Stranger Things, Season 2, Episode 9: The Gate
So my verdict for this season is pretty definitely "not as good as the first season". It's plagued with a plotline that ultimately felt too telegraphed (Eleven returns, fixes everything), and so many sub-plots that feel like they're absolutely unrequired or could've been integrated to the main plot better (Nancy/Jonathan; Max; Billy; Eleven).
Still, the finale was fun as all hell to watch regardless.
Perhaps one of the weaker parts of this episode was, once more, Billy, but come on, that scene where he very nearly seduces Nancy's mom was uncomfortably hilarious. His whole point is to have a bit of a beat-them-up moment with Steve (poor Steve!), and because the kids are too dumb not to peek through a window, menace the team of Steve-and-the-Kids. Max ends up jabbing Billy with the drug cocktail that they use to put Will to sleep earlier, then slams it down near Billy's balls. Sadly, she doesn't go all the way and shatter them. But eh.
I did like the earlier scene with Mike and Eleven. Their reunion is so sweet! And the confrontation between Mike and Hopper as Mike's just filled with anger and confusion and fury at Hopper, and for good reason. Mike does understand why Hopper did it, but that doesn't stop him from being any less angry, and Hopper doesn't blame him. Then, it's business time, because if they're going to kill the Mind Flayer and close the gate, they have to get the Mind Flayer out of Will.
It's... it's a bit of an iffy thing for sure, but our characters are desperate. So they drug Will up again, drag him to Hopper's cabin, and set up a bunch of electric heaters and starts to quite literally cook Will in order to deny the nourishment that the Mind Flayer needs, and through a bit of an asspull, the shadowy tendrils of the Mind Flayer gets cooked out and escapes from Will's mouth. It's a bit convenient that Will doesn't just straight-up get killed by the heat, but eh. Will's acting is at top-notch as he alternates between being a confused boy and being some eldritch demonic being possessing said confused boy. Joyce's screams and desperation is also well-done in this scene, too.
After dealing with the whole Billy subplot, Steve the Babysitter and his charges end up going off to distract the Demodogs from Strike Team Eleven (Hopper and Eleven) who are going to close the gate. Steve was unconscious thanks to Billy's whacking of him, which actually neatly explains just why he shows up there when all logic should dictate that he get the kids as far away from danger as possible. Max drives Billy's camaro, and kind of fulfills her role as the 'zoomer' that she keeps insisting she is. With a cardboard box to actually reach the gas pedal. I just feel happy because it's Billy's car and Billy deserves all the grief the world has to offer.
They arrive at the pumpkin patch that Hopper investigates earlier this season, and Steve ends up having to lead the party because, shit, they're all kids. They manage to set the 'hub' on fire, attract the Demodogs during the critical moment where Hopper and Eleven are assaulting the lab, manage to scramble all the way to safety (there was a harrowing bit where it seems like Steve and Dustin, hanging on the rope, might not make it, but he does because by that point the Mind Flayer is summoning all the demodogs his way). Dustin even gets a heartwarming moment with little Dart, the only Demodog who inexplicably has a different colour and some semblance of independence. With a gift of a nougat bar, they manage to escape from Dart (which I'm assuming gets, um, killed in the huge explosion?) and escape safely.
Which leaves us to Eleven and Hopper. Their conversation in the car was lovely and well-done. Not much is exchanged, and Hopper and Eleven both act as a worried parent and a chastised daughter very, very well. Eleven explains where she's been to (although only says that she went to visit her mom) and Hopper tells Eleven about his dead daughter. At the end of it all, the two storm Hawkins Lab, Hopper manages to get the still-somehow-alive Dr Owens to promise to stay away from Eleven, and they close the gate. This part of the climax was.... okay. It's not particularly as exciting as the show makes it out to be, and feels more like a 'yay, we won!' bit. It's exciting enough, but considering the climax to the first season, I expected something more. Which, mind you, isn't the worst thing that could've happened.
I did find the string of epilogue scenes to be charming, though. The Nancy/Jonathan getting closure for Barb's death is a bit of a whatever, but Hopper getting Eleven legally adopted as his daughter by fabricating a birth certificate is absolutely amazing (Jane Hopper!). So is Steve and Dustin bonding (as much as Steve's douche-boy charm advice doesn't work). The Snow Ball dance with Mike and Eleven, Nancy dancing with a heartbroken and dejected Dustin... yeah. One of the strongest parts of the show is simply just how invested I am with the characters and the acting that even this sub-par finale feels like a pretty great time nonetheless. And, as heartbreaking as it is, Dustin's acting as he gets through a string of rejection is just amazingly shown.
Oh, and, of course, the Mind Flayer isn't remotely dead. As Police's absolutely amazing "Every Breath You Take" plays over the snow ball, with the lyrics 'every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you' we get to sere the Mind Flayer actually looming over the school, watching. That's a pretty cool and creepy scene.
So yeah. Not as good as the first season, and not as many Cthulhu as I would've liked, but still a fun romp nonetheless.
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