Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly

"Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly" is so far the best episode of "Stranger Things". Barb is hunted down by a monster and Nancy seeks her out later. Joyce is obsessed believing that Will wants to contact her. However, Winona Ryder has another terrible performance acting like a lunatic. Further, she is fleeing from the monster and when she sees her son in a car, she waits for him and they hug each other. Certainly this is not the best way to escape from a monster. Sheriff Jim Hopper is the best character of this series and makes discoveries about Dr, Martin Brenner and the staff from the laboratory in the best segent of this episode. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly"

I know that not every episode can be a winner, but if the majority of this season id as strong as 'Holly, Jolly', then this is shaping up to be one hell of a show. I love their methodology for dropping clues here; Barb's alive (but in what world?); we finally get a peek at the monster; and one of the highlights is seeing Eleven's powers in practice (that image of the Millennium Falcon levitating is beyond cool). Even the disturbing Matthew Modine is deepened, if only a little.

I dunno, compared to the previous episode, this just fires right along; the pacing's great, the mystery thickens, and it goes out not just on a cliffhanger, but an emotionally effective development.

9/10

I don't know my feeling is mixed between sad and confused I really very sad and I need a rest thank you very much

This episode is probably the only one I would call scary. I love this one. Even better than the pilot.

'Stranger Things' got off to a great, captivating start with "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers", with the execution being almost flawless and doing so well in setting things up as a first episode should do. Was a little disappointed in the still good "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street", it did well at building upon what was set up previously and was actually mostly great but went off the boil quite badly in the final act (which was frustrating).

"Chapter Three: Holly Jolly" to me is a superb episode, one of the best of Season 1 and what 'Stranger Things' is all about. It is a big improvement over "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street" and is even better than "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers". Having all its great things and executing them even better, again excelling (while also being much better at doing so) at carrying on from and expanding upon what is already known.

The production values are superb. Very stylish and atmospheric, with some truly beautiful images that one can't believe such high quality comes from a Netflix show. Not to mention the highly impressive special effects that put a good deal of big budget films in recent years to shame. The music has a wonderful 80s nostalgic vibe while also being quite haunting, enhancing the atmosphere beautifully.

Writing is thought-probing and has a lot of brains and heart. The humour is gentle but very subtly witty and funny, while there is a poignancy (without being too sentimental) and tension. Throughout "Chapter Three: Holly Jolly" has creepy suspense, intriguing mystery, inventive sci-fi, affectionate nostalgia and emotional impact. The final act is not awkward at all here and paced just fine, it has tension too and the tone is much better balanced and focused than the previous episode.

As to be expected, the characters are interesting and well written, and it was great to see Joyce's character expanded upon more and in a rootable way. The acting continues to be great, especially from Millie Bobby Brown and Winona Ryder has improved a lot from the first episode.

Summing up, outstanding. 10/10