| "Chapter Seven: The Bathtub" |
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"Chapter Seven: The Bathtub" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American supernatural horror-science fiction Stranger Things. It premiered on July 15, 2016, when it was released along with the rest of the first season on the American streaming service Netflix. "The Bathtub" was written by Justin Doble and directed by series creator and co-producers The Duffer Brothers.
Set in '80s, it is highly influenced by its culture and features uncanny resemblances from 1980s film industry.[1][2] The series is inspired and aesthetically informed by the works of Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Stephen King, and George Lucas, among others.[3][4]
Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) warns Mike Mike (Finn Wolfhard) on-radio that "the bad men are coming". Mike, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) flee the house and narrowly escape with Lucas, with Eleven flipping a van with her abilities to ensure they escape. Reaching their junkyard base, Lucas reconciles with Mike and Eleven.
Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) find Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) with Nancy (Natalia Dyer) at the station, and Jonathan reveals his knowledge about the creature to his mother. The group contacts Mike and his friends and they rendezvous with him at the junkyard, formulating a plan to make a sensory deprivation tank to amplify Eleven's powers so she can search for Will (Noah Schnapp) and Barbara (Shannon Purser).
The united group breaks into the middle school, constructing the tank in the gym. With Joyce's help, Eleven successfully enters the "Upside-Down" to find Barbara and Will. She finds Barbara dead, partially eaten, and Will alive, hiding in the Upside-Down version of "Castle Byers", his fort.
Hopper and Joyce attempt to break into Hawkins Laboratory to save Will, but are apprehended by security guards. Nancy and Jonathan resolve to kill the monster, and steal their hunting gear back from the police station. In the Upside-Down, an incapacitated Will is shown singing in Castle Byers, as the monster breaks in.
It was directed by The Duffer Brothers and written by Justin Doble. It was co-produced by Duffer's along with Dan Cohen and Shawn Levy of 21 Laps Entertainment.
Episode along the entire Stranger Things season was released on July 15, 2016 on Netflix as a part of its original programming.[5][6]
In a four star review of Vulture, Scott Tobias called the episode "breathless penultimate" of series and said "There are difficulties inherent in reviewing a series like this one piecemeal, because it's hard — and sometimes flat unfair — to make conclusions about a show that might be premature." [7] The A.V. Club' Emily L. Stephens praised the performance of Ryder saying, "She has portrayed a wide range of roles, but her presence in Stranger Things period-piece pastiche conjures up her most iconic youthful performances, then plays against them."[8]
