I knew something was up when we saw Steve fret not only about his essay, but his post-Hawkins High life — or even if he wanted a post-Hawkins life at all. That might have been the most “real” scene of the whole season.

I was legit worried — and then legit relieved when the DemoDogs scurried past him. And then dude has the presence of mind to lift Dustin out of harm’s way. Hell if anybody at my high school would’ve been that nice.

CUT TO: Ollie North shredding documents marked “Hawkins.”

WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS, SHEEPLE!

Well said, I also liked the episode more than most. One thing I think it also set up: “Losing” Eleven, combined with the increased scrutiny on Hawkins, is absolutely going to give us a visit from Kali next season. King Steve vs. Mohawk Guy, anybody?

Out of all the goddamn cool things about King Steve, him sliding into an older brother role for Dustin is right near the top.

Thanks for putting these together, Erik. Not sure I’m with you on “The Lost Sister,” but I can’t fault your analysis.

Ironically, making him a corrupt cop brings him closer to Plastic Man’s origins.

Breacher may not exactly be Team Flash, but I’d want Danny Trejo on my squad against the Thinker.

Was anybody else disappointed Ruby didn’t knock out some Bikini Kill? Maybe even some Go-Gos?

See, I think it makes sense to me in that these kids would go with anything that was “hot” at that point. Think of them as a “Now That’s What I Call Music” buying demo. One more reason Siouxsie Girl stood out in that crowd — Barb is dead, let’s get her a spinoff.  

Considering what El can do, I thought she pulled her telepathic punch in that scene. After all, Max’s neck is fine.

The music stuff is interesting as far as his coding goes. (I mean, giving him a Ted Nugent tune early on was brilliant in that regard.) But part of me wonders how it would’ve gone if he’d been listening to stuff from the Orange County hardcore scene of the time.

I do like that Gideon’s shed any pretense of impartiality. And she’s not wrong - Ava is a bit of a jackass. Sara can do much better.

Maaaan, Canadians had some good kids’ TV.

I’m gonna miss Wally, too. But if it means bro times on the Waverider with Nate, Jax, and Ray I’m in. Mind you, him popping over to Kara’s Earth to protect that Central City would’ve been nice, too.

Ending the episode with Joe’s look and no music was like the feel-good flipside to the lead-in to “The Body” on Buffy.

I thought FatherOctavian below made a good point about the continuity of the “wall” remark given the administration in Kara’s U.S. Regardless of that I felt the scene with Maggie and her dad was a good conversation to hear in prime-time, on-the-nose and all. (Your point about representation, though, Caroline, is well…

Yeah that’s a hell of a way to go for WB continuity.

As an intro to Beaks I thought this was fine - maybe closer to a B. His moment of “getting real” definitely left me anticipating his next appearance, though. Overall I felt Robin Atkin Downes stole the episode. I’d be into seeing Falcon Graves in a professional squabble with some of Glomgold’s hired guns.

Michael Cole: WELCOME TO HALLOWEEN HAZMAT!