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thegayhimbo · 12 days ago

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Stranger Things (2x05): “Dig Dug” Review

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other reviews:

Stranger Things Episode Reviews:

Season 1:

The Vanishing of Will Byers

The Weirdo on Maple Street

Holly Jolly

The Body

The Flea and the Acrobat

The Monster

The Bathtub

The Upside Down

Season 2:

MADMAX

Trick or Treat, Freak

The Pollywog

Will the Wise

Stranger Things Play:

Stranger Things The First Shadow

Season 2 is the only one I remember not bingeing all the way through on the same day (not counting season 4 where they deliberately split it into two volumes on two different release dates). I was in college at the time taking 15 credit hours during the Fall (which was better than the 21 credit hours I crammed in during Spring of 2017), and I was doing this on top of a part-time job that went from 7pm to midnight. Needless to say, I was busy and didn’t have a lot of time on my hands, so it took me a while to get through this season. I don’t remember if I watched the first 4 episodes on the same day, or in interval days, but I do remember watching this episode on a weekend all the way to the finale with my roommates. Even back then, I recall this episode specifically because this is where it felt like season 2 (which was still good up to this point) kicked into high gear and the story accelerated.

Rewatching it now: That feeling remains the same. This episode is where things started to take off, and it’s thrilling to see that.

Aside from the characters and the adventures they go on, there are two main aspects that have always piqued my interest with this show: The mythology of Hawkins Lab and the experiments that took place there, and the nature of the Upside Down. When the show focuses on those elements, I’m invested. When they focus on the petty bullshit of school, or love triangles/romantic misunderstanding, or people being assholes to one another, I lose interest fast. When those elements start to eclipse the story, that’s when I start getting irritated.

This is a big reason why I had problems with seasons 1 and 3 (and even parts of season 4). I get season 1 is highly regarded (and considered by some fans to be the peak of the show), but for me, while it had a good story and I was invested in the mystery of Will’s disappearance and who El was, I didn’t care much for how the show kept circling back to asshole characters like Tommy, Carol, Nicole, Lonnie, Troy, and James making the main characters lives miserable. It’s not just about how bullying is something I have no patience for; it’s that I found these scenes derivative and distracting from the main story. There’s only so many times you can have a character be awful before you either get aggravated or bored, and you wish they’d go away and stay gone. It’s the same way I felt about Angela in season 4 and why I DESPISED the Lenora arc: It was ugly and unpleasant to sit through, Angela was so deeply nasty and hateful that she overstayed her welcome and started to drag down the quality of the show as a result, and it doesn’t help that this particular arc took up 1/3 of season 4 when it could have been put to better use exploring other themes beyond bullying. To say nothing about how El’s story over fitting in to school and society remains unresolved, or how we will likely never see Angela or anyone from Lenora again (since I doubt the Byers and El will be returning to Lenora anytime soon), which makes that entire arc feel like a waste of time.

By contrast, while season 2 wasn’t devoid of those aspects, they felt toned down, or at least diluted in a way where I found them easier to stomach. Billy, for instance, is still awful, but his scenes following last episode are so few and far between that I can at least tolerate them, and it doesn’t feel like he’s overshadowing the main story. Even the high school part with Steve is more about advancing his character development, and they thankfully continue moving his arc along in this episode. For the most part, this season put a bigger emphasis on growth, having characters form new relationships while reaffirming old ones, sending the characters on fun and horrifying adventures while featuring nice bonding moments, and pushing the bullies into the background so they weren’t dominating the story.

To be clear: I don’t have an issue with the show exploring themes of bullying. I’ve made it clear in past reviews I understand that, while they pay homage to certain elements of the decade, the show itself acts as a deconstruction of the 80s and points out how a lot of the social issues from that period of time (government corruption, surveillance, disinformation, abuse, generational trauma, bigotry, social cliques, the rot within suburbia, the dark side of nostalgia, etc) are problems our society is still experiencing 40+ years later. What I have a problem with is when it’s rehashed without offering anything new to the table.

In any case, this was a fun episode that moved the story along past the bullshit of school and the narrow-minded opinions of the Hawkins residents. I liked every one of the arcs featured in this episode, and the development for both the story and the characters.

Part 1: Searching for Jim Hopper (Featuring Joyce, Bob, Will, and Mike)

Like “Trick or Treat, Freak” where Will was able to confide in Mike about being stalked by the Mind Flayer in a way where he didn’t feel misunderstood or infantilized, we see that again with Mike where he’s able to help Will make sense of what’s going on with the Mind Flayer’s influence over him. Mike’s also able to see the other side of this situation: Whatever this hive mind is that Will’s connected to, Will now has access to it and all the information inside despite the Mind Flayer having access to him as well. It’s not that Mike is trying to make Will feel better with empty platitudes, but he is trying to reassure Will that there is a way this can be used to their advantage while giving Will a sense of control that he feels lacking in right now. It’s a genuinely sweet moment on Mike’s part (helped by Mike holding Will’s hand when he’s shaking), but he also turns out to be somewhat right: Will is able to be a spy against the Mind Flayer despite the Mind Flayer (apparently) using him as a spy. It reminds me of The First Shadow, and the relationship Patty Newby had with Henry/One/Vecna: At the time, Henry was still scared of his powers and the malicious growing influence the Mind Flayer had over him, and one of the ways he was able to counter it (however briefly) was through his relationship with Patty: She saw the positives in his abilities, and gave him a sense of stability and love that worked in making Henry’s situation manageable, if only for a short time. It wasn’t enough to prevent Henry’s descent into evil, but that’s hardly Patty’s fault: Like Mike, she was going with the information presented to her at the time, and there were things about the Mind Flayer that were beyond both Mike and Patty's understandings.

The question of how much control the Mind Flayer has over what Will sees and experiences comes up here again when Hopper disappears. Is Will knowing about Hopper’s location simply a by-product of being linked to the hive mind, or is the Mind Flayer allowing Will to see where Hopper is in the tunnels? We know from the next episode that the Mind Flayer was able to force Will (without anyone else knowing until it was too late) to lead soldiers from Hawkins Lab into a trap in the tunnels that got them all killed, so it makes me wonder if the Mind Flayer was capable of suppressing Hopper’s location in Will’s now-memories so that he wouldn’t be able to find him. Or maybe, since this is the first time the Mind Flayer has infected a human with its black particles, the Mind Flayer is finding out that its possession of Will comes with drawbacks: They share the same mind now, which means even if the Mind Flayer wanted to, it can’t close off its now-memories to Will, and Will knows what it knows when it knows it. That’s also including its intolerance to heat and fire. However, the flip side of this is maybe the Mind Flayer allowed Will to think he was in control by enabling him to see Hopper’s location, and then pulled the rug out from under Will at the end when it allowed him to feel the full pain of the tunnels being burned. The implication is that either it took some time for the Mind Flayer to fully settle into Will’s body and connect its pain receptors to his, or the Mind Flayer has been able to suppress the pain it’s felt over the constant burns Hawkins Lab has done to the Gate, but now wants Will to experience the pain from the burning of the tunnels to establish what’s going to happen to Will if they continue with that.

There is a part of me that wonders if the Mind Flayer’s reasons for possessing Will, despite possibly knowing the risks, was less motivated about using Will as a spy (which, as I explained in the last review, is something Vecna could have done for the Mind Flayer via remote-viewing without it having to possess Will at all) and more about using Will as insurance. It had to have known that the tunnels it created under Hawkins would eventually be discovered (even before Hopper found out about them), which would pose a major vulnerability. Hawkins Lab was already conducting burns at the Gate that the Mind Flayer had previously been forced to tolerate. Since the Lab wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, it had to find a way to force them to halt. And since it already had a connection with Will, it decides to use that to possess Will by infusing part of itself into him, and keep him as a hostage with a direct message to everyone present: Either the burns stop and the tunnels are left alone, or they stand the risk of killing Will. Yes, Will gets access to the hive mind, but from its perspective, it can strong-arm and bully Will into complicity, and even cause his mind to deteriorate as his consciousness is assimilated.

I know the Mind Flayer is perceived in the fandom as only operating under myopic thinking and having the mentality of a child that throws a temper-tantrum when things go wrong. While I think that’s true to some extent, it doesn’t mean it’s incapable of planning in the long-term or that it can’t learn from its mistakes. Its corruption of Henry/One/Vecna in The First Shadow took a significant amount of time, and it would only be decades later when the results showed. Likewise, in season 3, while its plan on the surface only appeared like it was only about revenge on El, we later discover it was about assimilating El’s powers so that Vecna could use them to open a bigger gate in season 4. It may not have succeeded in killing El, but it got what it wanted from her.

Likewise, I see the Mind Flayer operating through Will as an experiment on its part to see what it can do with Will, and if it’s capable of possessing humans with the same results as it possesses other creatures from the Upside Down. Humans have become its new Petri dish.

On top of that, there’s the way the Mind Flayer (and by extension, the Upside Down) has been compared to a virus that needs to spread. In a way, the Upside Down, with its Lovecraftian comparisons, reminds me of a huge body, with the Mind Flayer acting as the brain, the hive mind being a central nervous system, the demogorgons/demodogs/demo-creatures acting like white blood cells that kill foreign threats to the body. The fleshy design of the Gate and tears between worlds only emphasizes that. You kill the brain: You kill the whole body. Or at least that's how it appears.

Speaking of Lovecraftian comparison, one Lovecraft story that came to mind while I was watching this episode was “The Colour Out of Space.” There is the obvious difference of the meteorite from space causing the horrors in the story vs the Gate opening and unleashing the Upside Down on the world, but the parallels of an otherworldly substance spreading in a particular area that alters the environment in an abnormal way is hard to miss.

Told from the perspective of an unknown narrator recounting a tale from a local named Ammi Pierce, “The Colour Out of Space” takes place in New England near the town of Arkham in the 1880s and deals with Ammi’s account of an area known as “the blasted heath” and how it came to be. Ammi had originally been neighbors with a man named Nahum Gardner and his family, who were farmers in the area. One day, an odd meteorite from space crashed near Gardner’s well. Gardner told people in town about it, resulting in several professors taking samples of the meteor, leading to them discovering its abnormal qualities (like how Hawkins Lab takes samples of the soil and discovers how the Upside Down’s taint has altered the soil and its reaction to heat). There is a color within the meteorite that Ammi admits is “impossible to describe,” except to say that it was no color they’d ever seen in this world. Studying the substance in the labs yields frustrating results, and the attempts to put the meteor substance in beakers results in both the substance and beaker disappearing with nothing except a charred spot left behind. After a thunderstorm in which the meteorite appears to attract lightning, causing it to appear seemingly obliterated, it’s believed the phenomenon is over. However, over the course of multiple months, strange things begin to happen to the Gardner family and the land and animals they own. First, Gardner’s crops grow to “phenomenal size and unwonted gloss” but can’t be eaten because of how bitter and disgusting they taste, causing Nahum to believe the meteor poisoned the soil (similar to how the Upside Down spreading underneath Hawkins taints the ground for farmers like Eugene and Merrill, with the difference being the tunnels underneath immediately rotted the vegetation in their areas). Then, the animals in the area begin to take on abnormal mutations, and those animals who haven’t been exposed become frightened of the area near Gardner’s land. Then “skunk-cabbages” of monstrous size, “strange colours,” and “unprecedented odours” begin sprouting up. Eventually, other vegetation begins growing initially with the otherworldly colors before it turns “grey and brittle.” All the cows’ milk goes bad and all the livestock on the farm begin to undergo alterations that also leave them “grey and brittle” before they fall to pieces, the well where the meteor crashed has been poisoned by the substance, and to cap it all off, the Gardner family begins to experience physical and mental deterioration as insanity sets in and the family members begin to die one-by-one.

Just like with “the blasted heath” brought on by the meteorite and the grotesque changes to the environment around the Gardner’s land, the tunnels in the Upside Down have a very eldritch and repulsive presence that conveys that it shouldn’t be there, yet it is. When Hopper stumbles across the area with the dead animal carcasses, it reminds me of when Ammi brings the authorities to the Gardner house and they search the well near where the meteor hit………only to discover the skeletons of Merwin and Zenas Gardner (Nahum’s kids), as well as the bodies of a deer, a dog, and smaller animals with a slimy, bubbly ooze underneath. Even the connection Will has to the Mind Flayer (and the immense pain he experiences when the Lab tries to burn the tunnels) hearkens to a terrifying scene from Lovecraft’s story when Ammi confronts a decaying Nahum earlier in his house (who’s succumb to the influence of the meteorite’s substance) and brokenly warns Ammi about how it’s sucking the life out of him, his family, and the land. While we won’t be seeing a physical deterioration of Will, we will be seeing his mental deterioration over the next few episodes as the Mind Flayer takes hold. Both the Mind Flayer and the substance in the meteorite are intent on terraforming their environment to their liking, both are described as “evil” by those who encounter them, both suck the life out of everyone and everything unlucky to be in their path, and both intend to leave what they touch as a grey, decaying, desolate landscape. The difference is while the substance from the meteor eventually returns to space (with the most it destroys being five acres of land), the Mind Flayer has no intention of leaving and wants to turn this world into its own personal hellhole.

I’ll say this for the production team: They do an excellent job designing these tunnels. They are grotesque and nasty, like mold in the walls that you want to tear out and burn. The particles in the air look like floating asbestos.

Even the pods which spray the spores on Hopper hold parallels to the ones from the video game The Last of Us.

The spores exist underground, and both Hopper and Joel are forced to don masks to not get overwhelmed. The difference being the spores from The Last of Us can infect people with CBI (Cordyceps Brain Infection) that cause physical mutations which turn humans into monsters, and they come from deceased infected. Joel can’t ever breathe the spores without mutating. Meanwhile with Hopper, the spores knock him out briefly, but we don’t see the full physical effects of what they can do, especially after the Lab rescues Hopper and disinfects him in the next episode.

On a slightly humorous note, the scene of Hopper trying to dig himself out before briefly stopping and trying to light a cigarette before the vines wrapped around him was darkly amusing. I’m reminded of when our area was experiencing wildfires several years ago, where the skies were orange and ash was in the air. Still didn’t stop people from having a smoke outside to “calm their nerves” at the time.

I’ve seen a few comparisons between the scene where Hopper gets attacked by the vines and the infamous tree rape scene from The Evil Dead that Cheryl experiences in the haunted woods. Not sure I see the parallel too closely since the latter was more graphic, sexually charged, and about the demons in the woods inspiring terror and hopelessness, whereas the vines and pods in the tunnels act more as a defense mechanism against outside threats to it. If anything, there are better comparisons to the Indiana Jones film series: Hopper grabbing his hat the same way Indy refuses to leave his hat behind, Hopper keeping the vines and tendrils at bay with fire similar to how Indy used fire to keep away snakes within the Well of the Souls where the Ark of the Covenant resided, and Hopper’s escapades in the tunnels and attempts to escape being similar to the dangers Indy constantly faced underground when looking for historical artifacts.

A parallel that isn’t talked about as much, but was notable to me, was the tunnel of animal carcasses Joyce and Bob find Hopper in, and the scenes from The First Shadow when a younger Bob, Hopper, and Joyce were investigating the animal killings a young Henry Creel was carrying out in 1959. One grisly moment from that play which comes to mind is when Hopper and Bob had to dig up the mangled body of a dead cat. I know it’s been 25 years in the show’s timeline, but I wonder if this brought back those memories for the three of them.

Speaking of Bob, let’s talk about the movie Sean Astin debuted in that’s a big influence for this season: The Goonies.

Written by Chris Columbus based on a story from Steven Spielberg, The Goonies deals with several kids from Astoria, Oregon who, due to the threat of being kicked out of their houses to make way for a new country club, embark on an adventure to search for buried treasure after discovering a map and a 1632 doubloon coin in Mikey’s (played by Sean Astin) basement. Believing the treasure was left behind by the infamous pirate “One-Eyed Willy,” the group’s journey takes them underground as they deal with an assortment of traps and puzzles, all while being chased by an Italian crime family known as the Fratellis who also find out about the treasure and want it for themselves. The film has a very Indiana Jones vibe, but it plays it more for comedy and slapstick, albeit in a way that doesn’t go over-the-top at the expense of the story. It also puts emphasis on the titular “Goonies” and the relationships they share with each other as misfits, similar to the relationship the main characters (adults, teens, kids) share on Stranger Things as outcasts.

The Goonies was briefly acknowledged in season 1 (the scene of Dustin getting pudding from the cafeteria kitchen at the Middle School being a nod to when Chunk discovers a freezer of ice cream underneath the restaurant where one of the Fratellis dead victims resides), but season 2 is where the movie's story structure is featured more prominently, both in this episode and “The Gate.” Bob working out Will’s drawings as a map of Hawkins (one of those locations, Lover’s Lake, will make an appearance in season 4 as one of the areas where Vecna opens a gate) is a lot like how Mikey from the film works out the map and artifacts that act as clues leading them to the treasure. Chunk’s friendship with Sloth (the deformed brother of the Fratellis) echoing Dustin’s friendship with D’Art, right down to both Dustin and Chunk sharing chocolate bars with both D’Art and Sloth, which kickstarts their respective friendships. Bob’s cheeky reference to “buried treasure” at the X spot where Will sees Hopper. Even the rainy weather when Bob shows up with brainteasers for Will looks a lot like the Oregon overcast from that movie:

I know Joyce had no way of foreseeing the future, but there’s a part of me that wishes she hadn’t invited Bob inside and just stuck with turning him away. I’m glad they were able to find Hopper and rescue him before he died, but the moment Bob came inside and found out how Will’s drawings worked was the moment his fate was sealed. I know Randy Havens, who plays Scott Clarke, joked about how he was glad Mr. Clarke never found out about the Upside Down because it would probably result in his life expectancy dropping. Unfortunately, that’s what happened with Bob. I’m sure that’ll also be the case for the remaining residents of Hawkins in season 5 who either didn’t leave or were unable to now that Vecna’s created a bigger and lasting gate. If these people didn’t know about the Upside Down before, they inevitably will now.

Part 2: Nancy, Jonathan, and Murray

I know for the longest time there’s been this sentiment in the fandom that the issues Jonathan and Nancy have in their relationship have been contrivances by the Duffer Brothers. While I may have initially believed that at the time, rewatching this show again has given me a different perspective which has resulted in two conclusions:

Many of the problems Nancy and Jonathan experience with one another originated in season 1, and have been issues that have been brushed to the side by the characters whenever the threat of the Upside Down resurfaces. Which brings me to #2…..

There are fundamental personality differences with Nancy and Jonathan that have driven a lot of their actions and choices.

Jonathan’s always been closed off to others outside of his family. He’s admitted to not liking most people (as we heard in his argument with Nancy in “The Flea and the Acrobat”), and Jonathan being involved in any kind of relationship (platonic, romantic, or otherwise) would mean him being willing to invest emotionally. We have seen subtle changes with this outlook, both with his relationship with Nancy in seasons 2-3, and his friendship with Argyle in season 4, but those have been rarities and framed more as exceptions to the rule. And even those relationships have come with asterisks attached: Considering Eduardo Franco may not be coming back for season 5, it’s likely we won’t see Argyle again since he’ll be returning to Lenora, and the Byers are incapable of going home at this point since El is a fugitive and their house in Lenora has been compromised, meaning that friendship either didn’t last or got put on hold. As for his relationship with Nancy by the time season 4 concludes, it’s on thin-ice, which isn’t helped by the fact he’s still lying to her about his college application letter. It’s starting to get to a point where there’s a serious question about whether Jonathan is still committed to this relationship.

Jonathan prioritizing Will once he got back from the Upside Down and not pursuing a relationship with Nancy made sense at the time (and still does). He may have gotten to know Nancy a bit better over the course of that week in season 1, but that doesn’t mean he was ready to commit to a full-time relationship with her. Add in the fact this kind of relationship would have been a first for him, his concerns about Will’s state and Will needing support after the trauma he went through, Nancy moving on after a month (which Jonathan may have been sore about, but didn’t make any attempt to stop from happening), and the entire mess with Steve (who, regardless of how he acted at the theater, did come through for them and saved their lives), and Jonathan returned to what he was familiar with: Taking care of his family.

Same thing goes for Nancy: I’ve said before that her returning to Steve wasn’t just about wanting to give the relationship another chance, but also about how (aside from Jonathan) Steve was the only other person her age that she could talk to about Barbara. And it’s not like Nancy took Steve back with open arms either: Her waiting a month for Jonathan before going back to Steve indicates she didn’t just magically forgive Steve for how he acted beforehand, and that Steve had to put in the work to show he was a different person. I have issues with her continuing to be in the relationship with Steve long after it became clear to her that she didn’t love him anymore, but not with her wanting to try again with that relationship.

Nancy’s always had a take-charge attitude that contrasts both Steve and Jonathan’s hesitations about the things they do. She knows what she wants when she wants it, and she’s not going to let other people deter her, or wait for everyone to be on the same page as her. We saw that with Nancy’s decision to take her relationship with Steve to the next level in season 1 despite Barbara’s concerns about that. We saw it when she believed something bad happened to Barbara following her disappearance, and her dismissal of Steve’s initial self-absorbed reaction to that or the bullshit cover story put out about Barbara running away. We saw that with her determination to hold Hawkins Lab responsible this season, which she was going to do with or without Steve or Jonathan. Even in season 3, when she was putting up with her sexist co-workers, she was still determined to get a story and make a career for herself that didn’t just extend to pouring coffee for the men, which contrasted with Jonathan’s desire to keep his head low so he would still have his job. It’s not just about Nancy being a fighter; she doesn’t have the patience to wait for people who are either hemming and hawing, or else trying to put roadblocks in the direction she wants to go.

So when I look at Nancy’s upset reaction in this episode to Jonathan’s insinuation that she didn’t wait long enough for him, I kind of get where she’s coming from: How long was she supposed to wait for Jonathan? It’s the same question I have regarding where Jonathan and Nancy’s relationship is by the end of season 4: How long is Nancy expected to wait for Jonathan while he makes up his mind about what he wants to do with his life, or if he even wants to continue this relationship with Nancy?

There’s an irony in how Jonathan is described in Beyond Stranger Things as one of the most self-aware characters on the show, especially in comparison to Steve who’s still trying to figure himself out. By season 4, that has been reversed: Jonathan is the one who’s become indecisive and is burying his head in the sand (or if we’re being literal: the purple palm tree delight) whereas Steve has gained self-awareness and is starting to figure out what he wants to do with his life. I don’t see that as contrived or out-of-character either: Steve’s experiences and brushes with death have forced him to do some serious introspection about the kind of person he wants to be, and how things he might have considered important (like popularity) are superficial and don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s closed-off personality and reluctance to have any kind of relationships outside of his family may have helped him in the short-term, especially in not being sucked into the petty bullshit of high school, but in the long-term, it’s isolated him and led to maladaptive ways of dealing with his problems when things go wrong. That’s also including how he’s projected Joyce’s relationship with Lonnie (which was a shitshow) and his insecurities onto his relationship with Nancy. The conversation he has with Argyle in the junk yard in season 4 only highlights this.

I don’t know where Jonathan and Nancy’s relationship will go in season 5, but considering it takes place a year and a half after season 4 ends, that leads me to one of three conclusions: Either Jonathan continued lying to Nancy about his acceptance to Emerson college during that time, or else made excuses about why he won’t attend while trying to hold on to his relationship with Nancy (which doesn’t make him look sympathetic), Jonathan’s finally gotten his shit together by the time season 5 starts and has committed fully to his relationship with Nancy, or Nancy and Jonathan have broken up by the time season 5 premieres. Either way, I don’t see Nancy waiting a year and a half for Jonathan if he continues to be indecisive.

Then we get to Jonathan and Nancy meeting Murray (which briefly puts their relationship issues on hold) while they work out the kinks in their plan to bring Hawkins Lab down:

One of the movies Brett Gelman has cited as inspiration for Murray’s character, and is even reflected in the tone surrounding the attempt to expose Hawkins Lab, is a 1974 political conspiracy thriller known as The Parallax View.

Based on a book that came out in the 70s following the JFK and Robert F. Kennedy assassinations (and all the crazy conspiracy theories that originated from those events), The Parallax View was directed by Alan J. Pakula (who also directed All The President’s Men, another political thriller that was cited as inspiration for Murray's character) and stars Warren Beatty as a newspaper reporter named Joseph Frady. Frady becomes entangled in a conspiracy after his ex-girlfriend, Lee Carter, witnesses a political assassination in Seattle of an independent candidate for president named Charles Carroll, and comes to believe she’s being targeted along with several other people who may have seen something during the assassination that they weren’t supposed to. After she dies under mysterious circumstances, Frady realizes she may have been telling the truth, and begins to search for others who were there during the Carroll assassination. What follows is Frady having a target put on his back, and becoming entangled with a mysterious corporation known as Parallax that recruits psychopaths and antisocial individuals to use as pawns in carrying out political assassinations. After he is presumed dead in a bombing that was meant to kill the last witness to the Carroll assassination, Frady decides to go undercover as a potential recruit for Parallax to unmask the corporation and thwart future assassination attempts.

While I’m not a fan of conspiracy thrillers in general, I’ll admit the movie is well-made, induces a sense of paranoia, has an eerie musical score, and highlights the theme of how powerful corporations have the money, influence, and resources to get away with things the ordinary person would be hard-pressed to pull off. The scene from the previous episode of Nancy and Jonathan in the park when they see people acting suspiciously and realizing they’re from Hawkins Lab is reminiscent of the movie where Frady is being watched from a distance, and anyone he encounters could be an agent ready to kill him. There’s a sense the main characters in both the movie and the show are in way over their heads. In Frady’s case, Parallax acts a lot like a cult isolating individuals, grooming them to become pawns, and then callously disposing of them once they’ve served their purpose. Frady bit off more than he could chew.

When Murray points out to Nancy and Jonathan that the moment someone with an ounce of authority calls bullshit and people jump to agree with it because they don’t want to see what’s behind the curtain, it echoes how The Parallax View opens up and how it ends: A Congressional Committee claiming that these assassinations are simply the work of unhinged lone gunmen who acted on their own, that there’s no reason to suspect any broader conspiracy, and that all the “evidence” conveniently provided by the Committee will support this. Case Closed.

There’s a very real chance Hawkins Lab would’ve done the same thing had Nancy decided to go public with the tape in its current iteration, which is why Murray insisted it needed to be watered down into a scandal that was familiar to people and couldn’t be ignored: A chemical leak. A story about psychokinetic kids and other interdimensional worlds? People would have just assumed whoever spewed that was a crackpot. A scandal that could potentially impact the community of Hawkins? People would pay attention to that. It does make me wonder though why Murray didn’t take this approach with Hopper at the beginning of season 2 when he was claiming there was a full-scale invasion of Hawkins by Russians, but it’s possible he learned from his mistake there and doesn’t want Nancy and Jonathan to repeat what he did.

There was an arc on the now-finished House of Cards series that parallels how Murray gets the story of Hawkins Lab out to the public: In that show, following Frank Underwood’s rise to power after killing several people and pulling a bunch of Machiavellian maneuvers to ascend to the Presidency, the former editor-in-chief for The Washington Herald named Tom Hammerschmidt begins an investigation to Frank following one of Tom’s proteges, Lucas, attempting to assassinate Frank because of his role in the death of Lucas’s friend and crush, Zoe Barnes. It’s ambiguous whether Tom believes Frank killed anyone, but what he does know is that trying to form a story from that angle will just make him seem like a conspiracy nut. Instead, he starts looking into the web of corruption, political backstabbings, and backdoor deals Frank engaged in to obtain power. It’s tedious work, and it involves getting several people to open to Tom about how Frank manipulated them, but it does pay off, and it causes Frank to panic when the story is published. Frank is already unpopular with a lot of people (who have been around him long enough to see through his false charm), and while he might have been able to starve off accusations of murder by pointing out how ludicrous they sound, accusations of corruption are a different matter: People have come to expect that from politicians the same way people have come to expect contamination in the environment from Government facilities and corporations.

On a semi-related note, what’s genuinely insidious about today’s culture, and transcends the search for truth that shows like Stranger Things and House of Cards highlighted, is that we now live in a world where people like Trump, Vladimir Putin, and other powerful figures have popularized the idea that truth no longer matters even when it’s exposed. It’s barely a case of covering scandals up as opposed to the naked corruption we’re seeing play out while people in authority either gaslight and claim that it’s not happening, or else thumb their noses and essentially say “It doesn’t matter because there’s nothing you can do about it.” Not helping the matter are the useful idiots, conspiracy nuts, and the political-leaning media who either go along with it, or proceed to destroy their credibility in a huge way. Even if they are being truthful in that specific moment, it becomes irrelevant in the face of the standards they’ve broken before. It’s why you see people swallow propaganda wholeheartedly. I remember all those years ago Trump saying he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters. I would take it further than that, and argue that Trump could straight-up force himself on a woman in the middle of Fifth Avenue with witnesses present, and not only would he NOT lose supporters, they (along with the right-winged media) would bend over backwards to either deny the rape took place, or else victim-blame the woman for the situation she was in. For those who think I’m being hyperbolic, I have seen plenty of people in the past year and a half (including on Tumblr) who’ve gleefully denied that mass rapes and sexual assaults took place, or else resorted to victim-blaming and whataboutisms when testimonies and evidence came to light. This isn’t just limited to the Right. I’ve seen this behavior from Leftists who still maintain they’re morally good people despite that. This is the world we live in now.

On a final note regarding Murray, for all of his flaws and pretensions, I like how he works with Nancy in creating this cover story and doesn’t look down on her the same way Bruce, Tom, and the other sexist assholes at The Hawkins Post from season 3 did. Murray sees Nancy’s potential as a journalist/reporter, and while he does call her out for being naïve, it’s not rooted in misogyny, but about getting her to think critically and look outside the box. I know Murray gives off antisocial vibes and isn’t much of a people’s person, but I’m curious about what Nancy being an intern for Murray would have looked like. She certainly would have learned a lot more from Murray about journalism compared to her humiliating job at The Hawkins Post.

Part 3: El, Becky, and Terry

The revelation about what happened to Terry Ives remains just as horrifying and depressing as when I first saw this episode. The only bright spot in this storyline was when the trucker driver dropped off El at Terry’s house. It reminds me of the conversation El will later have with that woman on the bus in “The Lost Sister” when she returns to Hawkins. It’s small, but after how much season 4 emphasized people at their absolute worst (both with Angela and the Rink-O-Mania crowd in Lenora, and Jason whipping up the Hawkins residents into a witch hunt against the Hellfire Club), it’s a nice reminder that there are decent, kind people in this world who aren’t looking to take advantage of others. Becky is also one of those people.

I didn’t talk much about Becky when I reviewed “The Monster,” but I honestly feel bad for her. I get she didn’t initially believe her sister about El being stolen (or even alive), but considering the lengths Hawkins Lab has undergone to manipulate and gaslight others to cover their tracks, I don’t blame Becky for taking her initial position. Add in the break-in to Hawkins Lab where Terry got her brain fried, and then the Lab likely bringing Terry back to Becky with a distorted story about Terry snapping and killing a guard (which we don’t know if Terry did; she shot the guard, but it’s ambiguous if he actually died or if Brenner was lying through his teeth) and how she needed to be under constant care, and Becky likely went along with it for Terry’s sake and her own. Becky isn’t a useful idiot like so many people out there who regurgitate disinformation and would rather drink bleach before they ever admit they were wrong. She’s someone who’s trying to survive, and who loves her sister and wants to take care of her. At the end of the day, just like Terry, Becky was just another pawn in a much bigger game to be used by Hawkins Lab. Which makes what happened even more tragic.

It's telling that, despite not initially believing Terry, Becky never made any attempt to take down the room Terry set up for El. If anything, it looks like Becky’s kept it clean since it isn’t collecting dust. Considering that she’s been Terry’s caregiver for 10 years as she’s mentally deteriorated (Terry broke into the Lab in 1974, as makeup artists for the show Amy L. Forsythe confirmed), that’s significant in regards to the love Becky has for Terry.

Also, anyone notice the picture of the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland on the wall? Some of the BTS photos for season 5 not only featured a picture from the book, but also included a picture of Holly Wheeler in what looked like Alice’s iconic blue and white dress. They’re hinting at the idea that either the book, or plots elements from the book, will play a role in the final season. Maybe the picture of the Whit Rabbit is just there for set decoration in this scene, but considering how they’ve mentioned story elements planned out in season 2 will factor into season 5, it makes me wonder if Terry and Becky might come back for the final season. 🤔

Getting back to Becky, once it becomes clear that El is who she says she is, she’s not only quick to believe her, but also do what she can for El in the moment. Even her comment about how Terry never gave up on El was sweet, if sad. I only wish Becky’s hope that Terry was in a good dream, as opposed to the hellish repetitive nightmare she’s trapped in, was true.

Speaking of Terry, while the first two seasons leaned heavily on the idea that MKUltra’s experiments with different drugs like LSD were responsible for Terry having special abilities (something the non-canon tie-in novel Suspicious Minds also ran with), we know at this point from season 4 and The First Shadow that Vecna’s altered blood was responsible. I don’t see this as a retcon though. I wouldn’t be surprised if Terry, while pregnant with El, was secretly injected with Vecna’s blood during one of the LSD trips she had during the experiment. The drugs MKUltra administered during these specific experiments could have either been a cover on Brenner’s part, or a way to enhance those abilities in individuals once the altered blood worked its way into the systems of those injected.

There is a question about who got administered Vecna’s blood during the experiments. While Suspicious Minds (as I’ve said) is non-canon, one of the ideas from that book the show runs with is that the reason Brenner raised and trained kids with these abilities, as opposed to adults, is because not only were they easier to manipulate and control, but young kids born were a “blank slate” who hadn’t been exposed to outside influences yet, which gave them more room for their powers to develop without being inhibited. It’s why Hawkins Lab was designed as a prison isolated from the outside world, it’s why Brenner (aside from a few loyal orderlies and scientists) oversaw these kids, and it’s why their education was only limited to the development of their powers. He didn’t want any distractions.

All of this makes me wonder about the extent of the testing of Vecna’s blood that Brenner did on adults, and what results those yielded. Even with Terry, she appears limited in what she can do with her powers, and it’s ambiguous how much of that is due to Brenner frying her brain, or if factors like age, memories, and establish background contribute to how much Vecna’s blood in Terry’s system can exert itself. For what it’s worth, the Duffer Brothers have hinted at the idea of exploring this more in season 5 when they talked about Henry/One/Vecna:

DEADLINE: Did Dr. Martin Brenner not know that this kid killed his family and framed his father, or did this kid’s sociopathic potential offer Brenner an opportunity to really mold a weapon without a conscience? MATT DUFFER: The second, really. He knew what this kid did and also what he was capable of when he was young. Brenner’s going, how can I mold this character, but not just into a weapon? That’s really how he sold it to the government, but for him as a scientist, it’s like, what other worlds can this kid show me about how our universe works? So, he’s really just that scientist who’s not really thinking about the consequences. He just keeps pushing, pushing, pushing, and he’s using the government’s money by saying hey we can fight the Soviets with this kid. It’s something we will get into in Season 5. What happened to that program once Henry became involved and how Brenner evolved it into including multiple kids. We’re going to go back and see some of that in Season 5.

If the program “evolved,” then it stands to reason that Brenner, being a scientist, likely tested Vecna’s blood on adult participants, and not just women who were pregnant with kids. If so, what happened to those adult participants? Considering we haven’t seen any yet (not counting Terry), that makes me assume the worst.

The experiments conducted on Terry, which resulted in El’s developing her abilities, hearkens to the plot of Stephen King’s Firestarter. We saw nods to this book (and its 1984 movie) in the first season, both with the experiments El does for Brenner paralleling the experiments The Shop puts Charlie McGee through to test her pyrokinetic abilities, as well as how El and Charlie are forced to go on the run from Government agents who are after them.

Like El, Charlie has powers she was born with because of experiments done on their parents (or in El’s case, only her mother). Charlie’s parents, Victoria and Andrew McGee, were part of an experiment by The Shop called “Lot 6,” which was a chemical compound administered to 10 participants, including them. Lot 6 itself was described to the participants as a “hypnotic mild hallucinogenic,” but it was actually a synthetic copy of pituitary extract, a powerful painkiller hallucinogen that could bring out psionic abilities in a person. Victoria developed telepathy whereas Andrew developed the ability to “push” people via mind control (though at the cost of him developing brain hemorrhages that caused nosebleeds, similar to what El experiences when she uses her powers). The remaining 8 participants in that experiments were driven mad (one guy graphically gouged his eyes out) and committed suicide. For the remaining parents, it doesn’t end well: Victoria is killed by The Shop whereas Andrew dies towards the end via a gunshot to the neck. In El’s case, her mom has been rendered catatonic and her father’s fate is (canonically) unknown.

In any case, the suicide and madness of the remaining participants in Firestarter makes me wonder if that’s what happened to any adult participants who were possibly given Vecna’s blood before Brenner decided on children as the best subjects: Maybe Vecna’s blood administered to adults created problems like that. This is all speculation though, and it remains to be seen if the Duffer Brothers go with this angle for season 5 or not.

On a side note: A big reason I’ve brought up these references and inspirations in these reviews isn’t just because of the nods and homages the Duffer Brothers make to these books, movies, music, or TV shows. It’s to illustrate that the Duffer Brothers understand the themes and concepts these media references were trying to convey while providing their own takes with their own original story. If this was simply shallow parody, or shout-outs to references without understanding the context behind them, or even copy-and-paste like something AI Generated, I wouldn’t have any interest in Stranger Things, or even want to talk about it. Much like how George Lucas took inspiration from other works for Star Wars, or even J.R.R. Tolkien took inspiration from history and mythology to craft The Lord of the Rings, that’s what the Duffer Brothers have done with Stranger Things. They honor what inspired their work while also adding their own social commentary and signature style.

Finally, there’s Terry’s current state. Talk about a fate worse than death.

I remember seeing the first season of Jessica Jones, and how part of the way she dealt with her PTSD and trauma at the hands of Kilgrave was by reciting street names from her neighborhood to keep herself grounded during her panic attacks. I wonder if that’s what was going on with Terry when she repeats the same words over and over: Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow Room. Three to the Right. Four to the Left. Four-Fifty. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), which is what Brenner administered to Terry, can create memory loss, and her reciting those particular words may have been a last desperate attempt to hold on to those specific memories. I question how many times Brenner administered ECT to Terry besides what was shown onscreen. That’s not even getting into what else he may have done besides ECT to destroy Terry’s cognitive abilities.

This event, on top of everything else he’s done, is a big reason I consider Brenner irredeemable. It’s also why I was beyond disgusted with the Brenner apologists who came out when season 4 aired and either downplayed the severity of Brenner’s crimes, or proceeded to victim-blame El and Terry for what happened to them.

Just like with the fans who bent over backwards to pretend Billy’s racism towards Lucas wasn’t a thing, the same can be said for these idiots who justify Brenner’s behavior and unironically claim he’s a good man as opposed to the manipulative sociopath who destroyed other people’s lives, was responsible (along with the Mind Flayer) for driving Henry/One/Vecna to become evil, and was the cause for most (if not all) of the problems the main characters face. I get that fandoms aren’t a monolith, and there will always be a minority of yahoos out there who defend vile characters (wait until I talk about the Angela apologists from season 4), but shit like this makes me question the IQs of fans, as well as whether these people are serious, trolling, or operating in bad faith. Either way, it doesn’t nothing to improve my respect for the fandom.

Finally, there’s this tidbit about previous ideas that were abandoned for season 2: Initially, after El visited Terry, the writers had planned for El to mercy kill Terry as a way of putting Terry out of her misery, given what her condition had become and the mental hell she was trapped in. I still remember how many fans were outraged over this revelation, and questioning what the hell the Duffer Brothers were thinking. Maybe this is because I come from a different generation with a different perspective, but I can see what the thought process was behind this idea: I’ve made this clear to members of my family that if I was ever reduced to a literal brain-dead, vegetative state where I couldn’t move or talk, and either conscious but unable to do anything about it or forever trapped in my mind, I would want the plug pulled on me. If it’s a choice for me between being reduced to that kind of state or death, I choose death. Given what’s happened to Terry, I would argue death seems like a much kinder option compared to the hell she’s currently living. However, El mercy killing her would have to be contingent on Terry giving El consent to do that, as opposed to El doing it without consulting her. Though there is the question of whether Terry can give consent in her mental state right now. Either way, I don’t think this is as outrageous as fans have made it out to be, and I wouldn’t have held it against El if she had done that with Terry's permission.

Part 4: Dustin, D’Art, and Steve

I will always love that small detail of Dustin’s mom being a Mondale/Ferraro supporter. We know the Wheelers supported Regan, as did the Hargroves as revealed in Runaway Max. Makes me wonder who the Sinclairs supported. I didn’t see a political sign in their front yard, but given their portrayal on the show and in Lucas on the Line, I’d imagine they’d be Mondale/Ferraro supporters as well. Although who knows?

Poor Ms. Henderson. The show doesn’t go into this, but I’d have to imagine she must have found out later that Mews died. Dustin likely didn’t tell her about what really happened (and I seriously doubt Dustin dug up the grave he made for Mews to prove to his mom that Mews was dead), but I'm not convinced he’d continue letting her believe Mews was somewhere out there. I reckon there was some kind of cover story involved later that was sad, but would allow Ms. Henderson to move on. In any case, Dustin needed her out of the house while he dealt with D’Art, so I get why he lied in that moment about Mews being in Loch Nora.

It's once again notable that, despite sensing Dustin was nearby, D’Art doesn’t attack him until Dustin knocks him into the basement with his hockey stick. Mostly, D’Art just ate the meat Dustin put out for him, and stared at the shed where Dustin was hiding, likely wondering what the hell Dustin was doing. I’m curious whether Dustin trying the “trained dog” approach would have worked in getting D’Art to obey him, but there’s also the Mind Flayer’s influence to factor in. While D’Art will overcome that by “The Gate,” it’s left unknown whether he would have been able to do that if the Mind Flayer “activated” him while D’Art was still in Dustin’s house. Dustin putting him in the basement was likely the best call.

Like I said in my review of “The Pollywog,” people are going to say that Dustin’s decision to keep D’Art despite Mike’s insistence that they get rid of him was stupid and had horrible repercussions, and that is true. However, I understand the emotional component of Dustin’s attachment to D’Art, as well as his scientific interest in the demodog, and it’s clear that Dustin never had any intention of hurting anyone. That’s also including how a 13 year old boy isn’t exactly at peak maturity (regardless of how intelligent Dustin is) and will occasionally make bonehead choices like everyone else at that age has.

Anyways, poor Dustin is left calling for help with little success. Erica certainly wasn’t helpful, but in her defense, she’s not in the loop yet about the Upside Down and just thinks it’s another one of her brother’s “nerd” games. That’s also including how Lucas was at Palace Arcade at the time and didn’t have his walkie-talkie. The Wheelers weren’t exactly helpful either.

I know Dustin’s exasperated claim that the Wheeler’s phone has been busy for over 2 hours is meant to be funny, but I just keep thinking how much Karen and Ted have stopped caring about trying to make their relationship work. Karen is on the phone because she’d rather talk to anyone else besides Ted, and can’t even keep track of where her kids are (Nancy told her in the last episode she was spending the night at Stacey’s, not Ally’s) and Ted displays a general sense of apathy that’s off-putting to everyone around him. I even question why he’s still in this relationship with Karen. He’s never shown any interest in his kids or what their hobbies/interests are, and there really isn’t any genuine effort on his part to bond with them or try to fix his relationship with his wife. Yes, Karen has her flaws (wait until we talk about the hideously inappropriate hookup she almost had with Billy), but there’s at least some effort to remain open with her kids and indulge their hobbies. Ted doesn’t look like he’s ever tried.

The reason I bring this up is because I question where this is going. They’ve dragged out this arc with Ted and Karen’s loveless relationship for 4 seasons now. The only way I can see this ending is in divorce because there isn’t anything keeping these two together other than the kids. I know Ted’s apathy has been played for comedy on the show, and while there have been some amusing moments with it, it stopped being funny a while ago. It doesn’t help that it comes off like the show (and by extension, The First Shadow) have drawn some…………uncomfortable parallels between Ted and Steve. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I think back to that argument Nancy and Jonathan had in the woods in “The Flea and the Acrobat” and Jonathan’s comments about Nancy “marrying some boring one-time jock who now works sales and lives out a perfectly little life at the end of a cul-de-sac.” The comment was more-or-less a snipe at Steve (and Nancy’s relationship with Steve) at the time, but it also tied into what Nancy had told Jonathan about her parents marriage. Doesn’t help that The First Shadow reveals Ted was a one-time jock who got held back in school, and was more interested in making-out with Karen than anything else, which somewhat echoes the way Steve started (minus the part about him getting held back). Like I said in that review, one the sexual component dried up, there weren’t any other factors keeping Karen and Ted together beyond their marriage.

I wonder if the parallels are meant to emphasize what Ted could be if he gave a shit. Steve has his flaws, but the biggest difference between him and Ted is that Steve likes kids. He’s talked about wanting “six little nuggets” to raise on the road, and the idea of fatherhood is something Steve has expressed enthusiasm for, compared to how Ted resents it. That’s also including how Steve’s been genuinely invested in his friendship with Dustin, and by extension the rest of the Party, from season 2 onward. He values those relationships, unlike Ted. Regardless, I hope the parallel isn’t meant to emphasize the idea that Steve’s future will look be like Ted’s if he becomes a father and turns unhappy as a result. Not only would that be a depressing and nihilistic way to end Steve’s arc, but I’d imagine most fans would riot in rage if that were to happen. I’m not too worried because I believe the Duffer Brothers are smarter than that, and will give Steve an ending worthy of his character, but still………

Finally, there’s Steve’s brief appearance in this episode. It’s nice seeing his growth here where, instead of jumping to assumptions when Tommy tells him about Nancy running off with Jonathan, his response is to show up with flowers, an apology, and a desire to talk with her. It’s too late at this point for him to try and fix their relationship, but it’s not too late for him to help Dustin. It calls back to what happened at the end of season 1 when Steve showed up with the intention of apologizing to Jonathan, but ended up helping in a bigger way by coming to Nancy and Jonathan’s aid against the Demogorgon.

Also, given how things work out between them, am I the only one who thinks of this scene from Casablanca when Steve goes with Dustin?

Good times!

Part 5: Lucas and Max

I’ve said this before in previous reviews, but I appreciate the change they made to Lucas’s family. Putting aside how we didn’t need another deadbeat and/or abusive father on this show, or another broken marriage for that matter, Charles and Sue have a nice relationship, and they act as pillars of stability for both Lucas and Erica. The show has implied this, and it’s spelled out in Lucas on the Line, but a lot of Lucas’s upbringing has helped protect him from the uglier aspects of racism and bigotry for most of his childhood. His parents were a major factor in this, as both Charles and Sue had undergone their own horrific experiences and were determined to make sure their kids were shielded from that as much as possible. This also extends towards Lucas’s friends: Regardless of their flaws, they would go through hell or high water for Lucas, and they’ve never discriminated against Lucas for being black. Even with Max in this episode and the next, while Lucas hasn’t met Billy yet and doesn’t know what Billy truly thinks of him yet, Max does and is determined to protect Lucas from her step-brother. This doesn’t mean Lucas hasn’t ever experienced racism (we saw that with Troy and James’s taunts towards Lucas in season 1, Billy’s behavior in season 2 come the season finale, and the experiences he goes through in Lucas on the Line), but he does have people looking out for him.

I loved seeing Lucas’s character development in this episode. Not just from taking his father’s advice about how to fix things between him and Max, but his general attitude about including new people into the group compared to how he initially acted with El in season 1. There’s likely some regret there given what he thinks happened to El, and there’s also the fact Lucas has a crush on Max (similar to Mike’s crush on El), but he is genuine about what he’s doing with Max here in letting her in on the Party’s secrets, which resonates with Max even as she leaves still skeptical of his tale. There is a little of the dramatic flair on Lucas’s end with how he tells the story, but it is grounded in sincerity. It’s also darker in hindsight when he asks Max whether she accepts the risks. As of season 4, we know how that turned out.

One of the movies that gets referenced several times (and came out in 1984, same year that this season takes place in) is The Karate Kid. Max mentions to El in season 3 having a celebrity crush of Ralph Macchio (who plays Daniel LaRusso in the film), and Lucas’s costume design, both with the bandanas he wears and his shirt in season 3, is a nod to that movie (as well as Lucas being aware of Max’s celebrity crush and wearing the shirt to impress her).

In the vein of this season, I see a lot of parallels between Lucas and Daniel in that both are fighters. While both can be hot-headed, they are loyal and care deeply about others. The scene with Lucas at Palace Arcade opening up to Max reminds me of the scene where (after a humiliating scenario at a country club) Daniel makes up with Ali Mills, his then-love interest, at “Golf ‘N’ Stuff” (a mix between an arcade, a water park, and a miniature golf course). Even the scene in the season finale of Lucas getting one over on Billy by kneeing him in the groin reminds me of Daniel finally standing up to Johnny Lawrence at the tournament and knocking Johnny’s clock clean with the crane kick.

And then there’s Max: Her initial reaction to Lucas’s story (as well as Lucas getting Keith to have Max meet him in a back room) is probably the reaction I would have had in that situation, especially if I thought my chain was being yanked. While she doesn’t completely believe Lucas (since he doesn’t have any proof to offer her yet), she realizes that, even if his story sounds ludicrous, he believes it, and isn’t joking when he tells her that speaking about this out-loud will get them killed.

There is a shout-out to the Mad Max series with Keith’s nickname of Road Warrior for Max (showing Max’s reputation in the arcade is well-known at this point), but there’s another movie that came to mind that isn’t directly referenced, but parallels Max’s story (and came out in 1984): The Last Starfighter.

Directed by Nick Castle (the same Nick Castle who played Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween), The Last Starfighter centers around a young man named Alex Rogan who works as maintenance in a trailer park community. Not having many prospects in his life, or being able to afford college, his downtime is spent on an arcade game in the trailer park called Starfighter. One evening, he manages to beat the game’s record, resulting in a mysterious figure named Centauri arriving and taking Alex with him. As it turns out, Centauri is an alien working for the Star League, and the arcade game was a recruitment tool for Starfighters against the Ko-Dan Empire, who are planning a galactic conquest. Initially freaked out by the prospect, Alex at first rejects becoming a starfighter, but after the Ko-Dan’s attack on Rylos (where the Starfighter base is) and being warned that the Ko-Dan will eventually reach Earth and destroy everyone he ever loved, Alex (with the help of an alien mentor named Grig) embraces his role as “the last starfighter” and must use his knowledge of the game to defeat the Ko-Dan.

One of the themes shared between Max and Alex (aside from both being forced to live in a trailer park community) is mastery of arcade games to escape the problems in their lives. In Alex’s case, the game is one of the few things he had to look forward to that isn’t a reminder of his dead-end prospects, whereas Max works to beat the highest scores at the Arcade as a means of dealing with the utter hell her homelife is under Neil and Billy. In both cases, it’s about getting some kind of control over their lives. Unlike with Billy’s, whose desire to become King of Hawkins High School is rooted in compensating for the lack of control he has under Neil while not giving a shit about how vicious he is in achieving that goal, neither Max nor Alex are mean-spirited about their ways of coping, and it leads to changes for the better: Alex finds a purpose in his life and is able to break free, whereas Max finds companionship via Lucas and people whom she can develop friendships with.

Speaking of Billy, his scenes are brief in this episode (Thank God!) but his hypocrisy still sticks out like mold in the shower. It’s apparently okay when he is nasty towards Max or threatens to leave her to skate home, but it’s not okay in his mind for Max to have any “attitude” towards him. 🙄 I’m reminded of a particular Reddit user named u/grandequesso who’s both a bully and a vile person towards anyone she doesn’t like or deems to be “SJW-ish” (not even gonna get into her support for Trump). She’s had a history of belittling others for years on Reddit and telling them to “calm down” in the most condescending manner possible, but if someone ever tells her that, she has a come-apart. Just like with Billy, the lack of self-awareness is breathtaking. 😒

As for the scene where Billy picks Max up and confronts her about interacting with Lucas……the ominous music in that moment combined with Billy’s words (“Well, you know what happens when you lie”), as well as Max insisting beforehand that Lucas shouldn’t follow her outside for his safety, should be a pretty clear indicator that Billy doesn’t have Max’s best interests in mind. This was never about protecting her. This was about control. And racism. I have no patience for fans who’ve drunk the Kool-Aid and want to pretend otherwise.

Finally, I’ll talk a little about Keith despite him being a minor character: I seriously doubt that date with Nancy ever happened since she gets together with Jonathan in the next episode. We don’t really know much about Keith beyond what the Duffer Brothers have said about his lack of maturity compared to the boys, but the fact he’s shown working at Palace Arcade and then later at the Video Rental Store in season 3 implies that either he works double jobs, or Palace Arcade got shut-down prior to the end of season 3. In any case, I think that resentment of not getting a date with Nancy transferred over to Steve when he came to apply for a job at the Video Rental Store, and why he initially turned Steve down. I’ve seen speculation that Steve may have bullied Keith in the past, but there isn’t a lot of evidence to support that claim. I’ve discussed this before, but from what I’ve seen in the show (and even the tie-ins), while Steve was insensitive and self-absorbed prior to the end of season 1, he didn’t engage in the kind of malicious bullying that characters like Billy and Angela did. Steve's instances of antagonism towards Jonathan in season 1 were motivated by specific circumstances, but weren’t established as a constant pattern of behavior for him the same way Angela’s cruelty towards El was implied to have been going on for MONTHS since the move to Lenora. Keith refers to Steve as a “douchebag,” but he never specifically accuses Steve of bullying him, and I seriously doubt Keith would have been easily persuaded by Robin to give Steve the job if that was the case. Keith was likely put off by Steve’s former attitude, and probably held resentment at Steve dating Nancy when he wanted to be with her, but the fact that Steve wasn’t immediately fired implies that either he was good at job, Keith appreciated Steve’s ability to attract the ladies, or Keith saw that Steve had changed for the better and was willing to let bygones be bygones.

Part 6: Song Choices

First song we get in this episode is “Try My Love” by Carroll Lloyd. It’s heard when Nancy and Jonathan check in with the motel receptionist for a room.

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The song is self-explanatory in the lyrics (“Begging you to try my love. Try my love. And I know we can make it, yeah. We can make it. We can make it. Give me the chance to prove it.”). Most of the songs this season played during scenes with Nancy and Jonathan have conveyed the theme that Nancy and Jonathan need to give their relationship a chance, even if it means taking an emotional risk in doing so. They already let the chance for a relationship slip by once before. It’s up to them to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Next song is “You Ought to be with Me” by Carl Weathers, which plays over the Sinclairs having breakfast when Lucas asks what his Dad does when his Mom is mad at him, and how he fixes it.

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This is the same Carl Weathers who plays Apollo Creed in the Rocky series, and even starred in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Predator. This is one of the songs he wrote and performed during his lifetime. The song itself is an R&B ballad about a man having regrets over a relationship gone sour, and pleading with the woman he’s in love with to come back with the promise to do better (“Hey, you know that I'm not like most men, girl. I admit I've made all kinds of mistakes. Oh, and baby, if you'd just come on back, You know that I'd pull out all the stops and take off all the brakes. Hey, I'd love you right.”). It’s ironic because at this point in the show, Lucas isn’t even in a relationship with Max yet, but he still feels like he wronged her somehow and wants to fix it, which is what leads him to asking his Dad for advice, as well as getting this famous quote: “She’s never wrong, son.” We will see this aspect factor into Lucas’s relationship with Max in seasons 3-4.

Next song is “Green Green Grass of Home” by Bobby Bare. This plays when the nice truck driver drops El off at Terry’s house.

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This specific version is covered by Bobby Bare, but the original country song was performed by Johnny Darrell and was released in 1965. Initially appearing to be about a man returning to his childhood home and reuniting with his family (“And there to meet me is my Mama and Papa. Down the road I look and there runs Mary hair of gold and lips like cherries. It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.”), the song takes a dark turn towards the end when it’s revealed the man is a convicted prisoner on death row who can only long for “the green green grass of home.” At the end of the song, the prisoner is executed with the final lyrics conveying his fate: “Yes, they'll all come to see me. In the shade of that old oak tree. As they lay me 'Neath the green, green grass of home.” In the context of El returning to the home she should have had, not only is it a bitter reminder of the life that was taken from her, but also is foreshadowing for Terry’s current condition: Appearing at peace on the surface, but trapped in a mental nightmare that she can never escape. As for El, her “prison” was Hawkins Lab (as she angrily tells Brenner in season 4) and while she wasn’t executed, she lost the life and a family she could have had because of him.

Next song is “Can I Do What I Want” by Shock Therapy. This plays when Nancy and Jonathan first show up at Murray’s place.

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Similar to how some of the song choices for Nancy and Jonathan have been not-so-subtle foreshadowing for them getting together this season, other song choices for these two have emphasized how both of them are breaking away from the norms they initially followed (“Doing what I can, can I do what I want, what I want?”) and going against “The Man” (in this case, Hawkins Lab) in trying to take them down and hold them accountable for their crimes. This songs highlights the mundaneness of a normally scheduled working life (“Robbing instincts by being alive. Life is lost in the action, man. The clock turns and it's time to work. Trying to crawl out of a bottomless can”) and how soul-crushing it is. In the case of Nancy and Jonathan, even though they won’t admit it, there is a thrill they get in rebelling against the system, and abandoning the “good girl/boy” persona they’ve had in the past.

Then we have “Metal Sport” by Hittman, which plays when Billy drops off Max at the Arcade.

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The song conveys this post-apocalyptic setting where death sports have become popularized and it’s a fight to be the survivor. (“Fight for the ball, a victim is slain. Warning appears on the board.”) (“Cycles raging, eliminating. The loser dies, the winner remains.”) It invokes dystopian movies like The Running Man or Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (which, given Max’s nickname, is likely an intentional nod). It seems melodramatic on the surface for this scene since Max is simply going to play arcade games, but for her, not only is this the highlight of her day, it’s where she can be the master of her fate, escape into a different world, and have some kind of control in her life that she’s lacking at home.

Following that, there’s “Darling Don’t Leave Me” by German musician Robert Gorl. This plays during the scene when Keith leads Max to the back room so Lucas can talk with her.

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The song’s lyrics and tone convey a sense of desperation and fear about being left by someone the singer cares about (“Darling don’t leave me. I’m shaking.”) and begging to be given the chance to known them (“No time to go, no time to know you. Help me teach, believe me.”). Just like how the singer is begging the other person to be interested in them, Lucas is desperate to get Max’s attention to the point of getting Keith to arrange their meeting. The context of the scene isn’t meant to be romantic like the song is though. It’s about Lucas laying out all the secrets about the Party that Max needs to hear.

Once Lucas gets done telling his story to Max, and Max makes it clear that she doesn’t believe him, Lucas follows her out, and this song can be heard playing in the background: “When the Sun Goes Down” by the Jetzons.

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I attribute the first few lyrics of the song to Max storming off when she feels like Lucas is playing her for a fool (“Cold wind blowing down the back of my neck. I gotta keep on movin,' 'Cause I'm never comin' back. And I won't stop. Walkin' down the street, tryna hustle through the heat. I put my best foot forward 'cause nothing goin' over it. And I can't stop”). She’s not remotely interested in being the butt of a joke, and from her perspective, if that’s how the Party sees her, she’d rather “keep on movin” and not come back. Unfortunately, the only place she can go to now is home where Billy is (“In the midnight hour with a man who has the power. Got a razor to your wrist and it's tearing you to bits. But it will never stop.”). I know the lyrics are metaphorical, but the general sense this song conveys is that the singer is in a hellish situation with little control, and the only way they know how to deal with it is to keeping moving forward as if nothing is stopping them. That is Max’s life right now, and the only person who’s trying to stop her and show her a different life outside of her current situation is Lucas. She doesn’t take him up on his offer yet, but she will in the next episode.

Then there’s when Billy picks up Max. The song is overshadowed by the ominous music that plays when Billy confronts Max about talking to Lucas, but it is heard in the background “Strength in Numbers” by Channel 3.

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The song title conveys the general theme of “strength in numbers, power in a crowd” while deriding the concept of individuality. However, the lyrics don’t truly seem to be praising the idea of “strength in numbers” so much as pointing out how much it makes you susceptible to manipulation (“Eat up all the gossip, we go for current trends. Who needs independence when you have a lot of strength in numbers”) while eroding any moral backbone you have (“Mother raised a snake, avoid responsibility. I lack a solid will, I lack integrity”). I know the song plays from Billy’s car, with it acting as a metaphor for the kind of person Billy’s become (lacking integrity, driven by insecurity, etc), but the song reminded me of the viciousness El experienced in season 4 at the hands of Angela and the crowd at Rink-O-Mania with how evil their behavior was. All those people lacked integrity and were snakes in the grass who used their size as a crowd to get away with bullying. There’s an irony in how Angela’s “strength in numbers” did NOTHING to stop the brat from getting her face smashed in. Suddenly, those idiots didn’t find it funny anymore when they saw the damage El could unleash, and they looked rattled when Angela was screaming, crying, and bleeding on the floor. I sincerely hope Angela gets permanent brain damage from that injury. She deserves it.

Anyways, the next song is one Murray puts on when he’s thinking about what needs to happen next now that Nancy has shown him the tape. “No More” by Billie Holiday.

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The song itself refers to someone getting over a bad relationship and conveying that they’re not going to be bothered by this person anymore. While this was likely chosen at random by Murray to decompress and think through how they were going to sell exposing Hawkins Lab to the public, one specific song stanza (“From my window, Skies ain't grey no more. Not now. Here's the day that I've been waiting for”) echoes what Murray has likely wanted from the Government for a long time: To get one over them. The day he exposes their corruption is the day he’s been waiting for, so to speak.

Finally, the last song is from Phillip Glass, titled “Open the Kingdom (Liquid Days).”

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While we don’t hear the lyrics for the song in the episode, the musical composition is heard in the scene following Terry getting her brain fried, and the resulting memory loop she becomes trapped in as a result. The song lyrics themselves are ambiguous and poetic, but also repetitive in both wording and the beat, which is a signature element for Phillip Glass. The one lyric that is repeated, “Open the Kingdom,” which is preceded by lyrics like “Turning to Speak, Turning to Hear,” presents the idea of a buried truth that needs to be exposed. In the context of the scene, it’s Terry sharing her memories with El about what happened to her under Brenner, and what path El may need to take now.

To cap off this review, here is Dustin’s beloved demodog, D’Artagnan, all grown up:

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