REVIEW: Stranger Things, Episode 106
Stranger Things is back with the sixth episode of the season entitled “Chapter Six: The Monster” and in this episode we unexpectedly found out a few things about Eleven.
In the aftermath of Nancy’s arrival in the Upside Down and after she sees the Demogorgon, this young girl fears for her life. I really did like this first scene of the episode. I don’t know why, but it was cool watching Nancy and Jonathan in different dimensions but still hear each other calling. I was really glad Nancy turned out to be OK. After they headed home, Steve finally realized he was an asshole and decided to sneak into Nancy’s room to apologies, and that is when he saw her with Jonathan. I was actually really glad this happened. Even though I prefer Steve rather than his annoying friends, I still don’t like him at all. On the other hand, Nancy and Jonathan really do make a very nice match and they totally seem to have a lot more in common than Nancy and Steve.
Having no idea Steve saw them, Nancy and Jonathan realize the Monster is drawn to blood, so they intend to make a trap to try to catch it, which I must still say that it seems like a bad idea, but let’s wait and see how it turns out. Unfortunately, the trap had to wait, because these two crossed paths with Steve and his friends writing bad things about them on walls. When they were about to leave, Steve starts insulting the entire Byers family, so he and Jonathan started fighting and I am very happy to say that Jonathan kicked Steve’s ass. Of course there is usually a downside when amazing things like these happen and this time was no different: Jonathan was caught by the police while Steve, the Chicken, ran away. Hope it doesn’t take long for Jonathan to be released, so that he and Nancy can go back to monster hunting.
After realizing Will might still be alive and after going to Joyce’s to tell her this, Hopper describes exactly what he saw in the Lab. Together the two of them find out the kid whose room Hopper saw isn’t probably Will, making Hopper realize he was chasing another child the whole time. Hopper then remembers a woman, Terry Hives, who used to say the lab took her child, so they both go speak to her. When they got there, they became disappointed because she doesn’t talk at all, so they spoke to her sister instead. And this was definitely a big moment of realization. When she was younger, Terry volunteered for some study in which the people involved wanted to “expand the boundaries of the mind”. This study really did have some crazy parts and Terry didn’t know she was pregnant at the time, but this totally affected her child. This was when we found out Terry is Eleven’s mother, and these experiments on the mother are the reason why she has powers. The official story is that the baby died, but we, Hopper and Joyce know better. It was great seeing, in the end, right before leaving, Joyce giving Terry a long look. I think in that moment Joyce saw herself a few years from then, in case Will never shows up, just like Terry’s daughter didn’t.
Meanwhile, Dustin convinces Mike to shake Lucas’ hand, but this last one refuses to do so, unless they stop wasting their time on Eleven. The two friends don’t agree with him, so they split up. I really don’t like seeing the Stranger Kids (yes, that is what I call them) apart. Plus, I think Dustin and Mike are right, and not just because I like Eleven nor because I like seeing her and Mike together. Eleven has powers, so she is definitely their best weapon to help them fight the monster and get Will. But I also kind of understand Lucas’ position. As Dustin said, Mike and Lucas are best friends, so Lucas, even though he will never admit it, is a bit jealous of El.
Like I said on my review of the pilot, this show is inspired on some of Stephen King’s works and that was totally present in this episode, and not just because Terry’s sister mentioned this author to Hopper and Joyce. Firstly we can totally see the parallels between Eleven and Carrie, two young girls with powers they don’t really understand (let’s hope Eleven’s end is different from Carrie’s). Secondly, because Troy’s stupidity and ruthlessness can only be compared to Henry Bowers, especially in this episode, because seeing him running after Mike and Dustin with a knife in his hand definitely brought back some memories. The only difference is that Mike had a little help from Eleven. I really have to say that she was so amazing in that scene alongside the ravine, even more amazing than in the fourth episode when she made Troy piss his pants. And that group hug in the end was so satisfying. Of course that it would have been even more if at least Lucas (I am not going to ask for Will too) was there. Hope they make amends real soon, because the Stranger Kids’ team isn’t complete without him.
Lastly, we found out how the portal inside the Lab was created. Continuing the experiment we saw in the previous episode, they sent Eleven to “along the side of the rope” like Mr. Clark put it in last episode, which means she was between dimensions, so she could see both the Upside Down and the world we know. Eleven saw the Demogorgon and when she touched it the portal to this other dimension was created. As I said on my last review, this is exactly what happens when people mess with things they don’t understand.
This episode was really amazing as usual. The most frustrating thing is that every one of the main characters now knows there is something wrong going on, and if they started working together, and telling each other what they found out, they would definitely be able to find Will much faster. But as viewers, we only have the power to stand by and watch. I am giving this episode a 9.3/10.
There are only two more episodes left in this season, and the seventh episode is entitled “Chapter Seven: The Bathtub”, so don’t miss my review.
REVIEW: American Horror Story, Episode 703
American Horror Story is back this week with another episode, the third of this seventh season, entitled “Neighbors from Hell” in which tensions inside of Ally’s community continue to rise more and more and get to a very dangerous level of high.
Right in the beginning of the episode we saw that these clowns really like messing with fears, especially the irrational ones, to a point that they locked a woman and her husband inside coffins and left them there until they eventually died. All this, the way I see it, because they want people to remain afraid. That woman had overcome her fears, she really went a long way, and when she finally put her phobia behind her, they showed up and used it against her in the worst way imaginable. This really made me wonder if Dr. Rudy is in on all this craziness. After all, he was definitely the best person to say that woman overcame her fear, so he could have told his “team” and they put their hands to work. At first I had no idea what was happening and why we were seeing those people, but I ended up loving that scene.
Back to the main plot, I really had no idea the fact that Ally shot Pedro would have that much impact on the community. Sure he was Hispanic, but Ally didn’t realize that before it was too late. Plus, it was really dark because of the blackout and she would have probably shot anyone who showed up, since she was so terrified. The police saw it for what it actually was, self-defense, and it even looks like Detective Samuels was actually happy about this, because he believed Pedro was the one who killed the chef in the previous episode, so less work for him.
But as I was saying, Ally shooting Pedro really had a big effect on the neighborhood, because people started protesting, saying she should be in prison and that justice wasn’t made. Even the neighbors from Hell (as Ally put it), the Wiltons, really made a big deal about this, saying Ally murdered him and that she is super racist.
One of the people who didn’t judge her and that even seemed nice (notice the “seemed” because he is definitely going to enjoy this in many ways) was Kai. As someone who is trying to raise fear and anger towards the Hispanic community, I bet Kai loved this unexpected twist. Ally was totally not a supporter of his crazy theories, but he is now probably hoping that will change because he says he is going to help her get rid of the protesters.
And speaking of this, Dr. Rudy seemed even more suspicious when he totally let Ally go and face the protesters. What kind of therapist would not try to stop an unstable patient from facing an angry mob? Because I could totally not see a good result coming out of that decision. Plus, if he really is on the cult, that would explain why the clowns are after Ally and her family. However, I still don’t know why. All of this still feels very strange. Could it be because she is lesbian? Maybe, but I am not sure if this would actually be a good reason for all this trouble. Really looking forward for answers.
Aside from all this, I have to say that I loved the fact that Ally took off her victim act and started playing tougher. Even though I think it was a bad idea when she tried to reason with the protesters, it did show courage. She was also tough when she decided to go face the neighbors with head on and fist closed, punching Harrison in the nose and telling them to stay out of their way. These neighbors are really getting more and more creepy and if it wasn’t obvious they are on the cult before, it does look obvious now because we saw them with Kai doing that pinky thing. I really do think they are also in on this, but by now I am suspecting pretty much everyone, so you shouldn’t listen to me very much.
Things do promise to get even more intense now, for many reason: Ally’s house was marked by that bloody face, Meadow disappeared (or at least Harrison says she did), Ivy and Oz are leaving Ally, at least for a while, and not to mention that Detective Samuels is somehow involved with the Wiltons, since we saw him hanging out in their house. Lastly, I will just add that Ozzy is definitely going to need therapy for the rest of his life just because of what he saw in the past few days. It seems that every episode he sees something more awful and weird and barbaric than in the last, so I am sure he will grow up to be a vicious serial killer.
I really loved this episode. It was so full of suspense and thrill. This season is really shaping up to be one of the best and I hope it continues like this. I am giving this episode a 9.4/10.
The fourth episode of the season will be released next Tuesday September 26th and it is entitled “11/9”, so don’t miss it along with my review.
REVIEW: Dead of Summer, Episode 107
Dead of Summer continues the season with episode 7 entitled “Townie” and it was definitely an episode of answers.
We saw flashbacks to Garrett’s past, and the opening scene was really great. In it we saw two kids with a bat, right in front of a teacher’s car, ready to smash it. While one was very reluctant to doing this, the other kept pushing him to. It would be to expect that the mean kid was Damon and the one who seemed to be well behaved was Garrett, but things took a surprising turn when we found out that it was actually the other way around. Ironically, it seems that Garrett was the one who pushed Damon to the dark side. But of course they were still kids and a lot could change (and it did) and the thing that changed Garrett was going to Camp Stillwater. Well, it is probably more correct to say that Garrett wasn’t changed by something, but by someone: Jessie, also known as Braces. Jessie was definitely into the camp spirit and quickly decided to approach the misfit, and she never gave up on him, not even when he seemed to always recur to anger and beating when things got a little tough. In the end, Garrett put all that anger into good use, by making Team Red win the Color War.
We also even realized why and how Michael, Joel’s brother, started seeing Holyoke. He was a monitor at the camp during Garett’s first and only summer adventure there. Apparently Holyoke approached him the same way he did Joel and Anton. I am really glad this was explained, because, even though it was a minor storyline, it really didn’t make sense that Holyoke, who was linked to the camp, would just start hunting some random someone outside of it. After Michael killed himself, and with the camp being closed, Holyoke moved on to hunting his brother, which actually makes sense (or at least as much sense as it can make).
In present day, Garrett decides that he is tired of Satanists, so he wants to bring them down once and for all. With the Sheriff’s help, they set up a plan and use Amy as bait. Even though the plan didn’t have much space for failure, it definitely failed terribly: both Amy and the Sheriff (who was watching her) disappeared without a trace. Desperate to find them, Garrett followed Anton’s lead and searched for a cave where he found Amy tied above a lake and the Satanists around her. In an unexpected twist, Damon and his crew killed themselves shortly after his arrival, saying that would make the demon rise. And in fact Garrett did see something when he was pulling Amy out of the water. He saw a hand (it was hardly a hand, but I don’t know what else to call it) grabbing her leg. With Jessie’s help he was able to save Amy, believing that it was all finally finished, little did he know that it is just getting started.
Meanwhile, Drew and Blair started connecting again while they were on the woods making sure everything was OK. They talked about things and finally accepted their relationship, ending up sharing their second kiss. I am definitely glad they finally decided to make amends because it is no fun seeing them apart.
But the episode still had one more final twist to show, and in the last scene we found out that the Sheriff was the person Damon used to refer to as “The Teacher”. This was a cool twist. It wasn’t really super unpredictable but I don’t think anyone can say it was obvious either. This is why he never helped Garrett investigate, but he never stopped him either since that would have been extremely suspicious. Garrett finds out he was the one who killed his dad so right in the last second, Garrett shoots the Sheriff. But as I said, this is far from being finished, and we saw there was someone wearing a mask and watching all this, meaning that more trouble is still coming.
This was really a great episode. We finally got some answers and it is so much relaxing that the Satanists are now out of the way (most of them, anyway). I also really liked the flashback scenes too. I am giving this episode a 9.0/10.
Next episode, entitled “The Devil Inside”, also provides some much needed answers, especially when it comes to Jessie’s past, since this is finally her centric episode, so don’t miss my review.
REVIEW: Midnight, Texas, Episode 110
Midnight, Texas returns one last time (at least this year), with the tenth and final episode of the season entitled “The Virgin Sacrifice” and in it, the so feared and anticipated Colconnar finally arrives to Midnight.
After surrendering herself to Colconnar’s minions, Fiji goes back to Midnight where she learns that the demon will rise at night, and until then, she must get ready. With nothing but wraiths in Midnight, Fiji has no choice but to obey.
Meanwhile, after realizing what she did, the team heads to Midnight to do whatever they can to save Fiji. They prepare some holly water and consecrated weapons to fight the wraiths, and divide in two teams: Bobo, Olivia and Creek went to find Fiji, while Manfred, Joe, Lemuel and Reverend Emilio went to Bobo’s pawn shop to find a way to kill Colconnar once and for all. “To kill evil, you must know evil”. This is what Catori whispered to Manfred’s ear in the end of last episode, and it now feels a bit disappointing because they these words don’t mean anything to us, the audience, so why did the writers made him whisper them? He could have perfectly said it out loud, since it isn’t exactly a secret, giving us something to chew while waiting for the finale. But anyway, knowing evil is precisely what Manfred attempts to do in Bobo’s shop.
Pawn shops are known to have all sorts of things from all kinds of places, and, if you believe the legends, some of those things may be even cursed. Of course that Manfred definitely believes it, since he can hear the spirits and the demons trapped inside the objects. After making sure Emilio is trapped in the cellar, Manfred calls out all the demons inside the objects he gathered, in an effort to use their power against Colconnar. I was very reluctant about this idea because it seems very dangerous and I really didn’t know if he would be able to not let all those demons control him, but in the end everything turned out well, because shortly after Colconnar ascended, Manfred started fighting him and brought him down. I was a bit disappointed by this. The showdown was great, but that is not what I mean. We have been hearing that a demon will rise since episode 2, I think, and when he did he was immediately brought down. Of course this is great for the Midnighters, I am just trying to say that it would have been cool seeing Colconnar bring some despair and destruction before he was killed for good.
Back at Fiji’s house, after everyone was able to enter safely, Olivia, who stayed behind to make sure everyone was able to get to the house, got hurt on the way there. Because she wasn’t able to heal her, Fiji told Creek to take her to a hospital. I am glad this happened because apocalyptical Midnight is no place for Creek because she doesn’t really know how to protect herself. At least this way she was more useful than she ever would have been if she had stayed. Alone in the house, Fiji tells Bobo about her past (at least the most important parts we saw in the previous episode), and tells him that she intends to do to Colconnar what she did to Jeremy, which really sounds like a very bad idea. Sure she would probably be able to kill any person she wanted, but Colconnar is a demon, and I think there is a big chance that wasn’t going to work on him. Fortunately, Bobo had a much better idea: if Colconnar wanted Fiji because she was a virgin, then all they needed to do was make sure she wasn’t one anymore.
With the apocalypse looming over Midnight, love was definitely in the air and I am sure in the end of the episode Emilio felt like a candelabra. Creek and Manfred shared their first I love you’s and got back together, Bobo and Fiji finally accepted the fact that they belong together, Joe and Chuy can finally be reunited again (since the vail is closed) and, in an unexpected turn, Olivia and Lemuel got married. I really didn’t see this coming. At first I thought Emilio was just being the hope speech deliverer, but then we found out that was a wedding. I am definitely very happy for these two, since they are my favorite couple of this show.
As usually happens with season finales, there was a twist in the end, but definitely not one I expected. I thought maybe we would have a glimpse of the next supernatural threat, but instead we learned that an old hotel is going to be restored, making tourists want to go to Midnight. This definitely feels like something that is far from good because this means that normal people with no idea about the supernatural will arrive, and that will complicate things if they need to fight another supernatural creature (which I am sure they will).
This was a good episode but I was kind of hoping for it to be a bit better. The twist in the end didn’t help much because it didn’t really seem like a season finale twist, but more of a twist that said “see you next week”. But the episode as whole was good and intense, and the scene of the battle between Manfred and Colconnar was really great to watch, and for that, I am giving this episode an 8.9/10.
It is now time to say goodbye, hopefully not forever but at least for a while because if Midnight, Texas comes back (Which I hope it does), it will probably only be next summer. This show definitely still has a lot of story to go through and can be developed a lot more, so I hope the writers have the chance to. Next season seems like it may focus a bit more on Olivia’s family, since we learned in this episode that Madonna is working for her father, so he already knows where she is. Now all we need to do is keep our fingers crossed and hope that NBC will renew this show (which I think it will).
REVIEW: Stranger Things, Episode 105
Stranger Things continues to get stranger with episode 5 entitled “Chapter Five: “The Flea and the Acrobat”, and in it, we finally find out where Will is.
With the arrival of Lonnie in the last episode, things take a break from crazy at Joyce’s house, and they start arranging the funeral. But of course that no one really likes Lonnie, especially Jonathan who is very far from happy that he is back, probably knowing that he is preparing something. From what I understand, Lonnie was never really around, especially not in the last few years, and when he was he used to take the kids to do whatever he wanted, instead of actually trying to do something they like. Bottom-line: he sucks as a father, but I was a bit happy to find out that he doesn’t suck as much as to miss his own son’s funeral. But then of course he was able to disappoint again. Lonnie came back, not really for Will’s funeral, but to get his hands in the insurance money they will receive. After finding this, Joyce immediately kicks him out of the house, while Lonnie says she is also far from being the perfect mother. Of course that this is true, Joyce is obviously not perfect, no one is, but at least she is around and she cares and she tries her best, which is a lot more than Lonnie can say for himself.
What is worse about all this, is that Lonnie actually made Joyce think she is crazy, and that she imagined the monster, the lights, seeing Will, everything. Fortunately, there is now another person who knows what is going on. Or better, Hopper doesn’t really know what is going on, but at least he knows that Joyce was right: Will’s body was fake, which means that he might still be alive. And this is exactly what he told Joyce.
Meanwhile, Mike, Dustin and Lucas start to understand where Will is, because of something Eleven said in a previous episode. Will is exactly in the same place where they all are, in Hawkins, but not the Hawkins they live in. That is when they realize that he is in another dimension. Like home, but dark and empty. Will is in the Upside Down. They decide to ask their teacher how they could enter that dimension, and he says they would have to create a huge amount of energy, an amount so big, that it can’t be created. Even though he seemed to be right about everything else, Mr. Clark is wrong about that last part because we know that there is a portal in the Hawkins Lab. The gang proved to be smart, maybe smarter than Mr. Clark, and realized that the compasses aren’t showing the actual north, but they are pointing at the gate, because of the electromagnetic energy that is creates. But Eleven doesn’t like this idea at all, because she knows there is a monster in the other dimension, so she messes with the compasses and they can’t find it. Lucas gets really upset and eventually leaves the group. After him, Eleven disappears too.
There really seems to be a lot of myths about very strange things invented by both Americans and Russians during the cold war, and we learn in this episode that the Upside Down was one of them. Well, actually, no one created that dimension, it simply exists, what the scientists created was a portal to enter it, allowing them to spy on the Russians, since someone in the Upside Down can see the real world, but the people in the real world can’t see them. Of course every time people mess with something they don’t understand, eventually things get out of control, so welcome to Stranger Things.
After finding out about the monster in the last episode, Jonathan and Nancy go to the woods to try to find it, which seems like a terrible idea. Even though they have a gun, they don’t know how to use it, but even if they did, what if a bullet isn’t enough to take it down? I guess it is safe to say they didn’t think this through, but it was still nice to see them bond. I will say that Jonathan seems like a much nicer match to Nancy, than moron Steve. In the end of the episode it seemed like the portal in the Lab isn’t the only one in Hawkins, because Nancy entered the Upside Down through a tree.
This was another great episode. It was very satisfying seeing Joyce kick Lonnie out, seeing her realize she was right and also seeing Nancy and Jonathan bond. It was also great to see the gang split up. It was hard, because they make a great team, but what I mean is that it was great seeing once again that these young actors are really talented. I am giving this episode an 8.9/10.
Next episode is entitled “Chapter Six: The Monster”, so we should expect to see the Demogorgon a lot more.
REVIEW: Dead of Summer, Episode 106
Dead of Summer continues the season with episode 6, entitled “How to Stay Alive in the Woods”, and what a great episode this was, and that is exactly what this show needed at this point, because even though the previous episodes were good, maybe not as good to make the audience always keep watching, definitely one of the reasons why it got cancelled.
In flashbacks, we saw a lot of Deb’s past and we found out that she is, like everyone else, a woman with secrets, but maybe in contrary to what some people may believe, her secrets have nothing to do with the major mystery that has been looming over Stillwater. Deb is simply a woman who had once a great summer, and so she thought some great and magical things would follow, but turned out very disappointed. We saw that she was happy (not the happiest, but happy) when she was collecting signatures for charity, but it was clear that when she started working in the law firm with her partner/boyfriend, she was far from happiness (unless when she was reading Keith’s postcards). This was the most clearer when her boyfriend, Fred, proposed and Deb’s answer was simply “sure”, like that moment was a mundane thing. No surprise, no “Oh my God, of course I do”, no joking around a bit, just “sure”. Deb clearly is far from happy with her life in that moment, and, almost as it was always meant to be, by chance, she found Keith. The two of them talked, and that is when Deb realized that that summer back in 1970 is as good as her life will get. We later found out that Keith isn’t also exactly doing well. Even though he might have been happy when he was writing poetry for some magazines, when he found Deb he hadn’t written in a while, so he definitely agreed with her. Ready to go find their time capsule, Deb later went to Keith’s motel room, where she found him dead, killed by an overdose. That is how much Keith needed memories from that summer.
In present day, Deb blames herself for what happened to Cricket, because she realized that if she wasn’t so stuck in the past, if she didn’t want so hard to bring back some memories, Cricket would still be alive. Of course she is being a little hard at herself, it obviously wasn’t her fault, and that was exactly what Keith came back to tell her. In the beginning we might have thought that he popped by because he learned Deb had reopened the camp, so he wanted to see her and it again, but things got a lot creepier when we find out that Keith was dead. And exactly because he was dead, he had to go back to wherever he came from. But before he left, he told Deb that bad things are coming. Maybe Deb wasn’t able to save the world, but she might now be able to save all those kids at the camp.
Meanwhile, Blair is far from OK with Cricket’s death and he wants to find out what really happened to her, because he realized that her death doesn’t make sense, since she knew the woods very well. But with Cricket dead, there is no way that isn’t creepy to talk to her, so he prepares a spirit session using an Ouija board. The session scene was really amazing to watch, and my heart was definitely beating really fast because I had no idea what was going on. Cricket possessed Amy, but then so did Holyoke, and while in her body he tried to cut her throat. The session ended with Jessie’s arm drawing a skull. This was the moment in which Jessie started to believe there is definitely something very wrong going on.
At the same time, Sykes continued to investigate the lake’s history and he found a file number in the cufflink he had found last episode. Inside the file was his father’s research about the lake and cults related to it. Later on, Jessie found him and they realized that what she drew, when put on top of the map Sykes had found earlier in the series, shows the spot where the cult is burying things for the ritual. But someone already knew that Sykes knows where to find the buried things, so they moved it.
After Keith left, Deb decided to gather everyone and make a time capsule for Cricket, in which someone put something that had some kind of meaning to her. I found this scene a really great one, and this idea was really good so everyone would get some closure.
Right in the final scene, we saw someone in a mask burying Blotter’s head, making sure that there are no doubts that he is actually dead.
This was really a great episode, the best one so far. I really liked Deb’s back story because it felt so real. There is always a moment in time in which we would all like to go back to. Sometimes we try to recreate it, but succeeding is very very rare. The episode also really focused on the main mystery and that is definitely a plus, since there aren’t many episodes left. I am giving this episode a 9.4/10.
Episode 7 is entitled ”Townie” and, as the name suggests, it will focus on Garrett, so don’t miss my review.
REVIEW: Stranger Things, Episode 104
Stranger Things continues with episode four, entitled “Chapter Four: The Body” but I think that “The Puppet” would probably be a more worthy name, since in the end that is what it was, but more on that later.
The episode started with a pretty amazing scene with Sheriff Hopper telling Joyce that they found Will’s body. It was really great to see that throughout that entire scene Hopper was really calm and just trying to comfort Joyce in the best way he could. Of course he didn’t believe anything she was saying about the monsters, and Will talking through the lights, but he still listened to it and tried to make sense of it. Hopper told Joyce she should go see the body, because he thought that making her see that Will was dead would make her stop talking crazy. But of course that nothing prepared him for what actually happened, because after seeing the body Joyce seemed to be even more convinced that Will is still alive somewhere, so she is now more than ever eager to find him.
Meanwhile, even though Mike is still hiding Eleven in his house, he isn’t talking to her anymore, which is of course understandable. But these two make amends early in the episode when Eleven catches Will singing in the Walkie-talkie, but they soon lose him again. Mike calls Dustin and Lucas and the team makes a plan to go to the school and try to contact him on the big transmitter. But of course that for this, they had to dress up Eleven, and it was so funny seeing three little boys dressing her up. While trying to sneak in, Mr. Clarke found them and said he would only let them near it, if they went to a meeting to honor Will. I have to say that this meeting thing seemed like a totally realistic and stupid thing at the same time. This is definitely the kind of thing any school would do to any student: gather everyone to say how great that person was, even if that person wasn’t great at all. The only thing schools try to show is that they care, but guess what? Now, it’s too late to care. Well, actually it isn’t in this case, since Will is still alive, but it definitely is too late in most cases. Without any doubt, the best thing about this meeting was the end, when Mike finally faced Troy and his stupid friend. Mike pushed Troy, and Eleven gave the final touch by making him pee himself in front of everyone. Who’s the loser now, Troy?
After that really satisfying scene, the gang makes their way to the room where the transmitter is and they were finally able to hear Will again, but Will couldn’t hear them, because at the same time we saw that he was talking to Joyce. This was definitely an amazing scene, and seeing four of the people who care most about Will finding out he is really alive at the same time, was great. Joyce was actually even able to see him through the wall, but it was just for a few moments, because then Will had to run away from the Demogorgon.
Meanwhile, Nancy continued to try to find Barb, and in this episode she officially became missing. But of course that the case is very different from Will’s, because I think Barb isn’t underage, so the police looks at it from a whole different perspective. Another thing really satisfying was seeing that Nancy finally started to realize that Steve is a jackass, because he would rather lie to the police about some things that happened at the party to save his own ass, than to tell the truth, since that would help Barb a lot more. Nancy noticed something weird in a photo Jonathan had taken, so she goes to him and together they realize that the thing in the picture is the monster Joyce said she saw trying to come out of the wall.
Finally, even though the investigation into Will’s disappearance is officially closed, Hopper continued to investigate, and asked some questions to the guy who found the body. Hopper soon realized that the place Will turned up in doesn’t belong to the state, but to a private company, so it is extremely weird the state handled the case. He broke into the place where Will’s body lies, opened it, and found nothing but cotton inside. There is definitely something very wrong happening in Hawkins, and in this episode everyone (or at least the characters who matter the most) finally started to realize it.
This was really an amazing episode, full of great badass scenes, but also some sad and shocking ones. Stranger Things is really a great show, and I am sure this is just the beginning, and stranger things are coming our way. I am giving this episode a 9.2/10.
The fifth episode is entitled “Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat”, and everyone will start understanding a bit better what is going on, so don’t miss my review.
REVIEW: Dead of Summer, Episode 105
The fifth episode of the only season of Dead of Summer is entitled “How to Stay Alive in the Woods”, and it has Joel as centric character. This was definitely an episode that raised a lot of questions, but also that answered a few old ones.
In flashbacks to Joel’s early life, we find out that he used to have a brother, Michael, but he killed himself when Joel was still young because “He’ll never leave me alone”, at least this is what he wrote with his own blood on the wall. It was later confirmed that Michael was hearing voices, and he believed that killing himself was the only way to make them stop. We also found out that someone glued a camera to Joel’s hand in a very early stage of his life. But the fact that he wanted to be a film maker isn’t really the reason why he carries a camera in his hand almost 24/7. He does that because, like his brother, Joel started hearing voices and seeing things that weren’t there, and his camera allows him to see what is real and what isn’t. But the man he sees isn’t just some random someone, but Holyoke, also known as Tall Man, the guy who has been haunting the Camp since the beginning. This was definitely a great and really unexpected twist, but it sure wasn’t the only one in this episode.
In present day, Joel continues to see Holyoke and right from the beginning of the episode the ghost asks him to kill Amy, or someone else will die. Joel of course continues to believe that none of this is real, but we can see that he is afraid of himself and of what he might do, because, when asked, he refused to be alone with Amy. Everyone else starts to realize that Joel is acting weird, but of course that no one suspects the truth.
Do you remember last episode when I said that Joel and Deb had sex? Well, maybe not. This episode made us realize that most of the scenes which we saw from his perspective didn’t exactly happen as he thinks they did. Deb said all they did the previous night was go for a walk, she showed him what is inside her box, she told him about her friend Keith and that is it. A short while after this, Joel realizes that things work differently in Camp Stillwater, so he can’t trust his camera there.
In the meantime, Styles continues with his investigation in cults related to the lake, so he and Jessie go to the cabin in which we saw Holyoke play the piano right in the beginning of the series. There, they find a hidden door on the ground, inside which there is a doll, a tape and a cufflink with the initials JS, Jack Sykes, which means that Garett’s dad was investigating these exact same things.
Closer to the end of the episode, after losing the one thing that allowed him to distinguish reality from his imagination, Joel decides to tell everyone about everything, from his brother’s death, to Holyoke asking him to kill Amy. But when Jessie arrives with an old photo of Holyoke everyone starts to understand that in Stillwater there is a lot more than what meets the eye. When Anton walks in, he tells everyone the man he saw when he arrived was Holyoke. Jessie is still a bit skeptical about all this, but now no one can say that this is just in their heads. There is definitely something big happening, and even though we knew this from the beginning, the counselors start now realizing this too, which means that from now on, things will start to be very different.
But of course that none of this changes what Holyoke said, and with Amy still alive and kicking, he made good in his word. Right in the end, Cricket was going to meet Alex to watch the Blood Moon when someone pushed her and she fell on a bear trap, dying immediately. I have to say that this part doesn’t seem very realistic. Sure that there are bear traps in the woods, but when the Camp reopened those traps should have been deactivated, because there are kids around.
Nevertheless, this was a great episode. It had great twists, and it was definitely a change compared to other previous ones. The death at the end was also very surprising, because it gets to a point where you don’t think that anyone major will die, but you should be warned that in Dead of Summer no one is safe. I am giving this episode an 8.6/10.
Episode 6 is entitled “The Dharma Bums” and it will have Deb as centric, making us realize why she decided to reopen Camp Stillwater.
REVIEW: Stranger Things, Episode 103
Stranger Things continues with episode 3 of this first season, entitled “Chapter Three: Holly Jolly”, in which the search for Will Byers continues.
After finding a piece of clothing that could be Will’s (but that we know it isn’t) in a pipe that leads to the Hawkins National Laboratory, Sheriff Hopper and two other police officers go to this place to investigate. Hopper isn’t very hopeful they will find Will in there, but he wants to be sure. After knowing that there is a camera which is filming the other end of the pipe, he asks to see the recordings, but Hopper isn’t at all satisfied with what they showed him because he knows those recordings aren’t from the night of Will’s disappearance. What is most frustrating about this, is that we know they seem to be wasting their time going there and talking to those people, because one: they’re not going to tell them anything; and two: what they are hiding isn’t Will, but the fact that Eleven disappeared on that same night. Unfortunately, Hopper doesn’t know neither of these things, so he goes to the library to try to learn a bit of this lab’s history, finding out that the facility is rumored to make experiments on children.
Meanwhile, we continue to watch Joyce’s struggle not to go crazy, but that seems to be a mission which failed, at least that is what most people think, but we know better. After realizing last episode that Will can make the lights flicker, Joyce buys lots and lots of Christmas lights and hangs them around most rooms of the house. Joyce spoke to her son for a few moments, learning that he is alive but not safe. However, she quickly realized that wasn’t going to work, because to find him she would have to ask more than yes or no questions. That is when she hangs the lights in a wall and draws letter near each lamp, just like an Ouija board, but a lot more ready for Christmas. When she puts her “board” to work, Will just tells her to RUN, and that is when, for the second time, the wall seems to want to give birth to a monster, making Joyce start running for her life.
At the same time, in the aftermath of the previous episode, Nancy looks for Barb, at first not all too concerned, but getting more and more worried as time passes. Even though they don’t care at all about her friend, Nancy continues to hang out with Steve’s friends, and I have to say that they really piss me off. I really don’t know why she continues with them, or better, yes I do, it is because of Steve but, even though he is not as irritating as the other two, he is just as much of a jerk. I am glad Nancy finally realized this, closer to the end of the episode, when she just gets up and walks away from them.
Lastly, after Eleven said she knows where Will is, Mike, Lucas and Dustin ready themselves for an adventure after school: they are all going to Mirkwood to finally reunite with their friend. As I have been saying, I really love the chemistry between Mike and Eleven, and I totally ship Meleven (not sure of this is the official name, but I like it), so I don’t have to say that I loved the scene in which Mike gave Eleven his watch so that she would know what time to meet them. After school (and also after another session of bullying: I really hate those two annoying bullies), the gang prepared to find Will. While on the way, my Meleven heart continued to beat really fast, because Eleven saw an injury Mike had, thanks to the bullies, and it was really cute that Mike didn’t want Eleven to think he “was such a wastoid”. Shortly after, the gang reached their destination, everyone was surprised that they stopped at Will’s house, not having any idea what was going on. While there, they heard the sirens of the police not far away, so they chased after them. I think it is safe to say that everyone was surprised with what they found at the lake: Will’s body. After this, we saw what is, in my opinion, the best scene from this show so far: Mike yelling at Eleven, and then getting home and starting to cry.
This episode was, as usual, a really great one. Lots of great scenes from Joyce, just like last episode, and then that amazing scene in the end made this episode the best one so far. But that is what Stranger Things does, it only escalates, so ready yourselves for what is to come. I am giving this episode a 9.0/10.
The forth episode is entitled “Chapter Four: The Body”, and maybe Will isn’t quite as dead as it seems, so don’t miss it.
REVIEW: Midnight, Texas, Episode 109
Midnight, Texas returns for its second episode this week, this one being the ninth of this first season, and it has “Riders on the Storm” as its title. It is definitely safe to say that this was a very Fiji episode.
The episode had some flashbacks to Fiji’s early days in Midnight and these were very enlightening, not just to Fiji’s past, but to witches and magic in general. Flashbacks begin with Fiji’s arrival in this strange town where she went to stay with her aunt, Mildred. This aunt definitely had dug into Fiji’s past and that allowed her to say with some certainty that Fiji is a witch, just like her. Throughout the flashback scenes, Mildred trained Fiji to control her magic, which comes from emotions, while Fiji found a love interest, Jeremy. Mildred warned Fiji to be careful about this little crush, because she is too powerful and so she most protect her heart from strong emotions. Fiji didn’t listen, which led to her accidently killing Jeremy when they were about to have sex. This totally explains why Fiji doesn’t want to be with Bobo. She has been trying to protect him from herself.
In present day, Colconnar’s rise is closer and closer, so he sends a spirit to make Fiji surrender to him willingly. This spirit brought with him a sandstorm which made everyone evacuate. It was later revealed that the spirit was in fact the Jeremy from the flashbacks, and that was definitely a great choice, because he reminds Fiji that no one is safe around her. Today she is protecting everyone, but tomorrow she might accidently hurt them all (and she almost did).
Meanwhile, Joe and Manfred keep working on a plan to close the vail. Knowing that that isn’t the first time the vail opened and that once a man named Catori was able to close it, these two, with the help of Revered Emilio, go dig up the body to try to find out how he did it. Unfortunately, all they found was a bag of nothing, and when they came out of the cellar, the storm had already arrived.
After making sure that everyone, including Creek, had evacuated Midnight, the heroes of this small town used the vampire bus, featured in the third episode, to escape, leaving only Manfred behind, while he searched for Mr. Snuggly. I really have to say that this was definitely not the brightest idea they had, because there were wraiths everywhere and he couldn’t get to a car. Fortunately, Creek was smart enough to not listen to him, and so she came back to see if they needed help, giving Manfred and Mr. Snuggly a much needed ride.
After Manfred and Creek caught up with everyone else on the bus, they realized that they would never be able to escape the sandstorm because it was following them, or more specifically, it was following Fiji. They stopped in a building with no windows to try to work out on what to do next, and that was when we all learned why Colconnar is after Fiji specifically: she is a virgin witch, those are very powerful, and power is what this demon is after. Of course we later started understanding the reason why Fiji is a virgin: after what happened to Jeremy she was probably never able to start seeing anyone again, until Bobo of course.
In an effort to find out how to stop the upcoming apocalypse, Manfred and Fiji put together two ancient spells from both their ancestors, forming a new very dark spell. But of course magic, especially dark magic, comes with a price and this new spell required a life. This is the part where I was starting to grow very concerned, since I didn’t want anyone in that room to die. After Reverend Emilio volunteered, Mr. Snuggly decided to step up instead and gave himself to the spell. It was very nice seeing that everyone was just as surprised as I was (or maybe even a bit more) to find out that the cat talks. Glad to know I am not alone.
But apparently Snuggly wasn’t good enough for a sacrifice (not sure why), and the spell took Manfred instead. In the afterlife, the psychic was able to speak to Catori and he told Manfred what he needs to do. Or at least I hope he did, because we didn’t hear him saying much, since, even though there was no one around, Catori whispered it to Manfred’s ear. Right after this, he woke up.
But of course no one knew Manfred’s death wasn’t a permanent thing and, seeing that Colconnar was right, everyone around Fiji dies, she surrendered herself to him in an effort to save everyone else’s life.
This was definitely a great episode. It was very intense, the action moved quickly and, as I said, the flashbacks gave us a very important glance into Fiji’s life. This is, in my opinion, the best episode so far and so I am giving it an 8.8/10.
What isn’t as amazing is that the season is very close to the end. Episode 10, which will air next Monday, is the season finale and it is entitled “The Virgin Sacrifice”. Even though I said this episode was the best, I am expecting the finale to be even better, so I hope I don’t come out disappointed.