WEBVTT

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Welcome to Fandom Shmandom, the fandom podcast

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that covers everything you love and more. I'm

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Sierra Obermark. And I'm Sam Williams. Today's

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episode, we will be spitefully spitting about

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Stranger Things Season 3, Episodes 1 through

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4. And without further ado, we will, as Roger

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Smith says, dive on in. So get up to 88, because

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it's time to travel back to our story recap.

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Blast from the past, it's summer of 84, and the

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dang Ruskies really are up to something. The

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young scientist is given one year to open the

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gate. Fast forward, and it's summer of 85 in

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Hawkins. Mike and Elle are together, much to

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Hop's chagrin. Nancy and Jonathan are together,

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much to Joyce's happiness. Lucas and Max are

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together. Steve is an ice cream scooper in the

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new mall, Dustin has come back from science camp

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with a girlfriend, and Will is sensing something

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looming. Billy is also around, proving that apparently

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all Hawkins women are cougars, especially Mrs.

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Wheeler. Rats are swarming and exploding, and

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magnets are falling down everywhere. Still heartbroken.

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Over Bob. Bob. Joyce rejects Hopper's offer to

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dinner. Poor Hooper! Oh no! He has to deal with

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a teenage girl and her first boyfriend. And he

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tries to establish boundaries, which Mike tries

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to undermine immediately. Dustin tries to share

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his girlfriend with his friends via giant ham

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radio, but she doesn't answer. And he accidentally

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taps. Into a Russian transmission. On his way

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to meet Mrs. Wheeler for their romantic rendezvous,

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Billy's car is hit and he's attacked. Dragged

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down to where the rats were exploding. Ew. And

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hopefully good riddance. Episode two. Well, rats.

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Pun intended. It was too good to be true. We

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were rid of Billy already. Seems he has become

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the new plaything of the mind flayer. Lucas and

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Mike chat girls while Will wants to play D &D.

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Boy, same. Elle and Max chat boys. And Dustin

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and Steve chat becoming true American heroes.

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Nancy and Jonathan investigate an old woman's

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basement where fertilizer is being eaten by potentially

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diseased rats. Ugh. Carrie L. is the mayor, out

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for his own gain. At the mall, Max shows L. how

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to shop for herself, and Lucas shows Mike how

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to shop for L., ending in L. dumping Mike's ass.

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Joyce learns about magnets from the kids' A .V.

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teacher, Mr. Clark. Remember him? Hopper plans

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for a not -date with Joyce, which she unfortunately

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doesn't show up to due to aforementioned magnet

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investigation, and Billy is not okay. Robin,

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Dustin, and Steve have been translating the Russian

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transmission and realize that it came from Hawkins.

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Thank you, Kitty Horseride. And confirmed by

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Hopper, running into the previously seen Russian

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muscle. Billy has taken a fellow lifeguard and

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brought her to the abandoned building to be fed

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to or infected by the slime monster. Episode

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3. Drunk Hooper interrupts Elle and Max's sleepover,

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where they use Elle's power to spy on others.

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While watching Billy, Elle witnesses him with

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the lifeguard Heather, but then he sees her.

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Joyce shares her findings with Hooper, but he

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is... Too mood to listen. Dustin and Steve are

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on a mission. Spycraft. Max and Elle are on a

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mission. Locate lifeguard. Nancy is on a mission.

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Get sexist pigs to take a woman seriously. And

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Will is on a mission. Get the party back together.

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Unfortunately, Will and Nancy's missions fail

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rather quickly. Elle's mission is horrifying

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in its discovery, and Steve and Dustin follow

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the wrong person while Robin cracks the code.

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Hopper and Joyce explore the lab, but the only

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revelation at first is that Joyce plans on moving.

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Revelations for Nancy and Jonathan, who go in

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search of rat proof, and instead find old lady

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proof. The mall crew find armed Russian guards.

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Hopper. finds the Russian muscle, and the girls

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find Billy and Heather playing Stepford with

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Heather's parents. Unfortunately, Billy now knows

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who Elle is, and Will knows the mind flayer is

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back due to his spidey senses. Final moments

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see the Stepford twins turning on Heather's parents

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with drugs and alcohol. Episode 4. Code Red.

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I repeat, this is a Code Red. The Shadow Monster

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is here in the... I hesitate to say flesh. In

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the goo. And it looks like Billy is creating

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an army. Hopper confronts the mayor, Carrie,

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I mean Larry, about the muscle who attacked him

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the previous night. Nancy and Jonathan get fired

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for pursuing the old lady rat fertilizer story

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and realize their differences may be too great

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to overcome. Oh no. The kids have a plan to expose

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Billy as the host, luring him into a sauna to

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smoke out the monster. They confirm him as the

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host, but are unable to get the shadow out. Meanwhile,

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at Starcourt, the mall, annoying Erica, Lucas's

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sister, is leveraging her air duct climbing abilities

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for free ice cream. Girl after my own heart.

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Turns out the storage room the Russians are using

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is also an - elevator and our mall team is now

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plummeting towards the unknown. Nancy refuses

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to give up on the story, visiting the old woman

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in the hospital as she shows signs of being an

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activated host as well. Hopper and Joyce follow

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up on the leads from the mayor's list of land

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purchases and what is to come. Well, before we

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get to the nitty -gritty schmitty, we welcome

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Oreo to provide us with some vital information

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that we need to know. Welcome, Oreo. Give us

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that integral info. So, Sierra, do you copy?

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Hello again, dear listeners. This is Aurelia

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from across the pond, radioing in to talk to

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you. about my favorite book so far of all the

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Stranger Things books I've read, called Rebel

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Robin by A .R. Capetta. And this book follows

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Robin from basically what happens events -wise

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in Stranger Things Season 1 and 2 before Season

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3 starts. So this is a prequel to introduce Robin's

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character. We get to know her a little bit, her

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background, how she sees the events happening

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in Hawkins. And we get to know her a little bit

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before the book ends with her very happily meeting

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her new co -worker at Scoops Ahoy. And that's

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obviously when the show starts. And you just

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heard Sam and Sierra talk to you about that.

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So let me talk to you about Rebel Robin. Why

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this has been the book I've read in a day and

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couldn't put down, and why this has been such

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a good book for me. So, the book follows Robin

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during her sophomore year. So, this is, for those

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of you who maybe don't know the American high

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school system, this is the second year of high

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school. Robin very quickly decides the year that

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no one cares about. Her teachers seem to be not

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interested, because it's just sophomore year.

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And it is very much about finding your place,

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belonging, your identity, being accepted. It's

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also self -acceptance. And sort of a typical

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coming -of -age, like high school type book,

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where she feels desperately like an outsider

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in Hawkins. And she's like, no, this place is

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crushing me. I need to get away from here because

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this is... Not where I want to be. But also,

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like, realizing this is high school. You don't

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want to stand out because otherwise you're bullied.

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So she's, like, choosing her little clique and,

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like, follows along with what sort of everyone

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else is doing to a degree. Because she wants

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to just live in peace until she can finally break

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away from Hawkins. So we see Robin in band with

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her friends. They are all trumpet players, aside

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from Robin, who plays the French horn in the

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book. But then in season four of the show, we

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see her play the trumpet. So I'll leave that

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pruss, confusing moment with you guys. On a slight

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personal insight into my life, I used to play

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the trumpet for 15 years, so I felt a little

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bit seen here. She is friends with a few... people

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from the band. Unfortunately, this is high school,

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so two of them fall in love with each other and

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start dating each other. So she's left with the

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other one, and he so happens to be a boy, and

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they end up spending a lot of time with each

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other, and have I mentioned, this is high school,

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so of course everyone assumes they must be dating,

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because hey, they are like talking to each other.

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So she's essentially just a platonic friendship

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perceived from both sides. as that as well, becomes

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a problem because the friend, Milton, is actually

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interested in someone else and they have to take

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a break in their friendship because he's like,

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well, I can't ask her out if everyone assumes

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we are dating just because we're spending time.

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Which is a crushing moment because that leaves

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Robin totally and utterly by herself while, you

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know, Will Byers just gone missing. Her parents...

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Or like the 60s hippie cool parents who've never

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cared about anything have just taken away her

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bike from her. She doesn't have a mode of transport.

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And suddenly people have really invested about

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her being safe and at home. And she's lost all

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her friends and she doesn't have things to do.

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So it's not a great time for Robin. Luckily,

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there are a few things that work out in her favor.

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A. She's fluent in three languages. French, Italian

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and Spanish. And because she's convinced she

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needs to get away from Hawkins, she makes a plan

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called Operation Cross On, which basically means

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she's planning to get away over the summer to

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Europe, go to all these places where she speaks

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the language, travel Europe, and actually just

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get away from America. Her favorite teacher,

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an English teacher, Sam, becomes aware of this

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plan, but also encourages her. but says, yo,

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you should probably take someone with you, not

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just from like a safety concern, but also like

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someone to share the experience with. So you

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have someone you, you know, you can like reminisce

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and like look back on. So Robin ends up endlessly

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debating who of her friends and like acquaintances

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could be the perfect travel partner. So we see

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her like in class, like writing in her little

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book. those other three languages planning like

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what she needs what she needs like how much money

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does a plane ticket cost and who could be that

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person and now she gets in her head very quickly

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tammy thompson is that person because spoilers

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she has a crush on tammy thompson but even bigger

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spoilers she doesn't realize she has a crush

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on tammy thompson to the point where when she

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finally realizes that she You know, she is in

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love with Tammy Thompson, that she's gay. I was

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like, wait, you didn't know? It's always so funny

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that as an outsider, it's so easy to see these

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things. And sometimes you yourself need so much

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more time to figure this out. So this is when

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the whole queer themes and especially gay topics

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come into this book. quite heavily. I mean, this

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is the 80s, so we have mentions of HIV and, you

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know, gay people are not to be trusted. Her English

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teacher has to leave his job because he is gay,

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and someone in town saw him holding hands with

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his boyfriend. Unfortunately, though, if he wants

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to keep being an English teacher, that means

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he has to move away, start over, hope that no

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one, like, passes this on. So he can remain doing

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what he loves doing, which is being a teacher.

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So basically, Justice Robin finally works out

00:14:06.629 --> 00:14:10.090
herself that she's gay. And it's like, oh my

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God, you've known all this time. This is why

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you've given me the safe space. He's like, yeah,

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I'm packing and leaving because I can't remain

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here. So this is a little bit of a dent in her

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like jubilous moment of finally understanding

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who she is. And the good thing is because her

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parents are like hippies and like raised Robin

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to be like, you know, accepting and open -minded,

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she knows that she doesn't have to fear their

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rejection if she wants to come out to them. So

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that sort of gives her a level of confidence.

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But when she finally gets to the big moment and

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hold on thisness. So she's worked on Operation

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Croissant. She's managed to get a job. She's

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managed to, you know, make money. All of that

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stuff. She finally has enough money. She has

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a plan. She's gonna walk away from Hawkins under

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the guidance of going to prom. She's actually

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packed her bag and she will not actually go to

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prom. She will go to the airport and fly to Europe.

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She has, at this stage, not told her parents.

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Her parents find out just as she's about to leave.

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And, you know, a lot of money falls out of her

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backpack. And they're like, what on earth is

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going on? Surprisingly, they confiscate everything.

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They're not allowed to go to prom. They're not

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allowed to go anywhere. And they're like, oh,

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my God, what are you trying to do? She is then

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fed up because she spent a year working on this.

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She spent a year of, you know, making money to

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do all of this. And that's where the title Rebel

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Robin comes in. She goes on her rebellion. She

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completely changes her outfit to the point that

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she's not allowed to enter prom. They're like,

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nope, that's not cool. She still sneaks into

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prom because in her head, she's built up this

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moment and she's like, right, nothing matters.

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I am going to be myself. I'm no longer pretending

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to fit in. I'm no longer going to pretend to

00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:21.500
be someone that I am just not. I am going. To

00:16:21.500 --> 00:16:24.580
be myself. And I'm going to ask out Tammy. So

00:16:24.580 --> 00:16:26.820
she makes it in. She sneaks past everyone. She

00:16:26.820 --> 00:16:30.759
gets into a prom. She finds Tammy. Tammy is there

00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.720
with another boy. So she has this like. Moment

00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:37.779
where she's like. Oh my god. I'm finally ready

00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:41.360
to accept myself. And stand up for myself. And

00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:44.840
after a year of crushing on this girl. I have.

00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:48.500
She hasn't even considered. Her feelings might

00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:52.509
not even be reciprocated. Tammy is not interested.

00:16:52.730 --> 00:16:57.990
Tammy is not gay. So that is obviously a big

00:16:57.990 --> 00:17:02.230
moment. However, luckily, we find out that Milton,

00:17:02.450 --> 00:17:05.130
the guy from band who is finally allowed to be

00:17:05.130 --> 00:17:07.450
a friend again because he managed to successfully

00:17:07.450 --> 00:17:12.150
date his new girlfriend, is accepting of her

00:17:12.150 --> 00:17:15.130
and doesn't shun her out. And as I've already

00:17:15.130 --> 00:17:18.210
said, she has the reassurance that when she feels

00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:20.529
ready to come out to her parents. she will be

00:17:20.529 --> 00:17:23.509
accepted. And as I said, this book then ends.

00:17:23.950 --> 00:17:26.309
She needs a new job because on her rebellious

00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:29.470
journey to prom, she has damaged quite a few

00:17:29.470 --> 00:17:32.349
cars. And so all the money that she's earned

00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:35.750
over the year is going to repair the damage to

00:17:35.750 --> 00:17:38.089
her parents' car and the other damage that she's

00:17:38.089 --> 00:17:41.549
caused. So she needs a job. And luckily, there's

00:17:41.549 --> 00:17:44.029
a new mall in town with an ice cream parlor.

00:17:44.109 --> 00:17:47.420
So this is where we then, as in... As an audience,

00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:51.599
meet Robin in Stranger Things Season 3 at Scoops

00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:55.339
Ahoy, with the person she wants to spend time

00:17:55.339 --> 00:18:01.319
with least, Steve Harrington. So, this is my

00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:05.319
recap of the book. I just, on a personal note,

00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:07.980
because I cannot stress how much this book has

00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:12.220
really, really, really spoken to me. This one

00:18:12.220 --> 00:18:14.920
is the book that stood out to me. I finished

00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:18.859
it in a day. I couldn't put it down. There were

00:18:18.859 --> 00:18:22.599
so many parallels that I could draw to my own

00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:27.480
life growing up in a small town in Germany, being

00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:31.079
different, being queer, figuring out how you're

00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:33.500
different. I even played the same instrument.

00:18:34.460 --> 00:18:38.660
So it just really hit a nerve with me. And, you

00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:42.759
know, power to Robin who wants to travel the

00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:44.779
world because of someone who's... who's been

00:18:44.779 --> 00:18:46.799
able to travel the world a little bit and now

00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:50.319
lives in a different country and has thankfully

00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.400
found some acceptance in the world. I'm definitely

00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:56.599
rooting for Robin. I'm sure we'll talk about

00:18:56.599 --> 00:19:00.380
it in an upcoming episode of Fandom Shmandum,

00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:04.480
but she's definitely one of my favorite characters

00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:09.640
in Stranger Things. So I hope I was able to bring

00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:12.619
Robin to life a little bit for you guys. And

00:19:12.619 --> 00:19:23.440
this is it for me today. Over and out. Well,

00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:25.339
that was awesomely fascinating. Thank you so

00:19:25.339 --> 00:19:27.680
much, Aurelia, for that information, getting

00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:30.019
us that nitty gritty schmitty of what we need

00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:32.880
to know. A fascinating little bit there about

00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:36.839
Robin's past before we get to know her in season

00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:41.099
three. Yeah, I love getting a little bit more

00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:43.059
information because Robin doesn't share a whole

00:19:43.059 --> 00:19:46.220
lot about herself in the show. We just know kind

00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:49.500
of these few moments when she's sharing with

00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:54.539
Steve about who she is and Tammy Thompson. All

00:19:54.539 --> 00:19:57.759
of those things. Yeah. And that she's in band,

00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:01.180
but we don't really get a deep dive of what her

00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:04.119
life was like before she gets thrown into the

00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:09.279
insanity that is this Hawkins crew. So I really

00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:14.930
enjoy all the additional information that. That

00:20:14.930 --> 00:20:17.269
this gives us not just on Robin, but also just

00:20:17.269 --> 00:20:19.990
the landscape of Hawkins in the 80s. Yeah, I

00:20:19.990 --> 00:20:21.769
think it's really cool that, you know, they wrote

00:20:21.769 --> 00:20:24.269
a little bit about what 80s gay queer culture

00:20:24.269 --> 00:20:26.150
was like and the difficulties that people faced

00:20:26.150 --> 00:20:29.490
at that time. Because I, you know, it's always

00:20:29.490 --> 00:20:32.289
weird to remember that you and I were born not

00:20:32.289 --> 00:20:36.220
that far away from. some some real shady uh treatment

00:20:36.220 --> 00:20:38.960
of gay and and queer people especially in the

00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:40.700
midwest i mean you and i were both in college

00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:43.380
in the midwest we know what that seems like um

00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:45.539
or can be like not that it's like that everywhere

00:20:45.539 --> 00:20:48.680
but uh really neat information i like the fact

00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:50.299
that her parents are hippies that was a cool

00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:54.180
Key takeaway for me. Her own slow understanding

00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:56.559
with this very protective teacher, that rocks.

00:20:56.859 --> 00:20:59.059
And it also gives us the sense of the loneliness

00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:01.579
that she's facing, right? The teacher's gone.

00:21:01.619 --> 00:21:04.039
She's feeling really alone. Milton doesn't really

00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:06.220
want to hang out with her anymore. And so it

00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:09.900
seems like she is primed to find something that

00:21:09.900 --> 00:21:13.000
is out there, ready for a life that's different

00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.640
from her own. Though it not be Europe, it's cursed

00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:20.549
upside down Hawkins. I don't know. I think I'd

00:21:20.549 --> 00:21:24.769
rather go to Europe. Oh, same. Please. All right.

00:21:25.009 --> 00:21:26.970
Well, awesome. Thank you. We are now going to

00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:31.750
move on. Find your donut holes. It's time for

00:21:31.750 --> 00:21:35.150
our Knives Out category, where we sleuth out

00:21:35.150 --> 00:21:38.170
which three storylines are the most vital to

00:21:38.170 --> 00:21:42.789
pay attention to. First storyline, Opening the

00:21:42.789 --> 00:21:45.990
Gate, Russian edition. The second storyline,

00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:49.579
Symptoms of the Mind Flayer. magnets and rats

00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:54.039
and number three what is happening to billy okay

00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:57.000
this first one opening the gate russian edition

00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:01.099
we open up the whole season uh one year in the

00:22:01.099 --> 00:22:04.680
past so this is in between seasons one and two

00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:07.119
which i think everybody kind of forgets you think

00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:09.839
it's happens in between seasons two and three

00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:14.079
but it does not it is after the events of will

00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.420
going into the upside down we've got you know

00:22:16.420 --> 00:22:18.059
we end on christmas with steve harrington in

00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:21.279
that great sweater that summer is when this occurs

00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:26.099
and then halloween of 83 or 84 yeah halloween

00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:29.660
of 84 is when uh season 2 takes place and then

00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:34.240
this is summer of 85 we open up with the russians

00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:38.000
trying to open the gate and uh it does not go

00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:40.359
well and you know what that means people get

00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:43.680
shot because the russians are In this fictional

00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:47.240
world and kind of in real life at the time. Diabolical

00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:50.519
evil people. At least the military events against

00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:55.000
the U .S., right? So we get Alexei, this young

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.759
scientist, is given one year to fix it. And then

00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:00.680
we flash forward the year. But we have no idea

00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:02.680
why they're doing it. And how do they even know

00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:04.960
about it? We get a little bit of sense in season

00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:07.420
one that there's Russian spies when El's, you

00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:09.740
know. Tap it into water and that one Russian

00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:12.579
dude appears, but we don't really understand

00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:15.240
why they're doing it. And then we move straight

00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:18.640
to ice cream. Steve Harrington slinging ice cream

00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.299
with this wonderful person named Robin, who is

00:23:21.299 --> 00:23:27.819
just humbling him constantly. However, Dustin,

00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:31.220
while trying to find Susie after everyone's abandoned

00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:34.240
him, picks up on this Russian code and brings

00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:37.059
it to... None of his friends, because they all

00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:39.079
kind of suck at this beginning of the season.

00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:41.160
He brings it to Steve, who's the only one who's

00:23:41.160 --> 00:23:43.920
actually excited to see Dustin, it feels like.

00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:48.319
And with Robin's help, who's a master of languages,

00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:52.559
as we heard from Oreo's information, they decode

00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.180
the message. They find out the Russians are in

00:23:55.180 --> 00:23:58.599
Starcourt Mall, the new mega mall that's been

00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:01.970
built. And with some spycraft, they're able to

00:24:01.970 --> 00:24:04.950
finally... Nope, no, actually, spycraft doesn't

00:24:04.950 --> 00:24:07.430
work at all. They find out where the Jazzercise

00:24:07.430 --> 00:24:12.750
is, but Robin is able to break the code, and

00:24:12.750 --> 00:24:15.730
they find out they need Erica. They need her

00:24:15.730 --> 00:24:17.670
to find some information, to crawl through some

00:24:17.670 --> 00:24:21.029
spaces, and the four of them eventually, by dodging

00:24:21.029 --> 00:24:25.049
some armed people, end up in an elevator, only

00:24:25.049 --> 00:24:28.640
accessible with a keycard. So, Sierra, what are

00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.640
the key takeaways? Why does this storyline matter?

00:24:32.180 --> 00:24:37.059
This, I think, is the revealing storyline, essentially.

00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:42.460
It is the, not necessarily subplot, but basically

00:24:42.460 --> 00:24:47.740
a how is all this happening and how does it affect

00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:52.759
other people? Not just... How is this a supernatural

00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:56.619
event? But also, how does this affect other people

00:24:56.619 --> 00:25:00.500
and a little bit more on the landscape of the

00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:06.299
time? And so this is the investigative team,

00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:09.819
essentially, who are going in and they're using

00:25:09.819 --> 00:25:12.539
their spy craft and they're decoding things.

00:25:12.740 --> 00:25:15.680
And we get a little bit of a mystery going on

00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:20.579
to figure out what are the Russians up to. We

00:25:20.579 --> 00:25:22.759
as the viewer know what the Russians are up to,

00:25:22.819 --> 00:25:26.299
but we don't necessarily know until it's revealed

00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:29.140
by these characters that they are here in Hawkins.

00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:31.440
This is not taking place in Russia. This is taking

00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:35.440
place here. It's a more immediate situation.

00:25:35.900 --> 00:25:40.299
So I think that's the main kind of purpose of

00:25:40.299 --> 00:25:43.980
this. Yeah. And also just introducing the Russian

00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:47.190
characters to... To the show. Yeah, you know,

00:25:47.210 --> 00:25:51.109
I think there's certainly a... We've been waiting

00:25:51.109 --> 00:25:54.250
for Russia to show up ever since Elle sees that

00:25:54.250 --> 00:25:57.529
Russian man in her in -between world. And so

00:25:57.529 --> 00:25:59.690
they needed to pay that off in some way, shape,

00:25:59.690 --> 00:26:02.569
or form. I think you're right. It ties you to

00:26:02.569 --> 00:26:05.509
the time a little bit more. But it really is

00:26:05.509 --> 00:26:10.470
a side story. Constantly. It brings in levity.

00:26:10.470 --> 00:26:12.950
It brings in comedy. Because we've got the Steve

00:26:12.950 --> 00:26:15.329
and Dustin relationship. We've got... Robin coming

00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:17.369
in as a comedic character. We've got Erica coming

00:26:17.369 --> 00:26:19.509
in as a comedic character. Some of the best lines

00:26:19.509 --> 00:26:23.210
come out of Erica throughout this entire season.

00:26:23.269 --> 00:26:25.410
She's absolutely great. The actress is phenomenal.

00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:29.589
But it is subservient, right? It is basically

00:26:29.589 --> 00:26:32.210
saying, okay, so the Mind Flayer stayed behind,

00:26:32.430 --> 00:26:35.009
but also the Mind Flayer is getting stronger

00:26:35.009 --> 00:26:38.269
and able to keep a connection because they're

00:26:38.269 --> 00:26:40.269
continuing to try and open this gate, right?

00:26:40.369 --> 00:26:43.670
And we learn later the gate is... was healing,

00:26:43.789 --> 00:26:47.490
but not fully closed. And now it's opening back

00:26:47.490 --> 00:26:49.710
up again, allowing things to become stronger,

00:26:49.849 --> 00:26:53.809
which is terrifying, but ultimately like doesn't

00:26:53.809 --> 00:26:57.730
really serve as a main story. It is completely

00:26:57.730 --> 00:27:00.190
giving information for us to understand everything

00:27:00.190 --> 00:27:04.029
else. It is contextualizing what's going on in

00:27:04.029 --> 00:27:06.730
Hawkins rather than like providing oomph and

00:27:06.730 --> 00:27:11.789
push. Right. Onto our second storyline. We are

00:27:11.789 --> 00:27:14.549
cheating a little bit because there are kind

00:27:14.549 --> 00:27:17.210
of two storylines here. One with magnets and

00:27:17.210 --> 00:27:20.049
one with the rats. However, they both come under

00:27:20.049 --> 00:27:22.609
the category of symptoms of the mind flare. So

00:27:22.609 --> 00:27:27.009
I will accept our cheating as not cheating. And

00:27:27.009 --> 00:27:29.150
you guys just all have to be okay with that.

00:27:29.410 --> 00:27:33.430
So with Joyce and Hopper, they are dealing with

00:27:33.430 --> 00:27:36.390
the magnet situation. Magnets off at Joyce's

00:27:36.390 --> 00:27:39.309
workplace. Magnets off at Joyce's house. But

00:27:39.309 --> 00:27:41.829
Hopper doesn't care. He's kind of secure to date

00:27:41.829 --> 00:27:45.049
with Joyce. After blowing Hopper off, though,

00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:48.410
to get her mind blown by Mr. Clark, Joyce knows

00:27:48.410 --> 00:27:51.690
in her heart that something is happening in Hawkins.

00:27:52.130 --> 00:27:55.970
But Hopper has caught feelings. He's not taking

00:27:55.970 --> 00:27:59.910
Joyce's slight well, and he's trying his darndest

00:27:59.910 --> 00:28:02.950
to make Hawkins safe and get Joyce to take her

00:28:02.950 --> 00:28:07.440
house off the market. Hopper shows Joyce Hawkins'

00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.839
lab and is attacked by Arnold, the motorcycle

00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:15.619
terminator. Hopper realizes the mayor just met

00:28:15.619 --> 00:28:18.559
with this man and interrogates the mayor to find

00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:21.400
the mystery man, all while Joyce helps to keep

00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:23.839
Hopper's beating of the mayor nice and quiet.

00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:26.460
When they realize the mysterious people have

00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:29.299
property all near the power plant, they go to

00:28:29.299 --> 00:28:31.980
investigate. Yeah, so these are interesting because

00:28:31.980 --> 00:28:37.240
they are... really important in terms of finding

00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:41.000
out what the mystery is right the magnets are

00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:44.240
going to lead joyce and hopper to the russians

00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:48.460
right over with nancy and jonathan rats are eating

00:28:48.460 --> 00:28:51.980
fertilizer and hawkins post intern nancy wheeler

00:28:51.980 --> 00:28:55.579
and photographer jonathan byers are on the case

00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:59.240
The men running the Hawkins Post do not take

00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:02.039
Nancy seriously. They laugh at her, call her

00:29:02.039 --> 00:29:05.140
Nancy Drew, and so she convinces Jonathan to

00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:08.079
go back to Mrs. Driscoll, whose rat has turned

00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:11.279
into flesh mush, and now the full -grown woman

00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:14.819
is eating fertilizer. Turns out Mrs. Driscoll

00:29:14.819 --> 00:29:17.759
is a paranoid schizophrenic, according to Nancy

00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:21.599
and Jonathan's mind -flayed boss, a very reliable

00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:24.819
source. And so they are fired for listening to

00:29:24.819 --> 00:29:28.049
Mrs. Driscoll's story. Jonathan is livid, telling

00:29:28.049 --> 00:29:30.569
Nancy she lives in a rich bubble and he needs

00:29:30.569 --> 00:29:34.049
money for college. Nancy's mom says don't listen

00:29:34.049 --> 00:29:37.630
to sexist idiots and finish the story. She returns

00:29:37.630 --> 00:29:40.430
to the hospital and realizes Mrs. Driscoll may

00:29:40.430 --> 00:29:44.029
be a host to the Mind Flayer, just like Will.

00:29:45.109 --> 00:29:47.210
Yeah, so these two stories are really interesting

00:29:47.210 --> 00:29:52.730
because they are so, like, split. We've got two...

00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:56.319
Couples. One who's pursuing Russians. One who's

00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:59.720
pursuing Mind Flayer. And we get a lot of sort

00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:03.059
of concentrated time with these romance storylines.

00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:06.240
Jonathan and Nancy's romance is a lot more advanced.

00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:09.319
And so we're getting sort of almost breakup and

00:30:09.319 --> 00:30:11.519
big life moments for these growing teenagers.

00:30:11.859 --> 00:30:15.349
It's like the most, I think. out of all the storylines,

00:30:15.349 --> 00:30:17.490
we get sort of a coming of age. It feels like

00:30:17.490 --> 00:30:19.670
Nancy and Jonathan's is much more coming of age

00:30:19.670 --> 00:30:22.549
than Mike and company or Dustin and Steve or

00:30:22.549 --> 00:30:24.150
anything like that. We get a little bit of Steve

00:30:24.150 --> 00:30:26.009
being like, maybe I should have gone to college,

00:30:26.029 --> 00:30:28.609
but this story of Nancy dealing with the real

00:30:28.609 --> 00:30:30.430
world with people who won't take her seriously.

00:30:30.490 --> 00:30:32.829
And Jonathan being like, I have money issues.

00:30:32.910 --> 00:30:36.710
You don't is a really awesome way to give a lot

00:30:36.710 --> 00:30:40.410
of depth to the story versus Joyce and Hopper.

00:30:41.049 --> 00:30:43.609
This is a payoff, just like the Russians. We've

00:30:43.609 --> 00:30:47.109
spent two seasons with these people hovering

00:30:47.109 --> 00:30:49.390
around each other romantically, everyone kind

00:30:49.390 --> 00:30:50.789
of being like, will they, won't they, will they,

00:30:50.829 --> 00:30:54.190
won't they? And here it is with, we're still,

00:30:54.250 --> 00:30:56.470
we're looping around that question faster and

00:30:56.470 --> 00:30:58.569
faster and faster as it pulls us into its gravitational

00:30:58.569 --> 00:31:01.950
pull. So I find these stories very satisfying.

00:31:02.509 --> 00:31:07.690
Yeah, I agree. I think that a huge payoff for

00:31:07.690 --> 00:31:11.990
both of these. is just the emotional complexity

00:31:11.990 --> 00:31:17.450
and being able to actually dive into more of

00:31:17.450 --> 00:31:22.910
the heart of this show. And instead of, instead

00:31:22.910 --> 00:31:29.589
of the mystery or the horror or the other themes

00:31:29.589 --> 00:31:32.630
that we have. So this really rounds everything

00:31:32.630 --> 00:31:37.240
out. Yeah, absolutely. All right, so third storyline,

00:31:37.420 --> 00:31:39.700
kind of the most important one, the central main

00:31:39.700 --> 00:31:41.779
storyline of these first four episodes. What

00:31:41.779 --> 00:31:45.420
is happening to Billy? Well, firstly, he's being

00:31:45.420 --> 00:31:48.799
ogled by every mom in Hawkins, and that's just

00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:54.680
wild. But of course, after his inappropriate

00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:58.000
romance storyline, Billy becomes the Mind Flayer's

00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:02.619
first victim since Will. But he's unsure, that's

00:32:02.619 --> 00:32:06.960
Billy, is unsure what's happening. He runs away

00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:08.740
and immediately tries to call the police, but

00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:11.339
has memories of what just happened flash before

00:32:11.339 --> 00:32:15.200
him. So he's a little out of sorts. And there

00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:18.880
is a very clear difference between him and the

00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:21.420
Mind Flayer. Even clearer than with Will. You

00:32:21.420 --> 00:32:24.730
can see when Billy's Billy and when... The Mind

00:32:24.730 --> 00:32:26.509
Flayer is the Mind Flayer because we're getting

00:32:26.509 --> 00:32:29.230
a lot more private time with just Billy as almost

00:32:29.230 --> 00:32:32.309
an adult who can move around by himself. Billy

00:32:32.309 --> 00:32:34.769
is getting burned by the sun. He likes it cold.

00:32:35.130 --> 00:32:39.309
There's a lot happening, including Vecna's clock

00:32:39.309 --> 00:32:42.329
music. Is that Vecna's soundtrack I'm hearing?

00:32:42.970 --> 00:32:47.009
Yes, for like half a second. Before Billy kidnaps

00:32:47.009 --> 00:32:50.500
Heather the Lightguard, he has this vision. Of

00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:53.299
Heather, like, sort of kneeling down in front

00:32:53.299 --> 00:32:55.980
of him in the shower, staring at him. And then

00:32:55.980 --> 00:32:59.740
Vekna's clock chimes, which I had not realized

00:32:59.740 --> 00:33:04.099
on other rewatches. But there it is, bong, with

00:33:04.099 --> 00:33:05.980
that. And I'm like, wait, so someone's about

00:33:05.980 --> 00:33:07.519
to die and, like, all their limbs are going to

00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:11.220
get twisted? No, no, they're not. Instead, Vekna

00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:14.799
talks through Heather's face and says, take me

00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:18.500
to him, before we flash back to Billy and the

00:33:18.500 --> 00:33:22.710
real Heather. And what does that all mean? But

00:33:22.710 --> 00:33:24.650
we don't really get a chance to contemplate because

00:33:24.650 --> 00:33:27.049
Elle is playing a game of spin the bottle to

00:33:27.049 --> 00:33:32.089
spy on them and finds Billy feeding Heather slash

00:33:32.089 --> 00:33:38.089
having her be absorbed to the mind flayer. Elle

00:33:38.089 --> 00:33:41.230
and Max go looking for Billy and Heather and

00:33:41.230 --> 00:33:43.309
find them, as noted earlier, sort of playing

00:33:43.309 --> 00:33:47.210
Stepford Wives at Heather's parents' place having

00:33:47.210 --> 00:33:51.559
dinner. And they leave. Before Billy and Heather

00:33:51.559 --> 00:33:54.779
kidnap Heather's parents. But never fear, Will

00:33:54.779 --> 00:33:59.960
and Lucas, and Mike, I suppose, are here. They

00:33:59.960 --> 00:34:02.079
help Elle and Max, even though both girls broke

00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:05.000
up with their respective boyfriends, and stuff

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:08.559
Billy into a sauna at 220 degrees. But Billy

00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:10.579
shows he has strength beyond human capability.

00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:14.360
He meets with Heather after he escapes, while

00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:18.380
Will Meet Again plays. And she explains that

00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:22.500
Elle may kill Billy, but not us. As the camera

00:34:22.500 --> 00:34:26.119
pans out and shows the army of the Flayed. So,

00:34:26.260 --> 00:34:29.920
Sierra, tell us, why do we care about this storyline?

00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:34.920
Why do we care? Okay, we care a heck of a lot

00:34:34.920 --> 00:34:39.800
for a number of reasons. Both this season focused

00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:43.760
and also future focused as well. As you were

00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:47.260
saying, we have these hints of Vecna. We have

00:34:47.260 --> 00:34:52.119
a much deeper connection and understanding of

00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:55.659
what the Mind Flayer can do and what the Mind

00:34:55.659 --> 00:34:58.980
Flayer can accomplish and how it can work through

00:34:58.980 --> 00:35:03.000
somebody else. We've only had one little experience

00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:09.159
of this with Will, which is almost nothing in

00:35:09.159 --> 00:35:12.639
comparison to this. You know, we had a little

00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:14.920
bit of that drama towards the end of the previous

00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:20.940
season. And Will and Noah's acting phenomenal

00:35:20.940 --> 00:35:25.719
in those moments. And that does carry over here.

00:35:25.940 --> 00:35:29.260
Whoever they choose to be possessed by the Mind

00:35:29.260 --> 00:35:33.639
Flayer. Bravo, bravo, bravo. Quite an accomplishment

00:35:33.639 --> 00:35:39.860
to be taking on. And it really ramps up the terror

00:35:39.860 --> 00:35:43.099
and the horror. Because when we pan out to see

00:35:43.099 --> 00:35:46.340
all of these flayed. That's a lot of people.

00:35:47.059 --> 00:35:50.460
And they're not done. And, you know, they're

00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:55.159
continuing to grow. And what are all these people

00:35:55.159 --> 00:35:58.000
doing? What is the aim? What is the goal? And

00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:03.880
it really connects through this creature entity

00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:07.599
that we've been seeing hints of and now we're

00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:12.219
really seeing in person and is a very real, real

00:36:12.219 --> 00:36:16.019
threat out in the world. You know, I find it

00:36:16.019 --> 00:36:17.800
interesting that we get some Vecna stuff here.

00:36:17.940 --> 00:36:20.340
It may be that the Duffer Brothers had a lot

00:36:20.340 --> 00:36:22.559
of this planned out the whole time, or it may

00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:25.500
not have been. You know, it's hard to know exactly.

00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:27.860
We have writers that say, I knew it the whole

00:36:27.860 --> 00:36:31.260
time. And, like, J .K. Rowling or other authors,

00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:33.760
sometimes they really do. They have much of it

00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:36.179
planned out for much of the time. Or you get

00:36:36.179 --> 00:36:38.980
people like George Lucas who say that, and then

00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:40.820
you go and read the histories of it, and you're

00:36:40.820 --> 00:36:46.099
like, no, you didn't. Not the whole time. So,

00:36:46.099 --> 00:36:47.900
but this is the season to me that it's like,

00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:50.980
okay, they, they have fleshed out where they're

00:36:50.980 --> 00:36:53.360
headed. They know where they're going and they

00:36:53.360 --> 00:36:55.440
are both trying to create a compelling season

00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:59.900
three while also building towards Vecna and,

00:37:00.059 --> 00:37:03.139
and this entire sort of storyline about why Hawkins

00:37:03.139 --> 00:37:05.599
what's going on. And I find it really interesting

00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:09.320
that you get this, these two talking together

00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:11.539
because one of the big complaints at the end

00:37:11.539 --> 00:37:13.960
of season four, when you realize that Vecna and

00:37:13.960 --> 00:37:16.230
the mind flayer, are together is that some people

00:37:16.230 --> 00:37:18.710
were like, oh, so Vecna just runs into the Mind

00:37:18.710 --> 00:37:21.110
Flayer and then utilizes that to catch this,

00:37:21.170 --> 00:37:22.889
and that sort of lessens the Mind Flayer as a

00:37:22.889 --> 00:37:25.650
villain, as its own entity. But this, upon this

00:37:25.650 --> 00:37:28.050
rewatch, realizing that this is a Vecna -Mind

00:37:28.050 --> 00:37:30.590
Flayer dynamic, they are much more of a team,

00:37:30.670 --> 00:37:32.769
although the Mind Flayer is a little subservient

00:37:32.769 --> 00:37:36.039
to Vecna's... sort of idea. You get that experience

00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:38.579
with Heather and Billy talking. When Billy's

00:37:38.579 --> 00:37:40.739
like, oh my gosh, she knows about me. She knows

00:37:40.739 --> 00:37:43.699
who I am. She could have killed me. And Vecna's

00:37:43.699 --> 00:37:46.460
like, but she can't kill us. And so he's clearly

00:37:46.460 --> 00:37:50.460
the leader. But they are two distinct beings,

00:37:50.739 --> 00:37:53.519
which I really like getting an insight in. But

00:37:53.519 --> 00:37:57.480
all of that's hugely important for episode, or

00:37:57.480 --> 00:38:01.320
not episode four, for season four. And of course,

00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:05.780
Getting to know all of this sort of, they need

00:38:05.780 --> 00:38:09.119
chemicals for the Mind Flayer in order for it

00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:13.659
to exist here. It needs bodies. It's, it's all

00:38:13.659 --> 00:38:16.480
extremely important for us as an audience to

00:38:16.480 --> 00:38:18.780
understand, to see that like, okay, so like things

00:38:18.780 --> 00:38:20.619
in the upside down either need to make it be

00:38:20.619 --> 00:38:22.980
the upside down or they have to do a chemical

00:38:22.980 --> 00:38:26.079
change in order to stay in this version of earth

00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:28.320
without it being the upside down. So all really,

00:38:28.360 --> 00:38:30.679
really good information that we should be keeping

00:38:30.679 --> 00:38:35.019
watch of as we move forward to season five, keep

00:38:35.019 --> 00:38:37.239
your finger on the pause button though, and rewind

00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:39.179
that tape. It's time for our prestige category

00:38:39.179 --> 00:38:41.719
for what do we notice? on this watch through

00:38:41.719 --> 00:38:45.500
first of all it's the super mall i don't love

00:38:45.500 --> 00:38:50.099
sierra a ton of 1980s things this show certainly

00:38:50.099 --> 00:38:53.880
has made me uh love it a lot more and it's funny

00:38:53.880 --> 00:38:56.300
because i love a lot of 1980s movies like star

00:38:56.300 --> 00:38:58.800
wars indiana jones back to the future all comes

00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:03.420
out of that era um little mermaid is 1989 uh

00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:05.969
there's all sorts of stuff about the 80s pop

00:39:05.969 --> 00:39:07.570
culture wise, then I'm like, cool, but I've never

00:39:07.570 --> 00:39:10.849
been a huge, like eighties aesthetic. And, uh,

00:39:10.989 --> 00:39:14.690
a lot of the like eighties, uh, things that happened

00:39:14.690 --> 00:39:16.489
in the real world are not my favorite experience

00:39:16.489 --> 00:39:19.769
either, but man, is it fun to see sort of this,

00:39:19.829 --> 00:39:22.650
uh, mall come in and they even deal with it in

00:39:22.650 --> 00:39:25.010
a kind of fun way about with Nancy pitching death

00:39:25.010 --> 00:39:27.110
of small town America as the malls come through.

00:39:27.170 --> 00:39:29.090
So I, I don't know. I really like it. And the

00:39:29.090 --> 00:39:33.849
vibes. Awesome. Yeah. I'm also not sure if I

00:39:33.849 --> 00:39:36.849
love or hate that I missed out on the 80s, specifically

00:39:36.849 --> 00:39:41.150
because of hair and makeup. I'm glad I missed

00:39:41.150 --> 00:39:48.150
out on it. It is so bold and just I forget sometimes

00:39:48.150 --> 00:39:51.889
just how kind of crazy some of those styles were.

00:39:52.429 --> 00:39:58.730
I mean, how fun, though. How fun. Sure. I despise.

00:39:59.230 --> 00:40:03.409
the big poofy 1980s white women hair with a passion.

00:40:04.150 --> 00:40:09.269
I can't stand the way Nancy looks from almost

00:40:09.269 --> 00:40:11.630
all of this season. And even Max in that first

00:40:11.630 --> 00:40:13.110
episode, they try and do something with Max's

00:40:13.110 --> 00:40:14.610
hair and they kind of return it back to normal

00:40:14.610 --> 00:40:17.489
over the next several episodes. But I'm like,

00:40:17.570 --> 00:40:21.789
I think Elle looks great, but I just, I can't.

00:40:21.789 --> 00:40:24.730
And they even like zhuzh up Mrs. Wheeler's hair

00:40:24.730 --> 00:40:29.750
too. And I'm just kind of like, okay. Yeah. Well,

00:40:29.909 --> 00:40:33.570
you know, all the adult women are just trying

00:40:33.570 --> 00:40:37.750
to make themselves so pretty for Billy. How are

00:40:37.750 --> 00:40:41.809
all the women suddenly cougars? I don't... There

00:40:41.809 --> 00:40:44.650
wasn't anybody as so attractive as Billy Hargrove

00:40:44.650 --> 00:40:49.389
as soon as he got there with his old Chevy and

00:40:49.389 --> 00:40:52.030
his California license plate and his shirt off

00:40:52.030 --> 00:40:57.019
24, 80 ,000 minutes a day. Yeah, okay. Moving

00:40:57.019 --> 00:41:00.019
on. Tight pants. Oh my gosh, for real. Moving

00:41:00.019 --> 00:41:04.880
on from terrible style and people. How on earth

00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:07.780
does Hopper not know what a heart -to -heart

00:41:07.780 --> 00:41:09.460
is? Joyce is like, have a heart -to -heart. And

00:41:09.460 --> 00:41:12.300
he's like, what? When he literally just had a

00:41:12.300 --> 00:41:14.579
heart -to -heart. This is one of my least favorite

00:41:14.579 --> 00:41:18.019
things about season three, is this little moment

00:41:18.019 --> 00:41:20.500
of him not being emotionally empathetic. Because

00:41:20.500 --> 00:41:23.519
we've had him be... Like rather understanding

00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:26.860
and really deep in his feels both in season one

00:41:26.860 --> 00:41:29.719
and season two, even though he's gruff. And then

00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:32.199
they kind of they make him a little more static

00:41:32.199 --> 00:41:35.320
and cliche in this first little bit here. It

00:41:35.320 --> 00:41:37.500
leads to something amazing. And I think his acting

00:41:37.500 --> 00:41:39.039
is really good for the part that was written.

00:41:39.099 --> 00:41:41.159
But like, come on, dude, you know what a heart

00:41:41.159 --> 00:41:46.309
to heart is. Yeah, I feel like the only. reason

00:41:46.309 --> 00:41:48.150
that I think that he's not putting it together

00:41:48.150 --> 00:41:50.909
is because there's not some big thing on the

00:41:50.909 --> 00:41:54.929
line where he has to pour his heart out or really

00:41:54.929 --> 00:41:57.670
connect or he hasn't seen Elle in a long time

00:41:57.670 --> 00:42:00.730
and so he needs to explain their relationship

00:42:00.730 --> 00:42:03.929
or whatever the case may be. So I feel like maybe

00:42:03.929 --> 00:42:06.030
the stakes just aren't high enough for him. He's

00:42:06.030 --> 00:42:09.090
just so annoyed. Yeah, absolutely. He's just

00:42:09.090 --> 00:42:11.989
so annoyed by Elle and Mike and he's like, I

00:42:11.989 --> 00:42:18.059
just wanted to stop. That's fair enough. Okay,

00:42:18.239 --> 00:42:20.420
so, Ciara, do you remember the line, friends

00:42:20.420 --> 00:42:24.059
don't lie? Yes, repeated, repeatedly. Repeated,

00:42:24.099 --> 00:42:26.500
repeatedly, repeatedly repeated all over the

00:42:26.500 --> 00:42:30.340
seasons. Why is everyone thinks that Dustin's

00:42:30.340 --> 00:42:35.989
lying about his girlfriend? In this specific

00:42:35.989 --> 00:42:38.969
friend group, you make a great point. I think

00:42:38.969 --> 00:42:41.670
it's just one of those classic, like, my girlfriend

00:42:41.670 --> 00:42:47.070
in Canada. My girlfriend from summer camp. My

00:42:47.070 --> 00:42:49.070
girlfriend from summer camp who doesn't live

00:42:49.070 --> 00:42:50.949
anywhere near here and you'll never meet her

00:42:50.949 --> 00:42:53.070
or see her or anything, but we totally write

00:42:53.070 --> 00:42:55.150
all the time. I just feel like that's such a

00:42:55.150 --> 00:43:00.210
cliche teenage thing. It's great fun, but it

00:43:00.210 --> 00:43:02.349
makes no sense for this friend group. It doesn't

00:43:02.349 --> 00:43:05.570
make any sense. Yeah. Whatever. It does not make

00:43:05.570 --> 00:43:07.869
any sense. And he's not lying. Like Dustin of

00:43:07.869 --> 00:43:10.590
everybody, like Will won't lie and Dustin won't

00:43:10.590 --> 00:43:12.809
lie, but Lucas and Mike absolutely would. We

00:43:12.809 --> 00:43:15.110
know that at this point. Oh my gosh. Whatever.

00:43:16.170 --> 00:43:19.030
Well, friends don't lie, but boyfriends do. But

00:43:19.030 --> 00:43:24.750
boyfriends do. Okay. We got to talk about one

00:43:24.750 --> 00:43:26.909
of my all time favorite Stranger Things moment.

00:43:27.369 --> 00:43:29.489
And if you've been following us the entire time,

00:43:29.530 --> 00:43:32.269
you know that this, this utter joy has been coming

00:43:32.269 --> 00:43:36.650
for me. I like, it's so funny because like, as

00:43:36.650 --> 00:43:39.210
a real human adult, I'm extremely patient with

00:43:39.210 --> 00:43:42.150
kids. I work with teenagers for a living. I would

00:43:42.150 --> 00:43:45.510
never at all lose my mind like the way Hopper

00:43:45.510 --> 00:43:47.190
does. I do not think that's the right way to

00:43:47.190 --> 00:43:49.730
teach children or work with children or set boundaries

00:43:49.730 --> 00:43:52.530
with children. I'm very much on Joyce's side.

00:43:53.630 --> 00:43:57.269
But oh man, do I love it when Hopper is trying

00:43:57.269 --> 00:44:00.650
to set some boundaries and Mike is just being

00:44:00.650 --> 00:44:04.929
a little tiny sucra next to him. And just like,

00:44:04.969 --> 00:44:12.750
Hop, like, literally loses his mind. Like, your

00:44:12.750 --> 00:44:16.449
grandma's dying, kid, get in the car. And then

00:44:16.449 --> 00:44:20.269
Mike swears at him and he's like, oh, you want

00:44:20.269 --> 00:44:24.079
to see crazy? disrespect me one more time and

00:44:24.079 --> 00:44:27.079
he's basically frothing at the mouth and he like

00:44:27.079 --> 00:44:29.679
keeps locking the car and Mike can't get out

00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:34.599
to get back to Elle and he's like alright you're

00:44:34.599 --> 00:44:36.960
not gonna speak you're gonna listen and then

00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:39.300
I love that moment where he turns on the car

00:44:39.300 --> 00:44:42.300
and he's like do you understand and Mike doesn't

00:44:42.300 --> 00:44:43.679
say anything because he's been told not to say

00:44:43.679 --> 00:44:50.949
anything and he goes nod if you understand It's

00:44:50.949 --> 00:44:56.769
so good. Hopper brings me so much joy. Both in

00:44:56.769 --> 00:45:02.170
his just general hopness and also how he deals

00:45:02.170 --> 00:45:08.230
with children. We're gonna do this. No. No. No,

00:45:08.230 --> 00:45:10.730
you're not. No. No, you're not. It's just like,

00:45:10.789 --> 00:45:15.130
it must have been such an agonizing summer for

00:45:15.130 --> 00:45:17.530
Mike to be over in his house constantly. I mean,

00:45:17.530 --> 00:45:19.920
part of the problem is that L can't go over anywhere

00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:22.960
else. So he has to be the one at his house supervising

00:45:22.960 --> 00:45:25.360
and they're, you know, ignoring him and being

00:45:25.360 --> 00:45:28.780
judgy about him. And also like he's dealing with

00:45:28.780 --> 00:45:31.539
a lot of PTSD and he's stressing super hard.

00:45:31.599 --> 00:45:34.039
And so he's been gaining a lot of weight and

00:45:34.039 --> 00:45:36.219
stress eating and all of this stuff. So like

00:45:36.219 --> 00:45:39.179
he's unhealthy and their relationship is unhealthy

00:45:39.179 --> 00:45:41.659
and he's, his mind is not in the right place.

00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:44.840
But man, is this just such for people who are

00:45:44.840 --> 00:45:48.719
Mike haters like me. I love it. I love it. I

00:45:48.719 --> 00:45:52.199
love it. From a story perspective. So good. Yes.

00:45:52.340 --> 00:45:55.280
So good. But moving on to episode two. Then we

00:45:55.280 --> 00:45:59.440
move on. And I had a question about Starcourt

00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:03.960
because for whatever reason, I just got very

00:46:03.960 --> 00:46:06.900
big. Let's go to the mall music video vibes.

00:46:07.119 --> 00:46:10.400
Yeah, absolutely. Which is partially just because

00:46:10.400 --> 00:46:14.199
I feel like most of the super malls look. pretty

00:46:14.199 --> 00:46:17.699
much the same yeah and then also because 80s

00:46:17.699 --> 00:46:22.179
uh because you know according to robin the 80s

00:46:22.179 --> 00:46:30.900
came to canada late so yeah so i i looked it

00:46:30.900 --> 00:46:34.869
up it is not the same place yeah however It totally

00:46:34.869 --> 00:46:37.889
could be. I feel like every time I watch a movie

00:46:37.889 --> 00:46:39.610
or TV show and there's a mall, I feel like it's

00:46:39.610 --> 00:46:42.150
always the same mall in Culver City near my grad

00:46:42.150 --> 00:46:44.070
school that I used to go to, which they would

00:46:44.070 --> 00:46:47.449
shut down frequently to do lots of filming. I

00:46:47.449 --> 00:46:51.489
feel like every Netflix Hallmark movie, Christmas

00:46:51.489 --> 00:46:55.469
movie, is set at that mall. Every single one.

00:46:55.550 --> 00:46:57.269
And it doesn't matter if it's set in Scotland

00:46:57.269 --> 00:47:00.820
or if it's set in... or if it's set in Brazil

00:47:00.820 --> 00:47:03.679
or if they're, you know, somehow they're in Antarctica

00:47:03.679 --> 00:47:05.699
and there's this mall that exists. It's always

00:47:05.699 --> 00:47:09.079
this one in Culver City. And I don't know that

00:47:09.079 --> 00:47:12.139
it is, but I really want it to be. Dang it. Where

00:47:12.139 --> 00:47:15.639
did they film it? I know. It's in Georgia. It's

00:47:15.639 --> 00:47:17.579
a mall in Georgia. Oh, right. They filmed most

00:47:17.579 --> 00:47:19.940
of Stranger Things in Georgia. I keep forgetting

00:47:19.940 --> 00:47:23.380
that. Oh, well. But the Let's Go to the Mall,

00:47:23.619 --> 00:47:27.519
they actually, it's not an actual mall. What?

00:47:28.529 --> 00:47:31.469
Yeah, it's a set and green screen. I hate that.

00:47:31.690 --> 00:47:33.650
I know, I don't like it either. There's so many

00:47:33.650 --> 00:47:35.869
malls you could use. They literally could have

00:47:35.869 --> 00:47:37.449
gone to Concord, New Hampshire and gone to the

00:47:37.449 --> 00:47:40.389
Steeplegate Mall and just had it there and it

00:47:40.389 --> 00:47:44.969
would have been basically free. Whatever. You

00:47:44.969 --> 00:47:48.730
know what's not free, though, is heels and a

00:47:48.730 --> 00:47:50.969
bathing suit. Oh, gosh. Because that's a look.

00:47:51.050 --> 00:47:54.789
That is a look. All of the 80s style stinks,

00:47:55.050 --> 00:47:58.159
Sierra. It's terrible. Heels in a bathing suit

00:47:58.159 --> 00:48:01.400
is wild. Yeah, heels in a bathing suit is absolutely

00:48:01.400 --> 00:48:05.119
bonkers. However, Max does give some pretty great

00:48:05.119 --> 00:48:07.340
shopping advice, which is just you try things

00:48:07.340 --> 00:48:09.539
on until you find something that feels like you.

00:48:10.039 --> 00:48:13.519
And I hate shopping so much, so I may actually

00:48:13.519 --> 00:48:16.059
use this the next time I go shopping. Fantastic.

00:48:16.360 --> 00:48:19.039
My wife and I were talking about this the other

00:48:19.039 --> 00:48:23.780
day, and she was like, relationships and shopping

00:48:23.780 --> 00:48:27.059
are the same. If it's not a hell yes, it's a

00:48:27.059 --> 00:48:31.880
hell no. I like that a lot. Isn't that great?

00:48:32.199 --> 00:48:35.360
That's so good. Great Heidi Williams quote. Okay,

00:48:35.420 --> 00:48:38.679
so we get a little bit of Mr. Clark. And I just

00:48:38.679 --> 00:48:40.599
got to say, he feels like quite a catch for someone

00:48:40.599 --> 00:48:42.500
out there. And he was dating this one woman over

00:48:42.500 --> 00:48:45.320
the last two seasons. And she just isn't in season

00:48:45.320 --> 00:48:46.579
three. So it might be that they're together.

00:48:46.679 --> 00:48:48.380
He's married. I don't really remember. I don't

00:48:48.380 --> 00:48:50.219
remember if there's a ring on his finger. But

00:48:50.219 --> 00:48:53.440
he's like, you know. painting his little D &D

00:48:53.440 --> 00:48:56.519
figurines in his garage with low lighting and

00:48:56.519 --> 00:48:59.199
the little scopes to see the paint and everything.

00:48:59.460 --> 00:49:01.320
And he's got this great steady hand and he's

00:49:01.320 --> 00:49:04.559
diligently working. And then he just lets Mrs.

00:49:04.659 --> 00:49:08.260
Byers come into his home and shows her all how

00:49:08.260 --> 00:49:12.599
electromagnet stuff works. And he's just so accepting

00:49:12.599 --> 00:49:15.059
and wonderful and great. I know, I need more

00:49:15.059 --> 00:49:17.159
of him. I miss the fact that we don't get him

00:49:17.159 --> 00:49:19.739
at all in season four. I like am bummed by it.

00:49:19.840 --> 00:49:22.019
And I know there's not room for him there because

00:49:22.019 --> 00:49:24.099
they they're not like the kids are really not

00:49:24.099 --> 00:49:28.239
together in that one. But I miss him. I missed

00:49:28.239 --> 00:49:31.920
a minute. Yeah. Also, he's a good guy. Poor Hop.

00:49:32.159 --> 00:49:34.679
Like, it really sucks that Joyce is just like

00:49:34.679 --> 00:49:37.139
at Mr. Clark's house doing this instead of going

00:49:37.139 --> 00:49:40.460
to Enzo's. But also maybe don't trick Joyce into

00:49:40.460 --> 00:49:44.039
dating you. He did make it very clear that it

00:49:44.039 --> 00:49:47.110
was not a date, but then very much. expected

00:49:47.110 --> 00:49:49.570
it to be a date and on loads on her like it's

00:49:49.570 --> 00:49:54.550
a date yeah so which come on i mean yeah but

00:49:54.550 --> 00:49:57.409
also i mean she shouldn't have completely gone

00:49:57.409 --> 00:50:00.849
non -communicado and i know it's not smartphones

00:50:00.849 --> 00:50:02.730
like she would literally have had to have called

00:50:02.730 --> 00:50:05.170
his house or called enzo's which she's called

00:50:05.170 --> 00:50:07.070
the restaurant yeah very capable but you can

00:50:07.070 --> 00:50:10.849
yeah hey i'm figuring something out i'm sorry

00:50:10.849 --> 00:50:13.369
yeah for real every in the 80s everyone had yellow

00:50:13.369 --> 00:50:16.030
pages And for Gen Alpha and Gen Z... I had yellow

00:50:16.030 --> 00:50:18.050
pages in the 90s. Yeah, for real. I had it in

00:50:18.050 --> 00:50:19.989
the aughts. That's how New Hampshire worked.

00:50:20.510 --> 00:50:23.869
Yeah, true. And for Gen Z and Gen Alpha that's

00:50:23.869 --> 00:50:26.610
listening, the yellow pages were where everybody's

00:50:26.610 --> 00:50:28.309
numbers were listed, and you could call them.

00:50:28.630 --> 00:50:30.710
And that's how you figured out whose friends

00:50:30.710 --> 00:50:32.590
you lived in, unless their parents had the same

00:50:32.590 --> 00:50:33.949
name as somebody else, and then it was awkward.

00:50:37.369 --> 00:50:42.809
On to episode three. So, will... constantly wants

00:50:42.809 --> 00:50:44.769
to go back to the stage of his life before he

00:50:44.769 --> 00:50:47.469
was kidnapped in the Upside Down, which is very

00:50:47.469 --> 00:50:50.309
touching and very sad, but life is rapidly moving

00:50:50.309 --> 00:50:53.230
on without him, and I find this, like, genuinely

00:50:53.230 --> 00:50:58.550
heartbreaking. Yes. I feel so bad for Will. Kind

00:50:58.550 --> 00:51:03.389
of throughout this whole season, really, he just

00:51:03.389 --> 00:51:06.969
is very overlooked, and... put into the background.

00:51:07.010 --> 00:51:09.570
And really the only time that he has these meaningful

00:51:09.570 --> 00:51:12.050
moments is if something bad is happening to him

00:51:12.050 --> 00:51:15.809
or he's getting his spidey sense of the mind

00:51:15.809 --> 00:51:19.949
flare arriving, which is also something bad happening

00:51:19.949 --> 00:51:25.429
to him. It's either normal bad or it's extra

00:51:25.429 --> 00:51:32.289
bad. Exactly. Yeah, it's just so it's just so

00:51:32.289 --> 00:51:34.329
terrible. And none of his friends are treating

00:51:34.329 --> 00:51:39.809
him very well. And Mike is just a classic Mike.

00:51:40.050 --> 00:51:43.610
Yeah. And is kind of throwing some things in

00:51:43.610 --> 00:51:47.309
his face because he's mad about Al and all sorts

00:51:47.309 --> 00:51:50.530
of things. And I just I did have this question

00:51:50.530 --> 00:51:55.170
when I was watching this time around. Does Mike

00:51:55.170 --> 00:51:59.110
know? that will is gay at this point or is he

00:51:59.110 --> 00:52:03.190
just like assuming that he hasn't grown into

00:52:03.190 --> 00:52:06.670
liking people yet and having crushes and wanting

00:52:06.670 --> 00:52:11.030
to have a girlfriend or whatever Um, either way,

00:52:11.030 --> 00:52:15.030
he's dumb and rude and boys are dumb. Yeah, that's

00:52:15.030 --> 00:52:16.969
true. Teenage boys, especially. Teenage boys

00:52:16.969 --> 00:52:19.590
are dumb. Super. Sorry, teenage boys listening.

00:52:19.630 --> 00:52:21.809
Listen, I love all my students. I teach at an

00:52:21.809 --> 00:52:24.349
all boys school and they are literally 14 to

00:52:24.349 --> 00:52:27.389
18. Uh, but they're dumb and I love them and

00:52:27.389 --> 00:52:29.070
we're making them smarter and they're becoming

00:52:29.070 --> 00:52:32.030
great young men, but also teenage boys are dumb.

00:52:32.130 --> 00:52:34.130
Absolutely. At times, certainly. And it's not

00:52:34.130 --> 00:52:36.510
your fault. No, it's really not your fault. It's

00:52:36.510 --> 00:52:39.420
just the fact that puberty sucks. And your prefrontal

00:52:39.420 --> 00:52:41.460
cortex is not yet developed and it's okay to

00:52:41.460 --> 00:52:44.300
be dumb. You just got to learn to be humble and

00:52:44.300 --> 00:52:46.199
have integrity and move forward and make yourself

00:52:46.199 --> 00:52:51.280
smarter. Exactly. So to answer your question

00:52:51.280 --> 00:52:54.300
as best as I can, I think in season three, this

00:52:54.300 --> 00:52:59.400
really was Mike kind of knowing. Because you've

00:52:59.400 --> 00:53:01.980
got this whole, the past two seasons of Mike

00:53:01.980 --> 00:53:03.739
sort of being in Will's corner and understanding

00:53:03.739 --> 00:53:06.760
Will in the way that he understands Elle in this

00:53:06.760 --> 00:53:09.460
season. And so I would have said if, you know,

00:53:09.460 --> 00:53:11.179
if season four hadn't come out, he absolutely

00:53:11.179 --> 00:53:13.639
knows. This certainly is supposed to make the

00:53:13.639 --> 00:53:17.119
audience feel like this might be a thing. And

00:53:17.119 --> 00:53:20.099
so they're kind of softballing that to the audience

00:53:20.099 --> 00:53:22.400
while also giving us, there are definitely gay

00:53:22.400 --> 00:53:24.940
characters in this world. Here's Robin. Yeah.

00:53:25.260 --> 00:53:28.699
But then season four comes out. With the whole

00:53:28.699 --> 00:53:31.500
will and the art that he's made for somebody

00:53:31.500 --> 00:53:35.460
special. And he's with Mike the whole time. And

00:53:35.460 --> 00:53:37.780
Mike only has eyes for Elle. And I really think

00:53:37.780 --> 00:53:42.420
now Mike doesn't really know. Because of what

00:53:42.420 --> 00:53:44.780
happens in season four. I could be totally off

00:53:44.780 --> 00:53:47.400
base. I could be reading increasingly wrong.

00:53:48.059 --> 00:53:50.809
But that's how it feels to me. You know, I think

00:53:50.809 --> 00:53:53.630
I can go along with that, and I think that I

00:53:53.630 --> 00:53:56.829
can see that Mike doesn't know, and he's making

00:53:56.829 --> 00:53:59.449
a comment just like, hey, it's not my fault that,

00:53:59.469 --> 00:54:02.349
you know, I've grown into... You haven't grown

00:54:02.349 --> 00:54:03.849
up yet. Yeah, you haven't grown up yet, basically.

00:54:04.269 --> 00:54:08.949
But Will definitely is taking it as girls versus

00:54:08.949 --> 00:54:13.730
boys. Well, yeah, for sure. Yeah. So, ugh, again,

00:54:13.829 --> 00:54:16.489
Will. Also, like, how much do I have empathy

00:54:16.489 --> 00:54:20.570
for... will i especially as i was young for my

00:54:20.570 --> 00:54:23.690
grade i really didn't start i started developing

00:54:23.690 --> 00:54:25.570
much later than everybody like i was still in

00:54:25.570 --> 00:54:26.929
middle school body while other people started

00:54:26.929 --> 00:54:29.710
to get into their high school bodies and like

00:54:29.710 --> 00:54:31.550
man did i just i wanted to be the kid that like

00:54:31.550 --> 00:54:34.110
was still playing with action figures and stupid

00:54:34.110 --> 00:54:36.250
games and stuff like that while everybody else

00:54:36.250 --> 00:54:38.750
was like hey have you noticed that girls are

00:54:38.750 --> 00:54:41.250
like super attractive and also it's new hampshire

00:54:41.719 --> 00:54:43.280
In the aughts. And so there's not really much

00:54:43.280 --> 00:54:45.099
to do other than do drugs. Do you want to do

00:54:45.099 --> 00:54:47.139
something? And me being like, no, no, I've noticed

00:54:47.139 --> 00:54:50.019
nothing. I definitely don't want drugs. Like,

00:54:50.059 --> 00:54:55.920
I feel for Will. Life has rushed beyond him.

00:54:56.320 --> 00:54:59.420
And he just has, he's just by himself in this

00:54:59.420 --> 00:55:01.940
place being like, I would like to play. Yeah.

00:55:02.019 --> 00:55:04.320
And then he's not going to. It's very sad. My

00:55:04.320 --> 00:55:07.300
boy. Speaking of the Byers, why doesn't Joyce

00:55:07.300 --> 00:55:10.590
move sooner? Like, it's been. nine months i feel

00:55:10.590 --> 00:55:12.289
like and summertime is the time to move with

00:55:12.289 --> 00:55:15.389
your kids in between high schools maybe she's

00:55:15.389 --> 00:55:17.269
just wanting jonathan to finish up his senior

00:55:17.269 --> 00:55:19.469
year somewhere but then like you know they end

00:55:19.469 --> 00:55:21.250
up moving at the end of the season i'm just like

00:55:21.250 --> 00:55:24.050
i feel like the gate opened a second time will

00:55:24.050 --> 00:55:26.690
was in danger second time i'm we're leaving i'm

00:55:26.690 --> 00:55:28.469
putting my house on the market and i'm leaving

00:55:28.469 --> 00:55:33.320
it empty and it'll sell when it sells The only

00:55:33.320 --> 00:55:36.239
thing that I can think of is just Joyce is so

00:55:36.239 --> 00:55:38.400
tied into all these things that she now feels

00:55:38.400 --> 00:55:40.480
a responsibility to like see it through to the

00:55:40.480 --> 00:55:44.579
end. And so now the reason why they do move is

00:55:44.579 --> 00:55:48.360
because she thinks it's done. That it really

00:55:48.360 --> 00:55:52.659
is the end. And she doesn't have anything left

00:55:52.659 --> 00:55:55.559
for her and Hawkins besides her boys who are

00:55:55.559 --> 00:55:57.900
going to come with her. Well, yeah, I mean, you

00:55:57.900 --> 00:56:00.239
know, because spoiler for the end of the season.

00:56:00.699 --> 00:56:02.739
When she thinks Hopper's dead, then she moves.

00:56:02.820 --> 00:56:05.260
So I wonder if that's it, too, if she's just

00:56:05.260 --> 00:56:08.260
lingering out hope for Hopper. A little bit,

00:56:08.380 --> 00:56:13.579
probably. She, however, is not a cougar and is

00:56:13.579 --> 00:56:16.820
not appreciative of Billy's attractiveness, like

00:56:16.820 --> 00:56:19.320
she shouldn't be. However, we're going to talk

00:56:19.320 --> 00:56:22.920
about Billy's actor, Dacre Montgomery, and have

00:56:22.920 --> 00:56:27.039
some big appreciations for his acting. His acting

00:56:27.039 --> 00:56:30.119
in the Stepford scene. And for those of you who

00:56:30.119 --> 00:56:31.199
don't know what we're talking about, Stepford

00:56:31.199 --> 00:56:34.699
Wives is this incredible movie where essentially

00:56:34.699 --> 00:56:37.579
these women are all acting very plastic Barbie

00:56:37.579 --> 00:56:40.579
-like as wives. And you find out why later. He's

00:56:40.579 --> 00:56:43.659
doing an incredible job of putting on this polished,

00:56:43.780 --> 00:56:48.539
fake smile that really does seem charming if

00:56:48.539 --> 00:56:50.619
you don't know what's going on. But because there's

00:56:50.619 --> 00:56:53.320
this spooky undertone, it comes across as chilling.

00:56:53.699 --> 00:56:58.349
And oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, it's great. It's

00:56:58.349 --> 00:57:02.269
amazing. This, I feel like this season should

00:57:02.269 --> 00:57:04.750
just be called the Dacre Montgomery show. Yeah.

00:57:04.909 --> 00:57:09.289
Because I feel like every single episode, he

00:57:09.289 --> 00:57:14.309
has at least one scene where I'm like, holy moly.

00:57:15.090 --> 00:57:18.789
So good. Yeah, absolutely. You're 100 % right.

00:57:18.869 --> 00:57:23.309
100 % right. Yeah. Episode four. Very quickly.

00:57:23.309 --> 00:57:25.369
I'm just glad that Max and Elle are friends this

00:57:25.369 --> 00:57:28.769
season and that. Oh, so nice. Because they really

00:57:28.769 --> 00:57:32.030
started to do this overplayed, not that this

00:57:32.030 --> 00:57:34.030
doesn't happen in real life, but this overplayed

00:57:34.030 --> 00:57:37.369
dynamic of women hating women. And I just, I

00:57:37.369 --> 00:57:39.530
didn't like it in season two. It felt cliche

00:57:39.530 --> 00:57:42.050
in a way that Stranger Things normally avoids.

00:57:42.130 --> 00:57:44.170
And then they instantly fix it, and I'm just

00:57:44.170 --> 00:57:47.250
so grateful. Yeah, I love it. And I love that

00:57:47.250 --> 00:57:50.170
Elle has a buddy. Yeah, absolutely. Instead of

00:57:50.170 --> 00:57:53.360
just being around. As we've said, dumb teenage

00:57:53.360 --> 00:57:57.480
boys. Dumb teenage boys, yeah. Speaking of dumb

00:57:57.480 --> 00:58:00.320
boys, but they're much older, how good is Hopper

00:58:00.320 --> 00:58:02.300
and Mayor Larry Klein's interrogation scene?

00:58:02.820 --> 00:58:08.349
So good. It's... Every... All the lines... As

00:58:08.349 --> 00:58:10.829
they build up to the physical violence in that

00:58:10.829 --> 00:58:12.349
scene where they're just sitting across from

00:58:12.349 --> 00:58:14.590
each other and, like, kind of having a tit -for

00:58:14.590 --> 00:58:16.369
-tat where it's like, well, I've got stories

00:58:16.369 --> 00:58:18.170
about you. You've got stories about me. Nothing's

00:58:18.170 --> 00:58:20.510
going on. Oh, yeah? Are you sure? Mm -hmm. Really?

00:58:20.550 --> 00:58:22.809
Oh, okay. And then Hopper's just done with it

00:58:22.809 --> 00:58:26.150
and breaks his nose. And Larry Klein, the mayor's

00:58:26.150 --> 00:58:30.869
delivery on, you broke my nose! And then he looks

00:58:30.869 --> 00:58:33.309
at him, you broke my goddamn nose! It's just

00:58:33.309 --> 00:58:38.050
so funny for some reason. And then Joyce, Joyce

00:58:38.050 --> 00:58:39.750
pulling out the cord and being like, who you

00:58:39.750 --> 00:58:45.570
calling the police? It's amazing. That's priceless.

00:58:46.269 --> 00:58:50.829
It's just a priceless scene. And I think, I think

00:58:50.829 --> 00:58:54.829
it's just the dynamic between, you know, police

00:58:54.829 --> 00:58:57.650
chief who's just lost his marbles at this point

00:58:57.650 --> 00:59:03.789
and corrupt mayor is just such a good. It's just

00:59:03.789 --> 00:59:06.630
such a good dynamic in general. And then you

00:59:06.630 --> 00:59:08.769
get these specific characters. And these specific

00:59:08.769 --> 00:59:12.050
actors. Because they're just incredible. And

00:59:12.050 --> 00:59:13.710
they're so good in that scene together. It's

00:59:13.710 --> 00:59:18.010
just great. Yeah. So fantastic. All right, here's

00:59:18.010 --> 00:59:22.530
a question for you. Yes. With Nancy and Jonathan's

00:59:22.530 --> 00:59:25.809
argument about, hey, we were just interns. It's

00:59:25.809 --> 00:59:28.190
not a big deal. And Jonathan being like, I need

00:59:28.190 --> 00:59:31.309
money. You live in a bubble. Does Jonathan go

00:59:31.309 --> 00:59:33.880
too far here? Or do you feel like Nancy needs

00:59:33.880 --> 00:59:41.940
to be woken up? So I think that they both have

00:59:41.940 --> 00:59:44.539
some valid points. And I think that Jonathan

00:59:44.539 --> 00:59:49.400
needs to maybe be more clear with Nancy about

00:59:49.400 --> 00:59:53.900
what he needs, why he needs this job, what he's

00:59:53.900 --> 00:59:56.239
trying to accomplish, all the things that are

00:59:56.239 --> 00:59:59.800
required for him to continue living the way that

00:59:59.800 --> 01:00:03.940
he wants to live. But I do feel like the way

01:00:03.940 --> 01:00:07.639
to explain that is not just talking down to her

01:00:07.639 --> 01:00:10.219
about her situation because she can't control

01:00:10.219 --> 01:00:13.059
her situation. She didn't choose to be born into

01:00:13.059 --> 01:00:16.340
the family that she was born into. Yes, she may

01:00:16.340 --> 01:00:18.079
have been living in a bubble, but she's also

01:00:18.079 --> 01:00:20.900
seen some things over the past few years and

01:00:20.900 --> 01:00:24.460
knows that life isn't all so great all the time.

01:00:24.480 --> 01:00:29.000
And she's not one who's like, throwing her wealth

01:00:29.000 --> 01:00:33.780
around or anything like that and you know she

01:00:33.780 --> 01:00:36.019
she definitely comes from more of a position

01:00:36.019 --> 01:00:39.820
of privilege here but i don't necessarily know

01:00:39.820 --> 01:00:43.920
that it's an i don't necessarily know that at

01:00:43.920 --> 01:00:47.579
this point it's an issue like yes she feels like

01:00:47.579 --> 01:00:49.719
she should be treated better and she should be

01:00:49.719 --> 01:00:53.730
and She doesn't need this job. She could go try

01:00:53.730 --> 01:00:56.369
to find another job. However, as a woman in the

01:00:56.369 --> 01:01:00.050
workforce in the 80s, especially coming into

01:01:00.050 --> 01:01:02.789
it just right at the beginning, she is going

01:01:02.789 --> 01:01:05.550
to have some issues with a lot of the boys club

01:01:05.550 --> 01:01:11.070
personas that are out there. So I don't think

01:01:11.070 --> 01:01:12.929
that he goes about it in the right way. I think

01:01:12.929 --> 01:01:15.480
this. Would have been very nice to just have

01:01:15.480 --> 01:01:17.519
as a really gentle conversation between the two

01:01:17.519 --> 01:01:19.320
of them of like, oh, well, this is my experience.

01:01:19.420 --> 01:01:21.559
This is my experience. This is why I need this

01:01:21.559 --> 01:01:24.599
job. This is why I don't need this job. And then

01:01:24.599 --> 01:01:27.699
it could have been handled. I've been in this

01:01:27.699 --> 01:01:31.340
situation before and it's awful. Yeah, totally.

01:01:32.119 --> 01:01:36.079
It's really awful. And because especially if

01:01:36.079 --> 01:01:38.960
you're really trying to see from other people's

01:01:38.960 --> 01:01:41.460
points of view and that's just not picked up

01:01:41.460 --> 01:01:47.599
on, it's. Kind of crushing. Yeah. I think Jonathan's

01:01:47.599 --> 01:01:51.679
messaging is poor, and it's hard to do ideal

01:01:51.679 --> 01:01:53.719
messaging on any of this sort of stuff. Certainly,

01:01:53.800 --> 01:01:56.679
I'm going to talk about a lot of things, so anybody

01:01:56.679 --> 01:01:58.920
who's listening, please don't judge too quickly

01:01:58.920 --> 01:02:00.440
what I'm saying, because I'm going to get to

01:02:00.440 --> 01:02:03.579
a lot. I think Jonathan certainly at times is

01:02:03.579 --> 01:02:05.900
uncomfortable, and sometimes deeply uncomfortable

01:02:05.900 --> 01:02:09.219
with what Nancy was asking for. But also, he

01:02:09.219 --> 01:02:11.219
can grow more of a spine and speak for himself.

01:02:12.230 --> 01:02:14.190
And so he was like, hey, I don't want to get

01:02:14.190 --> 01:02:16.010
fired. I really don't want to do this. But then

01:02:16.010 --> 01:02:17.530
he's like, okay, you're relentless. And also,

01:02:17.570 --> 01:02:19.849
you're my girlfriend. So how much am I really

01:02:19.849 --> 01:02:21.409
going to stand up to you? We're in a relationship.

01:02:22.150 --> 01:02:24.110
And so all of that's true. Yet it's still his

01:02:24.110 --> 01:02:26.230
choice to go and do a bunch of these things.

01:02:27.250 --> 01:02:29.769
And yet, you know, he does feel a little bit

01:02:29.769 --> 01:02:32.909
like he's been coerced, sort of, into helping

01:02:32.909 --> 01:02:35.070
Nancy on what he's doing. So there's some fair

01:02:35.070 --> 01:02:38.400
stuff there. He's absolutely right. About the

01:02:38.400 --> 01:02:41.119
fact that Nancy is not considering his financial

01:02:41.119 --> 01:02:43.380
circumstances. Because even she comes out and

01:02:43.380 --> 01:02:44.960
is like, well, I didn't realize I lived in a

01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:47.460
bubble. Okay, actually, that's kind of your fault.

01:02:48.280 --> 01:02:50.699
But I would say that that's kind of their fault

01:02:50.699 --> 01:02:53.360
for both of them for two different things. Jonathan

01:02:53.360 --> 01:02:55.480
is not being supportive at all about the sexism.

01:02:55.980 --> 01:02:58.880
He's just being like, it's okay. Like, we'll

01:02:58.880 --> 01:03:01.260
get through it. They're just assholes. He's not

01:03:01.260 --> 01:03:03.699
helping at all. He's also living in his bubble

01:03:03.699 --> 01:03:07.860
within his male perspective. completely not being

01:03:07.860 --> 01:03:11.219
a very good ally to her female perspective. And

01:03:11.219 --> 01:03:15.199
at the same time, she is not looking at his poverty

01:03:15.199 --> 01:03:19.699
perspective while he is very much aware of her

01:03:19.699 --> 01:03:22.039
wealth perspective. And it is on both of them

01:03:22.039 --> 01:03:24.320
to be more aware. And they're getting to the

01:03:24.320 --> 01:03:26.360
age where they should start to realize that.

01:03:26.440 --> 01:03:28.360
So this is like very, I think this is the right

01:03:28.360 --> 01:03:30.679
time for this conversation. Both of them need

01:03:30.679 --> 01:03:33.059
to wake up. to what they're doing not said the

01:03:33.059 --> 01:03:35.059
right way but honestly when is it ever going

01:03:35.059 --> 01:03:36.420
to be said the right way in a show like this

01:03:36.420 --> 01:03:38.880
and they're still teenagers so a lot to forgive

01:03:38.880 --> 01:03:42.760
and at the same time i i like don't mind that

01:03:42.760 --> 01:03:44.440
jonathan said it like that and i wouldn't mind

01:03:44.440 --> 01:03:49.679
it if uh i almost called her sierra i don't mind

01:03:49.679 --> 01:03:51.300
that jonathan said it like that and i also wouldn't

01:03:51.300 --> 01:03:53.820
have minded if nancy shouted at jonathan about

01:03:53.820 --> 01:03:56.719
his lack of support around the sexism so You

01:03:56.719 --> 01:03:58.900
know, it's all fair. I think it was a missed

01:03:58.900 --> 01:04:01.940
opportunity for her to kind of be like, well,

01:04:02.039 --> 01:04:05.480
hey, you didn't explain this to me. I didn't

01:04:05.480 --> 01:04:08.019
explain this to you. You're not supporting me.

01:04:08.099 --> 01:04:10.079
You say that I'm not supporting you. Well, you're

01:04:10.079 --> 01:04:13.340
not supporting me either. And it could have gone

01:04:13.340 --> 01:04:16.679
kind of both ways. I agree. And I think that

01:04:16.679 --> 01:04:19.219
Nancy is a strong enough character that it maybe

01:04:19.219 --> 01:04:20.960
would have made more sense if she had done that.

01:04:21.039 --> 01:04:24.199
Yeah, I think so too. Speaking of strong women,

01:04:24.440 --> 01:04:29.780
Erica. is incredible just amazing her capitalism

01:04:29.780 --> 01:04:33.840
scene uh with explaining like my services are

01:04:33.840 --> 01:04:35.960
now in high demand and i'm going to negotiate

01:04:35.960 --> 01:04:39.239
for free ice cream for life uh which is silly

01:04:39.239 --> 01:04:42.599
of her to not see that like hey steve and robin

01:04:42.599 --> 01:04:44.940
are gonna work there forever like you have you

01:04:44.940 --> 01:04:46.800
have free ice cream until they go and do something

01:04:46.800 --> 01:04:50.880
else um yeah but her capture her or until the

01:04:50.880 --> 01:04:52.639
mall burns down or until the mall burns down

01:04:52.639 --> 01:04:55.960
uh Erica's capitalism scene certainly captures

01:04:55.960 --> 01:04:59.360
an element of, like, the way in which the 80s

01:04:59.360 --> 01:05:03.579
sort of celebrated money and sort of a new form

01:05:03.579 --> 01:05:05.679
of capitalism that was entering the United States.

01:05:06.960 --> 01:05:10.920
Continuing the strong women, back to Nancy. She

01:05:10.920 --> 01:05:13.039
thinks that she gets her fighting spirit from

01:05:13.039 --> 01:05:16.159
her mom. What evidence do we have to this? Literally

01:05:16.159 --> 01:05:19.079
none. None to be, like, that fighting spirit

01:05:19.079 --> 01:05:21.780
that Nancy has. That's where she gets, like...

01:05:21.980 --> 01:05:25.480
Okay, yeah, certainly Mrs. Wheeler is a strong

01:05:25.480 --> 01:05:28.239
individual. Like, she powers through some stuff,

01:05:28.300 --> 01:05:31.019
but also she's, like, super absent -minded about

01:05:31.019 --> 01:05:34.059
her kids, really focused on Billy at a certain

01:05:34.059 --> 01:05:36.780
time, like, only doesn't go and have sex with

01:05:36.780 --> 01:05:39.280
him because she loves her husband. And then,

01:05:39.320 --> 01:05:42.119
like, what else has she done to be like, yeah,

01:05:42.159 --> 01:05:44.840
this leads to your daughter taking a gun, going

01:05:44.840 --> 01:05:47.320
through a stump in season one, and trying to

01:05:47.320 --> 01:05:51.159
face down a Demogorgon? No. Yeah, no. Mm -mm.

01:05:51.239 --> 01:05:54.420
None. It's stupid as all hell. None, none, none.

01:05:56.159 --> 01:06:00.260
Okay. I know we talked about Mr. Montgomery in

01:06:00.260 --> 01:06:03.699
the Stepford scene, but the sauna scene. Oh,

01:06:03.840 --> 01:06:08.420
my. The sauna scene is incredible. It's so good.

01:06:08.820 --> 01:06:12.780
It might be my favorite scene up until this point

01:06:12.780 --> 01:06:16.869
of Stranger Things. Oh, like for season one,

01:06:16.909 --> 01:06:19.030
season two, and season three up until this point.

01:06:19.150 --> 01:06:21.050
Season two, season three. This might be my favorite

01:06:21.050 --> 01:06:24.130
one. I think it is mine. I don't even know what

01:06:24.130 --> 01:06:28.989
I would put up there with it. That Sarah montage

01:06:28.989 --> 01:06:32.050
while saving Will is really impactful from season

01:06:32.050 --> 01:06:35.969
one. Yeah. I love the Halloween moments in season

01:06:35.969 --> 01:06:39.190
two. I do love the scene of them going through

01:06:39.190 --> 01:06:42.440
the corridors in season two as well. that sequence

01:06:42.440 --> 01:06:44.659
of trying to get out of Hawkins lab after lockdown,

01:06:44.920 --> 01:06:49.280
that one might beat it, but man, it just Montgomery's

01:06:49.280 --> 01:06:53.500
acting with being Billy and trying to talk to

01:06:53.500 --> 01:06:55.699
Max and plead with Max for a second and then

01:06:55.699 --> 01:07:00.019
activating into the mind flare and completely

01:07:00.019 --> 01:07:04.980
changing his character is just so well done.

01:07:05.199 --> 01:07:08.639
I find him incredible. Absolutely incredible.

01:07:08.840 --> 01:07:12.199
We will continue talking about. him and his acting

01:07:12.199 --> 01:07:15.559
and the billy versus mind flayer throughout this

01:07:15.559 --> 01:07:22.219
season's episodes because i re -watching it is

01:07:22.219 --> 01:07:25.679
very clear to me when he is billy and when he

01:07:25.679 --> 01:07:30.960
is the mind flayer and wow and just the the instant

01:07:30.960 --> 01:07:34.079
switching the instant switching that you can

01:07:34.079 --> 01:07:39.280
see happening is so so amazing And everybody

01:07:39.280 --> 01:07:43.920
else's reactions to those changes as well. Very,

01:07:43.920 --> 01:07:48.980
very well done. So good. Well, you don't always

01:07:48.980 --> 01:07:51.420
have to face down a horde of angry soldiers by

01:07:51.420 --> 01:07:54.099
yourself. Buckle up, Schmisseners. It is time

01:07:54.099 --> 01:07:58.059
for our Sansa is Smarter Than John category for

01:07:58.059 --> 01:08:02.159
what is the most important character moment of

01:08:02.159 --> 01:08:05.659
this set of episodes. Okay, so surprisingly,

01:08:05.960 --> 01:08:08.969
I have Max. Helping Elle break up and then take

01:08:08.969 --> 01:08:11.110
her shopping, which I just feel like is a really

01:08:11.110 --> 01:08:14.849
important moment for both characters. For Max

01:08:14.849 --> 01:08:18.829
to show us that, like, okay, she's not as clichély

01:08:18.829 --> 01:08:21.430
tomboy where she's like, can't be friends with

01:08:21.430 --> 01:08:24.590
women. And also Elle gaining a lot more agency,

01:08:24.729 --> 01:08:27.630
specifically around clothes, which is, you know,

01:08:27.649 --> 01:08:31.210
her expressing herself for the first time in

01:08:31.210 --> 01:08:35.239
that way. Right. I've also got... Robin humbling

01:08:35.239 --> 01:08:41.020
Steve constantly. Because we grow to love Robin

01:08:41.020 --> 01:08:44.939
so quickly. Yes. And this, I think, is why. It's

01:08:44.939 --> 01:08:47.720
that banter that she has almost with the audience

01:08:47.720 --> 01:08:52.220
about how stupid Steve is. My favorite is the

01:08:52.220 --> 01:08:56.739
board. Yeah, absolutely. Loser. Loser. You are

01:08:56.739 --> 01:09:00.460
a loser. And then Steve realizing he's going

01:09:00.460 --> 01:09:03.289
nowhere. I thought was a good character moment

01:09:03.289 --> 01:09:05.029
as well. You could do a lot. There's a lot of

01:09:05.029 --> 01:09:06.729
character moments in here. There's a lot. These

01:09:06.729 --> 01:09:11.630
were my top three. Yeah. I think I would give

01:09:11.630 --> 01:09:19.649
the edge to Robin humbling Steve, mostly because

01:09:19.649 --> 01:09:22.850
it's really key to understanding her character

01:09:22.850 --> 01:09:25.609
and to be introduced to her character. Yeah,

01:09:25.609 --> 01:09:28.170
I agree. Whereas the others, I feel like don't

01:09:28.170 --> 01:09:31.079
have as much of a payoff. Throughout these episodes.

01:09:31.399 --> 01:09:35.640
But Robin's moment really is important to who

01:09:35.640 --> 01:09:40.100
she is. Yeah. Good. Concluded. I know you just

01:09:40.100 --> 01:09:42.619
lost a hand, but listen up. It's time for the

01:09:42.619 --> 01:09:47.579
I am your father category for most iconic character

01:09:47.579 --> 01:09:51.619
moment. I have an honorable mention for Hop shaking

01:09:51.619 --> 01:09:55.180
down Mayor Klein. But of course, you have the

01:09:55.180 --> 01:09:58.319
winner. I do have the winner and it is another

01:09:58.319 --> 01:10:04.020
Hopper moment. It is Hopper finding out that

01:10:04.020 --> 01:10:06.699
he has successfully scared Mike into giving Eleven

01:10:06.699 --> 01:10:10.680
some space for a day while you don't mess around

01:10:10.680 --> 01:10:15.899
with gym plays in the background. Hilarious.

01:10:15.899 --> 01:10:20.340
I started laughing hysterically at that moment.

01:10:20.640 --> 01:10:24.760
He's so happy and the song is perfect and it

01:10:24.760 --> 01:10:29.260
is. Excellent all over. I love it so much. Oh,

01:10:29.260 --> 01:10:33.159
it's so good. I also love that later, when Mike

01:10:33.159 --> 01:10:36.539
does reveal, it was Hopper, he went crazy, he

01:10:36.539 --> 01:10:37.779
said we were spending too much time together,

01:10:37.819 --> 01:10:40.420
that Elle's like, I know she's mad, but she's

01:10:40.420 --> 01:10:41.600
also like, maybe he's right, and I was like,

01:10:41.680 --> 01:10:44.000
that's right, that's right, you gained some advocacy

01:10:44.000 --> 01:10:46.439
for yourself, Elle, that's right, uh -huh, this

01:10:46.439 --> 01:10:48.199
has nothing to do with how prejudiced I am against

01:10:48.199 --> 01:10:51.279
Mike. Sam, you gotta sit down. No, I'm sorry.

01:10:51.579 --> 01:10:56.250
It's time for our I Am Iron Man. Most iconic

01:10:56.250 --> 01:11:00.010
and important scene. There's one answer. Category.

01:11:00.609 --> 01:11:03.930
There is one answer. It's Billy breaking out

01:11:03.930 --> 01:11:08.409
of the sauna. Between the imagery, his brutality,

01:11:08.829 --> 01:11:13.590
he's already a much better host for the Mind

01:11:13.590 --> 01:11:17.130
Flayer than Will ever was. He's already morally

01:11:17.130 --> 01:11:22.130
and mentally corrupted. Yeah. And he's a better

01:11:22.130 --> 01:11:24.390
physical host. Yeah, absolutely. He is a better...

01:11:26.250 --> 01:11:29.590
He's an adult, basically. He can go places without

01:11:29.590 --> 01:11:31.409
people being like, where are you going, Will?

01:11:31.590 --> 01:11:34.210
Yeah, he's not a child. Yeah, without walking

01:11:34.210 --> 01:11:36.909
or biking. Yeah, he can drive. He has a car.

01:11:38.550 --> 01:11:43.770
I, yeah, it's, all of it's so incredible in the

01:11:43.770 --> 01:11:46.850
sauna scene. That transformation into the Mind

01:11:46.850 --> 01:11:49.789
Flayer, breaking through the wall, opening it

01:11:49.789 --> 01:11:51.970
up, having that fight with Eleven where they

01:11:51.970 --> 01:11:54.909
kind of realize that. oh my gosh, Billy's weirdly

01:11:54.909 --> 01:11:57.310
a match for Elle. What is going on? And then

01:11:57.310 --> 01:12:00.829
of course she wins. It's just, the whole scene

01:12:00.829 --> 01:12:04.470
has this wonderful arc of, I'm Billy, I'm sad,

01:12:04.569 --> 01:12:07.149
I'm scared, and now I'm Mind Flayer, and here

01:12:07.149 --> 01:12:09.210
we go, and you're going to, and you can just

01:12:09.210 --> 01:12:11.350
see the difference between like, when Will was

01:12:11.350 --> 01:12:13.770
like, sitting in a doctor's office. I'm sure

01:12:13.770 --> 01:12:16.569
the Mind Flayer was like, again with the psychiatrist,

01:12:16.649 --> 01:12:21.250
come on, man. Versus now. the mind flare gets

01:12:21.250 --> 01:12:25.350
put into a better body and he can physically

01:12:25.350 --> 01:12:27.850
remove himself from that situation. Unlike will.

01:12:27.970 --> 01:12:29.590
And I wonder if that's one of the reasons why

01:12:29.590 --> 01:12:31.869
he goes for somebody like Billy, this young strapping

01:12:31.869 --> 01:12:34.729
man. I will say there's one moment in that scene

01:12:34.729 --> 01:12:39.109
where, because of how tall Mike's actor is, like

01:12:39.109 --> 01:12:41.310
he's really growing at this point. There's definitely,

01:12:41.369 --> 01:12:43.149
they try and hide it as much as possible, but

01:12:43.149 --> 01:12:46.029
Mike is taller than Billy. And there's one scene

01:12:46.029 --> 01:12:47.850
where he there he's behind Billy's shoulder and

01:12:47.850 --> 01:12:51.039
you can see Mike and it's like, Oh, Because,

01:12:51.479 --> 01:12:53.180
like, he's really supposed to be much bigger

01:12:53.180 --> 01:12:55.399
than all these children. And he is, like, physically

01:12:55.399 --> 01:12:58.140
more imposing. And Mike is very skinny because

01:12:58.140 --> 01:13:01.439
he's still, like, a teenager kid. But it's kind

01:13:01.439 --> 01:13:04.899
of funny to be like, oh, yeah. Like, the Mind

01:13:04.899 --> 01:13:07.979
Flayer, like, looking up to Mike. Who's supposed

01:13:07.979 --> 01:13:11.260
to be, like, in eighth or seventh grade. Right.

01:13:11.340 --> 01:13:12.680
Or going into eighth or something like that.

01:13:13.420 --> 01:13:16.260
Crack open an encyclopedia. It's time for our

01:13:16.260 --> 01:13:20.189
As Elijah Wood Once Said. No! How could we have

01:13:20.189 --> 01:13:23.630
known? category, where we discuss the most important

01:13:23.630 --> 01:13:25.890
information disseminated to the fandom over these

01:13:25.890 --> 01:13:30.569
first four episodes. I think the most key information

01:13:30.569 --> 01:13:36.510
for me is that the Mind Flayer needs a host and

01:13:36.510 --> 01:13:40.369
to feed and to grow through them in order to

01:13:40.369 --> 01:13:42.550
remain on our side of the dimensional plane.

01:13:42.750 --> 01:13:46.670
And this also goes along with the chemicals and

01:13:46.670 --> 01:13:51.239
whatnot. But basically, The mind flayer can't

01:13:51.239 --> 01:13:55.340
exist by itself on our side. Without the upside

01:13:55.340 --> 01:13:57.880
down. It needs a host. Yeah. Exactly. Without

01:13:57.880 --> 01:14:02.479
the upside down. Yeah. So I think that's really

01:14:02.479 --> 01:14:05.760
important to know about the mind flayer itself,

01:14:05.920 --> 01:14:09.659
but also potentially extrapolating to other upside

01:14:09.659 --> 01:14:12.779
down entities. Yeah, absolutely. It's a bit like

01:14:12.779 --> 01:14:14.939
Spirited Away. For anybody that's seen that movie,

01:14:15.060 --> 01:14:17.119
once you go into the spirit realm, you have to

01:14:17.119 --> 01:14:21.210
eat something. on that side in order to be accepted

01:14:21.210 --> 01:14:23.949
into that world or else you fade away. And so

01:14:23.949 --> 01:14:26.109
it's like, Hey, I need to stay here. So we're

01:14:26.109 --> 01:14:27.810
going to chemically change myself in order to

01:14:27.810 --> 01:14:32.289
be, you know, workable in Earth's, this Earth's

01:14:32.289 --> 01:14:36.430
oxygen levels and all that stuff. My information

01:14:36.430 --> 01:14:38.590
here was that Vecna is there, which we went over

01:14:38.590 --> 01:14:41.250
already, but he's in Heather's body two times.

01:14:41.310 --> 01:14:45.689
Once before Billy captures Heather and once at

01:14:45.689 --> 01:14:47.449
the very end of episode four. And I just think

01:14:47.449 --> 01:14:50.260
that that, It is mind blowing. We should all

01:14:50.260 --> 01:14:55.439
be aware that Vecna also somehow possessed Heather

01:14:55.439 --> 01:14:58.779
and put a vision into Billy's head. So that was,

01:14:58.779 --> 01:15:03.119
that was cool and good. A little aside on that.

01:15:03.239 --> 01:15:09.279
I took it as that for the vision that Vecna was

01:15:09.279 --> 01:15:11.840
not already in Heather. I agree. I think that's

01:15:11.840 --> 01:15:15.039
an imposed vision. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. But

01:15:15.039 --> 01:15:20.510
that, but that. he's using her visage to call

01:15:20.510 --> 01:15:23.670
up. You're right, 100%. To be clear, I'm not

01:15:23.670 --> 01:15:25.210
saying that he's in Heather's body two times,

01:15:25.250 --> 01:15:27.390
like I literally said. He's in Heather's body

01:15:27.390 --> 01:15:30.550
once, and then he uses Heather's body a second

01:15:30.550 --> 01:15:33.670
time, but it's a visage sort of situation. Yes,

01:15:33.670 --> 01:15:38.130
okay. Perfect. Well, keep your horses safe. Not

01:15:38.130 --> 01:15:41.810
from Vecna, but it is the I'm gonna make him

01:15:41.810 --> 01:15:47.470
an offer he can't refuse category of best. Lines.

01:15:47.470 --> 01:15:50.829
There's a lot of great ones here. I know. One

01:15:50.829 --> 01:15:53.090
of my personal favorites. We've talked about

01:15:53.090 --> 01:15:56.250
Hopper a lot, but maybe I should just kill Mike.

01:15:56.430 --> 01:15:58.609
I'm the chief of police. I could just cover it

01:15:58.609 --> 01:16:03.029
up. I forget about that line every time and it

01:16:03.029 --> 01:16:08.310
makes me so happy. Continuing with him. Maybe

01:16:08.310 --> 01:16:11.699
if you are lucky. I will continue to allow you

01:16:11.699 --> 01:16:14.359
to date my daughter. And the context of that

01:16:14.359 --> 01:16:17.300
line and the way that he, the vitriol behind

01:16:17.300 --> 01:16:20.439
it when he says that and the authority is so

01:16:20.439 --> 01:16:26.300
impressive. Yes. My next one. Once you open up

01:16:26.300 --> 01:16:29.659
that curiosity door, anything is possible. Mr.

01:16:29.659 --> 01:16:33.479
Clark. Mr. Clark, what a gem. Love him. I've

01:16:33.479 --> 01:16:37.220
got two in here. First of all, there's Joyce's

01:16:37.220 --> 01:16:39.079
line, which I already mentioned. Who are you

01:16:39.079 --> 01:16:42.659
calling? The police? While Hopper, the chief

01:16:42.659 --> 01:16:46.239
of police, is beating up the mayor. And his secretary

01:16:46.239 --> 01:16:49.520
tries to call the cops. But the one that I think

01:16:49.520 --> 01:16:52.539
should win, and it's mainly just because of delivery

01:16:52.539 --> 01:16:57.939
and context, is when Mayor Klein is trying to

01:16:57.939 --> 01:17:00.840
explain away the Russian motorcyclist. I was

01:17:00.840 --> 01:17:02.859
like, I don't know, I meet with a lot of people,

01:17:02.920 --> 01:17:06.760
Hopper. Tall, square jaw, ex -military. You know

01:17:06.760 --> 01:17:08.520
who that might have been? The maintenance guy.

01:17:08.600 --> 01:17:12.260
And then this line happens that Hopper says.

01:17:12.460 --> 01:17:14.800
And he just leans forward and goes, you meeting

01:17:14.800 --> 01:17:21.680
with a lot of plumbers, Larry? It's so good.

01:17:25.380 --> 01:17:29.380
The delivery on that is amazing. However, I think

01:17:29.380 --> 01:17:32.939
the winner is this final one. You can't spell

01:17:32.939 --> 01:17:36.939
America without Erica. It's so good. It's so

01:17:36.939 --> 01:17:40.640
marketable, too. Like, I feel like she just,

01:17:40.720 --> 01:17:44.020
like, is on lunchboxes and water bottles and

01:17:44.020 --> 01:17:47.460
t -shirts because of that one line. She is the

01:17:47.460 --> 01:17:50.760
future president. For sure. Absolutely. Okay,

01:17:50.899 --> 01:17:52.779
yeah. We'll give it to Erica. We can't spell

01:17:52.779 --> 01:17:55.140
America. We can't spell America without Erica.

01:17:55.340 --> 01:17:58.760
And Dustin's just like, uh -huh. She's right.

01:17:59.060 --> 01:18:03.920
Yeah. Mind blown. Well, dust off that card deck

01:18:03.920 --> 01:18:05.960
and get ready to shuffle. It's our Joker category

01:18:05.960 --> 01:18:10.920
for who is the MVP of this episode. Now, I have

01:18:10.920 --> 01:18:13.500
a pound for pound argument with you. Okay, go

01:18:13.500 --> 01:18:19.300
ahead. Is it Mayor Klein? No. But he's so wonderful

01:18:19.300 --> 01:18:21.920
and delicious and great as an actor in every

01:18:21.920 --> 01:18:27.289
scene that he's in. It absolutely isn't. Pound

01:18:27.289 --> 01:18:29.090
for pound means that they've done something actually

01:18:29.090 --> 01:18:31.789
important. But I just had to give you a little

01:18:31.789 --> 01:18:38.289
bit of princess pride. Okay, I think we're aligned

01:18:38.289 --> 01:18:41.390
on who it is. Okay, because I was going to say,

01:18:41.489 --> 01:18:45.090
is it weird to say the Mind Flayer? He's got

01:18:45.090 --> 01:18:47.550
a really successful streak going. He's got all

01:18:47.550 --> 01:18:50.329
the people he's turning. Billy's under his control.

01:18:50.869 --> 01:18:54.050
Elle isn't strong enough to defeat him. Only

01:18:54.050 --> 01:18:56.729
some stinking kids know that he's even around,

01:18:56.789 --> 01:19:01.850
besides the people who are his flayed. So, his?

01:19:02.350 --> 01:19:05.149
Yeah, it's the Billy Flair combo. It's everything

01:19:05.149 --> 01:19:07.989
about them in these series of episodes makes

01:19:07.989 --> 01:19:11.890
this show work. Yeah. And, like, part of me is,

01:19:11.930 --> 01:19:14.649
like, if you don't have the seriousness of Montgomery's

01:19:14.649 --> 01:19:17.750
acting, does this show even equal season one

01:19:17.750 --> 01:19:19.409
and two? Because there's a lot of moments that

01:19:19.409 --> 01:19:21.800
are, like... Joyce and Hopper can be a little

01:19:21.800 --> 01:19:25.039
almost too light for me. Dustin and Steve can

01:19:25.039 --> 01:19:27.579
be almost a little too light if you're separating

01:19:27.579 --> 01:19:30.220
them out completely without the grounding of

01:19:30.220 --> 01:19:31.840
Montgomery's work. And that's why they work so

01:19:31.840 --> 01:19:33.579
well is that they're all balancing each other

01:19:33.579 --> 01:19:36.159
out. But if you remove him, I think the show

01:19:36.159 --> 01:19:38.640
is a little bit more – this is going to sound

01:19:38.640 --> 01:19:40.840
really harsh, and I don't mean it as harsh as

01:19:40.840 --> 01:19:42.899
it sounds, but it's a little more Scooby -Doo

01:19:42.899 --> 01:19:45.779
than it is Stranger Things if you don't have

01:19:45.779 --> 01:19:47.300
Montgomery there. At least in these first episodes.

01:19:47.300 --> 01:19:49.199
These first four, absolutely. That's all I mean.

01:19:50.109 --> 01:19:52.270
Yeah, at least in these first four episodes,

01:19:52.409 --> 01:19:55.109
I would agree with you. I think it definitely

01:19:55.109 --> 01:20:01.470
has the comparison to make. Yeah, totally. Clean

01:20:01.470 --> 01:20:07.130
your evil lair and get ready for our I was the

01:20:07.130 --> 01:20:12.989
turkey all along category for what is the biggest

01:20:12.989 --> 01:20:16.149
takeaway viewers should leave with in preparation

01:20:16.149 --> 01:20:18.890
for season five. There are two entities working

01:20:18.890 --> 01:20:21.600
together. This early. It's not just the Mind

01:20:21.600 --> 01:20:24.039
Flayer on its own. Vecna is working with the

01:20:24.039 --> 01:20:26.859
Mind Flayer actively. It's not a retcon from

01:20:26.859 --> 01:20:30.039
season four that it enters. They have planned

01:20:30.039 --> 01:20:32.439
this. They even have the chime in the episode.

01:20:32.500 --> 01:20:33.920
That's the biggest thing y 'all should take away

01:20:33.920 --> 01:20:38.500
from this. Yeah, definitely. Today's public service

01:20:38.500 --> 01:20:41.079
announcement. Don't mess around with Jim. Don't

01:20:41.079 --> 01:20:43.520
do it. Why would you? Why would you mess around

01:20:43.520 --> 01:20:46.100
with Jim? Is there any point? He's chief of police.

01:20:46.359 --> 01:20:49.140
No. He could... He could kill you. He could kill

01:20:49.140 --> 01:20:54.840
you and cover it up. Yeah. He might allow you

01:20:54.840 --> 01:20:58.140
to continue to date his daughter. But only if

01:20:58.140 --> 01:20:59.899
you never disrespect him again and you follow

01:20:59.899 --> 01:21:02.600
all those rules. Exactly. Don't mess around with

01:21:02.600 --> 01:21:04.119
gym people. And don't you dare meet with a lot

01:21:04.119 --> 01:21:11.760
of plumbers. I love it. Well, thank you, listener

01:21:11.760 --> 01:21:14.619
schmissiners, for listening to this episode of

01:21:14.619 --> 01:21:17.409
Fandom Schmandom. If you'd like to discuss this

01:21:17.409 --> 01:21:20.289
episode or any other episode we've done, please

01:21:20.289 --> 01:21:23.529
hit us up on our social media channels. You can

01:21:23.529 --> 01:21:27.649
find us on TikTok and Instagram at fandomshmandumpod

01:21:27.649 --> 01:21:32.670
and on X at fandom underscore shmandum. Please

01:21:32.670 --> 01:21:34.329
don't forget to rate and view us if you liked

01:21:34.329 --> 01:21:36.609
the episode. It really helps with the algorithm

01:21:36.609 --> 01:21:40.350
placing us and the other like -minded schmissioners

01:21:40.350 --> 01:21:43.750
algorithms out there. And with that, we're out,

01:21:43.829 --> 01:21:47.750
y 'all. Don't forget to tip your hosts. That's

01:21:47.750 --> 01:22:21.539
so creepy. And fare thee well. And Dustin and

01:22:21.539 --> 01:22:26.300
Steve. Justin and Steve Steve. Steve Steve. I

01:22:26.300 --> 01:22:29.279
like Steve Steve. Elle and Max and Dustin and

01:22:29.279 --> 01:22:34.880
Steve Steve. Hopper and Joyce explore the lab.

01:22:35.039 --> 01:22:38.920
But the only revelation. Wow, I really swallowed

01:22:38.920 --> 01:22:42.479
the butt. There was non -existence on that sentence.

01:22:43.119 --> 01:22:47.260
Definitely stands out to me. Nope, now there's

01:22:47.260 --> 01:22:52.210
a cat that's on my desk. Gotta go. Hold on. I

01:22:52.210 --> 01:22:56.770
love you, Kat. I know. Nanthi. Nanthi. Nanthi.

01:22:56.850 --> 01:23:01.989
My God. Billy time. Oh, no, it's me. It's me.

01:23:02.090 --> 01:23:05.609
I'm Billy. Sorry. Here we go. Billy time. I am

01:23:05.609 --> 01:23:09.170
Billy now. Billy time. Yep, Sam, go for it. But

01:23:09.170 --> 01:23:11.949
Billy shows he has strength beyond human capility.

01:23:12.850 --> 01:23:17.430
My God. Keep your horses safe. Not from Vecna,

01:23:17.510 --> 01:23:20.590
but... I'm going to make him an, oh, I can't,

01:23:20.590 --> 01:23:22.909
I can't say that. Let's restart that whole thing.

01:23:23.250 --> 01:23:24.489
I'm losing, I'm losing, I'm losing, I'm losing,

01:23:24.489 --> 01:23:26.590
I'm losing. Yeah, we should only record one episode

01:23:26.590 --> 01:23:28.449
tonight. It's too late to do a second. Oh, yeah.

01:23:28.449 --> 01:23:31.510
If I do a second one, I'm going to be speaking

01:23:31.510 --> 01:23:35.729
in rhyme. It's going to be cat, bat, bat, cat.

01:23:36.750 --> 01:23:39.229
Yeah, that would be the entire second episode.

01:23:40.369 --> 01:23:45.810
Yeah, it would be unintelligible. Biggest takeaway

01:23:45.810 --> 01:23:48.869
viewers should leave with in preparation. In

01:23:48.869 --> 01:23:53.550
preparation. You got it. One more time. What

01:23:53.550 --> 01:23:58.310
is the biggest dickus? She develops a plan. Operation

01:23:58.310 --> 01:23:59.010
Croissant.