Acclaimed filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Mist¸The Shawshank Redemption) makes a triumphant return to the director’s chair for the penultimate episode of volume 1 of the final season to the Duffer Brothers’ fantasy-horror coming of age opus, Stranger Things. “The Turnbow Trap” is a smorgasbord of an episode filled to the brim with electrifying set pieces punctuated with quieter, revealing character moments in between. The action kicks off in full swing, as a closeup of Hopper (David Harbour) stabbing away at a gooey, pus-filled egg sack that should immediately recall Darabont’s own The Mist (2007), his divisive yet captivating Stephen King adaptation of unsuspecting small-towners forced to band together to fight off a different horde of nasty, interdimensional monsters. As the camera pulls back, he and Eleven are both using their respective skills to force open a massive wall in the Upside Down made out of some disgusting yet beautiful tentacle-like thing that would make HP Lovecraft and HR Giger proud.
After it’s clear that neither Eleven’s powers or Hopper’s strength are going to get them through this cosmic wall, they turn their energy toward evading Sullivan’s troops and getting out of the Upside Down. This allows for what is mostly a plot-forward, action-heavy episode to slow down and enjoy some of that father/daughter energy that Millie Bobbie Brown and David Harbour still do so convincingly. Despite the much-reported tabloid gossip of on-set bullying, the two actors have an obvious affection for one another and, most importantly, so does the audience.
Hopper and El are faring much better in the familial love department than their counterparts in the Right Side Up, as Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Will (Noah Schnapp) have a long-gestating head-to-head blowup. Now that Robin (Maya Hawke) has taken Will under her wing, he finds the courage to stick up for himself and step into a more active role this time around. The mother/son growing pains on display don’t quite get there on an emotional level, as opposed to the mirrored Hopper and El moments in the episode that really do. My biggest complaint with volume 1 of season 5 rears its head a lot during this episode. I am having trouble reconciling this timid version of Joyce (Winona Ryder) with the badass messy heroine of seasons past. I understand the authorial intent, that she is a scared mom losing her boy to adulthood and feels unable to protect him, but I just think it’s handled in a clumsy way.
Will becoming more assertive is inherently a good thing. I think the Duffer Brothers heard loud and clear the complaints about Buyers’ non-existent storyline in season 4. Not only that, his blossoming relationship with Robin is a great example of positive teen queer representation. Robin has been in similar experiences of feeling othered in a small town and having to navigate that experience while still trying to find acceptance and love. They make a good Scooby-Doo investigate tag team and I am left completely intrigued to see how their dynamic changes or grows throughout the rest of the season.
The Duffer Brothers said they didn’t want to introduce a bunch of new monsters in the show’s final season. What they have done instead is flesh out and add to the mystery of Vecna/Henry/One, who now goes by the new moniker of Mr. Whatsit. At least that’s how he appears to little Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher), his latest kidnapped victim who thinks she’s in an idyllic sunny-skied suburbia of yesteryear, awaiting her new friend Henry Whatsit to bring her family and friends (and dipshit Derek) to join her, safe from the monsters attacking Hawkins. Holly is oblivious and happy in this magical prison made to look like the childhood home of Richard Creel in its better days, the way Henry saw it has idealized it in his mind. Could this be what’s behind the giant wall in the Upside Down?
Back in the still-quarantined Rightside Up, Murray (Bret Gelman) has gone from conspiracy theorist obsessed gonzo journalist to a sort of smuggler of whatever the gang might need to help them in their quest. No idea how he gets all this stuff, from spark plugs to crash test dummies. It doesn’t really make sense to me that he would find himself in this role at this juncture, but it gives the show an excuse to keep him around.
On the other hand, Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington (Joe Keery) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo)’s relationship continues to be one of the main reasons to keep going on these adventures. Dustin’s emotional state in the aftermath of Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn)’s sacrifice for Hawkins, to only be blamed and reviled by that very town, has aged Dustin. It hurts to see because we can recognize when our own hearts were shattered over the cruelness of the world, the way losing Eddie and the entire circumstances around his death, have done to Dustin. It’s compelling stuff.
Back in the Upside Down, shit is about to go sideways. Frank Darabont sets an action sequence that was as exciting as his brilliant first (and only) season of The Walking Dead. Sullivan’s military goons are on the hunt for El. The ‘hedgehogs’ rigged onto their armored vehicles shoot sound waves that literally incapacitate Eleven and make her useless and ready for capture. Hopper and El quickly refer to this as her ‘kryptonite,’ the only thing that can hurt Superman. It’s a smart and fun way to not get bogged down with bullshit scientific exposition as to why or how the weapon works. It just does. It’s kryptonite!
The final third of the episode is a full throttled thrill ride of escapism, and it totally works. Hopper and Eleven go full Zero Dark Thirty on Akers, one of the army black ops goons assigned to find and eliminate “the freak,” aka El, a moniker Hopper takes none to lightly. The series has peppered references to Hopper’s mysterious work in Vietnam back in his Army days since the very beginning of season 1, but here we see the mask finally slip and the monster that will do absolutely anything it takes to protect Eleven, even if it means “killing 1,000 guys like you,” he bellows. I shuddered and believed him.
With a little help from a much-welcomed return of Lucas’ (Caleb McLaughlin) little sister Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson), an epic plan of Home Alone sized proportions. Kids, please don’t try any of these Kevin McCallister inspired booby trap at home, unless you’re trying to trick and track a blood-thirsty Demogorgon in hopes that it will lead them to wherever Vecna is hiding Holly in the Upside Down.
The only thing more satisfying than watching a well-laid plan spectacularly fall apart is seeing one come together with bated breath. Mission accomplished. Nothing says it’s Christmas to millennials of a certain age like watching a group of spunky kids take out a baddie with a house full of lethal booby traps. The Demogorgon is tracked, but due to some rash quick thinking from Steve and Nancy (Natalia Dyer), they’re now in the Upside Down as well. It’s starting to get really crowded down there. Oh, hi Sam (Sadie Sink!
“The Turnbow Trap” is a fantastic addition to an ongoing saga that’s quickly propulsing to its long-awaited conclusion. The only way this doesn’t live up to the hype in your head is if you had unrealistic expectations. Frank Darabont delivers the action with prowess and finesse behind the camera to bring the Duffer Brothers fantastical world to life, and episode scribe Caitlin Schneiderhan makes space for moments of clarity and growth amidst the madness in this penultimate episode for the ages. Will our heroes save the day and rescue Holly, kill Vecna, and save Eleven once and for all from the tyrannical forces of a government and world that punishes what it doesn’t understand? See you on Christmas Day to find out when Stranger Things returns with Season 5, vol. 2.