Chapter 6 wastes no time jumping right back into the action of the previous episode, beginning in the Russian control room that Steve, Erica, Dustin, and Robin have made their way to. The nuclear reactor (it’s definitely not a nuclear reactor, but it’s easier to call it that) is firing at the Gate, trying to get it open. Steve and Dustin explain to Robin and Erica that this is BAD. End of the world kind of bad. Just as they’re trying to give this helpful explanation, the Russians have been alerted to their intrusion. Alarms are going off. People are running frantically. It’s a mess. They run into the control room and try to block themselves in a hallway. Steve and Robin are able to block the guards off long enough as Dustin and Erica escape into the air ducts.
At the hospital, the lights are flickering like crazy. Will gets a chill on the back of his neck and tells the group, “he’s here.” Will really loves that line this season. The sludge monster is charging at Nancy and there’s nowhere to go! Finally, she gets a door open to run away from it. She locks herself in a hospital room to await her fate. Jonathan is charging down the halls with a metal stick. What’s that gonna do Jonathan? Suddenly, the monster melts to get into the room with Nancy. Well, that’s a nightmare. Don’t like that at all. The creature throws Nancy across the room and looks like it’s about to kill her when El breaks down the door. Well, we knew it wasn’t gonna be Jonathan to the rescue. El throws it against every possible wall in throw room then out the window. Everyone in this group would be dead without her. They run outside to see the monster melting into the sewer. Gross. The germs. The pile of sludge descends to the bottom of the sewer to grow into a bigger monster with Billy and Heather watching it. Billy says “It’s time.” Opening credits begin.
The Key
Hopper returns to Murray‘s house with some BURGER KING. I wonder if he bought a New Coke while he was there? I can’t tell yet, but he did bring Alexei a slurpee because that’s his favorite drink. Drama ensues. Hopper bought Alexei a Strawberry slurpee and he wanted Cherry! What a loss to want something only to be given something you never even wanted at all.
Hopper claims they didn’t have Cherry, but I have to wonder…did he even look? He says it doesn’t matter because it all tastes the same. That’s just not true at all. “It’s sugar on ice”, he says. Okay, maybe in terms of ingredients, but they have distinct tastes! Would Hopper dare tell me a New Coke slurpee would taste the same as a regular one? No way. Alexei will not be folding on this. He would like the Cherry slurpee he requested. Hopper throws Alexei out of the house and gives him the keys to the car so he can leave if he wants. He knows that he’ll be in too much danger if he goes back to the Russians, so he won’t leave. Hopper’s right! Alexei gets to the edge of the driveway, but can’t leave. Sometimes, you have to settle for the Strawberry slurpee.
Alexei begins to give them information, telling them that there’s “a key” the Russian’s are using that requires a lot of strength. Okay, so I guess that machine in the control room wasn’t a nuclear reactor after all! At least there’s a name for it now! There were many of the keys in Russia, but they didn’t work. The Russians had to come to Hawkins to the Gate. When Joyce asks if the door is open, Alexei says it is opening. I don’t think so, Alexei. Clearly you weren’t around for the Season 2 finale. The town is not ready to go through all that again.
Hopper and Murray ask him if there’s a way to turn the key off. Alexei says he can turn it off, but he is now compromised. Hopper is gonna get him to that key.
Escape from the Facility
Dustin and Erica try to find their away out of the maze in the air ducts. He explains everything that’s happened with the Upside Down and the Mindflayer. Surprisingly, she can believe the supernatural aspects, but can’t believe the fact that her brother, Lucas, was there. Erica begins mapping out the amount of time it will take them to get through the tunnels. Dustin is surprised she is so good with numbers and deems her “a nerd”. He sets out the facts to prove his argument: she’s a math whiz, a political junkie, and she loves My Little Pony. I guess Erica has to officially stop calling everyone a nerd.
The two break out of the air ducts to find a golf cart that they can drive. Erica picks up a weapon along the way, just in case.
It’s been 6 episodes and Steve’s been thriving. We all knew it wouldn’t last. Now it’s time for Steve Harrington to get beaten up. Who is it this time? Steve is being beaten up by Russian guards in an attempt to extract information about how he got to this secret location. (Well you’re under a mall. Chances are at some point, teenagers would wander in?) He tells them he works at Scoops Ahoy “Just look at my outfit! Do you think I’m a spy in a sailor’s uniform?” Honestly I want this to be a thing. The greatest plot twist ever would be a bunch of spies walking around in that Scoops Ahoy ice cream uniform.
Steve is honest about the way they found the facility and how they got there. Instead of listening to him, the guards just laugh hysterically like it’s a made up story. They continue questioning him and start beating him up again. So sad. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s taken to a room with Robin where they’re tied up back to back. When the guards leave, they try to move their way to a table with scissors so they can themselves free. In the grand tradition of every show that has ever tried this trick, they fall over. Robin tells Steve she can’t believe she’s gonna die with “Steve Harrington” and begins talking about a class they shared together in high school. Steve doesn’t even remember her from their class together. (Please keep in mind this was PGSD pre-good Steve days. We’re talking season 1 times. He’s come so far since season 2! The character growth is lit-erally incredible) She says it didn’t matter that he was a bad person in high school because she was still obsessed with him. She even knew what he had for breakfast every day. Dang Robin, we all love Steve, but that’s taking things to the next level!
The guards come back into the room and proceed to inject Steve and Robin with truth serum to “help them talk.” The drug immediately takes affect, causing them to feel loopy. Upon the third round of questioning, Robin comes clean about breaking the code. When asked about who else knows about it, Steve tells them that Dustin Henderson knows. Steve was doing so well! I can’t blame him. It was the drug’s fault. The very moment Steve tells the guard about Dustin, an alarm begins going off in the facility. Dustin and Erica have broken in to get Steve and Robin out.
The Void
El is in the Void searching for Billy and the flayed. Mike is worried she will get brain damage from being in that space for too long. Mike accuses the group of treating El like a machine when she’s a person. He asks them to come up with a new plan to stop the Mindflayer because he loves El and can’t lose her again. MIKE! He said he loves her. What a great moment
There’s a painfully awkward silence in the room after Mike says that. Suddenly El walks in to find the group being very awkward. She tells them she found Billy sitting in his room. The group knows it would be a trap to go directly to Billy, so El enters the void to see if Billy’s memories will take her to the source. She finds Billy sitting on his bed looking like he just lost the last game of basketball season to the West High Knights. This man doesn’t have his head in the game OR his heart in the song. El takes his hand and asks to see what happened. He grabs her aggressively and she begins falling back into his memories. She lands on a beach. There’s a young boy surfing on the beach and a woman cheering him on. It’s Billy and his mother when they lived in California. In the distance there’s a massive storm cloud on the beach that El recognizes as the source. She walks towards it with memories of Billy’s childhood at every turn. Most notably in this sequence are the revelations that Billy grew up with an abusive father and his mother left him when he was just a child. I can’t believe this show is making me feel bad for Billy. El gets to the middle of the source and finds the Mindflayer is at the warehouse that everyone has been flocking to, Brimborn Steelworks.
Final Moments
Now that she has the info she needs, El takes off the blindfold to get out of The Void.
Everyone who was sitting around her has disappeared. Mike doesn’t answer her. Max has left. Lucas is nowhere in sight. It’s an empty cabin until Billy walks in the room. “You shouldn’t have looked for me because now I see you.” he says. See, this is what Mike was talking about! She needs to be careful with her powers because Billy is just gonna start appearing in random places and that’s not a world El needs to live in. “You let us in and now you are going to have to let us stay.” Billy tells her. That’s some twisted logic. He tells El that they’re going to end her and when she’s gone, they’re going to end her friends. El finally pushes him back with her powers and takes off her blindfold revealing she was still stuck in the Void talking to Billy. The Flayed walk to the warehouse at Brimborn steelworks and start melting together, all forming one massive Mindflayer. End of Episode.
The final scene between Billy and El was fantastic acting. Dacre Montgomery was creepily convincing as Billy and Millie Bobby Brown really showcased the horror of being stuck in a nightmare that you can’t wake up from. I also really loved all of the editing throughout this episode. It was utilized so effectively here.
Episode MVP: Eleven
Best Scene: Inside Billy’s Mind
Is Steve Alive After Episode 6: Yes and it looks promising that he makes it to episode 7!