'Stranger Things' Recap - 'Chapter Seven: The Bathtub'

Written by Scott Edwards

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR RISK...

Old friendships may never die as Lucas is riding his heart out to get to his friends and let them know what he has found. Seeing the Hawkins Electrical trucks outside of the Lab and seeing everyone load up, he knows that nothing good will come of this, especially for his friends. Being able to get their attention and hide from the government for a little bit, the boys get a call from Chief Hopper wanting to know where they are hiding.  Promising that he is there to help, the boys believe him, but are surprised to see the government pulling up to their hiding spot. When they see Hopper is actually there to save them, the group has to keep Eleven out of the hands of Dr. Brenner until they are able to find their friends that have been taken to the Upside Down world.

Jonathan is being held in handcuffs for assaulting a police officer and his mother cannot believe that her son would do such a thing. But when the trunk of his car is emptied, he has more to answer for, but this time there might actually be someone there that will understand. Telling Hopper and Joyce about their theory of how blood might be the activator for the monster, their monster hunting kit would work out great. Seeing that the government is keeping a close eye on the Wheeler’s house, Hopper does not want Nancy to go home, but to stick with him and find her little brother. When the group gets reunited, they are able to form a plan of attack to have Eleven speak to the kids in the Upside Down realm. 

Eleven knows what she is able to do and has to pick and choose when her powers are used. Being able to help the boys escape from Dr. Brenner and his men, she is having a hard time finding Will and Barbara in the Upside Down realm. Knowing that she can get a stronger signal if she could be back in her ‘bath’, the group is able to find out how to make one with help from the science teacher. Taking over the school’s gym, the group makes up their own contraption, but before Eleven is put in, she gets some encouraging words from Joyce. Being comfortable, Eleven goes back to that dark place where she found the monster, but now is looking for anything that seems out of place. Finding Barbara dead, Eleven needs to be calmed down before she can hunt for Will. Seeing 'Castle Byers', Eleven is able to find Will inside and knows where he is hiding.

With information of where Will is, Hopper knows exactly where the gate is and is ready to take the fight to the other side. But Joyce will not be left behind this time and wants to be the one to cross over. Arriving at the lab, the two are greeted with an increased military presence, but Hopper has not even considered giving up hope on the plan yet. While staying at the gym to keep an eye on the youth, Jonathan and Nancy want to be a part of the hunt as well and make their way back to the police station to pick up their monster hunting gear. With their own plan of trying to attack the monster still the best option, they are on their own and now it is a race against time to find young Will and put an end to the monster's wrath over the town of Hawkins.

Another great episode and now all of the buildup is finally going to lead to something spectacular.  With the teams of Hopper/Joyce, Nancy/Jonathan and Eleven/Mike/Lucas/Dustin all on the same page of what needs to be done, there is no way that Will does not make it back. I still like the way that Hopper is able to take over the situations that he gets thrown into and is able to keep his cool when coming up with new plans. As Eleven has lost her girly look, she still hopes that Mike thinks she is pretty, I like their little story, it is cute. Steve is mad at his friends for treating Nancy so harshly, I guess the beating actually got to him, but I did not like that part of the story at all and would rather the teenage lovefest stay out of the plot altogether. Lucas is back in the group and has even allowed Eleven to be part of it now, which is a huge step for him, especially after she could have killed him. The highlight of the show however was Ted Wheeler, Mike’s father, he actually had some lines and most of them were funny. I hope he gets to talk again, but maybe not that much during the finale, since it should be all about the Upside Down world.  Only one episode left, this show really did not last long enough.

---