What I’m Watching: Stranger Things

Stranger Things: Season 3, Episode 3 “Chapter Three: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard” (B+)

Eleven has come a long way from trying to experience sensory deprivation to connect with Will to now using her powers and a blindfold to spy on boys’ conversations that, unfortunately for them, included less than intellectual moments and a lengthy fart from Lucas to end her spying. That trick got serious quickly as she opted to spy on Billy and saw Heather crying for help from a bathtub. It turns out many of the events and storylines that we’ve been seeing are connected, with Heather’s father revealed to be Tom, Nancy and Jonathan’s terrible boss. Seeing Heather was quite a shock, and everything about that dinner party was freaky. Things don’t look good for any of the members of Heather’s family, and Will, no longer obsessed with role-playing, confirmed that things have started again and there’s a whole lot of cause for concern. Hopper was angry with Joyce when he showed up less than apologetic about her reasons for standing him up, and he now seems to realize, just a bit late as usual, that things are not going well. Let’s hope that, despite the newspaper staff laughing off her investigative journalism, Nancy is going to press ahead and help figure out how to stop the latest otherworldly threat facing everyone. The crack team of Dustin, Steve, and Robin may also be the best chance that Hawkins has for survival, though there’s a bit too much going on right now for it to be totally clear that everyone’s going to end up okay.