Welcome to Fandom Shmandom, the fandom podcast
that covers everything you love and more. I'm
Sierra Obermark. And I'm Sam Williams. Today's
episode, we will be cringingly communicating
about Stranger Things Season 1, Episodes 1 through
4. And without further ado, we will, as Roger
Smith says, dive on in. So, let's get up to 88,
because it's time to travel back. to our story
recap. Episode one, people. Episode one. Something
is killing people in the Hawkins National Lab.
But don't worry, because it's the nineteen friggin'
eighties, and nothing can dampen our nostalgic
mood. After playing D &D with Mike, Lucas, and
Dustin, Will Byers runs into a mysterious creature
and hides in a shed. Is that Vecta's soundtrack
I'm listening to? Maybe. Will's mom, Joyce, and
his brother, Jonathan, panic and contact Sheriff
Hopper to look for, you guessed it, Will. Mike,
Lucas, and Dustin, those are Will's friends if
you've forgotten, go looking for Will and find,
instead of Will, 11, not the number, but a person,
walking in the rain. She's escaped from the lab
and witnessed a murder in a burger shop. Oblivious
to all of this is Nancy, Mike's older sister,
who is neglecting her friend Barb and her studies.
For some of that, Steve Harrington. Episode 2.
Barb, the defender of chastity, can't quite convince
Nancy not to go to Steve's. Hopper can't quite
convince Jonathan not to go to his dad's in search
of Will, and Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all can't
quite convince Eleven to tell an adult about
what's going on. She does, however, inform them
that Will is on the other side of a board game,
hiding from the Demogorgon. Curious. Hopper has
gotten word of a little boy at his friend's burger
place. Burger place. And he's starting to feel
cursed as the amount of terribleness ramps up.
Missing kid, suicide, and boy is he in for a
rough couple of, well, years. Sorry, hop. Weeping
Winona gets a bit of hope, however, as her son
Will communicates via electricity from the other
world as Jonathan photographs Nancy at Steve's
house. He just barely misses Barb's abduction,
and we end not knowing what has happened to the
Defender of Chastity. But in episode three, Barb
is dead. Cue the Obermark! Dun -dun -dun! Nancy,
like so many before her, is rather disappointed
in the aftermath of her first time. And Joyce
thinks Will is speaking to her with... Her electricity
again for the 15th time. Hopper rolls a 20 on
his persuasion check and realizes the lab in
Hawkins is maybe not all so nice, pure, and truthful.
We get some flashbacks showing us Levin was essentially
a lab rat and destroying some product placement.
And everybody's favorite Joyce's Christmas lights
go up! Which definitely doesn't look crazy. But
it works. Will can speak to her now. Except Will
is dead, as Mike, Levin, and the gang finds out
when his body is fished out of the water. And
Hopper does a little too much sleuthing. Episode
four, Joyce is having none of it. None of it.
But her story is absolutely crazy, except for
the fact that it's all real. Eleven manages to
prove to Mike that she wasn't lying by somehow
getting Will on the radio in a way that you can
hear Will sing, but you can't actually speak
to him. But thank God for Hopper and Nancy. Hopper
feels the heebie -jeebies with the buyer kid's
death, and Nancy can tape photos back together.
What do we find? A fake Will Byers and a tall
humanoid monster in Jonathan's ripped -up photograph.
Meanwhile, in L's flashback in the creepy monster
lab rift thingy, monsters are ripping scientists
to shreds. So that's fun. Indeed. But before
we get to the nitty gritty schmitty, we welcome
Oreo to provide vital information that we need
to know. Welcome, Oreo. Give us that integral
info. Sam and Sierra, do you copy? Right, perfect.
Radiating in from England on the other side of
the Atlantic, this is Aurelia, also known as
Oreo. I have the lovely task of being the producer
for this show and also for season one. I get
to talk to you a little bit about Stranger Things
books. If you, like me, didn't know, there were
Stranger... things books, don't worry, that's
what I'm here for, so I will just dive right
in, as we have two weeks to cover today, and
give you a little bit of the synopsis on what
the key takeaways are for both of those books.
In general, saying that right now, great books,
I would recommend reading them if you get your
hands on them, but also I will absolutely spoil
stuff now for you, so. Without further ado, and
in the spirit of getting you guys ready for Season
5 of Stranger Things, let's dive in. So, first
book I want to talk to you about is called Suspicious
Minds. It is written by Gwenda Bond, and it takes
place in 1969, predominantly. This is a prequel,
as you can guess, and it delves into the backstory
of Eleven's mother, Terry Ives, who we meet in
this season of Stranger Things. and also the
backstory of the experiments at Hawkins National
Laboratory. It is basically the origins of Eleven's
power, so we can see her mother Terry, how she
gets introduced to the lab experiments, and how
Dan, because Dr. Brenner, very much key figure
in this book, learns that she is pregnant way
before she does. chooses to continue his experiments
on Terry and subsequently Eleven and also formulates
the plan right then and there that no such opportunity
is going to arrive again and this baby is absolutely
his to raise in the lab. So it gives us a little
bit insight on Dr. Brenner. It shows us that
he's absolutely manipulative. He's using his
power that he has by the government. to basically
not only control Terry and her little study group,
who do consider ditching the lab after they're
finding out some of the more sketchy things that
are happening, by basically threatening them
that they will get kicked out of university,
like he makes a deal with the university that
this is now mandatory credit and they have to
show up, but also he manipulates Terry specifically
because he wants to get to Eleven. by ensuring
that her boyfriend is being drafted for a Vietnam
war. So he manipulates the draft and makes sure
that Terry, who has no other family aside from
her sister, who we do see in season one of Stranger
Things, is basically completely alone, as much
as he can fabricate that. There's no hold for
her, no family to fall back on. Because we also
learn that Terry's parents have died in an accident.
So, aside from this being about Terry, this book
takes place in the 60s, as I've already covered.
So we get some, like, typical 60s setting moments.
The Vietnam War, as I've already mentioned. The
book starts out with covering the moon landing,
so we see everyone following the moon landing
and how big of a deal it actually was at the
time. Woodstock. makes a little bit of an appearance.
Terry herself doesn't go, but her boyfriend goes
to Woodstock, so we get that moment in time as
well. And, most excitingly for us as a fandom
podcast, a fandom plays a key role in this book.
I'm sure some of you have already guessed. Yes,
it is The Lord of the Rings. So, The Lord of
the Rings at that time has like a peak in America
specifically. A lot of people discovering it,
even though it's been out for a while. And it
gets like a real big hype. So in this book, Terry
gets introduced to it through her boyfriend,
who basically is like, hey, read this, it's really
good. And throughout the whole book, we see her
like go through The Hobbit and then the three
Lord of the Rings books. So it's quite interesting
if you know The Lord of the Rings, how those
moments are parallels to what's actually happening
to Terry in the book. And also, in the spirit
of fun names, she and her friend group who go
to the lab and are involved in the experiments,
they call themselves the Fellowship of the Lab.
So that is a fun little call -out. Always nice
to see those. Aside from that... more light -hearted
moments. We also learn a little bit more about
the experiments that take place at Hawkins lab.
So we do obviously see in the show like sensory
deprivation plays a key role as well as electroshock
therapy, but also very much LSD is a key part
here. And something that is getting mentioned
is that Terry specifically is receiving blood
transfusion, which we can suspect obviously isn't
said. that this is from Henry Creel, one or Wechner,
however you want to call him. So that Brenner
obviously, because he knows at that point that
she's pregnant, makes sure that Eleven gets influenced
from early stages. So other than that, we learn
a little bit more about Dr. Brenner. Nothing
really to make him more likable. He sees himself
as like a... the smartest person in the room
type guy. Very driven, obviously, by his experiments,
by scientific results. But also we see another
child there throughout the eyes of Terry, which
is number eight, or Callie, which we do meet
in the show as well, but as a grown -up. And
it's quite interesting because Callie refuses
to be called number eight. And we sort of see
through Dr. Brenner's eyes of like how reluctantly
he still indulges her and calling her by her
name. But maybe it also is a foreshadowing of
how little power he has over Callie in the end.
Like he has obviously significant power, but
she manages to break out. We do obviously see
11 and 8 meet in the wild, so to speak. We also
see a little bit about government's inspection
and influence. There is an inspection happening
that Terry tries to use to her advantage because
throughout the book they obviously find out about
Callie. The study group meets Callie and they
start to suspect that maybe there's more children
there and that maybe this should all not be a
thing. And they are trying to gather evidence
to get the lab to shut down. But we all know
how this ends so they're not successful. But
we also see An inspection happening where the
officials from the military and the government
are basically saying like, look, we suspected
to shut this down today. But because they get
a demonstration of Cali, they actually allow
this to continue. So for good or for worse, we
know this is a government sanctioned program.
So well done. And all of this is obviously sanctioned
in the name of the Cold War. This is seen as
the advantage over the Russians. So yeah, I think
this is the most important things that you need
to take away from this book. But one last thing
before I move on to the next book. A little fun
tidbit that we learn is, where does Eleven's
real name Jane come from? She is named after
Jane Goodall, because... There is also a little
bit of a sub -theme of women and women in science
and how little power they have at the time and
how much of a revolution Jane Goodall is. So
that's what I shall leave you with for now. And
we shall move on to book number two for today.
Book number two, you may have guessed, also takes
place before season one. This one's called Darkness
on the Edge of Town. It takes place in 1977,
and it is written by Adam Christopher. This one,
of all the books that you can read in Stranger
Things, bookworms, so to speak, is probably the
most standalone books. It has nothing really
to do with the mythical themes of the show. It's
completely removed from it. It is sort of no
supernatural things are taking place. So, what
is this book about? a sneak into an insight into
Jim Hopper's past as an NYPD detective. So this
takes place after Hopper returns from Vietnam.
He serves two tours and comes back, has to deal
with drama and PTSD, is not ready to settle down
in Hawkins. So even though he was born and raised
in Hawkins, he's like, nope, need to be somewhere
else. So he and his wife presumed his... It doesn't
say if his daughter already exists at that point
or if she was born in New York. They move to
New York because New York City at that time is
looking for as much help with police force as
possibly they can get on. And he joins the police
because he wants to give back and serve the world,
make it a better place with the skills that he
has. And after a quick stint as a beat cop, He
joins the homicide department as a detective.
He also, and this is where the book starts, gets
a new partner who's one of the first female homicide
detectives. And we follow sort of her journey
as much as we follow Hopper's journey. All in
all, I think this is one of the books that sort
of endeared Hopper a little bit more to me as
a character. We see... him interact as a parent,
both to Sarah as much as to Eleven, because this
book is set in 77, but also in season two of
Stranger Things, where he talks to Eleven over
Christmas. So this is basically every one of
Eleven's friends is doing Christmas stuff with
their families. So she's bored, and basically
he's like, tell me something, Hopper, about your
past. And so we have quick snapshots where he
checks back in. in her story with Eleven making
sure she follows. And we can see a little bit
of his doubts, like, is this too dark? Should
I have censored it more? All of this good stuff.
But in essence, this book is about Vietnam and
dealing with Vietnam. So Hopper and Delgado,
his new partner, are investigating a case. They
suspected They might have a serial killer on
their hands, but there's also something else
going on. And long story short, Hopper ends up
going undercover. There's a new gang in town
called the Vipers, and he's trying to figure
out what's going on. What are they doing? And
he learns that they are run by Saint John, a
.k .a. Jonathan Saint, who's also an ex -Vietnam
soldier who was part of secret operations. and
was dealing with psychology experiments during
his time in Vietnam and learned a little bit
about how to manipulate others and drug influence
and all of that sort of stuff. So he's using
all of that knowledge now to form this gang because
he is basically possessed by this idea that Satan
is speaking to him and Satan is going to return
to Earth. in the Day of the Serpent. And he is
basically, his job is to make that Day of the
Serpent a success and bring chaos to the world
in the name of Satan. So we follow sort of that
case. In the end, this all ties in with the 1977
blackout in New York. So the Vipers seem to know
about this and are using it to their advantage.
But also in the end, Hopper and Delgado are able
to, like, stop the vipers and everyone's safe
again. So yes, a story very removed from the
strange going -ons at Hawking's, but still a
really cool insight into Hopper as a person.
And if you were more into, like, typical crime
fiction stories, it's a really solid book. And
for now... That is me done. I'll hand back over
to Sam and Sierra to talk to you more about Stranger
Things. Over and out. Awesome. Thank you so much,
Aurelia, for that insightful information. All
right. Find your donut holes. It's time for our
Knives Out category, where we sooth out which
three storylines are the most vital to pay attention
to. First storyline, Hopper investigating the
lab. Terry Ives, that's not Will, etc. Second
storyline, visual on the Demogorgon, Joyce, Nancy,
and Jonathan. Third storyline, Will. It's like
home, but it's so dark and empty, and it's cold.
Great. Okay, so this first storyline, Hopper
investigating the lives. So this first storyline
is Hopper investigating the lab. uh terry ives
that's not will etc um this is a huge point uh
a huge storyline in stranger things and i think
to me this is the storyline that hooks a lot
of adults into this kids show uh yeah definitely
it so far we've got the uh the other major storylines
are like teenagers in this very 1980s fashion
and then sort of the goonies brought back to
life which is awesome And the kids do a great
job of acting and everything, but it is still
very much sort of an implausible kid storyline
where it's like, oh, how are they out at night?
The parents are doing a bad job. For critics
who don't like kid stuff, it's easy to say that's
contrived. But Hopper's storyline, and then of
course a little bit more with Joyce, but Hopper's
storyline is like, here's this reasonable, thoughtful
human being. who's good at his job, even though
he's a bit out with a little too much drinking
and not really caring about anything and sort
of life's beating him down. But he's able to
sleuth out this conspiracy and see how deep it
goes in the government. And I think that gives
anybody who might so whatever about this show
because of the kids and teens element something
to hook on to. So just a small bit of context
on Hopper. He was married. He was a father. He
grew up in Hawkins. He went and joined the military
right out of high school. Was in Vietnam. Came
back, became a cop. His dad was the sheriff of
Hawkins when he was growing up. He's now in that
position. But he was in New York City as a police
officer. And if you haven't read the book about
him in New York City, I highly recommend it for
everybody. So anyways, he's come in. He and Joyce
have a little history. He's a serious authority
figure. He's also very smart. And I think...
Most of the time. Most of the time. Listen, we
haven't talked about season three yet. We're
not getting there. We're not getting there too
early. But I think, to me, where his story really
starts to pick up is not just the, like, you
know, where he's kind of shooing the kids away
from doing stuff or telling Joyce to calm down.
It's when he... He talks to his fellow cops and
he's like, hey, you see the video the lab just
showed us about the night that Will Byers disappeared?
Mm -hmm. It was raining. Yeah. Do you remember
how much it was raining the night he disappeared?
It wasn't raining at all. And that, like, that
to me is such a, oh, oh man, real adults are
about to get involved in this. Right. There's
no rain. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And I think,
um. The other part of that is him realizing that
the wrong type of cop was involved in finding
Will's body. Yeah. Right. Which is also something
that's very kind of like a niche element. It
almost reads like a kind of classic mystery novel
moment. Right, he's almost like a noir. This
is like a noir sort of dealio. It does feel like
a 1940s cop. drama there for a second he's like
so why are you lying to me is that state run
oh yeah i know for a fact it's not why are you
lying to me oh it's such a it's such a cool little
line the fact that he realizes that state troopers
had no right and no jurisdiction being out there
no point being out there and this guy's lying
to him oh phenomenal scene so good yes just yeah
i really enjoy um You know, in a nostalgic TV
show where it's really pulling on all the 80s,
also having these moments that are kind of flashing
back even farther. Yeah. For, you know, people
who are already adults in the 80s, then kind
of hearkening back as well. Yeah. It's really,
it's a really nice. It's a really neat show element
that they're mixing genres in such a satisfying
way. The Duffer Brothers do a really good job
of that. I think the. The fact that he just like
takes the state trooper out back and punches
him in the face up on you. Yeah. Okay. So the
fact that. Hopper takes this state trooper back
and just starts punching him in the face. And
that's this interrogation method. It really reads
as an 80s nostalgia thing. There's so much discourse
around things like smoking and violence and the
way that police go about their work. And yet,
for some reason, it's all sort of very forgivable
in Stranger Things. Because it's like, oh no,
they're just hearkening back to the 80s. It's
okay. And so we kind of give everybody a pass
for this. But also... um the government right
isn't already playing by the rules with national
hawkins lab and so like why should should jim
hopper have to i think that's really fun that
we we sort of give him a pass in this this sort
of way of course they do they do tamp down on
the smokings after after season three because
they got in trouble for it but um you know it's
it's fascinating it's really interesting how
we how we go about that but tell us about this
this most important moment with uh hoppers firm
realization as to what's going on yeah um him
fully committing to the investigation and breaking
into uh the essentially autopsy room yeah uh
and then cutting open what he hopes is not a
real body of a real child because what they dragged
out of the quarry and said this is will byers
looks So convincing. Yes. So, so convincing.
And yeah, he just straight up pocket knifes it
and just cuts right down the chest and just starts
pulling out fluff. It's very clear from the first
cut that it's not real and that it's, you know,
a rubberized body. But up until that moment,
you're going, oh my gosh, is he about to like
desecrate a body? Well, and we've already seen
how well the Duffer Brothers and the creators
on this show do with elements of suspense because
they do these sort of jump scares very effectively
in the first couple of episodes. And then they
transfer that over to this suspense moment that's
completely predicated not on a classical jump
scare horror, but a horror of, like, morality.
Exactly. Am I desecrating a corpse? And, you
know, Hopper's actor, whose name is escaping
me right now, Sierra Helden. It's David Harbour.
David Harbour. And David Harbour just does such
a phenomenal job. Oh, good. Of doing those close
-up takes and everything to sort of give you
a sense of trepidation before he finally cuts
in and pulls out the fluff. It's a great storyline.
It's definitely one of the top three in this
little section here. Definitely, definitely.
The next one that is super important is the visual
on the Demogorgon. So this covers Joyce, Nancy,
and Jonathan's all sightings. photographs and
whatnot uh because we have you know nancy is
seeing it in the photograph that jonathan took
so you know jonathan's accidentally taking a
photo of this thing because he's kind of creeping
on steve harrington's little get together uh
not a great look for jonathan here um he is out
there trying to find will and he is trying to
do the right thing He didn't set out on the night
going, I'm going to go find Nancy Byers. No.
The future Mrs. Nancy Byers. I'm not going to
go find Nancy and take photos of her. He's out
there to look for Will, and Steve happens to
live near the house. Exactly. His house happens
to be near Mirkwood, as they call it, where Will
was lost. So, yeah, so Jonathan is out there
looking for Will. hears people, looks, sees Nancy.
Obviously, he's a little obsessed with her. So
he starts taking photos. And as he's taking pictures
of them kind of outside in the pool, and then
when they go up to the rooms and whatnot, and
Barb is still sitting outside because she's not
participating in any activities as the fifth
wheel, as it were. And he takes this picture
and you can see the demogorgon in on the side
of the image in the background uh so nancy is
putting these photos back together because she
wants to find out what happened to barb and happens
to see that in the background yeah so jonathan
didn't even notice it when he took the photo
when he developed the photo any of that um and
and nancy's the one who who really pulls that
out well it's interesting too because in When
you're working with a mirrored camera, so the
mirrorless cameras today, when you look through
the little sight, it shows you everything that
you're going to see. It shows you your light
settings and all of that. But what Jonathan's
working with is film and mirrors back in the
80s. And so when he looks into it, it's actually
not showing him the entire shot. He won't see
everything that's in the shot until he develops
it, which he does. But because he was sort of
creeping on Nancy and the other girl in the development
room with Jonathan as he's developing this photo
sees that there are these kind of creeper shots
of Nancy. She goes and tells Steve. Steve confronts
Jonathan. Steve breaks Jonathan's camera and
takes out the film and is a total bully because
we hate him in these first four episodes. And
Nancy picks up the pieces of those and when she
puts them together, she sees this monster. Interestingly,
there's a fourth character that sees the Demogorgon
in here for just half a second and it's only
the imprint. It's Mike's youngest little sister
when Mike's mom goes over to help with, you know,
things. And that little girl is in the room and
she's looking up and there's the Demogorgon coming
to get her. Without the scent of blood, which
I thought was interesting. Yeah. Not really sure
what's luring the Demogorgon there. Yeah, that
part, when you put it together with everything
that we then find out about the Demogorgon, it
doesn't quite make sense. It's there for the
horror, is what the answer really is. But it
sticks from a world -building standpoint. Joyce
has seen the Demogorgon making an imprint on
the wall when she's talking to Will. And it's
like, okay, I get it. The Demogorgon's, like,
chasing Will. Is that because Vecna wants it
to? Is it just because the Demogorgon's hungry?
We're not really sure. And so it's hunting down
Will and then somehow starts to make an imprint
to the real world. But for what purpose? We don't
know. Because that's why some people are like,
that's gotta be Vecna and not the Demogorgon.
Because the Demogorgon's only drawn through blood
versus Vecna's actually looking for... for Will.
So, there's some really big kind of questions
going on there, like, what does Vecna want with
Joyce, or with Will, or with Mike's sister? That
maybe seems like a red herring. There's a lot
of questions around that, but you're right, all
three of those characters get a visual on the
Demogorgon, which, you know, helps with again,
getting more characters involved that aren't
just little kids willing to take L on her word,
and then see telekinesis happen. So for this
third storyline, we've got Will, which encompasses
really all of the characters. So we know at the
very beginning of episode one that Hawkins Lab
is sort of out of control and at least one monster
is on the loose because that scientist runs into
the elevator in the very opening shot and gets
completely wrecked. And then Will goes missing.
This will be consistently my biggest question
for... every single thing that we talk about
and until it's answered in season five why why
is it that will goes missing and isn't completely
devoured right so we know uh at the end of the
season the beginning of season two that will
has this like unusual uncanny ability to flash
back and forth between the upside down uh and
and the real world and so he's in this room with
this long fingered that everyone thinks is the
Demogorgon, and maybe it just is, but then some
people have started to say, well, maybe this
is Vecna early on before we get a full bodysuit
of what he looks like and everything. And then
he, like, disappears, and he's able to escape
the Demogorgon sort of fighting him, unlike Barb.
So it's just, like, there's huge questions immediately
in this show about what's going on with Will.
Do you have an idea? Do you think it's Vecna?
Do you think it's the Demogorgon? What do you
think's going on here? i know it's hard i honestly
it's so yeah it's so hard i i want to lean towards
it's the demogorgon and and that potentially
the demogorgon had already like eaten its fill
and then dragged will back as like food for later
yeah because he We don't know exactly. So I think
the hard part is because we don't know exactly
where Will was taken in the upside down when
he's taken in. We know that he runs away from
wherever he was and makes it to the upside down
version of Castle Byers. Yeah. But other than
that, we don't really know where he is. And then
we don't really get. a more clear picture of
what the upside down looks like until season
two, when Hopper makes it in there. So once Hopper
makes it in there, but that's a little bit different
version, you know, he finds like an area that's
basically a graveyard. So potentially that's
like a place where the people were stored because
Hopper isn't eaten right away either. Potentially
it's that kind of a situation where like, Some
bodies are taken and kind of kept for future
use so that he doesn't have to go out hunting.
Demogorgon doesn't have to go out hunting every
single time. So I'm kind of of the idea that
Will has been taken there for later use and then
manages to get away, whether that's because he's
small and sneaky or what, we're not entirely
sure. then he is able to hide enough um so that's
kind of where i lean on it is that it's not vechna
um but i guess we'll find out more hopefully
so if that's not cleared up i'm on the opposite
side of this argument okay i i truly believe
that this is vechna um i think that they they
do a clever job of sort of hiding uh and showing
you Okay, the Demogorgon, the Demogorgon, the
Demogorgon after this. But it's the shot of those
long fingers that are so Vecna -like to me that
make me think this. And it's the fact that the
Demogorgon stands in the room with Will for a
second before he disappears. Interesting. And
because they disappear, and I know that Barb
disappears too. It's just Barb is there and then
suddenly Barb is in the Upside Down, which I
still don't really understand how a Demogorgon
can do that. Um, I, I, my, my thought is, is
that for whatever reason, Will has some sort
of specialness about him. This feels very much
like this is going to date me to like Lost's
issue with Walt, where it was like, what's, what's
so amazing about Walt? And the writers eventually
were like, send him home. We can't answer this
question. Now, the Duffer Brothers are going
to answer this question. We know that because
they said they're going to go over some of the
more frustrating aspects of Will's disappearance
in season five. But I think that for whatever
reason, Vecna is specifically looking for somebody
to confront Elle, potentially, because he knows
he's not strong enough for her. And ever since
then, Will has this sort of weird connection.
With the shadow monster coming to get to specifically
to find him. And that seems predicated on the
early memories, which we'll find out. But I do
think it's Vecna. But I also thought that the
White Walkers in Game of Thrones had a special
connection with Jon after they did that big shrug
to him. So I was wrong about that. I'll probably
be wrong about this. Grand plans, grand plans.
But. What else do we know about Will's situation?
We know that Eleven has escaped from the Hawkins
lab where the Demogorgon escaped from. We notice
that she has telekinesis, and she can hear Will.
Okay, so she had practice earlier with the flashbacks
of when Dr. Brenner's son goes in and then gets
torn to shreds. And he asks her, can you find
him? Can you find him? So she's had practice
doing this. When she gets together and she tells
everybody Will's still alive, and then they pull
Will's body out of the... the quarry and and
mike is like what what's wrong with you which
is like the only line he has for like three episodes
it feels like um he has a lot of yelling at people
and being frustrated that things aren't going
exactly how he wants them to go the leader i
i have a lot of mike slander not the the actor
i love the actor i just like no no no he does
a good job the character yeah so annoying um
So Eleven is still like, no, he's still alive,
he's still alive. And she gets Will on the radio.
I think singing. Yeah. And that power, her telekinesis
is able to convince these Goonies -esque children
to keep looking and figure out what's going on
with their friend, which furthers us into the
second half of the season. And it's a killer
mid -season ending. I know that this is Netflix.
And they just, like, you watch it all in one
go. Like, they were on the binging model for
Stranger Things. They're no longer doing that
because they lost the battle of Game of Thrones
versus Stranger Things in their last season because
they did it all in one go. And so they were relevant
for a couple of days. And then Game of Thrones
won the, like, entire summer because they were
out every other, like, they were out every week.
And so that conversation kept going. So now they're
spreading it out a bit for season five, which
I think makes sense for their big shows. still
it was written as if this is a mid -season ender
like you're going into christmas break there's
going to be no tv for like a month and a half
um and you're like wait wait hopper just like
opened up his body and and 11 just confirmed
that he's still alive like it's crazy it was
such a good little ending yeah it's such a nice
like almost like a it's like a bow on it, but
at the same time, because it's like, okay, we
have wrapped up like the mystery of, is he dead
or is he not? And so we now know, no, he is not.
All right, now let's go. So it's very satisfying.
Yes. So good. Well, keep your finger on the pause
button and rewind that state. It's time for the
prestige category. What did we notice? On this
specific watch through. I'll start. The kids
are so little. They're so little. They're so
little. So my main question here. Is more of
a real life question. Do you think it changes
the success. This franchise is already super
successful. But do you think it changes the success.
Of this franchise. If they're able. If they have
all their contracts sorted, if COVID never happens,
if all of these what -ifs occurs. Do you think
that the franchise is even more successful if
we're able to keep everybody young going into
Season 5 instead of, like, having Eleven's actress
be, like, a married woman? Yeah. I think so,
honestly. I do, too! It's hard because, first
of all, you've got, like, even without... covid
and all of those things that really delayed production
you still have a really long production per season
so they're going to age starting from you know
that's like the time that kids become adults
like you know it's like they go from being kids
to being teenagers really really quick you never
know how puberty is gonna hit kids some you know
some it hits them really really early and they
just all of a sudden are three feet taller than
they were and they have to shave every day yeah
um yeah or they you know their voice drops a
bunch or all of a sudden the girl looks like
a woman and isn't you know a tiny little you
know not tiny anymore and you then you see this
in even you know long movie franchises you know
just think neville longbottom like exactly think
neville longbottom you never know what's gonna
happen am i gonna have to wear false teeth to
make me look Like my character, because I had
the glow -up of the century. In The Lion, the
Witch, and the Wardrobe, for Edmund's character,
during the behind -the -scenes stuff, at the
very end of that, they had to bring in his sister
to read his observations, because his voice dropped
so much, they thought the audience wouldn't recognize
him. Exactly. It's so funny, but yeah, it's,
I mean, obviously, it hits. guys more because
there's yeah just you know more obvious differences
but um it does it does make a difference and
i also think besides just keeping the kids young
because i'm never really a fan of like hey we
cast this 25 year old to play this 16 year old
i i'm like but they're not like i'm like i'm
sorry but they could be the parent of this child
i love tom wellington as Superman in Smallville.
But dear lord, when he's a freshman in high school,
I'm like, this guy's 28 years old! And he's not,
but he looks it. Yeah, it kills me a little bit.
It's just the visuals of it, right? It's how
small Eleven is when she's taking on the Demogorgon.
So small. It's that innocence that they're trying
to capture. And like, I still think they do a
very fantastic job of keeping their characters
very young and naive and innocent feeling in
season four. But it is like, Mike is like, it
feels like he's seven and a half feet tall in
that season. Yeah. And it is strange going in.
Her name's not Billy Bob Thornton. What? Millie
Bob Brown. Millie Bobby Brown. Millie Bobby Brown.
It is just a little strange in real life knowing
that she's going to be, that she is a married
person playing what should be a freshman in high
school in season five. Yeah, very strange. When
three real years have gone by. It's an unfortunate
aspect of the show. And it still rocks. It's
still amazing. Obviously, we wouldn't be talking
about it if it wasn't. But it is, yeah, it definitely
makes a difference. Yeah, I think also, like,
it is kind of interesting with how we know that
Will's character develops over the course of
the show. And, you know, Will turning out to
be gay. And there's these seeds that are planted
super, super early. 15 minutes into the first
episode, we already get the first. nugget of
that. And it kind of drops there, and then they
don't really talk about it until the beginning
of season three again. I think they mention it
in season two for a second. There's one little
second. And Troy, the big bully who pulls a knife
on Dustin for some reason, calls him the F -sler
during the funeral, I think. You're right, yeah.
So they do mention it a few times during season
one, but I don't remember too much. season two
season three it started it's starting to be mentioned
a little bit more just with the relationships
and it's not your problem that we like girls
yeah yeah um which we'll get there and we'll
we'll we'll discuss his his uh motivations and
whatnot but um but i think that it is interesting
that that's kind of like a planned thing potentially
and that we kind of have like a little bit of
a characterization of will As more than just
zombie boy who, you know, was taken into the
upside down and that he is still a person who
is growing and developing as a kid in the 80s
through all this. Super interesting. Yeah. I
will always have the question on a rewatch, like,
why is Will taken? So we've talked about that
enough. We can move straight on to the next one.
Yeah. I just threw an MP5 slap. Because ever
since watching it for the first time, and now
that's a thing that I notice every time it's
in a movie. It was called out, and my husband
mentions it every time that it's in something.
And so now I notice it every single time. Unfortunately,
I'm going to have to play the fool here. What
on earth is MP5? Okay. It's a, it's a gun. So
they're using in the, the military guys are using
the guns and when they, um, when they're getting
everything ready in order to rack an MP5, slap
it and it shoots a bullet forward. But, um, it's
like a classic. Trope. It's a, it's a big old
trope in, in film and media. Yeah. Well, but
it's also like, that's actually just how it works.
there we go i saw it and i was like oh my gosh
well done you recognized a cool thing all right
neat i try i try uh my my next like uh all caps
exclamation is not the dnd campaign board because
11 when she's going to show like no he's on the
other side she like takes everything off of the
board and flips it over and just dnd me is like
Do you know how long that took to set up? They're
in the middle of a campaign. It's D &D in the
80s. There's no smartphone to take a photo of.
And it's not like they have a Polaroid and just
take a photo of the campaign. It has to stay
there perfectly like that or else everything's
lost. I know. There's no D &D beyond. There's
nothing. D &D digital maps. Nothing. Oh my gosh.
Moving on from my nerd panic. So who is at fault
for Barb's death? Obviously, Nancy feels a lot
of guilt because she left her alone and she wasn't
paying attention to her and she ditched her to
be with Steve and all sorts of things. Is she
actually at fault necessarily? It almost seems
like, I mean, obviously it's the Demogorgon's
fault, but moving into kind of like the situation
that Barb has ended up in, it's almost the classic
horror trope, but flipped where the teens participating
in the illicit activities are usually the first
to go in a horror movie. But in this case, it's
the straight edged friend who is usually the
one who survives. Yeah. the horror movie. So
I just thought that that was a really interesting,
you know, she's kind of the first to go when
really it should be Nancy, but is this almost
worse because worse for Nancy, because she has
both experiences of like, I participated in these
activities and lost my friend as a result. So
it's almost like double damage. I'm going to
throw a moral question at you on this one. Here
we go. If a zookeeper accidentally lets out a
tiger and the tiger goes and does what the tiger
does, which is to hunt, and goes and eats a person,
is it the tiger's fault or is it the zookeeper's
fault? Oh, no. I mean, it's not the tiger's fault,
so. So in this case, even though I was going
to be like, well, it's the Demogorgon, you dummy.
Because that's what literally kills her. No,
I think it's Brenner and the U .S. government's
fault at the end of it. It's not actually Nancy's
fault. No, but she is taking a lot of guilt.
Well, of course, because she's Nancy. But she
doesn't have to take on that guilt. Because in
actuality, if the zookeeper doesn't unlead the
tiger and then she doesn't leave her friend out
in... If she just does a normal teenage night,
Barb is just upset and a little weepy. And then
eventually goes home and gets disinfected and
cleans up the cut. But because the zookeeper
was like, I wanted to go and see the other side
of the world through a teleport machine. And
here's an interdimensional bear. We got the demo
going in there. So the people have faults with
the US government and Brenner. Yeah. But I mean,
yeah, it's more just like from a horror movie.
Yeah. From like a horror standpoint of like,
who caused this? And even from that, I will say
it's the script writer then. Speaking of the
horror elements. Yeah, speaking of the script
writer, the horror elements are on fire in these
first four episodes. And it's really interesting
because we do sort of get away from them in seasons
two and three, where it becomes much more of
a family spooky setting. Mainly in season two,
I actually would say. Season three, there's a
lot of that gore horror with the rat bodies and
people bodies being disintegrated into making
a... the smoke people and then of course in season
4 we've got more gore humor but also suspense
humor with Vecna but here we've got like these
very classic like Barb holding the bars at the
swimming pool and being cold and calling for
Nancy and shrieking for Nancy Nancy can kind
of maybe hear it but not quite and then she gets
cold and it's silence and um there's just a these
great jump scares and these great uh moments
of suspense that have they've been doing really
really well right like the creature coming through
the wall even though it's frustrating from our
world building perspective a logical perspective
on the way that the world is set up as we know
it now the moments of joyce looking at the wall
because it's moving towards her that yeah that
the monster is going to come through Is really
well done. And I think it's one of the reasons
why people were so hooked so quickly on this
show. Yeah, definitely. It's very, very, very,
very well done. Really pulls you in immediately.
Yeah. Watching this show now as a mom is kind
of heartbreaking. Yeah. Because. I don't think
I would be maybe losing it quite like Joyce is.
However, she is witnessing some insane things,
so maybe. I don't know if I was faced with things
coming through my wall and lights flashing and
all sorts of things if I would even put together
to communicate through lights. I mean, that's
kind of a genius move. But Nancy and Mike's mom,
who... you know just mrs wheeler at this point
trying to like reach out to nancy knowing something's
happened and nancy's just not talking it just
gets me right in the gut now watching this because
i'm like no just talk to your mom but then later
on i'm like mrs wheeler's got some things to
figure out first she does yes she does um This
is super random, but when I was also... This
is another observation. Obviously, all of our
lovely little kid main characters have their
D &D characters. However, as a fantasy -loving
group they are, I had to... Put them in fantasy
races. And I have decided Dustin is a hobbit,
Lucas is a dwarf, L is an elf, and Mike is a
human. Okay. I have something to pitch to you.
If we are doing this in the Tolkien universe,
which is D &D's based off of, I would change
Lucas and L. I wouldn't swap them, but I would
change them. Okay. Do tell, do tell. So the immediate
one is, okay, there is a race of wizards. I think
Elle is just a straight up wizard. She is part
of the Meyer, Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, the
blue guys, sort of. Not the blue man group, which
are different and real people in the real world,
but the blue wizards. Lucas, who's this, he's
also kind of got the build of Orlando Bloom later
on, where he's like this sort of svelte, tall,
lanky dude. But because of his use of his slingshot,
I'm going to put him in the elf category. Hmm.
Okay. I could potentially get behind that. When
I was originally writing this, my positing here,
when I was originally putting it down, I was
more thinking along the lines of, like, Lucas
is a dwarf because he's into the, like, building
and putting things together to be able to, like,
fight and whatnot and he's a little bit more
of that like he's kind of mining around the edges
too and yeah yeah and that as well um which is
why i kind of put him in that category but i
could see the slingshot definitely uh puts him
over the edge a little bit you ever seen a dwarf
do archery i haven't i'm sure there are plenty
of plenty of aspects of that happening that's
why they have crossbows So, a little noticing
here. I just love Nancy becoming her detective
self. She is immediately cued in about Barb.
She immediately has this instinctual feeling
in the way that Hopper does, where she's like,
something has gone wrong. Something is awful
here. I can feel it. And then she's immediately,
when she sees that weird mask man thing, as she
calls it, the Demogorgon, she's like, Okay, okay,
something really bad has happened and doesn't
stop pursuing it, which I think is really great.
And, you know, no wonder she gets along with
Murray later on and gets in on the journalist
side of things. It's just really fun to see.
She's a little Lois Lane. Yeah, definitely. I
was pulling that. I was definitely feeling that
Lois Lane vibes, especially when we get to season
three. Although. Not quite. It's almost like
a Lois Lane very, very, very early on. Plus Peter
Parker, question mark? Plus Peter Parker and
also the world's most horrible hair known to
mankind. It's fine. Oh, God. 80s, man. 80s. Yeah,
just kind of watching through. Steve... Is so
hard to watch in these first few episodes. Until
he washes the marquee. Until then, he's terrible.
Yes, exactly. Just a rich kid breaking a poor
kid's most expensive possession. Oh, God. Okay,
wait. Fair little point here for a second. When
you and I watched this, you also saw that there
were no other kids at his party other than him,
his two friends, and then Nancy and Barb, right?
That's why you said. Yeah. Cause I don't think
it was. Yeah. I don't think it was supposed to
be a party. I thought it was just them hanging
out because his parents were out of town. He
says party to her and then it comes over and
it feels like he's just like, Hey, like this
is a way to lure you to my house so that I can
have you. And then later on, this is the thing
I noticed on this rewatch. He says when Nancy's
like, something's happened to Barb and he's like,
Oh, I'm going to get in such trouble. all the
kids that were there and the alcohol and all
this stuff. And it's like, what? Yeah. Wait,
he says something about all the kids. I mean,
I know. Cause they had alcohol. Yes. All the
kids that were there or something along those
lines. And I was like, is this a script? Is this
like a lack of continuity? That's what it seems
like. It's just a lack of continuity to me. But
I was like, okay, I'm going to have to ask Sierra.
She also only saw the, like there was five people
there, right? No, yeah, that was it. And it's
not like there was, like, music pumping from
the house or anything like that. And maybe he
just means his two awful friends, but, like,
come on. They're awful. Anyways. Ugh, they're
so horrible. Yeah, rich kid breaks poor kid's
most expensive possession. Yeah, Steve going
after Jonathan for creepy photos. It's not a
great look. Cameras are very expensive. I mean,
it's not a great look for Jonathan either, but
that's not the way to go about it. No. No, no,
no, no. My next question gets into Hopper's whole
thing where he cuts into Will's body. Cuts into
Will's pristine body? When they say they've had
an autopsy, and if you know things about autopsies,
they cut into the body and... Then they stitch
it back together. So it's why you wear clothes
when you're married, because you've got scarring
everywhere because they have cut into you to
find out what happened and how you died. And
if there had been an autopsy on Will, there would
be signs of it. Very, very, very clear and obvious
signs. So I feel like. Hop was definitely in
the right for just cutting this open to figure
out what's going on because clearly nobody else
had. So worst case scenario, he's now doing the
autopsy. Which is not technically defiling a
corpse if you're doing an autopsy. Exactly. Part
of the law enforcement team. Yeah, that's a great
point. I had not even considered it until just
this very minute, but that's like, yeah. Hey,
they didn't cut open anything. Well, it's clearly
just because he drowned. But you don't know that.
There might have been signs of foul play, right?
Some sort of something. Yeah. That's fascinating.
Good point there. Speaking of the Byers, Jonathan
is an exceptionally wonderful human being. So
he's a bit of a martyr. He's a bit of a teenage
creep. But ultimately, he's a very good human
being. And we'll say that with Will, too. I just,
I really grew to love his character in this one.
I certainly liked him by the end of season one
of my first watch and my second watch. And I
like him in seasons two and three. And we'll
get to seasons four, whole desert storyline when
we get there. But I just like, what a good, what
a good dude. What a good dude. I also love Hopper's
turn to sniffing out that Joyce's conspiracy
must be real. I know we talked about this earlier
in his storyline. But it is just such a key moment
of watching him really turn. Because we got Nancy
who's, like, starting to figure things out, but
she's still a teenager. Hopper, like, taking
his detective skills and realizing that this
is something bigger is so satisfying. It's great.
I also forgot. how much larger of a character
mike's mom is in the first season especially
these first four episodes where she's like talking
to nancy and trying to get the boys together
and talking to mike and and i don't really remember
her being a character until the very end of season
two with that famous scene with her and and uh
billy um and then of course she's a little bit
more of a character in season three and then
she's not at all it feels like she's not in the
show all in season four yeah but uh she really
is she's like almost at joyce level in terms
of mom characters here where she's being shown
as this juxtaposition of of joyce falling into
the conspiracy and her being completely oblivious
to it right and she she's a big part it's really
wild yeah it did surprise me as well i was like
oh we're seeing her again why is she here she's
you know she does a great job the actress is
great i'm not trying to say boot her off. But
it was just surprising. I'd really forgotten
how much she's in the show. Yeah, definitely.
You know, you don't always have to face down
a horde of angry soldiers by yourself. Buckle
up, Schmisseners, because it's time for our Sansa
is Smarter Than John category for what is the
most important character moment of this set of
episodes. I argue it is Hopper cutting into quote,
quote, Will. Because he's willing to desecrate
a body to prove this conspiracy. And that is
a huge, huge thing for him. And it's a huge moment
for the show. Again, it's the adults, the real
people believe that this is now no longer true.
It's not just the kids. Or, you know, perceived
going crazy mom. It's this tough, realistic,
face the world, nostrils flared, horsework mentality.
Mm -hmm. Gun -wielding, smoke -beer -drinking
man who's now bought in. Yep. So I'm in a total
agreement. I will also do an honorable mention
for two. There's Jonathan when he confronts his
mom and says, this isn't the right time to shut
down, Mom. We have to deal with the funeral.
I'm not letting him, Will, sit in that freezer
for another day, which I... What an important
moment for Jonathan to go from being this sort
of passive character to this is the moment to
me where he becomes the assertive Jonathan that
we will know until season four when he's way
too high to do anything. Then honorable mention
also to Nancy's Barb is missing and you're worried
about your dad to Steve, which I would have argued
a little bit more for. It's just as important
as Hopper. uh with two caveats there first of
all it's not as important to the storyline as
hoppers but yeah nancy goes back to steve like
multiple times with multiple opportunities to
break up with him so it's not that big like if
she if she was done with steve's boyfriend at
that point i'd be like great yeah but he he's
in his very you know good looking christmas sweater
at the end of this season so hail to steve apparently
listen sierra i know you just lost a hand but
listen up It's the I am your father category
for most iconic character moment. Okay. I'm struggling
with this one and I know that you're going to
argue with me. However, this is just iconic.
Um, I was struggling because I don't know that
in the first four episodes, there's necessarily
anything purely iconic. Okay. Okay. I get your
point. I will say. one of the most recognizable
images that would create something iconic, where
if you set this up for a party, or you started
drawing it on a guessing game, where you have
to draw things out, that you would instantly
recognize when the Christmas lights are up at
Joyce's house. That is an iconic character moment
where she puts up the Christmas lights and then
she draws out the letters and you have that amazing
shot of her wall. This is going to sound like
such a brag. When I was in Paris a couple of
years ago, they had a Stranger Things experience.
And when you walk in, they've set it up to be
multiple different scenes. Right. So there's
a setting where it's the mall and there's a setting
where it's the arcade. The first setting is the
buyer's living room with the Christmas lights
up there. And I think that is by definition iconic.
Yes, but that's not necessarily an iconic character
moment. That is an iconic image. I'll give you
that. I have been arguing the image. Certainly.
I will say that. Deciding to put up the Christmas
lights is an iconic character moment because
when you think about Joyce Byers, one of the
first things that you think about is her putting
up the Christmas lights. Okay, but I just need
you to join everybody to sit down because it's
time for I Am Iron Man, most iconic and most
important scene category. Okay. Where I have
right here. R -U -N. The Christmas lights. Will
and Joyce speaking through the Christmas lights.
It gives me chills every time I watch it. It
gives me chills even thinking about it right
now. Yes. What should I do? R -U -N. And then
it comes out of the wall. Yeah, I just got chills
again. Sierra, it's so good. And then she gets
out to the car and she takes off and she has
to talk to Hopper. Oh my goodness gracious. I
will tell you, her run out to that car, I was
convinced on the first time watching that it
was going to be a her drop in the keys situation.
And she doesn't. They save that for Steve in
the finale. But it is just so. I love that moment.
You're right. That is the most iconic and most
important. scene category yes uh because we've
got will talking and we've got the run moment
which i still think uh the character moment for
putting it up would still suffice but whatever
okay crack open an encyclopedia sierra it's time
for our as elijah wood once said no how how could
we have known category where we discussed the
most important information disseminated to the
fandom over these first four episodes Whatever
Hawkins Lab is doing, they are so tapped into
everything that no one can run or hide or will
be believed. So this is really important information
for the fandom at large. for the first several
seasons, I would argue seasons one through three,
because it really helps with the whole idea around
the Russians being there as well. And sort of
the Russians piggybacking off of what the Hawkins
lab has been doing. And certainly with season
two, kind of just being a repeat of like Hawkins
lab still kind of sucks. Yeah. That it's really
important information there. I, it, it doesn't
necessarily make a ton of information for season
five yet. You know, because Brenner does come
back in season four and then they kill him and
there's all this stuff. So maybe that sort of
information will be super helpful for season
five. I have down here a little bit about Eleven's
powers, right? So we get a brief explanation
of Eleven's powers. We get a lot more in the
second half of the season and then in the finale,
certainly. But it's explained that Eleven getting
Will on the radio isn't about right or wrong
channel. It's that... And this may be just a
play on word creatively by the scriptwriters,
but it's the way that Mike says it. It's about
Eleven channeling Will himself. Yeah. And that's
a really interesting idea. That Eleven can channel
other people and then bring you to them via electrostatic
-y type things. And, you know, with fantasy shows
and magic shows and stuff like that, there's
always somewhat of a need for retconning. um
as you go because you realize you establish rules
more something makes more sense or you wrote
this one offhand comment and you don't want to
have to live by it etc etc um yeah and and stranger
things has not really had to do that um we'll
see with beckna uh coming up and what his relationship
with the shadow figure is and the whole upside
down thing because there's a lot of questions
around that So they may have to retcon a lot
because they've really left this last season
to answer all of the questions. Yeah. But the
fact that Eleven is able to channel and bring
close that way is a very interesting telekinetic
thing that I wonder, will that work with whatever's
going on with Max at the end of season four?
Is that going to work with other people in the
Upside Down? That sort of stuff. So we'll see.
We'll see, we'll see, we'll see. Indeed we will.
Time to keep your horses safe. It's the... I'm
gonna make him an offer he can't refuse. Category
of best lines. I have two. One, mouth breather.
Correct. The second is half of a line and half
of an action. Did I say O 'Bannon? I meant punch.
That's Hopper, right? Yes, it is. When he's getting
into... Exactly. He's infiltrating the morgue.
He's trying to get in there and he's trying to
talk his way in. And it's like he has rolled
a one on his persuasion check. And just strength
checks him. And just strength checks him. It's
amazing. So far, I laughed out loud. So I think,
in all honesty, the better line is, did I say
O 'Bannon? I meant, and then that stage action.
I think that's the actual better line. But now
Breather is just... It permeates through the
whole rest of Stranger Things. And so I think
we're going to have to go for that one. Yeah.
I will say honorable mention, I suppose, just
for its longevity through the show, Friends Don't
Lie. Yeah, it's a good one. It's a good one.
Dust off that card deck and get ready to shuffle.
It's our Joker category for who is the MVP of
this episode. I believe that it is a tie between
Hopper and Eleven. Eleven has tapped into Will
and Hopper has tapped into the lab conspiracy.
So they, the two of them have gotten the farthest
through figuring out what is going on. I'm sorry
for Joyce. yelling at and axing your wall won't
get you mvp quite yet not yet um also jonathan
and nancy you guys are getting so close and just
keep digging maybe share the information that
you have found with the other people that are
involved yeah i know this is a classic episode
seven thing it really is you would think we could
maybe get it all together but One day. One day
you guys will be the MVPs. We're rooting for
you. Yeah. So I am in 100 % agreement. And I
think we can do a little bit of a tiebreaker
here and choose an MVP. I think there's a slightest
edge to Hopper here. Because he gives the buyer's
mystery some real life people will believe me
gravitas. Because at the moment, Eleven has just
let the kids know, which is really important
and really cool from an audience perspective
when you're invested in these small children
learning where their friends are. But it hasn't
actually done much in the action sense, versus
with Hopper, you get the sense that there's now
going to be serious action moving forward. Yeah.
So I think Hopper just beats out Eleven. Just
barely squeaks. Mm -hmm. Okay. I will give it
to you. Thank you. I think that makes sense.
I appreciate it. Mm -hmm. But Sam, it is time
for you to clean up your evil lair and get ready
for our I was the turkey all along category for
what is the biggest takeaway viewers should leave
with in preparation for season five. I know I've
murdered this to death the entire episode, but
if you're prepping for season five, I think the
main thing that you should take away from this
is like, What is so important about Will or what's
so powerful about Will that he's able to go to
the Upside Down and survive or be taken to the
Upside Down by Vecna, depending on which side
of the argument that you're on. I know that there's
a lot of important information about Elle and
the way that Hawkins works and what the lab's
doing and all this stuff. But I think the big
thing for Season 5, for us prepping you for Season
5, is really start thinking around this question,
the mystery of what's going on with Will Byers.
Yeah, definitely. Agreed, agreed. Today's public
service announcement. When going to the morgue,
don't forget your brass knuckles and your pocket
knife. They may come in handy. Thank you, listener
schmissners, for listening to this episode of
Fandom Schmandom. If you'd like to discuss this
episode or any other episode, we will do or have
done. Please hit us up on our social media channels.
You can find us on TikTok and Instagram at fandomshmandumpod
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placing us in other like -minded schmissioners
algorithms out there. And with that, we're out,
y 'all. See you in the Upside Down. And fare
thee well. Fandom Schmandom was created by Sam
Williams and Ciara Obermark. The show is produced
by Aurelia Lieb. The editor is Brittany Fisher.
The music is by Jeremiah Alves. Alrighty. One,
a two, three, clap. Stop. Stop with your stupid
rhythms. You did that on the last one and I was
like, and then this time you were like, one,
a two, and a what? Alright, try again. I'm just
so bored of saying one, two, three, clap. But
it works! This is about entertaining anyone this
is the utilitarian usage it's about entertaining
myself this is gonna be this is gonna be the
blooper on the freaking back of this episode
i just you're not elvis you have no proof i'm
not just saying have you ever seen elvis and
i in the same place No, because he's dead. 6
,000 miles of feces backed up to his throat.
Oh my gosh. Okay. Alright, here we go. Sinking.
One, two, three. Your face. Your disappointed
face. Okay. I'm sorry. It's fine. Let's go. I
just feel like it brings my energy down right
before my energy needs to be up. I wrote this
next thing, and I literally don't know what I
was talking about. Still confused on second watch.
What the kids have to do with the upside down.
I know, I must explain later. But I can't for
the life of me remembering. I wrote this as I
was rewatching the first four episodes. Sierra,
I'm going to explain right now. Brittany, you
should cut all this from the episode. But we'll
just end on Mike's mom. But I'm going to tell
you right now, Sierra. They have a friend. In
the upside down. That they want to go and rescue.
It wasn't that though. That's what it sounds
like though. I know that's what it sounds like.
But I was meaning something else. And I don't
remember. I don't remember what I was talking
about. I remember reading this in Oxford. And
being like what the f*** is Sierra talking about.
I don't know what I was talking about. Clearly
I just. I don't know. It's such a bizarre comment.
I don't know. I have literally no idea what it
could mean. I don't either. I don't know what
it is. I'm crazy, apparently. Okay, moving on.
Alright, question. Would it be too much if we
said, don't forget your brass knuckles. Pocket
knife. Don't forget your brass knuckles, pocket
knife. They may come in handy. Yes. Pocket knife
was called, and just was gutter. You know, that
conventionally named knife. that you put in your
pocket it's specifically a knife that you put
in your pocket but it's for cutting corpses specifically
it's not a whatever they call those knives i
like i like i'm always super close to saying
pocket