2x08 Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer

[8.3/10] “The Mind Flayer” is basically two big, intense action set pieces with an explainer and a breather in the middle. It works! While we descend headlong into a world where more TV episodes are “chapters” than complete stories, the structure works to both payoff hints we saw in the last episode, give our heroes time to process what they just went through, and head on to the next big challenge.

But let’s start off with the big thing here -- poor Bob! I’ll confess, I’m not entirely sure that he’s dead. Look, they showed us a glimpse of him being devoured by a quartet of demogorgons, which is usually enough. But I’ll admit that I’m not convinced he doesn’t turn into a demogorgon himself, or come back as some sort of other creature, or that Paul Reiser finds some magical science cure that’s able to keep him alive.

That said, it doesn’t diminish Bob’s willingness to put himself on the line to save everyone (ad, granted, his stupidity in leaving his gun behind after he coded the electronic locks to open. There is, again, a lot of Aliens in this sequence, with the humans sneaking around an enclosed location, trying to avoid the roving monsters who aim to devour them.

But what I like about this situation is that Bob isn’t an action hero. He’s just a big nerd who happens to have the right skills -- namely knowing basic -- to do what needs to be done. That makes his bravery stand out even more. Sure, the writing lays it on a little thick with Mike talking about how Bob was the founder of the middle school’s AV club, but the fact that he’s a grown-up version of our young heroes comes in loud and clear. That makes it all the cooler when he not only has the tools to save the day, but puts his life and on the line and ultimately (maybe) loses it in order to save his friends and loved ones.

We also get more development for Paul Reiser, who is willing to stay behind to make sure the good guys get away (though I’m not convinced that he doesn’t have some other ulterior motive. Likewise, it’s nice to get the whole crew assembled, with the Lucas/Stuin/Max/Steve contingent linking up with the Nancy/Jonathan contingent before everyone retreats to the Byers home to regroup and recover.

Granted, there’s a lot of moments where you’re yelling at the screen “Run you dummies!” during a lot of this. But there’s still a good amount of tension as everyone is making their way across Hawkins Lab while the demogorgons prowl. It’s some good horror, with plenty of redshirts getting devoured to show us their force, and plenty of tense moments where our heroes need to hde, run, or otherwise defend themselves from the threat.

From there, the episode settles into a slower middle, which is a good thing. Those kinds of interludes are vital to an episode having meaningu, because it allows the series to establish character and not just throw its major personalities from one crisis to another. Seeing Dustin concede to Lucas over the electricity that his friend shares with Max is heartening as a sign of friendship. Watching JOnathan reassure his comatose brother is sweet and sa.d And seeing Joyce mourn Bob gives the charactr’ s sacrifice more meaning. It doesn’t just matter that these grisly or exciting events happen -- it matters how the characters react to them, because it makes those events feel more real and helps parallel our reaction.

The one awkward, almost sore thumb moment in this comes when Billy is confronted by his father and Max’s mom for his dereliction in looking after Max. We learn that Billy has an abusive, homophobic father, which at least hleps put his jerkassery and cycle of abuse toward Max into context. But in some ways it feels like too little too late, and almost cartoonish in its extremes. I’m willing to see where it goes, if anywhere, but Billy remains a major weak spot in season 2.

The downtime in the middle of the episode also gives the show a chance to deliver some exposition about what exactly our heroes are facing. While I’m mostly on Hopper’s side here -- what basis do we have to believe (in-universe at least) that the Shadow Monster behaves akin to the Mind Flayer from D&D? -- it works as a way to communicate to the audience how the threat here works. The notion of a hive mind controlling not only the demogorgons, but Will, that must be defeated in order to win the day, gives the audience the backdrop it needs to comprehend the nature of the threat the main characters will undoubtedly charge against in the season finale.

Here’s my problem though -- the good guys’ plan for trying to figure out how to defeat the Shadow Monster is unbearably dumb. Sure, they’re smart enough to hide Will in a shack where we won’t know where he is, so that he can’t tell the demogorgons where to attack. But why do they think they can get good information about how to defeat the Shadow Monster out of him?

Sure, it’s emotionally resonant to see all the great monologues from his friends and family about how much they love him and vignettes from the moments they’ve shared, but remember what happened two episodes ago? When Will seemed to be earnestly trying to help them in defeating the Shadow Monster and was instead leading them into a trap because the Shadow Monster had control over him? What assurances do they have that it won’t happen again? What backstop do they have to suggest that his next advice won’t be setting them up to be killed?

The answer is that they don’t. The morse code thing is a good way to convey what’s true and coming from the real Will, and it’s nicely setup through Hopper’s communications with Eleven, but it’s also a total unpredictable fluke Maybe you can say that our heroes are out of good options, so that this is their least bad alternative. But even there, it seems like a lot.

(As an aside, it’s a little nuts how readily Mike and Joyce are willing to just shoot Will full of an indiscriminate amount of liquid sedative. It’s implied that Joyce might have some medical training, but the whole thing seems haphazard and could potentially do serious damage to Will. That said, this sort of thing is well within the realm of willing suspension of disbelief for a T.V. show, it just plays like another logistical shortcut.)

That said, it’s still a cool moment when the phone rings, signaling Will as to where he is, and in turn allowing the Shadow Monster to signal his minions to come threaten the good guys. It’s another suspenseful moment where everyone has their backs up against the wall. It also perfectly sets the stage for Eleven's return. The hints that it’s her who’s defended them from the extradimensional beasts are great, and the warm catharsis of her walking through that door, and both Hopper and Mike seeing that she’s okay is through the roof.

Overall, this one has some very questionable logic in places, but the structure and emotion of it work well enough to still make it a great episode.