As we reach the end of this action-packed season, audience members still patiently wait for reveals, twists, turns, and more importantly, explanations. Throughout the majority of the season we continue to see flashbacks to Eleven’s days in Hawkins Laboratory. Back in episode one, the season opens with a graphic flashback to a massacre at the lab, proposed to be right before Eleven made her escape. Calling back full force to those scenes, the episode kicks off with Eleven in the sensory deprivation tank reliving past experiences in the lab. This is especially interesting since it is deduced that El has been suppressing traumatic memories making it so we are reliving these simultaneously as she is. Over the episode we learn that El was bullied by most of the older test subjects at Hawkins Lab, leading her to believe that she was the one behind the massacre. Overall the lab scenes and having Eleven separated from everyone else has definitely been a great way for audiences to get a good grasp on her background and what happened prior to the events of season one, especially considering this all brand new information.
Aside from Eleven’s storyline, this episode is definitely Hopper, Joyce, and Murray heavy. A nice change of pace considering the stakes continue to raise for these characters. In the Russian prison, Hopper along with some other inmates are gifted with a huge feast. Hopper soon realizes the only reason they are being fed this much is to “fatten them up” for the Demogorgon. The other inmates write him off and agree that with power in numbers they’ll be able to succeed. Hopper, knowing otherwise, is able to pickpocket a lighter in self defense, remembering that the demogorgons biggest weakness is fire. Back with Joyce and Murray, the two convince Yuri to lead them to a nearby town where they game plan their new tactics for getting Hopper out safely. They decide to have Murray pose as Yuri and vice versa in order to infiltrate the prison.
Back in Hawkins during a heated town hall meeting Jason riles up the citizens of Hawkins by saying that Eddie is still the one behind the deaths due to his satanic cult called the Hellfire club. Because of this, not only does a man hunt begin for Eddie, but Dustin, Lucas, and Mike are all on high alert due to their direct association with Eddie and the hellfire club. While Jason is an excellent antagonist, it’s also been very interesting to see how the rest of the town reacts to finally being directly affected and involved with these events. In prior seasons they are basically oblivious to every supernatural event despite those events consuming the lives of our protagonists. It’s frustrating in the best way possible seeing the majority of the citizens write off the events as a satanic cult instead of government involvement, really showing what the climate of Hawkins is truly like.
Max, Lucas, Dustin, Steve, and Robin end up relocating Eddie after the events of the previous episode leaves him incredibly shaken up. While the gang regroups Dustin notices his compass behaving erratically the closer they get to the lake. He soon realizes that there must be another gate to the upside down at the bottom of the lake where Patrick was murdered in the previous episode. Amidst the discovery, Steve decided to dive town to investigate but ends up getting sucked into the upside down and immediately attacked by bat-like creatures leaving the episode on the cliffhanger. Despite being midway through the season these episodes serve as some excellent late world building. Giving us a greater insight towards the climate of Hawkins as well as the processes of the Russian government and their little involvement within the upside down, while we haven’t seen much there was definitely mass amounts of speculation as to how involved they actually were.
Rating: 7/10