Stranger Things 2: Episode 5 “Dig Dug” Review

Trauma comes to bear as the series finds its horror roots.

★★★★1/2

PTSD lies within every character in Stranger Things, in some way or another. We see it in the way Lucas becomes terrified that Max won’t take his story seriously, the way Steve sits permanently in denial and the way Nancy sits permanently in guilt. We get a look at everyone’s pain at some point during “Dig Dug” and nowhere is that clearer than in the show’s two most unfortunate alive characters: Will and Eleven.

Will and Eleven (as far as we know) are not chosen by destiny or fate to become the prime guinea pigs for the Upside-Down; there’s very little rationalizing the situation they are in. Their trauma, whilst very different, is born of the same evil and so its no surprise that they have been granted the brunt of the focus during Season 2.

Will continues to exemplify the Phineas Gage case that was brought up in Episode 3; only the damage of Will’s vanishing isn’t only changing his personality. In fact, aside from the autopiloted scribbles and occasional “He likes it cold”, Will’s connection to the shadow monster has been mostly rooted in vague psychic connection. But as the preference for the cold originally indicated, either Will’s very physiology has begun to change or his connection to the monster has overridden his very nervous system; something the unsettling final shot all but confirms as Will’s insides roast along with the tunnels running underneath Hawkins. Will, step by step, has become a vessel for the shadow monster as the Upside-Down refuses to let him go.

The borderline body-horror of the last shot echoes a dive into horror territory that was prodded at the end of episode 3 with the monster physically attacking Will, but comes to forefront here. Hopper’s journey into the tunnels that culminates in him being left to rot were it not for Joyce and Bob’s rescue is the most obvious element, but there’s also the grisly psychological horror present in Eleven’s visit to her mother.

Eleven, having been rescued by Hopper before Season 2 even properly begins, has had an arc rooted more firmly in the search for a home that has been denied to her by the experimentation and continued efforts of the Hawkins Laboratory. Of course, Eleven is also a child and so Hopper’s efforts (which manage to utterly pure yet also ill-handled) prove too frustrating and ultimately drive Eleven to find the home that she never had. She quickly discovers her mother in the middle of what I can best describe as a waking coma, living life as though it were a dream, oblivious to all around here. Everyone except her own daughter, that is, and Eleven’s arrival quickly prompts enough electrical disturbances and nosebleeds to clue them in that Eleven’s mum wants to communicate something. A sensory-deprivation dive into the mum’s mind reveals the nature of her waking dream – she continually relives the trauma which placed her in this state (the abduction of Eleven/Jane) over and over and over. Literally: inescapable trauma.

Elsewhere, Nancy and Jonathan continue to put their plan into action to destabilize Hawkins’ Lab through public backlash. That the two of them do this without telling any other characters speaks to their desire not to get any of them hurt, but also the isolation they feel from their respective families. Remember that Jonathon and Nancy spent a good majority of Season 1 away from anyone else and that this is the lens through which they ultimately view those events. Nancy asks Jonathon why they only come together when the world is about to end, which is fairly unconscious way of wondering why they don’t go running to anybody else. It certainly won’t be Steve, whose glib “What do I have to apologise for?” kind of answers its own question.

“Dig Dug” is a refreshing upping of the ante following the relatively cautious “Will the Wise” and on its own represents the end of a couple of mini-strands set up from last week. Its not a perfect episode (journey on down to the notes below for that cheery conversation) but it pushes the show’s elements further with more gusto than it has done previously. It doesn’t hurt that, despite the doom and gloom nature of this write-up, the show’s genre roots are still kept within focus to the effect that it never stops being entertaining. Is it too lame to say I ‘dug’ this episode? It is? Yeah, you’re probably right.

Episode 6 "The Spy" review here.

Other notes:

• Okay, I said I’d talk about Max last episode so let’s talk Max. She remains arguably the weakest element of the show so far, which is to say nothing of the performance itself but more to do with how the show has defined her so far: namely, it hasn’t. There’s something, possibly abuse, something going on between her and 80s Zac Efron that, when revealed, might fit the ‘trauma’ theme of the season, but right now she’s a total question mark. Which is a problem when the show promotes her to main cast member and asks us to feel potentially sorry for her. It’s difficult to completely empathize of feel sorry for Max when the show is also waving it in our face that there’s something going on that might make that particular empathy moot in the long run.

• Still, the episode kept up the pace just when it needed to, so the Max business doesn't make too much of a dent. I'm hoping the show sorts it out soon, though.

• Bob “the brain” is back and affirms himself as the new quiet MVP of the show. His total confusion is played perfectly against his caring nature; even when he realises he’s being kept in the dark by Joyce and is literally thrown into the dark at the end of the episode, he can’t help but, well, help. Really, Sean Astin is just some perfect casting for this part.

• “Sorry, but you ate my cat!”

• On that note: not a whole lot of Dustin in this episode, though I’m astounded at his continued stupidity. At least try and kill D’artagnon while its small(ish) instead of locking him away for him to grow to become a full Demogorgan. Honestly, get it together, Dustin.

• No show, I don’t care how well it’s acted: you can’t sell me on your Nancy/Jonathon/Steve love triangle.

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