Welcome to Fandom Shmandom, the fandom podcast
that covers everything you love and more. I'm
Sierra Obermark. And I'm Sam Williams. Today's
episode, we will be annoyingly articulating about
Stranger Things, Season 3, Episodes 5 through
7. Without further ado, we will, as Roger Smith
says, dive on in. So get up to 88, because it's
time to travel back. To our story recap. The
mall crew, Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica, are
stuck at the bottom of a very deep elevator shaft.
But now they have company, allowing them to escape
into a Russian underground base, no less. The
same base where the gate -opening machine lives.
Joyce and Hoop have kidnapped the Russian scientist,
Alexei. and are trying to outrun the muscle Gregory,
and make it to Illinois to visit Hooper's friend,
who turns out to be Murray. Aha, Murray! Nancy
and Jonathan have gone to find the kids to make
sure Will is safe and figure out how to get the
Flayed free of the Mind Flayer's clutches. Too
bad if you fight and kill a flayed, they just
turn into a really disgusting gelatinous blob.
That when formed together, creates a horrifying
monster. Episode 6. Steve and Robin are caught
by the Russians, who torture Steve into finding
out who he's working for. Nancy narrowly escapes
the goo form of the monster, thanks to Elle.
And Billy and Heather say it is time. Time for
what? We don't know. because the monsters and
Flayed have vanished. And while fighting his
friends about Elle searching for them, Mike reveals
he loves Elle. Elle dives into the in -between
and Billy's memories to locate the source. Hopper,
Joyce, and Murray are trying to get answers out
of Alexi, who is being purposefully difficult,
but eventually explains about how they have opened
the gate. They call to tip off Owens and head
back to Hawkins. Dustin and Erica to the rescue.
They save Steve and Robin, but Elle is in danger.
She tries to leave the memories, but gets stuck
in the middle with Billy. While the rest of the
Flayed leave the fireworks festivities and join
the creature. Literally. Episode 7. But guys,
don't worry about everything that has just happened.
It's fun, fair time. Well, for some people. But
for L and company, the Shadow Monster is on its
way, and they must prepare themselves as best
they can. Both L and the Shadow Monster are injured
in the fight, but the group manages to escape.
Max comes in clutch with first aid knowledge,
and Lucas gets the idea to help L by using fireworks
on the Shadow Monster. Mike! Uses the downtime
to awkwardly stumble around, professing his Louvre.
Nailed it! Well, it's Mike, so he didn't, but
that's fine. The mall crew exit the base. Pursued
by a bear. Nope, this isn't Shakespeare. Pursued
by Russians! It doesn't help anyone that Steve
and Robin were drugged out of their minds. But
they are trapped in the mall. Joyce and Hoop
rush! to save their kids, accompanied by Alexei
and Murray, who give the non -couple a hilarious
talking to. They begin the search at the fair,
where the mayor calls in the Russians. Alexei
is finally enjoying himself in America's capitalistic
movement, and looking forward to becoming a capitalistic
American, when he is killed by a non -capitalistic
The Muscle. I know, Sierra, I'm sorry. Cue the
overmark, sad overmark. Dun, dun, dun. Also,
cue everyone meeting up in penultimate fashion.
The adults here, we have kids. They are stealing
them all over the radio, which that's not a Russian
accent at all, but thank you for being here and
still listening, everyone. The mall crew in question
are hiding and saved by the kid kids. Sam, find
your donut holes. It's time for our Knives Out
category, where we sleuth out which three storylines
are the most vital to pay attention to. Number
one, The Gate. Number two, The Scientist. And
number three, The Flayed. Okay, so this first
one, The Gate. So, run everyone! Steven. Dear
Steven. And Ruben. Dear Robin. They sacrifice
their safety to let Dustin and Erica find some
help. So Steve is then interrogated. Robin and
Steve are then drugged. Dustin and Erica find
deadly weapons. One of the best parts. One of
the best lines. We'll get there. They distract
the guards. They shocked the evil, druggie scientist.
And then they escape to the movies where they
witness back to the future. Dustin calls Mike
for help because they're all stranded at the
mall and they need a ride to escape the Russians.
Drugged out Steve and Robin escape the movie
theater to the bathroom where they vomit and
Steve confesses his love. But Robin doesn't like
men, so they are the best of friends but not
lovers. Baby turned babysitter Dustin finds them,
is super cross that they're having a great time,
and then Russians start crawling over them all
and they cannot escape. So, Sierra, what are
your feelings about why this is important? This
just really, first of all, keeps them stuck in
the mall, which is the whole crux of, you know,
I feel like a theme throughout the different
seasons is wherever we end up spending time in
the very first episode is often where the big
battle will take place in the last episode. There's
the school, and now here we have the mall. I
think partially it's to set up the location.
Also, it's so that we get an insider's look into
what this base actually looks like when it is
operating, because we're going to need to go
back into it. So in order for them to actually
make it into the base, per Alexei's instructions,
we also need to have had eyes in there as well,
not just a crudely drawn map. It's very, very
helpful that Dustin and Erica, with their wits
about them, have been crawling literally all
over this base and therefore know what's going
on in there. Yeah, I mean, I think this – it
certainly helps to give more stakes to what the
Russians are like as people. Like, you know,
we're seeing them – it's not just, oh, this is
the 1980s, the Cold War is still going on. Right.
Reagan has not told Gorbachev to tear down the
wall yet, so therefore they must be evil. No,
we're seeing them be evil in their governmental
pursuits and in two different factions, right?
We'll also see it with the muscle, but also right
here where they're drugging teenagers and don't
believe the story of what's happening or any
of that nature. So that's important. And then,
like you're saying, The fact that we've got two
people with their wits about them crawling around
who are able to then give instructions to Hopper,
Murray, and Joyce when they descend next our
episode, but the finale of the show, that's also
hugely, hugely important for closing the gate,
which is the only thing that will take out this
no longer shadow monster, the meat monster. Gross
blob. Gross indeed. I think the other reason
why this storyline is important as well is because
of the levity that it brings with Steve and Robin,
both being highly comedic, their entire being
drugged with truth serum or whatever they give
them. you know, rolling around on the floor and
giggling at the movie and eating the popcorn.
And then they end up having this really nice
heart to heart, which is just so sweet. And so
I feel like it brings the comedy, but then also
just the sincerity and really seeing what a great
friendship looks like. So it's fun. Plus we get
Erica. And her sassiness. Oh, my gosh. Erica
and her sassiness is just – Thrown into everything.
Is she – you know, she was so annoying for both
of us for so long. And then this episode, she's
so endearing to me. Mm -hmm. Which I just love.
She's very fun. And also, I think, thirdly, the
other thing that's really important here is both
for what this does for Steve's character, but
also the overall story of this show and the way
it's presenting to the audience that it is. We've
got Steve. Who is able, with a couple blinks,
but no more hesitation, to accept Robin for who
she is. Showing us how incredible of a human
being Steve is. Definitely, you know, a huge
turnabout from what you would assume about his
character at the beginning of season one. And
setting him up more as this empathetic, understanding,
intellectual. uh, an intellectually thoughtful,
at least person that Nancy will kind of come
to revitalize her, her love for in season four.
Um, but also like, you know, we've, the, the
fact that like, it, it wasn't just when gay marriage
was passed that suddenly gay people existed,
gay people existed throughout all time. And we
get a glance to see that. in uh in season three
here with robin and i think you know bringing
in those characters which we already know there's
maybe a little bit about will but but really
showing the audience okay this is happening this
is real and we are covering this topic i think
is very important for the show overall so storyline
number two the scientist alexi is here joyce
and hopper find two russians working on machinery
And after a gunfight with Arnold the Motorcycle
Terminator, they go off into the woods. They
commandeer a convertible, which is a very fun
scene, and they drive to Illinois, where they
bring Alexei to Murray. Hopper then proves his
experience with interrogation skills, and Alexei
reveals that the Russians are trying to open
a gate to another dimension. But they had to
come to where the gate had been opened before.
Hopper calls Dr. Sam and gets the army there.
Joyce doubles down and they realize that they
should drive back to Hawkins to save their children.
Murray gives an expose on how repressed Joyce
and Hopper are about each other. Alexi and Murray
laugh about the stagnation in Hopper and Joyce's
relationship. Once they get there, Murray and
Alexi stay in the car while Hopper and Joyce
go to find their kids at the fair. But Mayor
Klein sees them and calls the Boo. Boo. Schwarzenegger
man shows up and murders Alexei in cold blood.
Sorry. But not before Hopper and Joyce hold hands
on a ride. Hopper fights Russians all over the
fair. Grigory is shot, but he is wearing Kevlar.
Cue Russians calling for backup in the mall.
Yeah. So, this is important for a couple of different
reasons. Mainly, though, Alexei disseminates
the information to Murray about how to turn off
the machine, or how to blow up the machine that
is opening the gate. Which is what we're going
to need, because the mind flayer is gross and
is coming for you. And even L's two hands might
not be able to stop it, which is unfortunate.
So here we are with Alexei giving all that information
out. More face -offs with Grigori, which I think
is really fun. Just how much he looks like Arnold
Schwarzenegger, but is Russian. It's just so
fun. And then, of course, we get this huge tension.
With Joyce and Hopper, where we're leaning more
and more and more up to them getting together.
But also, Murray is kind of lecturing them in
the same way that he lectures Jonathan and Nancy
the previous season. But because these are adults,
they're way more stubborn. There's way more risk
for them. They're not as easily malleable as
just being like, children, children, I have a
pull -out couch. Although he does children, children
them. He does children, children them, but it
doesn't work immediately. No, it doesn't. Because
it's not like they have Murray drive back with
Alexei in the front seat. So, no, it's, you know,
there's some levity there as well, but there's
this romantic tension that everyone's kind of
building for. And then, of course, the tension
of... More Russian stuff, and Grigori, this whole
setup with Grigori and Hopper that we've been
having, trying to finally have a great face -off.
And of course, it's in a maze of mirrors, and
it's just really fun with the fair. But I'll
also point out two other things here. Mayor Klein
gets to make a return, which I just love him,
period. But the most important thing, other than
Alexei telling us the information, is the wonderful
writing skills. Of humanizing Alexi, giving us
like such empathy and immediate build into this
character where we're like, yeah, I buy in. I
see what's going on with him. And then killing
him. It's horrible. Wildly impactful. I think.
And one of my most memorable parts of the season.
Yeah. Yes. It's so good in that I hate it. I
feel like once again, they introduced a character
that. Very, very, very quickly, I was all in
on. And then they kill him. Yeah. It's just Bob
part two. Bob the sequel. Bob. I'm so upset about
it. As soon as on this watch through, I definitely
was dreading it the whole time. knew you know
you know it's coming you know when it's going
to be and how and how upsetting it is and it
was still just as upsetting we literally canceled
a podcast recording because you were too sad
i was so sad no i was able to make it through
but no we did do it we did do it we did But I
had a warning ahead of time that I was going
to be sad about. I'd seen the episode before,
so I knew. Yeah, it's really effective. I love
everything to do with that. And I just love that
storyline. As soon as they have Alexei, I'm like
instantly entertained. Yes. He says it's just
strawberry. It's not cherry. It's strawberry.
It's all the same. It's not the same. He respectfully
tells you that it's not the same. It's a great
scene. Oh, I absolutely love it. But then we
have the Flayed storyline. Yes. So, at the hospital,
Tom, the Hawkins Post boss, and blonde wig terrible
Post journalist man, try to kill Nancy and Jonathan
in their human forms, right? they are killed
in turn by then nancy and jonathan uh showing
but also they show that if you heard one flayed
you hurt all of them which is something that
we'll talk about later in terms of information
being disseminated because like one guy gets
hit and then the other guy in the other room
was like ow it was like oh has that always been
the case After they're killed, they turn into
mini flesh shadow monster, meat monster thing.
And Elle eventually attacks it and saves Nancy
and Jonathan. But it's a great horror sequence.
It's, I think, my favorite horror sequence of
this season. Just the empty hospital, creepy
monsters, you know, running down, all of that
stuff. After that, the Flayed have disappeared
off the face of the earth. But Mike wants people
to be careful with Elle, as we said, because
he loves her. And they can't – he's constantly
saying you can't just use her like an unlimited
source of power. He's kind of worried about her
becoming a dead battery, right? If you let a
battery flatline for too long, it will not recharge,
which may have some consequences in the next
episode. TBD. TBD indeed. Jonathan and Nancy
are now with babies minus Dustin. And they realize
they really need to find Billy because if they
find Billy, they might find the flayed. And Elle
finds them all right, but with huge consequences.
So Eleven gets to peer into Billy's past and
watches his memories, which instantly humanizes
him and gives Elle an understanding of who she
is. Yes. But also the audience. The audience
really needs to know who he is at this point.
Billy goes full Mind Flayer takeover and reveals
that the army of humans has been built specifically
for Eleven, and now he knows where Eleven is,
and all the other non -Billy flayed disintegrate
just like Tom and Blonde Wig Dude. He's found
alright, but with huge consequences. So, after
Eleven peers into Billy's past and watches his
memories, which humanizes him both to L and the
audience, Billy goes full mind flayer on her
and reveals that the army of humans is for 11
specifically. Now he knows where 11 is and all
the other non -Billy flayed disintegrate and
form a giant, like a giant flesh monster, way
bigger than the one that Tom, the post boss and
blonde wig man formed when they were killed.
This monster attacks and bites 11. depositing
a bit of itself into Eleven's leg. Nancy, the
babies and company, minus Dustin, all go to a
local grocery store to tend to Eleven's wound,
which is where Max kicks in with that awesome
knowledge. And they have a nostalgic argument
about new Coke for some reason while Elle searches
for Dustin in her weird little in -between world.
But you see, Elle's wound is infected. And they
leave. for them all to go save people once they
know where Dustin is and arrive just in time
to save Dustin, Erica, Robin, and Steve. But,
Sierra, there's something in hell's leg. Dun,
dun, dun! Yes. So tell me, why is the storyline
important, other than it being the main storyline
that everyone needs to know? Other than it being
the main storyline that everybody needs to know,
I would say there is a whole lot of information.
About how the upside down creatures and Mind
Flayer in particular work. So how does the Mind
Flayer interact with others? It's possession
of an individual. It's turning into Flayed. It's
creation of itself. And as a larger, huger grossness.
That is absolutely terrifying with way too many
teeth. And there is a lot of also figuring out
how all of that interacts with Eleven. So that
specifically she's being targeted, that specifically
the Mind Flayer knows about her and is interested
in her and wants to beat her slash potentially
sway her. Sway, absorb, kill. It's unclear. It's
very unclear. I thought that that was an interesting
thing to leave open because it seems when Billy
says, this is all for you, it almost seems like
I'm gifting you this army. Yeah. In my initial
read of it. Now, obviously, I'm gifting you this
army, but I'm also going to try to kill you with
it. Kind of doesn't track. Right. However, I
do think that there is kind of that option here
of you can turn and control it or you can be
killed by it. Yeah. So that is, I think, the
most interesting. And I still think it's a little
up for question with the way that season four
goes. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I find this storyline
exceedingly impactful in terms of the overall
messaging of the story. As we get to the conclusion
of the Mind Flayer storyline in the next episode,
it's even more so, specifically around L's powers.
But there's these huge moments of Mind Flayer
directly communicating with L to be like, this
is for you. yeah and and in season three you
have no idea what that means it right and and
that's it was such a chilling moment i mean stranger
things is moving to this like uh half a season
then half a season then a finale over the the
major holidays because they kept losing out on
um media time essentially like what we're doing
right now people reacting to it and so you would
have stranger things and it would be amazing
for a week and for that week for season three
i remember how big this moment was it was a lot
like when in game of thrones when john snow fights
the white walker sort of command for the first
time and that head white walker as john is sailing
away at him and lifts his hands to the air and
is directly looking at John. And everyone was
like, what does that mean? Now that one moment
raged for a week and, and sort of, you know,
stranger things kind of lost out because they
had everything all at once. Um, but this moment
I think is the main thing that I remember other
than Dustin singing, uh, from the finale. This
is the, this is the one moment that I remember
people talking about the most, which is. It's
made for who? By what's design? Also, is the
person that Heather was being taken over by a
part of this? And it turns out, yes. So it's
just huge. It's enormous. It's something to watch
for, y 'all. And that's going to be that on that
little section. So keep your finger on the pause
button and rewind the tape. We're going to be
reviewing our prestige category for what did
we notice on this watch through. Episode five.
Tell me about it. So, kind of a good thing that
Nancy and Jonathan already hated the guys from
the office. They had to end up fighting as the
Flayed because otherwise that would have been
really crazy on their psyche. Yeah. Can you imagine
if it was just, you know, a friend from school?
Right. Or someone that they enjoyed hanging out
with. It's Mike and Will. A family member. Yeah.
Exactly. So. That would have been pretty brutal.
So kind of convenient that they already were
not fans and Nancy got to take out all of her
great aggression on them. So this is a total
joke for anybody that's listening, but they have
PTSD still, but it's a better PTSD. Yeah. We
did have to kill people we know, but at least
it was people we did not. We ate. Yes. My. The
next thing that I brought up is still in the
hospital. How exactly is the hospital empty,
but the lady at the front desk is still there
trying to keep people from going back? It's really
late at night. We know that. It's one of the
reasons. Number two, they do run through a bunch
of people who have already been killed by those
two men. Yeah, but it didn't seem like there
was a bunch of patients. Well, yeah. There were
some people that were attached to bags and stuff
and in hospital gowns that they killed. But number
three, the most important one, where they have
the main fight is in a construction zone. There's
a little sign that says it. So the hospital's
not empty. It's just like that floor is completely
under construction, I guess. They just happen
to... Yeah, it's contrived, certainly. Yes. But
it just it just struck me as so odd because they
go up there and there's basically nobody there.
I know. And yet this lady at the front desk is
like only two people at once. That's her job.
She's doing a great job. Other than being on
the phone while people are trying to be like,
please save us. Call the cops. Yeah. Other than
not doing her job, she's doing a great job. I
think that this is a very small aside, but I
think that when. They're all gathering together
to kind of discuss what the next steps are going
to be and finding the source, all the kids. Lucas
calls their chat a family meeting. And I think
that that's so cute, especially since they're
all kids. And it's all of the kids except for
Dustin. But it's just so adorable. They're like,
we are a family. Yeah, it's really. Family meeting.
It's really cute. For Hopper and Joyce's storyline
in episode five, I just find Hopper's instincts
are so incredible. And I just admire the way
that they've written that character to make me
believe it. Yeah. Joyce's ferociousness is also
great. But is their story just a little too campy?
Maybe a little. I kind of have a hard time when...
A storyline breaks off so much from the rest
of everything else. And it almost feels like
potentially all of the them not being in Hawkins
could have been done in a quarter of an episode
where they go and they talk to Murray and they
have Alexi and they interrogate him on the way
back. Yeah. And it didn't need to be a whole.
plot line i suppose however there is a lot of
information that we get from it but it is a little
i i think the reason it feels campy is just because
it is so isolated and it's such a repeat of nancy
and jonathan's like it's such a reflection a
mirroring of it and i just like they have these
sort of like melodramatic arguments that's clearly
like you guys are gonna get together and i i
just like there's there's just part because Hopper
and Joyce's storylines have been so grounded
and kind of the thing that makes all the adults
willing, I think, to watch those episodes. Or
at least a lot of adult viewers, not all the
adults, clearly. And it's just such a switch
to make them the sort of comic relief, romantic
things. Maybe it actually isn't too campy, but
in juxtaposition from the past two seasons, I'm
kind of like, whoa. Especially while we've been
watching at this rate back to back. It just feels
a little whiplashy. Episode 6. This guy looks
like Gollum's uglier twin. Who are we talking
about? The Russian scientist who drugs them.
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, you're totally right. Cheers
to him. I'm sure you're a wonderful person in
real life. I'm sorry. I'm sure you're great.
That was just my initial thought. It's very Schmeagle
coded. And even just the way he scrunches his
body up and gets in their face and everything.
It just, oh gosh. Yep. It was just the first
thing that came to my mind and I had to write
it down. Well, you did. And now it's on a podcast
and now everyone's heard it. It may be unusual
for me to do this on the pod, but I have some
Mike slander. I am shocked to my very core. To
my core. There's this whole conversation about,
like, oh, don't use Eleven too much. Like, you're
going to run her battery out, that Mike's saying.
And they're like, no, we need her to find Billy
and find Dustin. Like, we need to use her. And
I will say, at the very beginning of that argument,
Max is making excellent points where she's coming
to bat for Elle, being like, Who knows Eleven's
boundaries more than you? Her. Elle does, actually.
Elle gets to dictate who she is. And I'm, like,
very much on Max's side in this argument. Oh,
yeah. And just an FYI, everybody, Mike actually
doesn't get to dictate what Elle does, ever.
Yeah. No. It is not his job. I want to discuss
probably the biggest section of this episode.
Yeah. In terms of impact and acting and information,
etc. Yeah. I would like to discuss how potentially
cliche, but also accurate and heartbreaking Billy's
backstory is. All of it. His father's abusive.
His mom leaves as a result, leaving Billy behind
to continue being verbally and physically abused.
And now he's also abandoned by the one parent
who loves, loved him, loves him. I mean, none
of this excuses his attempted murder of people
repeatedly. Yeah. Or evident racism. Yeah. Or,
or any of that. None of this excuses the attempting
rundown of three kids on bikes and other horrible
things that he's done. But holy heck, it's. It's
very impactful. It's very well done. Yeah. I
find it very sad. I find I'm almost a bit annoyed.
And not because it's not good. I'm just a bit
annoyed that we don't see the mother's reasoning
ever. Because it must be such a difficult decision
to be like, for my own safety, I'm leaving the
man. That's not hard. But I'm leaving my kid
with him. I do not understand the mom's reasoning.
Right. Given what we are given. Yeah. It doesn't
make any sense to me. As a mom, if my husband's
great, so I'm not in this situation, guys. But
if I was in this situation, there's no way I'm
leaving my kids behind. Yeah, totally. Even if
they're not little, little like they are now,
it doesn't matter. I don't understand. The only
thing that I can potentially think of. Is one
of those, like, she had to run and she had to
be by herself and she intended on coming back
for him, but if she had taken him, it would have
been considered kidnapping. Yeah, which it wouldn't.
Like, I... No, I mean, yeah, this is, like, it's
not that scenario. Like, that scenario is not
accurate. And do we really think that the father
would actually try to, like... sue her for custody.
Right, right. I don't think that he cares enough.
This whole situation is so outside of the norm
that we see in both media and in real life where
you see mothers leave, certainly, but bring kids.
And so I just, I think it's a very compelling
backstory and I think only seeing Billy's version
of it, which is that she leaves, makes sense
because we're in Billy's head. But I'm like,
It itches at me in the back of my head where
I'm like, I just want to know why she left Billy,
too. Yeah. I feel like there's a piece of the
story missing. Yeah, totally. And it's very frustrating
because we don't get it. But coming back to Hawkins.
Yes. When Elle enters Billy's head, is Billy
trying to communicate with Elle? I'm not a bad
person. This is what my background is. Or is
he? Is he somehow protecting himself by trying
to have happy thoughts? What is it that causes
her to go through and get a perfect montage of
why he is who he is? So I think – here's my –
because I was thinking about this as well. My
idea is that – I think it's a little bit of twofold.
On the one hand – I think that the beach memory
in particular, the beach memory is kind of the
closest thing that I can think of. I guess it's
more on that he's protecting himself by having
a happy thought. But I think that it's more just
like the last happiness that he can remember.
And that is what he's clinging to. As the rest
of his personality and who he is becomes erased
and replaced by the mind player. I think it's
a little akin to in Supernatural when they fight
Jin. If the Jin gets you, it basically injects
you with its venom and you live a very, very
happy life and it's feeding off of you the whole
time. So I almost think that there's a little
bit of an element of that where. It's the mind
flare is almost keeping him complacent by allowing
him these memories. But also when we then see
the this is who I am. That's because she's trying
to find the source and she's getting closer and
closer to the source and the source of how the
mind flare is able to get Billy is because of
all these things. Okay. And so because of all
these things, it's made him who he is, which
has made him a candidate. to be taken over by
the mind flayer yeah yeah and so billy is that
like the source of billy's pain is the source
yeah of the mind flayer okay that's what the
mind flare is feeding i like that i like that
a lot yeah excellent well stated continuing to
discuss daycare montgomery i would like to have
a moment to talk about his acting in general
this season I know we talked about last episode
as well, so we can move on specifically to when
he's speaking to Elle as the mind flayer and
the, quote, single man tear rolls down his face.
It is expert level conflict and emotion being
portrayed and the sheer acting in. The tiny details
of his face is phenomenal. You see he is fully
Mind Flayer and just that one tear is just the
little bit of Billy that is still clinging and
does not like what is happening. Yeah, I like
that. Oh, my God. It's a brilliant moment. It's
a brilliant moment to share that the person is
still inside, which is enormously important.
For next episode. Our next episode, the finale.
Now we'll discuss the actual next episode, which
is seven, which is not what I'm talking about.
Episode seven, y 'all. Okay. Another moment where
I seriously am. I continue to question if the
Wheeler little sister is somehow connected to
the upside down because. She's the only one who
sees something in the wall in Will's room, except
for Joyce. And now she's the only one who notices
the monster in the trees during the fireworks.
Everybody else, I know she's looking down instead
of looking up, but there's other people and this
monster is huge and the trees are moving. And
she is still somehow the only one who can see
it. Yeah. I don't think. that she has any connection
to the upside down but it is odd and maybe at
the end of this you know we'll we'll have this
sort of like almost last jedi moment where at
the end of season five like everybody with powers
is dead and then she'll like you know use the
force a little bit and we'll be like oh my gosh
there's still people out there uh or or it'll
be a little bit like magneto where he like moves
the chess piece right at the end of x2 or x3
i should say So, we'll see. Yeah. But it is,
speaking of the shadow monster, though, or the
goo body monster, the grossness. The grossness.
It is crazy. The grossness. I shall label him
the grossness. It is kind of crazy that Nancy
hears the monster coming before Will's spidey
sense goes off. I just think that's Will sort
of being distracted by the fact that he's crushing
on Mike and Mike is professing his love to Elle.
But still, it just seems he always notices right
away when the sense does go off. You know, he
always touches his neck and we get the zoom in
and everything. But it is weird that she hears
it first. I do wonder if it is. I could be totally
off base with this. This is definitely a shot
in the dark. I do wonder if. There's more to
Will than we see. Yeah. And maybe his loyalties
aren't as with these people and against Vecna
slash the Shadow Monster as we think, or there's
still a bit of the Shadow Monster in him that
can manipulate him into not realizing things,
or if he's got extra powers that he's working
through. And so I wonder if this will be a...
what I will call sort of a Dumbledore flash of
eyes moment where you remember Goblet of Fire.
We find out that this is a spoiler for anybody
who hasn't read Harry Potter. We find out that
Voldemort uses Harry's blood and that ends up
being a hugely important detail for book seven.
I just wonder if that moment of Nancy hearing
it before will is actually an important moment
or if it's just like. Because Will does go, oh
my gosh, oh yeah, it is here right afterwards.
So we'll see. Right. We'll see. I have thoughts
about sort of the brevity of this episode, which
is both like, Robin and Steve are just so funny.
And I find sort of being drugged out moments
usually not very funny at all and cliche and
the acting, you know, is uninteresting. But I
find it. Absolutely so funny. Additionally, I
find Alexi's story so compelling. What is it
that you think is so interesting about both Robin
and Steve and Alexi's part? I think there's just
a little bit, especially in, you know, speaking
specifically to this episode, I think it's a
lot of the just truth and openness that's happening
on both. In both cases, you know, Robin and Steve
are kind of being forced to tell the truth and
to just kind of say what's on their minds and
whatever. And then Alexi is feeling more open
and being able to actually just have a friend
and pal around a little bit and joke, have inside
jokes and everything. And I think that. There's
a little bit of that going on with Robin and
Steve and then also Alexi and Murray, where the
characters are just so endearing. And there's
almost when characters are more open and honest
and truthful, they become a little bit more innocent
and endearing in that way. And really brings
them back to kind of their basic. humanity and
basics of who they are and so i think that that's
really what draws me to all of them in this episode
is they're just being who they are just pure
plain and simple excellent excellent excellent
excellent points well done and then you know
knowing what's going to happen to alexi i was
already crying when he goes off to play the games
i was already crying It is sad. They do a really
effective job with it. They do. But to distract
myself from that, why does Elle bother distracting
the Russians before just throwing the car at
them? Because it would be just as effective to
just throw the car at them. She doesn't have
to make the alarms go off and make them look
in the other direction. It's not like they moved
at all. They didn't get into the path of the
car. She could have just sent the car flying
into them instead of the alarms going off and
then send the car flying into them. It does feel
like she needs Mike, who's already sort of trying
to control what she's doing anyway, to just be
like her first base coach and be like, okay,
no, you don't need to do that. Think about efficiency
and economy of motion. All we want to do is just
smash them with the car. Don't bother with the
theatrics. Yeah. I get that, you know, it's kind
of like a reveal. Oh, what's going on with the
car? Oh, she's done this before. Oh, it must
be Elle. And then the car. But I feel like it's
just as impactful as a reveal to just a car comes
flying. Yeah. Maybe it's to remind us that the
car is there and that she's not just bringing
a car from outside. Hi, guys. I brought this
with me. I brought my car from home. May I use
it to kill you? B -Y -O -C. B -Y -O -C. It's
like showing up with... Hi, this is my lizard.
I brought him from home. This is my car. B -Y
-O -C. Bang. Yeah, I mean, it's probably for
several, like, show reasons, not writing reasons.
Yeah. It still bothers me, though. Yeah, of course.
But... You don't always have to face down a horde
of angry Russian soldiers by yourself, L. Buckle
up, Schmisseners, because it's time for our Sansa
is smarter than John category. What is the most
important character moment in this set of episodes?
There's one answer. There's one answer. Robin
admitting her interest in Tammy Thompson and
Steve immediately accepting her. Yep, it's huge.
Immediately. The floor is yours, Sierra. Yes,
it is the most important character moment, both
for Robin and for Steve. But I do believe mostly
for Steve. Yeah. On Robin's side, it is huge
for her to trust somebody with this secret. It
is absolutely huge. She has seen what has happened
to other people in her situation. It is not great.
She is afraid of being judged. She's already
not. super popular and she is going out on a
limb to admit this to somebody who has really
only been her friend for a month maybe something
like that and but it is the most important thing
for steve because kind of as you were saying
before it really really uh hits home how good
of a person steve is and how He is with everyone
around him and accepting. And hey, you're a little
weird. You're a little weird. You've got a difference
here. You've got a difference there. I may have
been most popular in high school for a long time
until that darn Billy showed up. But I will accept
all of you. I've already adopted a horde of small
children. I will now accept you as my best friend.
It's all fine. Oh, that's so funny. I know you
just lost a hand, Sierra, but listen up. It's
the I am your father category for most iconic
character moment. What you got? Elle flipping
yet another car. Guys, don't let her around vehicles
that you care about. Unless she likes you, then
your car might work. But if she doesn't like
you, keep your... your wife your children and
your cars away from her um i entirely disagree
i think that this is extremely way less iconic
than her car flipping season one i have an honorable
mention and then the actual thing that i think
it is the honorable mention is alexi being shot
just because of how well the sequencing is done
uh we've talked a lot about him already but so
it should be no surprise that the honorable mention
goes to alexi being shot in reality i think it's
the house of mirrors fight which i think is you
know it's been done 10 000 times but i think
it's so well done here uh and it's it's one of
the one times that like hop isn't being forced
into his uh like harrison ford reference time
Yeah. Grigori's total not understanding of how
it works versus Hop's mastery over it, I think
is really neat and cool. There's so little dialogue
in the moment. I think you can really feel the
stakes as it plays out. Then you see this great
moment of triumph with Hop killing him. Grigori,
you think. And then he's wearing Kevlar. So he
survives and he runs after Hop and Hop sees him.
And then in this hilarious moment, he goes down
a slide. And like any adult who's ever been down
a slide ever, you realize how much they hurt
an adult body. And he just swears the entire
way down. It's the best. It's the one that we
should definitely nominate and vote for. And
it wins. Yes, that's fine. I accept that. Excellent,
thank you. Elle already won for flipping a car.
She doesn't need a second one. Yeah, yeah, totally.
Same trick. What are you, a one trick pony? Yep.
Come on. Correct. Everybody, sit down. It's time
for our I am Iron Man. Most iconic and most important
scene category. One answer again. One answer.
And it's this quote. All this time, we've been
building it. Building it for you. Billy says
with the mind flares voice while one tear rolls
down his face. Yeah, it's it's. All the things.
It's the most important thing to the episode.
It's the most iconic and most important scene.
It's huge. It's hugely important in every single
possible way. Yeah. Which leads us to our Elijah
Wood, no, how could we have known category, where
we crack open an encyclopedia and discuss the
most important information disseminated to the
fandom over these last three episodes. The Shadow
Monster is more than a match for Elle. Yep. uh
yeah that's it that's it that's it y 'all that's
what we've got has met her match and it is the
shadow monster and even maybe more than her match
yeah as we go into the finale yeah i think in
kind of um this almost makes me think this is
a weird poll but it almost makes me think of
the incredibles how syndrome has been building
these robots specifically to kill supers and
this is This is Elle's syndrome robot. Yeah,
totally. Is the shadow monster. Yeah, absolutely.
Not shadowy meat grossness. The grossness himself.
The grossness himself is definitely a match for
her. Yes. Time to keep your horses safe. It's
the, I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.
Hey, that was close. That was a good one. Thank
you. I liked that one. I know. I was like, I
forgot about the lip. That's what I've been missing.
It's the lip. Best lines. Yes. Ready? These are
my family. Extended. What's the context on that
one? When they're going into the hospital and
they say only family members are allowed. And
Nancy says, these are my family. And then the
woman basically just looks at Lucas and how he's.
Black. And then she goes, extended. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. So good. It really
perfectly ties in, too, with family meetings.
Family conversation. Yeah. Yeah. Cute. He says
you remind him of a fat Rambo. That's Murray,
right? Talking about Hopper and what Alexi said.
Yes. Would now be a good time to tell you that
I don't like doctors? I can't remember if it's
Steve or Robin, but it's when they're dosed with
the syrup. I think it's Steve. I think it's Steve,
too. Yeah. Yeah. All right. In a less lighthearted
note, you shouldn't have looked for me because
now I see you. Now we can all see you. What's
up, Billy? That's Billy to Elle. Chilling. Good
line. Yes. Okay, that's it. I'm never having
kids. Dustin, right? Dustin. Completely done
with Robin and Steve. And having to babysit them.
Sierra, those are all incredible lines that you've
selected. Yes. They do a phenomenal job of going
over many of the wonderful things that Stranger
Things can do. Be funny, be about family, be
a terrible monster speaking through humans. But
there is only one line. That can win this episode.
You see, when Dustin and Erica are free because
of Stephen, dear Steve, and Robin, they are able
to look for distractions and methods to procure
the rescue of their two friends. And Dustin looks
at Erica holding this wonderful piece of metal.
And he says, what's that? And Erica lights it.
It's a shock stick. And she goes. A deadly weapon.
And that's the best line of all of these. The
delivery on it is hilarious. The delivery is
so key. A deadly weapon. A deadly weapon. She's
so, like, little stinker. It's so good. It's
so funny. Dust off that car deck and get ready
to shuffle. It's our Joker category. For who
is the MVP of these episodes? Hear me out. Hear
me out. It's Murray. Mostly because of the car
scene in episode seven when he yells at Hop and
Joyce and tells them they need to stop bickering
or just do it already. He's certainly speaking
for the audience right there, I think. He really
is. You've reached directly into the heart of
the audience and been like, we're done with your
bickering. Please just hook up. Yes. Please,
please, please. And because it's Murray, he does
it in a most excellent way, which both shames,
embarrasses, and encourages all at once. The
trifecta of being a pet parent. Okay, so I'm
not in disagreement, but I will give you an honorable
mention and then a secondary case. Okay. First
of all, honorable mention to Jonathan and Nancy
just for surviving. I feel like that was one
of the more tough things to survive. It was a
really rough time. An honorable mention, too,
for Lucas for being like, hey, look, fireworks.
Although I think he doesn't enter into the actual
category for MVP simply because he's... Ooh,
shiny doesn't win you the MVP. A bigger honorable
- Wait, it doesn't? Do you know how many times
I should have won the MVP? Ooh, shiny. Ooh, shiny.
Ooh, she's a candy. Another honorable mention
to Max for the first aid stuff. Just knowing
a lot about that, getting Elle what she needs.
Not an MVP for - Lucas also not finding the bowl
with Will and seeing the fireworks. That's what
made him almost the LVP, least valuable player,
in case you guys don't know what that means.
But pound for pound, and this is an actual pound
for pound argument, I do think he will win. Pound
for pound, it's Alexi. True. Right? Yeah. Yeah.
Because... Go for it. You list. Yeah. He gives
all of the information. about how to shut down
the gate opener machine yeah he gives all the
information he gives handwritten schematics for
the location which are pretty good he gives the
codes he gives step -by -step instructions on
how to get down there what to do when they're
down there where they need to go what they need
to get what they need to do yeah nothing would
happen Or occur or continue. Without him. Without
him. He is the reason why the finale can happen.
Yeah. That's why Pound for Pound. And also just.
Why season four happens too. Yeah, literally
the reason why season four happens. Quite in
a couple of scenes in episodes five, six, and
seven, we meet him. We love him. He turns sides
to the Americans and joins the right side in
this particular case. He. shows a love of fun
and enjoyment that we don't really get to see
a lot from the adults. We buy in and have empathy
and care for him. He gives all the information
that one could possibly need, and then he dies.
And with that death, we shall honor him for MVP.
We shall. We shall. Excellent. Well done. It's
time to clean up your evil lair and get ready
for our... the turkey all along category for
what is the biggest takeaway viewers should leave
with in preparation for season five tell us sam
yeah it's everything that we've already mentioned
with billy the the grossness and l um essentially
to whittle it down for what we need to know for
season five a l is not Too powerful that she
can just take out everything that she faces.
The meat monster, the shadow monster, the grossness,
whatever you want to call it, is a match for
her. But also, Billy, with the shadow monster's
voice, conveys the fact that this army has been
built for her. What that means in terms of, like,
is the shadow monster actually thinks that she's
stronger and wants to give her the army over
Vecna? Is she trying to double -cross Vecna?
Or is it really I'm building it for you to try
and kill you, which is kind of what he does moving
forward with it. All of that information is extremely
important to hold on to because of Vecna's storyline
and trying to see like Vecna is also trying to
kill or bring L to him or what. So those are
the really big things that we've got to think
about in terms of getting ready for season five.
Today's public service announcement. Always make
sure to debate New Coke versus Coca -Cola while
digging squiggly things out of your friend's
leg. It really helps the process and isn't blatant
product placement at all. Never. Never once been
product placement. TV shows have never run on
product placement. Never happens. Ever. Nope.
Oh, I would like some Eggos right now. And New
Coke. And Slurpees from 7 -Eleven. And Slurpees
from 7 -Eleven. Well, thank you, listener schmissiners,
for listening to this episode of Fandom Schmandom.
If you would like to discuss this episode or
any other episode we've done, please hit us up
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placing us in front of other like -minded schmissioners
out there. And with that, we're out, y 'all.
Don't forget to tip those darn rooskies. And
fare thee well. Nancy narrowly escapes the goo
monster. Oh, wait. No, that's not what I said.
Goo form of the monster. Nancy. Sam, it's time
to find your donut holes. Excellent. It's time
for our knives out category. Pause again. Pause
again. Pause again. You said, Sam, it's time
to find your donut holes. It's time for our knives
out category. You're right. Did I say it's time
to find? I did. You did. Yeah. Because I'm looking
at it's time. Okay. Got this. We got this. We
got this. You know, the fact that we do 1030
almost every time is not at all an indication
of why we struggle so much. No, not at all. But
it's literally the only time that we can do this.
So here we go. Woohoo! I wish that for season
two finale, Sierra, we had made the MVP Elle's
second hand. Pound for pound, is it not Elle's
second hand? That's so funny. It does nothing
for two seasons and then suddenly comes out of
nowhere. And none of, none, none of anything,
none of anything else. Oh my gosh. None shall
pass. None, none words shall pass through this
mouth. Being, while being vetted by a brain,
they shall just continue. Okay. It is time. To
clean up your evil air. Evil air. Your evil air.
It is time. We're so close. Okay. Evil air. My
thing froze. Oh, there you are. Okay. Evil air.
Your evil air. All right. Please don't forget
to rate and review.