Season Two Chapter Seven might initially seem to be a "weak" or "out of place" episode but it does do a few important things:
1) it gives us a glimpse into the world outside Hawkins
2) Eight and Eleven give each other some much-needed insight into how their lives may be different
3) it confirms that Eleven isn't a fortuitous experimental anomaly and opens the door for some more to exist
4) it allows for new plotline directions--all those Chicago police, who will be considered to be credible eyewitnesses, will swear that they saw what they saw and this will get the attention of whatever government agency Brenner and Owens were working for
Just to be clear, I didn't think the episode was weak or out of place. I enjoyed it - was just trying to clarify which episode @typo_tilly thought was out of place.
I loved the first part of Chapter 7, the part with her finding her mother. That was chilling, sitting there repeating and reliving what happened, for years, ""Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Three to the right, four to the left. 450." Actually made me tear up.
Unfortunately the punk gang of the second half were so unremittingly horrible that I ended up rather hoping El would "sort them out" in the way only she can.
And if they do have "Eight" turning up in later episodes, could they please change the actress? Being a complete bitch here, but that woman is seriously unattractive to watch, eyes too close together and short and dumpy.
Season Two Chapter Seven might initially seem to be a "weak" or "out of place" episode but it does do a few important things:
1) it gives us a glimpse into the world outside Hawkins
2) Eight and Eleven give each other some much-needed insight into how their lives may be different
3) it confirms that Eleven isn't a fortuitous experimental anomaly and opens the door for some more to exist
4) it allows for new plotline directions--all those Chicago police, who will be considered to be credible eyewitnesses, will swear that they saw what they saw and this will get the attention of whatever government agency Brenner and Owens were working for
It was also necessary for her to leave in order to return just in time to save the day.
@UnderstandMouseMagic I thought the actress who played Kali (Eight) was perfectly fine. You are correct about Jane's (El's) mother, though--she is in a memory loop, reliving those same handful of thoughts every waking moment.
Interesting that they gave the mother a minor ability with her electrokinesis. If only she could control her ability enough to rewire the circuits in her own brain.
Eh, I just thought episode 7 cut away for too long. I was expecting the last half of the episode to return to the cliffhanger.
When making a binge-watch serial, the stucture is more like a novel, with each episode forming a chapter. You wouldn't chop a chapter in half. You either focus one one storyline or cut between multiple storylines frequently.
You might say that the chapter had to have some padding to bring it to requisite 45 minute length, but it had to exist and it had to be one full episode.
A lot of people feel chapter 7 is the weak link in season 2, myself included. I don't think I would have minded it if it were better placed and didn't leave so many loose ends. Chapter 6 was really starting to get interesting. Then you finally get resolution for Eleven's mother only to have it given purpose that doesn't really turn out to be true:
Eleven supposedly figures out Momma wants her to work with Eight. Except Eight turns out to be a villain, so the supposed point of the episode is wasted.
I did like that the chapter showed another psionic "character class" in Eight since that establishes the possibility of more. I get that it took Eleven away from the action so she could return, though I feel Eleven's becoming too much of a Deus Ex Machina (two seasons now, this needs to stop after this) [edit: I guess it isn't a Deus Ex Machina because it is expected rather than out of nowhere, but I kind of want the other characters to do more]. But overall, it just took away from the tension that was building up between chapters 6 and 8 and detracted from Momma's story-arc that could have been more interesting if given its own purpose rather than a tangential one.
Comments
Anyway, I agree with everyone who says this is great. It's great. Both seasons are great. Hopefully the third season will continue to be great.
1) it gives us a glimpse into the world outside Hawkins
2) Eight and Eleven give each other some much-needed insight into how their lives may be different
3) it confirms that Eleven isn't a fortuitous experimental anomaly and opens the door for some more to exist
4) it allows for new plotline directions--all those Chicago police, who will be considered to be credible eyewitnesses, will swear that they saw what they saw and this will get the attention of whatever government agency Brenner and Owens were working for
""Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Three to the right, four to the left. 450."
Actually made me tear up.
Unfortunately the punk gang of the second half were so unremittingly horrible that I ended up rather hoping El would "sort them out" in the way only she can.
And if they do have "Eight" turning up in later episodes, could they please change the actress?
Being a complete bitch here, but that woman is seriously unattractive to watch, eyes too close together and short and dumpy.
Interesting that they gave the mother a minor ability with her electrokinesis. If only she could control her ability enough to rewire the circuits in her own brain.
You might say that the chapter had to have some padding to bring it to requisite 45 minute length, but it had to exist and it had to be one full episode.
I did like that the chapter showed another psionic "character class" in Eight since that establishes the possibility of more. I get that it took Eleven away from the action so she could return, though
I feel Eleven's becoming too much of a Deus Ex Machina (two seasons now, this needs to stop after this)[edit: I guess it isn't a Deus Ex Machina because it is expected rather than out of nowhere, but I kind of want the other characters to do more]. But overall, it just took away from the tension that was building up between chapters 6 and 8 and detracted from Momma's story-arc that could have been more interesting if given its own purpose rather than a tangential one.