WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!!
By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright Netflix
Well, your face is well and truly slammed into the mud as we pick up from the terrifying events at the climax of the first episode. I meant to say that there are portions of the soundtrack here that remind me of John Carpenter’s The Fog (the good original version.)
This is pure horror and terror and our kids are growing up fast, faced with these dangers. I loved how Robin and Lucas are the centres of calm and reason here. Will’s seeming possession becomes something they can use because Robin figures out why Will is experiencing visions. While Lucas points out that they are also on the edge of the anniversary of Will first disappearing and if Vecna has not come back, then who attacked the Wheelers? Things are grim. Elle is now in the Upside Down in pursuit of Holly but like Max, she cannot find her. She does find an annoyed Hopper, leading to some heart to hearts.
I’m not liking these heart to hearts because they always come before somebody dies. The Duffer brothers are playing with our heart strings and expectation of death in the final season. Similarly, Dustin is found, battered and bloody, leading to some lovely moments between him and Steve like a lover’s quarrel. You can see they can read each other like books and are as close as brothers. I think there may be a part of Steve that is angry that Dustin won’t open up to him about Eddie’s death. He feels left out because they are so close, the most unlikely friendship of them all.
The bonds between these guys is very much on show for us all to see. Plus it’s never too late for team ups not seen before. Will and Robin make a great mystery solving team as they figure out that Will is able to tap into Vecna’s mind.
The identity of Holly’s imaginary friend is thrilling and beautifully revealed as Will and Robin figure it out. At the same time, Mrs Wheeler, badly injured in hospital and unable to speak, is able to write down the name of the man only her daughter can see and hear and it’s…….
Well, you’ll have to see for yourself. All I could feel watching this season is very much a Welcome to Derry feel mixed with a Nightmare on Elm Street. Add that to the living wall Hopper and Elle find in the Upside Down and we realise there is something else going on here.
They thought they knew Vecna’s intentions but they have all been fooled. Aa they say, it’s always the quiet ones you watch. Hawkins is nothing more than all you can eat buffet now. The terror is only beginning. The strands all seem separate now but you can feel the tensions are coming from an unpredicted direction.
The attack on the Wheelers is devastating and shocking. The house is wrecked. Indeed, those scenes where Holly fights off the demogorgon in her room are brutal. There is blood everywhere and the parents are in emergency surgery. Nancy and Lucas clash with Nancy blaming herself as this was all shown to her by Vecna and she never took it seriously. But with every scare, we get a nervous laugh of relief. The Duffer brothers do this so well.
This episode kicks it all off compared to the more sombre opening. The terror was bad enough when you could leave Hawkins but now this is a contained world where whatever is plotting from the Upside Down, can take its time, secure that the military will shoot or imprison anyone breaking their rules. It also puts the pressure on to find Vecna and as we saw earlier, after 37 scouting crawls, it is something that is exhausting them. Now the gang are spit up again, will this make them easier targets or a force to be reckoned with? And now, Elle is on the military’s radar thanks to traffic cameras but regardless, they have to stop what happened to Will, from happening to Holly.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 