Stranger Things 4: The Monster and the Superhero

Season 4. Episode 3.

Ohhh Max. Our poor, sweet Max. It’s not looking good. If Vecna is sweetly whispering your name while the screen fades to black, then you probably aren’t long for this world…

Let’s not dwell on that, however. First off, El faces the music for her stirring but misguided assault on Angela. This involves a sobering interview with two stony faced policeman and the eventual turning over to Sam Owens (a welcome return for Paul Reiser). Owens claims he can give El her powers back, maybe even make them stronger. But with great power… well, dear reader, you know the rest.

Elsewhere, Dustin and Steve Harrington are properly reunited now, and as ever, they serve up many of the episodes best moments. Dustin’s knowing interrogation of Steve Harrington shortly after the latter has made an ass of himself in front of Robyn and Nancy was a joy to behold. Less joyous, was the pairing of the aforementioned. When placed alongside Robyn, it is clear how annoying Nancy actually is. Maybe Nancy and Jonathan deserve each other after all.

Meanwhile, Lucas’ torn allegiances between the nerds and the jocks is yet to be properly resolved. He is still hedging his bets right now, but we all know that his heart belongs to Dustin, Will, Mike and Max. Especially Max. I will concede however that the scene in which the jocks crash band practice and start beating everyone up was classic ’80s movie fare. Lovely stuff.

Finally, Hopper’s exile in Russia seems to be finally coming to an end. The scene in which he has to force his ankle chains over his broken and battered foot was particularly gnarly. Hopper deserves his freedom, by God. And hopefully, by the end of chapter four, he will have it.

A solid rather than spectacular episode then, but one that ends on a tantalising cliff-hanger. Everything is set up for a blockbuster finale over the next few episodes.

Stray observations

  • Stoner characters are almost never enjoyable in any form of pop culture because stoned people are generally unimaginative and annoying. Jonathan and Argyle are no exception to this rule. The thought that Nancy Byers picked Jonathan over Steve Harrington is, quite frankly, utterly absurd.
  • The way that the Duffer brothers have teased the presumably impending introduction of Victor Kreele has been masterful. Great stuff.
  • Finn Wolfhard does some solid work here. The character of Mike Wheeler has seemed a little lost in these opening episodes, but his tender scenes with El are a timely reminder of what made Wheeler so compelling in the first place.
  • I absolutely love Dustin’s THINKING CAP hat. Great choice.
  • How terrifying is that grandfather clock? Nightmare inducing.