Stranger Things: Season 5, Chapter 8- The Rightside Up

 "Oh, I was planning on carelessness...!"

I saw this finale last night, and I'm glad I've let it sink in a little before articulating my thoughts. There is, of course, one rather large plot hole- the gang, having destroyed the Upside Down and saved the world, end up in the custody of Sarah Connor and her toy soldiers. Why aren't they all arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to those absurdly harsh prison sentences of which America, with its extraordinarily huge prison population, is so fond? Regardless of morality, they've all surely broken several important laws. But I think we can safely forgive and handwave this. Because the episode is a masterpiece,

The way the threat is resolved is superb. We have two hours of run time, plenty of time for each character to breathe, with lots of nice little scenes between pairs of characters- especially the reconciliation between Jonathan and Steve. It's fitting that Vecna, whatever he may think, is ultimately just another vessel and the real Big Bad is a freaking massive CGI monster. And the whole gang work together to destroy it before Sarah Connor ruins everything... and yes, there's no hope for Eleven after all. There never could have been. Those waterfalls always were a pipe dream.

This is, of course, very bleak. But by the end of the episode we nevertheless haven't turned to despair. Because Stranger Things never really was about the supernatural threat- it's about the characters, about growing up, about how we all deal with adversity together. About how, yes, the world is full of suffering, unfairness and death, but how we can nevertheless find joy and make our own meaning. 

Which is why we need this long coda for the characters to be seen to be getting on with their lives, pursuing their dreams and friendships, dealing with their grief. Life goes on. The proposal scene with Joyce and Hopper is so very wonderful, as is Hopper's speech to Mike on healthy and unhealthy ways of grieving, lessons we will all need at some point.

But there is also fun. It's 1989, the end of the decade. We have the Pixies! Dustin gives a wonderful valedictorian speech, including a tribute to Eddie. And we end, of course, with D&D (or rather, I assume, 2nd edition AD&D!), with a beautiful imagined happy ending for El. It's just Mike's fantasy, of course. But sometimes we need to believe in comforting fictions, and that's ok.

The perfect finale.

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 5, Chapter 6- Escape from Camazotz

 "Before you say anything... I know it's five o'clock in the morning, but I need you to build me a telemetry tracker."

Fortunately, in the light of what we soon learn, Nancy's shot does only minor damage, despite the pyrotechnics, because we get some fascinating new lore here: the Upside Down is not what we thought, as outside is simply void. This is pretty damn cool.

So is the lovely scene between Nancy and Jonathan, within which they reconnect and confirm their love by not getting engaged at what would have been the wrong time. Plus they don't die, which is nice. We also have a nice scene with Dustin and Steve reconciling, and one in which Joyce and Hopper bond on what we parents know is the impossible question- how to get the balance right between being overprotective of your child and risking harm. The characterisation for this episode in particular is superb, but one could say the same for the season as a whole.

But the main focus of the episode is Max and Holly's eponymous escape from Camazotz. Holly's cleverness finds the way out in a superb sequence of scenes which also reveal that Henry was carrying some serious childhood trauma. This, of course, makes sense, with him as a metaphor for abuse. The cycle of abuse is a terrible thing.

With Holly having made the breakthrough, Max in turn helps her to find her own portal, albeit not to Hawkins but where her physical body is. But Max is in trouble- Vecna has Will, and is cruelly gaslighting him with "vessels" and "new and better worlds", and goading him with how he's Vecna's unwitting accomplice.

Even worse, he uses Will's mind to locate Max's body, leading to the awesome hospital sequence which brings the episode to an exciting climax, while also resolving the tension between Robin and Vickie. Yes, the Demogorgons do rather seem to be taking their time finding the gang, but Karen Wheeler to the rescue....

Another superb episode. I have high hopes that the Duffer Brothers will stick the landing. Fingers crossed...

Stranger Things: Season 5, Chapter 5- Shock Jock

"There are no happy endings, Jane. Not for us."

We begin (incidentally, Frank Darabont of Walking Dead fame directs), despite the awesome revelations about Will last episode, with the gang in a downbeat mood, positive and lovely that Joyce may be; Vecna has all the kids. This is bad on the surface as Vecna's plans are not at all good, but there's a definite subtext to Henry and it's a creepy one, one of grooming, noncery and such vile things which, sadly exist. So, yeah, let's actually release the Epstein files, hmm? Wouldn't it be lovely if they were leaked by someone beyond Dementia Donnie's reach.

We get reminded of Lucas' theoretical 6 November "deadline", which is at once diegetic and non-diegetic. So things are high stakes. Plus we now have, after last episode's events, Kali, whose own story is pretty damn bleak... Sarah Connor needed her blood to give to captive pregnant women in order to make more "numbers". And, this time around, the season is airing at a time when we can truly believe that the US government is evil, what with CECOT, the state terrorists of ICE, and all that. If Vecna is a metaphor for vile abuse, Sarah Connor is a metaphor for MAGA fascism.

Still, we have plans by the gangs. Joyce has faith in her awesome son, and wants him to go on the attack against Vecna, and this ends up happening by means of... well, the reason for the episode title. Meanwhile, Dustin plans to break through the wall in the Upside Down by means of a Death Star analogy. What could possibly go wrong?

The end is bleak. Max and Holly plot their escape, with some surprising help from Derek, but the first attempt never succeeds in such cases, and they end up in Vecna's clutches. Yes, Will attacks Vecna and helps them escape, but he's ultimately defeated, and rendered as comatose as Max is. Even worse, Dustin has a terrifying realisation...

This season is simply on fire, this episode as much as any, and I'm really liking the subtext.

Stranger Things: Season 5, Chapter 4- Sorcerer

 "Henry is a lot of things, but in trouble with the monsters is not one of them."

Wow. That episode was a bit good, to put it mildly. But I'll open with my only gripe before I go on to the gushing... Stranger Things takes such care over the '80s period detail, but seems to get sloppy when it comes to D&D, and we have a particularly wincing example here. Mike's pep talk to Will is great, but it's anachronistic, because the sorcerer character class, as opposed to the magic user or wizard, was not introduced until 3rd edition in 2000, whereas in 1987 things were very much either OD&D or 1st edition. This may seem a minor point to those who don't play D&D, but it's basic stuff and certainly not a minor error.

That aside, though, this episode is pretty much flawless. I'm relieved to see so much of Max here. She may spend pretty much doing exposition to Holly, but it's truly magnificent, conceptually mind-blowing exposition that both answers questions and asks them. Is Henry/Vecna in some kind of psychic prison?

The Great Escape set piece is awesome, of course. So is Dustin's breakthrough with the wall in the Upside Down, and the scenes between Eleven and Hopper are both exciting and great in terms of characterisation. I like the bait and switch- we expect to find Vecna in that room, but we find Eight.

That final sequence, though, with all those Demogorgons, all the children taken by Vecna and all seeming lost.... but then Will gets the pep talk from Vecna (Why? What is Vecna planning for Will? Because this is a crucial thread this season.) and realises he has powers...

Now that's what I call a cliffhanger. And that's what I call bloody good telly, much though I may worry that the insanely high production values provide simply impossible competition to the rest of telly.

Roll on Christmas.

Stranger Things: Season 5, Chapter 3- The Turnbow Trap

 "No, we're saving a child via kidnapping."

I know, I'm getting rather behind: bear with me, it's my condition. All will be well after the op. Meanwhile, though, I have Little Miss Llamastrangler with me for Christmas (yay!) and so not bingeing Stranger Things is absolutely not a thing this week.

This episode is, basically, magnificent. All that stuff with Holly and Henry is splendidly fairytale, right down to the Red Riding Hood outfit, and the reveal with Max is a magnificent shock... but makes total sense. I assume her mind has been there since going into the coma, that Henry wants to keep Holly away from the forest in order to stop her meeting Max, and it was in fact Max who wrote the note? We shall see!

I'm loving the character moments. Murray urging Jonathan to propose to Nancy. The stuff between Will and Joyce. Will asking Robin about the experience of being gay. Dustin doing that to Steve's car.

All that, and we get a superb Home Alone type set piece. We finally get to see Erica again- it's about time; she's awesome. We get hints- does Dr Sarah Connor really have Vecna's physical body as a prisoner? What's her angle, though, besides wanting Eleven?

This episode has it all- the set pieces, the character moments, Winona Ryder's superb acting. One more to go until I'm caught up...

Stranger Things: Season 5, Chapter 2- The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler

 "Heavens to Betsy!"

This season continues to be brilliant, in terms of script and acting. It also looks amazing, a case in point being the initial sequence of the Demogorgon going after Holly and ultimately taking her, despite Karen's heroism and unorthodox usage of a wine bottle (fortunately, she'd drunk it earlier!)- it looks incredibly expensive on screen. And, well, it probably was. Clever, too, that the episode title harks back to the first ever episode, with Holly being in the same position as Will was... hence, I assume, the sequence at the start of last episode.

And I'll never listen to ABBA in the same way again...

The characters generally pair off so they get to interact, have character moments and be well used. Hence Robin and Will pairing off to rebelliously enact Operation Antennae behind Joyce's back, while singularly and ironically remaining in their respective closets, each of them unaware that the other is gay. Hence the lovely scene between El and Hopper as they come to understand each other and reconcile- both of them are stubborn punk asses, but they love each other. And... well, Hopper may be overprotective as a parent, but we understand why he's like that. And Sarah Connor has seen El in the car with Nancy. Oops. I bet the authorities cause lots of trouble arising from this...

Lucas is underused, but I appreciate how wise he's shown to be. Max is even more underused, a main character just lying down with eyes closed for two episodes. I hope things are as they seem and she's about to wake up.

Dustin is ok, mercilessly, just beaten up by townies who need taking down a peg or two. Him and Steve clashing over his reckless provocations is good stuff- they both care, but they're too emotionally constipated. And Steve's home truths to Jonathan about him and Nancy make for one unhappy van. But Steve, right now, is right about everything.

The ending is a shock, though, as Nancy (that hair, er, yeah...) and Mike discover that Holly's imaginary friend seems to have been... Vecna. Oh dear...

This is quite the climax and, once again, quite the episode. Season Five is firing on all cylinders so far.

Stranger Things: Season 5, Chapter 1- The Crawl

 "What is it about your presence that brings out your inner Neanderthal?"

I've missed Stranger Things... but then it's been three sodding years and, personally, soooo much life has happened since then.

No denying it, though: this is wonderful stuff, a strong and very fun first episode, letting all the characters breathe and remind us why we adore them so. It's November 1987, about a year later, Hawkins is rebuilding, quarantined, with a strong military presence investigating the Upside Down... and the doctor in charge of all this is played by Linda Hamilton, for once not playing Sarah Connor, in a bit of truly '80s-tastic casting.

The opening sequence, taking us back to the events of Will's disappearance, looks incredible and, yes, cinematic, meaning incredibly expensive. Most of the episode consists of the gang, a well-oiled machine at this point, at first planning and then executing their latest "crawl". It's gripping viewing and... yes, those last few scenes are cinematic, meaning incredibly expensive.

And... yeah. This is all awesome, but the flip side of this is that it's the perfect illustration of how the streaming model is just not sustainable. Television can't always look like blockbuster cinema, with the same production values, it can't always have such a low episode count per season and, yes, three years between seasons is far too damn long- one can't exactly criticise them for aging at a rate of one year per annum, but the "kids" all look about thirty-seven years old. And yet... can we put the genie back in the bottle? Will the public ever accept "normal" television production values ever again?

Such matters aside, though, this is amazing. There's upset- Dustin is such a good friend, always washing the graffiti off Eddie's grave, but he seems in very serious trouble from those vile bullies. I hope they get their comeuppance and, indeed, that Eddie's reputation is redeemed. Hopper's care for El is touching. And, most of all, Robin is the best DJ ever. And that cliffhanger...

More please?

What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?

 "Horseradish! I am no fool!"

This week the blog will be a little different as Little Miss Llamastrangler is with me. I don't usually blog the same show night after night, but I'll be blogging What If? between now and Friday as the episodes are short and it works logistically. 

After that I'll try and get back to some sort of "normal" schedule. And somehow fit in Squid Game Season Two...

Anywayy, this is a nice, light-hearted little romp, and a real joy. Yes, the "What If" is straightforward... but the episode is really about showcasing the Red Guardian as the truly fun character than he is- a bit of a blowhard, yes, but straightforward and honest. And while he's a communist, at least he has a genuine ethical system, although surely he's the only true, non-cynical Soviet communist left by 1991.

Of course, it helps that he's played by David Harbour, a rather prominent actor these days, hence the prominence for the character. But this episode, by giving him a real bond with the brainwashed Bucky, really humanises him. And it's great that the other main hero here is Bill Foster, or Goliath, another obscure hero even if Laurence Fishburne is hardly an obscure actotr.

This kind of thing, exploring small scale eventualities with underused characters, is exactly what this series ought to be doing more of.

What If... the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

 "Of course, issues left unresolved rarely stay buried for long."

One episode a day over the Christmas period, is it? With Mark Gatiss dropping a new Ghost Story for Christmas tomorrow and Doctor Who the day after? I'm so going to fall behind with this...

It's a fun way to start, though. Mechs and "Gamma Beasts" that owe a lot to Japanese tropes that I suspect I'd understand more if I was more deeply into Manga and the like as opposed to just the retro Godzilla films and of course Transformers with its Japanese roots. But we all know what mechs are and this is a fun take on the tropes from the MCU, exactly the sort of thing that What If? should be doing. I rather enjoyed this.

And yes, there's a very obvious subtext- the whole thing is a giant metaphor, a macrocosm, for what's going on inside Bruce Banner's head.

But there's something else going on too, I think. I've long seen the constant talk of the MCU's decline as overblown, but that's not to say there's nothing to the criticisms. Individual films and series have usually been good, but there's no denying that there's less of a feelof a cohesive gang of heroes as used to be the case, with the MCU spread much more thinly.

So is this episode trying to push a viable team of new "main" protagonists, including Sam Wilson's Cap, Monica Rambeau, Shang-Chi, Bucky and Moon Knight? If so, this could be interesting...

Quantum of Solace (2008)

 "Bond, if you could avoid killing every possible lead, it would be appreciated."

Finally I've caught up in my Bond marathon. I saw this film at the cinema in 2008, but I haven't seen anything since. All things Bond from this point forward are new territory for me. 

As for this one, though... it surprised me. Oh, I'm not saying it's one of the better Bond films because it certainly isn't. It deserves praise for it's non-excessive run time, but it has flaws. The many action set pieces are entertaining but don't come remotely close to equalling those of Casino Royale. Olga Kurylenko impresses as Camille, a character with depth who earns Bond's respect, while Gemma Arterton is also good as Strawberry Fields(!) who, as tradition dictates, falls for Bond, but ends up dying with a touch of the grand guignol. And yet...

The villain, the plot, the scheme- to engineer a coup in Bolivia and profit from control of the nation's water- lacks a certain excitement. Bond is cut loose from MI6 and on the run, albeit with M's role being ambiguous.. but how many times have we seen this? Compared to its predecessor, this film ends up seeming lacklustre by comparison.

And yet...none of that makes it a bad film, just a flawed one. And, on this second viewing,hot on the heels of seeing Casino Royale, I can see what they may have been trying to do. Yes, Daniel Craig's Bond lacks the flippant charm of his predecessors, but the character has depth. The fim sees him working through his feelings about Vesper, finally forgiving her (and himself), as urged by Matheson's dying words, and we end with him finally getting revenge.

And, across both films together, a shadowy organisation is set up- no spoilers, please, but perhaps SPECTRE?

All of this may well be going somewhere. If so, this film may be more quietly impressive than it appears on first glance.

Stranger Things: Season 4, Chapter 9- The Piggyback

 "I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer..."

Ooh. This was quite the finale. And I've got to write about it now.

Essentially, the writing was first class, despite the perhaps understandable plot armour for the kids and main characters; many of us guessed many episodes ago which character was going to die. Yet, this aside, the writing is flawless, magisterial, not only tying all the ends up but giving us so many very real character moments. Yes, the length is insane for a television episode. Yet every second is earned. There is zero padding. And the direction, cinematography, acting, sets, design are all superlative. All this and we get a splendid rendition of"Master of Puppets" too. Not only that, but we close with Siouxie and the Banshees and "Spellbound". This is the '80s' best self.

Let's talk about Eddie. I love the man: he's a teenager at school, a metalhead, he runs a D&D campaign, he may have smoked slightly naughty substances on occasion. He's basically me, a decade earlier and several tgousand miles to the west. Yet he comes from a place of grinding poverty; we certainly don't have trailer parks in the UK, we have a (rapidly disintegrating and evilly Kafkaesque) Welfare State instead. It's noble. Kids like Eddie should be in art school and in a band. Alas, he lives in Indiana.

Yet, cool and awesome though he is, he has a tragic flaw: he deals in drugs, not just weed but the hard stuff. This is what gives the Duffer Brothers permission to kill him. Yet, as he's awesome, he dies a hero. He's like the soldier who worries he might let the side down and fail to be brave, because he's scatred. Yet it's almost a cliche that such characters always end up heroes. Fear isn't cowardice. One has to feel fear for bravery to have meaning. Eddie dies a hero. All his sins are expunged. Those who hate him can **** off. And yes.Dustin's speech to his dad is beautiful.

Let's talk about Max, who is so very brave, and who is hopefully not dead, and will wake up. She faces her fears, her very deep fears, and acknowledges her very human and very understandable character flaws. Sadie Sink's acting is incredible... as is that of Caleb McLaughlin as a heroic and heartbroken Lucas, who concludes his own character arc by rejecting popularily in favour of geeky realness. Good for him. Top bloke.

And let us talk about the beautiful love between Joyce and Hopper. Between Eleven and Mike. Between Dustin and Eddie. Between brothers Jonathan and Will. These characters are all real and human, despite the CGS and the otherworldly awesomeness. All of them, including Yuri, who finds some decency at the end.

This season was comprised of insanely long episodes. Yet it deserved that. This is fine, fine telly.

Stranger Things: Season 4, Chapter 8- Papa

 "If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to a store named The War Zone?"

And so the run of uber-long episodes with ensemble casts continues. It should be over-bloated. It shouldn't work. It does.

Where to start? Eleven's story is amazing, from the betrayal of "Papa" to her perfect verbal denunciation to the dying doctor's face, right after she crashes the helicopter after trying to kill her. Her story in this episode uncannily (deliberately?) echoes that of Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back, using  her Jedi powers to lift a metal shack and being torn between further necessary training and saving her friends. This has to be a deliberate echo. And her constant gaslighting by "Papa" is every bit as creepy as intendeds.

Then there's the lovely chat between oh-so-brave Max and a lovelorn Lucas. There's Will's selfless act of loving froendship as he reassues Mike about Eleven's need for him- noticed by Jonathan. There's the beautiful love between Joyce and Hopper as they keep trying to escape from Siberia in the most entertainingly funny subplot.

Oh, and the Soviets are breeding tons of Demogorgons in jars. For next season?

Prediction: Eddie's going to die next episode. He's funny, he's cool, we like him. He's scary, but not a coward. He tells Dustin to "never change". He's doomed.

This, if it needed telling, is superlative telly.

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 3- The Monster and the Superhero

 "They're nobodies. And you're a superhero."

This season is getting better and better. And also, for this episode at least, slightly shorter, which makes it somewhat easier to squeeze in an episode and blog it.

We see lots more awesomely done CGI of the Upside Down, with the house and with Vecna at the centre of the web looking terrifying. He doesn't do much this time- well, until the very end- but just stands around looking terrifying as investigation happens. And we learn stuff. Robin and Nancy have a hilarious dynamic together, and also it seems Vecna's first known killings happened in 1959, long before Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson did their alchemy, with poor old Victor Creel perhaps taking the rap.

The witch hunt against Eddie continues, as menacing as any monster, with Lucas caught awkwardly in the middle, a dilemma portrayed superbly by Caleb McLaughlin. The bromance between Dustin and Steve, who are both awesome, is as touching as ever.

But that ending? Both previous victims had an association with the trailer park and seem to have been dealing with trauma... how could we have possibly have imagined that Max was safe, even before she sees the grandfather clock that must surely be the harbinger of her doom? There's hope in that she get's a cliffhanger, I suppose. But if they kill her I shall not be best pleased.

This is brilliant.

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.

Black Widow (2021)

 “Such a poser…”

It’s a little weird seeing Black Widow get her own flashback movie at a point after she’s been seen to die on screen, but in the end this is a highly enjoyable film. It won’t be quite up there with Marvel’s best, but their movies never fall below a certain standard, and this is no exception.

This is a film all about Natasha’s complex origins as the “daughter” of Russian sleeper agents in Ohio, and about a secret Russian troupe of mind controlled female assassins scattered worldwide. It is, essentially, a Bond film. There are many glamorous international locations; Ray Winstone is a suitable over-the-top villain; there are cool car chases and other action set pieces. Even better, there’s a denouement that is at once devilishly clever and easy to follow, a sign of good writing and direction.

Yet this is also a film about families, by blood or not. Natasha’s “parents” Rachel Weisz and the superb David Harbour as the hilarious Red Guardian (love the customs…) have nuanced and interesting roles with a lot of heart, but Florence Pugh really steals the show as Natasha’s “sister”, Yelena. The CGI may have been a little rubbish at times, but I really enjoyed this film- and the post-credit sequence was at once heartbreaking and intriguing in how it ties into TV rather than film.