Stranger Things: Season 1/ Episode 4 “Chapter Four: The Body” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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While one missing person we are given some hope for, it doesn’t look good for the other one at all.

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Previous Recap: Episode 3 “Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly”

Director(s)	Shawn Levy
Writer(s)	Justin Doble

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A Body Is Found: Mike, Joyce, Eleven

With a body that looks like Will’s found, everyone is a mess. Mike because he thinks Eleven lied and Joyce because she knows she spoke to Will.

Looking for Barbara: Steve, Nancy, Jonathan

With it being more than a day now since Barbara went missing, the cops are called. This leads to Steve low-key freaking out because he is afraid of what his dad may do. Which upsets Nancy because he seems more worried about his dad than Barbara. So, needless to say, she may not be making out with him anytime soon.

However, Jonathan on the other hand, he may be someone worth getting close to. For despite him being a creeper, which Nancy glosses over, he took a picture of Barb. On top of that, said picture contains the monster. Something which not only proves what Nancy saw in Steve’s backyard exists but that Joyce, despite what Jonathan thought, may not be crazy.

 

And The Lie Detector Test Determined, That Is A Lie: Joyce, Hopper, Will, Eleven, Mike

However, that body isn’t Will’s. Joyce recognizes this and after Hopper learns that 6 state troopers brought Will in and they had their own person do the autopsy, among other things, he does some investigating. Which eventually leads to him doing his own autopsy and finding Will is but a well-made stuffed replica.

But there is more to have hope about: Eleven, through radio waves, finds a way to listen in on Will. Meaning, Eleven has Professor X, from the X-Men type powers! Thus allowing the kids to hear Will and it being proved to Lucas and Dustin that he is still alive!

Though here is the kicker, it seems that Eleven using her powers allows Joyce to speak to Will through the wall. Leading to the question of, has Will’s ability to talk always revolved around Eleven using her powers? What are the requirements for the two dimensions allowing communication between them?

Other Noteworthy Facts & Moments

• Eleven makes Troy piss his pants.

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. So Karen decided to ignore this big scab on Mike’s chin?
2. Granted, Mike did grow up with Nancy and was probably close to his mom at one time but, how did that lead to him knowing about makeup and how to make a wig look good?
3. How is it the boy who took a picture of your undressing gets off with a shrug? Nancy can’t be so nice and forgiving that she’d really not only be friendly but alone with a guy like that. I know the internet didn’t exist and it is a small town, so stranger danger isn’t like it is now, but come on!

Highlights

The Trust Between Friends

I’m going to talk about this until probably not given a reason to. Can we talk about how, despite a rather abusive relationship with her papa, and perhaps people in general, Eleven has become so comfortable with Mike? Even to the point of, considering he just went off on her, she doesn’t fear him at all. Granted, he doesn’t have the strength to hurt her but still. I think that as strong as we see her mental state is, it wasn’t clear if her emotional state was on the same level. So for her to understand he was mad at the situation, and not necessarily her, I think is quite noteworthy.

However, I gotta admit, I do find it weird Mike moved passed that so easily. This girl just gave you false hope yet you are still letting you into your house, hiding her, and likely feeding her? I guess once you become friends with this group, the only way out is through death or doing something really messed up.

Nancy and Jonathan

As noted in the “Question(s) Left Unanswered” section, I do not understand how any girl, naïve or not, could really be that close to a boy who was stalking her and her friends, and took a semi-nude picture of her. It is just beyond me. However, attempting to push that issue of their relationship aside, I must admit I kind of liked their chemistry. Not to the point of shipping them, yet, but I definitely would prefer to have more scenes with him than Steve.

Though, in Steve’s defense, it isn’t like there has been any attempt at making him seem complicated. He is just the douche who, because of money and being funny, when not picking on you, gets the girl.

On The Fence

The Government Conspiracy

I don’t often follow procedural shows or anything dealing with what the government does or does not do. That is, outside of Scandal [External]. Yet, I gotta admit, the simplified approach to Hopper getting answers I not only appreciated but found entertaining. However, the fact that an agency which has the time and resources to pay off local cops and make a realistic body double can’t get better security was worth an eye-roll.

Never mind they even let Hopper get as far as he did in his investigation.

Joyce

Here is the thing with Joyce, you understand the trauma she is going through, losing a son, but as she becomes hysterical about it, that becomes annoying as hell. Which I don’t necessarily wanna ding Ryder for, since who knows how another actress would handle it. But there is just something about her portraying Joyce kind of losing her mind which gets under my skin sometimes.