What I’m Watching: Stranger Things

Stranger Things: Season 1, Episode 4 “Chapter Four: The Body” (B+)

One thing that I think this show does very well is that it balances its multiple plotlines and helps its characters achieve pretty much the same realization without any sense that there are others on the same page. At this point, we now have four distinctly different groups of people not really talking to each other who have confirmation that Will is not dead. The boys and Eleven actually heard Joyce talking to her son, so they should really head right over and tell her that she wasn’t crazy to make a hole in her wall. And I can’t imagine that Mike would ever think to talk to his sister, whose concern about what happened to Nancy and the fact that no one cares led her right to Jonathan, who can be a great ally for her going forward. It’s good to see Hopper actually doing some policework, pretending his daughter is still alive and punching out a trooper after making up the wrong supervisor’s name, and good for him for checking to find out that the body being purported to be Will is actually stuffed with cotton! We know that Will – and theoretically Barb – are alive somewhere, but not even Dr. Brenner knows what he’s dealing with, as evidenced by his unintentional sacrifice of one of his men. Outfitted with a dress and a wig, Eleven is ready for societal interaction and able to use her telekinetic powers to tremendous effect, backing Mike up when he worked up the courage to hit a bully who dared to make fun of Will.