The Best Treat of All: Stranger Things "Chapter 1: MADMAX"/"Chapter 2: Trick or Treak, Freak"

"Chapter 1: MADMAX"

The season two premiere of Stranger Things, "Chapter 1: MADMAX," wasted no time plunging us back into the eerie and captivating world of Hawkins, Indiana. This episode introduces a new top video gamer in town, hints at escalating nightmares, and delivers a few genuinely shocking moments, expertly setting the tone for the season to come.

The Mystery Expands

The episode opens dramatically with a robbery a year after the events of Season 1. A group escapes in a van, and during a police chase, one member causes the pursuing officers to stop by seemingly making a bridge collapse – a hallucination, as we discover. This individual sports a tattoo with the number 008, immediately signaling that Eleven isn't the only one with unique abilities.

Things in Hawkins appear deceptively calm. Hopper, in his usual gruff yet endearing style, tries to ignore new arrivals at work, but finds himself dealing with a freelance journalist investigating Barb's disappearance. His routine is further disrupted by calls about someone's pumpkins being mysteriously ruined, hinting at a new, subtle strangeness brewing in the town.

Will's Lingering Trauma

Joyce is deeply concerned for Will after he experiences another vivid vision or dream of the Upside Down, featuring a terrifying storm cloud. Will is taken to see Dr. Owens, a Department of Energy executive now in charge of the lab. Owens conducts tests and questions Will about these visions, initially attributing them to PTSD, but the audience knows there's more to it.

Where is Eleven?

Amidst all the new characters and expanding mysteries, the lingering question of Eleven's whereabouts is finally answered in a jaw-dropping moment at the episode's close. As Hopper drives into the woods and walks towards a secluded cabin, the scene initially suggests a new home or perhaps a girlfriend. However, the revelation is far more thrilling: Eleven, now with curly hair, walks in to join Hopper for dinner, confirming her survival and his surprising role as her protector.

Review: A Perfect Tone-Setter

"MADMAX" was a fantastic episode that really captured the spirit of Stranger Things Season 2, just as I was hoping. It was such a joy to see these beloved characters return, especially Eleven, who was especially thrilling to see back and safe. Watching Mike, Dustin, Will, and Lucas rushing to the arcade was fun, but what truly made the episode stand out was its wonderful music, the introduction of the intriguing new character Max, and the charming chemistry between Joyce and Hopper – honestly, I think they might even be a better match than Joyce and Bob! The writing was superb, perfectly blending character moments, mystery, and atmosphere.

Overall, I give this episode a 9 out of 10.

"Chapter 2: Trick or Treat Freak"

It's Halloween in Hawkins, and "Chapter 2: Trick or Treat Freak" plunges us into the festivities with the gang ready for trick-or-treating. But the arrival of a new face creates tension among the group, while more profound mysteries and personal struggles begin to emerge, particularly for one beloved character.

Halloween Hijinks & Shifting Dynamics

Mike and the boys are thrilled, decked out in their Ghostbusters costumes, only to find themselves as the sole ones dressed up at school. When Dustin and Lucas invite Max to join their trick-or-treating adventures, her initial silence is broken by a jump-scare reveal of her own costume, which clearly doesn't sit well with Mike. This scene immediately highlights the shifting group dynamics with the introduction of Max.

Will's Lingering Visions

Will's unsettling visions of the Upside Down continue, now featuring a menacing giant creator that he's meticulously drawn. Joyce remains deeply worried by these drawings. During trick-or-treating, Will experiences another terrifying encounter with the creator, triggered by other kids cruelly calling him "Zombie Boy." Mike quickly intervenes, taking Will home, where they discuss the disturbing visions.

Eleven's Secret Struggle for Return

The episode masterfully weaves in Eleven's untold story of survival and her desperate attempt to return after her apparent demise in the Season 1 finale. We see her navigating the Upside Down, searching for Mike, before finding her way back to the real world through the same opening. Her attempt to return to Mike's house is thwarted when she spots FBI agents and police there. After Mike briefly sees her through the window, she quickly flees, forced to rely on her survival skills to hunt, protect herself, and find suitable clothing.

The narrative frequently flashes between her past survival and her present frustration. Eleven desperately wants to trick-or-treat, believing her ghost costume will make her invisible, but Hopper refuses to let her leave the cabin. He attempts to compromise by getting off work early and bringing a plethora of candy. Still, his plans are derailed when he's pulled into investigating the mystery of the dead pumpkins and goo-covered trees—another unsettling sign of the Upside Down's influence.

In a particularly heartbreaking moment, an upset Eleven telepathically attempts to reach Mike through a TV screen. For a fleeting minute, Mike's excitement suggests he senses her presence, but he walks away, doubting his own perception, leaving Eleven visibly heartbroken despite being so physically close.

A Cliffhanger Creature

The episode culminates with a chilling surprise: as Dustin arrives home, he hears a strange noise near his trash can. He investigates, opening the lid to a startling revelation that sets the stage for the third episode's mysteries.

Review: Eleven Steals the Show

"Trick or Treat Freak" was a fantastic episode that truly shined thanks to Eleven's captivating story. I think this episode features one of Millie Bobby Brown's best performances, showing her incredible growth and deep emotion as Eleven deals with loneliness and heartbreak. The subplot with Jonathan and Nancy, while not the most memorable part, was still enjoyable. Sean Astin as Bob also continues to bring a charming mix of humor and awkwardness as Joyce's new boyfriend.

Overall, this episode strikes a lovely balance between exciting new threats and heartfelt moments. I’d rate it a 9/10!

You can catch the second season of Stranger Things, available now on Netflix, along with Season One.

A Captivating Introduction: Stranger Things Season 1

Here are my thoughts on the first season of Netflix's Stranger Things. 

The Blacklist "Ilyas Surkov (No. 54)"

This week's episode of The Blacklist gave a twist that not only comes in the middle but the end when someone makes a call.

When a bombing happens, Red informs Liz about an Intel of the event that is by an international terrorist group. When they search for a suspect that has ties with the head of the terrorist group, they get bumped by another team from the CIA.

They split the interviewing process for one another until when Ressler gets a call from Cooper that this CIA team is not at all any part of the U.S. Government, which turns into a shoot out til they capture one of the members who thought that they were actually working with the CIA.

After the interview, the left behind agent checks out with her story but shows Liz and the team of their headquarters that turns out to be abandoned. The suspect they are after turns out to be part of the CIA but got blacklisted and disappeared. He's set to take out someone who's about to blow up a Navy Ship but was stopped by Liz but turns out the suspect was right when he says the solider walking in was carrying a bomb.

Meanwhile, Nick was found dead from what shows to be a bombing and kind of blames Red for it, even though Red didn't know about it. Later in the episode, Liz, Tom and Red were at the funeral.

Red gets into the dog grooming business and gets someone, who happens to have the cuttiest bulldog in the world, to search for someone that worked with Kaplan. He gets the person's belonging that includes a cell phone and when he makes a call to a number that happens to been called and recieved many times, he hears Tom answering the phone.

"Ilyas Surkov" was a very good and entertaining episode. With the very intense twist at the end when Red calls and gets Tom on the other line, the one momnet or few happens to be the bulldog. That bulldog, Coco, was the cutiest thing that I've ever seen and she didn't have to do a whole lot. I just wanted to take her home after Red drives away. Anyway, the writing of the episode was very good and Spader was a good as ever once again. Overall, I give this episode a 8/10.

You can catch The Blacklsit Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

The Blacklist "The Endling (No. 44)"

"Isn't there anything in the universe more powerful than a mother's love for her child?"

I really don't think there is and what this eposode of The Blacklist has shown that a mother's love can stand anything even for her dying child.

Red sees that someone has been killing anyone who is part of The Endling, meaning the last of in the world. What this person is trying to do is more personal than anything could ever be. When Liz and the team are searching they try to protect Princess Sonya that's in the town.

As they try to get to the Princess, things take a turn and the suspect escapes with the Princess' daughter. Asking the Princess about what would someone want with their daughter, turns out that the daughter has a rare blood that's known around as The Golden Blood.

They search for the anymore rare blood disorders and found one that's in the DC Hospital. As Ressler and Samar get there, the child that they were going to protect is gone. And soon findout who the suspect is, Nirah Ahmad, who happens to be the child's mother.

Liz gets Red for help and knowns who the doctor that's helping Ahmad and sees an old friend that fixed his left butt from a wild bore long ago. As soon as Red and Liz get there, Red talks to Ahmad with probably one of the most heartwarming messages probably of the week and gets her to leave the donors. They take her and the child to another location where Liz gets Nick to help, even though he doesn't want to but does.

The mother not only tries to save her child but gives her own life to save his as she shot herself in the head to give her heart to her child.

Meanwhile, Tom is getting worried that Pete might be pulling somethng after getting access into files thanks to Tom stealing Liz's ID number. Nick, who was done with Liz, Red and Tom, check on Pete and gets killed in Pete's apartment. The suitcase is gone and that Pete has gone rouge.

Red gets into a new style of B&B thanks to the mailman, who gets a list of homes of owners that leave for a vacation of so. A very good buiness indead I think.

"The Endling" is a very good episode with a very easy conecpt of a mother who tries to save her child from death and gives her own life to save his. Even though I probably have seen many of these kinds of stories before, it still shows an impact for me as a viewer. I thought Red's speech to Ahmad was really good and really stood out from other moments in the episode. Overall, I give this episode a 8.5/10.

You can catch The Blacklist Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

The Blacklist "Miss Rebecca Thrall (No. 76)"

When there’s a spree of killer cops, Liz and the team investigate and find it shocking, while Red deals with his own issues and makes a deal that would allow him to kill two birds with one stone. Here's my recap and review of this week's episode of The Blacklist.

No Kids, Karaoke On!! Fresh Off The Boat "Kids"

With Jessica and Louis sees that Eddie might be grown up to get them out of "kid jail," they live like it was no tomorrow (in their own way). Plus Eddie and Alison have a hard time telling Evan the truth about them breaking up.

Just when Jessica and Louis thought that when Eddie was making his "suicide soda" and taking it to the living that he might make a huge mess, but they thought wrong. As they see for themselves, Eddie made no mess and used a coaster. With them thinking that Eddie has grown up, Jessica and Louis decides to bring back their first couch that they got in 1982 and soon after that they decide to go out and live like there was no tomorrow: having dinner and Karaoke with Honey and Marvin.

But that idea wen south when Honey and Marvin tells them that they were planning to have a baby. With shock, Jessica and Louis decides to get them to think that having a baby was a bad idea and pushed Marvin to stop the reverse vasectomy. But on their second night of dinner and karaoke, Honey and Marvin were Karafighting with songs like "All That She Wants" and "RESPECT."

But after Marvin tells Honey how Jessica and Louis showed him what parents with kids look like, Jessica and Louis apologies and tells Marvin and Honey that they should have a child as it's their choice not Jessica and Louis.

Meanwhile, after their break up last week, Alison still comes over to Eddie's house to hang with Evan. Eddie and Alison agrees to tell Evan that they shouldn't be hanging out anymore, but it really turns into two parents trying to confront him before telling him the news, which he didn't take too lightly and ruined the white couch as payback.

Also, Emery and Grandma Jenny try to use his bad luck for good and to get back at her enermies from distorying old gifts that she's gotten to winning over an enemy at a retirement home game night.

"Kids" was a very good and hilarious episode. The Louis and Jessica story was hilarious as usual. Randall Park and Constance Wu really stole the episode with a lot of scenes from confronting Eddie about him growing up, talking about how they can do things without kids and even the karaoke scenes as well. The Eddie, Alison and Evan story was good at times along with Emery and Jenny too. Overall, I give this episode a 8/10.

You can catch Fresh Off the Boat Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30c on aBC.

A Lot on the Mind: Supergirl "Trigger"

This week's episode of Supergirl had a lot on Kara's minds.

With a new villain in National City,  Kara meets Psi, who happens to have a psychic powers that uses their fears against them, gives a run for Kara when she gets pulled into her tricks.

Kara's mind is played when she first expereince darkness. The second time she meets with Psi, she relives the final moments of her time in Krypton. The thrid time you could say that she suffered in the elavator but I would agree with Wynn that she was deaing  with real anxiety.

And the final time was her thinking that she sent Mon-El to his death in space but Alex comes in and helps Kara put her mind over matter and shows Psi how fear is a lie, she headbutts her.

While dealing with Psi, Kara also deals with Lena Luther as her new boss at Cat Co. and even Jimmy isn't to pleased about Lena coming in and taking over on the first day. Lena feeling excited and enthusiastic about her frist day, even trying to get Kara to do an interview but turns her down handling Psi.

It would be later on that the two would have another talk and even though Kara will admit that what she's going through is personal, Lena turned that friendship card to boss card and told her to set up that interview.

After dealing with Psi, Kara did apologizes to Lena for her actions and the two are back being not only boss and employee but best friends as well.

While this was going on, Samantha deal with balancing her new job and her daughter, who happen to tell kids at school about how her mother saved her by lefting up a heavy metal off her. Trying to convience that she's no superhero, she later runs off and gets herself into danger when Psi was on the move again. Samantha jumps to protect her daughter when a wrecking ball was about to fall on them and Supergirl saves them.

Later on Kara learns that Samantha is the new boss for L Crop for Lena while Lena's working at Cat Co.

"Trigger" was another good episode that had some really good moments, mostly scenes between Kara and Lean and even Supergirl and Psi. But the one moment of this episode that I will take away came early with Alex and Maggie arguing at t eh DOA about something that turns out to be which to have at their wedding: DJ or a Band. And even having J'onn given his part in it was the icing on the cake. The episode really plays to Kara's emotions state of missing Mon-El. I still think he's still alive and will be back. The Samanath storyline is really good as it give you enough to be satsifyied but yet leaving you wanting more. Overall, I give this episode a 8.5/10.

You can catch Supergirl Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.