El devises a plan to find the Mind Flayer, and as Murray helps Hopper get answers from Alexei, Steve and Robin face Russian torture.
Robin demands answers about the gate, since Steve and Dustin recognize it, but the group is soon on the run since the guard they attacked has busted them.
They sprint down through the lab and Dustin and Erica escape through a floor grate, but Steve and Robin stay behind to give them time. At the hospital, the kids go searching when Will confirms the Mind Flayer is there, and Nancy runs from the fleshy monster, squeezing through a blocked door. Jonathan gives chase with a pole as a weapon, but is helpless as the disgusting mass squeezes under the locked door of the room Nancy is hiding in. He tries in vain to bust down the door as the monster flings her around and roars in her face, but the kids arrive, and El destroys the door and hurls the monster outside. They soon follow, but the goopy mass is already escaping into a sewage drain. It returns to Billy and Heather, uniting with the Mind Flayer. Unaware, the townsfolk prepare for the July 4th festival, with Mayor Kline overseeing the work until he spots the Russian biker from before. They meet in the Gravitron, where Kline assures the man he's got people watching for Hopper. He's sure they'll find him, and angers the man by telling him to bring backup since Hopper got the better of him before. The man shoves Kline into the controls, starting the machine, and holds him against a rail. With G-Forces helping the strangulation, Kline agrees to find Hopper in a day.
Hopper returns to the others with food and questions Alexei, who is more concerned with how his slurpee is strawberry. He refuses to cooperate unless he gets cherry, so Hopper, in a fit of rage, slams him and tosses him outside to go get one.
Murray reminds him Alexei is an enemy of the state, but Hopper is sure Alexei will come crawling back, afraid of what his comrades will do if he returns to them. He starts leaving, and despite Hopper's confidence, the others run outside. At the compound's edge, Alexei stopsand returns, muttering he likes strawberry as well. ​Back in the secret lab, Dustin tells Erica everything, and she questions only that her brother was involved in all of it. She grows tired of him slowly trying to stop a fan in their way, estimating based on how long they've been down here and walked it'll take 12.5 days to get out. Her quick math astounds Dustin, who determines she's a nerd. She protests, but he points out she's good at math, follows politics, and likes My Little Pony, detailing the show's magic adventures he knows about since he's a nerd, and disables the fan. Soldiers torture Steve, demanding to know whom he works for. He points out his Scoops Ahoy uniform, pretending he and his friends were looking for a delivery. He goes on a speedy rant offering them ice cream, which gets the men laughing, but the lead soldier asks again whom he works for. They drag Steve to a room with Robin, who is horrified at his condition. The men strap them into chairs as the leader mocks them, saying they have the finest doctors to care for Steve, so she spits in his face, which he warns she'll regret as he leaves.
El searches for the Mind Flayer's victims, going through tissues and worrying Mike, who wonders if going for so long is damaging her brain.
Nancy calls the places she contacted days before about the chemicals, but gets nothing. She believes there's a pattern, and though Will says the Flayer might have what it needs, she wonders why exactly the Flayer would just stop. Max and Mike interrupt to settle their argument about El, with Nancy shocked she and Mike broke up but agreeing she's her own person like Max said. Mike snaps that Max used her to spy on them, but the others remind him El knows her limits and is her own person with free will. He counters that they all use and abuse her powers, and he doesn't want her to die from overusing them, as he loves her and can't lose her again. Everyone goes quiet and El enters; they say it's just a family discussion, and she says she found "him." Meanwhile, Murray translates as Alexei explains the Russians have a "key," which emits great energy but takes a lot of power, hence the use of houses near power transformers to steal from the town. They had keys in Russia, but they always turned out wrong, so they had to go somewhere specific, but Murray doesn't understand what Alexei means. Using a fry container and a straw, Alexei says they're using the the key to open a doorway between worlds, and they realize he means the Upside Down. They needed a proper location for the key, and since the doorway had been opened in Hawkins before, it was still healing and could be opened again more easily. Though it's not open yet, it's opening, so Joyce rushes to call the kids, Alexei wants to return to Looney Tunes, and Hopper and Murray calm their nerves with vodka. They realize there must be a way to stop the key, and Alexei says there obviously is, but he can't get to it because he's now compromised. Hopper states he'll get him to it, but Alexei laughs, admiring his courage but calling him "fat Rambo." He claims the real Rambo couldn't get in the bunker, as the best Russian minds built it, and the strongest warriors prevent entry.
In said bunker, Dustin and Erica find a room of the green liquid, and Dustin searches for keys to a cart. Erica spots a cage and wonders if it could be for a Demogorgon, and after he finds the keys, she surprises him with a large electric prod.
She says they could use it on some Russians, but he reminds her they don't know where Steve and Robin are, and the Russians have more dangerous weapons. They climb into the cart and he convinces her they need to go get help. Robin's cries for help wake Steve, who describes his immense pain, and the two make jokes about the doctor coming. She spots a pair of scissors and suggests they work hop toward them, then he can cut their binds, but they fall over while hopping. To his confusion, she starts cackling about how she's going to die in a secret Russian base, then brings up a teacher from their high school the band kids mocked. She explains she sat behind him in that teacher's class, still remembering how he was constantly late and what kind of bagel he had, yet knows he doesn't remember her. She says she was obsessed with him, as even the kids who go against the grain feel the need to be popular sometimes, but says he was a real jerk. He agrees, but says the popularity really isn't that great, as the demands others have for you are crap. The two laugh, wondering where they'd be if he'd known her back then, but agree their situation at Scoops Ahoy was fun while it lasted. The Russians return, with the leader urging Steve to tell the truth this time, and the doctor injects him with a blue liquid. While El uses her powers, the others argue about Billy, whom El saw in his room. Knowing it's a trap, Lucas wants to storm the place. Nancy and Jonathan disagree, especially because killing the flayed won't stop the Flayer itself. She believes they need the source, and El, having remembered her vision from her mom, says she can find it without having to go to Billy. Mike worries again, since she's only done this once and Billy's mind is infected, but she is certain the Flayer can't hurt her there and asks for his trust. In the empty world, she finds and touches Billy to ask him where it all happened. He turns and grabs her arm, scaring her momentarily. As she gasps, Mike worries, but she sees flashes of what happened with the Flayer, and falls backward onto a beach where a young Billy swims as his mom watches. With a storm signalling the source, El journeys to find the Mind Flayer, but her trip has a twist, and as Hopper calls for help, Steve and Robin answer some questions.
Well, Dustin and his group are still unaware of everything going on, but with what Hopper and Joyce have discovered, they're about to converge with the others.
As I've mentioned before, I like how the characters all start in separate groups that come together slowly over time, and we get some comedy this episode related to it. When Hopper assures Alexei he can get him into the bunker lab, the Russian laughs, believing even someone like Rambo can't infiltrate it. This is a case of great Dramatic Irony, as Alexei doesn't know what we do: that Dustin and the others cracked the Russian code and got into the lab pretty easily. Of course the perfect way to time this joke is following it up with Dustin and Erica entering the new room, and here we also get an unnerving sight. While Dustin is searching for the keys, Erica notices a large cage, with the implication being that the Russians plan to capture and experiment on a Demogorgon. The implications of any country or organization capturing such a creature would be terrifying enough, especially with how violent we've seen these characters be. They've already unintentionally caused a lot of damage by just trying to reach the Upside Down, which has helped the Mind Flayer resurface. Rather than forming some kind of alliance with people who have knowledge of the Upside Down already, like the original group in the show, hey're going in blind. Because of this, the Mind Flayer now has tons of slaves in Hawkins, and is taking a grotesque, monstrous form from the bodies of the infected rats and people. The show continues to impress with this, by the way, as the amorphous beings are able to take hideous, disgusting forms and attack. Nancy's position in the room at the start of the episode is terrifying, at first because you'd think the monster can bust down the door, then because you learn it doesn't need to, as it can momentarily lose its shape and seep in through a grate. This makes the creatures feel more unstoppable, and the main group is especially in danger because the Flayer seems to remember them. He for sure remembers El, based on something we hear this episode, I would think he remembers Will, and by extension there's everyone who cares about him. Nancy was present for Will's "exorcism," and has been trying to uncover this plot, so the Mind Flayer would definitely want her out of the picture. Nancy does have a weak moment at the start, when the creature comes for her and she keeps trying to force open a blocked door, rather than running down the hall. Later on, however, she shows off her intelligence as the group plans how to take on Billy and the Mind Flayer, knowing there must be a reason the people have stopped gathering chemicals and recognizing going for Billy would be a mistake. In this scene, Mike and Max were the ones really annoying me, with how extreme to both sides both of them were on his treatment of El. Mike shows here that despite being smart in school, he can definitely still be stupid, still failing to understand exactly why El was upset with him. He has essentially taken on a role I more see with female characters in relationships, like when a girlfriend tries to convince a superhero to stop their actions. He's so concerned for El that he forgets she's capable of handling her powers and should be the one deciding what she does in the end. On the other side, we have Max, who didn't get the full story of the breakup from the beginning and instantly turned vitriolic toward Mike. She talks about how he tries to control El, and doesn't let her be her own person, but while she helps El discover herself, she spends a lot of time filling her head with nasty assumptions about Mike and why he lied. She's become controlling over El and what she believes, leading her to typical ridiculous decisions like deciding she should avoid Mike and wait for him to call, rather than call to demand answers or talk to him face to face when he tries. On the other hand, I like the development we got this episode with Billy, Steve, and Robin, especially with the latter pair. Billy's development is great, but isn't really surprising, because it works off what we've seen before: that Billy's dad is the cause for his violent behavior. Along with that, I wondered at times if the Mind Flayer was affecting what El saw at all, as we know it can control hosts even when they seem normal. Steve is similar with just building on what we already know, as he's realizing how little it really matters for him to be what everyone wants. Robin, on the other hand, gets a lot of depth as she believes she's about to die, admitting a weakness in spite of her typical attitude. As someone who grew up loving being weird, I completely understand and agree when she says even those who go against societal norms still occasionally want to be popular, and wish they could be accepted. Despite Steve's horrible attitude in the past, she admits she was obsessed with him, while he didn't even remember sharing a class with her. She has long understood what Steve finally realizes about people's opinions not mattering so much, but she has weak moments despite her strength. Robin has really become a favorite character, fitting in with how she's able to explain Dustin's comic references, along with her snarky wit getting them all the time. Of course another favorite character is Alexei, who finally gets to communicate with Hopper and Joyce thanks to Murray. He continues to show a childlike wonder for common American things, throwing a fit over getting a strawberry slurpee rather than cherry, and wanting to watch cartoons. Since the start of the season, Alexei has been working under a horrific and stressful job doing something dangerous, and now he gets some calm. Just days before, he was working on a machine under the threat of death, and now he's drinking slurpees and watching Looney Tunes. It's kind of sad in a way when he proves Hopper right and returns to the group, as despite how good most of them treat him *cough* Hopper *cough* he's still trapped. He just got free of a terrible group and it seemed like he finally had the freedom to just go do what he wants, but he realizes he can't just leave. People in America aren't any more likely to understand Russian than he is to speak English, causing barriers, and his comrades will soon be after him. For a moment, he seemed to have the opportunity for total freedom, only to have to turn around and return to the fray. Thinking of his adventures in America, I also like how this episode's title is a statement about the characters, countries, and the Mind Flayer itself. "E Pluribus Unum" is a United States motto meaning "Out of many, one," expressing that despite differences, many people can come together as one. We see this with the main characters, especially with how their plots come together, as the varied characters come together to fight creatures of the Upside Down. On a larger scale, there's the issue of the U.S. and Russia being such bitter rivals, and how them refusing to work together led to this. If there had been better relations between the countries, it's possible the Russian scientists could've gotten information from the original group. This would then enable them to be more careful, and be aware their actions could cause strange occurrences. If the sides were to come together, they could more easily fight the Mind Flayer and his army, as well. Then there's the mind Flayer, who most exemplifies this phrase in a dark way because of the hive mind connection it has with its slaves. The Mind Flayer is just one being, as are the people it enslaves, but by capturing them, it turns them into one force and uses their bodies to create a form for itself. I don't think Stranger Things will ever really disappoint me, and I'm excited to see where we go now that the Mind Flayer has so many soldiers at its command.
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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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