Oh mid-season breaks, how we love/hate you.
We love you because if we’ve gotten to a rift in the release date, that can only mean that something truly monumentous and seismic is about to go down. However, as we reach the halfway point of Stranger Things’ last hurrah we also once again find ourselves questioning why Netflix has chosen to split it’s most celebrated show into chunks when releasing it on a weekly basis from here would mean that it would still technically finish when it’s suppose to. Still while I can throw the judgemental side-eye at Netflix’s business practices all I want, there’s been a feeling this season that after the first episode fixated on some world building, the subsequent two episodes have been dutifully giving us some classic Stranger Things fare. What’s the problem with that I hear you ask? Well, we’ve alfeady had precisely 4 seasons of classic Stranger Things fare and if there was a time to shake things up, it’s now and you can almost feel the show ready to pop at any moment. So, what are the shocks, what are the surprises and does anyone actually die yet? Strap in folks, the middle of the end is nigh.
As per usual at around this point of a Stranger Things season, we find our players well and truly scattered across three different planes of existence as the extent of Vecna’s plan slowly starts to make itself known. Firstly, it’s a fond welcome back to Max as we find her disembodied consciousness has been trapped in Vecna’s memory prison for 18 months, but with the arrival of Holly here after Henry’s non-viney form has placed her consciousness here for safe keeping, Max now thinks there’s a legitimate shot at escape from this place Holly dubs Camazotz after A Wrinkle In Time. Meanwhile, still trapped in the Upside-Down, Hopper and Eleven decide to wage war of the military camp stationed in the other dimension under the belief that Dr. Kay has Vecna prisoner somehow. However, despite fighting their way through soldiers and various anti-Eleven gadgets, they discover that Kay is actually holding none other than Kali? the orginal Number Eight – remember her?
Even the quartet of Steve, Dustin, Nancy and Jonathan find that their mission has changed after thwarting the Demogorgon from attempting to grab Vecna’s next target, husky bully, Derek Turnbow. Instead of regrouping, the gang put peddle to the metal and drive Steve’s BMV into the portal the petal-headed creature has left in its wake in order to continue their chase. However, while this all keeps everyone busy doing their own thing, the real headlines lay with Mike, Will, Lucas, Robin and Joyce, who realise that their enemy is now targeting twelve children to spirit them away for evil ends and have cooked up a deranged plan to “Great Escape” them out of a military compound and into the tunnels underneath using Derek as an inside man. However, while this madcap idea is underway, Vecna decides to rock up to show off his badass, spikey new look, claim the remaining children and trash-talk a typically quivering Will. However, due to a spot of hive-mind mojo, Will may not be so helpless as he once was.
While there’s all the multitude of twists, turns and jaw-dropping moments you’d expect to be found in a Stranger Things mid-season finale, the vast multitude of them are mainly to place certain characters in holding patterns while the big moments are playing out. For example, while it’s always a pleasure to see Sadie Sink’s Max again, she’s really only in place to help give us some exposition about the metaphysics concerning where they actually are. Basically speaking, they’re both trapped inside Vecna’s memories which gives us some cool callbacks to likes of the massacre at Hawkins Lab, but aside from that and a memory cave where even Henry Creel is afraid to go, there’s nothing too earth shattering here. However, once we turn out attention to the Hopper and Eleven section of the episode, we find business picks up. Not only do we get El switching to full superhero mode and Hopper facing off against Linda Hamilton’s Dr. Kay while in the grip of a particularly affectionate vine creature, we finally get the return of Linnea Berthelsen’s imprisoned Kali, who hasn’t even warranted a mention within the show even since she showed up in what is widely regarded as Stranger Things’ only truly bad episode. Moving on to the other characters and we find the bickering collection of Steve, Dustin, Nancy and Jonathan engaging in the truly ludicrous decision of giving chase after a fleeing Demogorgon books it back to its home dimension. To be fair, it’s the deranged Steve Harrington decision we’ve all been waiting on and while it does mean that we now have yet four more characters just cooling their heels in another dimension (that must be half the cast by now), it’s the predominantly earth-based stuff that delivers the major goods and delivers the slap in the face this season’s status quo has been screaming for.
After some early Demogorgon related shenanigans, we find the collection of Mike, Will, Lucas, Murray, Robin, Derek (for some reason), Erica and Joyce (surely currently ricocheting between being the best and worst mother in the world right now) embarking on a wild “child heist” to burrow into a military compound and extract the 8 children that Vecna still needs. Sure it’s utterly ridiculous, but it a lot of fun too – but it’s real reason for existing is so we can’t finally get to that show busting moment we’ve all been waiting for and boy howdy does it not disappoint.
At it’s best, Stranger Things manages to deliver gargantuan set pieces that even after all this time, you’re still surprised to find that they’re not on a cinema screen and after multiple Demogorgons suddenly appear and start tearing grunts to ribbons, you know shit’s about to kick off. And kick off it does, as Vecna strolls in, looking particularly imposing in his war spikes, and then Darth Vader’s his way through any remaining opposition like we’re still watch Rogue One back in 2016. It’s exhilarating, it’s exciting and while I’d argue it’s not quite as leap-out-of-your-seat tense as “Dear Billy” back in season 4, the sight of Mike desperately trying to lead the kids to safety while chaos reigns is nothing short of magnificent.
However, once again convulsing on the floor is Will and it’s here where season 5 finally delivers it’s punch the air masterstroke. You see, aside from repeatedly being the Upside-Down’s plaything, pining after Mike, display the superpower of getting goosebumps on the back of his neck and trying to style out that fucking bowl cut for the past four seasons, Stranger Things finally throws Noah Schnapp a bone and thanks to repeated mentions of the hive mind he shares with the denizens of the Upside-Down, some hurtful smack talk from a gloating Vecna and some earlier, genuinely sweet advice from Robin when she tried to advice him that sometimes, those that you love can’t love you back the same way), turns him into fucking Neo from The Matrix. After seasons of being the show’s major punching bag, seeing Will finally harnesses this shit and start twisting Demogorgons into drooling pretzels proves to be arguably one of the most triumphant moments in the entire history of Stranger Things, and the only real shit part of it is that we’ve now got to wait a goddamn month to see what comes next.
If this season was ever going to recieve a dose of nitrous injected into it’s engine, it was always going to be now, but as we stand in the after glow of Will finally standing firm we’re still in the midst of a season that’s smartly delivered way more questions than it’s delivered answers. Course, if this were a weekly wait, anticipation would be at an all time high – but Christmas? Man, that’s more brutal than a Demogorgon on a rampage.
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