I really wish you could skip this episode, [spoiler] and Eleven ( Jean Grey ) could of been taught what Eight (Scarlet Witch) taught her [/spoiler] the only reason for Eight and this episode. also this feels like it's a Pilot for a different show.
shareI liked it. I think it's setting up for things to come in season 3. We'll probably start seeing more form 8 and maybe even find out what happened to the other nine test subjects.
shareIt wasn't my favourite ep for sure, though I'm glad El's visit with her real mama happened and that it led her somewhere new. I just wish Kali's character made more sense. It's hard to empathize with someone you know so little about. I thought maybe we'd a better introduction when she followed El back and helped the gang fight the Mind Flayer, but things obviously didn't go that way. Perhaps in S3 she will be reformed and will help fight the Mind Flayer, but for now there's not much intrigue around her, and I think there should be.
shareI came here to share exactly same thoughts.
This episode felt so much different than the others. And it wasn't only due to the fact it introduced new faces leaving out the familiar ones. It simply missed the atmosphere, seemed forced and artificial and one could/should expect so much more after seeing the intro in episode 1.
But most of all, those new characters were so annoying, so unappealing... (well, same goes for Max and her step brother... season 2 really messed it up when it comes to new characters)
I understand it's done with season 3 in mind. But it hurt season 2 since it wasn't executed properly.
Yeah agree the gang looked like they walked off the set of a Billy Idol video, they didn’t make convincing robbers.
shareThe Duffer brothers will be glad you thought so because that was what they were aiming for.
They wanted this group to look like typical late 70s or early 80s movies street teens. They were aiming for The Warriors and Purple Rain look with a little more punk.
I agree that episode 7 feels like a different show, and one that I wouldn't be very interested in either. But I have mixed feelings about 8 & 9 as well for similar reasons.
shareMy thoughts exactly. Didn’t fit in with the rest of the season at all. I don’t look forward to the return of any of those characters.
shareI liked the episode actually, and it was a journey Eleven needed to take. The only downside was the timing. The ѕhit was really starting to hit the fan in Hawkins. The Mind Flayer was beginning its final push to grab a secure foothold, demogorgons were pouring up out of the hole into the lab, then ... El takes a road trip. It broke up the flow of things.
But thinking about where else you'd put it, or maybe splitting it up into bits and pieces that would run in parallel with the events back in Hawkins, I'm not sure there was a better choice. This was one instance where they had to abandon the idea of a single seamless movie and treat it like a TV show - where stand alone episodes often do punctuate the main plotline.
I don't think there's going to be any spinoff series centered on Eight and her gang. Going forward, they're going to need to find some of the other "special kids" in order to defeat the Mind Flayer, who now knows about Eleven and seems to be fixated on her (maybe the first time it's ever been kicked back off a world it already started occupying). It's going to be coming after her and they'll need some help. This sort of lays the groundwork for that. I also liked the theme that everyone kept telling Eleven she was home, but in the end she had to decide for herself where that was - and it was back with Mike, and Hopper, and all the other people in Hawkins who loved her.
The great thing about season drops is, you don't have to wait to see what happens next. Tangent plot threads don't suspend the main story for two weeks. You can enjoy the side story and then keep right on going.
I came here to post the same thing. I'm glad most of the internet has declared war on this episode too. It's truly awful.
shareIt was ok. A good change of pace. If I had the option of it being removed to have 8 episodes or leave it and have 9 episodes then my vote is to keep it.
I was just so worried about what was going on in Hawkins. It was still cool to meet Eleven's "sister."
The events of Episode 7 overlap those of Episodes 6 and 8. While Eleven is with her "sister" and the gang, Joyce and Bob are at the lab and Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Max are setting a trap at the junkyard for Dart. Eleven is watching when Mike tries to warn the military people that their men are walking into a trap, and realizes she has to get back. During the time when they're fighting their way out of Hawkins Lab (and Bob dies) Eleven is on the bus heading home.
They chose to consolidate all of El's trip into one episode rather than split it up into segments that ran interspersed with the events in Hawkins through three episodes. Ten or fifteen minutes in I realized this was going to be a standalone story and we probably wouldn't get back to Hawkins until the very end, or the beginning of the following episode, so I sat back and enjoyed it.
Until that point in the series, Eleven had never had much say regarding the circumstances of her life. Her decision not to kill a helpless man begging for his life on the floor was huge. It would've been difficult to go back if she'd done that. In that moment Eleven chose who she was going to be and who she wasn't going to be. Her surrogate father and mentor, Jim Hopper, was a man who put himself out there for other people, risking his life when necessary. This was the example she wanted to follow. Even if that meant sparing a guy who didn't deserve forgiveness. She decided that Hawkins, and the people she cared about, who cared for her - that was home. Like I said before, this was a journey she needed to take. An important piece of development for one of the show's main characters. You could skip Ep. 7 and watch it later, but I think understanding the change in Eleven makes it worth viewing in run order. Just my opinion. You may disagree.
I think almost everything you say about why the journey has importance for Eleven is fair, but in my view the execution of these ideas felt so tonally off from the show that I can't enjoy it. I would perfectly willing to forgive it if that meant better things for 8 & 9, but Eleven's return didn't land for me at all and that was so disappointing.
shareWho's Nine?
shareEpisodes 8 & 9 I meant.
shareOh, I thought maybe they showed someone with a 009 tattoo at some point and I wasn't paying close enough attention. Probably my biggest criticism of this season is that I really wanted to see Mike and Eleven reunite sooner. Their dance and kiss at the end was adorable, but they didn't get to really interact or do more than a few brief scenes together all season.
shareThat was a big problem for me too, probably the biggest given I felt that was a highlight of the early part of the season. El's storyline at the cabin was brilliant and they managed to really make you feel for her in every way. And yet, when they finally reunite Mike is almost immediately taken aside and El goes off to close the gate. Hopper and El's interactions too fall by the wayside, which saddened me just as much. Yes, there was the scene in the truck, but they should have had moments after the chaos.
I never thought the snowball would disappoint me. It was cute scene in itself but I can't help but feel they botched the lead-up to it.
I thought when Eleven went to the school early on, she and Mike were going to reunite then and go to her mother's house together. Mike could've taken the whole trip with her. He was overshadowed by the other characters back in Hawkins and didn't especially need to be there. It would have been a great chance for them to bond.
A little scene where Hopper was trying to help El get ready for the dance wouldn't have hurt either. Him calling her sweetheart instead of "kid", her calling him "dad", just to show how things have evolved. But that's a minor nitpick. Mostly I think the dance was as well done a final scene as they could've managed. Plus that flip to the upside down really set the stage for season 3. A month later and the Mind Flayer (who's got at least one other world to run) is still fixated on Eleven. Doesn't bode well.
I would have loved Mike and El taking a trip to see her mother. Makes me sad now that it didn't happen.
Maybe I'm reeling from this so much because I thought the Mike/El bond in season 1 and the first few episodes of season 2 was the most affecting part of the show. Stranger Things was never about the sci-fi threats to me, and I'm starting to think the direction is headed won't be for me.
Oh I'm fully aware that it was the same timeframe. That much is obvious. Still, I wanted to see what was going on in Hawkins, thats people's gripe with the episode mostly, not really interested in this tiny sub-plot where its focus is away from Hawkins. But as I said I still enjoyed it.
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