Chapter Six: The Dive

Another great episode with one hell of a cliffhanger ending! Not much leaves me lost for words, but I genuinely can't think straight right now. Not going to do a long review because I NEED to watch this next episode right now!

So many people complaining about tonal issues. Like, not everything needs to be 100% grimdark, guys. This show has always been an homage to 70's and 80's horror, which, last time I checked, is full of stupid, corny humor, intentional or not. Get over it.

Stranger Things has always been this way, and if you don't like it, well, why are you watching?

"The Dive" is the penultimate episode of Vol 1 It does a spectacular job of setting up the mid season finale. Eleven has a lot of screen time in this episode. Eleven reliving her past is truly great to watch. This storyline also gets us to know and learn about the other subjects in the lab, and demonstrates the harsh and competitive environment that Eleven went through, giving us more empathy for her, because of what she has to go through. The lighting of the lab is a bit dark and grainy but the rainbow in the background should bring life into the room, but it's cleverly fits into the dark and dower atmosphere of the lab which mirrors the mindset of the subjects.

The Hawkins gang gets split in this episode which is interesting to see how they work together when they are separated. As a big fan of Steve it's great seeing him take a leadership role and take command. Again remaining is the superb character development he has had.

Hoppers character arc this episode flip flops from defeated to fighting multiple times. This shows the power of the soviets to break a man. As Hopper has never faced such a challenge. A new character called Enzo is surprisingly entertaining and becoming a good support character to Hopper.

This episode leaves us on a absolutely dramatic cliffhanger which makes it impossible to Not watch the finale straight away.

This episode is one of the best of the season so far, and sets up what should be a finale to remember.

This season has been fantastic. You can feel the tension and mystery about Vecna and El's past rising in this episode. Episode 4 has been my favorite so far and I really hope the part 1 finale can top that. This episode was not that far off in terms of overall quality than episode 4. Not my favourite but still pretty close. I have been hooked every episode and this does the job as well. Like all episodes (except the first episode which was slow) this had a great opener, middle part and ending. Thoroughly entertaining. Not one moment I felt bored. The episode was very intriguing. I wanna watch the part 1 finale right away but I have been watching this all night and it's morning now. So saving the finale for tomorrow. The duffer brothers and Netflix went all out this season with an hour and twenty minute long episodes. Only episode 2 felt too long to me, the rest of the episodes I enjoyed this length. I have heard the final two episodes are movie length which is just amazing. How they can keep you hooked for this long is amazing. In many long episodes (for other series) sometimes get bored due to unnecessary scenes which do not progress the story forward or around it. In stranger things 4 I have not found these sort of scenes. Every scene revolves around the story or progresses it forward. Every episode has been consistent with top quality and storytelling. This season has been a masterclass so far. And I'm grateful that I'm watching such incredible television. So far the most entertaining Stranger Things season. I have never given these many 9's and 10's. May be Westworld season 1 and true detective season 1 lol. Another 9/10 from me.

This is the most charismatic and fun episode in the whole season. LOVE the reintroduction of Susie (I was expecting to never see her again). The full revelation of Hopper's storyline with Antonov is so satisfying, and Murray absolutely carries the comic relief.

Another top notch episode again.