"Stranger Things" Chapter Eight: Papa (TV Episode 2022) Poster

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9/10
LEAVE OWENS ALONE
Trey_Trebuchet19 July 2022
Another episode of Stranger Things that is of high quality. I enjoyed Season 2 and then Season 3 even more than that, but I have to admit that the way the writers are using all of the characters in this season has been much more simple long and effective.

011 has has a really good arc this season, and none of her flashbacks or the Nina Project plot outstayed welcome like I thought they might. The last act of this episode felt like it was ripped straight out of an 80s action movie, with so much heart, emotion and thrills. Great pacing, set pieces and acting all around.

The moment between Mike and Will was also extremely well acted and heartbreaking. I genuinely love Will this season. I have no idea what his role will be in the final season, but I've got a feeling it'll probably be very important.

The final moments between 011 and Papa were also really chilling and felt earned. Modine was excellent, but Brown was seriously phenomenal.

A truly cinematic, great addition to the series.
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10/10
Totally Engaging
Hitchcoc5 July 2022
I'm an old guy, not much for kid actors. I know there are some stereotypes here, but I find this bunch to be so much fun. I thought the story had to be told to get us ready for the finish of the season. With an ensemble cast we need to add meat to the story. They do this so well. If there's a weakness to the whole thing it would be how quickly they determine what they can do to stop this monster. Of course, then you dismiss the show. I'm always amazed at the limited attention spans of some of the viewers. It's as if there has to be a significant scene every few seconds to hold their gaze. I like getting deeper into characters and motivations. I also enjoyed the parallel plot in the USSR. What an amazing contribution to the film world.
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9/10
Dang, those feels
colinsomething1 July 2022
By the end of the episode, you begin to realize: dang, I think I might be living through a historic moment in television with season 4. All the right feelings, at all the right moments, entertaining, great characters.

I'm having to force myself to stop and take a break before I watch the finale because already I'm in that feeling I get when I am so enthralled by a piece of television I can't think about much else.
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10/10
[9.5] Papa
jimmyishere-377481 July 2022
Spoiler Free Zone!!!

I just have to say WOW. The quality of the series has drastically improved. I was left speechless with my jaw on the floor at the end. The Duffer Brothers have created another masterpiece episode, with all of the characters nailing their performances.

They better give some awards especially to Sadie and Millie because they frickin carried the episode with their amazing acting skills.

This is indeed the beginning of the end.
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10/10
Four Chimes
tristan_191 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Papa is a phenomenal set up, as well as providing the thrills and cathartic moments. From the opening, with Vecna showing Nancy what would happen, to the very end with Max, Lucas and Erica, it is relentless.

Doctor Brenner has a fantastic journey in this episode, and Owens has his moments to shine also. I love how they keep threading the lines between good and bad, depicting the conflict in the characters. You have a difference of philosophies, and you can clearly see all sides. Brenner has good intentions, but when does the end justify the means and methods ? Do you keep away choices, or do you push for the greater good ? Jane has solid arguments and you can relate. Same with Brenner. It's interesting.

The stakes have never been higher, because the fourth kill might mean tearing up the fabric of our world, and Hawkins would fall. Max is so brave, like always. Nancy has spunk and does whatever it takes. The character moments are unbelievable here. Will and Mike have an emotional talk. The little interactions when our crew is prepping for war are spot on and well written.

A specific scene in a weapon store was stress inducing like crazy. Nancy running into Jason was definitely something to see. But Eleven's comeback has to be one of the best moments of the show. She brings down a chopper and it explodes in flames right in front of our stunned Cali crew. The cinematography is elite. And Papa's demise is so emotional and effective. Props to the music. It feels epic and earned. Finale, here we go.
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10/10
Stranger Things at it's most epic
humzahladiwala1 July 2022
"Papa" sees Stranger Things dialed up to 12, delivering on all emotional points and plot points with gusto. Matthew Modine and Millie Bobby Brown are brilliant onscreen together, particularly Modine with his delivery and use of his eyes. The California group finally shows some life from it's actors, with Noah Schnapp knocking it out of the park, and Finn Wolfhard offering solid support (finally). The writing is outstanding, with a minimal amount plot holes and every move so far is in-character, showing that the Duffers really have learned from season three. A pleasant surprise was the Russia group proving themselves to be at times as riveting as the Hawkins group, although the chemistry of the Hawkins group is so compelling. However, the heart and soul of the story lives in Eleven and her journey, and boy does it deliver on all fronts. So far, phenomenal stuff from chapter two of Stranger Things. We are back, ladies and gentlemen.
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10/10
Satisfying conclusion to the Brenner arc
mattrabbi6 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
What made me love it the most was that Eleven did not give Brenner the satisfaction he wanted in the end by telling him she understood. As good as he believed his intentions were, he was always a horrible and abusive father figure to her. Great writing on that front. ALSO the helicopter explosion was very epic. So glad they managed to pull that off with an actual explosion, and not VFX!

Lots of tension building too throughout the episode. The intro scene was brilliantly ominous and sets the dreadful tone in place for the ending of the season. I haven't watched the season finale yet, although, I can't imagine they kill off a main character here. They have so much left to cover in the final season that I think killing off a main character at this point could end up taking up too much focus in next season and could potentially bring it down. But who knows, the writers (and cinematographers) always continue to surprise and impress!
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10/10
It's coming...
joshualholmberg2 July 2022
Really good episode before the season finale, which I'm looking forward to watch in five minutes. I won't spoil anything, but it's clearly building to something epic. There are some emotional moments, the cinematography is amazing, and all of these subplots we've been following are seeming to finally come together. Should be an epic finale to conclude what has been my personal favorite season of stranger things so far.
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10/10
This season has been amazing!
calebamorgan1 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
It really was worth the wait!! They've expanded upon everything! I love finding out all the origins of the upside down and everything.

MILLIE BOBBY BROWN better finally get the recognition she truly deserves this awards season! She deserves so much more attention for her ACTING. She is so young and has been consistently so good and only gets better! She impresses so much!! Omg

I'm so nervous for the finale... I love all the characters so much and all the heartfelt moments make me so emotional.

Will's storyline has been done so well. The anxiety and confusion of being closeted as a teen. That conversation he shared with Mike at the start of the episode was so heartbreaking when he silently breaks down and cries.
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10/10
Holy crap!
DantiMovies1 July 2022
Man everyone did a fantastic job, acting was on point, writing excellent, really good leading to a wonderful comeback of the gang.

Definitely worth watching right at midnight. It was an amazing feeling that Netflix was lagging because of the amount of people that tuned in to watch it as soon as it came out!
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8/10
Worlds apart, hearts broken in two
slak96u1 July 2022
A journey...

A little drawn out, yet I'm so invested in the characters, and the show, everything is still very compelling. I'm happy for the filler, but there still is at least 30 minutes of it in this episode.

Very, very little happened through the first hour. The gang is all kind of spinning their wheels, moving into place to set up the finish. The Gun Store was completely pointless, as was much of the B Squad in the Mystery Machine driving around the desert, the Russian storyline is hit and miss. All that said, Eleven/Papa was great, really setting up some answers with some great back and forth between characters. I enjoyed the redemption arch that was given to Martin/Papa, even if it lacked subtlety.

The show continues to use music as well as any series I've ever watched, seems like such a small thing, yet ST turns music into a POWERFUL character. Also, I loved the multiple Kate Bush references made during the episode, shows rarely do that, breaking the wall a bit, letting the viewers know there is some self awareness.

Satisfying with a dash of fan service. 👌
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6/10
Stupid inconsistent writing
ben_jarmin_43 July 2022
The biggest issue with this show is ill thought out script. Small things can shatter the suspension of disbelief. For example, a row of machine guns can't kill the monster even with its face exposed, but one bullet by Hopper can? It's like that episode in season 3 where a shotgun had no effect at all, but an axe totally did. Sure Jane, that's how it works.

It seems anyone can get a job as a writer with Netflix, so if they need that one person in the room who says "What? That's just plain stupid!" Just tell me where to send my CV.

Also, that Will speech made me sick. I love cheese, stilton, cheddar, edam, name it and ill eat it. But my good gravy jebus that was the worst cheese ive ever seen, utter cringe ball.
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4/10
Tell, don't Show : The Exposition Episode.
marcholmanfowler2 July 2022
Boring Episode full of exposition between all characters.

The sharing of information and feelings with each other that not only the characters already knew (mostly), but the Audience already knew - or had at the very least - easily surmised.

Show, don't tell. Stranger Things had already shown us - why did they think we needed all this exposition to re-tell us?

Also, maybe it was just me, but I really didn't care about the Papa and Eleven relationship, particularly not at this stage. It was a yawn. And it was obvious how it was going to end. But we had to sit through exposition between these two this Episode - possibly the whole Season.

What a momentum killer after Episode 7 was terrific.
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9/10
AND WE'RE BACK!
michaelfunk-462641 July 2022
Volume 2 starts with a bang and doesn't let up! This is one hell of an intense episode, and doesn't ever take the foot off the gas. Every scene escalated into the next with emotional moment after emotional moment and tons of glorious payback in the end. I am beyond excited for the monstrous 2.5 hour finale next. This show is beyond great.
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10/10
Eleven is BACK!
TRIDENT17452 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
An epic start to volume two, Will's conversation with Mike near the start had me in tears, and the finale of the Nina crew was as epic as it could get.

Like Eleven BRINGING DOWN THAT HELICOPTER? Words cannot describe how incredible that was.

The finale of Brenner's arc was wonderfully executed with that heart-breaking scene between the two, while the death scene was so wonderfully executed.

The Duffer Brothers have created masterpiece after masterpiece. Each episode, the standards are raised to another bar that everyone thought was not possible. This season is now seen as the pinnacle of storytelling and modern television, and no doubt the season finale will create emotions that none of us knew even existed.
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9/10
The Calm Before The Storm
MamadNobari971 July 2022
But not calm at all.

Things move forward the most for the Eleven and her boyfriend's plot, but the other plot lines are pretty much where they already were and they're gonna advance those further in the finale.

But I have no problem with that because it's a necessary set-up for the story and it's good that they're taking their time and are not limited by time constraints. Even if we don't consider this a "part 2" opener and look at it as the season's penultimate episode, it is still a necessary episode between the last episode and the finale.

I pretty much liked all the things in this episode, it's a setup for the finale so it's not like it's the best episode of the show or anything, but it's still one of the better ones.

My point still stands that if Vecna doesn't actually kill one of the main characters, he doesn't become the menacing and fearful villain the writers want him to be and this season would be really disappointing to me even though it's already the best season of the show, and all the tension and suspense would be for nothing and Vecna would become another generic villain who couldn't do anything and lost to a song!

So here's hoping for a great finale with actual stakes and not cheap fake-outs and writers being afraid to take risks with their story. So far, this season has been amazing with everything, music, cinematography, direction and editing, and acting for the most part because I feel like Mike and Will's acting this season is really fake and bad, but the only thing holding this show back from greatness is the writing and all the clichés and writers not willing to take risks and give us something new.
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9/10
"It's not everyday that your car and house gets stolen in one fell swoop!"
TheRealPetraeus2 July 2022
As we continue from the end of Volume 1, it feels like we never left. The continuation is extremely smooth, and feels natural. This episode, while not having any really crazy moments, is still amazing. It has lots of tension and is a great prelude episode to the finale. As all of our characters suit up and prepare for the big fight against Vecna, you can feel the intensity and desperation of the situation our protagonists are in, and the ending scene is awesome. Great episode.

P. S it's also really funny.
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9/10
An amazing start for volume 2
Zero-754291 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Their's already people who reviewed this episode when it has barely been out for for barely an hour and 30 minutes 💀 but besides that this episode picked right where it left off this show never fails to amaze me I literally got chills when eleven said her final goodbyes to Doctor Brenner i dont think I'm ready for this next episode im hyped and nervous but let's see how this finale will go.
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9/10
Emotional episode
funnycommentor20 July 2022
The plot of the 8th episode was mainly, about the relationship between Papa and Eleven. The storyline was very well written. I have to admit, that the creators and the directors of the show are so clever and totally, inspiring. The opening scene, was so unexpected and very intense. Natalia's (Nancy Wheeler) acting was so good and very believable. Actually, there were many emotional scenes on that episode. The one, was about Will and Mike on the van, Noah's (Will) acting on that scene was so emotional and I kinda felt sad about Will. Another emotional scene, was about Robin on the market store, especially her facial expression on that scene was so "emotionally strong". I think the final episode is gonna be epic and kinda sad, because the ending of episode 8, was kinda weird, I felt like all the characters were kinda disappointed.. Overall, there were many intense scenes on that episode, too!
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9/10
And We're Back!
SHU_Movies1 July 2022
The wait is finally over, and the final two episodes of Stranger Things 4 have been released... And it's not disappointed me yet! This season has been an absolute blast, and it frustrates me that I won't be able to watch the finale until tonight. Its going to be a painful 10 hours, and I hope that it's worth the wait!
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10/10
Love love love!
george_aten132 July 2022
This show is JUST PERFECT!!! Everything is so beautiful made! Every little detail! This is so satisfying to watch. Thank you for this! So nostalgic for us over 40.
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7/10
Weakest of Season 4
nicofreezer2 July 2022
Not a good episode of TV , despite a solid ending.

The helicopter scene is the highlight of a very skippable episode, you could even skip the first jour when nothing important or relevant happen. You can watch the last 30 minutes and be totally cool with the story.

Eleven father is Jim... not biological but by heart, so to give the name Papa to this episode i was expecting the Eleven Hopper reunion.

(Also Finally some credit and attention given to Will byer for pete sake ) The worst episode of stranger things in a solid Season.

Rating 7.25/10.
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2/10
The culmination of everything wrong with this season
jacksonuea2 July 2022
Corny acting. Weak, pointless plotlines that are far too drawn out. Unconvincing direction. This episode had it the hardest, they are forcing drama and conflict when they should be wrapping up and moving on to the next beat. Poor pacing. 2/10 and will not be watching this season again. Duffers should have been told to cut 20% of each episode.
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10/10
Incredible
thomaspaullindsey1 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
One of the most tense episodes of this show. Mike and Eleven finally reunite and we see Steve have some big scenes with Nancy & Robin which leave me worried for his fate. It's all moving the pieces together for a huge finale. I'm terrified but I'm ready. Let's go.
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10/10
The next level.
wxcrkjrng2 July 2022
I can't describe in words the feelings i got the moment eleven came back to the group.

This season is amazing. I can't say anything bad.

This is the clam before the storm for sure.
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