Happy Friday, my fellow strangers! It’s Mrs. Strange once again. On today’s episode
for Stranger Universe, as requested by you all, we will share with you our top 10 episodes
of Stranger Things.
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This video request comes from “LEGO Animations.” Comment down below any topics you want us
to go over. A tribute to the classic supernatural mysteries of the 80s, Stranger Things is the
story of a boy who disappears in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, without a trace
in 1983. In his desperate search, both his friends and family and the local sheriff are
involved in an extraordinary enigma: top-secret experiments, terrifying paranormal forces
and a very, very strange girl. 5 years later, and now Stranger Things is one of the most
popular shows in the whole world, and all three seasons have received critical acclaim.
Even the episodes considered to be the worst would often be highly touted for other series.
As we wait for season 4, we figured that now would be a good time to narrow things down
and pick out the 10 best episodes so far in Stranger Things.
Number 10: Trick Or Treat, Freak. The second episode of the second season, it was the big
Halloween episode for Stranger Things. A lot of the season two promotional stuff centered
around the kids dressed as the Ghostbusters and getting to see it was a ton of fun, especially
for those with 80s nostalgia. But that was just the tip of the iceberg for this episode.
After Eleven's apparent death in the season one finale, she appeared at the end of the
season two premiere. "Trick or Treat, Freak" gave us some insight into her life since she
disappeared and gave us our first look at the father/daughter bond formed with Hopper.
Number 9: The Bite. The penultimate episode of season 3 sets the stage for the finale
and leaves you with a big cliffhanger. A lot of the season focused on the limits of Eleven's
powers, but Eleven is badly wounded in the fight, properly raising the stakes ahead of
the finale. It's also the episode where not only Robin and Steve solidify their friendship,
but it is also when she comes out of the closet, marking history as being the first openly
gay character in the series. There's also a surprisingly well done emotional moment
as Alexei is killed just as we started to like him.
Number 8: the pilot episode; The Vanishing of Will Byers. The opening D&D scene is precious:
the boy’s 10-hour campaign is a perfect summation of nerdy childhoods and shows why
the game was so fun in the early ’80s. The chemistry between these kids is incredible,
and makes us fall in love with them right away. Eleven’s encounter with Benny Hammond
is a perfect introduction of her character. The episode also introduces all the other
iconic characters; Joyce, Hopper, Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve, perfectly setting up the rest of
the season.
Number 7: The Spy. The sixth episode of season 2 which, interestingly enough, it is the only
episode to not feature Eleven. "The Spy" brought a lot of great things together. For starters,
it was where the lovable Dustin and Steve friendship truly got going. Hearing them discuss
girls problems and hair products was great. We also get a deeper dive into Max, as she
bonds with the team and reveals some of her back story to Lucas. Meanwhile, intense stuff
happened at Hawkins Lab. Will was forced to act as a spy for the Mind Flayer, causing
the death of several men, while also bringing the Demodogs to the lab and putting everyone
in danger.
Number 6: The Sauna Test. The fourth episode of season 3 gave us our first battle between
the kids and Billy, and it didn't disappoint. Billy, under the control of the Mind Flayer,
broke out of the sauna and was intimidating. When he held Eleven up by the throat, it's
both brutal and terrifying. Eleven gets her shots in and this worked as a tremendous first
encounter, definitely one of the most intense moments in the series. There's also a touching
mother and daughter moment between Karen and Nancy.
Number 5: The Gate. The season 2 finale picks up right after Eleven reunites with everyone,
and starts off with her hugging Mike. Mileven forever. Will’s exorcism is a ripper, as
Joyce proceeds to burn the Mind Flayer out of him by shoving three electric heaters close
to him on full blast. Eleven closing the gate is the moment of glory, but the Snow Ball
epilogue is the series’ best scene, as we see all the boys ending up paired with the
“right girl”, dancing to the creepy ’80s stalker song, “Every Breath You Take”.
It’s so moving, so right, and such a satisfying conclusion.
Number 4: Holly, Jolly. The third episode of season 1 is a series favorite for good
reason. Hopper and the kids see Will’s body dragged from the river, and they have no reason
to think it’s a fake. Mike’s furious reaction as he accuses El and runs home enraged, to
the scoring of Peter Gabriel’s cover for David Bowie’s “Heroes”, is a rare piece
of cinematic art. It was this episode that fully hooked me into Stranger Things. I binged
the rest of the episodes from this point, and have never looked back since.
Number 3: The Monster. The sixth episode of the first season, which arguably has the most
iconic scene in the franchise, perhaps tied with the van flip. The scene in question is
when Dustin and Mike were bullied and Mike was forced to jump off a cliff. To the surprise
of everyone, Mike floated thanks to Eleven showing up to save the day. The shot of her
walking over to save Mike and Dustin is perhaps the most iconic image of the character. She
sent the bullies packing and was actually a beautiful sentiment because Eleven was worried
that she was a monster, but Mike assured her that what she did was heroic. We also
got to see Eleven steal Eggos from a supermarket, and shined a light on her past while giving
us an early look at the Upside Down.
Number 2: the Battle of Starcourt. The grand finale to season 3, “the Battle of Starcourt”
is cinematic. Clocking in at 90 minutes, we finally got everyone in the same place at
the same time for a warm reunion before they had to go off on their own missions. The "Scoop
Troop" was off to handle communications and directions, which led to the outrageous scene
of Dustin and Suzie singing the theme song from The Neverending Story. The actual fight
at the Starcourt Mall was one of the best in series history. With Eleven's powers not
working, it forced everyone else to step up. Lucas' idea of using fireworks on the Mind
Flayer was smart and gave us some stunning visuals. Billy had a heroic death as he turned
the tide after being mind-controlled for most of the season. The topper was Joyce finally
agreeing to go on a date with Hopper, only for him to seemingly perish as she closed
the gate and saved the day. The letter that Hopper wrote to Eleven, and the whole sequence
that ensues as we hear him read it, is one of the saddest scenes ever made in the history
of film and television.
And finally, Number 1: the Upside Down. Season 1 ended on the highest note possible with
everything that the previous seven episodes built towards came to a thrilling end in "The
Upside Down." Joyce and Hopper took a long trip into the Upside Down to rescue Will.
Getting to spend a lot of time in that world was something all fans wanted for most of
the season. There was also Steve getting his big heroic moment when he returned to save
Nancy and Jonathan from the Demogorgon with a spiked baseball bat. The true high point
for the episode arguably came in the storyline where the kids did battle in the school.
Eleven got to ruthlessly take out her "papa" and all of his goons before turning her attention
to the Demogorgon. Her goodbye to Mike as she risked it all to save Hawkins was truly
touching and a fantastic way to wrap up the season. In an alternate universe, this would’ve
been the last time we would’ve seen these characters or at the very least this cast,
because of course, the original plan was for Stranger Things to be an anthology series
with a season taking place in a different decade. I applaud Netflix and the Duffers
for not doing this decision as it wouldn’t have led the series to become the phenomenon
that it is now, and certainly wouldn’t have led to the creation of Stranger Universe.
And that is all that we have for today. What do you think about our ranking? Today’s
special shout out is for Cool Jake. Comment down below to become our next lucky Stranger
Universe shout out.
Don’t forget that Stranger Universe is on Twitter and Instagram. Follow us at struniverse
to stay updated with us every day.
Let us know what you think in the comments. Don’t forget to like and subscribe! Also,
don’t forget to turn on notifications to never miss another Stranger Universe video
again. Help get this video to 100 views and likes if you really want to see us release
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great Stranger Things content.
I am Mrs. Strange, and this is Stranger Universe.