Stranger Things “E Pluribus Unum”

Oh no, Stranger Things.  Don’t you try to make me feel bad for Billy.  It’s not going to work.

Yes, Stranger Things does give us some backstory to maybe make us feel bad for Billy.  It’s not going to work on me, but they tried.  Credit for trying and all that.

But hey, Stranger Things always works best when characters come together.  We see Hopper and Joyce (along with paranoid recluse Murray) convince scientist Alexei to help out.  Opening portals to the Upside Down is never a good idea.  Furthermore, this all comes because Hopper can read people very well.  It is so easy to forget he is good at what he does sometimes.  He also alerts the government of what’s going on.

Less helpful is the Mayor helping Mysterious Russian Bruiser to find Hopper.  Does the Mayor have any idea what these people are up to?  It’s not the slightest bit suspicious that Russian nationals are funding a mall?

As for other people, well, Eleven rescues Nancy and Jonathan from the sludge monster that used to be half the local newspaper staff.  It slimed away.  Is “slimed” a verb?  Because it is now.  Of course, all that leads to Billy and the Flayed deciding to set a trap for Eleven.  They know Eleven can find people remotely.  They just need her to come to them.  Seems like a reasonable plan.

Of course, Eleven and Co. know it’s a trap.  Maybe they can find another way to find Billy who seems to be simply sitting in his room and doing nothing.  That means Eleven goes into his memories, shows us how abusive his father was, and so forth.  But she also finds the Flayed’s HQ.

Oh, and Billy/Mind Flayer also know where she is.

That could be bad.

Also bad:  the Russians capture Robin and Steve, and they somehow do not believe Steve isn’t a spy despite his uniform.  They beat him, drug him, and other bad things.  The only name they get is Dustin’s.  Dustin and Erica got away.  That would be about when Erica reveals her ability to do advanced math, causing Dustin to point out she’s a nerd.  And his argument is air-tight.  So, Erica uncharacteristically humbled, he tells her everything that’s happened.  And she believes every word of it save that her brother Lucas was involved.  And then she gets a cattleprod.  That should come in handy.

It does when Dustin rescues Steve and Robin.

That thing looks like it hurts.

So, Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica are loose. Eleven knows where the Flayed are, even if the Mind Flayer also knows where they are.  What could go wrong, especially with the whole unity theme going on?

How about all the Flayed turning to sludge to form a new body for the Mind Flayer?

So, when this is over, the rest of the town has to know stuff happened given the number of residents who just disappeared one night, right?