Hey everyone, Riley here and today I’ll be giving you all my thoughts on Chapter 4 of Stranger Things Season 2, Will the Wise! This review will come in two parts. The first part will be a spoiler free review where I give my thoughts on the episode as a whole and not use specific details. The second part of this review will be giving my thoughts on specific events in the episode. Without further adieu, my thoughts on Strangers Things Season 2, Episode 4, Will the Wise.
So, what were my thoughts on the episode. I thought this episode did a good a good job at furthering the story and gave the viewer a very suspenseful feel. This episode did feel like it was a little drawn out but I still consider this episode as one of my favorites of season 2. Alright, now we are heading into the spoiling part of this review. If you have not see Will the Wise that I suggest you leave now. So spoilers ahead. Ok, I can’t believe the part where Will dies! Ok i’m kidding, Will doesn’t dies but seriously, spoilers ahead!
So here is a quick recap of Episode four –
Episode four pick up right after episode three. We see Will, paralyzed and frantically moving, in a field due to the ‘shadow monster’ and some bad advice from Bob. Then, we are shown a scene between Will and his mom talking about how Will feels after the previously mentioned incident.
We then cut to an encounter between Eleven and Hopper. As mentioned in previous reviews, Eleven is in hiding. There is a dramatic scene between Eleven and Hopper which ends in Eleven showing of her, what I’m calling it, Psychic Rage.
When then get a spooky shot of Will where his eyes start spazzing, and then we get another spooky shot of… a toaster
We are then shown Nancy and Jonathan driving away to, presumably, expose the real reason for Barb’s death. Then some more scenes with Will, and next we get a glimpse at the party (Mike, Dustin etc.) searching for the lost Dart: a small, slug-like creature which Dustin discovered in the last episode.
A few scenes later, we are shown Nancy and Jonathan, trying to meet with the mother of Barb, being watched by countless people and are chased and then taken to Hawkins Laboratory. Whilst at Hawkins, Nancy and Jonathan are shown the portal to the upside we, which has been reopened and is being studied.
Will talks with Hopper and says that he is having ‘Now Memories’ which he can drawn. Once Hopper and Joyce collect all of the drawings, they realize that they form a map. A map of tunnels which are expanding from Hawkins Laboratory.
Eleven investigates into her troubled past by searching for information about her mother. Nancy and Jonathan are released from Hawkins and then leave Hawkins to presumably expose the truth about Barb.
In the second to last scene. We see Dart, now much bigger and demogorgon-like, eating Mew-Mew (Dustin’s Cat).
In the last scene of the episode, Hopper is shown digging and then discovers the tunnels which Will’s ‘now memories’ had shown.
Here are my thoughts on the episode –
What do you think of the Shadow Monster?
I thought how the Duffer Brothers (the show’s directors) handled the introduction very well. The audience had no idea what the monster was and then suddenly Will was attacked. We didn’t know its motives and in the first five minutes of the episode Will was attacked. It was an awesome introduction.
What do you think of the map Will draws?
All I can say is that it was creative. I’ve only seen this concept once before in a very weird place, Pirates of the Caribbean: Fountain of Youth, when one of the characters starts making motions with their hand which, when drawn, creates a map. I can’t say I like the map concept because it removes Will from the story and replaces him with the map because all the information is on the walls.
Were the tunnels a good plot device?
Wow. That was cool. The tunnel idea was really interesting. It made it seem like the main characters were constantly outnumbered and the idea of monster expanding was quite creepy.
Thoughts on the separate story lines?
This was such a great plot device. In every point of any episode you are in suspense. Iii season one, everyone’s story lines intersected for, pretty much, the entire season which made the plot dull at times but in season two, the different plot lines really made the season more in depth and exciting.
Was the script good?
Ehh. This episode was less about vocals and more about visuals so I don’t have any thoughts.
Ok, how about the camera work?
Fantastic as always. Nothing else to say.
So my closing thoughts on the episode are as follows. In the top four episodes this season. Episode four gave so much insight and intrigue into each storyline that it made me want to finish the season right then and there. So if you aren’t sure about continuing the season before episode four… Finish it!
Have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding things article? Feel free to email me (rroche@friendscentral.org) with your thoughts!
