Eleven Days: Day eleven

Where I do an episode-by-episode review of Stranger Things season 3. 

Episode 8, ‘The Battle of Starcourt’: Oh. My. God. What a finale.

It begins with a grisly ad-hoc surgery of Eleven’s leg to remove the demo-parasite, which meets its end under Hopper’s boot. Call me immature, but the gang-reunion was a hoot-worthy moment.

But they soon break up into their original components- Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica as the ‘Scoops Troop’, Hopper, Joyce and Murray as the ‘Bald Eagle’, and the rest of them as the ‘Griswold Family’.

Eleven Days: Day ten

Where I do an episode-by-episode review of Stranger Things season 3. 

Episode 7, ‘The Bite’: This episode was a blast. It was the most action-packed episode until now.

There were a couple of hoot-worthy moments in the episode, both of them courtesy of our dear Eleven- her fight with the Demogorgon in the cabin in the woods and her saving Dustin and gang from the Russians at the mall.

Her pulsing wound has made me worried, though- is it gonna give birth to a monster who’s resistant to El’s powers? That would suck very, very hard.

Eleven Days: Day nine

Where I do an episode-by-episode review of Stranger Things season 3. 

Because I’ve been AWOL for the past 3 days, I’m posting two episodes today so as to finish it up on time. Such a disciplined person I am. 

Episode 6, ‘E Pluribus Unum’: After wrapping up Nancy, Jonathan and the kids’ encounter with the monster at the hospital (where El kicks some serious ass), the episode begins with the show’s best team- Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica. Steve and Robin get captured and send the kids to get help. It’s quite courageous of Steve to not yield to the Russians even after being beaten to a pulp. And we get to know that Erica, contrary to her claims, is also a nerd, which was fun to watch.

Eleven Days: Day nine

Where I do an episode-by-episode review of Stranger Things season 3. 

Episode 5, ‘The Flayed’: Steve finally wins a fight. And that too against a Russian guard- hooray for him!

The Scoops gang discovers the Russians’ plans for opening the Gate after getting out of the elevator with a last-minute-placed glass vial full of green acid. But we still don’t know what they’re doing it for- I hope the show gives those answers at the end.

Nancy, Jonathan and the kids’ plan to release Mrs Driscoll from the hospital to find out where the Mind Flayer was building his army was a clever one and their encounter with the flayed at the hospital was fast-paced, tense and a good edge-of-the-seat ten or fifteen minutes. Though I have to say, those people from Nancy’s office liquefying and merging into the bigger monster was one of the most disgusting scenes ever.

Also, I didn’t expect Mike not to know the meaning of ‘extending the olive branch’. What kind of a nerd is he?

On the Hopper front, it was a humorous time with the adorable Russian scientist Alexei. I thoroughly enjoyed Joyce’s attempts to communicate with him and Hopper’s frustration at it. And Murray, the show’s official shipper, is back! After leading to Nanathan (that’s their ship name, right?) in season 2, I had no doubts he’d point out Jopper (?) in season 3.

Eleven Days: Day five

Where I do an episode-by-episode review of Stranger Things Season 3.

Episode 4, The Sauna Test: In this episode, we have a new character joining Dustin, Steve and Robin’s gang- ‘You can’t spell America without Erica’ Erica, who’s Lucas’s little sister and always looking to grab free ice-cream. As the gang looks at the blueprints of the mall, they realise that there’s only one way to the Russians’ storage facility, and that’s through the air ducts. Not even Dustin is small enough to fit in, so they have to rope in Erica and promise her free ice-cream for life in return. Erica is a colourful character, and she surely spices things up.

Eleven Days: Day four

Where I do an episode-by-episode review of Stranger Things Season 3.

Episode 3, The Case of the Missing Lifeguard: For me, season 3 begins in this episode. Things happened. 

It was great seeing Max and Eleven playing detectives in this episode. Finally, they’re talking about something apart from boys and them working together was a better portrayal of character relationship development than giggly outings at the mall. I enjoyed their whole investigation into Heather’s disappearance.

Eleven Days: Day two

Where I do an episode-by-episode review of Stranger Things Season 3. 

Episode 2, The Mall Rats: Finally, we get less of ‘Mileven’. Go Jim Hopper.

The focus on Max and Eleven’s relationship development was something refreshing, but it didn’t have to be so giggly. Being a teen girl myself, I’m pretty sure we don’t giggle that lot with our friends.

And we got our favourite science teacher back! I love any scene with Scott Clarke explaining stuff, so him explaining electromagnetism to Joyce (who ditched Hop for science class < insert frowny face here>) was interesting. Foreshadowing is never subtle in ST, but well, when you compare that with bursting rats, it was. Hey, I’m not criticising it- I don’t think anything’s wrong with that.

Nancy and Jonathan playing detectives was one of the highlights of the episode (not gonna say Nancy Drew because I hate those pricks at her office). Contrary to the teen couples, this couple is actually doing something. The rat at Mrs Driscoll’s bursting and turning into a demo(rat?) was pretty… ahem… let’s say graphic.

Also, I rechecked and found that Dustin and Steve’s reunion occurs in episode 2 and not 1, but since I’d watched them together, I didn’t remember correctly which event belonged to which episode, so I expounded upon how much I love their brotherly bond in the 1st episode’s review. Sorry about that.

Dustin, Steve and Robin made a good team. Brownie points to Robin for being multilingual and translating the recording. Also, Steve has grown a lot of brains between the seasons. Matching the ‘Daisy Bell’ background tune from the recording to the toy horse in the mall was a neat feat (rhyme unintended). I look forward to seeing more of their teamwork. They’re just so great together.

And finally, El did something. *Dramatic sigh of relief* What began as a juvenile spying game ended in a freakish scene with Billy sensing Eleven. Now that opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

 

 

Eleven Days: Day one

Reviews of any kind aren’t really my thing. I’ve been forced to write book reviews in my life, sure, but I don’t enjoy doing them. I don’t have any particular reason for that- some people don’t like writing them because they think they’re too snobbish, some people can’t find anything to say beyond the fact that they liked the book/movie/show/whatever or not- my aversion to writing reviews is not based on any of such grounds. And that is why I’ve never written a review of any kind over here.

But now, for the first time in my life, I want to write a review without any pressure from anybody.

Something has compelled me to write a review.

Something strange.