4x03 Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero

[7.5/10] Poor Eleven. She’s easily the strongest character this season, and the one most worth investing in, and season 4 puts her through a parade of horribles. I’m not complaining exactly. Seeing characters suffer makes their ultimate triumphs more meaningful, but it’s hard to watch at places.

Mike is...not as his best here. I want to be sympathetic to the kid. What he experienced with Eleven would be upsetting, especially if you’ve been away from someone for a while. But we, the audience, see what she’s been going through, so it’s hard to see her receive something less than total support than one of the people she cares most about.

At the same time though, the “You won’t say you love me!” bit between the two of them is a little much. I get that they need some place to go with this relationship, but it’s not crazy for fifteen-year-olds not to say the L-word. That said, it’s also totally normal for fifteen-year-olds to flip out about who is or isn’t saying the L-word, so it’s a fair storyline. More than anything, it’s another sign that Eleven is at her lowest point, feeling like the world, including her boyfriend, sees her as a monster.

Mike starts to redeem himself a little, reassuring Eleven, promising her he’ll make things right when she gets arrested, and chasing after her when she gets hauled away to juvie. But he also contributes to her complex. When she feels like a monster, he declares her a superhero. She responds “not anymore”. She feels less-than having lost her powers, and it makes her more likely to go through whatever procedures Sam Owens has come up with to restore them, since she’s under the misimpression that it’s where her value comes from.

It’s sad to see a good kid in a tough situation treated harshly and eventually railroaded by the police. Again, the audience knows what Eleven’s been through, which makes it extra difficult to watch them arrest a fifteen-year-old and treat her like a wanton criminal. There’s some not so subtle subtext to the treatment she receives, and it makes you feel extra.

At the same time, there’s great relief when Sam Owens shows up to de facto rescue her from the ordeal. Paul Reiser is so good here. He strikes the tone of convivial warmth, with a side dish of potentially shady government guy. He has instant credibility as an ally, and he’s the right mouthpiece to puff up the threat of Vecna and the importance to getting Eleven back to full strength to be able to fight it and help save the world again. It’s a little too convenient that he has a method to bring her powers back, but you’re glad he finds Eleven if the end, even if it means she has to leave her friends behind for now, and risk leaving them behind forever.

Nothing else in the episode is quite to that level, but there’s more subplots worth a damn here than in the last episode. Jason the basketball star is still a walking cartoon character, but I like Lucas’ dilemma. He wants to be part of the cool kids, and do what it takes to fit in, but also to protect his friends. That means walking an awkward line, trying to warn his friends in advance, and play both sides when he’s not entirely sure where his loyalties lie. The shtick with Jason and company roughing people up is meh, but Lucas’ discomfort with his new running buddies, mixed with the urgency of what’s going on, is a good note for him.

I’m less up on the junior detective routine this week. There’s definitely a raising of the stakes with the signs that Vecna is after Max, with the same clock imagery. And I appreciate that we get some more details or at least hints about what’s going on. Victor Kreel isn’t the killer himself, but rather one of its victims. Vecna is apparently feeding on people who’ve experienced some kind of guilt or trauma. And there’s a particular resonance to Kreel’s house, which he thought was haunted, and has some kind of duplicate in the Upside Down. I’m better the house was knocked down and the trailer park built in its place.

But the ways we get these details is less than inspired. Max plying her school counselor for information is fine, but not particularly exciting. Robin continues to be a fun character, talking about her lack of filter and having the smarts to check the Weekly World News equivalent for historical info about Kreel. But she gets saddled with Nancy who’s continued her transformation into a dull, proto-Rory Gilmore type.

Plus, god help me, I really hope that all of this Nancy/Jonathan drama, followed by Steve still hunting fruitlessly for The One, does not turn into a Steve/Nancy reunion. Their shtick was some of the worst parts of the first season, and Steve is much better playing off the other characters than off Nancy. To the point, his and Dustin’s conversation about this whole entanglement is fantastic, is better than any further love triangle B.S.

Speaking of B.S., the Hopper, Joyce, and Murray portion of the show continues to feel like we’re marching in place. I’ll give their subplot this much -- the scene where Hopper pulls his shackles off his broken foot is legitimately wince inducing, and shows what Hop is suffering to make this work. We also learn the Russian guard’s motivation for colluding with him -- he just wants the cash. It’s not very exciting or interesting, but it is at least plausible.

All we get from Joyce and Murray is some tepid airplane humor. Though Murray’s lame excuses for why he happens to be in California and making risotto for the Byers family are a solid laugh. And his reactions to the back-and-forth at the dinner table are a highlight.

Otherwise, I’m still a little underwhelmed by Vecna, if only because the CGI and design work on him comes off a bit less-than-convincing. And the opposing military guy who’s convinced that Eleven is causing the deaths in Hawkins rather than their best chance to stop them comes off as fairly generic in the scenes where he’s hassling Dr. Owens.

Overall, the Eleven material continues to carry the season, and is good enough to boost this episode, but the other material doesn’t rise much above “pretty good” territory.