Chapter 6: The Monster
Last chapter left us with an acrobat analogy, new alliances, and former ones falling apart. Lucas made a grand exit away from his friends, and Elle disappeared after instigating said exit. Joyce and Hopper are a team now, as well as Nancy and Jonathan, who we return to in the deep, dark woods.
Nancy crawled her way into the upside down, unknowingly, and is trapped in there with the prowling monster.
Everything was sticky.
She and Jonathan can hear each other, although the sounds in Nancy’s world are much more muffled. Jonathan instructs her to follow his voice, which she does amidst hiding from the monster.
JFC thanks for the heart attack
Finally, they connect. Jonathan finds the glowing tree, and Nancy realizes she can go out the way she came in. Duh. It’s not that easy, though, as Nancy punches her arm through the glowing goo, scaring the shit out of Jonathan, and all of us.
I was not expecting that.
He has to pull her out of the goopy tree, after which she falls on top of him and they hug, gloriously, placing Nancy as the first survivor of the upside down. As was mentioned in last chapter’s recap, she’s the least deserving of all the victims thus far, but let’s hope she uses this experience to save the others.
I’m sure your brother’s fine in there!
After the opening credits we’re treated to the musical talents of Corey Hart, singing Sunglasses at Night. Before getting a visual, we know this soundtrack belongs to Steve. Sure enough, there he is, driving around, being the third wheel to his resident couple friends. They’re teasing him about how Nancy blew him off, and how he’s worried about her, and how he looooooves her, which sends him over the edge.
NOT COOL GUYZ
He pulls up to Nancy’s house for a surprise visit, climbing up onto the roof once again. At this point, Steve has become a bit more likeable due his admittance of genuine feelings for Nance. You can’t help but feel just a tinge sorry for him when he discovers Nancy already has a gentleman caller in her bed.
Who’s the window-peering perv now, Steve?
But also, fuck that guy. He drives a BMW, has a heated pool, and broke the camera of a very poor classmate, which is just plain rude. He’ll have to seriously start proving himself to be a decent guy for any real sympathy.
Hopper is still at Joyce’s house, going over everything he discovered at the lab again.
Pay attention this time, plz.
He explains the children’s room sighting again, this time mentioning the child’s drawing on the wall. This grabs Joyce’s attention, and she begs for more details. He mentions stick figures in the drawings, as she grabs one of Will’s far more advanced creations.
Stick figures? Bitch, please.
Finally realizing that whoever that room belonged to, it definitely wasn’t Will. The two move out into the living room where Hopper’s newspaper clippings are scattered about. He shows her a story about a missing girl, and Dr. Brenner, and says maybe he’s been looking for Will all along but chasing after another kid. Ding, ding, ding!
ERMAHGERD
Nancy is in the shower, scrubbing off all the upside down goo and grime, and experiencing horrific aftershocks of the whole ordeal.
Didn’t think it could get worse than the aftershocks of losing my virginity, but here we are.
Over in her bedroom, Jonathan is unrolling a sleeping bag. As she returns to her room and notices him getting cozy, he offers to go home. Nancy doesn’t want to be alone, however, so he’s welcome to stay.
Clearly all parents in Hawkins are just completely over worrying about where their kids are at this point, and the Wheeler house has basically become a home for misfit kids. Jonathan tucks in with his gun (totally safe), but Nancy quickly asks for him to join her in bed.
But I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
He gets into her bed, shoves the gun under the pillow (definitely safe), and assures her that “it” can’t get them in there. Nancy reminds him that they don’t know that for sure, and he turns over to look at her.
Seriously?
The next morning, we’re in the basement with Mike, who’s alone for the first time. It’s very quiet, with no sign of Elle. He eventually gets up and goes apeshit on her empty fort, having a bit of a meltdown due to her absence.
We miss her too, Mike. It’s okay.
Joyce and Hopper are on the move, as Hopper makes a roadside call to a friend in search of the address of the woman from the news article. Having friends in high (or low) places, he’s able to get it, and they drive off in that direction.
Finding a payphone or that car would be damn near impossible today.
Cut to Jonathan waking up next to Nancy, who’s awake, leafing through back issues of Ranger Rick. She hasn’t slept, claiming that every time she closed her eyes she saw “that thing.” Doing some investigative work, she begins comparing the monster’s hunting behaviors to certain predatory animals.
It’s like a shark, or a bear, or you with that camera.
They conclude that it’s attracted to blood, given both Barb and the deer’s wounds, and that it always hunts solo, at night. A jiggle on the door handle startles them, ending their discussion, but causing an awkward hand-holding moment.
#cute
It’s Nancy’s mom at the door, quite unaware of her daughter’s recent shenanigans, offering some blueberry pancakes. Nancy says she’ll be right down, and Mom goes away. Jonathan comments, “your mom doesn’t knock?” Which causes them both to let out a much needed giggle.
Don’t let your feelings get in the way of the mission, kids.
Across town, another woman is knocking on a door. This time it’s at Mr. Clark’s house, and the caller is the infamous lady from “CPS,” who turned out to be the cold blooded murderer of an innocent diner owner. Thankfully, she’s not there to blow our beloved science prof away, merely to entice him to recruit new members to the “Indiana AV Club.”
C’mon. You’re smarter than this, Scott.
Quite a crafty ploy, miss lady. Of course he knows just the right trio of fellas!