Finally, the wait is over. Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2 (Episodes 5, 6, and 7) is released. It is 11:00 AM in India at this time and my head is still swirling since I had devoured all the three episodes with a good cup of coffee one after another.
I have seen the Telugu version dubbed in Netflix and it is amazing. The Telugu dub just falls at a different level in case you believe that the English version is punchy. It is rough, it has that emotional punch, so local that you almost forget that it is located in Hawkins, Indiana. Its finale will be on the 31 st of December, though these three episodes, Shock Jock, Escape from Camazotz and The Bridge are more or less the appetizer.
Let’s break it down. This is my impression of why this is pure blockbuster.
Telugu Dubbing: Mass Factor Next Level
Even in the initial stages of the dialog, you are caught up. The dubbing crew hit the panic and the slang of the 80s but never made it sound, it felt like it was done brilliantly.
Dustin and Steve:
Their Telugu banter? Pure gold. It does not sound like a stilted translation when Dustin shouts at Steve when they are being attacked by the demo-bat.
Vecna:
Vecna is terror in the Telugu language. The sound designers have turned the dub into this low deep demon-bass voice that shakes you. When he bullies Eleven, it is as though he is talking to some old beast in an old legend.
Emotional Scenes:
The crying scenes, particularly when Eleven screams in the name of Max, punch even more. Something about it in your own language-that is crude.
Episode 5: Shock Jock
The Plot: The radio station turns into battleground. The gang would choose WSQK to air the truth about Vecna to the entire town. Yet everything goes wrong very quickly.
Steve, Dustin and Robin:
They run to the radio tower, and it is there the mayhem goes off. An entire swarm of mutated flying monsters comes on. Steve Harrington fans, set your shoulders, he is in full action hero mode, and that nail bat is swinging like it was in a Tollywood blockbuster. I couldn’t help but cheer.
Nancy and Jonathan:
They have got a fight of their own. The shotgun of Nancy is given the serious display it deserves and Jonathan finally comes out, saving the group against a monstrous fleshy wall that simply absorbs the bullets.
The Twist:
The “Shock Jock” scheme completely fails. The signal is not used to alert the town but rather to increase the connection between worlds. The sky changes to that dreadful, sick red of the trailers. You can just feel the dread.
Episode 6: Escape out of Camazotz
The Plot: This one’s a gut-punch. As it happens, Camazotz is a mental prison, which is buried somewhere deep in the mind of Vecna, where he incarcerates the souls of his victims, including Max.
Eleven & Max:
Eleven goes into this prison of the mind to locate Max. The last and probably the most important is Sadie Sink, who not only is lying there but is even hiding somewhere in one of the memories of Vecna, reenacting a scene of the life of young Henry Creel. The reunion of El and Max is a heart breaker. When El says, “Nenu unnanu, Max!” (I am here, Max!)–man, that got me.
Holly Wheeler:
The little sister of Mike does have a point. We have seen in Volume 1 that she was sucked into this world and now she is with Max and they are both trying to do away.
Lucas:
Lucas is losing track in the real world, desperate to do something. He employs music to bring them back. That hospital scene was pretty intense and his acting was seriously impressive.
Episode 7: The Bridge
The Plot:
This is all concerning preparation of the finale. The Bridge is simply the wormhole between dimensions, which links Hawkins with the Abyss, the place where the Mind Flayer is.
Will Byers:
It is the big episode of Will. He is no longer a victim at the end of it but is in fact a force to reckon with. We come to learn that his relation to the Upside Down is that, he can kind of manage the hive mind. One of the most chilling parts is also when he freezes a Demogorgon in the air like Vecna. He has turned into a weapon basically.
The Plan:
Will, Mike, the whole crew reunite – El, Joyce, Hopper, and everybody. They even think out that they cannot simply kill Vecna, they need to blow up the very Bridge. They determine that they must sneak into the Upside Down carrying a bomb and set it down by the strange exotic material.
Hopper & Joyce:
They are the muscle and prepare to take the children to the Bridge. The romance between Winona Ryder and David Harbour is as strong as ever.
The Cliffhanger:
This episode does not bow out quite neatly. It finishes off with the Bridge opening wide as – the world between worlds is virtually nonexistent. The sound used there is very heavy. And to make the situation even worse it fades to black at the very moment of the invasion beginning in earnest.
What Worked?
The Powers of Will:
This is the payoff of a decade of waiting as we finally see Will do what he can with his powers (which then says his nose is bleeding).
Horror:
I must admit, it really made me shiver and shake my pants – the Camazotz world is simply a dark, grey, twisted nightmare.
Pacing:
These episodes have a frantic pace in comparison with those bloated, drag-out episodes in Season 4, which is even more notable since every scene in them is tightly packed and we can easily make a guess that each and every one of them had been thought through.
What Didn’t Work?
Too Many Characters:
Regrettably, when Mr. Clarke (yes, old science teacher, old science teacher) and Linda Hamilton reappear with even more hardened survivalist roles, it begins to feel crowded here or there – poor old Jonathan must be a little sidelined in episode 6.
The Wait:
Leaving it as the cliffhanger before the final battle is simply inhumane – the 5 days wait before the last battle is going to push me to the point of insanity.
Final Verdict
Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2 is a blockbuster. It honors the fans, provides the characters with their heroic moments, and establishes an ending that is impossible to win.
Rating: 4/5 Demogorgons
Don’t miss it. See it before the internet ruins the Will Byers twist.
