SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
Joyce is the real MVP. I really can’t sing her praises enough this season. She annoyed me for a good part of the last season, but this season she is, by a huge margin, my favourite character. And I got mad love for Bob too. He rolls with the punches as much as she does.
She is the definition of a strong female character who doesn’t need to be able to kick butt to be considered as such. Although I wouldn’t put it past her that she could if it came to it, especially if it involved her children. She’s a Mama Bear. Like last season, though, she’s paying far more attention to Will than she is Jonathan. He went on an entire road trip and she hasn’t noticed yet. Jonathan doesn’t need her as much or in the same way that Will does, however.
I love that she spearheaded the search for Hopper. And that she rescued him. She was so fearless about jumping into the tunnels to go and get him. It was marvelous. She’s literally a hero. And Bob, good old reliable Bob, just jumped in behind her without question or hesitation. And he had no idea what was going on. He really solidified my love for him in this episode. I was quietly shipping Joyce and Hopper, but not anymore.
I love that Bob loves Joyce and her children and everything that comes with her. He said that to her himself, but his actions truly proved it. He brought Will toys to play with on his sick day at home from school. How sweet was that? And even though Joyce refused to tell him what was going on, he helped her. He did ask for the truth, but he didn’t demand it or give her an ultimatum or anything. And he was so enthusiastic when he realised that Will’s drawings were a map. He just went with everything. At this point Joyce is going to have to tell him about what happened and what is happening. He’s in the thick of it now that they’re in the hands of Hawkins Laboratory.
Those vines felt very sentient. It’s clear that they’re a part of the Thessalhydra, or perhaps are being controlled by it, and that is itself sentient so it would follow that they would be as well. Still, it’s really creepy how they seemed to have been stalking Hopper and like they had lured him into the tunnels. That lent a great deal of credence to Will’s theory that the Thessalhydra could use him to spy on them they same way they were using him to spy on it. I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss that notion if I were Mike.
I feel so sorry for Will this season. I don’t know what’s worse; what happened to him last season or what’s happening to him this season. For him at least. For me, as a viewer, this is worse just because this time I actually get to see him suffer through his ordeal. He was largely absent and unseen last season. Seriously, every time he breaks down crying my heart breaks. And it did even further still when he started…seizing?…I have no better word for it, as the Hawkins Lab personnel started burning the vines. And no one seemed to realise the connection between the two!
Eleven’s whole saga this season breaks my heart too. She’s crying just as much as Will and it hurts just as much to watch her do it. How terrible must it have been for her to see what had happened to her mother and how she came into this world? Did she experience it like she was her mother or did she just observe it? The former would have been terrible.
I didn’t expect her mother to have psychic abilities as well, so that was a surprise. I suppose the MK Ultra experiments had worked n her too. When the lights started flickering I immediately recalled how Will communicated with Joyce from the Upside Down. That was a nice call back. It wasn’t until Eleven started following them that I realised that it was Terry who was making them flicker. She really can only communicate with Eleven in the place they go when she does the sensory deprivation. Eleven can’t stay there, though. I don’t think that she will. I’m just glad that she and her mother got to meet each other.
I don’t think that Owens thought that Nancy and Jonathan would still talk. Which only further proves his arrogance. He underestimated them the same way that he had the Upside Down. I thought that they’d have gone to the Hollands with the tape. Not Murray. Nancy’s whole thing has been telling Barb’s parents the truth.
Murray was right in calling her out on her naivety in believing that she had enough to bury Hawkins Laboratory. Further, no one would have believed their story anyway and Murray wouldn’t have been a reliable source to back up their claims. He’s the town kook and a conspiracy theorist. He has zero credibility. His strategy of watering down the story, however, and making it something more believable that will still land Hawkins Lab in some deep water, just might work. We shall see. The point isn’t to tell the truth, it’s to make Hawkins Lab pay after all.
Random thoughts:
- I love how optimistic about this Mike is trying to be.
- Jonathan rubbed his hand against Nancy’s! She pulled away, but still. Progress!
- Are the vines…following Hopper?
- Just realised that Dustin is the only one without a sibling and Lucas is the only elder sibling.
- Dang it Erica!
- Is Hopper going to die?
- Of course Max doesn’t believe Lucas.
- Of course Murray believes Nancy.
All 9 episode of Stranger Things are currently available for streaming on Netflix.
