treated as a young woman in a man’s world, understandably. It went beyond being young and working your way up; this was real, nasty, misogyny. Then again, she comes from a well off family and can afford this setback. Jonathan doesn’t, and can’t.
One consequence, though, is a lovely scene between her and her mother, Karen. In the first season there were many scenes of Karen helplessly failing to connect with her daughter but they really bond over this, and Karen is fantastic, urging her not to give up.
Will knows that the Mind Flayer is back, which means the party- Max and El included- are back together, minus the otherwise occupied Dustin, in spite of the awkwardness meaning that even Mine explaining what happened with Hopper just looks desperate and butters not a single parsnip.
We get an interesting scene where Joyce and Hopper investigate the dodgy Mayor- that bloke on the motorbike was there the last time they visited Town Hall, and it seems he was handing a bribe to the Mayor- a bribe for getting people to sell land next to the land for the mall to expand there- a possible source of the magnetic weirdness? This goes well, so much so that Hopper offers Joyce a police job, which would be perfect for a detective like her.
Even more brilliant, super sleuth Robin manages to get plans to the Russians’ warehouse, and cones up with the idea to use, as is traditional, air vents to reach the inner sanctum. Cue the utterly superb Erica who wangles herself a lifetime of free ice cream for doing the crawling. Erica is awesome. An equally cool idea is for the gang to test Billy for Mind Flayer influence by shoving him in a sauna, a brilliantly executed scene.
We end with trouble, though. Robin, Steve, Erica and Dustin arrive in the inner sanctum, see some mysterious glowing green object, but end up travelling down several floors as the room turns out to be a lift. And the gang’s confrontation with Billy turns out to be a tad dramatic, although at least it ends up revealing how much El and Mike are willing to do for each other. Once again, a splendid marriage of character and plot structure in what is a slow building but clever season based, unusually, more on intrigue than scares.
The final scenes see an investigating Nancy present as Mrs Driscoll is about to e pride, while Billy has turned dozens of people via that underground monster and, surreally, they all start creepily channelling Dame Vera Lynn...
Thursday, 5 September 2019
Stranger Things: Season 3, Chapter Three- The Case of the Missing Lifeguard
“What is happy screams...?”
We begin with a reminder of what decade it is as El and Max perv over, er, Ralph Macchio. But we then move to an interesting little episode of various parallel bits of detective work. It’s also an interesting episode for character- after discussing the Mike situation with Max, El uses her powers to spy on the boys(!) and heats lots of outrageous sexism and, fortunately for the requirements of the plot, no mention of the fact that this is all Hopper’s fault. Yet. This is the episode where Hopper is pretty smug, something which I suspect won’t last. I’ve noticed this season he’s been more of a comedy character, though, not written so three dimensionally. I hope that doesn’t last.
But we then turn to Billy, and doing the same thing with him weirdness... and him doing something dodgy to a girl. Meanwhile Steve, Dustin and Robin... well, just Robin- translate the Russian message and decide what it means- there’s some kind of exciting Cold War spycraft going on at the mall- and yes, I’ll get back to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy very soon! Joyce is investigating the magnets, dates with Hopper be damned. Finally we have Nancy and Jonathan pushing the rat story, although the sexist men running the paper are still sexist dicks.
This may be an obvious plot structure but it allows things to move forward while the characters can breathe. We have Dustin and Steve having, well, the most childish chat ever, while Will is genuinely upset at his friends for letting the party split apart and obsessing over girls rather than play D&D with him. I’m not sure about the implication that D&D is for kids- I’m a husband and father who works full time and while, yes, it’s a time consuming hobby, I played it as recently as earlier this year. And I’m 42. But the broader character point Rings very true; puberty and change can test friendships.
Joyce and Hopper also find some dodgy motorcyclist frequenting the dirty lab, which Joyce suspects to be the source of the magnetic weirdness, another plot thread, while Mrs Driscoll is suddenly behaving like a rat. And there we have Billy, and the girl he attacked, recruiting her parents to their creepy little cult- one of whom is the editor of the local paper.
It’s all largely set-up three episodes in, with more mystery than threat, but the characters, azevwr, keep us hooked.
We begin with a reminder of what decade it is as El and Max perv over, er, Ralph Macchio. But we then move to an interesting little episode of various parallel bits of detective work. It’s also an interesting episode for character- after discussing the Mike situation with Max, El uses her powers to spy on the boys(!) and heats lots of outrageous sexism and, fortunately for the requirements of the plot, no mention of the fact that this is all Hopper’s fault. Yet. This is the episode where Hopper is pretty smug, something which I suspect won’t last. I’ve noticed this season he’s been more of a comedy character, though, not written so three dimensionally. I hope that doesn’t last.
But we then turn to Billy, and doing the same thing with him weirdness... and him doing something dodgy to a girl. Meanwhile Steve, Dustin and Robin... well, just Robin- translate the Russian message and decide what it means- there’s some kind of exciting Cold War spycraft going on at the mall- and yes, I’ll get back to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy very soon! Joyce is investigating the magnets, dates with Hopper be damned. Finally we have Nancy and Jonathan pushing the rat story, although the sexist men running the paper are still sexist dicks.
This may be an obvious plot structure but it allows things to move forward while the characters can breathe. We have Dustin and Steve having, well, the most childish chat ever, while Will is genuinely upset at his friends for letting the party split apart and obsessing over girls rather than play D&D with him. I’m not sure about the implication that D&D is for kids- I’m a husband and father who works full time and while, yes, it’s a time consuming hobby, I played it as recently as earlier this year. And I’m 42. But the broader character point Rings very true; puberty and change can test friendships.
Joyce and Hopper also find some dodgy motorcyclist frequenting the dirty lab, which Joyce suspects to be the source of the magnetic weirdness, another plot thread, while Mrs Driscoll is suddenly behaving like a rat. And there we have Billy, and the girl he attacked, recruiting her parents to their creepy little cult- one of whom is the editor of the local paper.
It’s all largely set-up three episodes in, with more mystery than threat, but the characters, azevwr, keep us hooked.
Stranger Things: Season 3, Chapter Two: The Mall Rats
“I dump your ass!”
I know this is completely irrelevant, but Little Miss Llamastrangler has just gone in for her first day of school today. I’m somewhat distracted by that, but I will do my best!
The cliffhanger resolution with something getting Billy is extended, rather terrifying, and shot like a horror movie- something which doesn't often happen on television drama but which happens here, something I’ve alluded to before but never really focussed on. It’s a fresh and exciting idea to have a serialised television drama, with room for characters to grow and develop, which nevertheless follows the directorial style and visual style of horror, as well as it’s many tropes. That Stranger Things does this, and does it so well, is especially to its credit given the generally poor standard of contemporary horror movies.
This is a clever episode, and not least because of the pun within the title. Less clever is Hopper, not doing as Joyce suggested and calmly discussing boundaries with El and Mike but instead aggressively making Mike tell El he can’t see her. That’ll go well.
Lots of seeds are being down for the season- magnets don’t seem to be working (would this noticeably affect electronics in 1985?) and Joyce is becoming obsessed. Old Mrs Driscoll has a very rabid rat in her capacious American basement which Nancy and Jonathan are secretly investigating for a story. And Steve and Dustin, good mates by now, are trying to decipher the Russian messages- and getting nowhere until the rather brilliant Robin takes over. I like her. She’s cool.
It’s lovely seeing Eleven and Max as friends, getting to do girly things together. And one thing that brings them together, leading to a rather fun day in the mall, is Mike’s rather obvious lying about how he can’t see her.
Meanwhile, Billy is now struggling as a lifeguard as he no longer likes the Sun- quite the warning sign. And we, through Hopper, meet the odious and cynical Mayor Kline, who is probably the big bad as he’s played by Cary Elwes. There’s a nice mix of plot and character as Joyce blows off a definitely-not-a-date with Hopper through her obsession with the magnets, and we get to see the rabid rat explode- and then ooze away, moving like a spider. Uuurgh.
We finally get the moment where El dumps Mike and, brilliantly, Will punctures the moment by asking if the boys can play D&D now. But we end with the revelation that the Russian message came from within the mall, and that Billy has now caught and possibly killed a fellow lifeguard...
I know this is completely irrelevant, but Little Miss Llamastrangler has just gone in for her first day of school today. I’m somewhat distracted by that, but I will do my best!
The cliffhanger resolution with something getting Billy is extended, rather terrifying, and shot like a horror movie- something which doesn't often happen on television drama but which happens here, something I’ve alluded to before but never really focussed on. It’s a fresh and exciting idea to have a serialised television drama, with room for characters to grow and develop, which nevertheless follows the directorial style and visual style of horror, as well as it’s many tropes. That Stranger Things does this, and does it so well, is especially to its credit given the generally poor standard of contemporary horror movies.
This is a clever episode, and not least because of the pun within the title. Less clever is Hopper, not doing as Joyce suggested and calmly discussing boundaries with El and Mike but instead aggressively making Mike tell El he can’t see her. That’ll go well.
Lots of seeds are being down for the season- magnets don’t seem to be working (would this noticeably affect electronics in 1985?) and Joyce is becoming obsessed. Old Mrs Driscoll has a very rabid rat in her capacious American basement which Nancy and Jonathan are secretly investigating for a story. And Steve and Dustin, good mates by now, are trying to decipher the Russian messages- and getting nowhere until the rather brilliant Robin takes over. I like her. She’s cool.
It’s lovely seeing Eleven and Max as friends, getting to do girly things together. And one thing that brings them together, leading to a rather fun day in the mall, is Mike’s rather obvious lying about how he can’t see her.
Meanwhile, Billy is now struggling as a lifeguard as he no longer likes the Sun- quite the warning sign. And we, through Hopper, meet the odious and cynical Mayor Kline, who is probably the big bad as he’s played by Cary Elwes. There’s a nice mix of plot and character as Joyce blows off a definitely-not-a-date with Hopper through her obsession with the magnets, and we get to see the rabid rat explode- and then ooze away, moving like a spider. Uuurgh.
We finally get the moment where El dumps Mike and, brilliantly, Will punctures the moment by asking if the boys can play D&D now. But we end with the revelation that the Russian message came from within the mall, and that Billy has now caught and possibly killed a fellow lifeguard...
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Stranger Things: Season 3, Chapter One- Suzie, Do You Copy?
“Maybe I could kill Mike. I’m the chief of police. I could cover it up!”
So, it’s a brand new season, it’s June 1985- only six months later- and all the younger members of the cast look visibly older; in fact, the boys’ voices have mostly broke. I’m not sure how diegetic that is, but the whole season feels very different- not least because the first scene is in the “good” ol’ USSR where Comrade General is not best pleased at the failure to open a portal to the Upside Down and the scientists of the Revolution must do better.
Back in Hawkins, though, life is moving on. Hopper has a massive new moustache, for one thing, and a big deal is made about a big new Eighties shopping mall just outside of town which is no doubt going to be central to the plot, especially as the film being shown is Day of the Dead. Eleven and Mike have spent about 90% of the last six months kissing, which is adorable, although Hopper doesn’t quite seem to agree. Meanwhile Max and Lucas are an established couple, and the party is not quite what it was. Dustin returns from summer camp (that old American tradition) to a practical joke from his mates involving his toys seeming to attack him- including the Transformer Ultra Magnus which wasn’t released until 1986, but let us not be churlish. And even he has a girlfriend, apparently, in Utah, and a massive radio mast to contact her as her strict Mormon parents won’t let her phone.
Except.. when he shows everyone she doesn’t respond, the excluded and single Will just wants to play D&D like the old days, and they all drift off.. cue something Russian in the ether that is obviously plot-related.
Steve, suddenly no longer a ladies’ man, works at an ice cream place with the delightfully cynical Robin, and by now is both rather likeable and absolutely “the babysitter”. Meanwhile Joyce is not quite over the death of Bob, unsurprisingly (I love the pic of him as superhero). We also see Nancy in her job as dogsbody at the local paper, constantly talked down to be a load of sexist men who have no idea what awaits their profession over the coming decades.
But most importantly there is a power cut followed by the arrival of... something. And, after amusing scenes of all the local middle aged ladies perving on Billy as he does his job as a lifeguard, we end the episode with said thing getting him. A very promising start indeed....
So, it’s a brand new season, it’s June 1985- only six months later- and all the younger members of the cast look visibly older; in fact, the boys’ voices have mostly broke. I’m not sure how diegetic that is, but the whole season feels very different- not least because the first scene is in the “good” ol’ USSR where Comrade General is not best pleased at the failure to open a portal to the Upside Down and the scientists of the Revolution must do better.
Back in Hawkins, though, life is moving on. Hopper has a massive new moustache, for one thing, and a big deal is made about a big new Eighties shopping mall just outside of town which is no doubt going to be central to the plot, especially as the film being shown is Day of the Dead. Eleven and Mike have spent about 90% of the last six months kissing, which is adorable, although Hopper doesn’t quite seem to agree. Meanwhile Max and Lucas are an established couple, and the party is not quite what it was. Dustin returns from summer camp (that old American tradition) to a practical joke from his mates involving his toys seeming to attack him- including the Transformer Ultra Magnus which wasn’t released until 1986, but let us not be churlish. And even he has a girlfriend, apparently, in Utah, and a massive radio mast to contact her as her strict Mormon parents won’t let her phone.
Except.. when he shows everyone she doesn’t respond, the excluded and single Will just wants to play D&D like the old days, and they all drift off.. cue something Russian in the ether that is obviously plot-related.
Steve, suddenly no longer a ladies’ man, works at an ice cream place with the delightfully cynical Robin, and by now is both rather likeable and absolutely “the babysitter”. Meanwhile Joyce is not quite over the death of Bob, unsurprisingly (I love the pic of him as superhero). We also see Nancy in her job as dogsbody at the local paper, constantly talked down to be a load of sexist men who have no idea what awaits their profession over the coming decades.
But most importantly there is a power cut followed by the arrival of... something. And, after amusing scenes of all the local middle aged ladies perving on Billy as he does his job as a lifeguard, we end the episode with said thing getting him. A very promising start indeed....
Stranger Things: Season 2, Chapter Nine- The Gate
“I’m just curious, you know, why all of a sudden you look like some kind of an MTV punk.”
So, another finale. It really doesn’t feel long at all she nice the last one but for me, well, it really isn’t. Mrs Llamastrangler and I have really been mainlining Stranger Things intravenously, the pure stuff, for the last week and a bit. Soon there will be no more left, and we won’t see our dealer again until next year. Ouch.
We begin by dealing with Eleven’s dramatic return. The truth soon comes out and, well, I think I can say without fear of exaggeration that Mike is not entirely happy with Hopper. But there’s no time to dwell on this as it’s the finale, and so we move swiftly to scenes of, er, Billy flirting outrageously with Mike’s mum, like the slut he is, for information. He’s coming. Yes, he’s coming. But he’s not exactly the biggest threat the gang has to worry about right now, as plans are laid for Eleven to go and close the portal with her awesome powers- but will this kill Will? Joyce and others decide to force the thing out of him by making the environment too hot for it, which seems a bit Seat of the pants; only the rules of dramatic narrative, with this being the finale, make us suspect that the plan will work.
There’s room for quiet character moments, though; Nancy and Steve have a chat in which he gently lets her go, with dignity. For a character who started out as a bit of a dick he’s gradually becoming a likeable and somewhat cool member of the cast. Also, Eleven nearly kisses Mike, but there’s a lovely scene between her and Hopper as they share their honest feelings and make up- he even tells her about Sarah for the first time. It’s a lovely scene and it’s clear that, behind the sometimes authoritarianism born of cluelessness, he would do anything for her.
Billy turns up and gives poor Steve a good kicking but, in a nice touch, it’s Max who beats him by injecting him with the tranquillisers previously used for Billy. So there’s one threat dealt with. Eleven’s turn now, and it’s a dramatic sequence of events as she slowly closes the portal, Hopper defending her from constant attack- and also sparing a moment to insist to the cowering lan boss that she be given a normal life where she can be herself and not just used. All this is juxtaposed with equally dramatic scenes of Will’s, well, exorcism, all brilliantly shot like a horror movie.
So, the monsters are dead- for now- and it’s Christmas again, a month later. Eleven has a fake birth certificate (“Jane Hopper”!) and there’s one of those balls that American schools seem to always be having. Lucas dances with Max, Mike and Jane finally kiss... but poor Dustin is left alone with only a kindly and very lovely Nancy to comfort him.
And, in the last scene, we see the Mind Flayer is still there...
A superb season, obviously, but a very different one- a season that knows it isn’t the only one, where it has the freedom for characters to breathe and develop. I love Stranger Things.
So, another finale. It really doesn’t feel long at all she nice the last one but for me, well, it really isn’t. Mrs Llamastrangler and I have really been mainlining Stranger Things intravenously, the pure stuff, for the last week and a bit. Soon there will be no more left, and we won’t see our dealer again until next year. Ouch.
We begin by dealing with Eleven’s dramatic return. The truth soon comes out and, well, I think I can say without fear of exaggeration that Mike is not entirely happy with Hopper. But there’s no time to dwell on this as it’s the finale, and so we move swiftly to scenes of, er, Billy flirting outrageously with Mike’s mum, like the slut he is, for information. He’s coming. Yes, he’s coming. But he’s not exactly the biggest threat the gang has to worry about right now, as plans are laid for Eleven to go and close the portal with her awesome powers- but will this kill Will? Joyce and others decide to force the thing out of him by making the environment too hot for it, which seems a bit Seat of the pants; only the rules of dramatic narrative, with this being the finale, make us suspect that the plan will work.
There’s room for quiet character moments, though; Nancy and Steve have a chat in which he gently lets her go, with dignity. For a character who started out as a bit of a dick he’s gradually becoming a likeable and somewhat cool member of the cast. Also, Eleven nearly kisses Mike, but there’s a lovely scene between her and Hopper as they share their honest feelings and make up- he even tells her about Sarah for the first time. It’s a lovely scene and it’s clear that, behind the sometimes authoritarianism born of cluelessness, he would do anything for her.
Billy turns up and gives poor Steve a good kicking but, in a nice touch, it’s Max who beats him by injecting him with the tranquillisers previously used for Billy. So there’s one threat dealt with. Eleven’s turn now, and it’s a dramatic sequence of events as she slowly closes the portal, Hopper defending her from constant attack- and also sparing a moment to insist to the cowering lan boss that she be given a normal life where she can be herself and not just used. All this is juxtaposed with equally dramatic scenes of Will’s, well, exorcism, all brilliantly shot like a horror movie.
So, the monsters are dead- for now- and it’s Christmas again, a month later. Eleven has a fake birth certificate (“Jane Hopper”!) and there’s one of those balls that American schools seem to always be having. Lucas dances with Max, Mike and Jane finally kiss... but poor Dustin is left alone with only a kindly and very lovely Nancy to comfort him.
And, in the last scene, we see the Mind Flayer is still there...
A superb season, obviously, but a very different one- a season that knows it isn’t the only one, where it has the freedom for characters to breathe and develop. I love Stranger Things.
Sunday, 1 September 2019
Stranger Things: Season 2, Chapter Four- Will the Wise
“They’re growing, spreading, killing...”
Joyce arrives with the boys- and they find Will catatonic, in a very bad way, but mercifully alive although the Shadow Monster has well and truly got him. It’s all a moment of high drama- but one from which Max is completely excluded as she has not a clue what is going on, a running sore.
Meanwhile, Eleven arrives home to Hopper and an almighty row, one that gets completely out of hand with Hopper going way too far into authoritarian mode. Yes, as a dad, I can see how it can happen, especially when you’re having a bad day, but this is taking a bit further than that- it’s quite a brave decision to allow a character we like to behave so unlikeable.
Of course, making Eleven angry can be a dangerous thing. She can seriously hurt you. Things don’t go quite as far as the breaking of bones we’ve seen before, but there’s a wider issue here- how can someone with such abilities, and a traumatic childhood to boot, be happily integrated into society? One can even see Eleven’s powers as a metaphor for borderline personality disorder in this context; she’s had an abusive past, has a troubled sense of self and a fear of abandonment, and lashes out in disruptive ways when she’s upset. And here she is finding that Hopper has kept records of her past, and reading them...
(Incidentally, as well as a box called “Hawkins Lab” in Hopper’s basement, there are many other boxes, including one marked “Vietnam”. Is Hopper a veteran?)
Morning, and Dustin finds Dart has grown larger. And Will is losing temperature because “he likes it cold”. Brr. Yet again the serial format and the fact we know the characters well by now allows Stranger Things to be bloody scary in a way few modern horror films are. But creepier than anything is Nancy and Jonathan waiting by the playground (Isn’t that playground a bit too 2010’s to convince? I say that with the authority of someone who was eight years old in 1985.) with everything shot to look sinister as they are surrounded by people from the lab. Ultimately they are captured but allowed to go after a bit of a chat about why the rift must remain secret lest the Reds find out... but Nancy recorded the whole thing. It’s a sequence that reminds us how superb the direction is.
And then we have Will struggling to explain to Joyce and Hopper these new “now memories” in his head, which seem not to be human ones. He communicates, ultimately, by pictures instead of words- loads of sheets of A4 which, we finally realise, connect into what looks like a maze- and Hopper makes the connection; these are vines, and may explain what’s happening to all the pumpkins.
Inevitably, Max lashes out at the boys, understandably upset at being obviously excluded from so much; it would have been unrealistic for this not to happen. But we also see her wanker brother(?) Billy tell her to stay away from Lucas in what looks awfully like racism.
So many dramatic things happen in this episode, but there are more; Eleven goes into the darkness to speak to her mother, and seems to be recognised before her mother vanished in a powerful scene. And Dustin wakes to find Dart having escaped from his cage- and finds him eating the cat, a little Demogorgon. And, if this wasn’t cliffhanger enough, Hopper goes digging under the pumpkin fields, and finds a tunnel where it’s the Upside Down...
Joyce arrives with the boys- and they find Will catatonic, in a very bad way, but mercifully alive although the Shadow Monster has well and truly got him. It’s all a moment of high drama- but one from which Max is completely excluded as she has not a clue what is going on, a running sore.
Meanwhile, Eleven arrives home to Hopper and an almighty row, one that gets completely out of hand with Hopper going way too far into authoritarian mode. Yes, as a dad, I can see how it can happen, especially when you’re having a bad day, but this is taking a bit further than that- it’s quite a brave decision to allow a character we like to behave so unlikeable.
Of course, making Eleven angry can be a dangerous thing. She can seriously hurt you. Things don’t go quite as far as the breaking of bones we’ve seen before, but there’s a wider issue here- how can someone with such abilities, and a traumatic childhood to boot, be happily integrated into society? One can even see Eleven’s powers as a metaphor for borderline personality disorder in this context; she’s had an abusive past, has a troubled sense of self and a fear of abandonment, and lashes out in disruptive ways when she’s upset. And here she is finding that Hopper has kept records of her past, and reading them...
(Incidentally, as well as a box called “Hawkins Lab” in Hopper’s basement, there are many other boxes, including one marked “Vietnam”. Is Hopper a veteran?)
Morning, and Dustin finds Dart has grown larger. And Will is losing temperature because “he likes it cold”. Brr. Yet again the serial format and the fact we know the characters well by now allows Stranger Things to be bloody scary in a way few modern horror films are. But creepier than anything is Nancy and Jonathan waiting by the playground (Isn’t that playground a bit too 2010’s to convince? I say that with the authority of someone who was eight years old in 1985.) with everything shot to look sinister as they are surrounded by people from the lab. Ultimately they are captured but allowed to go after a bit of a chat about why the rift must remain secret lest the Reds find out... but Nancy recorded the whole thing. It’s a sequence that reminds us how superb the direction is.
And then we have Will struggling to explain to Joyce and Hopper these new “now memories” in his head, which seem not to be human ones. He communicates, ultimately, by pictures instead of words- loads of sheets of A4 which, we finally realise, connect into what looks like a maze- and Hopper makes the connection; these are vines, and may explain what’s happening to all the pumpkins.
Inevitably, Max lashes out at the boys, understandably upset at being obviously excluded from so much; it would have been unrealistic for this not to happen. But we also see her wanker brother(?) Billy tell her to stay away from Lucas in what looks awfully like racism.
So many dramatic things happen in this episode, but there are more; Eleven goes into the darkness to speak to her mother, and seems to be recognised before her mother vanished in a powerful scene. And Dustin wakes to find Dart having escaped from his cage- and finds him eating the cat, a little Demogorgon. And, if this wasn’t cliffhanger enough, Hopper goes digging under the pumpkin fields, and finds a tunnel where it’s the Upside Down...
Saturday, 31 August 2019
Stranger Things: Season 2, Chapter Three- The Pollywag
"He's like a living booger!"
So Dustin has found a little slimy creature, unknown to science, that dislikes light and which he has rather taken to in spite of the fact it's obviously going to turn into something dangerous- after all, it's 1984, so it must be Gremlins. It initially looks as though this episode is set to be as crammed with pop culture episodes as the last one, which was unusually pop culture-heavy even for Stranger Things.
After a short early flashback, though, filling in the gaps concerning how she came to be with Hopper, Eleven is not happy. Hopper keeps stringing her along about when it will be safe to see Mike again, and "friends don't lie". She's well mardy. And well might she be. Hopper means well, but subconsciously this is about filling the hole left by his daughter. Eleven has just exchanged one prison for another; no wonder she dismisses Hopper's cautious rules.
Meanwhile Billy sets about asserting his alpha male status over Steve by being a twat and, interestingly, denies that Max is his sister. Meanwhile Steve confronts Nancy about what she said the previous night; are they over? She certainly runs straight to Jonathan and the two of them start plotting. Nancy rings Barb's mum and says she has something to tell her but, interestingly, doesn't tell her immediately but arranges to meet- and is heard by baddies listening in. Is she deliberately setting herself up as bait?
Otherwise, Will connects with the rather decent seeming Bob- and Joyce realises through the medium of VHS that the best Will has been drawing exists in reality, and drives off to find her son, panicking. But the lads are obsessed with Dart, Dustin's new creature, which is growing at an alarming rate and which, Will suspects, and he's obviously right, is from the Upside Down. Mike has that much-delayed clash with Max, and Dustin lies about finding Dart, hidden under his hat. Three episodes in and the plot seems less linear, with different plot threads everywhere, although the thread of the poisoned pumpkins continues to develop.It's good, it's fun, it's exciting, but it feels less like it has a particular story to tell.
Awesome cliffhanger, though, with Will in the Upside Down; has that monster got him? Is he dead?
So Dustin has found a little slimy creature, unknown to science, that dislikes light and which he has rather taken to in spite of the fact it's obviously going to turn into something dangerous- after all, it's 1984, so it must be Gremlins. It initially looks as though this episode is set to be as crammed with pop culture episodes as the last one, which was unusually pop culture-heavy even for Stranger Things.
After a short early flashback, though, filling in the gaps concerning how she came to be with Hopper, Eleven is not happy. Hopper keeps stringing her along about when it will be safe to see Mike again, and "friends don't lie". She's well mardy. And well might she be. Hopper means well, but subconsciously this is about filling the hole left by his daughter. Eleven has just exchanged one prison for another; no wonder she dismisses Hopper's cautious rules.
Meanwhile Billy sets about asserting his alpha male status over Steve by being a twat and, interestingly, denies that Max is his sister. Meanwhile Steve confronts Nancy about what she said the previous night; are they over? She certainly runs straight to Jonathan and the two of them start plotting. Nancy rings Barb's mum and says she has something to tell her but, interestingly, doesn't tell her immediately but arranges to meet- and is heard by baddies listening in. Is she deliberately setting herself up as bait?
Otherwise, Will connects with the rather decent seeming Bob- and Joyce realises through the medium of VHS that the best Will has been drawing exists in reality, and drives off to find her son, panicking. But the lads are obsessed with Dart, Dustin's new creature, which is growing at an alarming rate and which, Will suspects, and he's obviously right, is from the Upside Down. Mike has that much-delayed clash with Max, and Dustin lies about finding Dart, hidden under his hat. Three episodes in and the plot seems less linear, with different plot threads everywhere, although the thread of the poisoned pumpkins continues to develop.It's good, it's fun, it's exciting, but it feels less like it has a particular story to tell.
Awesome cliffhanger, though, with Will in the Upside Down; has that monster got him? Is he dead?
Friday, 30 August 2019
Stranger Things: Season Two, Chapter Two- Trick or Treat, Freak
”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
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
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