Welcome to this week’s installment of the TV Binge of Stranger Things, looking back at season three, episode six, released July 4, 2019:
“Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum”
Written by Curtis Gwinn
Directed by Uta Briesewitz
On this episode, El rescues Nancy from the monster composed of Tom Holloway and Bruce Lowe’s remains, and then sets out to find the rest of the Mind Flayer’s known hosts in the Void. Meanwhile, Steve and Robin are captured by the Soviets; Joyce, Hopper and Bauman question Alexei about his comrades’ presence in Hawkins; and the town’s Fourth of July Fun Fair gets underway.
1. Bonding in the Face of Death
Steve and Robin’s storyline is really funny and sweet, despite them being drugged, beaten, and nearly getting their nails torn out by the ruthless Colonel Ozerov (Misha Kuznetsov), and his creepy sidekick Dr. Zharkov (Arthur Darbinyan.) While their torturers are away, the tied up duo try to reach a pair of scissors, but only cause their chairs to fall over, leaving them stuck on the floor.
Robin laughs at the prospect of dying with the biggest jock from school, while Steve confesses he wishes he’d known her better, because he might’ve gone to college if he had. She admits that as much as an asshole he was, she admired his confidence, and Steve becomes visibly smitten as a result. To paraphrase Lord of the Rings, they respectively never thought they’d die side by side with a oaf and a misfit, but maybe they can mock their murderous captors as friends.
2. Nerdy and Proud
Steve realizing being different isn’t the worst thing in the world is paralleled by the scene where Dustin and Erica are looking for a way out of the air ducts: she’s shocked by everything he told her about the past two years, and more importantly, that someone as nerdy as her brother was involved in something so cool. Dustin responds she’s a nerd, because she’s into maths, politics, and My Little Pony, and that it’s fine because he’s a nerd too. That’s really nice and all Dustin, but I have to say, I’m still surprised a boy in the ’80s would be into MLP, despite all its fantasy trappings — after all, the show is set decades before the Brony phenomenon.
3. The Method to Hopper’s Madness
Over at Bauman’s house, Alexei is enjoying dangling his knowledge over the Americans a little too much, behaving uncoooperatively even after Hopper buys him fast food, complaining he got him a strawberry slurpee instead of a cherry one. Jim loses his temper, and throws Alexei out the house with the keys to his handcuffs and the car they took, to make “Smirnoff” realize that if he leaves, then there’ll be no one to protect him from Grigori (who doesn’t care who he hurts, as long as the situation is contained.)
The ruse works, but too close for Joyce and Bauman’s comfort (as well as ours), with Alexei only stopping the car after he reaches the fence. Maybe Hopper should’ve explained he was going to try reverse psychology first; still, at least he didn’t resort to pummeling the guy like he did with Mayor Kline.
4. Lost in Translation
After being persuaded to help, Alexei explains how his superiors are using the Key device to open the Gate, although Bauman has some trouble translating, as he’s unfamiliar with what he’s describing. It’s a refreshingly realistic touch that grounds what has become an increasingly fantastical show, with the emphasis on communication further tapping into the Spielberg influence, resembling scenes depicting speaking through translation in movies like Close Encounters or The Terminal. This culminates in a great moment where Hopper vows to Alexei he’ll protect him if he helps them shut off the device, and for a moment, he believes he’s beginning to trust him: Alexei breaks the spell by laughing, and calls him a “fat Rambo.” Christ, Hopper tries to be sincere, and winds up getting body-shamed for it: no wonder he gets so grumpy.
Continued below5. Out of Many, One
After failing to find out where any of the known Flayed are, El is reminded of how she experienced her mother’s memories, and decides to do the same with Billy to learn where the Mind Flayer is. While in the Void, El is blown back by Billy’s recent trauma, and finds herself on a beach from his childhood. There she sees his biological mom (Beth Riesgraf), a beautiful, kind, and supportive woman, and a storm on the horizon, representing his more recent, violent memories. As she trudges forward, she witnesses how Billy’s mom left him after his abusive father struck her, a strong reflection of how so many abusive people are merely following a bad example from their parents, and that Billy’s dad is a hypocrite who hates his son because he’s as violent as he is.
She reaches the eye of the storm, and identifies the steelworks as where the Flayed were possessed. She then finds herself in an empty recreation of her home, which Billy enters: the doors open both ways, and now he’s in her mind. For the first time ever, we hear the Mind Flayer speak — truly speak — with Billy’s voice, and he taunts her, blaming her for all the death and destruction he’s unleashed across Hawkins, telling her everything he did, he did “for you.”
Elsewhere across town, we see El is too late to save the rest of the Flayed (including Heather, her mother and Doris), as they drop everything they’re doing, and congregate at the mill to become part of the Spider Monster. It grows large enough to burst out of the basement, like an obscene mockery of people gathering to watch the Fourth of July fireworks — E pluribus unum: out of many, one.
Other Things:
– I’ve said enough about Joyce and Hopper’s story in this episode, but it’d be remiss to not bring up how hilarious their different reactions to the Gate being reopened are: he’s just exhausted at the thought of dealing with the Upside Down again, while Joyce impatiently demands Dr. Owens’s receptionist at the “Philadelphia Public Library” contact him to bring the army to Hawkins immediately.
– While the sound mix plays a huge part in his performance, Dacre Montgomery is surprisingly impressive as Billy providing the voice of the Mind Flayer, conveying something far older, patient, and cruel than his onscreen character: I wouldn’t be surprised if he got more voiceover work playing primordial villains as a result.
– The scene where Colonel Ozerov pretends he believes Steve isn’t an American spy, and laughs at his joke about serving him ice cream flavors like the “USS Butterscotch,” is a truly diabolical piece of gaslighting.
Tomorrow marks Stranger Things Day, which will celebrate the anniversary of the night Will Byers disappeared with various reveals for the next season through the day, so please do enjoy those. We’ll be back next week to discuss “Chapter Seven: The Bite.”
