TSTP 042- The Flayed

08/04/19 • 78 min

This is a code red. I repeat a code red. There are innocent children trapped by Russian soldiers under Star Court Mall. That’s right under this completely innocent shopping establishment is a secret Russian base. What is lurking underneath the oblivious shoppers of Hawkins? Does it have anything to do with the Upside Down?

Joyce and Hopper continue their investigation. Joyce is still asking about magnets. Hopper is more focused on looking around the plots of land bought up by the owners of Star Court Mall. They narrowly escape Grigori while he pursues them with a machine gun. They must have answers. Hopper kidnaps Dr.Alexei, a Russian scientist, to try and get some. The language barrier is definitely a problem. Jim said they have to go to Illinois. Joyce questions why there is no one that speaks Russian in Indiana. I think Hopper feels they need someone crazy enough to believe what he is translating. If you need someone to believe a conspiracy you go to Murray Bauman’s house.

Nancy Drew is on the case and she goes to pick up Mike and the gang before heading to the Holloway home to investigate. She really does a good job reconstructing the events that took place there. The Monster is changing. It has developed a taste for cleaning chemicals and fertilizer. Mr. Clarke taught the boys when you combine chemicals together you can create new things. What new nightmare is the Mind Flayer creating? The Flayed want to go back. Go back to where no one knows. Maybe if they follow Mrs. Driscoll they will find what they seek.

Team Scoops Ahoy scores a win using the mysterious green canister to prop the door. They are all able to squeeze out of the elevator. Erica thinks she has caught a glimpse of the radio room. They must be able to contact the surface. Steve Harrington has finally won a fight. He subdues one of the guards so they can get in the room with the blinking lights. What they find there is more than they bargained for. One mystery has been solved the green canisters are being used to fuel a giant laser. What are they doing with it? It appears they are piercing the veil that separates our world from the Upside Down. Don’t they understand what kind of evil lurks there?

At Hawkins Hospital the desk clerk is insisting that only two people can go to Mrs Driscoll’s room. Leaving the kids in the lobby, Nancy and Jonathan proceed to the fourth floor. Mrs. Driscoll is nowhere to be found. Instead they are faced with zombie servants of the Mind Flayer. They may look like Tom and Bruce but they are certainly not completely human any more. Totally oblivious to the chaos upstairs Lucas gives Mike relationship advice.

Above their heads on the fourth floor a Day of the Dead situation is unfolding. Nancy and Jonathan are fighting for their lives. They appear to be the last two people standing on this floor. Remember a few episodes back when the rat exploded? Well we have advanced to the next level now. Once a flayed person is defeated their body melts into a pile of goo. Okay so that’s disgusting but not too much to worry about right? Oh no we are dealing with many people united in a single mind. Like the zombie hoard in Will’s latest campaign. When they appear defeated the remnants of the flayed slither towards each other. They combine into something bigger. They unite into a Monster that defies definition. I wonder if the Dungeons and Dragons book has a name for this?

Previous Episode

TSTP 041- The Sauna Test

Some like it hot. The Mind Flayer does not. Eleven is worried that there is something wrong with Billy. Max says wrong is Billy’s default setting, but El can’t get what happened out of her mind. She closed the gate. There should not be any monsters left in Hawkins. Something still seems off. As dawn breaks Lucas is calling a code red. Maybe Eleven is right. Strange things continue in this town.

At Scoops Ahoy the code has been cracked and a plan is forming. The doors are too well guarded. There has to be another way in. Robin buys a copy of the Star Court blueprints from the city. The plan is to crawl through the vents. Despite his lack of collar bones Dustin cannot fit in the small space. As luck would have it, everyone's favorite little sister is at the counter seeking free samples. They tell Erica the plan to defeat the evil Russians. The sassy little girl tells them that she will not agree to the plan until she is told what benefits she will gain by participating.

The group minus Dustin has responded to the code red. They must come up with a way to corner Billy. Will says the Monster is back and will be looking for a new host. How will they know if the Mind Flayer is now controlling Billy? They head off to the pool to observe. Nothing seems too out of place, though Billy is shielded from the sun and sipping a slushy. Heat was used to drive the Monster out of Will. It is time to subject Billy to the Sauna test.

Nancy and Jonathan crossed a line. They were summer interns at the Hawkins Post, not official reporters. Tom is very upset with this turn of events. Nancy and Jonathan are fired on the spot. After how she was treated by her coworkers, Nancy just wants to be right. She didn’t think of the ramifications of what losing a summer job would mean for the Beyer’s household. Tom doesn’t look so good. I wonder what is wrong with him.

Hopper is on the case of the mysterious motorcycle man. He storms into the Mayor’s office and pressures him for details. At his mansion Larry unlocks a safe that contains a number of deeds for various pieces of land. After some more coaxing the Mayor reveals that all of these deeds represent land bought by the owners of Star Court. What are they developing now? Does it all tie back to the Russians?

It is closing time at the pool. Two operations are taking place across town from each other. Mike is using a walkie talkie to lure Billy to the sauna. Back at Star Court Erica enters the vent for “operation child endangerment”. As things heat up at the pool. Billy is begging Max to let him out. Is this the man underneath the Monster? They don’t have time to ponder this thought as Will feels the Mind Flayer activate. A battle of strength and will begins between Eleven and Billy. Back at the Mall Erica is able to open the door allowing her team to finally investigate the boxes. They certainly do not contain Chinese food. Inside are tubes of what looks like green lightning bugs swirling in formation. Are these another vessel set to spread the affliction across the whole town or farther? Billy gains the upper hand on Eleven for a moment, but in a last burst of power she tosses him through a brick wall.

Dustin and his team work to get out of the secret room. The buttons are not responding. Suddenly the secret room that turns out to be an elevator begins to plummet. Across town Eleven is completely drained. The kids might have won this battle but the war is on. The man that controls the Newspaper in Hawkins is under the influence of the Monster and he is not alone. The Mind Flayer retreated but is not defeated. Keep your eyes open for all things strange.

Next Episode

TSTP 043- E Pluribus Unum

E Pluribus Unum. Out of many one. Powerful is the Monster’s influence. Pulling all those that are infected towards the source. Countless innocent residents of Hawkins giving their lives to the Mind Flayer, as many become one. We must put our hope in the few that understand what consequences reopening the gate will bring.

Team Scoops Ahoy has been discovered by the Russians. Steve and Robin sacrifice their freedom so that Dustin and Erica can get away. They say the simplest answer is the right one. Steve really does work for Scoops Ahoy and really did stumble across the secret compound by accident. Sure he was having a fun time solving a mystery with Dustin. I am not sure that Steve thought it would turn out to be real. I love that we got a vulnerable moment from Robin in this episode. She admits she had a crush on Steve. In a moment where it looks like our heroes can’t take much more Dustin and Erica save the day with a taser. Why do the Russians have this instrument? Do the Russians have creatures from the Upside Down captured here?

Grigori wants to find Hopper. He is using violence to inspire Mayor Kline to give up information. I don’t think the Mayor has the information the intimidating Russian wants. In Illinois Hopper and Joyce are continuing to try to get information from the Scientist. Alexei is afraid. What will happen if he doesn’t do what his superiors want from him? He saw what happened to the last Scientist that did not produce results. Perhaps he will help the Americans. They seem to have experience with things involved in his mysterious research.

At Hawkins Hospital the lights begin to flicker. Will feels the presence of the Mind Flayer. The kids proceed to the fourth floor to see what is going on. Nancy is running from the Monster. She barricades herself in a room thinking that it will give her a moment of safety, however the creature has a disgusting talent. It can break down into the slime that it is made of and squeeze through the grate at the bottom of the door. Nancy came really close to becoming a servant of the Mind Flayer. At the last moment Eleven is able to toss the creature off of Nancy. Then in an extraordinary burst of energy El launches the creature out of the window. The creature slinks into the sewer. They must find Billy. He may be able to shed some light on the plan. What should the next step be?

In the void El is able to find Billy. We finally get some details on why he is filled with so much rage. Billy Hargrove was violent and angry long before the Mind Flayer came to town. The question remains can the kids stop this evil before it controls the mind of every resident in this town? What did Billy mean when he said this was all built for Eleven? What will happen now that the Mind Flayer has El in it's sight. Joyce is concerned that the man relaying a telephone message to Dr. Owens does not understand the gravity of the situation. You know who does understand the urgency of phone messages? Darrell and Addi would love to hear from you as this mystery continues to unravel.