Stranger Things, Season 1, Episode 3: Holly, Jolly
This was where I stoppped watching during my initial viewing of Stranger Things. It kind of finishes the first arc of missing Will, shows us some clues about the true nature of the mysterious monster (who I'll call Demogorgon, which I think is what the show's doing). We get to see it twice, as well as the strange nature of the disappearances. We get to see Barb in this weird shadowy realm that's a mirror of the real world's swimming pool, running away from this skinny ghoul-like monster and presumably get killed for her troubles. We get to see Joyce set up a crapton of christmas lights around her house, with them blinking in and out (and we get an absolutely horrifying moment as cute little Holly follows the light to where Demogorgon manifests). And Will (or is it?) apparently is able to contac this mother through the lights, telling her that he's "right here", as well as telling her to run as the Demogorgon bursts out of the wallpaper. Joyce survives to run away, though.
So I guess there's some kind of parallel reality that monsters live in? The fact that Eleven can seemingly sense that Will is still in his house seems to indicate that that's the deal... even if, strangely, Hopper and his cops find what appears to be Will's body in a lake.
We get to see El still trying to work her way through normal human life and culture, which is fine and all, but we also get to see her flashback. She refuses to use her powers to kill a cat, which was what causes her to be dragged into that isolation cell from the previous episode.
So yeah, Barb is possibly dead, Will has somehow survived but trapped and able to communicate, and he's definitely not safe. There's way too many questions, but part of what makes the Netflix approach stronger is that episodes like this feel more like chapters in a book. So there's that. The series would get insanely frustrating if I were to watch this weekly or something, that's for sure.
Hooper and Joyce's storylines are probably the more interesting ones, although at the moment Hooper's just going through the whole detective work and finding leads and whatnot. He's already suspicious of the mysterious government facility, though, so good for him. Joyce's increasing madness ends up being rewarded with that communication moment with Will, but also meeting face-to-no-face with Demogorgon. There's some great acting moments from Joyce for sure as she desperately tries to find anything at all that might reunite her with her son.
One thing that I didn't quite mention in the first two episode reviews is how... stylish this show is. It focuses on several imageries -- doors, light bulbs and grids -- very well, and while it's a bit too early to tell what they exactly mean, they manage to do so without being too blatant, at least in my opinion. Even that juxtaposed sex scene between Nancy and Steve's blissful pleasure and Barb's horror as she's stuck in an eldritch netherworld with a ghoulish demon is well-shot.
I do feel that while the child actors are strong, they don't really get that much to work with. Dustin is funnier and thinks of food. Lucas is the smart one out of the three. Mike is the 'main' kid that's friends with El. El herself is mysterious and speaks volumes with her eyes, but I'm still waiting for more. Which we may get this episode, when Mike completely loses it -- not just to the surprise of 11, but also to his other two friends -- when he sees Will's body.
Nancy, once more is probably the subplot I'm least invested in, although at least she's being a bit more proactive this time around, finding out that Barb is missing and deciding to do something about it. It puts her in a neat way to intersect with her brother's own quest to find Will, as well as Jonathan's photos of that night.
As one last note... the show has a fuck-ton of bullies, yeah? Between those twat mouth-breathing kids who tell Mike's group to piss off because "Will is dead, nyeh nyeh", or Steve and his buddy, who whack Jonathan's camera onto the ground... like, yeah, I would be angry too if someone was taking photos of my girlfriend's sexy times, but at the same time, smashing his camera on the ground is just a bit too much, especially considering the fact that everyone knows the kid's troubled by his brother being missing.
Overall, it feels like another installment in a bigger picture, which it exactly is. Defintiely will watch for more.
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