Stranger Things – Chapter Seven: The Bathtub

By starrymag | August 26, 2016

By: Kathryn Trammell

 

 

Eleven, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas

 

Mike (Finn Wolfhard) dabs blood from Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) mouth, her energy only just having returned after she came to his defense when two bullies forced Mike to jump off a cliff and into the quarry where Will’s body was found. Luckily, Eleven was there to levitate Mike safely back onto dry ground. She also broke Troy’s (Peyton Wich) arm, which sent him running home to his mom.

 

A man inside a Power and Light van sees Eleven as she and the boys walk back to Mike’s house. He gets on his radio and tells Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) that he’s located Eleven, but Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) has still has eyes on the lab and he radios in to his friends to warn them that the Men is Suits are heading their way once the vans outside the lab begin to move.

 

The news of Lucas’ warning sends Mike rushing upstairs to tell his mom that if anyone asks where he is that she needs to tell them he’s has left the country. She looks after him with confusion, but has no time to question it because Mike is gone and out the back door with Dustin (Gaten Mattarazzo) and Eleven before she has the chance to even speak or follow him.

 

The kids see the Men in Suits pull up to Mike’s house just as they climb onto their bikes and the Men get back into their vans once they recognize a chase is upon them. But Mike and Dustin have the home field advantage and they navigate their neighborhood like a couple of Ferris Beuller’s before finally meeting up with Lucas.

 

Just as they think they’ve lost the Men in Suits, three vans pull out onto the street behind them forcing the boys to drive towards another van that turns onto the street in front of them. The game of chicken ends when Eleven uses her powers to flip the van that’s in front of them over their heads and onto the road behind them blocking the other three vans from chasing them any further. This act – Eleven’s blatant use of her powers to protect them yet again – forces Lucas to understand that he was wrong to think Eleven was ever “a traitor” and when they arrive to the junkyard where she accidentally knocked him out in Chapter Five he apologizes to her. His apology causes Eleven to apologize too, which in turn causes Mike to apologize to Lucas and the two shake hands thus burying the hatchet.

 

Back at Mike’s house, Mrs. Wheeler goes down into the basement to look for Mike and finds strands of blonde hair from El’s wig on the ground. A knock on the front door brings her back upstairs to find the “social worker” who killed Benny standing in her doorway. The Men in Suits flash the Wheelers their government badges. It’s enough to convince her husband (Joe Chrest) of their legitimacy, but Mrs. Wheeler (Cara Buono) isn’t as naïve. Her skepticism about how much she should “trust” them apparent the moment Dr. Brenner tries to reason with her that her son has put himself in danger by becoming associated with a little bald girl who Mike may or may not be hiding from her. Dr. Brenner doesn’t deserve her trust, but her son does and that includes trusting him to make the right decisions even if means he might have to hide from her the truth at times.

 

Back at the junkyard, Lucas explains to Mike and Dustin that his compass lead him to the Hawkins Lab, which Mike believes to be military owned and affiliated with its purpose to produce weapons (like Eleven?). Their discussion is cut short by the sound of a helicopter, which forces them to hide inside an old decrepit school bus.

 

Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper and Joyce

 

After getting a call that Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) has been arrested for assault, Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) meet Nancy and Jonathan at the station. They soon learn that Jonathan “assaulted a police officer” when he accidentally hit a cop who was trying to pull him off of Steve Harrington (John Keery) after Steve’s harassment of both Jonathan and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) drove Jonathan’s fist into his face more than once. But that’s not all.

 

Upon investigating Jonathan’s trunk, the cops also found a box full of supplies that makes Jonathan look like he could also be charged with conspiracy to create a weapon of mass destruction and when asked by Hopper to explain the boxes contents. Jonathan only says, “You won’t believe me.” Hopper leans forward, serious honesty pouring from his eyes, and says, “Why don’t you give me a try.” So, Hopper shows Nancy, Jonathan and Joyce into his office where Nancy and Jonathan divulge everything they’ve learned about the Hawkins monster until now. They even show Hopper and Joyce the photo from the pool party.

 

Outside in the hall, Joyce scolds Jonathan. She tells him that he shouldn’t think of himself as being alone in his grief and desire to “fix” the problem surrounding his brother. She also asks him to consider the possibility that the monster could’ve taken him too, but shouts from the station’s lobby pull Hopper from his office and into the hall where he asks Jonathan and Joyce to stay while he handles whatever situation is brewing. The situation turns out to be Troy’s mom, who is demanding someone find the girl who broke her son’s arm. Hopper waves her complaints away leaving his deputies to take her statement. He turns to go back to his office when one of his deputies asks the question, “So what’s this girl look like?” Troy’s response makes Hopper stop dead in his tracks . . .

 

Troy: She had no hair and she was bleeding from her nose. Like a freak.

Hopper: (turns around to face Troy) What’d you just say?

Troy: I said she was a freak.

Hopper: No, her hair. What’d you say about her hair?

Troy: Her head’s shaved. She doesn’t even look like a girl. And . . .

Hopper: And what?

Troy’s mom: Tell the man, Troy.

Troy: She can . . . do things.

Hopper: What kind of things?

Troy: Like . . . make you fly. And piss yourself.

 

Troy then tells Hopper that she wasn’t alone when she broke his arm – that she was with “those losers” otherwise known as Mike, Dustin and Lucas.

 

All Characters

 

Joyce, Hopper, Jonathan and Nancy head to the Wheeler’s house hoping to find Mike there, but they stop a few blocks away from Nancy’s neighborhood when they notice the Power and Light vans parked in front of the Wheeler’s. They also see a helicopter circling overhead leading Hopper to believe it is searching for the boys, which also means they aren’t inside Nancy’s house. He asks Nancy if she knows where Mike might be hiding, but she doesn’t. Jonathan, however, thinks he might know a way to contact them. They drive to Joyce’s house where Jonathan runs into Will’s room and reaches under his bed for his brother’s walkie talkie. He gives it to Nancy who tries to make contact with Mike, pleading for him to respond.

 

Inside the school bus, the boys and Eleven debate if whether or not it is safe to answer Nancy’s call with Dustin and Mike fueling the speculation that Nancy might to be to them what Lando Calrissian was to Han Solo. They decide, however, to hope that the Men in Suits aren’t manipulating Nancy into betraying them and finally respond telling Hopper their exact location. Unfortunately, the Bad Men arrive at the junkyard first, the bikes hidden underneath the bus alerting them to the kids’ location. The school bus door opens as the boys and Eleven hunker down, but it’s Hopper who climbs aboard shouting at them to follow him. It turns out Eleven isn’t the only one who knows how to dispatch a few Bad Men.

 

Back at Joyce’s house, everyone sits inside Joyce’s strangely decorated living room and listens to the boys explain the “acrobat and flea” quantum mechanics metaphor that Mr. Clarke taught them. When they mention the gate being inside the Hawkins Lab, Hopper asks if it’s underground and near a large water tank to which Eleven says, “Yes,” because she’s the only other person who could answer that question. Dustin wonders how Hopper knows about the gate’s location and Mike assumes it’s because Hopper’s seen it.

 

Hopper watches Eleven and the look he gives her is so profound that I’m not sure I can ascribe an emotion or attitude towards it except to say that what passes between them is intense. Joyce breaks through the intensity to create her own asking Eleven if she can find her son. Eleven says that she can, but when Nancy asks if Eleven can find Barb, her response is not as sure.

 

Given both a walkie talkie and Jonathan’s blurry poolside photo of Barb, Eleven attempts to find both Will and Barb inside her mind, but either she or the radio isn’t strong enough to make the connection. She apologizes to Joyce and then goes into the bathroom to wash the tears from her face. It’s here that she notices the bathtub and remembers that she has a better chance of finding Will and Barb if she’s placed inside a “bath.” So, after receiving some late-night advice from Mr. Clarke (Randall P. Havens) on how to create a sensory deprivation tank, everyone heads to the Hawkins High School gym where they fill a collapsible wading pool with lukewarm water and 1,500 pounds of de-icing salt.

 

While everyone works to create a makeshift tank, Joyce wraps duct tape around a pair of safety goggles with Eleven and thanks her for everything she’s doing for her family. This moment is the complete antithesis to any moment we’ve ever seen Eleven share with Dr. Brenner prior to a test or task he asks her to undergo for his benefit. In contrast to Brenner, Joyce is gracious, genuine, respectful and promises Eleven that she will be with her the entire time she is in the pool. She also says to her that if at any time “it ever gets too scary, in that place, you just let me know.” So, for those keeping score, Joyce has just told a little girl who has been isolated as a form of punishment when she is unable to perform the tasks she’s forced to do, that she is not alone and that she can essentially choose to quit the task she is now being asked to do if and when she becomes too afraid to continue. And, Joyce coveys all of this while holding Eleven’s hands and staring her straight in the eyes the way parents do when they mean what they say.

 

Eleven goes with Joyce into the gym and steps into the pool. She slips the goggles over her eyes and lies flat on her back floating in the water. Almost instantly she finds Barb, but Barb is not alive. She is covered in slime and sludge, a yellow-spotted slug oozing out of her decaying mouth. Eleven begins to scream the word “gone” in both her mind and into the gym, causing Nancy to gasp and cry with grief. Eleven begins to visibly panic, but Joyce reaches across the pool taking Eleven’s hands and reminding her, “It’s okay. We’re right here, honey . . . you’re safe.” She continues to talk to Eleven, her reassuring words penetrating into the dark room of Eleven’s mind and calming her.

 

Eleven takes a deep breath and refocuses, this time seeing the fort inside the forest where Will is hiding in front of her. Eleven reads the sign at the top of the fort aloud, “Castle Byers,” and Joyce knows Eleven is close to finding Will. Inside her mind, Eleven steps into the fort, looks down and sees Will (Noah Schnapp) unconscious but alive on the floor. She kneels down beside him and wakes him, telling him that his mom is coming for him. Will looks up at Eleven and says, “Hurry,” his voice transmitting into the gym through the walkie talkie. Joyce tells Eleven to tell Will to stay where he is and that she is coming to get him, but the fort dissolves like smoke around Eleven taking Will with it.

 

Eleven doesn’t understand what happening and begins to scream Will’s name as she curls into a ball and rocks herself until Joyce is able to wake her from the room inside her mind. Inside the gym, Joyce pulls Eleven into her arms and holds her close, saying to her again, “I’ve got you.” Joyce wraps Eleven in a towel and leaves her to rest with the boys while she and Hopper head to the Hawkins Lab. They know where Will is, they just need to go through the gate to get to him.

 

Inside the Upside Down, Will sings “Should I Stay or Should I Go” to himself. Outside his fort, the sound of the monster’s shrieking shocks him into silence. He listens as the monster stomps around outside, its growling seeming to disappear after a few tense seconds pass. Then, the wall of Will’s fort blows open, and the credits for Chapter Seven begin to roll.