Reunited And It Feels So Good: Stranger Things 3 " "Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?"/"Chapter Two: The Mall Rats"

"Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?" 
God Bless Netflix! The third season of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things has released its episodes and it wasn't a disappointment at all. 

It's June 28, 1984, and the Russian military is trying to reopen the gate to the Upsidedown world but failed to do so.  A year later, in Hopkins, Dustin is back from camp; Steve is working at an ice cream shop, "Scoops Ahoy," but gives Mike, Will, Max, and Lucas access to sneak into the new mail theater. Not to mention that things with Mike and Eleven are going very well in their relationship and making Hopper's lie a living hell.  

But something has been sprung once again, as Will has been feeling the hair-raising feeling about it once again, but doesn't tell anyone. After a short power outage, things get weirder when rats run together to a factory, where they die in pain and explode. 

Nancy and Johnathan are working at Hopkin's newspaper. Their relationship is on good terms but Nancy's job as an intern is all good. She gets turndown badly for an idea for a news story from a group of men.   

Hopper asks for help from Joyce about Mike and Eleven's relationship, even getting some moments that are clear that they should be in a relationship with one another. After giving Hopper what to say, she not only turns him down for a visit to help him out but stays home and reflects on what she had with Bob as she watches a rerun episode of Cheers. As for Hopper, the talk didn't go the way he had planned; instead, he did it his way by talking to Mike while driving him home. 

After Dustin's reunion with the group, he tells them that he's met this girl at camp and invented the giant communication radio called Cerebro. But after hours, it seems that Dustin doesn't have a girlfriend from Utah; but instead gets a communication from the Russian military, who seems to have opened the door to the Upsidedown. As  Billy is about to pick up Mike's mother for a little late-night swimming lesson, he gets into a mysterious accident with something that literally pulls him into the factory. 

I very much enjoyed this episode from the beginning to the end, as it had both the balance of where we left off since the season two finale to where we are going into this season. The character development was good, with some moments being so awkward at times, mainly Billy hitting on Mike's mother. But it was overshadowed by moments from Mike and Eleven, Hopper and Joyce, and even Mike, Eleven, and Hooper, which was hilarious. I think we might need to tell Hopper to take some time to have a cup of coffee and contemplation. Plus the music was perfect in this episode. I think that what we're in for this season could be even bigger than what our characters will face. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.
"Chapter Two: The Mall Rats"
Hearts are broken, power is used, even cracking the code and that's just the tip of the iceberg in this second episode of Stranger Things. 

I'm just going to come out and say it; Eleven and Mike have broken up. After that talk with Hopper, Mike tells Eleven that he can't see her at this time because of his sick grandmother. But with the help from Max; Eleven learns that it's all a lie. After hanging out with Max at the mall, Eleven "dumps (mike's) ass." 

Meanwhile, Hopper is on cloud nine with the whole Eleven and Mike thing. He tells Joyce and asks her out (not a date) for dinner. But instead of meeting him for dinner, she seeks an explanation for the recent events of magnets falling at her house and works by asking for help from the kid's science teacher. So she missed dinner with Hopper. Even worse for Hopper, he gets asked by the Mayor, who approved the mall in town, to get rid of the protesters because they didn't have the permits. 

Dustin and Steve reunite and it feels all so good to see these two back together. Dustin tells Steve that he intercepts a message from the Russians. They try to crack the code and even get help from Robin, Steve's co-worker. Soon, they were able to crack the message with what seemed to be nonsense sentences. But as they leave Steve figures out something from the message, the music as it would be playing in a mechanical horse ride. The message doesn't seem to be from Russia but from Hopkins. 

Nancy and Johnathan are on the news scoop. They investigate the call from an elderly woman, who tells them that she has seen rats eat her ferderizilers. But not to worry, she kept one of them in a cage. Just as Nancy gets a tip from another place about rats, Johnathan leaves just when the rat not only explodes but escapes the cage and house too. 

Billy has not been himself in this episode; he did meet a twin of his in the upsidedown. Mike's mom tries to talk to him, but he dumps her off not to mention his co-worker at the pool, who is taken back to the old factory where she's getting the same treatment as Billy did. 

"The Mall Rats" was a very thrilling, intense, and fun episode. I just ate up the Eleven and Max story as they hang out at the mall and their montage was just so good. Couldn't argue that the Dustin and Steve scene was a real scene stealer in this episode. The show as really turn the level on this season up. Does anyone feel that Steve and Robin would fall in love during this season; or will Robin die by the end of the season? Very good character development and the writing was really good. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Stranger Things Season 3 available now on Netflix with Seasons one and Two available now