Chapter Five: The Flayed

Episode aired Jul 4, 2019
TV-14
51m

IMDb RATING

8.5/10

21K

YOUR RATING

Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and Noah Schnapp in Stranger Things (2016)

Drama Fantasy Horror Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller

Strange surprises lurk inside an old farmhouse and deep beneath the Starcourt Mall. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer is gathering strength.Strange surprises lurk inside an old farmhouse and deep beneath the Starcourt Mall. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer is gathering strength.Strange surprises lurk inside an old farmhouse and deep beneath the Starcourt Mall. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer is gathering strength.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.5/10

21K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
When Grigori (Andrey Ivchenko) storms the farmhouse, his mechanical gait, clenched jaw, spiky haircut, emotionless, European-accented voice, and overall robotic motions (like when hip-firing his AK-47 at a fleeing vehicle) are all highly suggestive of the menacing cyborg mannerisms of Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator (1984) (even the clanky synth music that swells at the end of this scene is similar).

Goofs
While trying to escape the Russian facility, Dustin and his group look at the strange machine and the men working on it through some glass panes on a door. When the camera pans out, one of the scientists strolling through the room stops near a desk and looks directly at the door and the kids, not reacting at all.

Quotes
Joyce Byers: What is your problem? We have had a very long day. We've been shot at, nearly blown up, walked god knows how many miles in 100 degree heat, stole a car, all while being chased by this gigantic psychopath, all so we could bring HIM to YOU because somehow you're the closest person who speaks Russian, which I can't believe but that doesn't matter because unfortunately we're here, so if you don't mind put that thing away, stop behaving like a jackass, and ask him what he's doing that is making my magnets fall off my damn fridge! Please!

Connections
References The Evil Dead (1981)

Soundtracks
Stairway Chase
(uncredited)
[From the film "Midnight Run (1988)"]
Composed by Danny Elfman
Performed by Danny Elfman

User reviews50

Featured review

8/10

The excitement continues.

Part five of season three starts off in cracking form with Steve, Robin, Dustin and Erica unwittingly taking the express mall elevator to Russian HQ, deep below the surface of Hawkins, and with Joyce and Hopper finding trouble in the basement of an old farmhouse - trouble in the shape of a big Russian with a machine gun! The kids in the elevator escape to explore a network of tunnels, and Joyce and Hopper take a hostage, Alexei, from whom they hope to get some answers.

With just the right blend of excitement and humour, this is another excellent episode (after the wonderful fourth episode), one that sees the characters in more then a little genuine peril. The kids in the subterranean Russian lair are pursued by evil Russians, with Dustin and Erica escaping, but Steve and Robin being taken captive, and Nancy and Jonathan come face-to-face with a globulous monster in the Hawkins Memorial Hospital.

All in all, a very satisfying episode that bodes well for the remaining chapters.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.