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 spitefully spitting about
Stranger Things Season 3, Episodes 1 through
4. And without further ado, we will, as Roger
Smith says, dive on in. So get up to 88, because
it's time to travel back to our story recap.
Blast from the past, it's summer of 84, and the
dang Ruskies really are up to something. The
young scientist is given one year to open the
gate. Fast forward, and it's summer of 85 in
Hawkins. Mike and Elle are together, much to
Hop's chagrin. Nancy and Jonathan are together,
much to Joyce's happiness. Lucas and Max are
together. Steve is an ice cream scooper in the
new mall, Dustin has come back from science camp
with a girlfriend, and Will is sensing something
looming. Billy is also around, proving that apparently
all Hawkins women are cougars, especially Mrs.
Wheeler. Rats are swarming and exploding, and
magnets are falling down everywhere. Still heartbroken.
Over Bob. Bob. Joyce rejects Hopper's offer to
dinner. Poor Hooper! Oh no! He has to deal with
a teenage girl and her first boyfriend. And he
tries to establish boundaries, which Mike tries
to undermine immediately. Dustin tries to share
his girlfriend with his friends via giant ham
radio, but she doesn't answer. And he accidentally
taps. Into a Russian transmission. On his way
to meet Mrs. Wheeler for their romantic rendezvous,
Billy's car is hit and he's attacked. Dragged
down to where the rats were exploding. Ew. And
hopefully good riddance. Episode two. Well, rats.
Pun intended. It was too good to be true. We
were rid of Billy already. Seems he has become
the new plaything of the mind flayer. Lucas and
Mike chat girls while Will wants to play D &D.
Boy, same. Elle and Max chat boys. And Dustin
and Steve chat becoming true American heroes.
Nancy and Jonathan investigate an old woman's
basement where fertilizer is being eaten by potentially
diseased rats. Ugh. Carrie L. is the mayor, out
for his own gain. At the mall, Max shows L. how
to shop for herself, and Lucas shows Mike how
to shop for L., ending in L. dumping Mike's ass.
Joyce learns about magnets from the kids' A .V.
teacher, Mr. Clark. Remember him? Hopper plans
for a not -date with Joyce, which she unfortunately
doesn't show up to due to aforementioned magnet
investigation, and Billy is not okay. Robin,
Dustin, and Steve have been translating the Russian
transmission and realize that it came from Hawkins.
Thank you, Kitty Horseride. And confirmed by
Hopper, running into the previously seen Russian
muscle. Billy has taken a fellow lifeguard and
brought her to the abandoned building to be fed
to or infected by the slime monster. Episode
3. Drunk Hooper interrupts Elle and Max's sleepover,
where they use Elle's power to spy on others.
While watching Billy, Elle witnesses him with
the lifeguard Heather, but then he sees her.
Joyce shares her findings with Hooper, but he
is... Too mood to listen. Dustin and Steve are
on a mission. Spycraft. Max and Elle are on a
mission. Locate lifeguard. Nancy is on a mission.
Get sexist pigs to take a woman seriously. And
Will is on a mission. Get the party back together.
Unfortunately, Will and Nancy's missions fail
rather quickly. Elle's mission is horrifying
in its discovery, and Steve and Dustin follow
the wrong person while Robin cracks the code.
Hopper and Joyce explore the lab, but the only
revelation at first is that Joyce plans on moving.
Revelations for Nancy and Jonathan, who go in
search of rat proof, and instead find old lady
proof. The mall crew find armed Russian guards.
Hopper. finds the Russian muscle, and the girls
find Billy and Heather playing Stepford with
Heather's parents. Unfortunately, Billy now knows
who Elle is, and Will knows the mind flayer is
back due to his spidey senses. Final moments
see the Stepford twins turning on Heather's parents
with drugs and alcohol. Episode 4. Code Red.
I repeat, this is a Code Red. The Shadow Monster
is here in the... I hesitate to say flesh. In
the goo. And it looks like Billy is creating
an army. Hopper confronts the mayor, Carrie,
I mean Larry, about the muscle who attacked him
the previous night. Nancy and Jonathan get fired
for pursuing the old lady rat fertilizer story
and realize their differences may be too great
to overcome. Oh no. The kids have a plan to expose
Billy as the host, luring him into a sauna to
smoke out the monster. They confirm him as the
host, but are unable to get the shadow out. Meanwhile,
at Starcourt, the mall, annoying Erica, Lucas's
sister, is leveraging her air duct climbing abilities
for free ice cream. Girl after my own heart.
Turns out the storage room the Russians are using
is also an - elevator and our mall team is now
plummeting towards the unknown. Nancy refuses
to give up on the story, visiting the old woman
in the hospital as she shows signs of being an
activated host as well. Hopper and Joyce follow
up on the leads from the mayor's list of land
purchases and what is to come. Well, before we
get to the nitty -gritty schmitty, we welcome
Oreo to provide us with some vital information
that we need to know. Welcome, Oreo. Give us
that integral info. So, Sierra, do you copy?
Hello again, dear listeners. This is Aurelia
from across the pond, radioing in to talk to
you. about my favorite book so far of all the
Stranger Things books I've read, called Rebel
Robin by A .R. Capetta. And this book follows
Robin from basically what happens events -wise
in Stranger Things Season 1 and 2 before Season
3 starts. So this is a prequel to introduce Robin's
character. We get to know her a little bit, her
background, how she sees the events happening
in Hawkins. And we get to know her a little bit
before the book ends with her very happily meeting
her new co -worker at Scoops Ahoy. And that's
obviously when the show starts. And you just
heard Sam and Sierra talk to you about that.
So let me talk to you about Rebel Robin. Why
this has been the book I've read in a day and
couldn't put down, and why this has been such
a good book for me. So, the book follows Robin
during her sophomore year. So, this is, for those
of you who maybe don't know the American high
school system, this is the second year of high
school. Robin very quickly decides the year that
no one cares about. Her teachers seem to be not
interested, because it's just sophomore year.
And it is very much about finding your place,
belonging, your identity, being accepted. It's
also self -acceptance. And sort of a typical
coming -of -age, like high school type book,
where she feels desperately like an outsider
in Hawkins. And she's like, no, this place is
crushing me. I need to get away from here because
this is... Not where I want to be. But also,
like, realizing this is high school. You don't
want to stand out because otherwise you're bullied.
So she's, like, choosing her little clique and,
like, follows along with what sort of everyone
else is doing to a degree. Because she wants
to just live in peace until she can finally break
away from Hawkins. So we see Robin in band with
her friends. They are all trumpet players, aside
from Robin, who plays the French horn in the
book. But then in season four of the show, we
see her play the trumpet. So I'll leave that
pruss, confusing moment with you guys. On a slight
personal insight into my life, I used to play
the trumpet for 15 years, so I felt a little
bit seen here. She is friends with a few... people
from the band. Unfortunately, this is high school,
so two of them fall in love with each other and
start dating each other. So she's left with the
other one, and he so happens to be a boy, and
they end up spending a lot of time with each
other, and have I mentioned, this is high school,
so of course everyone assumes they must be dating,
because hey, they are like talking to each other.
So she's essentially just a platonic friendship
perceived from both sides. as that as well, becomes
a problem because the friend, Milton, is actually
interested in someone else and they have to take
a break in their friendship because he's like,
well, I can't ask her out if everyone assumes
we are dating just because we're spending time.
Which is a crushing moment because that leaves
Robin totally and utterly by herself while, you
know, Will Byers just gone missing. Her parents...
Or like the 60s hippie cool parents who've never
cared about anything have just taken away her
bike from her. She doesn't have a mode of transport.
And suddenly people have really invested about
her being safe and at home. And she's lost all
her friends and she doesn't have things to do.
So it's not a great time for Robin. Luckily,
there are a few things that work out in her favor.
A. She's fluent in three languages. French, Italian
and Spanish. And because she's convinced she
needs to get away from Hawkins, she makes a plan
called Operation Cross On, which basically means
she's planning to get away over the summer to
Europe, go to all these places where she speaks
the language, travel Europe, and actually just
get away from America. Her favorite teacher,
an English teacher, Sam, becomes aware of this
plan, but also encourages her. but says, yo,
you should probably take someone with you, not
just from like a safety concern, but also like
someone to share the experience with. So you
have someone you, you know, you can like reminisce
and like look back on. So Robin ends up endlessly
debating who of her friends and like acquaintances
could be the perfect travel partner. So we see
her like in class, like writing in her little
book. those other three languages planning like
what she needs what she needs like how much money
does a plane ticket cost and who could be that
person and now she gets in her head very quickly
tammy thompson is that person because spoilers
she has a crush on tammy thompson but even bigger
spoilers she doesn't realize she has a crush
on tammy thompson to the point where when she
finally realizes that she You know, she is in
love with Tammy Thompson, that she's gay. I was
like, wait, you didn't know? It's always so funny
that as an outsider, it's so easy to see these
things. And sometimes you yourself need so much
more time to figure this out. So this is when
the whole queer themes and especially gay topics
come into this book. quite heavily. I mean, this
is the 80s, so we have mentions of HIV and, you
know, gay people are not to be trusted. Her English
teacher has to leave his job because he is gay,
and someone in town saw him holding hands with
his boyfriend. Unfortunately, though, if he wants
to keep being an English teacher, that means
he has to move away, start over, hope that no
one, like, passes this on. So he can remain doing
what he loves doing, which is being a teacher.
So basically, Justice Robin finally works out
herself that she's gay. And it's like, oh my
God, you've known all this time. This is why
you've given me the safe space. He's like, yeah,
I'm packing and leaving because I can't remain
here. So this is a little bit of a dent in her
like jubilous moment of finally understanding
who she is. And the good thing is because her
parents are like hippies and like raised Robin
to be like, you know, accepting and open -minded,
she knows that she doesn't have to fear their
rejection if she wants to come out to them. So
that sort of gives her a level of confidence.
But when she finally gets to the big moment and
hold on thisness. So she's worked on Operation
Croissant. She's managed to get a job. She's
managed to, you know, make money. All of that
stuff. She finally has enough money. She has
a plan. She's gonna walk away from Hawkins under
the guidance of going to prom. She's actually
packed her bag and she will not actually go to
prom. She will go to the airport and fly to Europe.
She has, at this stage, not told her parents.
Her parents find out just as she's about to leave.
And, you know, a lot of money falls out of her
backpack. And they're like, what on earth is
going on? Surprisingly, they confiscate everything.
They're not allowed to go to prom. They're not
allowed to go anywhere. And they're like, oh,
my God, what are you trying to do? She is then
fed up because she spent a year working on this.
She spent a year of, you know, making money to
do all of this. And that's where the title Rebel
Robin comes in. She goes on her rebellion. She
completely changes her outfit to the point that
she's not allowed to enter prom. They're like,
nope, that's not cool. She still sneaks into
prom because in her head, she's built up this
moment and she's like, right, nothing matters.
I am going to be myself. I'm no longer pretending
to fit in. I'm no longer going to pretend to
be someone that I am just not. I am going. To
be myself. And I'm going to ask out Tammy. So
she makes it in. She sneaks past everyone. She
gets into a prom. She finds Tammy. Tammy is there
with another boy. So she has this like. Moment
where she's like. Oh my god. I'm finally ready
to accept myself. And stand up for myself. And
after a year of crushing on this girl. I have.
She hasn't even considered. Her feelings might
not even be reciprocated. Tammy is not interested.
Tammy is not gay. So that is obviously a big
moment. However, luckily, we find out that Milton,
the guy from band who is finally allowed to be
a friend again because he managed to successfully
date his new girlfriend, is accepting of her
and doesn't shun her out. And as I've already
said, she has the reassurance that when she feels
ready to come out to her parents. she will be
accepted. And as I said, this book then ends.
She needs a new job because on her rebellious
journey to prom, she has damaged quite a few
cars. And so all the money that she's earned
over the year is going to repair the damage to
her parents' car and the other damage that she's
caused. So she needs a job. And luckily, there's
a new mall in town with an ice cream parlor.
So this is where we then, as in... As an audience,
meet Robin in Stranger Things Season 3 at Scoops
Ahoy, with the person she wants to spend time
with least, Steve Harrington. So, this is my
recap of the book. I just, on a personal note,
because I cannot stress how much this book has
really, really, really spoken to me. This one
is the book that stood out to me. I finished
it in a day. I couldn't put it down. There were
so many parallels that I could draw to my own
life growing up in a small town in Germany, being
different, being queer, figuring out how you're
different. I even played the same instrument.
So it just really hit a nerve with me. And, you
know, power to Robin who wants to travel the
world because of someone who's... who's been
able to travel the world a little bit and now
lives in a different country and has thankfully
found some acceptance in the world. I'm definitely
rooting for Robin. I'm sure we'll talk about
it in an upcoming episode of Fandom Shmandum,
but she's definitely one of my favorite characters
in Stranger Things. So I hope I was able to bring
Robin to life a little bit for you guys. And
this is it for me today. Over and out. Well,
that was awesomely fascinating. Thank you so
much, Aurelia, for that information, getting
us that nitty gritty schmitty of what we need
to know. A fascinating little bit there about
Robin's past before we get to know her in season
three. Yeah, I love getting a little bit more
information because Robin doesn't share a whole
lot about herself in the show. We just know kind
of these few moments when she's sharing with
Steve about who she is and Tammy Thompson. All
of those things. Yeah. And that she's in band,
but we don't really get a deep dive of what her
life was like before she gets thrown into the
insanity that is this Hawkins crew. So I really
enjoy all the additional information that. That
this gives us not just on Robin, but also just
the landscape of Hawkins in the 80s. Yeah, I
think it's really cool that, you know, they wrote
a little bit about what 80s gay queer culture
was like and the difficulties that people faced
at that time. Because I, you know, it's always
weird to remember that you and I were born not
that far away from. some some real shady uh treatment
of gay and and queer people especially in the
midwest i mean you and i were both in college
in the midwest we know what that seems like um
or can be like not that it's like that everywhere
but uh really neat information i like the fact
that her parents are hippies that was a cool
Key takeaway for me. Her own slow understanding
with this very protective teacher, that rocks.
And it also gives us the sense of the loneliness
that she's facing, right? The teacher's gone.
She's feeling really alone. Milton doesn't really
want to hang out with her anymore. And so it
seems like she is primed to find something that
is out there, ready for a life that's different
from her own. Though it not be Europe, it's cursed
upside down Hawkins. I don't know. I think I'd
rather go to Europe. Oh, same. Please. All right.
Well, awesome. Thank you. We are now going to
move on. Find your donut holes. It's time for
our Knives Out category, where we sleuth out
which three storylines are the most vital to
pay attention to. First storyline, Opening the
Gate, Russian edition. The second storyline,
Symptoms of the Mind Flayer. magnets and rats
and number three what is happening to billy okay
this first one opening the gate russian edition
we open up the whole season uh one year in the
past so this is in between seasons one and two
which i think everybody kind of forgets you think
it's happens in between seasons two and three
but it does not it is after the events of will
going into the upside down we've got you know
we end on christmas with steve harrington in
that great sweater that summer is when this occurs
and then halloween of 83 or 84 yeah halloween
of 84 is when uh season 2 takes place and then
this is summer of 85 we open up with the russians
trying to open the gate and uh it does not go
well and you know what that means people get
shot because the russians are In this fictional
world and kind of in real life at the time. Diabolical
evil people. At least the military events against
the U .S., right? So we get Alexei, this young
scientist, is given one year to fix it. And then
we flash forward the year. But we have no idea
why they're doing it. And how do they even know
about it? We get a little bit of sense in season
one that there's Russian spies when El's, you
know. Tap it into water and that one Russian
dude appears, but we don't really understand
why they're doing it. And then we move straight
to ice cream. Steve Harrington slinging ice cream
with this wonderful person named Robin, who is
just humbling him constantly. However, Dustin,
while trying to find Susie after everyone's abandoned
him, picks up on this Russian code and brings
it to... None of his friends, because they all
kind of suck at this beginning of the season.
He brings it to Steve, who's the only one who's
actually excited to see Dustin, it feels like.
And with Robin's help, who's a master of languages,
as we heard from Oreo's information, they decode
the message. They find out the Russians are in
Starcourt Mall, the new mega mall that's been
built. And with some spycraft, they're able to
finally... Nope, no, actually, spycraft doesn't
work at all. They find out where the Jazzercise
is, but Robin is able to break the code, and
they find out they need Erica. They need her
to find some information, to crawl through some
spaces, and the four of them eventually, by dodging
some armed people, end up in an elevator, only
accessible with a keycard. So, Sierra, what are
the key takeaways? Why does this storyline matter?
This, I think, is the revealing storyline, essentially.
It is the, not necessarily subplot, but basically
a how is all this happening and how does it affect
other people? Not just... How is this a supernatural
event? But also, how does this affect other people
and a little bit more on the landscape of the
time? And so this is the investigative team,
essentially, who are going in and they're using
their spy craft and they're decoding things.
And we get a little bit of a mystery going on
to figure out what are the Russians up to. We
as the viewer know what the Russians are up to,
but we don't necessarily know until it's revealed
by these characters that they are here in Hawkins.
This is not taking place in Russia. This is taking
place here. It's a more immediate situation.
So I think that's the main kind of purpose of
this. Yeah. And also just introducing the Russian
characters to... To the show. Yeah, you know,
I think there's certainly a... We've been waiting
for Russia to show up ever since Elle sees that
Russian man in her in -between world. And so
they needed to pay that off in some way, shape,
or form. I think you're right. It ties you to
the time a little bit more. But it really is
a side story. Constantly. It brings in levity.
It brings in comedy. Because we've got the Steve
and Dustin relationship. We've got... Robin coming
in as a comedic character. We've got Erica coming
in as a comedic character. Some of the best lines
come out of Erica throughout this entire season.
She's absolutely great. The actress is phenomenal.
But it is subservient, right? It is basically
saying, okay, so the Mind Flayer stayed behind,
but also the Mind Flayer is getting stronger
and able to keep a connection because they're
continuing to try and open this gate, right?
And we learn later the gate is... was healing,
but not fully closed. And now it's opening back
up again, allowing things to become stronger,
which is terrifying, but ultimately like doesn't
really serve as a main story. It is completely
giving information for us to understand everything
else. It is contextualizing what's going on in
Hawkins rather than like providing oomph and
push. Right. Onto our second storyline. We are
cheating a little bit because there are kind
of two storylines here. One with magnets and
one with the rats. However, they both come under
the category of symptoms of the mind flare. So
I will accept our cheating as not cheating. And
you guys just all have to be okay with that.
So with Joyce and Hopper, they are dealing with
the magnet situation. Magnets off at Joyce's
workplace. Magnets off at Joyce's house. But
Hopper doesn't care. He's kind of secure to date
with Joyce. After blowing Hopper off, though,
to get her mind blown by Mr. Clark, Joyce knows
in her heart that something is happening in Hawkins.
But Hopper has caught feelings. He's not taking
Joyce's slight well, and he's trying his darndest
to make Hawkins safe and get Joyce to take her
house off the market. Hopper shows Joyce Hawkins'
lab and is attacked by Arnold, the motorcycle
terminator. Hopper realizes the mayor just met
with this man and interrogates the mayor to find
the mystery man, all while Joyce helps to keep
Hopper's beating of the mayor nice and quiet.
When they realize the mysterious people have
property all near the power plant, they go to
investigate. Yeah, so these are interesting because
they are... really important in terms of finding
out what the mystery is right the magnets are
going to lead joyce and hopper to the russians
right over with nancy and jonathan rats are eating
fertilizer and hawkins post intern nancy wheeler
and photographer jonathan byers are on the case
The men running the Hawkins Post do not take
Nancy seriously. They laugh at her, call her
Nancy Drew, and so she convinces Jonathan to
go back to Mrs. Driscoll, whose rat has turned
into flesh mush, and now the full -grown woman
is eating fertilizer. Turns out Mrs. Driscoll
is a paranoid schizophrenic, according to Nancy
and Jonathan's mind -flayed boss, a very reliable
source. And so they are fired for listening to
Mrs. Driscoll's story. Jonathan is livid, telling
Nancy she lives in a rich bubble and he needs
money for college. Nancy's mom says don't listen
to sexist idiots and finish the story. She returns
to the hospital and realizes Mrs. Driscoll may
be a host to the Mind Flayer, just like Will.
Yeah, so these two stories are really interesting
because they are so, like, split. We've got two...
Couples. One who's pursuing Russians. One who's
pursuing Mind Flayer. And we get a lot of sort
of concentrated time with these romance storylines.
Jonathan and Nancy's romance is a lot more advanced.
And so we're getting sort of almost breakup and
big life moments for these growing teenagers.
It's like the most, I think. out of all the storylines,
we get sort of a coming of age. It feels like
Nancy and Jonathan's is much more coming of age
than Mike and company or Dustin and Steve or
anything like that. We get a little bit of Steve
being like, maybe I should have gone to college,
but this story of Nancy dealing with the real
world with people who won't take her seriously.
And Jonathan being like, I have money issues.
You don't is a really awesome way to give a lot
of depth to the story versus Joyce and Hopper.
This is a payoff, just like the Russians. We've
spent two seasons with these people hovering
around each other romantically, everyone kind
of being like, will they, won't they, will they,
won't they? And here it is with, we're still,
we're looping around that question faster and
faster and faster as it pulls us into its gravitational
pull. So I find these stories very satisfying.
Yeah, I agree. I think that a huge payoff for
both of these. is just the emotional complexity
and being able to actually dive into more of
the heart of this show. And instead of, instead
of the mystery or the horror or the other themes
that we have. So this really rounds everything
out. Yeah, absolutely. All right, so third storyline,
kind of the most important one, the central main
storyline of these first four episodes. What
is happening to Billy? Well, firstly, he's being
ogled by every mom in Hawkins, and that's just
wild. But of course, after his inappropriate
romance storyline, Billy becomes the Mind Flayer's
first victim since Will. But he's unsure, that's
Billy, is unsure what's happening. He runs away
and immediately tries to call the police, but
has memories of what just happened flash before
him. So he's a little out of sorts. And there
is a very clear difference between him and the
Mind Flayer. Even clearer than with Will. You
can see when Billy's Billy and when... The Mind
Flayer is the Mind Flayer because we're getting
a lot more private time with just Billy as almost
an adult who can move around by himself. Billy
is getting burned by the sun. He likes it cold.
There's a lot happening, including Vecna's clock
music. Is that Vecna's soundtrack I'm hearing?
Yes, for like half a second. Before Billy kidnaps
Heather the Lightguard, he has this vision. Of
Heather, like, sort of kneeling down in front
of him in the shower, staring at him. And then
Vekna's clock chimes, which I had not realized
on other rewatches. But there it is, bong, with
that. And I'm like, wait, so someone's about
to die and, like, all their limbs are going to
get twisted? No, no, they're not. Instead, Vekna
talks through Heather's face and says, take me
to him, before we flash back to Billy and the
real Heather. And what does that all mean? But
we don't really get a chance to contemplate because
Elle is playing a game of spin the bottle to
spy on them and finds Billy feeding Heather slash
having her be absorbed to the mind flayer. Elle
and Max go looking for Billy and Heather and
find them, as noted earlier, sort of playing
Stepford Wives at Heather's parents' place having
dinner. And they leave. Before Billy and Heather
kidnap Heather's parents. But never fear, Will
and Lucas, and Mike, I suppose, are here. They
help Elle and Max, even though both girls broke
up with their respective boyfriends, and stuff
Billy into a sauna at 220 degrees. But Billy
shows he has strength beyond human capability.
He meets with Heather after he escapes, while
Will Meet Again plays. And she explains that
Elle may kill Billy, but not us. As the camera
pans out and shows the army of the Flayed. So,
Sierra, tell us, why do we care about this storyline?
Why do we care? Okay, we care a heck of a lot
for a number of reasons. Both this season focused
and also future focused as well. As you were
saying, we have these hints of Vecna. We have
a much deeper connection and understanding of
what the Mind Flayer can do and what the Mind
Flayer can accomplish and how it can work through
somebody else. We've only had one little experience
of this with Will, which is almost nothing in
comparison to this. You know, we had a little
bit of that drama towards the end of the previous
season. And Will and Noah's acting phenomenal
in those moments. And that does carry over here.
Whoever they choose to be possessed by the Mind
Flayer. Bravo, bravo, bravo. Quite an accomplishment
to be taking on. And it really ramps up the terror
and the horror. Because when we pan out to see
all of these flayed. That's a lot of people.
And they're not done. And, you know, they're
continuing to grow. And what are all these people
doing? What is the aim? What is the goal? And
it really connects through this creature entity
that we've been seeing hints of and now we're
really seeing in person and is a very real, real
threat out in the world. You know, I find it
interesting that we get some Vecna stuff here.
It may be that the Duffer Brothers had a lot
of this planned out the whole time, or it may
not have been. You know, it's hard to know exactly.
We have writers that say, I knew it the whole
time. And, like, J .K. Rowling or other authors,
sometimes they really do. They have much of it
planned out for much of the time. Or you get
people like George Lucas who say that, and then
you go and read the histories of it, and you're
like, no, you didn't. Not the whole time. So,
but this is the season to me that it's like,
okay, they, they have fleshed out where they're
headed. They know where they're going and they
are both trying to create a compelling season
three while also building towards Vecna and,
and this entire sort of storyline about why Hawkins
what's going on. And I find it really interesting
that you get this, these two talking together
because one of the big complaints at the end
of season four, when you realize that Vecna and
the mind flayer, are together is that some people
were like, oh, so Vecna just runs into the Mind
Flayer and then utilizes that to catch this,
and that sort of lessens the Mind Flayer as a
villain, as its own entity. But this, upon this
rewatch, realizing that this is a Vecna -Mind
Flayer dynamic, they are much more of a team,
although the Mind Flayer is a little subservient
to Vecna's... sort of idea. You get that experience
with Heather and Billy talking. When Billy's
like, oh my gosh, she knows about me. She knows
who I am. She could have killed me. And Vecna's
like, but she can't kill us. And so he's clearly
the leader. But they are two distinct beings,
which I really like getting an insight in. But
all of that's hugely important for episode, or
not episode four, for season four. And of course,
Getting to know all of this sort of, they need
chemicals for the Mind Flayer in order for it
to exist here. It needs bodies. It's, it's all
extremely important for us as an audience to
understand, to see that like, okay, so like things
in the upside down either need to make it be
the upside down or they have to do a chemical
change in order to stay in this version of earth
without it being the upside down. So all really,
really good information that we should be keeping
watch of as we move forward to season five, keep
your finger on the pause button though, and rewind
that tape. It's time for our prestige category
for what do we notice? on this watch through
first of all it's the super mall i don't love
sierra a ton of 1980s things this show certainly
has made me uh love it a lot more and it's funny
because i love a lot of 1980s movies like star
wars indiana jones back to the future all comes
out of that era um little mermaid is 1989 uh
there's all sorts of stuff about the 80s pop
culture wise, then I'm like, cool, but I've never
been a huge, like eighties aesthetic. And, uh,
a lot of the like eighties, uh, things that happened
in the real world are not my favorite experience
either, but man, is it fun to see sort of this,
uh, mall come in and they even deal with it in
a kind of fun way about with Nancy pitching death
of small town America as the malls come through.
So I, I don't know. I really like it. And the
vibes. Awesome. Yeah. I'm also not sure if I
love or hate that I missed out on the 80s, specifically
because of hair and makeup. I'm glad I missed
out on it. It is so bold and just I forget sometimes
just how kind of crazy some of those styles were.
I mean, how fun, though. How fun. Sure. I despise.
the big poofy 1980s white women hair with a passion.
I can't stand the way Nancy looks from almost
all of this season. And even Max in that first
episode, they try and do something with Max's
hair and they kind of return it back to normal
over the next several episodes. But I'm like,
I think Elle looks great, but I just, I can't.
And they even like zhuzh up Mrs. Wheeler's hair
too. And I'm just kind of like, okay. Yeah. Well,
you know, all the adult women are just trying
to make themselves so pretty for Billy. How are
all the women suddenly cougars? I don't... There
wasn't anybody as so attractive as Billy Hargrove
as soon as he got there with his old Chevy and
his California license plate and his shirt off
24, 80 ,000 minutes a day. Yeah, okay. Moving
on. Tight pants. Oh my gosh, for real. Moving
on from terrible style and people. How on earth
does Hopper not know what a heart -to -heart
is? Joyce is like, have a heart -to -heart. And
he's like, what? When he literally just had a
heart -to -heart. This is one of my least favorite
things about season three, is this little moment
of him not being emotionally empathetic. Because
we've had him be... Like rather understanding
and really deep in his feels both in season one
and season two, even though he's gruff. And then
they kind of they make him a little more static
and cliche in this first little bit here. It
leads to something amazing. And I think his acting
is really good for the part that was written.
But like, come on, dude, you know what a heart
to heart is. Yeah, I feel like the only. reason
that I think that he's not putting it together
is because there's not some big thing on the
line where he has to pour his heart out or really
connect or he hasn't seen Elle in a long time
and so he needs to explain their relationship
or whatever the case may be. So I feel like maybe
the stakes just aren't high enough for him. He's
just so annoyed. Yeah, absolutely. He's just
so annoyed by Elle and Mike and he's like, I
just wanted to stop. That's fair enough. Okay,
so, Ciara, do you remember the line, friends
don't lie? Yes, repeated, repeatedly. Repeated,
repeatedly, repeatedly repeated all over the
seasons. Why is everyone thinks that Dustin's
lying about his girlfriend? In this specific
friend group, you make a great point. I think
it's just one of those classic, like, my girlfriend
in Canada. My girlfriend from summer camp. My
girlfriend from summer camp who doesn't live
anywhere near here and you'll never meet her
or see her or anything, but we totally write
all the time. I just feel like that's such a
cliche teenage thing. It's great fun, but it
makes no sense for this friend group. It doesn't
make any sense. Yeah. Whatever. It does not make
any sense. And he's not lying. Like Dustin of
everybody, like Will won't lie and Dustin won't
lie, but Lucas and Mike absolutely would. We
know that at this point. Oh my gosh. Whatever.
Well, friends don't lie, but boyfriends do. But
boyfriends do. Okay. We got to talk about one
of my all time favorite Stranger Things moment.
And if you've been following us the entire time,
you know that this, this utter joy has been coming
for me. I like, it's so funny because like, as
a real human adult, I'm extremely patient with
kids. I work with teenagers for a living. I would
never at all lose my mind like the way Hopper
does. I do not think that's the right way to
teach children or work with children or set boundaries
with children. I'm very much on Joyce's side.
But oh man, do I love it when Hopper is trying
to set some boundaries and Mike is just being
a little tiny sucra next to him. And just like,
Hop, like, literally loses his mind. Like, your
grandma's dying, kid, get in the car. And then
Mike swears at him and he's like, oh, you want
to see crazy? disrespect me one more time and
he's basically frothing at the mouth and he like
keeps locking the car and Mike can't get out
to get back to Elle and he's like alright you're
not gonna speak you're gonna listen and then
I love that moment where he turns on the car
and he's like do you understand and Mike doesn't
say anything because he's been told not to say
anything and he goes nod if you understand It's
so good. Hopper brings me so much joy. Both in
his just general hopness and also how he deals
with children. We're gonna do this. No. No. No,
you're not. No. No, you're not. It's just like,
it must have been such an agonizing summer for
Mike to be over in his house constantly. I mean,
part of the problem is that L can't go over anywhere
else. So he has to be the one at his house supervising
and they're, you know, ignoring him and being
judgy about him. And also like he's dealing with
a lot of PTSD and he's stressing super hard.
And so he's been gaining a lot of weight and
stress eating and all of this stuff. So like
he's unhealthy and their relationship is unhealthy
and he's, his mind is not in the right place.
But man, is this just such for people who are
Mike haters like me. I love it. I love it. I
love it. From a story perspective. So good. Yes.
So good. But moving on to episode two. Then we
move on. And I had a question about Starcourt
because for whatever reason, I just got very
big. Let's go to the mall music video vibes.
Yeah, absolutely. Which is partially just because
I feel like most of the super malls look. pretty
much the same yeah and then also because 80s
uh because you know according to robin the 80s
came to canada late so yeah so i i looked it
up it is not the same place yeah however It totally
could be. I feel like every time I watch a movie
or TV show and there's a mall, I feel like it's
always the same mall in Culver City near my grad
school that I used to go to, which they would
shut down frequently to do lots of filming. I
feel like every Netflix Hallmark movie, Christmas
movie, is set at that mall. Every single one.
And it doesn't matter if it's set in Scotland
or if it's set in... or if it's set in Brazil
or if they're, you know, somehow they're in Antarctica
and there's this mall that exists. It's always
this one in Culver City. And I don't know that
it is, but I really want it to be. Dang it. Where
did they film it? I know. It's in Georgia. It's
a mall in Georgia. Oh, right. They filmed most
of Stranger Things in Georgia. I keep forgetting
that. Oh, well. But the Let's Go to the Mall,
they actually, it's not an actual mall. What?
Yeah, it's a set and green screen. I hate that.
I know, I don't like it either. There's so many
malls you could use. They literally could have
gone to Concord, New Hampshire and gone to the
Steeplegate Mall and just had it there and it
would have been basically free. Whatever. You
know what's not free, though, is heels and a
bathing suit. Oh, gosh. Because that's a look.
That is a look. All of the 80s style stinks,
Sierra. It's terrible. Heels in a bathing suit
is wild. Yeah, heels in a bathing suit is absolutely
bonkers. However, Max does give some pretty great
shopping advice, which is just you try things
on until you find something that feels like you.
And I hate shopping so much, so I may actually
use this the next time I go shopping. Fantastic.
My wife and I were talking about this the other
day, and she was like, relationships and shopping
are the same. If it's not a hell yes, it's a
hell no. I like that a lot. Isn't that great?
That's so good. Great Heidi Williams quote. Okay,
so we get a little bit of Mr. Clark. And I just
got to say, he feels like quite a catch for someone
out there. And he was dating this one woman over
the last two seasons. And she just isn't in season
three. So it might be that they're together.
He's married. I don't really remember. I don't
remember if there's a ring on his finger. But
he's like, you know. painting his little D &D
figurines in his garage with low lighting and
the little scopes to see the paint and everything.
And he's got this great steady hand and he's
diligently working. And then he just lets Mrs.
Byers come into his home and shows her all how
electromagnet stuff works. And he's just so accepting
and wonderful and great. I know, I need more
of him. I miss the fact that we don't get him
at all in season four. I like am bummed by it.
And I know there's not room for him there because
they they're not like the kids are really not
together in that one. But I miss him. I missed
a minute. Yeah. Also, he's a good guy. Poor Hop.
Like, it really sucks that Joyce is just like
at Mr. Clark's house doing this instead of going
to Enzo's. But also maybe don't trick Joyce into
dating you. He did make it very clear that it
was not a date, but then very much. expected
it to be a date and on loads on her like it's
a date yeah so which come on i mean yeah but
also i mean she shouldn't have completely gone
non -communicado and i know it's not smartphones
like she would literally have had to have called
his house or called enzo's which she's called
the restaurant yeah very capable but you can
yeah hey i'm figuring something out i'm sorry
yeah for real every in the 80s everyone had yellow
pages And for Gen Alpha and Gen Z... I had yellow
pages in the 90s. Yeah, for real. I had it in
the aughts. That's how New Hampshire worked.
Yeah, true. And for Gen Z and Gen Alpha that's
listening, the yellow pages were where everybody's
numbers were listed, and you could call them.
And that's how you figured out whose friends
you lived in, unless their parents had the same
name as somebody else, and then it was awkward.
On to episode three. So, will... constantly wants
to go back to the stage of his life before he
was kidnapped in the Upside Down, which is very
touching and very sad, but life is rapidly moving
on without him, and I find this, like, genuinely
heartbreaking. Yes. I feel so bad for Will. Kind
of throughout this whole season, really, he just
is very overlooked, and... put into the background.
And really the only time that he has these meaningful
moments is if something bad is happening to him
or he's getting his spidey sense of the mind
flare arriving, which is also something bad happening
to him. It's either normal bad or it's extra
bad. Exactly. Yeah, it's just so it's just so
terrible. And none of his friends are treating
him very well. And Mike is just a classic Mike.
Yeah. And is kind of throwing some things in
his face because he's mad about Al and all sorts
of things. And I just I did have this question
when I was watching this time around. Does Mike
know? that will is gay at this point or is he
just like assuming that he hasn't grown into
liking people yet and having crushes and wanting
to have a girlfriend or whatever Um, either way,
he's dumb and rude and boys are dumb. Yeah, that's
true. Teenage boys, especially. Teenage boys
are dumb. Super. Sorry, teenage boys listening.
Listen, I love all my students. I teach at an
all boys school and they are literally 14 to
18. Uh, but they're dumb and I love them and
we're making them smarter and they're becoming
great young men, but also teenage boys are dumb.
Absolutely. At times, certainly. And it's not
your fault. No, it's really not your fault. It's
just the fact that puberty sucks. And your prefrontal
cortex is not yet developed and it's okay to
be dumb. You just got to learn to be humble and
have integrity and move forward and make yourself
smarter. Exactly. So to answer your question
as best as I can, I think in season three, this
really was Mike kind of knowing. Because you've
got this whole, the past two seasons of Mike
sort of being in Will's corner and understanding
Will in the way that he understands Elle in this
season. And so I would have said if, you know,
if season four hadn't come out, he absolutely
knows. This certainly is supposed to make the
audience feel like this might be a thing. And
so they're kind of softballing that to the audience
while also giving us, there are definitely gay
characters in this world. Here's Robin. Yeah.
But then season four comes out. With the whole
will and the art that he's made for somebody
special. And he's with Mike the whole time. And
Mike only has eyes for Elle. And I really think
now Mike doesn't really know. Because of what
happens in season four. I could be totally off
base. I could be reading increasingly wrong.
But that's how it feels to me. You know, I think
I can go along with that, and I think that I
can see that Mike doesn't know, and he's making
a comment just like, hey, it's not my fault that,
you know, I've grown into... You haven't grown
up yet. Yeah, you haven't grown up yet, basically.
But Will definitely is taking it as girls versus
boys. Well, yeah, for sure. Yeah. So, ugh, again,
Will. Also, like, how much do I have empathy
for... will i especially as i was young for my
grade i really didn't start i started developing
much later than everybody like i was still in
middle school body while other people started
to get into their high school bodies and like
man did i just i wanted to be the kid that like
was still playing with action figures and stupid
games and stuff like that while everybody else
was like hey have you noticed that girls are
like super attractive and also it's new hampshire
In the aughts. And so there's not really much
to do other than do drugs. Do you want to do
something? And me being like, no, no, I've noticed
nothing. I definitely don't want drugs. Like,
I feel for Will. Life has rushed beyond him.
And he just has, he's just by himself in this
place being like, I would like to play. Yeah.
And then he's not going to. It's very sad. My
boy. Speaking of the Byers, why doesn't Joyce
move sooner? Like, it's been. nine months i feel
like and summertime is the time to move with
your kids in between high schools maybe she's
just wanting jonathan to finish up his senior
year somewhere but then like you know they end
up moving at the end of the season i'm just like
i feel like the gate opened a second time will
was in danger second time i'm we're leaving i'm
putting my house on the market and i'm leaving
it empty and it'll sell when it sells The only
thing that I can think of is just Joyce is so
tied into all these things that she now feels
a responsibility to like see it through to the
end. And so now the reason why they do move is
because she thinks it's done. That it really
is the end. And she doesn't have anything left
for her and Hawkins besides her boys who are
going to come with her. Well, yeah, I mean, you
know, because spoiler for the end of the season.
When she thinks Hopper's dead, then she moves.
So I wonder if that's it, too, if she's just
lingering out hope for Hopper. A little bit,
probably. She, however, is not a cougar and is
not appreciative of Billy's attractiveness, like
she shouldn't be. However, we're going to talk
about Billy's actor, Dacre Montgomery, and have
some big appreciations for his acting. His acting
in the Stepford scene. And for those of you who
don't know what we're talking about, Stepford
Wives is this incredible movie where essentially
these women are all acting very plastic Barbie
-like as wives. And you find out why later. He's
doing an incredible job of putting on this polished,
fake smile that really does seem charming if
you don't know what's going on. But because there's
this spooky undertone, it comes across as chilling.
And oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, it's great. It's
amazing. This, I feel like this season should
just be called the Dacre Montgomery show. Yeah.
Because I feel like every single episode, he
has at least one scene where I'm like, holy moly.
So good. Yeah, absolutely. You're 100 % right.
100 % right. Yeah. Episode four. Very quickly.
I'm just glad that Max and Elle are friends this
season and that. Oh, so nice. Because they really
started to do this overplayed, not that this
doesn't happen in real life, but this overplayed
dynamic of women hating women. And I just, I
didn't like it in season two. It felt cliche
in a way that Stranger Things normally avoids.
And then they instantly fix it, and I'm just
so grateful. Yeah, I love it. And I love that
Elle has a buddy. Yeah, absolutely. Instead of
just being around. As we've said, dumb teenage
boys. Dumb teenage boys, yeah. Speaking of dumb
boys, but they're much older, how good is Hopper
and Mayor Larry Klein's interrogation scene?
So good. It's... Every... All the lines... As
they build up to the physical violence in that
scene where they're just sitting across from
each other and, like, kind of having a tit -for
-tat where it's like, well, I've got stories
about you. You've got stories about me. Nothing's
going on. Oh, yeah? Are you sure? Mm -hmm. Really?
Oh, okay. And then Hopper's just done with it
and breaks his nose. And Larry Klein, the mayor's
delivery on, you broke my nose! And then he looks
at him, you broke my goddamn nose! It's just
so funny for some reason. And then Joyce, Joyce
pulling out the cord and being like, who you
calling the police? It's amazing. That's priceless.
It's just a priceless scene. And I think, I think
it's just the dynamic between, you know, police
chief who's just lost his marbles at this point
and corrupt mayor is just such a good. It's just
such a good dynamic in general. And then you
get these specific characters. And these specific
actors. Because they're just incredible. And
they're so good in that scene together. It's
just great. Yeah. So fantastic. All right, here's
a question for you. Yes. With Nancy and Jonathan's
argument about, hey, we were just interns. It's
not a big deal. And Jonathan being like, I need
money. You live in a bubble. Does Jonathan go
too far here? Or do you feel like Nancy needs
to be woken up? So I think that they both have
some valid points. And I think that Jonathan
needs to maybe be more clear with Nancy about
what he needs, why he needs this job, what he's
trying to accomplish, all the things that are
required for him to continue living the way that
he wants to live. But I do feel like the way
to explain that is not just talking down to her
about her situation because she can't control
her situation. She didn't choose to be born into
the family that she was born into. Yes, she may
have been living in a bubble, but she's also
seen some things over the past few years and
knows that life isn't all so great all the time.
And she's not one who's like, throwing her wealth
around or anything like that and you know she
she definitely comes from more of a position
of privilege here but i don't necessarily know
that it's an i don't necessarily know that at
this point it's an issue like yes she feels like
she should be treated better and she should be
and She doesn't need this job. She could go try
to find another job. However, as a woman in the
workforce in the 80s, especially coming into
it just right at the beginning, she is going
to have some issues with a lot of the boys club
personas that are out there. So I don't think
that he goes about it in the right way. I think
this. Would have been very nice to just have
as a really gentle conversation between the two
of them of like, oh, well, this is my experience.
This is my experience. This is why I need this
job. This is why I don't need this job. And then
it could have been handled. I've been in this
situation before and it's awful. Yeah, totally.
It's really awful. And because especially if
you're really trying to see from other people's
points of view and that's just not picked up
on, it's. Kind of crushing. Yeah. I think Jonathan's
messaging is poor, and it's hard to do ideal
messaging on any of this sort of stuff. Certainly,
I'm going to talk about a lot of things, so anybody
who's listening, please don't judge too quickly
what I'm saying, because I'm going to get to
a lot. I think Jonathan certainly at times is
uncomfortable, and sometimes deeply uncomfortable
with what Nancy was asking for. But also, he
can grow more of a spine and speak for himself.
And so he was like, hey, I don't want to get
fired. I really don't want to do this. But then
he's like, okay, you're relentless. And also,
you're my girlfriend. So how much am I really
going to stand up to you? We're in a relationship.
And so all of that's true. Yet it's still his
choice to go and do a bunch of these things.
And yet, you know, he does feel a little bit
like he's been coerced, sort of, into helping
Nancy on what he's doing. So there's some fair
stuff there. He's absolutely right. About the
fact that Nancy is not considering his financial
circumstances. Because even she comes out and
is like, well, I didn't realize I lived in a
bubble. Okay, actually, that's kind of your fault.
But I would say that that's kind of their fault
for both of them for two different things. Jonathan
is not being supportive at all about the sexism.
He's just being like, it's okay. Like, we'll
get through it. They're just assholes. He's not
helping at all. He's also living in his bubble
within his male perspective. completely not being
a very good ally to her female perspective. And
at the same time, she is not looking at his poverty
perspective while he is very much aware of her
wealth perspective. And it is on both of them
to be more aware. And they're getting to the
age where they should start to realize that.
So this is like very, I think this is the right
time for this conversation. Both of them need
to wake up. to what they're doing not said the
right way but honestly when is it ever going
to be said the right way in a show like this
and they're still teenagers so a lot to forgive
and at the same time i i like don't mind that
jonathan said it like that and i wouldn't mind
it if uh i almost called her sierra i don't mind
that jonathan said it like that and i also wouldn't
have minded if nancy shouted at jonathan about
his lack of support around the sexism so You
know, it's all fair. I think it was a missed
opportunity for her to kind of be like, well,
hey, you didn't explain this to me. I didn't
explain this to you. You're not supporting me.
You say that I'm not supporting you. Well, you're
not supporting me either. And it could have gone
kind of both ways. I agree. And I think that
Nancy is a strong enough character that it maybe
would have made more sense if she had done that.
Yeah, I think so too. Speaking of strong women,
Erica. is incredible just amazing her capitalism
scene uh with explaining like my services are
now in high demand and i'm going to negotiate
for free ice cream for life uh which is silly
of her to not see that like hey steve and robin
are gonna work there forever like you have you
have free ice cream until they go and do something
else um yeah but her capture her or until the
mall burns down or until the mall burns down
uh Erica's capitalism scene certainly captures
an element of, like, the way in which the 80s
sort of celebrated money and sort of a new form
of capitalism that was entering the United States.
Continuing the strong women, back to Nancy. She
thinks that she gets her fighting spirit from
her mom. What evidence do we have to this? Literally
none. None to be, like, that fighting spirit
that Nancy has. That's where she gets, like...
Okay, yeah, certainly Mrs. Wheeler is a strong
individual. Like, she powers through some stuff,
but also she's, like, super absent -minded about
her kids, really focused on Billy at a certain
time, like, only doesn't go and have sex with
him because she loves her husband. And then,
like, what else has she done to be like, yeah,
this leads to your daughter taking a gun, going
through a stump in season one, and trying to
face down a Demogorgon? No. Yeah, no. Mm -mm.
None. It's stupid as all hell. None, none, none.
Okay. I know we talked about Mr. Montgomery in
the Stepford scene, but the sauna scene. Oh,
my. The sauna scene is incredible. It's so good.
It might be my favorite scene up until this point
of Stranger Things. Oh, like for season one,
season two, and season three up until this point.
Season two, season three. This might be my favorite
one. I think it is mine. I don't even know what
I would put up there with it. That Sarah montage
while saving Will is really impactful from season
one. Yeah. I love the Halloween moments in season
two. I do love the scene of them going through
the corridors in season two as well. that sequence
of trying to get out of Hawkins lab after lockdown,
that one might beat it, but man, it just Montgomery's
acting with being Billy and trying to talk to
Max and plead with Max for a second and then
activating into the mind flare and completely
changing his character is just so well done.
I find him incredible. Absolutely incredible.
We will continue talking about. him and his acting
and the billy versus mind flayer throughout this
season's episodes because i re -watching it is
very clear to me when he is billy and when he
is the mind flayer and wow and just the the instant
switching the instant switching that you can
see happening is so so amazing And everybody
else's reactions to those changes as well. Very,
very well done. So good. Well, you don't always
have to face down a horde of angry soldiers by
yourself. Buckle up, Schmisseners. It is time
for our Sansa is Smarter Than John category for
what is the most important character moment of
this set of episodes. Okay, so surprisingly,
I have Max. Helping Elle break up and then take
her shopping, which I just feel like is a really
important moment for both characters. For Max
to show us that, like, okay, she's not as clichély
tomboy where she's like, can't be friends with
women. And also Elle gaining a lot more agency,
specifically around clothes, which is, you know,
her expressing herself for the first time in
that way. Right. I've also got... Robin humbling
Steve constantly. Because we grow to love Robin
so quickly. Yes. And this, I think, is why. It's
that banter that she has almost with the audience
about how stupid Steve is. My favorite is the
board. Yeah, absolutely. Loser. Loser. You are
a loser. And then Steve realizing he's going
nowhere. I thought was a good character moment
as well. You could do a lot. There's a lot of
character moments in here. There's a lot. These
were my top three. Yeah. I think I would give
the edge to Robin humbling Steve, mostly because
it's really key to understanding her character
and to be introduced to her character. Yeah,
I agree. Whereas the others, I feel like don't
have as much of a payoff. Throughout these episodes.
But Robin's moment really is important to who
she is. Yeah. Good. Concluded. I know you just
lost a hand, but listen up. It's time for the
I am your father category for most iconic character
moment. I have an honorable mention for Hop shaking
down Mayor Klein. But of course, you have the
winner. I do have the winner and it is another
Hopper moment. It is Hopper finding out that
he has successfully scared Mike into giving Eleven
some space for a day while you don't mess around
with gym plays in the background. Hilarious.
I started laughing hysterically at that moment.
He's so happy and the song is perfect and it
is. Excellent all over. I love it so much. Oh,
it's so good. I also love that later, when Mike
does reveal, it was Hopper, he went crazy, he
said we were spending too much time together,
that Elle's like, I know she's mad, but she's
also like, maybe he's right, and I was like,
that's right, that's right, you gained some advocacy
for yourself, Elle, that's right, uh -huh, this
has nothing to do with how prejudiced I am against
Mike. Sam, you gotta sit down. No, I'm sorry.
It's time for our I Am Iron Man. Most iconic
and important scene. There's one answer. Category.
There is one answer. It's Billy breaking out
of the sauna. Between the imagery, his brutality,
he's already a much better host for the Mind
Flayer than Will ever was. He's already morally
and mentally corrupted. Yeah. And he's a better
physical host. Yeah, absolutely. He is a better...
He's an adult, basically. He can go places without
people being like, where are you going, Will?
Yeah, he's not a child. Yeah, without walking
or biking. Yeah, he can drive. He has a car.
I, yeah, it's, all of it's so incredible in the
sauna scene. That transformation into the Mind
Flayer, breaking through the wall, opening it
up, having that fight with Eleven where they
kind of realize that. oh my gosh, Billy's weirdly
a match for Elle. What is going on? And then
of course she wins. It's just, the whole scene
has this wonderful arc of, I'm Billy, I'm sad,
I'm scared, and now I'm Mind Flayer, and here
we go, and you're going to, and you can just
see the difference between like, when Will was
like, sitting in a doctor's office. I'm sure
the Mind Flayer was like, again with the psychiatrist,
come on, man. Versus now. the mind flare gets
put into a better body and he can physically
remove himself from that situation. Unlike will.
And I wonder if that's one of the reasons why
he goes for somebody like Billy, this young strapping
man. I will say there's one moment in that scene
where, because of how tall Mike's actor is, like
he's really growing at this point. There's definitely,
they try and hide it as much as possible, but
Mike is taller than Billy. And there's one scene
where he there he's behind Billy's shoulder and
you can see Mike and it's like, Oh, Because,
like, he's really supposed to be much bigger
than all these children. And he is, like, physically
more imposing. And Mike is very skinny because
he's still, like, a teenager kid. But it's kind
of funny to be like, oh, yeah. Like, the Mind
Flayer, like, looking up to Mike. Who's supposed
to be, like, in eighth or seventh grade. Right.
Or going into eighth or something like that.
Crack open an encyclopedia. It's time for our
As Elijah Wood Once Said. No! How could we have
known? category, where we discuss the most important
information disseminated to the fandom over these
first four episodes. I think the most key information
for me is that the Mind Flayer needs a host and
to feed and to grow through them in order to
remain on our side of the dimensional plane.
And this also goes along with the chemicals and
whatnot. But basically, The mind flayer can't
exist by itself on our side. Without the upside
down. It needs a host. Yeah. Exactly. Without
the upside down. Yeah. So I think that's really
important to know about the mind flayer itself,
but also potentially extrapolating to other upside
down entities. Yeah, absolutely. It's a bit like
Spirited Away. For anybody that's seen that movie,
once you go into the spirit realm, you have to
eat something. on that side in order to be accepted
into that world or else you fade away. And so
it's like, Hey, I need to stay here. So we're
going to chemically change myself in order to
be, you know, workable in Earth's, this Earth's
oxygen levels and all that stuff. My information
here was that Vecna is there, which we went over
already, but he's in Heather's body two times.
Once before Billy captures Heather and once at
the very end of episode four. And I just think
that that, It is mind blowing. We should all
be aware that Vecna also somehow possessed Heather
and put a vision into Billy's head. So that was,
that was cool and good. A little aside on that.
I took it as that for the vision that Vecna was
not already in Heather. I agree. I think that's
an imposed vision. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. But
that, but that. he's using her visage to call
up. You're right, 100%. To be clear, I'm not
saying that he's in Heather's body two times,
like I literally said. He's in Heather's body
once, and then he uses Heather's body a second
time, but it's a visage sort of situation. Yes,
okay. Perfect. Well, keep your horses safe. Not
from Vecna, but it is the I'm gonna make him
an offer he can't refuse category of best. Lines.
There's a lot of great ones here. I know. One
of my personal favorites. We've talked about
Hopper a lot, but maybe I should just kill Mike.
I'm the chief of police. I could just cover it
up. I forget about that line every time and it
makes me so happy. Continuing with him. Maybe
if you are lucky. I will continue to allow you
to date my daughter. And the context of that
line and the way that he, the vitriol behind
it when he says that and the authority is so
impressive. Yes. My next one. Once you open up
that curiosity door, anything is possible. Mr.
Clark. Mr. Clark, what a gem. Love him. I've
got two in here. First of all, there's Joyce's
line, which I already mentioned. Who are you
calling? The police? While Hopper, the chief
of police, is beating up the mayor. And his secretary
tries to call the cops. But the one that I think
should win, and it's mainly just because of delivery
and context, is when Mayor Klein is trying to
explain away the Russian motorcyclist. I was
like, I don't know, I meet with a lot of people,
Hopper. Tall, square jaw, ex -military. You know
who that might have been? The maintenance guy.
And then this line happens that Hopper says.
And he just leans forward and goes, you meeting
with a lot of plumbers, Larry? It's so good.
The delivery on that is amazing. However, I think
the winner is this final one. You can't spell
America without Erica. It's so good. It's so
marketable, too. Like, I feel like she just,
like, is on lunchboxes and water bottles and
t -shirts because of that one line. She is the
future president. For sure. Absolutely. Okay,
yeah. We'll give it to Erica. We can't spell
America. We can't spell America without Erica.
And Dustin's just like, uh -huh. She's right.
Yeah. Mind blown. Well, dust off that card deck
and get ready to shuffle. It's our Joker category
for who is the MVP of this episode. Now, I have
a pound for pound argument with you. Okay, go
ahead. Is it Mayor Klein? No. But he's so wonderful
and delicious and great as an actor in every
scene that he's in. It absolutely isn't. Pound
for pound means that they've done something actually
important. But I just had to give you a little
bit of princess pride. Okay, I think we're aligned
on who it is. Okay, because I was going to say,
is it weird to say the Mind Flayer? He's got
a really successful streak going. He's got all
the people he's turning. Billy's under his control.
Elle isn't strong enough to defeat him. Only
some stinking kids know that he's even around,
besides the people who are his flayed. So, his?
Yeah, it's the Billy Flair combo. It's everything
about them in these series of episodes makes
this show work. Yeah. And, like, part of me is,
like, if you don't have the seriousness of Montgomery's
acting, does this show even equal season one
and two? Because there's a lot of moments that
are, like... Joyce and Hopper can be a little
almost too light for me. Dustin and Steve can
be almost a little too light if you're separating
them out completely without the grounding of
Montgomery's work. And that's why they work so
well is that they're all balancing each other
out. But if you remove him, I think the show
is a little bit more – this is going to sound
really harsh, and I don't mean it as harsh as
it sounds, but it's a little more Scooby -Doo
than it is Stranger Things if you don't have
Montgomery there. At least in these first episodes.
These first four, absolutely. That's all I mean.
Yeah, at least in these first four episodes,
I would agree with you. I think it definitely
has the comparison to make. Yeah, totally. Clean
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. There are two entities working
together. This early. It's not just the Mind
Flayer on its own. Vecna is working with the
Mind Flayer actively. It's not a retcon from
season four that it enters. They have planned
this. They even have the chime in the episode.
That's the biggest thing y 'all should take away
from this. Yeah, definitely. Today's public service
announcement. Don't mess around with Jim. Don't
do it. Why would you? Why would you mess around
with Jim? Is there any point? He's chief of police.
No. He could... He could kill you. He could kill
you and cover it up. Yeah. He might allow you
to continue to date his daughter. But only if
you never disrespect him again and you follow
all those rules. Exactly. Don't mess around with
gym people. And don't you dare meet with a lot
of plumbers. I love it. Well, thank you, listener
schmissiners, for listening to this episode of
Fandom Schmandom. If you'd like to discuss this
episode or any other episode we've done, please
hit us up on our social media channels. You can
find us on TikTok and Instagram at fandomshmandumpod
and on X at fandom underscore shmandum. Please
don't forget to rate and view us if you liked
the episode. It really helps with the algorithm
placing us and the other like -minded schmissioners
algorithms out there. And with that, we're out,
y 'all. Don't forget to tip your hosts. That's
so creepy. And fare thee well. And Dustin and
Steve. Justin and Steve Steve. Steve Steve. I
like Steve Steve. Elle and Max and Dustin and
Steve Steve. Hopper and Joyce explore the lab.
But the only revelation. Wow, I really swallowed
the butt. There was non -existence on that sentence.
Definitely stands out to me. Nope, now there's
a cat that's on my desk. Gotta go. Hold on. I
love you, Kat. I know. Nanthi. Nanthi. Nanthi.
My God. Billy time. Oh, no, it's me. It's me.
I'm Billy. Sorry. Here we go. Billy time. I am
Billy now. Billy time. Yep, Sam, go for it. But
Billy shows he has strength beyond human capility.
My God. Keep your horses safe. Not from Vecna,
but... I'm going to make him an, oh, I can't,
I can't say that. Let's restart that whole thing.
I'm losing, I'm losing, I'm losing, I'm losing,
I'm losing. Yeah, we should only record one episode
tonight. It's too late to do a second. Oh, yeah.
If I do a second one, I'm going to be speaking
in rhyme. It's going to be cat, bat, bat, cat.
Yeah, that would be the entire second episode.
Yeah, it would be unintelligible. Biggest takeaway
viewers should leave with in preparation. In
preparation. You got it. One more time. What
is the biggest dickus? She develops a plan. Operation
Croissant.