Welcome to this week’s installment of the Summer TV Binge of Stranger Things, looking back at season three, episode two, released July 4, 2019:
“Chapter Two: The Mall Rats”
Written and directed by the Duffer Bros.
On this episode, Max treats Eleven to a day out at Starcourt Mall; Dustin shares the Russian transmission he intercepted with Steve; Hopper invites Joyce for dinner; Nancy and Jonathan investigate a rat infestation in the home of the elderly Mrs. Driscoll; and Billy is now enthralled to the Mind Flayer.
1. Billy the Killer
Billy escapes from the abandoned mill after being bitten by the Mind Flayer, and experiences visions of its thralls, including himself, ordering him to build an army. At the swimming pool, Billy discovers he’s gained the same vulnerability to sunlight as the Upside Down’s inhabitants, and largely keeps to himself in the facility’s locker area to cool down. Karen comes over to apologize for going to meet him, and Billy manages to prevent the Mind Flayer from striking her, warning her to just stay away from him.
When the pool’s other lifeguard, Heather (Francesca Reale), notices he’s become delirious and abandoned his shift, she goes to check on him, and he attacks and kidnaps her, taking her to the mill later that night. Sure, we’ve had disturbing storylines like Brenner’s abuse of Eleven, and the lobotomization of her mother, but Heather being bound and gagged as a sacrifice for the Mind Flayer is on another level — Mrs. Wheeler is a very, very lucky woman.
2. First Day for Everything
After being ordered by Hopper to stop spending so much time with his daughter, Mike tries and fails to maintain the lie that his nana is sick, greatly confusing Eleven. She seeks out Max, who explains Mike is lying, even though “friends don’t lie.” She encourages her to forget about him too, and join her on a trip to the mall. El, who until now has followed Hopper and Owens’s agreement that she remain hidden, gets to experience shopping, trying on clothes, and doing a photoshoot for the first time. It’s uplifting, and sweet to see El and Max being pals after her distrust of her in season two, which is something none other than Kate Leth wrote a Playboy article about — as she explained, “media loves to pit women against each other,” especially in male-dominated stories, and it’s great the show finally emphasized a friendship between girls.
Meanwhile, Mike and Lucas embark on a failed quest to buy a gift to apologize to El, which contrasts so well with Max teaching her to enjoy herself; I also love the irony that Mike believes El knows he’s lying, when she wouldn’t have had a clue without Max. (Poor Will also gets dragged along when all he really, really wants to do, is play D&D.) The two groups encounter each other when they both leave the mall, and El (borrowing a phrase from Max), dumps his ass after he continues to lie about his nana’s health. Good for you El: sure, this whole situation was engineered for Hopper’s benefit, but at least she now understands that there’s more to life than Mike, and that he has learned not to take her for granted. What else can I say, except it’s good they’ve had the first argument in their relationship?
3. Robin is So Cool
After his friends got bored of his attempts to contact Suzie and left, Dustin decides to share his discovery with Steve at Scoops Ahoy. They begin trying to decipher the message, without success, until Robin points out that they need to understand what the Cyrillic letters in their translation guide represent to even write it. We didn’t really get into her character last time, but in these first two episodes, Robin instantly wins us over with her acerbic and world weary attitude, resembling something of an older Max, and it’s especially great how she immediately shuts down the boys’ attempts to keep her out of their secret plans. Let’s face it; it’s pretty silly how Dustin and Steve fancied becoming American heroes, and were happy to let her handle the customers by herself, when they didn’t have her understanding of languages.
Continued belowBoys.
4. No Time for Love When the Game’s Afoot
Overjoyed that he’s got rid of Mike, Hopper takes the opportunity to invite Joyce for dinner at a fancy restaurant. However, she forgets after noticing the magnets at the store are, like the ones at her home, no longer sticking to fridges, and after an unsuccessful trip to the library, she heads to the home of science teacher Mr. Clarke to learn how that is possible. Clarke explains that a solenoid could create a magnetic field capable of disrupting those at her home, but only a very large one could affect the magnets there and at the store.
Meanwhile, Hopper gets drunk waiting for Joyce, and storms off after getting fed up. It’s karma I suppose: first he sabotaged El and Mike, then he spent the day arresting protestors outside Town Hall for not having a permit, without so much as a threat from Mayor Kline (Cary Elwes.) Seriously, all Kline said was that he would have trouble preparing for the Fourth of July celebrations — does Jim really care that much about a fun fair?
5. Rats and Stuff
Nancy sees a note about rats at the address of elderly widow Doris Driscoll, and takes the opportunity to file a report by telling her editor she has “girl problems,” causing him to choke on his drink and to allow her to leave: it’s nice to see a chauvinist pig squirming over these things, proving once and for all they’re the truly fragile ones. She and Jonathan arrive at Doris’s home, and are shown the basement, where rats are devouring her fertilizer; she also reveals she caught and caged one particularly rabid rat. Jonathan tries to take a photo of the critter, but is forced to leave with Nancy after she finds another lead, and misses seeing it explode. It’s then we finally see why the rats were melting at the mill; they’re becoming moving piles of flesh, and when Billy brings Heather to the Mind Flayer, we glimpse their congealed form — the monster’s first true physical form — in silhouette for the first time: and it’s already very, very, large.
Other Things:
– Yes, this chapter’s title may be a reference to Kevin Smith’s Mallrats, as well as the prominence of the mall and the rats in the episode.
– Mr. Clarke listens to “Weird Al” Yankovic’s version of “My Sharona,” “My Bologna,” while painting his tabletop figures, in case there was any doubt he’s the coolest person on the show.
– Natalia Dyer and Francesca Reale also co-starred in the excellent comedy drama Yes, God, Yes, which follows the misadventures of a sexually curious Catholic student.
– Why does Steve leave an eaten banana on the table? That’s so gross.
See you next time for “Chapter Three: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard.”
