Take Three: Stranger Things

Stranger Things: Season 1, Episode 3 “Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly” (B)

I like the way in which we’re finding out more and more about Eleven though her experiences in the present moment that make her flash back to her time being tested by Dr. Brenner. I enjoyed that she, with little effort, go the Millennium Falcon to fly but quickly got bored of it while she was hanging out alone at home waiting for 3:15 to come. Dustin’s emphasis on snacks rather than weapons was fun too, and there’s a definite lightheartedness to the boys with their bikes that doesn’t match the horrible confirmation at the end of the episode that Will has in fact been found dead in the water. That also doesn’t track with what Joyce experienced when she bought all those lights to be able to communicate with her son, culminating in a very freaky warning to run before something terrifying emerged from the wall. Hopper is starting to learn all about Dr. Brenner, and I’m curious how much that’s connected to all this freaky stuff that serves as the main part of this show than I’m not into which also kept me from watching it back when it first premiered. I was confused about what happened to Barb because I remembered reading that this was Shannon Purser’s Emmy submission in the Best Guest Actress category, an extremely puzzling choice given that she didn’t appear in anything other than that very first scene. I certainly wouldn’t vote for her based on that and I’m honestly quite surprised by that selection.