Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero

Eleven deals with the aftermath of the skating rink incident and the investigations in Hawkins continue.

This is a compelling episode that increases the plot intrigue.

The story mainly switches between three locations and does it seamlessly. My favourite thread involves the events in Hawkins, which for me has the majority of the entertainment and plot intrigue.

El's arc in California sensibly moves on from where it was and (aside from the Carrie tribute) seems like the depiction is nicely developing and getting the character to position where she can contribute to the main narrative. One exchange between Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard (when their characters are alone together) is particularly strong.

There is more screen time devoted to Russia during this episode and there is one superbly visualised gruesome sequence likely to induce squirming.

As ever the visual storytelling is excellent due to the cinematography, practical effects, colour grading and editing.

For me it's an 8.5/10 but I round upwards.

Another action packed hour, the extra length has been fully justified so far with dense, quality content. This time El must face the consequences of her assault on Angela, the jocks continue their bloodthirsty hunt for Eddie, Joyce continues her search for Jim and Nancy teams up with Robin.

A fabulous story, pushing the plot along apace alone each of its many and complex strands. Millie Bobby Brown is again excellent portraying her bewilderment at her situation, her loss of powers and her sense of isolation and 'otherness'.

The intriguing ending sets up yet more opportunities to wow us, this is the best episode so far this season.

I'm giving this episode a ten because it just really stood out to me. There are so many shows going on currently that rely only on action scenes and fight sequences to make their episodes entertaining, and are otherwise mostly soulless without them.

This show also has very well done action scenes, and yet you have episodes like this one where they dial back the action and still manage to make an incredibly captivating and entertaining hour of television that feels like it just flies by. Seriously, this hour long episode felt shorter to me and dragged less than a 35 minute episode of a Disney+ show.

All of the storylines have me intrigued currently, I really forgot how much I love this show.

This episode was much better than the last one. Not a single boring scene which is hard to accomplish in more than an hour long episode. Every scene progressed the story forward. I have watched a lot of TV and I can tell which scenes are completely unnecessary and can be stripped without ruining the story. No filler scenes here. There is tension in this episode which I liked a lot. There is also mystery about who is vecna monster is what are his motives and his powers. Great build up to the story. Acting is always great on this show. 9/10.

'Stranger Things' "Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero" (2022)

Opening thoughts: While really enjoying Seasons 1 and 2, which had many exceptional episodes, Season 3 was a lot less consistent. It did have two episodes that were outstanding and a couple more that were close, but the others were uneven but good and at their worst barely average. Expectations were high for Season 4, though did worry about due to the longer break between Seasons 3 and 4 for obvious reasons whether it would forget what made 'Stranger Things' work so well at its best or remembers.

On the most part, Season 4 did remember what 'Stranger Things' is about. It was an uneven season that did try to do too much and the pacing wasn't always there, but there was a lot of great things about it. This was obvious in the previous episodes of the season, it is even more obvious here in the first truly great episode of it "Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero". While not all the few problems of the previous two episodes are solved, the main weak link of them is.

Bad things: If there is any criticism about "Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero", to me there could have been less characters, as the episode has an occasional over stuffed feel.

Good things: Everything else is superb however. What immediately stood out is the truly powerful beyond her years performance of Millie Bobby Brown, some of her best acting of the show. Loved Eleven's complex, tortured character development, this is the most interesting she has been in a while. Also loved the perfect mix of fun comic timing and hard hitting drama shown in Finn Woolfhard's acting, as well as the intense and heartfelt chemistry between them.

Visually, "Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero" looks wonderful, one of the best looking episodes of Season 4, a season where the amount of time and money showed even more so than before. Loved the creepy horror vibe to the photography and lighting and the effects are better than those in many films today. The music is haunting and nostalgic.

Writing is thought provoking and entertaining, the more dramatic moments not being melodramatic. As ever, couldn't help being reminded of 'Stand By Me' in points. The story is always compelling and never dull, also genuinely moving and the creepier moments are truly unnerving. The ending is a real shocker, not expected and hand to the mouth inducing. The gruesomeness isn't gratuitous or gimmicky, quite nightmarish.

Closing thoughts: Overall, superb.

9/10.