Stranger Things (2x01): “MADMAX” Review
If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my previous reviews:
Stranger Things Episode Reviews:
Season 1:
The Vanishing of Will Byers
The Weirdo on Maple Street
Holly Jolly
The Body
The Flea and the Acrobat
The Monster
The Bathtub
The Upside Down
Stranger Things Play:
Stranger Things The First Shadow
Out of all the season premieres so far, this one is my favorite. I even like it better than “The Vanishing of Will Byers” (which was a great episode on its own) for one particular reason: This was a Breather Episode. One where the characters (and by extension, the audience) got some kind of break from the chaos and intensity that the show usually propels everyone into.
Sure, there are ominous signs that something horrific is on the horizon (Will’s vision of the Upside Down for instance), and the episode has clever foreshadowing for what’s to come. For the most part though, there is a sense of calm before the storm that I appreciate. We get to see the characters we love trying to live their lives (even if they can’t return to the way things were), we see the introduction of new characters, friendships and relationships continue to develop (with some nice character interactions, both old and new), and the episode takes its time setting up the story beats and themes regarding this season. It also helps that the Duffer Brothers find the right balance in this episode between being humorous without going over-the-top (like “Suzie, Do You Copy?” did) and dark without being mean-spirited (like “The Hellfire Club”).
In other words, this premiere got me excited for season 2, and the rest of the season did not disappoint.
Part 1: Frozen in Time
With the revelation in season 4 that the Upside Down froze in time on November 6th, 1983, it adds a new layer of thematic importance to the show and what the characters are going through this season. I’ve already talked about theories regarding the Upside Down in my season 1 reviews, but one key detail I’ve hoped to convey is the way the Upside Down froze: It's almost like a photograph capturing everything in that moment: The exact time it was taken. The place. The things and objects that were in the vicinity of the photograph. It’s a moment frozen forever in one picture. The big difference is how distorted everything looks, and the lack of context behind it.
I’ve said this before, but for as much as Stranger Things acts a love letter to the 80s, it also serves as a deconstruction of the decade, especially with the problems people faced back then and how certain social issues from that decade have carried over to today’s culture. There were fun things about the 80s, but it also had its uglier aspects. In a way, you could argue the Upside Down's nightmarish version of Hawkins and the rest of the world is a metaphor for how warped the nostalgic perspective can be. There are people who look back at the 80s with rose-colored glasses while ignoring the elements they find unpleasant or twisted, and the opposite where people only see the darkness while ignoring the positives from that decade. That’s also including those who were alive during that time, and what they may have been going through that shaped their perspective of that time period.
In the case of certain characters in this episode, it’s pretty clear that while some have been able to push through what happened the previous year, others have “frozen” in a way that eerily parallels what’s happened with the Upside Down. They are stuck emotionally due to trauma and PTSD, unable to let go of what happened the previous year, and even reliving certain scenarios in their heads. In Will’s case, it’s more literal due to his connection to the Mind Flayer. He wants to move on, but the Upside Down won’t let him. And contrary to what Dr. Owens tells Joyce and Hopper, we’re about to find out Will’s problems go beyond PTSD.
Will’s situation is sad because he’s desperately trying to move on and wants to return to the normalcy he had prior to the Demogorgon taking him. However, the reality is he can’t go back, and the concerns of others around him (even if they mean well) are adding onto his frustrations over his current situation. Joyce has become hyper-protective of Will, to the point she won’t let him ride his bike anymore at night and wants to know where he is at all times. Jonathan’s become a lot more concerned about how Will’s handling things (given the nasty “Zombie Boy” note Will found in his locker, as well as how Zombie Boys and Flight of Icarus depict Will getting bullied following his disappearance the year before, this is somewhat understandable) to the point Will finds it infantilizing. Even the scene of the principal escorting Will to Joyce’s car while everyone watches is a painful reminder to Will of the circumstances he’s in, how everyone is aware that something abnormal is going on with Will, and how he can’t escape it no matter how much he wants to.
I find it telling that when Will gets annoyed with Jonathan and lists off the people who keep treating him like there’s something wrong with him, Will doesn’t mention Mike’s name. It’s a small detail, but looking at how Mike behaves towards Will in this episode, it makes sense: While everyone else is openly acting like Will’s going to collapse in front of them at any given moment, Mike is careful not to do that. He recognizes Will doesn’t want to talk about his situation (at least not yet), and that Will doesn’t need the constant badgering over his mental state. Instead, Mike treats Will like it’s any other night of friends hanging out. It doesn’t mean Mike is unaware that something’s going on with Will (as we see when Mike finds Will outside following his vision) or that he doesn’t have his concerns, but he’s savvy enough to recognize that bringing this up will just make Will feel worse, and instead works to be there for him without prodding. It reminds me a little of the 50/50 movie where Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character gets diagnosed with cancer and his friend (played by Seth Rogen) tries to help him through it the best way he knows how: Being there for him and treating him normally without becoming overbearing. He does take his cues from self-help books, but he is genuine in caring for his friend without forcing him to confront his mortality, similar to how Mike doesn’t want to force Will to relieve his trauma. Will likely noticed, and appreciated this.
Speaking of Mike, we also see him go through his own issues in this episode. Just like how the Upside Down froze, Mike has refused to take down the home he created for El in the basement, with it being frozen in place as if El was still there somehow:
Given the next episode reveals Mike briefly saw El through the window of his house following the attack at the middle school, it’s understandable why he’d hold on to the hope that El may have survived and is still out there (even in spite of seeing her and the Demogorgon vanish) and is counting down the days since her disappearance. Confronting the alternative, with El dead and him having lost someone he loved and cared about, would be overwhelming. However, it also puts him in the position of not being able to do anything for El, which makes him feel frustrated and causes him to start acting out.
I know Mike’s behavior in season 2 gets flak from fans, and he’s even been referred to as “Emo Mike” by the showrunners, but for all the problems he displays this season, there’s a bitter implication that Mike suffers from depression. It doesn't help that the show conveys the impression that whatever issues he’s dealing with are either belittled or ignored by those around him. It’s mentioned in the aftershow Beyond Stranger Things that a big reason Mike is “frozen” is because he doesn’t have anyone to fall back on, and he’s unable to impress anyone the same way he was with El. While I think that’s true to some extent, I also think El in many ways acted as a safety net for Mike, and visa versa. She was responsible for helping Mike to come out of his shell during the week they had together. He may have been the Dungeon Master in his basement where he could control the world he created, but when it came to the world outside of that, he had very little influence over his circumstances and initially reacted passively to the bullying inflicted on him, as well as how he dealt with school and the direction his life was going. Then he meets this girl who brings out an inner strength inside of him, to the point he’s doing things he’d never expect to do, like standing up to Troy and James at the assembly, or shielding El from the Government at the risk of being caught and killed, or willingly walking off a cliff to save Dustin, or even facing down the Demogorgon with his friends. Then tragedy strikes and El disappears from his life, and it suddenly feels like none of that mattered. Yes, Will did come back from the Upside Down and Mike is glad that he's safe, but that doesn’t erase what he lost with El. Now, everyone around Mike is expecting him to move on without telling him how he needs to, like they expect him to go back to the way things were before.
Is it any wonder he’s not impressed with his parents essentially telling him to get over it (even if they don't use those exact words) during dinner?
Usually when people are acting out, it’s their way of letting others know they’re not okay, and it’s also a way of them letting their emotions out while trying to get some kind of control in their lives. Mike is in a position where he’s unable to help El, and he knows it. He considers everything else at this point (aside from his friendships, which he still values) to be secondary compared to knowing whether El is alive and being able to do something about it. Some people might argue that the things Mike does during this phase are unsympathetic, even if the context behind his actions are understandable, but I get where he’s coming from, even if it doesn’t excuse everything he’s doing.
Speaking as someone who’s suffered depression for years, I can confirm that you don’t just “get over it.” There are things you can do to help mitigate the symptoms (which I would argue Mike tries to do in this episode in hanging out with his friends at the arcade), but there isn’t a specific period of time where it just disappears and you never experience it again. Karen and Ted have a right to discipline Mike for how he’s acting, but they are mistaken in believing this is just typical teenage angst that should have run out the clock by now. Sadly, this is the 80s where depression had an ugly stigma attached to it, so Mike is forced to suck it up for the time being.
I will say this: Compared to someone like Billy, whose behavior has crossed a line to the point of him actively and physically hurting people with his rage, Mike’s behavior comes off as laughably tame. If the worst Mike’s done has been cussing out a teacher, or graffitiing on a bathroom stall that everyone draws on anyways, or taking Nancy’s money in front of her with a promise to repay her later, I’d say that’s progress.
Speaking of Nancy, we also get to see how she’s been frozen. She’s tried going back to the way things were, but Barbara’s death still hangs over her and Steve like a black cloud. Natalia Dyer mentioned in Beyond Stranger Things that Nancy and Steve had been visiting Barbara’s parents for the past year in the hopes of giving them some comfort over Barbara’s disappearance (since they can’t directly reveal the truth to them), and the revelation they’re selling the house to hire Murray to look for Barbara is the catalyst for Nancy realizing she can’t keep going on pretending everything’s okay.
I talked about this in my previous review, but a big reason for why Nancy likely went back to Steve (aside from Jonathan choosing to focus on his family at the time) had to do with Steve being the only other person she could talk to about Barbara’s fate, as well as her wanting to give their relationship another chance. In many ways, Nancy took the opposite approach of Mike when it came to her trauma: Instead of acting out, she tried to suppress her emotions. Unfortunately, it didn’t work because she couldn't ignore the trauma and loss that was there, and regardless of whether or not she meant to, it had a negative impact on her relationship with Steve. The tie-in novel Rebel Robin (which takes place between 1983-1984) alludes to this several times:
I’m sure there’s been a debate in the fandom about whether Nancy still had feelings for Steve during the year they were together, and I believe the answer is yes and no. I think Nancy wanted to recapture what she felt for Steve prior to Barbara’s disappearance, and I also think she hoped that by rekindling their relationship, it would cause that spark to come back. Sadly, the reality is things had changed drastically during that week in season 1, both with Barbara’s disappearance, her relationship with Jonathan, and how Steve acted during that time, all of which colored her perspective going forward: She’s in mourning for Barbara and hasn’t found closure for it, she can’t ignore the fact that the same time she chose to have sex with Steve is when the Demogorgon took Barbara, nor can she ignore how Steve reacted when he thought she had cheated on him with Jonathan (even if Steve was remorseful about how he acted), and she’s realizing her feelings for Jonathan haven’t gone away. The result is she has lost interest in her relationship with Steve, even while she’s still trying to act like she’s invested.
To a certain degree, Steve is aware of how last year impacted Nancy (even as he’s dealing with his own problems getting into college) and I honestly think he did the best he could in trying to comfort Nancy over Barbara's death, but didn’t know how to do that in an effective way for her. His motivation to continue doing “normal” activities, like going to the theater, prom, Tina’s Halloween Party, or even focusing on sports was likely his way of coping, as if repeatedly doing those activities would somehow desensitize him and Nancy to the horrors of what they previously experienced. Unfortunately, that was never an approach that was going to work for Nancy, and I would argue it didn’t truly work for Steve either.
I’ll talk more about the conflict over how Nancy and Steve choose to deal with the truth about Barbara’s death in the next review, but I get where Steve was coming from as much as I get where Nancy was coming from. He may not have the intense grief Nancy does over Barbara’s death, since neither he nor Barbara were that close, but there is guilt on his part for his indirect role in her death. There’s also the fact that Steve's in this nightmare scenario as much as the other main characters are, and (as of right now) the only person he has a close enough relationship with that he can talk to about all this is Nancy.
Finally, there’s the Steve/Nancy/Jonathan love triangle I want to discuss quickly. The episode makes it pretty clear that Nancy still has feelings for Jonathan, and her invitation to Tina’s Halloween Party went beyond just simple friendship. However, just because that was obvious to the audience doesn’t mean it was obvious to Steve. While he knew that Nancy and Jonathan talked with one another (especially since Jonathan is the only other teenager in their age group who knows about the Upside Down), my impression was that Steve assumed that Nancy and Jonathan were just friends at this point, and that it didn’t go past that. He already made the mistake of jumping to the conclusion Nancy cheated on him with Jonathan, and he wasn’t ever going to do that again because of how disgusted he was with himself for the damage and hurt he caused them. I’ve seen a few fans cynically take the scene of Steve playfully hugging Nancy and spinning her around following her conversation with Jonathan out-of-context to paint it as this calculated ploy to reaffirm to Jonathan that Nancy was his, which I not only find to be a bad-faith misconstruction (and I remember when some dipshit on TV Tropes put Will in the “Unintentionally Unsympathetic” category and accused him of allowing Angela to bully El in season 4 because he was jealous of her relationship with Mike 🙄), but also one that doesn’t correlate with Steve’s character. If Steve honestly believed Nancy had feelings for Jonathan at this point, he either would have confronted her about it already (like he does two episodes from now) or he would have ended their relationship. Steve is many things, but he isn’t manipulative, and he isn’t going to play mind games trying to keep someone in a relationship they don’t want to be in. I think Steve assumed Nancy was still working through her grief regarding Barbara’s death, and it wasn’t until their confrontation at the Halloween Party that it finally hit him that she was in love with Jonathan. We’ll discuss the ramifications of that in the next few reviews, but I’m not remotely interested in demonizing one character to absolve another character for how they handled things (like some fans constantly do).
Part 2: New Faces
I remember I was stoked for Kali’s character when I saw this episode for the first time. I’ve said before that, aside from the characters, I find the mythology behind Hawkins Lab and the Upside Down to be the most interesting aspect of the show. Because of this, I was invested in the idea of meeting more special kids from the Lab. Comics like Six and Into The Fire implied there were more of them out there who had escaped and were on the run. As of season 4, we know that isn’t true, and those particular comics are officially non-canon. El, Kali, and Vecna are the last of the special kids from Hawkins Lab.
I talked about this in my review of Into the Fire, but I've made my peace with the direction they went on the show. Vecna’s backstory, as well as the Massacre at Hawkins Lab, remains one of the strongest elements to the show’s mythology, and it helps that there were hints all the way back in season 1 that (aside from El) there were no more kids residing at the Lab.
I will give a more in-depth analysis about Kali and her role on the show when I review “The Lost Sister,” but I want to discuss a reference to Kali and her gang that hasn't been cited as inspiration for how their characters were crafted, yet still sticks out for how it parallels their story: Blade Runner.
Blade Runner is a 1982 science-fiction dystopian movie by Ridley Scott (same director as Alien). Set in an alternate timeline in 2019 where the Tyrell Corporation has created bioengineered humanoid beings called Replicants to serve as slave labor on the colonies established off-world, the movie centers on Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) who is a former Blade Runner (i.e. a special type of police officer that tracks down rogue Replicants and proceeds to terminate them) that is tasked with eliminating four Replicants led by Roy Batty (played by Rutger Hauer) who are illegally on Earth. The movie deals with Deckard’s investigation while he comes to terms with his complicated feelings regarding a new prototype Replicant named Rachael.
Similar to Kali’s arc this season, Blade Runner has a lot of moral ambiguity regarding the characters and their actions. Everyone in the movie (except for maybe Rachael) comes out as an anti-hero at best and a villain at worst. Deckard may be the protagonist, but he certainly isn’t heroic, and some of his actions during the course of the film cause the audience to question if he’s really any better than the Replicants he’s hunting. The rogue Replicants themselves are no saints, and are not above killing people, but at the same time, their motivations are rooted in survival and attempting to escape the oppressive system that's keeping them down. We later find out that Roy’s end goal is to reach Eldon Tyrell (founder and CEO of the Tyrell Corporation) in order to get a life extension due to having a genetic premature aging disorder. The movie deals with hardcore ethical questions regarding the existence of Replicants, from the dehumanizing way they’re treated, to being genetically engineered in a way where their lifespan is cut short to prevent them from developing emotionally, to the lack of rights Replicants have despite their similarities to humans. There’s also how new Replicants like Raechal are implanted with memories from another person (in her case, from Tyrell’s niece) as a means of giving them an “emotional cushion” that would better allow them to be controlled. Tyrell Corporations motto may be “More Human Than Human,” but that doesn’t mean they treat them as such.
While Blade Runner hasn’t been cited as an inspiration for Kali’s character, I am struck by the parallels between her and the Replicants. Like El, Kali was kidnapped and became a slave for Dr. Brenner and the U.S. Government in everything but name. She had no rights or freedom, she was groomed into becoming a weapon, was abused and punished if she attempted to resist this (as we see in the flashback with Kali and the orderly Ray Carroll), and spent most of her life being treated in a dehumanizing manner. By the time she managed to escape, she is angry and hurt and out for revenge against the people who took away her life, similar to how Roy from Blade Runner takes his revenge against Eldon Tyrell. Even Roy hunting down and physically hurting Deckard in the climax of the movie has similarities to what Kali does several episodes from now when she turns the tables against Ray Carroll for all the abuse he inflicted on her: Both Carroll and Deckard get a taste of what it’s like to be hunted and living in fear. One difference between Roy and Kali is that while Roy succumbs to the end of his lifespan and dies, Kali is (as of now) still alive and out there. Where her character goes from here remains to be seen.
Another character we get introduced to is Dr. Owens, played by Paul Reiser:
The Duffer Brothers have cited both Aliens and Diner (1982) as inspirations for casting Paul Reiser as Dr. Owens. I will talk more about Diner (1982) when I review “The Gate” since there’s a scene from that film they pay homage to in that episode, but the Aliens shout-out is pretty obvious for anyone who’s seen it. In Aliens, Paul Reiser plays Carter Burke, an executive employed by the corrupt corporation Weyland-Yutani. Initially appearing as a friend to Ripley and coming with her and the Colonial Marines to investigate the disappearance of a colony on LV-426 (the same world from the first movie where the crew of the Nostromo encountered the Xenomorphs for the first time), it’s later revealed that not only is he a slimy backstabbing traitor who was responsible for the colony’s predicament at the hands of the Xenomorphs, but he had also intended to get Ripley and Newt pregnant with facehuggers, smuggle them off world via cryochambers, kill the remaining marines on board, and get them delivered to Weyland-Yutani to make a profit from the potential bioweapon the company planned to create with the Xenomorphs. To say he was the most hated character in the movie is an understatement: Paul Reiser’s family were thrilled when Burke was killed off.
By comparison, Dr. Owens had that same vibe when he was first introduced: Someone who appears friendly on the surface, but for all we knew may have had ulterior motives. Paul Reiser’s casting was meant to invoke this, but there’s also the circumstances regarding Owens character: He’s now in charge of Hawkins Lab, and while he tries to reassure Joyce and Hopper that the previous people in charge are gone (notice he doesn’t say Brenner is dead, just that he’s gone), there isn’t a lot of trust established between both parties for valid reasons. He’s trying to be open with Joyce and Hopper, but he’s also dealing with containing the threat of the Upside Down, and there are certain secrets he’s keeping. I seriously doubt, for instance, that Joyce or Hopper are aware that Brenner is still alive, or that Owens ever told them he was. I’m not saying Dr. Owens friendly demeanor wasn’t genuine, and it’s clear he does care about Will’s well-being and is NOTHING like Carter Burke from Aliens, but he is also answering to his superiors who are motivated to keep the main characters in the dark about certain information that they consider classified. This is going to become an issue in season 4 when Owens makes the morally questionable decision to partner with Brenner at The Nina Project while blindsiding El in the process.
Next up we have Murray. Where do I begin?
I talked about this in my review of Tales from Hawkins, but out of all the characters in the main cast, he’s probably my least favorite. I don’t hate him, but he never grew on me the same way Steve and Erica did. Part of it is because I’m not a big fan of the type of character he represents (i.e. paranoid, antisocial, no social cues, rudely barging into other people’s business, etc). It doesn’t help that he was likely what Terry Ives was originally conceived to be in the Montauk Pitch:
I’ve been clear for a while now that I don’t like conspiracy theorists, and have little patience for their bullshit. A lot of that has to do with the current political and social climate, as well as seeing the plethora of stupidity, self-absorbed narcissism, and victim-complexes associated with people who behave like that. To the show’s credit, they don’t completely go this direction with Murray. He is established as a former journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times, which gives him some credibility, but that’s also coming with some major asterisks. Murray doesn’t have a life outside of investigating cover-ups, and while comics like Tales from Hawkins (and the show to a certain extent) establish that he is capable of putting in the hard work of following leads, doing interviews, establishing timelines, and so on, that doesn’t mean he’s accurate about everything, or that his theories aren’t wildly off-base.
On rewatch, Murray’s claims to Hopper in this episode about a Russian invasion in Hawkins has me raising an eyebrow considering the direction season 3 went. If he was that paranoid (to the point we find out later he’s capable of speaking Russian because he anticipated that skill would come in handy some day) and that convinced about Russians in Hawkins, how come he never noticed anything off in the town regarding certain people who were likely Russian agents? Or even the whole construction of Starcourt Mall for that matter (which would’ve taken months to develop)? Keep in mind that at this point, the Russians already knew about the Upside Down (the first time they tried to open a gate was on June 28th, 1984) and were planning to come to Hawkins to extract monsters from that dimension, so I’d imagine that they were already in the town, either scouting the area, or working on Starcourt Mall, or buying up property and land to build generators near transformers for their key to unlock another Gate (since I seriously doubt they could access the Gate at Hawkins Lab due to security), or working on any of their other operations. I guess it’s possible to argue the Russians didn’t come to Hawkins until AFTER El closed the gate at the end of this season, but considering that Murray is always looking for another cover-up to expose, I’m hard pressed to believe he didn’t notice anything suspicious in Hawkins between November 1984 and July 1985.
Brett Gelman (who plays Murray) admitted in Beyond Stranger Things that he had this backstory established where Murray’s drive to uncover the truth and “expose everything that is bullshit” (his words, not mine) was rooted in the idea that Murray’s attempts to uncover a conspiracy in the past backfired on him and cost him his family (it’s never stated what happened to his family, but it’s more likely that his wife and kids left him after they got humiliated in the process, as opposed to being killed). The result is he’s been trying to undo that mistake ever since, and his motivation in finding out what happened to Barbara is about making things right by giving closure to her parents and to himself. There is a selfish motivation relating to Murray’s pride, but I’ve never gotten the impression that he was disingenuous about getting the facts right (even if his initial theories were all over the place) and there is the sense he genuinely cares about the truth and not his version of the truth.
There are three movies that have been cited as inspiration for Murray’s character: All the President's Men (which deals with the real-life investigation into the Watergate Scandal), Marathon Man, and The Parallax View. The former movie serves as a story influence for Murray, Nancy, and Jonathan’s attempts to expose Hawkins Lab this season, and I will talk about more about that movie in later reviews, but the latter two films are best saved for future discussions since their plots and themes have more in common with the story arcs in later seasons.
Next up is the introduction of Max.
The title of the episode gives away that her character was inspired by the titular character from the Mad Max Saga. Most people know the general plot of those movies: In a dystopian post-apocalyptic Australia, a former idealistic cop named Max Rockatansky has become a vigilante “Road Warrior” in the resulting wasteland, looking to survive while occasionally helping groups of people at the mercy of vicious warlords and deranged degenerates. Due to the loss of his wife and son to a vicious biker gang in the first movie, as well as seeing the world fall apart before his eyes, he has become closed off, reliving the trauma of his past. While the first Mad Max movie depicts his backstory, the later movies focus on him slowly regaining his humanity and performing heroic feats to help those in dire circumstances, even with how hopeless the current living situation appears to be.
Max’s character on the show parallels Max from the movies in that both are reserved and guarded around others due to their experiences. In both cases, it’s a defense mechanism to prevent them from being vulnerable and getting hurt again. Both chose to keep to themselves, appearing not to care about what others think of them. Deep down though, they are lonely as they wrestle with their personal demons. Mad Max over the death of his family, and Max over the abuse she suffers in her family. In order to cope with their horrific circumstances, both try to regain a sense of control over their lives. In Mad Max’s case, it’s by continuing to hunt for water, food, and gasoline while traveling the road. In Max’s case, since she no longer can return to California, it’s by mastering the games at the arcade and skateboarding in her free time. Anything that keeps her out of the house, and away from Billy and Neil.
The common theme Max shares with Mad Max is that, even though both characters put on a cold detached persona as a means of protecting themselves, they both long for some kind of human connection. For Max herself, she lost her best friend, Nate, back in San Diego (as depicted in the tie-in novel Runaway Max) and she’s now in a new unfamiliar town where she would like to remain inconspicuous, but inadvertently attracts the attention of the Party because she beat their high scores at the arcade. Even with the note she leaves the boys (“STOP SPYING ON ME CREEPS!”), there’s the implication on the show (which is confirmed in Runaway Max) that she is interested in the group and doesn’t actually want them to stay away from her:
This leads me to another inspiration for Max’s character that the Duffer Brothers sneak a reference to in the supply closet that Joyce and Bob make-out in: Annie, the musical based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie.
I’ll be honest in admitting that the most I know about the musical comes from the 1982 film adaptation, and it’s not one I cared for. In general, I’m not a fan of musicals (Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables are the only two Broadway Musicals I’ve ever been invested in), and Annie isn’t something I grew up with, so I don’t have much emotional attachment to it. I see the parallels between Annie and Max in that both are feisty redheads who come from abusive backgrounds (Annie dealing with abuse from Ms. Hannigan, and Max from Billy and Neil), both put on a tough exterior (and make it clear they’re not afraid to fight boys) but they also have a sensitive and caring side underneath. And both eventually manage to escape their abusive circumstances. The difference is while Annie gets her happily ever after, Max’s fate following season 4 remains to be seen.
Fun additional fact: Sadie Sink starred in the 2012 Second Broadway Revival of Annie:
Next we’ve got Bob! Dear old Samwise Gamgee Bob Newby!
Even back when I first saw season 2, I always liked Bob and Joyce’s relationship, however brief it was. He was everything Lonnie Byers failed to be: Kind, empathetic, intelligent, genuinely in love with Joyce, trying to relate to Jonathan and Will, and being one of the few people to make Joyce genuinely happy.
Seriously, this is the happiest I’ve seen Joyce in a long time. Blushing like a school-girl:
I was interested in Bob’s claim in this episode that Joyce didn’t know who he was in high school, given the events depicted in The First Shadow. To my recollection, the show doesn’t state what Bob’s age was, but considering Joyce was well on her way to graduating by 1959, and Bob’s partnership with Joyce and Hopper on the case over the pet killings in Hawkins was only for a brief period of time, I think there’s leeway regarding how Bob’s comment can be interpreted. Joyce may have indeed overlooked Bob for most of her time in high school up till that point. In any case, there is context for why it was easier for Joyce to start a relationship with Bob later on, as opposed to her dating any other random dude following the shitshow that was her marriage with Lonnie.
I was happy they cast Sean Astin for Bob, not just because of his role in The Goonies (another movie I intend to talk about down the line), but also because The Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite trilogies, and his portrayal as Sam will always be iconic for me. Given how recognizable he is as an actor, I expected Bob at the time to survive to the end of the season, but I guess that was a false hope. Regardless, Bob did leave his mark on the show (specifically on Joyce’s character), and there are ramifications regarding his role that I plan to talk about in later reviews.
Finally…………there’s Billy. I don’t really have a lot to say about him in this episode, other than I found the scene with Carol and the other girls oogling at him to be eye-roll inducing. 🙄 For as much as Carol spent last season slut-shaming Nancy, I would not be shocked if she cheated on Tommy with Billy, and then Billy proceeded to dump her ass in the most humiliating manner possible (something Max alludes that Billy has done multiple times with other girls in Runaway Max). If the phrase “Every accusation is a confession” ever applied to a character on this show, Carol would be a top qualifier.
Part 3: Foreshadowing and References
Palace Arcade ranks as one of my favorite locations from the show. I have huge nostalgia for arcades from my childhood, namely because me and my teammates from soccer, baseball, and basketball games in both Elementary and Middle School would visit them after a final game. While I never got to play Dragon’s Lair or Dig Dug (since they didn’t have those games at our location), I did play Pac-Man, as well as Mortal Kombat, pinball, hunting games, shooter games (one of which was based off Terminator Salvation), and California Speed. Sadly, I only had a limited amount of quarters I was given for these games, so I had to make every moment count if I was aiming for a high score.
Palace Arcade was named in honor of the 20 Grand Palace Arcade from the 1983 movie WarGames (which is also one of the three films Jonathan picks up for movie night in this episode). Because the film’s plot holds parallels to season 4’s road trip arc with Mike, Will, Jonathan, and Argyle, as well as Suzie’s part in that, I will wait to discuss the movie in-depth when I cover those episodes. For this season though, Jonathan and Nancy’s arc in seeking out Murray to help bring down Hawkins Lab slightly mirrors WarGames when the characters of David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) and Jennifer Mack (Ally Sheedy) seek out Dr. Stephen Falken in the hopes he can stop his creation (The War Operation Plan Response) from causing Nuclear Armageddon. The behind-the-scenes companion book Worlds Turned Upside Down offers more insight into the Laundromat they converted into the Arcade:
In any case, I was sad when the location disappeared after season 2. I get the characters were growing up and wouldn’t hang around there forever, but I still miss the brief nostalgic joy it brought me.
Two specific games get referenced in this episode which contain foreshadowing for events later in the season: Dragon’s Lair and Dig Dug.
The former arcade game was animated by Don Bluth (director of The Secrets of NIMH, The Land Before Time, and Anastasia to name a few of his movies) and was an “on rails” quick time event game where players controlled the reflexes of the main character (Dirk the Daring) as he entered a magic castle filled with monsters and other perils in his attempt to rescue Princess Daphne from a dragon name Singe. The game was notoriously difficult, but also extremely popular when it came out in 1983. The first video gives a little more information about Dragon Lair's history for those who are interested, and the latter video is the entire gameplay:
It’s been confirmed in Beyond Stranger Things that the scene with Dustin playing Dragon’s Lair and losing, along with Lucas’s comment about how Princess Daphne was still his (indicating Lucas had beaten Dustin at the game before), was thematically tied to the Dustin/Max/Lucas love triangle this season, as well as foreshadowing for how Lucas would be the one who ultimately ends up with Max.
Likewise, Dig Dug was another popular arcade game dealing with players digging tunnels underground while eliminating enemies in the area (usually Pookas or Fygars) either by hitting them with an air-pump or using rocks in the environment to crush them.
Paul Dichter, writer for the show, admitted that the game was tied thematically to the reveal of the Upside Down tunnels underneath Hawkins, with its vines, poisonous spores, and demodogs. The game itself also acts as foreshadowing for the climax of the finale when Steve, Mike, Lucas, Max, and Dustin all venture into the tunnels to burn them as a distraction to direct the Mind Flayer’s attention away from Hopper and El.
Another shout-out in this episode goes to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (another Matthew Broderick movie) in the scene when Mr. Clarke is teaching about the human brain, and most of the students (with the exception of Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas) look bored or disinterested. To be honest, I felt like this homage was a little unfair to Mr. Clarke, especially in comparison to Ben Stein’s character from the movie and his teaching methods. Say what you will about Mr. Clarke, but he is passionate about science and clearly wants these kids to be excited about it, whereas Ben Stein’s character couldn’t give less of a crap about student interest, which is why his lecture is as fun as watching paint dry:
I will say this for the Ben Stein scene: The subject matter regarding tariffs during the Great Depression and how that failed spectacularly in alleviating economic woes feels uncomfortably relevant considering what Trump and his cronies are currently doing by starting a trade war with tariffs that's crashing the U.S. economy and pissing off our allies abroad. 😒
Speaking of politics, since this season takes place in 1984 a week before the Election (which was held on November 6th, 1984, the day after El closes the Gate) we get to see a bunch of Election paraphernalia, from the Reagan/Bush ’84 sign outside the Wheeler house, to the “Vote Here” sign at the Middle School:
We’ll later see a Mondale/Ferraro sign outside Dustin’s house. Runaway Max also confirms Neil Hargrove was a Reagan supporter.
If I had reviewed season 2 last year, or even before that, I would have likely found references to the 1984 election to be a cool shout-out to historical events. Considering we just got done with an election where over half of America voted for a convicted felon and misogynistic rapist, whose administration over the past 2 months has been a fucking clown show of corruption, cruelty, and stupidity on a grandiose scale, I find the references to be a depressing reminder of what recently happened. I will eventually move past my bitterness (those there are certain individuals I will hold a grudge against for a long time), but damn it didn’t have to be this way.
We've already mentioned WarGames, but the other two movies Jonathan brings home for his family to watch are Twilight Zone: The Movie and Mr. Mom. The former consists of four anthology stories directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller based on the popular show The Twilight Zone. The latter is a 1983 comedy starring Michael Keaton where his character loses his job and becomes a stay-at-home dad while his wife turns into the breadwinner for the family and looks to advance her career. Mr. Mom works as foreshadowing for the direction Steve’s character will go later in the season when he becomes the babysitter for the Party and takes on more responsibilities that allow him to mature. As for Twilight Zone: The Movie, I don’t see a lot of parallels between that movie and this season, aside from maybe suggesting the gremlin destroying the plane in “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” is comparable to the destruction the demodogs will unleash on Hawkins Lab, or even how Anthony’s character from “It’s a Good Life” mirrors a young Henry Creel in that they both have powers and an unstable mindset that makes them dangerous to everyone around them. Difference is that while Anthony found someone who could act as a mentor for him, with his story ending happily, the same cannot be said for Henry. To be honest, I’m somewhat surprised this movie was even referenced at all since anyone who knows about the troubled production surrounding Twilight Zone: The Movie (specifically the on-set deaths of Vic Morrow and the two child actors who were hired illegally) is aware the movie is an Old Shame for most people who worked on it. There were years worth of lawsuits and court cases over what happened, Spielberg ended his friendship with John Landis in the aftermath, and it cause permanent changes in the film industry regarding safety procedures and how much control directors had on set.
Speaking of Spielberg, one movie of his that’s been cited as inspiration for season 1, and is paid homage to in this episode, is Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Specifically, the vision of the Mind Flayer outside Will’s house mirroring Barry’s encounter with the aliens:
Unfortunately for Will, the Mind Flayer doesn’t have the same benevolent intentions of the aliens from that movie.
The Terminator gets a shout-out in this episode when we see it advertised at the Hawkins Theater. Some of the story beats will come into play in season 3 (specifically Hooper, Joyce, and Alexei being hunted by Grigori and the Russians) but the way the film was shot in Los Angeles, with its gritty urban aesthetic and filthy streets, will be seen later in Chicago when El travels there to meet Kali. Even the beginning of the episode when Kali’s gang is being chased by the police reminds me of when Kyle Reese and Sarah Conner are being chased by the Terminator:
Heck, even the opening credits for Stranger Things have a similar style to the opening credits from The Terminator:
Part 4: Miscellaneous Stuff (Will, Hopper, and the Upside Down)
I’ve come to expect that each season of Stranger Things will feature bullying as a theme of some kind or another, but even with the nasty note Will found in his locker, I find the whole insult behind “Zombie Boy” to be incredibly stupid, and Max's narration from Runaway Max best sums up why:
Like I said in my review of “The Body,” I don’t think this is entirely reflective of the entire student population at Hawkins Middle School (unlike the Rink-O-Mania crowd from season 4) since we did see kids like Jennifer Hayes who were upset when they thought Will died, or were otherwise somber about it during the assembly, but it’s always the assholes that make everyone else look bad.
It’s noteworthy the newspaper article from Will’s locker is different from the article at the Police Station in the season 1 finale:
There’s a major discrepancy between the two articles, and I question if that was done on accident or on purpose by the writers. Season 1 established there were a lot of rumors going around regarding what happened to Will. Considering how quickly gossip tinged with misinformation seems to spread around Hawkins, I wouldn’t be surprised if conspiracy theorists in the area started spewing their own garbage takes, one thing led to another, and that’s how the first article alleging that Joyce claimed Will was subjected to “a secret government program” by Hawkins Lab got published. Bearing in mind that Hopper emphasized to Joyce in “The Upside Down” that the conditions for getting her son back involved not holding Hawkins Lab responsible (“You want Will back? This place had nothing to do with it. That’s the deal. You got it?”), I seriously doubt Joyce would have been stupid enough to shoot her mouth off like that to a newspaper. That’s also including how the last shot of Hopper, prior to the December time-jump, was him getting into a car with federal agents, with the implication being these agents laid out the terms for the cover story and what was expected from Hopper and everyone else who’d been involved with what happened.
In any case, I think the “Zombie Boy” news article is the correct article, and has a cover story that makes sense: They threw the State Coroner, who’d been hired by Hawkins Lab in season 1 to claim the fake body they planted at Sattler’s Quarry was Will’s body, under the bus.
Will’s drawing of “Zombie Boy” and using art as an expression for his trauma reminds me of the graphic novel Zombie Boys, which takes place prior to the events of this season, where the boys meet an aspiring filmmaker in their grade named Joey Kim, who writes and directs a zombie movie based on Will’s drawings, with the movie helping the boys to work through some of the pent-up emotions they’ve had since the events of season 1:
If you haven’t read the graphic novel, I highly recommend it. It’s got a great story, and it ties in well with the themes regarding trauma and finding ways to cope with it.
I will discuss the pairing of Hopper and El in later reviews, but in regards to Hopper’s investigation into the rotting pumpkin patch, they mention in this episode that it just started (with the pumpkins being fine the day before), and we later discover that the tunnels underground created by the Upside Down factored into this. My question is why did the rot only start now? Did the tunnels only just reach Merrill’s Pumpkin Patch on that particular day? I could be wrong, but I was under the assumption the creation of the tunnels from the Gate had been a year long process, and that part of the reason the Mind Flayer initially tolerated the burns Dr. Owens team inflicted on the tendrils and biological matter near the Gate was because it was trying to keep the network of tunnels a secret at the time. However, if the tunnels had been spreading throughout Hawkins for the past year, there should have been other areas infected and dying before it ever got to Merrill and Eugene’s pumpkin patches. Assuming Hopper didn’t get any other reports regarding areas where Hawkins plant life was rotting away (which I guess makes sense since you wouldn’t normally call the police regarding something like that), it makes me wonder if other people noticed. Since Merrill and Eugene run a business selling pumpkins and the rot was affecting their income, it makes sense they would take notice. Everyone else may have treated this as an abnormal curiosity, but not something to panic over yet.
There was a brief continuity error I noticed at the beginning of this episode: It’s stated with screen titles that Kali’s raid in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania takes place on October 28th, 1984. However, the evening news report which covers the police chase on Dustin’s TV indicates this happened the same night Dustin and his friends went to Palace Arcade. Considering the next day takes place on October 30th, 1984 (as confirmed when Bob videotapes Joyce making popcorn, as well as Merrill mentioning to Hopper that it’s the day before Halloween), this means that the initial date this episode starts with should have been on the evening on October 29th, 1984. Not the worst continuity error in the world (Birthdaygate in season 4 would surpass that), but it is a notable screw-up.
Part 5: Song Choices:
One of the first 80s songs we hear play is “Whip It” by Devo.
Contrary to how the music video makes the song seem sexually suggestive (like some kind of BDSM fetish), Devo has admitted the song’s nonsensical lyrics were meant as a satire of the “can-do” motivational attitude used in American capitalist culture to make it seem like people can push through anything with the right mindset (“When a problem comes along, You must whip it.”). A reviewer named Steve Huey put it best when he noted that the song is “a sardonic portrait of a general, problematic aspect of the American psyche: the predilection for using force and violence to solve problems, vent frustration, and prove oneself to others.” Even Jerry Casale, the co-founder and vocalist for the band, admitted the lyrics were supposed to sound like cliché inspirational slogans taken out-of-context (“Go Forward! Move Ahead! Try not to detect it! It’s not too late!”). Considering this song is playing when the boys are arriving at Palace Arcade while psyching themselves to get top scores and show everyone they’re the best at these games, this song was an appropriate choice.
Next song is Oingo Boingo’s “Just Another Day,” which plays the next morning after the Arcade scenes, showing daily life in Hawkins and Hopper driving to work with Murray there to meet him. Despite that brief snippet of the song in the scene suggesting “It’s just another day” like any other, the lyrics are ominous and disturbing, to the point you begin to question the singer’s mental health. (“I do not trust my ears. I don’t believe my eyes!”). There’s a sense of unease that something bad is going to happen, like a premonition (“I had a dream last night. The World was set on fire. And everywhere I ran. There wasn’t any water!”) (“And just when I think, that things are in their place, the heavens are secure, the whole thing explodes in my face!”). Given the Mind Flayer has set its sights on Will, and spent a year preparing for an underground invasion of Hawkins, the lyrics act as foreshadowing for what’s to come, and they even apply to later seasons now that Vecna’s opened a bigger Gate and plans to burn the world.
The next song plays when Nancy and Steve go over Steve’s college application essay: “Talking in your Sleep” by The Romantics. The song depicts a couple where one of the lovers hears the other sleep-talking at night when they’re at their most vulnerable, with the sleep-talker expressing that they love the other person and need them in their lives. In the context of Nancy and Steve, the song comes across as bitterly ironic since Nancy has long fallen out-of-love with Steve at this point and her heart belongs to Jonathan. It makes me wonder if the sleep-talker in the song is meant to represent Steve since he hasn’t fallen out of love with Nancy yet.
The next song comes during Billy and Max’s introductions: “Rock You Like A Hurricane” by Scorpion. Rudolf Schenker, songwriter and guitarist for the band, mentioned in an interview that the song was supposed to be a rock anthem about attitude and sexuality. It’s certainly reflected in the song’s lyrics: (“The Bitch is hungry. She needs to tell. So give her inches, and feed her well.”) (“Lust is in cages, Till storm breaks loose, Just have to make it, With someone I choose”). The way the singer acts in this song conveys this idea that he’s less of a human and more of an animal, or even a force of nature (“He’s licking his lips. He’s ready to win. On the Hunt tonight, for love at first sting. Here I am! Rock you like a Hurricane!”). I guess that’s a pretty accurate description for Billy’s character, but it’s not one that makes him appealing, and comes with so many negative connotations. Hurricanes come and destroy everything in their path while you’re left picking up the pieces afterwards, and the animalistic descriptions convey the idea this person is only looking for instant gratification (to say nothing about the misogynistic attitude Billy has towards women in general).
A similar themed song is “Every Other Girl” by Prehistoric Wolves, which is heard over the headphones of the tech guy who’s bouncing the ball right as the alarms for the Lab go off. I wasn’t able to find a lot of information about this song or the band other than this, but the lyrics convey the idea that the singer goes through multiple affairs, with each conquest being treated as “every other girl, every other night.” Charming. 😒 There are plenty of other songs that have a similar sleazy quality where the singer is either cheating on someone, or else philandering (“Your Love” by The Outfield comes to mind), with the general theme of callousness and instant gratification. I can’t speak for what’s going on with that Lab Technician (or if this was just a distraction song to pass the time), but I definitely can see how it would apply to Billy and his approach to relationships with girls.
Finally, there's “Spooky Movies” by Gary Paxton, which plays when Bob comes to Joyce’s work to make out with her. It’s a fun Halloween song talking about how a guy’s lover prefers spooky movies over a date with him, and makes reference to famous horror monsters (King Kong, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc). The joke is that the monsters measure up for this girl better than her boyfriend (though it’s implied it’s just playful teasing and not meant to be taken seriously). This is coming on the heels of Bob asking Joyce not to have Jonathan bring home any scary movies to watch (though Jonathan brings home Twilight Zone: The Movie anyways) and then picking Mr. Mom, which is the furthest from a Halloween movie as you can get. Either way, the song does a great job establishing Bob as a fun-loving guy to be around.
Overall, this was an enjoyable episode.
