3x07 Chapter Seven: The Bite

There were so many good moments, but I’m going to start out with my favorite. Steve and Robin are just the best. On a pure comedy level, the two of them still being high after their injection from the Russian doctor is a blast. They pretend to surf on a dolly. They get the munchies. They note the strange familial material in Back to the Future. Their stoned demeanor with one another is fantastic.

But it’s just as great when they get more serious. There’s an unexpected earnestness to Steve when he talks about having been in love once, but realizing he feels differently now, and admitting his feelings for Robin. It’s a big moment of growth for him, and I really expected the show to lean into the obvious pairing.

Instead, it zigs when I expected it to zag, and reveals that Robin is a lesbian, and her affections in high school were not for Steve himself, but for another girl who was admiring him. It’s a brilliant left turn, one that turns a typical 80s teen romance trope on its head and shows a different, deeper type of vulnerability from Robin. It’s a great moment of mutual confession and acceptance, made all the better by Steve being instantly cool with it and, through his joshing around, showing how their dynamic hasn’t changed and they can still be great friends. It may be the most life-affirming scene Stranger Things has ever put together.

There’s also just some damn good action here. The opening routine with the giant Mindflayer attacking them in the cabin has a real Evil Dead vibe to it. There’s suspense and thrills as tentacles jut through the walls and attack our heroes, and the show has really stepped up its effects game here. It’s all built around a neat idea that the Mindflayer is specifically after Eleven this time as the force that’s stopped it twice, and her using her powers to tear another one of them open, after the whole team had to hang onto her to prevent her from being gobbled up, makes for one hell of a set piece.

Likewise, Hopper is basically just an action hero now, which still seems out of nowhere. That said, him fighting off the Russian Terminator guy in a funhouse/hall of mirrors is, while exceedingly tropey, also exceedingly stylish and cool. I don’t know where this hearty local cop suddenly got to be such a capable pugilist, but it’s still neat and moody to see him and the Russian agent stalking each other through the low-lit confines of the carnival.

Speaking of the Russian threat, there’s also a cool moment when the soldiers at the mall are advancing on Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica, only for it to turn out that Eleven and the rest of the party were able to get there in time, so that Eleven could give the ruskies her now-familiar automobile heave-ho. The show’s really good with the spectacle here, which makes this one exciting.

But it also has plenty of great non-pyrotechnic moments as well. I don’t know if Alexei’s assination counts as that exactly, because it’s still stylized and rife with violence, but it’s more measured and subdued than those other sequences. There’s something very tragic about the whole thing. Alexei gets his first real taste of American life, sees the goofy sideshows and carnival games and even excels at them, only to have his winning of a red white and blue icon be the last thing he does before one of his Soviet countrymen takes him out. It’s not quite to the level of The Americans, but you feel for this guy who doesn’t hate the country he was sent to infiltrate, nevertheless brought down within it by his own erstwhile allies.

His brief friendship and discussion of America with Murray is a winning bit, and the same goes for Murray’s very meta, much-deserved dressing down of Joyce and Hopper for their unresolved sexual tension. He’s basically saying what the audience is thinking in an appropriately mocking way, which practically got a “hell yeah!” out of me. The Hopper/Joyce pairing hasn’t been my favorite part of the show this season, but Murray telling them to get the hell through with it or over it in such entertaining terms almost makes the whole thing worth it.

That just leaves the conversation between Mike and Eleven. Again, I didn’t love the contrived way the show broke them up, but Mike’s sweetness in apologizing for his mistakes and dancing around the word “love” when describing how he feels about Eleven is really endearing.

Otherwise, there’s just the overarching plot to deal with. The Mindflayer has left a literal bug in Eleven that’s making her pass out and presumably will allow the blood-sniffing Billy to locate her. There’s presumably more Russians where that came from (and probably more US Army at the right moment given Joyce’s call). Lucas has a fireworks blasting idea that’s sure to come into play in a tight spot. And last but not least, given what Murray heard on the radio, chances are everything’s headed for a big showdown at the mall.

Overall, this episode was the right mix of fantastically staged action set pieces and some really strong dialogue scenes and character moments. Stranger Things at its best.

Another great episode of this season, perhaps the best of the series so far. I know it's repeating, but this series only gets better. The story of this episode was full of twists and surprises, full of emotion and good humor. I am very excited for what to book the end of the series as it will be ending this brilliant season. Great episode. The script is signed by Brother Duffer and they have redeemed themselves from the first episodes they directed. The story of this is full of twists and tensions, leading to a very cool climax and paving the way for the final episode. This all dosed with much emotion and humor, which were written in history in an organic way. The arc of the characters were also very well written, leading them to inexperienced places. Beautiful script. The direction is up to them and they show a great synchrony with script that they wrote. Eele take the story very well, in a dynamic and frenetic way, but without losing the development of it and the bow of the characters. In addition, they can insert humor at appropriate times without taking the stress out of the episode. A very safe direction that shows they know very well where they want to take the story in the final chapter of the season. I can not wait to see the final destination. Their photograph also impresses why it does not show that it looks like a series, but a movie so beautiful. The scenarios are very diverse and colorful, really giving an atmosphere of terror of the 80's, especially in that episode. The color palette is very well used giving the tone to very appropriate scene. That too, married to first-rate visual effects, makes the show a visual spectacle. The practical effects and the CGI are very well used in the episode, giving a very realism and increasing the tension to know how will be the end of it all. An impeccable technical job. And the soundtrack remains excellent, giving a very threatening atmosphere and marrying perfectly with the scenes. I really after finishing the series, I will listen to the track on Spotify, such is the quality of the tracks. A beautiful composition work. And to finish the technical parts, the edition is also excellent in this episode. The scenes are very well mounted giving a natural and suspense to the next scene. You get tense in wondering what will happen next, this due to the good cut between scenes that are tightly tied. Beautiful work! Already acting cast, the Alexsey star steals the scene as funny as he is. This was the best comic relief this season and I was immensely saddened by his death. Winona and Harbor also shine in the episode passing to Joyce and Hopper quite drama and the discussions of them are hilarious. Jim and Joyce became my favorite couple in the series now. Already Joe and Maya are priceless in this episode of so funny, but at the same time they gave enough emotion in the conversation that Steve and Robin had. I just did not like the revelation of her being a lesbian. Nothing against (I think it has more characters like that) but her revelation sounded forced. Gaten and Priah were also as good as Dustin and Erica, but they were not the funniest part of that core. Already Millie, Finn, Sadie and Natalia performed very well in their characters. They passed on all emotional load to them very well and still managed to pass much veracity to them. I really enjoyed Eeleven, Mike, Max and Nacy. Caleb, Noah and Charlei were all deleted in the episode, but the actors did their job well. To conclude, I would like to say that this was a great episode and that it all began to fit in for a grand finale with Bastard emotion. I hope I do not desecrate myself. 10/10