‘Stranger Things 2’ recap: ‘Trick or Treat, Freak’

Stranger Things

The second episode of Stranger Things beings with a glimpse into how Eleven ended up out in that cabin.

We get a flashback of her after the fight with the demogorgon. She is wandering the Upside Down and finally escapes through a portal. She wanders towards Mike’s house and finds his family being questioned about her. Mike and Eleven share a brief glance as she escapes out into the woods.

Present day. It is Halloween and Eleven wants to go trick-or-treating. Hopper tells her she can’t risk going out in public. He promises that he will be home at 5:15 so the two of them can eat candy and watch a scary movie together. I’m enjoying the father/daughter complex that has formed between Hopper and Eleven.

The crew has decided to dress up as The Ghostbusters for Halloween. They arrive to school excited but are shocked to find they are the only ones that dressed up. Dustin and Lucas finally muster up the courage to go and talk to Max and invite her to go trick-or-treating with them. We also finally meet Max’s older brother Billy. He blames Max as the reason why they had to come to Hawkins. He is currently one of my least favorite characters this season.

Joyce is still on edge about Will. She found the drawing he did of the monster from his visions. She talks with Hopper about it and he tells her that everyone is on edge considering the one year anniversary is approaching. He tells her things will get better over time. They reminisce on high school memories. Seems like more lingering feelings in Hawkins, Indiana.

Nancy is still having a hard time dealing with her guilt over what happened to Barb. Steve tries to comfort her and tells her that tonight they should just go to the Halloween party and be kids for the night.

Eleven continues to have flashbacks of wondering through the woods alone and hungry. She was eating squirrels to survive and stealing jackets from hunters to keep warm. Hopper continues to investigate this pumpkin patch/dead crops mystery. He goes out to the pumpkin patch and finds that the crops are dead for miles and miles. He starts to flag all of the spots. He continues to do this and soon realizes he is very late to meet Eleven.

Jonathan drops Will off with the rest of the crew so they can go trick-or-treating. Max (wearing a Michael Myers mask) comes up and scares them all as she joins them. Dustin & Lucas seem happy to see her while Mike seems uninterested. Will has another vision of the Upside Down. He sees the monster (a spider-looking creature) as it emerges from the sky and appears to chase him. Will comes back to reality as Mike finds him. Mike tells the others he is bored of trick-or-treating and will take Will home.

The Halloween party is proving to be a typical high school party. Billy is doing keg stands, Nancy is drinking too much and Steve is growing concerned. Jonathan reluctantly shows up while Nancy continues to drink more. Her and Steve briefly argue and he accidentally spills his drink on her. They go to the bathroom to clean up and Nancy goes on a rant about how everything is BS, including their love. This upsets Steve as he storms out of the party. Jonathan (being the nice guy he is) gives Nancy a ride home and tucks her into bed. Jonathan really just needs to tell Nancy how he feels about her.

Will and Mike are talking and Will tells Mike how he feels stuck between their world and the Upside Down. He tells Mike about the monster he saw. Will wants to keep this between the two of them. They both agree that if they are going crazy, they can go crazy together.

Hopper finally arrives at the cabin. He goes inside and notices that Eleven had dragged the TV into her room and locked the door. She turns the TV to static and blindfolds herself. She attempts to try and speak to Mike right at the same time Mike is attempting to reach her on the walkie talkie. Mike gives up and walks away. Eleven takes off the blindfold. Her nose is bleeding as she starts to cry. It is going to be an emotional reunion when the two of them are finally reunited. IF that happens.

Dustin returns home from trick-or-treating and hears noises from the trash can again. He thinks it is his cat but is a bit suspect. He walks over and takes the lid off and looks inside. All he can say is “Holy Sh*t!” as the episode ends… 

Other notes from the episode:

-Dr. Owens is still up to some sketchy stuff at Hawkins Lab. What else do they know about the Upside Down?

-Bob mentioned to Joyce the idea that maybe they move away from Hawkins. Could that be a real possibility given the troubled history the Byers family has?

-The cliffhanger from the episode: What was in the trash can?

Stranger Things is now streaming only on Netflix.

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