Mayor Kline is kicking off his July 4th bash unaware that Hopper is coming, and the Mind Flayer takes deadly action against the kids to get Eleven.
As Mayor Kline riles up the crowd at his festival, the Wheelers take a ride on the Ferris Wheel. Karen got the operator to stop them at the top to watch fireworkds, but Holly spots the trees moving because of the Mind Flayer.
Eleven tells the others what Billy said, and they realize his army is meant to stop her because the Mind Flayer knows she's the only thing that can stop him. Hearing a noise outside, Nancy has El confirm that Billy was in this room for the vision, and Will realizes like her that the Mind Flayer knows they're there. The group goes outside where they see the fleshy, monstrous Mind Flayer coming. Dustin and Erica become confused and annoyed with their drugged friends, and after crashing their cart, activate the elevator. On the way up, Robin and Steve have the high time of their lives, and Dustin and Erica realize they're drugged. Dustin asks Steve about his car, and after getting distracted thinking about food, Steve reveals the Russians took his keys. They exit the elevator outside the mall, but Dustin and Erica force the others inside after spotting two Russian guards running toward them. Back in the woods, Nancy and Jonathan arm themselves with a gun and an ax as the kids barricade Hopper's cabin, and the group huddles in the center as lights flicker. A tendril bursts through a wall, and though Jonathan and Nancy step up, it knocks the ax out of his hands and she runs out of shotgun shell, so El rips it apart. Two more bust in after El, who strains herself but tears off the clawlike appendages again, only for the Flayer to tear a hole in the roof and grab her. Nancy reloads the shotgun and gets a few rounds off on the Flayer as the others hold El down, and Lucas retrieves the ax and chops the tendril. El cries out as Mike pulls the remaining claw off her leg, then with blood dripping, she splits the Flayer's head down the middle. Everyone runs outside, supporting El on the way, and Nancy drives off as the Flayer roars.
Dustin leads the others to the movie theater, where Back to the Future is playing. Erica believes the plan is bad, so Dustin leaves to find help.
Meanwhile, Hopper drives to the fair with Alexei explaining to Murray in the back that they need two keys to shut down the machine, and must enter Planck's Constant, a famous physics number, to get them. Joyce believes they're in a good situation, but Hopper cynically says they still have to get into an impenetrable fortress, and she yelled at the military help they need. As they bicker, Murray screams at them to just admit their sexual attraction, profiling that Joyce wants a good man but is curious about Hopper, while the sheriff is too afraid to admit his feelings and risk getting hurt. Alexei asks what's happening, and upon learning the two haven't had sex, begins laughing with Murray. Nancy and the others break into a convenience store where Max takes charge of patching up El, and sends the others to get supplies. While doing so, Nancy realizes the Mind Flayer's form is similar to what they encountered at the hospital. She theorizes that Driscoll, who wanted to "go back," could be part of it with the other flayed, and the Flayer might die if they kill this form. Max finds Lucas at a fireworks display, and he explains the main one, "Satan's Baby," has enough gunpowder that strapping a bunch together would be like dynamite. She wants to rely on El to beat the Mind Flayer, but he says she'll need help, so he and Will grab everything they can. Finally alone, Mike admits to El that he was jealous and controlling, but is glad she's friends with Max, and says you know how they say "it" makes you crazy. She doesn't know the phrase, so he tries to explain without flatout saying he loves her, but the radio, which has been sputtering, comes to life and he hears Dustin. Dustin tries to explain where he's been, but his batteries die so Mike understands little of what he says. He returns to Erica, but she can't help, and the others are gone.
Steve and Robin have in fact returned to the lobby for the water fountain, where they try to understand what was happening in the movie.
The ceiling lights soon mesmerize the two and warp in their affected eyes, causing them to get sick and run to the bathroom. At the fair, Hopper angrily orders Murray and Alexei to stay in the car while he and Joyce find the kids, awkwardly telling her they should ignore what he said before. On the way in, Kline spots the two, and sprints to his car where he uses its attached phone to call his Russian contacts. Back in the store, El tries to find Dustin, but Lucas and Mike distract her by arguing about the modern Pepsi Lucas is obnoxiously slurping. She angrily whips off her blindfold and tells them Dustin is at the movies. The group wonders why this would be the case but leaves, not noticing some of El's blood is squirming on the floor. Robin and Steve realize they're coming down from the drugs and ask each other questions to determine when they're sober. He admits he loved Nancy but thinks he's found someone better for him, mentioning Dustin's suggestion that he "find his Suzie." Although not saying her name, Steveis obviously saying he's into Robin, which makes her go quiet, so he slides under the stall to see her. She says he's not thinking clearly and he wouldn't want to be her friend if he really knew her, admitting the reason she was obsessed with him in school was not because she was into him, but because the girl she liked, Tammy Thompson, was. He finally realizes what she's saying and she waits anxiously, but to her surprise, he's just incredulous that she was into Tammy, whom he considers a dud. The two laugh, mocking her desire to be a singer despite having a bad voice. Though Dustin's message has essentially reached his, there is more danger ahead, with Hopper's group facing an immediate threat.
Well dang, Eleven is in a rare situation now with being in a horrific spot, not only because she's injured but because the Mind Flayer is the one who bit her.
We've already seen the creature infect people in a few ways, starting with Will, so there's no telling what all he's done to El. We see when they leave the store that her blood is bubbling and screeching like the goopy monsters we've seen before, so maybe his intent wasn't actually to kill her. Sure, he wants her out of the way, but it'd be a way better move for the Flayer to infect El somehow, as then her powers would be under his control. In the scene where the kids fight back, I liked how they made such an effort, barricading themselves and with everyone facing it in some way. I'd honestly forgotten that Nancy was good with guns, but remembered when she grabbed the shotgun, and was glad that this time, no one argued. She and El are probably the most deathly serious and intent on doing some damage based on their expressions, with both showing a lot of focused anger. Jonathan steps up with his ax, though the Flayer knocks him aside, and after the whole group struggles to keep El, Lucas picks up the weapon and finishes it. All the kids get to shine in some way early in the episode, as Will's connection is a warning, and after El rips apart the Flayer and they escape, Max takes charge with fixing El and Mike takes the time to truly apologize for his actions before. Max is still obnoxious to me in a way, though, immediately dismissing what is actually a good idea from Lucas. According to him, they basically have a stick of dynamite if they bundle together some fireworks, and he and Will seem to take the whole display. That amount of gunpowder could be useful, but Max assumes it would be completely pointless and makes fun of them for it. Thankfully, the multiple groups of this season are about to come together to connect everything, with Dustin making a mostly successful call to the others. Hopper and the others are back in Hawkins and searching for the kids well enough they'll certainly find them, and Dustin's distress call got the others coming to him. Speaking of Hopper, it's unfortunate that the best move in trying to find the kids actually leads to a tragedy. Neither Murray nor Alexei would be any use in going to search for the kids, but Kline spots Hopper and Joyce, and as a result calls in the Russian cavalry. One of them manages to get some work done, which was handled well emotionally but had a few issues, which I'll go more in detail on in another post. A shining moment for the episode was when Robin, coming down from her high, comes out to the oblivious Steve, who immediately accepts her. This could have been a doubly bad incident, as Steve could've responded with disgust, which would've hurt and alienated Robin, or he could've gotten depressed. The second is of course the lesser of the two issues; it just is really unfortunate how Steve first got dumped, then lost his charisma, and now liked someone who is gay. It's worse for Robin, however, as although the 80s were becoming a better time, LGBTQ people even now persecution just for being who they are. After becoming so close to Steve, it would've been incredibly painful for Robin if he was disgusted, and word getting out would be bad. Staying positive seemingly because he at least has a new friend, however, Steve accepts her state and simply takes light jabs at the girl she liked, as friends might. Another relationship that takes a new step is of course with Hopper and Joyce, whom Murray completely grilled with his psychoanalysis. Like all the fans who ship the two, Murray saw through their petty bickering and understood the two are interested in each other but afraid to admit it. As weird as he is, Murray just seems to be the people wizard, with this moment being a repeat of last season when he took a similar action with Nancy and Jonathan. Murray of course misses how Joyce was in a relationship that ended when Demodogs ate her boyfriend, but he's on the mark with having been in a bad relationship once. Then with Hopper he hits it on the head, as the sheriff closed himself off after his daughter died, then more when his wife left him. The two try to shrug off his words when they search for the kids, but there's no way they can ignore the truth Murray smacked them in the face with. Everyone's together and definitely about to take on the Mind Flayer, but with El hurt and the Russians attacking, it's not as simple as closing the gate anymore.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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