Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt
- Episode aired Jul 4, 2019
- TV-14
- 1h 16m
Terror reigns in the food court when the Mind Flayer comes to collect. But down below, in the dark, the future of the world is at stake.Terror reigns in the food court when the Mind Flayer comes to collect. But down below, in the dark, the future of the world is at stake.Terror reigns in the food court when the Mind Flayer comes to collect. But down below, in the dark, the future of the world is at stake.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAfter the airing of this episode, singer Limahl found out that his song "The Neverending Story" (sung in the episode by Gaten Matarazzo and Gabriella Pizzolo) had been streamed more than a million times on Spotify, an increase of 825%.
- GoofsSuzie claims Planck's constant is 6.62607004, but that measurement is from 2014.
- Quotes
Jim Hopper: [reading] There's something I've been wanting to talk to you both about - and I know this is a difficult conversation. But I care about you both very much. And I know you care about each other very much and that's why it's important that we set these boundaries moving forward so we can build an environment, where we ALL feel comfortable, trusted and open to sharing our feelings. Feelings. Jesus.
[walks to the table and starts writing]
Jim Hopper: The truth is, for so long, I'd forgotten what those even were. I've been stuck in one place - in a cave, you might say. A deep dark cave. And then, I left some Eggos out in the woods and you came into my life and... for the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy. But lately, I guess I've been feeling... distant from you. Like you're pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night, making triple-decker Eggo extravaganzas at sunrise, watching westerns together before we doze off. But I know you're getting older, growing, changing. And I guess... if i'm being really honest, that's what scares me. I don't want things to change. So I think maybe that's why I came here, to try to maybe... stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were. But I know that's naive. It's just... not how life works. It's moving. Always moving whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's sad and sometimes it's surprising. Happy. So you know what? Keep on growing up, kid. Don't let me stop you. Make mistakes, learn from 'em, and when life hurts you - because it will - remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you're out of that cave. But, please, if you don't mind, for the sake of your poor old dad, keep the door open three inches.
- Crazy creditsThe mid-credits scene takes place in a Russian facility and sees Russian soldiers take a prisoner into the feeding cage of the Demogorgon.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Most Re-Watched TV Scenes of All Time (2019)
Part of me was actually expecting quite a lot from "Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt", despite the season not being up to top standard. Primarily because the previous two seasons had absolutely brilliant season finales. "Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt" is every bit as brilliant thankfully and is at its best spectacular. It is one of only two outstanding episodes from Season 3, the other being "Chapter Four: The Sauna Test", and gets my vote as the best episode of the season. Everything that a season finale should be and it improves pretty much on everything that was disappointing about most of the season.
Had no issues with almost any element here, other than the slightly out of place musical number that should have been featured in another part of the episode or excised. That though was not enough to mar the episode, not when the execution of everything was as good as it was.
The visuals are of outstanding quality. Very stylish and atmospheric, with some truly beautiful images that one can't believe such high quality comes from a Netflix show. Not to mention the highly impressive special effects that put a good deal of big budget films in recent years to shame. The music has a wonderful 80s nostalgic vibe while also being quite haunting, enhancing the atmosphere beautifully. The performances are excellent across the board, absolutely no sore spot in this aspect.
Character development is illuminating and investable in one of the few episodes of the season to advance any of the characters in progression. Hopper is at his most interesting all season here and is closer to the older Hopper than the less appealing one he was this season. Writing has lost none of its brains and heart, while there is an ominous creepiness there is some genuinely funny and gentle humour, an affectionate nostalgia and poignancy without any cheese or melodrama. The story is darkly suspenseful with plenty going on (without being too crowded).
With the ending being very exciting and emotionally powerful. The tragic elements here are very shocking and also heart-breaking, not feeling like a cheap way of getting rid of a maligned character or feeling abrupt and indicative of an actor being fired mid season as has happened with some shows. There is plenty of depth and complexity in the mystery.
Spectacular season finale and it was a shame that most of the previous episodes of the season were not indicative of how good 'Stranger Things' was at its best. 10/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Nov 13, 2022
Details
- Runtime1 hour 16 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.00 : 1