Will Byers just cannot catch a goddamn break. Ever since Stranger Things first appeared on the scene (possibly through a slimy, multidimensional rift in time and space), it’s main aim after creating an intriguing sci-fi mystery obviously seems to be to put that Bambi-eyed, bowl-haired little kid through as much damaging shit as it can. From the first episode – which saw Will dragged into into a hellscape world by a petal-faced monster – little Byers has probably had it worse than any other character alive in the show today and that includes the near breakdown his mother went through and the fact that Eleven has been used as a weapon for most of the natural life.
Well, Will’s in deep, dimensional shit once again as the Upside-Down tries to claim him once more – but while it brought Will to it in the past, now the Upside-Down has come to him and the crap sandwich the poor little sod has had to muscle down has suddenly offered up a second helping. However, it’s making for some great television.
After trying to stand up to the giant cloud monster that’s been tormenting him in his visions, Will Byers has found put the hard way that sometimes it is actually better to run. As it forces its smoky self into every orifice in his head in the Upside-Down, his mother and friends find him in the righside-up in some sort of trance, but after waking him, Will has no memory of his ordeal despite not looking particularly great.
While we’re on the subject of kids in pain, a rebelling Eleven returns to Hopper’s cabin after a temper tantrum that saw her go on an ill advised walkabout around town. The two argue, voices are raised and things are said that both will probably regret – especially when Eleven blows out all the windows with her powers in a fit of rage – but after Hopper has to take care of a typically panicked Joyce, Eleven does some digging into some files from Hawkins Lab that details her past. Using the information, she uses her communication powers to try find her biological mother, Terry Ives who has been driven catatonic by electroshock therapy but with only limited success. But while she starts her odyssey to unlock her true origin, the other kids have their own issues to deal with – Max is growing increasingly frustrated about constantly being left out of the party by Mike, but gets violently reprimanded by her step brother Billy for befriending Lucas; Nancy and Jomathan embark on a risky plan to get dirt on Hawkins Lab and get shown more than they bargained for and Dustin’s loyalty to his freakish Pollywog, Dart, is tested when it’s revealed that the creature actually is a Demogorgon in infant form!
However, as always, front and centre is whatever crap Will’s being forced through and after his apparent possession, he becomes unable to handle heat and now has brain scrambling memories that aren’t his own. But once Joyce gets him to explain his thoughts via drawing, Hopper figures out that some real bad news could be lurking directly under Hawkins as they speak.
Even though the show frequently treats him as its own, personal punching bag, it’s nice that we’ve gotten a Will-centric episode as we’ve never really spent that much time with him compared to everyone else. Sure, he was technically the focal point of the first season, but that because he was fucking missing and while he was off-screen playing cat and mouse in another reality, everyone else was getting character development. Well, once again the shy, sensitive member of the party is being victimised, but this time we actually get to see it first hand as the creature living rent-free in his consciousness starts changing Will’s behavior. For a start, he’s even more quiet than he was before (if that’s possible) and he’s devolved an unhealthy fear of heat too which can’t be a good sign – however, his many confusing drawings soon signify that Stranger Things is now solidly back to doing what it does best: start connecting various dots that build into a larger plot. And so it goes that the drawings Will produces in his addled state sets off a light bulb in Hopper’s head about all those ruined crops. That’s right, Will has tapped into whatever’s in his bowl-shaped noggin and drawn a vastly complicated map and it’s with this revelation that we now can see that Stranger Things 2 is now moving like the clappers. It really does seem like that slow start did wonders for the pace because now that we’ve taken the time to set everything up, its free to once again zip from storyline to storyline much like the first season did, but at twice the speed.
The visual cues come thick and fast. After Eleven trashes Hopper’s cabin, it starts to resemble the cabin from The Evil Dead (it even has a trapdoor); later, just before Dustin discovers that Dart is far more lethal than he could have imagined, he picks up some shed skin just like a doomed Harry Dean Stanton in Alien. Elsewhere, Nancy and Jonathan go on an All The President’s Men type of adventure as they manuver themselves into getting forcibly brought to Hawkins Lab to get a “friendly” warning by Dr. Owens only for it to turn out that this was all planned in order to cleverly tape a confession. If we continue to cast our eyes further afield, Eleven’s newfound sense of rebellion is obviously about to take her on a quest to find herself and even Max and Billy’s relationship gets more tense. However, I will say that the fact that Billy dislikes Lucas the most leads to some (possibly) implied racism that feels a little out of place for the show, but I’m willing to see where this goes before passing full judgement.
Obviously, with everyone separated thanks to an interest in girls and Dustin’s baffling loyalty to Dart, Stranger Things 2 is doing an Empire Strikes Back sort of deal where the group is split to mix things up. Thankfully it’s working really well as we’re now getting the same type of stuff as season 1, but with much greater velocity. However, I will say that there’s a couple of small teething issues afoot – firstly, without Eleven, Mike has all but been rendered useless as now he just seems to be a short-tempered brat fueled by pure jealousy; secondly if Dustin still chooses Dart’s safety over his friends after discovering he’s been raising a baby Demogorgon then that’s going to be some pretty lousy writing; and thirdly, the fact that I would have bet money on Steve Harrington dying in season 1’s finale means that his continuing plot thread concerning his plummet in popularity is as baffling as it is amusing.
Finally, the episode has the rather enviable problem of having too many good cliff hangers to choose from, selecting Hopper discovering that their is indeed a maze of tunnels running under Hawkins over Dart’s Demogorgon reveal (although I would have chose the latter, personally). However, complaining that an episode has too many good endings is like complaining that your pizza is too tasty or that your mattress is too comfortable and now that season 2 is seemingly up to full speed I can’t wait to see what horrible, damaging experience Will Byers has to put up with next.
Sorry Will, but fucking you up is what the show does best, so let it continue to cook.
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