Credit: NetflixĪs the young cast come into their own, it becomes more glaringly obvious than ever that Stranger Things has no idea what to do with a talent like Noah Schnapp. 'Kiss already!' -you, me, and also Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman). The show also conveniently stays away from El's past (no doubt learning from the ill-received " The Lost Sister"), and Billy being an abusive racist – though Dacre Montgomery does a lot of heavy lifting in Billy's solo scenes this season with mostly satisfying results. There's a disturbing sequence early on that plays like sexual assault until the Mind Flayer steps in, but just adding in a monster doesn't make those visuals any less upsetting. The show's supernatural elements sometimes feel like a balm, a distraction from having to deal with more unpleasant and relatable real-life problems (like Hopper's growing rage problem). Everything is blood and slime (closed captioning frequently uses the term "squelching"), to say nothing of some brutal hand-to-hand combat, wounds, and an actual torture scene. Season 2's Mind Flayer, previously embodied by shadow and smoke, is now comprised of the flesh and bone of its decimated hosts. A scene of kids hanging out at the mall can be followed by one of rabid rats literally exploding.Īh, yes – it should be noted that Stranger Things 3 is the series' most gruesome and violent installment to date. The show starts out as part teen sitcom, part spy thriller, part pure horror. Where that season blatantly rehashed the first (Will is in danger, again! The demogorgon is now multiple demogorgons!), Season 3 is genuinely unpredictable in how the open gate will affect our world.Įarly episodes are disjointed, sometimes juggling up to six storylines at once as we catch up with the Hawkins crew and set the season's stage, and there's a tonal whiplash that comes with that. The supernatural elements sometimes feel like a balm, a distraction from having to deal with more unpleasant real-life problems.Īs July Fourth creeps up, a mysterious monster is affecting the citizens of Hawkins, and it's definitely connected to a network of Russian spies and that pesky gate to the Upside Down that Eleven supposedly closed in Season 2. No one is safe, be it Hopper from his adopted daughter's first boyfriend, or belligerent Billy from the lecherous eyes of middle-aged moms. The older teens are busy with summer jobs while our former Dungeons & Dragons party face the topsy-turvy world of hormones. It's summer 1985 in Hawkins, Ind., where life seems to have finally returned to normal – which of course means a fresh nightmare lurks just around the corner. Every episode of 'Stranger Things,' ranked
0 kommentar(er)
