Its Aliens vs Star Wars vs Indiana Jones in Stranger Things
SPOILER ALERT: Stranger Things unleashed a wave of Demogorgons and homages to 1980s classics such as Aliens, Indiana Jones and Star Wars in season two.
STRANGER Things unleashed a wave of Demogorgons and homages to 1980s classics such as Aliens, Indiana Jones and Star Wars as the business end of season two gets going.
Get ready for a spoiler-filled look at episodes six and seven in season two.
This week we’re looking at two episodes, not one, as these two effectively feel like one episode stretched into two.
Firstly we have the growing spread of the Shadow Monster through Will’s brain. The boffins at Hawkins Lab think he’s a goner and want to burn the Shadow Monster vines that have spread throughout Hawkins, even if it means killing Will in the process.
Dr Carter Burke – yes, I know his name is Sam but I will come to why I call him that later – is not so sure and wants to “think” about it.
Meanwhile, Dustin and Steve discover that “Dart the friendly lizard” is now strong enough to have torn a hole through his cellar wall and dug a tunnel to safety. Having seen what the Demogorgon spawn can do a brick wall, they decide to take it on armed with only a baseball bat studded with nails.
As these two boneheads leave a trail of meat for the Demogorgon to follow into their “trap”, they swap talk of girls and hairstyles and we discover Steve’s secrets for the perfect mullet. It’s a gorgeous moment.
Lucas, meanwhile, thinks the Demogorgon is the perfect way to impress Max, so invites her along for the hunt. Really, if these are the smartest kids in Hawkins, it’s no wonder that Donald Trump was able to get so many votes when they get old enough to vote.
Sadly, we also find out the mystery about Mad and her weird sibling. They’re not on the run or anything, just a blended family that doesn’t like each other. Sigh.
Meanwhile, Nancy and Jonathan finally give into the mutual attraction after sending out copies of Dr Carter Burke admitting how Barbara died to every newspaper in the country. They arrive back at Jonathan’s house to discover that things have taken a turn for the worst.
That’s putting it mildly for Steve and the gang. Naturally their “trap” goes rather horribly wrong, when not one but two Demogorgons turn up. Just as they prepare to chomp the little band, something calls them away.
After the previous episode, when Will used the thoughts of the Shadow Monster to save Hopper, he seems to offer a way to kill the beast. Dr Carter Burke jumps at the idea and sends his soldiers in.
But, of course, it’s a trap. The Demogorgons have been called back to rip up the soldiers. It’s done exactly like the trap the marines walk into at the start of the film Aliens. That movie, of course, starred Paul Reiser as Carter Burke, who turned out to be a backstabbing weasel.
The jury is still out on his character in Stranger Things but this little homage to Aliens doesn’t give me much hope that he will be a goodie.
After chomping up the troops, the Demogorgons come looking for dessert.
So where’s Eleven in all of this?
Well, in the next episode, we find she’s gone to visit her mother, who has had her brains fried by Matthew Modine’s “Poppa”, the former head of Hawkins Lab. But the images she leaves Eleven – who is now being called Jane – lead her to the other girl, the one we saw at the very start of the series.
This girl, Kali, doesn’t quite have Eleven’s powers but has assembled a band to help her hunt down the men who stole her from her family and put her through hell.
The name is a fascinating one. It has a great deal of significance in Hindu mythology and was the name of the so-called Goddess of Death worshipped by the Thuggees in 1980s classic Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. But Kali is also seen as a force for good and the destroyer of evil.
With just a little persuading, she gets Eleven on board. After all, they are as good as sisters.
After a little Star Wars sequence, where Eleven uses The Force like Luke Skywalker to move a train (not an X-wing this time), they track down one of the men who fried the brain of Eleven’s mum.
As Eleven is about to take her vengeance, the man firstly claims that “Poppa” is still alive and then they find the man’s children.
Needless to say, things go bad and the cops turn up.
Eleven, meanwhile, has heard both Hopper and Mike calling for help. During the shootout, she splits from Kali’s gang and heads back for Hawkins to help the gang.
Kali, meanwhile is deeply upset that Eleven has gone. Could she arrive to save the day?
With two episodes left, we’ll soon find out.