Oh yeah, now it’s all coming together.
There’s nothing like watching a TV show that sets up its characters to figure out parts of a problem only for them to gradually come together and pool their resources. The first season of Heroes did it really well, but managing to be extra satisfying is that Stanger Things, after six episodes of measured, gripping, build up, has finally let the brakes off and delivered an episode that proves to be more satisfying than a years supply of bubble wrap. A major part of the show’s appeal has come from creating various groups of people falling arse-backwards into a sci-fi conspiracy and trying to figure out their own little corner of confusion when the big picture is so much more than a missing child, a multidimensional Predator, or a telekinetic girl. However it’s time for the players to finally all get on the same team, see the completed picture and baby together to sort this shit out. It’s the episode we’ve all been waiting for – and it’s glorious.
After their spat, the group of Mike, Dustin and Eleven have said their apologies and reformed just in time for Lucas to swallow his anger and warn his pals that the shady agents of Dr. Brenner are coming to get them. An E.T. style bike chase ensues that sees exuberant high school kids flee dodgy government agents with a valuable being in their midst – but while E.T. would lend a hand by majestically levitating the bikes to freedom, Eleven isn’t in such a forgiving mood and instead flips a van like she’s freakin’ Magneto. However, as the kids take refuge and Lucas finally acknowledges Eleven as a part of the group, the other strands of the multi-pronged investigation over all the recent weirdness come together and share information.
While Hopper and Joyce visit the police station with major dirt on the experiments Brenner has been doing that’s ended up breaching the veil of reality, they find Nancy and Jonathan who have been plotting to kill the Demogorgon, a gooey creature that’s escaped from the other world that’s helpfully been dubbed the Upside Down. Sharing their info, they eventually figure out that the boys have been looking into this shit from the very beginning and before you know it, all three groups have combined in order to bring this thing to a definitive end.
First order of business is obviously to find and rescue Will who, by this point, has been trapped in the Upside Down for a damn week, and everything we’ve learned starts to pay off as Eleven realises that she could communicate with him if they could replicate the experiments Brenner used on her to boost her telepathy. Creating a makeshift sensory deprivation chamber out of a paddling pool, taped up goggles and a fuck-ton of road salt, Eleven starts scanning for Will, but if she can find him, so can the Demogorgon.
While Stranger Things has been unfeasibly solid up to this point, I would argue that for all of its multitudes of good points (great characters, cool setup, awesome tone) it’s never quite edged it into the superlative. It’s certainly come close and there’s not a bad episode in the bunch, but the spread out nature of the plot means that it was far too busy to deliver that real stand out moment. Well, it’s certainly accomplished it now as starting with the bike chase that sees Eleven flip a van like a Hotwheels toy, and finishing with all the characters coming together, there’s a sense of achievement there that’s so tangible, you feel like you’ve been physically alongside them the whole way. The result is a hour of fist pumping television that manages to make every previous episode worth it as everyone pulls together like a monster hunting episode of The A-Team meets a more domesticated The X-Files (The X-Team?).
What’s better yet, we also get that feeling we got with The Avengers as we watch these characters have to act like a unit, with each one forming a particular role. Despite being brother and sister, both Mike and Nancy are stunned that the other has been locking horns with metaphysical forces and monstrous creatures; the notorious impatient Hopper has to put up with the exuberance of someone like Dustin; but most touching of all, the kindness that Joyce shows Eleven is actually quite heartbreaking when you consider that the girl hasn’t had a sensible parent figure for the entirety of her entire life (do we really think that Brenner counts?). It’s everything you’d hope it would be and more and you can genuinely feel the show go supernova as you’re watching it. However, outside of the core characters coming together, there’s still a fair few surprises that the show has left up its sleeve and not all of them are pleasant.
Arguably the most surprising thing is that Joe Keery’s egotistical Steve Harrington still seems to have some sort of story arc in action despite revealing himself to be a bit of a shit and then getting his ass royally handed to him by Jonathan. After writing graffiti that Nancy was a slut all around town and then getting his ticket punched by his perceived love rival, normal 80s etiquette suggests that Stanger Things should be finished with him and his robust bouffant; and yet, as he seems to have had a major change of heart and serious regrets, watching him mope around town with a face so battered, he looks like he barely survived a car wreck actually feels like a good thing. Not getting so lucky is Barb, whose death at the claws of the Demogorgon is finally confirmed by the out of body excursion of Eleven and while I was fairly convinced that Nancy’s best friend was dead episodes ago, the closure, and Nancy’s reaction to it, makes it a vital piece of information. Tough break, Barb – we hardly knew you.
With only one last episode to go, all Stranger Things has to do from here is essentially keep doing what they’ve been doing. Give us more freaky, Upside Down shit, more Demogorgon action and certainly give us more multi-generational team work. It seems like an absolute certainty that the Duffer Brothers will stick the landing, however, there’s been many other shows in the past that’s manage to blow everything at the final hurdle. However, despite its near junkie levels of dependency on 80s culture, somehow the show has perfected merging it’s throwback nature with modern storytelling techniques in a way that somehow doesn’t feel like an eight episode homage job and for this itself, Stranger Things deserves all the accolades there is.
With the end of the season upon us, Stranger Things attains maximum velocity as the mystery all falls away to reveal a monster-fighting team whose every member has a vital part to play. While it certainly was great before, the Duffers obviously understand how beneficial payoff is and milks it to its full potential. Ladies and gentlemen, where stood a good show now stands something far more rewarding. Now bring on the finale, there’s a Will that needs finding.
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