While the previous episode of season four of Stranger Things set the precedent, influence, and mood of the entire season, the following episodes definitely serve as some nice build up as we reach the midway point of the season. In this episode in particular we are met with quite a few surprises that not only served in favor of the die hard fandom, but provided some great plot driven craziness. With our heroes still separated there was a lot of back and forth between the different plot lines, but each one definitely held their own in this episode.
Back on the west coast, Eleven now in Nevada and in the custody of Owens as well as Dr. Brenner, AKA Papa, attempts to regain her lost powers. In a minor attempt at escaping her powers momentarily return, convincing her to stay and complete the experiments. These experiments include once again a sensory deprivation tank as well as a new method, which includes showing El security camera footage of her time at the Hawkins Laboratory, in an attempt to jog some deeply repressed memories. While all this is happening, on the other end of California Will, Mike, Jonathan, and Argyle are on the search for Eleven. In the previous episode, government officials were sent to watch over them so they didn’t attempt to find El, but alas their house gets swarmed, one of the government officials is captured and the other is fatally wounded. However before he dies in the back of Argyles pizza van, he gives the group a pen with the phone number on it which connects to a modem within the NINA project where El is being held. Unable to decipher the location, the group enlists help from one of the most beloved and hated characters in Stranger Things history, Dustin’s girlfriend Suzie in Salt Lake City Utah. The reintroduction and cameo of Suzie was definitely meant to serve as some audiences humor and did fit into the storyline quite well, however many fans still are unable to shake her rendition of Never Ending Story, quite possibly the most questionably timed scene in Stranger Things to date. However annoying her character may be, it definitely was the right choice seeing as she is a computer genius.
As far as Joyce and Murray go, at this point they are far from completing their initial mission which was to retrieve Hopper. However after Yuri’s betrayal in the last episode Hopper is imprisoned once more along with Antonov, the guard that initially tried to help him escape. Luckily, while Yuri has Joyce and Murray tied up in the back of the plane, the two are able to break free and overtake control of the plane by crash landing in the wilderness. Out of all the storylines so far this one definitely persists and continues to be the most high stakes anxiety inducing one yet mainly due to the performances from all three of these actors especially Winona Ryder. Even back in season one her ability to bring a more serious tone is so valuable, especially during the hectic back and forth structure this season follows within the four storylines.
Back in Hawkins, Max, Lucas, Dustin, Steve, Nancy and Robin regroup and decide to investigate the Creel house to see if they can find any information on Vecna. While inside the house in classic upside down fashion they follow a pattern of flickering lights and deduce it to Vecna’s traveling in the upside down, an excellent callback to Season One’s infamous Christmas lights sequences seen throughout. By the end of the episode the gang in Hawkins regroup with Eddie who is hiding out at his drug dealers boat house. Though their attempts to keep him hidden served well, Jason and his teammates end up locating Eddie and chase him into the middle of the lake. Definitely the most shocking and unexplained scene of the episode comes at the end, while in the middle of the chase one of Jason’s teammates named Patrick is lifted into the air out of the water and is brutally killed in front of Eddie and Jason. Patrick’s death though seemingly unimportant proposed many questions from audiences as well. All the other deaths by Vecna followed a set pattern that the group was able to decipher, this death however felt very random and opened the door to even more questions about the season. Overall with this episode, the high anxiety scenes begin to pickup as the storylines become more and more bizarre and interesting. The inclusion of Suzie definitely served as some nice callbacks to last season that audiences everywhere raved about for weeks after watching.
Rating: 7/10