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

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episode, we will be gregariously gabbing about

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Stranger Things Season 4, 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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Episode 1 of Season 4. L once killed all the

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staff and all the other telekinetic children,

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other than 8, and opened a gate in the children's

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playtime section of Hawkins Lab. Anyway, California!

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Things are super good for Elle, whose letters

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aren't filled with lies at all. And also super

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good for Will, who is quietly absorbed in his

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art. And super good for Jonathan, who's getting

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high all the time. And super, super good for

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Joyce, who definitely loves her job. Definitely.

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Back in Hawkins, the Hellfire Club and basketball

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tournament have a conflict. Which actually means

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drama, since Lucas... It's on both. And Mike

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and Dustin must choose where their loyalties

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lie. Oh, and have we mentioned Max is super depressed?

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Joyce is sent a weird Russian doll. Elle hates

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school. Mike is out to Cali for spring break.

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And welcome, Eddie Munson, hellfire captain and,

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unfortunately, drug dealer. Eddie? is helping

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a young woman named Chrissy get over her awful,

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terrifying, possibly real nightmares. And while

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he's trying to supply her with strong drugs in

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his trailer apartment thingy, Chrissy floats

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to the ceiling. Not metaphorically because of

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the drug, but literally. In her mind, she is

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being hunted by... Is that Vecna's bells I am

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hearing? And is killed in her mind. and in real

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life, gruesomely, so that's nice. Episode 2.

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Robin has a crush on a girl in band. Steve can't

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find anyone that measures up to Nancy. Nancy

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won't go visit Jonathan in California, and Jonathan

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won't come out to see Nancy, and me thinks they

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both protest too much. Murray joins Joyce to

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see a note left in the Russian doll that says

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Hopper is still alive. But is Hopper even still

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alive? Yes. Yes, he is. Local heartthrob and

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way too old to be in high school, Jason, the

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basketball man, has figured out that Chrissy

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is dead and thinks Eddie did it. He gets the

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whole basketball team, including Lucas, to hunt

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down the Hellfire leader. Speaking of Eddie.

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Dustin and Max are on the hunt and enlist Robin

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and Steve's help. Eleven is lying to Mike about

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having friends in California, and Will tries

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to get her to stop, but Eleven's friends, that's

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in air quotes, do a good job of bullying her,

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which leads to Eleven breaking noses and hearts.

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Joyce and Murray make contact with a Russian

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guard in Hopper's prison who is helping to orchestrate

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a breakout. Vecna kills Nancy's managing editor

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while they're out trying to investigate Chrissy's

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murder, and Eddie is found in a lake house. Episode

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3. The U .S. government is infighting about whether

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Eleven should be kept alive or not. Some people

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think she's the cause of the weird deaths in

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Hawkins. Others, like Dr. Sam from Season 2,

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do not. Mike is upset that Eleven hit a girl

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in the face with a skate, and Joyce and Murray

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make up a conference in Alaska that they need

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to go to, but really, they're rescuing Hoop.

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Lucas and the basketball hunters are on the prowl,

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but they haven't found Eddie yet. Eddie, Dustin,

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Max, Steve, and Robin are still at the lake house,

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brainstorming about finding Vector to prove he

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killed Chrissy and not Eddie. Meanwhile... Eleven

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and Mike are having trivial fights about how

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Mike won't say that he loves Eleven anymore before

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cops show up to arrest Eleven for the skate to

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the face. She's taken away to jail, but lo and

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behold, Dr. Sam has come to take her away to

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maybe get her powers back? Joyce and Mary, dear

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Mary, arrive in Alaska, which is freezing in

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springtime, and Hooper gets a fellow inmate to

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loosen his ankle shackle, breaking his foot in

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the process. and allowing him to slide his shackle

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off. Nancy joins with our Scooby -Doo gang after

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her managing editor is killed, and her and Ruben

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go off to research Hawkins' history, only to

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find that some gruesome murders in the 50s were

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blamed by the murderer on a phantom. That sounds

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awfully like Vecna. Project Research Victor Creel

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has now begun. Correspondingly, the other half

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of our Scooby -Doobies have tracked down Chrissy's

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therapist file, and Max realizes that the symptoms

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Chrissy showed, the ones that the managing editor

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showed, are the same ones she's experienced the

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past several days. And now, Max has seen Vecna's

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clock, which means Max has 24 hours before Vecna

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will kill her. Episode 4 Cops are watching Mike,

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Will, and Jonathan as Eleven has been taken from

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them. Jonathan takes some initiative and gets

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his stoner buddy to pick them up just at the

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right time since the US military that wants Elle

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dead has come to kill them. They flee a gunfight,

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but not before one of the special forces guarding

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them is incapacitated and kept for torture. The

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Russian guard helping Hopper, Dmitry, is coordinating

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efforts between Hopper and Joyce and has enlisted

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the help of a pilot named Yuri, who double -crosses

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everyone for more money. Yuri drugs Murray and

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Joyce, and just when Hopper has removed his ankle

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shackle, beat up some guards, and snowmobiled

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away, he and Dmitry are captured and thrown in

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prison. Again. Lucas has abandoned the basketball

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band of man -child murderers to help protect

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Eddie and tricked them for a wrong direction.

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He's with Steve, Dustin, and Max, who is furiously

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writing letters in the event that she dies. Nancy

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and Robin need to research Victor Creel more,

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so they pretend to be psych students and delve

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into Silence of the Lambs, where Victor Creel

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divulges his story of being haunted and his family

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killed by Vecna. The only thing that saved him

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was music playing that night, which he followed

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out of Vecna's mind attack. But the audience

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can't help but worry, mostly about Max, who seems

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minutes away from death. She has the boys drive

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her to her mom's to drop off letters. She won't

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tell Lucas anything or engage with him about

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her fate at all, and then asks to go to Billy,

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where she does something Hopper knows nothing

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about, a heart -to -heart with Billy's gravestone.

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Only, Billy is alive and talking to her. Wait,

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no, that's Vecna. He's here to kill Max. Joyce

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and Robin just barely get the information that

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music might save Max, and Lucas knows just the

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song. Running up that hill is shoved into Max's

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ears as she faces Vecna, and she sprints for

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her life, away from Vecna and to the portal in

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her head to live at least one more day. Fantastico!

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But... Before we get to the nitty -gritty schmitty,

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we welcome our wonderful expert and executive

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producer of the podcast, Aurelia, to provide

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us with the vital information that we need to

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know all about Eddie Munson this time. So welcome,

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Aurelia. Give us that integral info. Sam and

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Theo, do you copy? Right. Hello! So I have three

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books to cover today. One of them is a bit longer

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than the other two, so I'll give it the most

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focus. But that is also the first one I'm going

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to talk about. So that book is Flight of the

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Icarus by Caitlin Schneiderhan. And it's set

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in 1984, so it's about two years before season

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four, which is quite interesting and good to

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know. So it's sort of around when all of the...

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the Stranger Things shenanigans start to happen.

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This book is about Eddie Munson. It's his origin

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story, and it's detailing his intense struggle

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for self -discovery and belonging while trying

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to escape his past. It explains his move to Uncle

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Wayne's and the origin of his drug dealing as

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a direct result of his father's criminal scheme

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and the devastating loss of his mother's possessions.

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It is really sort of about the lore of the escape

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ticket, the whole book. The central theme is

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Eddie's fierce desire to break free from Hawkins,

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which he sees as the perpetual tomb of horrors.

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His lifeline is a record label contract, and

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the entire plot is driven by his attempts to

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raise money for Corroded Coffin, which is his

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band, and they are getting a demo tape. His one

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-way ticket to a rock and roll dream in Los Angeles.

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This need for money forces a confrontation with

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his estranged father, Al Manson, the schemer

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Eddie desperately fears becoming. Eddie helps

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him not just for cash, but for a subconscious

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shot at the one thing he's never had, his father's

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validation. The book is also about finding his

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own, like, tribe. So, in stark contrast to his

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father, the book highlights Uncle Wayne. as Eddie's

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true Albert Imperfect father figure, who offers

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unconditional support and acceptance. And the

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story also offers a deeper look at the formation

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of Hellfire Club and his band. These groups are

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where the little lost sheep find their tribe

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and are finally free to be themselves. This includes

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his best friend Ronnie, who is not only a fantastic

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character, but also an Arrow Ace icon, we love

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to see it, who accepts Eddie completely. The

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book reinforces how Hawkins already perceived

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Eddie as a freak long before the Upside Down

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due to his passion for metal and D &D. And we

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also see a lot throughout the book how members

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of the Hellfire Club get bullied by the jocks

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of the school and how Eddie feels responsible

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and steps in and is the protector of those kids

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who don't feel like they belong otherwise. Ultimately,

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despite the tragic, like, non -supernatural dangers

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he faces, the narrative proves that Eddie was

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always a hero at heart. He shines as a natural,

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chaotic, good bard and protector, especially

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through his friends and burgeoning protective

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connection with Chrissy Cunningham, which we

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are introduced in these episodes, showcasing

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the heroism that would define his final and unforgettable

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moments in season four. I think, in general...

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Because we only get to see Eddie for this season,

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as far as we know, at least. I would recommend

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reading this book because it gives you so much

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of what defines Eddie. Like his whole, the whole

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book, he struggles with people comparing him

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to his father when his father's basically absent

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for most of his life. And he's, you know, he's

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perceived as, oh, he's a Munson. So he's just

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gonna be in trouble anyway. He's gonna cause

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trouble when really Eddie's just a high school

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student trying to get by. So, yeah, and also

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it's quite nice to see how he's trying to make

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it in the music world. The next book I want to

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talk to you, and you will pick up on the theme,

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these are all books that are sort of set between

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season three and season four, trying to just

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give you a little bit more insight. This one's

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called Lucas on the Line by Zuyi Davis. And it's

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obviously about Lucas, a character we've known

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since season one, but because of the time skip

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between season three and four, This book focuses

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on what's happening and, you know, explains a

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little bit more why when we come into season

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four, the party seems disrupted. And, you know,

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the friends are not where we last seen them.

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They're not the close, tight -knit group of friends

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anymore. There has been, you know, obviously

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a separation, so to speak. So the book focuses

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on Lucas' struggle to balance his multiple selves.

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You know, there's the nerdy party member. as

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well as the basketball star. Although throughout

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this book, he's not a star yet. He just starts

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to get himself immersed with basketball and he

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learns how to play basketball. But it's also

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about striving to embrace his blackness and confronting

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the realization that he is an outsider in the

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ways his white friends are not. So it's a lot

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about, we're all outsiders who have been bullied,

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but hey, I'm also one of the only black people

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around here. It's a lot about his decision to

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join the basketball team to escape that bullying

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and invisibility. And that causes the significant

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strain on his relationships with Mike and Dustin,

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which we then see as the season opens. And also

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like his difficulty to balance like the old loyalties

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with his friends, as well as like his new social

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life with the basketball team. Also shows you

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a little bit of like the aftermath of the Star

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Court. So this is obviously, as I said, between

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season three and four. And it explains Luca's

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distance and emotional exhaustion at the start

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of season four. It shows him struggling to be

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a supportive boyfriend to Max while dealing with

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her depression and deterioration of their relationship.

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And we also get some family insight. So the book

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provides a closer look at the Sinclair family

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dynamic. specifically Lucas' relationship with

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his sister Erica and his parents. And also the

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uncle here makes a big impact on Lucas because

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he's the one actually encouraging him to connect

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more with his black roots and what it means to

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be a black person in America, which his father

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and mother sort of almost discourage him a little

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bit, not to not know the story, but make an effort

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to fit in and not stand out because of their

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fear that it'll only... cause more trouble for

00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:11.340
them and for him. So it's, yeah, it's a very

00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:13.740
relevant book at the time that we're living now,

00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:16.080
as much obviously as the time it is set for.

00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:21.600
And it really is sort of nice to see that, you

00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.620
know, Lucas perspective, because as season four

00:15:24.620 --> 00:15:27.159
opens, you sort of see the rift in the friend

00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.720
group. But here you get some more details as

00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:34.080
to why Lucas chose to connect with like different

00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:37.419
members of the high school society. And then

00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:39.259
the last book I want to talk to you about is

00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:42.500
called The Dustbin Experiment by J .L. DeMato.

00:15:43.179 --> 00:15:46.159
And this, just like the Lucas book, focuses on

00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.379
another member of the party that we've known

00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:53.440
since season one. And it sort of follows the

00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.159
same sort of trajectory like the Lucas book did.

00:15:56.279 --> 00:16:01.639
So it's about why we are at with the status of

00:16:01.639 --> 00:16:05.710
the friend group by season four. So it explores

00:16:05.710 --> 00:16:08.710
the bittersweet reality of adolescent friendship,

00:16:09.070 --> 00:16:11.909
where Mike, Lucas and Will's new priorities cause

00:16:11.909 --> 00:16:15.669
the party to drift apart. Dustin attempts to

00:16:15.669 --> 00:16:17.710
force a reconnection through a science competition,

00:16:18.110 --> 00:16:20.350
and that's sort of highlighting his struggle

00:16:20.350 --> 00:16:23.450
to hold on to the past. The competition becomes

00:16:23.450 --> 00:16:26.049
a coming -of -age moment, where Dustin's intellect

00:16:26.049 --> 00:16:29.090
and scientific talent take center stage, allowing

00:16:29.090 --> 00:16:31.830
him to shine on his own terms and gain new understanding

00:16:31.830 --> 00:16:34.870
of his place in Hawkins. So again, it's just

00:16:34.870 --> 00:16:38.029
really good to sort of see Dustin's perspective

00:16:38.029 --> 00:16:43.509
and also see how he changes in that time that

00:16:43.509 --> 00:16:46.990
isn't shown on the screen. Crucially, the story

00:16:46.990 --> 00:16:49.490
establishes the canon beginnings of Dustin's

00:16:49.490 --> 00:16:51.710
close big brother -like bond with Eddie Munson,

00:16:51.750 --> 00:16:54.669
which, you know, I think if you're watching season

00:16:54.669 --> 00:16:57.389
four, you can sort of see that they're clearly

00:16:57.389 --> 00:16:59.929
quite close, but here you actually get to see

00:16:59.929 --> 00:17:03.200
how that started. Because there's a road trip

00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:06.140
and a charismatic senior becomes like an unlikely

00:17:06.140 --> 00:17:08.880
mentor aiding Dustin's project and solving a

00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:14.019
mystery. And yeah, again, both of those books

00:17:14.019 --> 00:17:17.500
are like really helpful to understand more about,

00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:20.759
you know, those characters that we probably know

00:17:20.759 --> 00:17:23.519
the best throughout like going into season four

00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.259
with like the addition of other characters. Because

00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:28.819
we've been watching them for like three seasons

00:17:28.819 --> 00:17:31.200
at that point. But it's really nice to sort of

00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.500
see what's happened after the buyers moved away

00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:39.680
and what has caused this drift in the Hawkins

00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:44.720
Center friend group. So yeah, that is my summary

00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:47.339
of the three books. As always, I would recommend

00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:50.480
you read them yourselves. But if you don't have

00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:53.299
time, I've hopefully did them justice with this

00:17:53.299 --> 00:17:58.259
summary. And with that, for the last time, this...

00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.059
This season, I'm going to have to say, over and

00:18:02.059 --> 00:18:12.079
out. Okay, so Flight of Icarus first. Your initial

00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:16.039
reactions, Miss Obermark? I think it's really

00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:20.500
interesting that we have another kind of absentee

00:18:20.500 --> 00:18:24.000
father but substitute father situation. I feel

00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:27.839
like this is a fairly common theme throughout.

00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:32.400
Stranger Things. Dustin, Eleven, Eddie. Yeah.

00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:38.319
Mike, even to some extent. Yeah. Oh, oh, will

00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:41.819
I have things to say about that man later in

00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:44.240
later talking about season four. Also, Will.

00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:47.380
Don't know how I forgot Will and Jonathan. Yeah,

00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:51.079
Will and Jonathan. I guess we don't really know

00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:54.440
anything about Steve's family and Robin's family

00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:56.990
and stuff, but. We don't meet them either, so.

00:18:58.089 --> 00:19:02.869
There's an absence of fathers in this situation,

00:19:02.910 --> 00:19:07.349
but I do like that there's more of a context

00:19:07.349 --> 00:19:10.250
for his relationship with his uncle. Yeah. Because

00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:15.309
we can see in the season that they are very close

00:19:15.309 --> 00:19:18.769
and Wayne really, truly cares for his nephew,

00:19:18.970 --> 00:19:22.809
despite the issues that both of them may have.

00:19:23.490 --> 00:19:26.730
So. I think it's nice to be able to have that

00:19:26.730 --> 00:19:32.230
and to also have Eddie constantly trying to escape

00:19:32.230 --> 00:19:36.450
or run away. Which, you know, definitely ties

00:19:36.450 --> 00:19:40.450
into his whole journey of self -exploration and

00:19:40.450 --> 00:19:44.529
eventual realization and final moments and all

00:19:44.529 --> 00:19:47.089
of that. Yeah, I think that's super interesting

00:19:47.089 --> 00:19:50.609
because we know for those of you who are like,

00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:52.869
no, no, don't tell me spoilers. This is a spoiler

00:19:52.869 --> 00:19:54.789
for the very end of the season. We know that

00:19:54.789 --> 00:19:58.529
he ends sacrificing himself to save the town

00:19:58.529 --> 00:20:01.869
that he hates, which is a brutal situation. Cause

00:20:01.869 --> 00:20:05.210
at least Bob in season two was like, I love Hawkins,

00:20:05.250 --> 00:20:07.309
even though he was ready to leave. Like he loved

00:20:07.309 --> 00:20:10.849
his town. You know, there's just, uh, it just

00:20:10.849 --> 00:20:12.950
really sucks to have Eddie constantly wanting

00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:17.089
to leave and his bravery. saving his friends

00:20:17.089 --> 00:20:18.710
which is all good but then he ends up dying for

00:20:18.710 --> 00:20:20.789
the town that he's he's wanted to leave it the

00:20:20.789 --> 00:20:22.430
entire time that hasn't really picked him up

00:20:22.430 --> 00:20:24.789
or helped him out or care for him and think that

00:20:24.789 --> 00:20:26.970
he's a murderer that just that really sucks it's

00:20:26.970 --> 00:20:30.009
awesome to also have more music context i didn't

00:20:30.009 --> 00:20:33.029
really realize that he was like that much searching

00:20:33.029 --> 00:20:35.829
for a los angeles i want to go to capital records

00:20:35.829 --> 00:20:38.170
and i want to get discovered and i want to do

00:20:38.170 --> 00:20:41.589
this thing like i they don't even really build

00:20:41.589 --> 00:20:44.869
up the music that much No, not really. In season

00:20:44.869 --> 00:20:47.410
four, I know we get him saying like, I play the

00:20:47.410 --> 00:20:50.430
guitar, still do. And I was in this band that

00:20:50.430 --> 00:20:54.769
Chrissy saw way back when. And how could you

00:20:54.769 --> 00:20:56.509
forget that name? And then they actually run

00:20:56.509 --> 00:20:59.369
into the band and the Jason and the basketball

00:20:59.369 --> 00:21:01.650
man run into the band and beat them up. And then,

00:21:01.650 --> 00:21:03.450
of course, you realize how good he is at music

00:21:03.450 --> 00:21:06.109
because he just straight slays in like my all

00:21:06.109 --> 00:21:09.730
time favorite Stranger Things moment. But it's

00:21:09.730 --> 00:21:12.089
really cool to see that that's. There's so much

00:21:12.089 --> 00:21:14.950
more behind that than just he's using the talent

00:21:14.950 --> 00:21:17.130
that he wants to leave Hawkins in order to save

00:21:17.130 --> 00:21:23.329
Hawkins. Really neat. Lucas on the Line. Lucas

00:21:23.329 --> 00:21:25.670
on the Line seems like an incredibly important

00:21:25.670 --> 00:21:29.309
book for Lucas's character. It's like the one

00:21:29.309 --> 00:21:33.000
thing that they tepidly get into. On the show,

00:21:33.059 --> 00:21:34.940
we get a couple of moments of the tensions around

00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:37.299
race with Lucas versus the rest of the party.

00:21:37.500 --> 00:21:41.259
I'm thinking specifically about the Ghostbusters

00:21:41.259 --> 00:21:44.019
moment where Mike and him are both the same character.

00:21:44.059 --> 00:21:45.380
He's like, well, no, you've got to be. And I

00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:47.000
was like, why? Because, because, because, because

00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:49.980
he's black. And like, that's a moment that I

00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:52.259
think really works. And of course, they also

00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:54.200
address a little bit of race with the way in

00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:57.779
which there's like, Max is, isn't racist. And

00:21:57.779 --> 00:22:00.640
her brother is racist. And Max falls for Lucas.

00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:05.619
But Billy is. Sort of an example of what a lot

00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:10.319
of that town might feel. Right. So it seems like

00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:12.099
a really awesome book. I really want to read

00:22:12.099 --> 00:22:13.960
this one after hearing. I mean, I want to read

00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:16.839
the other one, too. But I think that's really

00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:19.839
interesting. And I really want the context of

00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:24.259
Max and Lucas's relationship. What I am most

00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:28.259
interested in with this book is Lucas and Erica

00:22:28.259 --> 00:22:31.339
together. Yeah. Because. You know, obviously

00:22:31.339 --> 00:22:37.059
we get Erica and we get Lucas, but season four

00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:39.460
is the first time that we really get Erica and

00:22:39.460 --> 00:22:42.880
Lucas in the same place at the same time. Yeah.

00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.400
Yeah. And only really at the very, very end.

00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:49.559
So I would love to know a little bit more about

00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:54.039
them and also his parents, because we have little

00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:56.460
bits and pieces, but the most that we see his

00:22:56.460 --> 00:23:00.500
parents is when. all of them are in trouble and

00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:03.839
the police are questioning all of the parents.

00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:05.680
And then the parents are all coming together

00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:09.740
to talk about their children. And that's the

00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:13.180
most that we see the rest of the Sinclair family.

00:23:13.380 --> 00:23:17.680
So I think it would be, that's the section that

00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.500
I'd be most interested in because I feel like

00:23:20.500 --> 00:23:24.420
a lot of the, they do a pretty good job of touching

00:23:24.420 --> 00:23:28.190
on the important aspects of, Friendship strain

00:23:28.190 --> 00:23:32.029
and him wanting to be popular and why and how

00:23:32.029 --> 00:23:34.910
that affects his relationship with his existing

00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:39.450
friends. So I think that that's maybe touched

00:23:39.450 --> 00:23:43.269
on enough. So I would I think that more context

00:23:43.269 --> 00:23:46.609
is important and we have some really interesting

00:23:46.609 --> 00:23:49.710
moments because I think that some of Lucas's

00:23:49.710 --> 00:23:52.549
best moments are specifically about that topic.

00:23:52.569 --> 00:23:56.890
Yeah, totally. So. That could maybe even just

00:23:56.890 --> 00:24:00.990
lead to more personal growth from him. Yeah,

00:24:00.990 --> 00:24:03.869
I agreed. Very much agreed. And then on to –

00:24:03.869 --> 00:24:07.349
listen, Max has been my favorite character for

00:24:07.349 --> 00:24:10.150
forever for this show. But on this rewatch, Dustin

00:24:10.150 --> 00:24:13.630
may have a chance to steal the crown. So on to

00:24:13.630 --> 00:24:15.970
maybe my favorite, if not tied for my favorite

00:24:15.970 --> 00:24:17.950
Stranger Things character in Dustin. What did

00:24:17.950 --> 00:24:21.869
you think of the Dustin experiment? I think it

00:24:21.869 --> 00:24:26.059
seems like a – I struggle to say cute, but I

00:24:26.059 --> 00:24:28.200
want to say it just because, yeah, it's like

00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:34.880
a cute mini story of potentially not larger consequences,

00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:40.740
but very much a, it's very much kind of a microcosm

00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:44.660
of the relationship between all the boys, but

00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:49.039
also just a nice moment of really seeing Dustin

00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:53.890
because I was hit. on this last rewatch, the

00:24:53.890 --> 00:24:58.769
very end of episode, the final episode of this

00:24:58.769 --> 00:25:02.650
season, Dustin is alone. And that bothered me

00:25:02.650 --> 00:25:06.680
a lot. on this rewatch where all these other,

00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.279
all the, you know, we're getting these little

00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:10.259
moments of all the other characters going out

00:25:10.259 --> 00:25:13.740
to see what's going on. Uh, and, and you even

00:25:13.740 --> 00:25:16.799
get those dual, those, those duos, right? 11

00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:20.279
standing. And then it's Mike and Will and Joyce

00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:23.819
and, uh, Hopper. And then you're in Murray and

00:25:23.819 --> 00:25:26.960
Demetri and Murray. No, it's Nancy and. Oh, you're

00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:29.299
right. It's Nancy and Jonathan. Yeah. But then

00:25:29.299 --> 00:25:32.099
you also have Steve and Robin are together. Right.

00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:36.859
And the Sinclairs are with Max in the hospital,

00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:38.700
so we don't really get a close -up of them. But

00:25:38.700 --> 00:25:42.400
then it's just Dustin alone. Talk to Uncle Wayne,

00:25:42.539 --> 00:25:45.680
yeah. Yeah, but even after that when they're

00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:48.299
all walking outside. Oh, right, of course. And

00:25:48.299 --> 00:25:52.180
it just – it really hit me on this one and I

00:25:52.180 --> 00:25:54.940
did not like it. I didn't care for that moment

00:25:54.940 --> 00:25:59.190
because I just was like, my boy. It's been really

00:25:59.190 --> 00:26:01.910
interesting with Dustin, too, because through

00:26:01.910 --> 00:26:05.329
this rewatch, the first season, they're all so

00:26:05.329 --> 00:26:09.269
together. Yeah. But even then, Dustin's like,

00:26:09.349 --> 00:26:10.930
I know I'm on the outs. I know Lucas is your

00:26:10.930 --> 00:26:13.170
best friend, and you're his best friend. And

00:26:13.170 --> 00:26:15.190
the mic has to be like, no, you're my best friend,

00:26:15.210 --> 00:26:17.009
too. It's like one of Mike's better moments of

00:26:17.009 --> 00:26:21.170
the whole series. And then in season two, he

00:26:21.170 --> 00:26:24.490
gets separated out, and he's with Steve. And

00:26:24.490 --> 00:26:26.569
then with season three, he's separated out when

00:26:26.569 --> 00:26:30.470
he comes back. With his, you know, cerebro that

00:26:30.470 --> 00:26:32.950
he's created. And it's just like, he stays with

00:26:32.950 --> 00:26:35.190
the science. He stays with the sort of AV club

00:26:35.190 --> 00:26:39.309
stuff. But not everybody else does. Mike is just

00:26:39.309 --> 00:26:41.789
kind of willowing out there in quote unquote

00:26:41.789 --> 00:26:44.609
leadership and love territory. Will is like.

00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.299
The shadow monster's proxy and also an artist.

00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.779
Eleven's doing her own thing. Lucas is sort of

00:26:51.779 --> 00:26:53.460
finding his own way, and he has a whole different

00:26:53.460 --> 00:26:55.180
dynamic with Max. It's really interesting to

00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:57.759
see. I didn't really realize how much Dustin

00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:01.380
is kind of alone and then alone and then alone.

00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:03.779
Even with that dynamic with Steve, he's really

00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:06.579
separated out from the party more than anybody

00:27:06.579 --> 00:27:12.279
else. Yeah, definitely. And it did also, you

00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:15.880
know, obviously... we had to make way for Dustin's

00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:19.640
relationship with Eddie in this season. And Dustin

00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:23.279
really needed somebody at school with him to

00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:28.279
be that bond that he can share. But it did bother

00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:31.900
me that he isn't with Steve. And Steve and he

00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:35.339
were just so close for two full seasons. I know.

00:27:35.420 --> 00:27:40.380
And had that brother relationship. And then suddenly

00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:43.140
it's just gone. Well, they really needed to set

00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:46.920
up. love triangle for season five. I know. But

00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:49.400
I am still bothered by how much Steve is like,

00:27:49.460 --> 00:27:53.220
wait, I kind of want to be with, um, I, uh, let

00:27:53.220 --> 00:27:56.539
me be with Nancy. Yeah. And like, he is with

00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:58.559
Dustin a lot at the beginning of this season.

00:27:58.579 --> 00:28:00.460
Like in these first four episodes, they are together

00:28:00.460 --> 00:28:02.819
and Steve is doing his babysitter stuff, but

00:28:02.819 --> 00:28:05.559
then it's really separated out in the next two

00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:09.880
of our podcast episodes. Yeah. But I just, yeah,

00:28:09.960 --> 00:28:13.180
I just, it feels like Dustin. just keeps losing

00:28:13.180 --> 00:28:17.640
everyone. And I do wonder if that's going to

00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:20.819
play a larger role than we've thought of up until

00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:22.980
this point. We haven't really talked about kind

00:28:22.980 --> 00:28:25.720
of Dustin's role in season five all that much.

00:28:25.740 --> 00:28:30.339
And I do wonder if his loneliness and his having

00:28:30.339 --> 00:28:34.079
lost that closeness with Steve, because Steve's

00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.920
on his other mission, having lost his friends,

00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:39.759
having lost Eddie. If that's really going to

00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:43.900
impact him almost in a Max like way of Max losing

00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:49.319
Billy. So I'm now very, very curious where Dustin's

00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:55.359
character is going. Me too. To be continued.

00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:03.160
Well, thank you very, very much, Aurelia, for

00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:06.339
all of that wonderful information and backstory.

00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:08.240
Great amount of research. A lot of time spent

00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:14.400
reading. Yes, fantastic. Thank you. Find your

00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:18.400
donut holes. Found them. It's time for our Knives

00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:21.240
Out category, where we sleuth out which three

00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:24.559
storylines are the most vital to pay attention

00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:28.730
to these first four episodes. Here we go. I gotta

00:29:28.730 --> 00:29:31.589
tell you something, Sierra. There is no donut

00:29:31.589 --> 00:29:35.309
hole in the desert. It's just a mouthful of sand.

00:29:36.910 --> 00:29:39.769
Dear listeners and listeners, you will hear nothing

00:29:39.769 --> 00:29:44.589
about Eleven or Jonathan or Will or Mike or their

00:29:44.589 --> 00:29:47.730
friend whose name escapes me in my head. Argyle.

00:29:47.910 --> 00:29:50.609
Argyle. You will find nothing about those in

00:29:50.609 --> 00:29:53.490
this section over the next three episodes. And

00:29:53.490 --> 00:29:55.740
you will hear more from us on why. But moving

00:29:55.740 --> 00:29:58.119
forward, we have three of those that have nothing

00:29:58.119 --> 00:30:00.420
to do with California or the desert. Number one,

00:30:00.740 --> 00:30:04.859
Hoop Hopper. He's alive. And, of course, Joyce

00:30:04.859 --> 00:30:07.799
and Murray are there. Number two, Chrissy is

00:30:07.799 --> 00:30:13.339
dead. Chrissy, wake up. I don't like this. Sorry,

00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:16.240
had to. Couldn't resist. Chrissy's dead. And

00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:19.099
it was Vecna. Also, Max and Dustin. And Steven

00:30:19.099 --> 00:30:21.660
Robin. And Eddie. All of those people's storylines.

00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:24.529
And then, of course, there's the... Part two

00:30:24.529 --> 00:30:27.190
of Chrissy is dead. And it was Victor Creel,

00:30:27.329 --> 00:30:31.069
the Nancy and Robin storyline. Yes. So our first

00:30:31.069 --> 00:30:37.809
storyline of Hopper and Joyce and Murray. Hopper

00:30:37.809 --> 00:30:40.609
jumped for it when the explosion occurred. You

00:30:40.609 --> 00:30:44.190
guys, that's why we didn't see an official body

00:30:44.190 --> 00:30:48.549
death, et cetera, et cetera, because he was very

00:30:48.549 --> 00:30:52.670
athletic for a moment and just went for it. Joyce.

00:30:53.230 --> 00:30:56.650
Gets a ransom style note in a Russian doll in

00:30:56.650 --> 00:31:00.309
a box from Russia saying that Hop is alive and

00:31:00.309 --> 00:31:03.430
rightfully, honestly, calls Murray about it.

00:31:04.430 --> 00:31:07.589
Murray thinks that this means it's either a lie

00:31:07.589 --> 00:31:12.130
or if Hopper is alive, he's been captured and

00:31:12.130 --> 00:31:17.029
tortured into finding Joyce as well. Joyce just

00:31:17.029 --> 00:31:21.089
thinks that he escaped and is trying to contact

00:31:21.089 --> 00:31:25.630
her via a friend. Murray is more right than Joyce.

00:31:26.410 --> 00:31:28.990
Neither of them are completely right, but Murray

00:31:28.990 --> 00:31:31.470
is more right because Hopper is getting tortured

00:31:31.470 --> 00:31:35.309
to find out about Joyce. They call the number

00:31:35.309 --> 00:31:38.710
on the letter and they speak to Enzo, not a friend,

00:31:38.869 --> 00:31:42.130
not KGB, who tells them to go to Nome, Alaska.

00:31:43.049 --> 00:31:49.140
Shout out Nome. Shout out Nome! Enzo lets Hopper

00:31:49.140 --> 00:31:51.940
know that the money for the plane is on the way

00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:54.359
and to get going on his breakout plan, which

00:31:54.359 --> 00:31:57.299
is to get his shackles broken enough to get them

00:31:57.299 --> 00:31:59.920
off, basically breaking his leg in the process.

00:32:00.940 --> 00:32:04.299
Joyce and Murray get the money to Yuri, not to

00:32:04.299 --> 00:32:08.599
be confusing at all, a mildly insane fella who

00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:11.940
takes way too long to do everything. Hopper makes

00:32:11.940 --> 00:32:14.980
his escape from the camp. Turns out Yuri is the

00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:17.680
worst. He's drugged Joyce and Murray and sold

00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:21.700
out Enzo and Hopper to the KGB. Amazing. Tell

00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:23.220
us all about this, Sierra. Why is this such an

00:32:23.220 --> 00:32:25.519
important storyline? Well, it's an important

00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:27.619
storyline for a number of reasons. The first

00:32:27.619 --> 00:32:30.339
reason being Hopper's alive and we love him.

00:32:31.660 --> 00:32:34.039
And that's it. That's the only reason. Hopper's

00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:38.940
back. Yay! That's the reason. Woohoo! The second

00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:43.529
huge thing is that this sets up... The Russians'

00:32:43.609 --> 00:32:48.410
continuing role in the Upside Down and the creatures

00:32:48.410 --> 00:32:52.269
that lie therein. They're housing demogorgons,

00:32:52.269 --> 00:32:55.509
people, because they're a bright bunch. And they

00:32:55.509 --> 00:33:03.630
want to keep their power going. When you see

00:33:03.630 --> 00:33:08.289
a weapon, you train the weapon. Sure. Sure. Let's,

00:33:08.289 --> 00:33:12.009
yeah, you know. A bear, a Demogorgon. It's the

00:33:12.009 --> 00:33:15.630
same, right? Sure. For sure. Trainable. Absolutely.

00:33:16.130 --> 00:33:20.170
Yeah. Training Demogorgons. Definitely not going

00:33:20.170 --> 00:33:24.769
to come back to bite you in the face, arm, leg,

00:33:25.009 --> 00:33:36.730
toe, belly button. Swallow you whole. NBD. What's

00:33:36.730 --> 00:33:38.369
the line that you've been saying all night? Nothing

00:33:38.369 --> 00:33:44.390
can stop you. No one, nobody can stop me. That's

00:33:44.390 --> 00:33:48.750
what the Demogorgon says. I thought that was

00:33:48.750 --> 00:33:53.170
the theme song. Oh my gosh. Okay, good, good,

00:33:53.250 --> 00:33:56.869
good, good. Keep going. So those are, I mean,

00:33:56.890 --> 00:34:00.289
I think really the main reasons why this is important.

00:34:00.450 --> 00:34:04.549
Really bringing back what the heck else the Russians

00:34:04.549 --> 00:34:10.840
have been up to. Also, why Hopper is there? Because

00:34:10.840 --> 00:34:17.519
it's not just a camp for building whatever they're

00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:20.460
building, working on a railroad? Question mark?

00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:25.960
Something. Yeah. I mean, okay, so that's like

00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:28.559
an allusion to Russian work camps, right? I don't

00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:30.019
know that it makes a ton of sense that they're

00:34:30.019 --> 00:34:33.630
working on a railroad. And also, how's Demogorgon?

00:34:33.630 --> 00:34:35.989
It's kind of like, what is this place? Like,

00:34:35.989 --> 00:34:37.989
what's happening? Like, the prison just happens

00:34:37.989 --> 00:34:40.789
to be next to this railroad? Or is the railroad

00:34:40.789 --> 00:34:43.750
there to ship stuff into the prison? It's also

00:34:43.750 --> 00:34:47.289
like, 1984, are we still building railroads like

00:34:47.289 --> 00:34:51.170
this? Like, sort of question marks there. It's

00:34:51.170 --> 00:34:54.159
not 1984, it's 1986. You know, it's clearly a

00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:57.500
wonderful sort of nostalgia to the Cold War still

00:34:57.500 --> 00:34:59.760
going on, and it makes a lot of sense that Russia's

00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:02.400
continuing to do similar research to the United

00:35:02.400 --> 00:35:04.619
States. It very much reflects kind of real life

00:35:04.619 --> 00:35:08.500
there. I will say, I'm thoroughly annoyed by

00:35:08.500 --> 00:35:12.019
the way in which they explain Hopper surviving.

00:35:12.579 --> 00:35:16.360
Mm -hmm. It's not as bad as Benedict Cumberbatch's

00:35:16.360 --> 00:35:19.699
Sherlock, where they, like, never actually answer

00:35:19.699 --> 00:35:23.500
how he survives clearly dying. Don't they give,

00:35:23.500 --> 00:35:26.559
like, three different potentials or something

00:35:26.559 --> 00:35:29.000
like that? And they never say what actually happens.

00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:32.219
That's much more frustrating. But I just am kind

00:35:32.219 --> 00:35:36.139
of like, oh, okay, so we haven't seen this level.

00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:40.400
We haven't seen that the thing goes down. The

00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:42.800
little wire mesh cage platform that they've got,

00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:46.659
it goes down at all. And the explosion doesn't

00:35:46.659 --> 00:35:50.230
really affect that area at all. Like, it seemed

00:35:50.230 --> 00:35:51.929
like at the end of season three that the whole

00:35:51.929 --> 00:35:54.989
room overloads. And so a lot of people, you know,

00:35:55.010 --> 00:35:56.369
in between those seasons were like, he jumps

00:35:56.369 --> 00:36:00.210
into the Upside Down, he's stuck there now. Yeah.

00:36:00.250 --> 00:36:01.969
Or a lot of people were like, actually, the Russians

00:36:01.969 --> 00:36:04.010
came and got him out of the room completely before

00:36:04.010 --> 00:36:06.269
it. They had like a trap door or something of

00:36:06.269 --> 00:36:09.469
that nature. All of which I didn't like any of

00:36:09.469 --> 00:36:11.650
those things. I guess it's really just, it's

00:36:11.650 --> 00:36:14.090
hard to have saved him from that room in a satisfying

00:36:14.090 --> 00:36:17.130
way, but I still don't love it. But I'm glad

00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:18.510
that obviously I'm glad that he's here. He's

00:36:18.510 --> 00:36:21.409
a great character. And it was it was kind of

00:36:21.409 --> 00:36:24.150
clear in all of the the press that the Duffer

00:36:24.150 --> 00:36:26.250
brothers did. They were like, what happens to

00:36:26.250 --> 00:36:28.230
Han Solo at the end? Oh, my gosh. OK, he comes

00:36:28.230 --> 00:36:30.070
back and return. It's fine. We get it. He's going

00:36:30.070 --> 00:36:37.329
to return. I have one question. Is Yuri too similar

00:36:37.329 --> 00:36:40.849
to Murray for you? Character wise or name wise?

00:36:41.050 --> 00:36:46.840
Both. Name wise, it does bother me. There's so

00:36:46.840 --> 00:36:50.239
many other names. Why Yuri Murray? I don't know.

00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.900
I think they're going for an overt, hey, this

00:36:53.900 --> 00:36:56.840
is the Russian Murray. I think it's not even

00:36:56.840 --> 00:36:59.559
a wink or not. They're just like, look, it's

00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:03.420
Murray, but he's Russian. Yeah. It's Murray,

00:37:03.659 --> 00:37:06.260
but he's Russian. Russian nesting bearded men.

00:37:09.719 --> 00:37:15.980
And also, it's like his evil twin. Yeah. I am

00:37:15.980 --> 00:37:20.659
Retep and my name is Evil. It's a Family Guy

00:37:20.659 --> 00:37:25.860
reference. I just, I think that it's, it doesn't

00:37:25.860 --> 00:37:32.179
bother me, his personality. Okay. I, mainly because

00:37:32.179 --> 00:37:35.059
I think that they tap into the whole he's the

00:37:35.059 --> 00:37:38.619
evil part. pretty quickly. I think that if they

00:37:38.619 --> 00:37:41.599
just left it as like yet another eccentric person,

00:37:41.699 --> 00:37:44.880
the only way that I could have accepted it is

00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:47.159
if Murray started getting really annoyed with

00:37:47.159 --> 00:37:49.380
Yuri and then Joyce is just like, uh, hello.

00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:56.659
Are you not seeing this? So I think that's the

00:37:56.659 --> 00:37:58.980
only way that they could have made it work. But

00:37:58.980 --> 00:38:02.159
I think, I mean, he has to be similar enough

00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:06.719
for the whole ploy to, to. happen towards the

00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:09.639
end of the season yeah where murray is yuri and

00:38:09.639 --> 00:38:14.980
all of that but yeah it doesn't it doesn't really

00:38:14.980 --> 00:38:18.519
bother me the names bother me but i like the

00:38:18.519 --> 00:38:21.880
actual personality doesn't so much until we get

00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:23.599
to the switch i remember my first watch being

00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:25.920
a little bit like what is what's happening here

00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:30.039
it it feels like a meta moment in the story where

00:38:30.039 --> 00:38:32.239
it's self -referential in a way that it feels

00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:34.380
overt and i was like i don't love this and then

00:38:34.380 --> 00:38:37.900
when they do the switch i'm like oh i i can be

00:38:37.900 --> 00:38:40.400
patient it's fine i actually i end up really

00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:43.099
liking it at the end um but yeah that's my that's

00:38:43.099 --> 00:38:45.460
my one question there okay storyline number two

00:38:45.460 --> 00:38:49.059
chrissy is dead and it was vecta the max dustin

00:38:49.059 --> 00:38:53.460
steve robin eddie edition okay so eddie munson

00:38:53.460 --> 00:38:56.239
is selling drugs to chrissy Because Chrissy's

00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:58.539
having horrible, awful, terrible nightmares that

00:38:58.539 --> 00:39:00.619
are, like, real. And Vecna's coming to kill her.

00:39:01.239 --> 00:39:03.440
Chrissy goes to the local drug dealer to try

00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:06.739
and get help with calming herself down. Because

00:39:06.739 --> 00:39:09.559
therapy and antidepressants and all that sort

00:39:09.559 --> 00:39:13.239
of stuff aren't working for her. Chrissy and

00:39:13.239 --> 00:39:16.380
Eddie end up having really incredible chemistry.

00:39:16.800 --> 00:39:20.840
Like, mind -boggling, off -the -scene, great,

00:39:21.059 --> 00:39:23.760
like... Wow, their relationship works so well.

00:39:23.860 --> 00:39:26.719
That scene in the woods is incredible, where

00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:29.199
they talk about the band and everything. Then

00:39:29.199 --> 00:39:31.920
Chrissy comes over to get Special K, which I'm

00:39:31.920 --> 00:39:34.219
guessing is, like, ketamine, even before it was

00:39:34.219 --> 00:39:37.900
ketamine. I would assume something. And while

00:39:37.900 --> 00:39:41.239
she's there, Vecna has his final mind attack

00:39:41.239 --> 00:39:43.739
on her, and in front of Eddie, she does the whole

00:39:43.739 --> 00:39:45.980
bone break, bone break, bone break, eyes go in,

00:39:46.099 --> 00:39:51.219
I'm dead, and completely freaks out Eddie. Transition

00:39:51.219 --> 00:39:54.500
to Max. Max sees this because she lives across

00:39:54.500 --> 00:39:56.739
the trailer park from Eddie. So she sees Chrissy

00:39:56.739 --> 00:39:58.239
and Eddie go into the trailer, but only Eddie

00:39:58.239 --> 00:40:00.840
comes out screaming and looking scared, and the

00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:02.440
lights flicker, and then Eddie gets into the

00:40:02.440 --> 00:40:04.679
van and takes off. The fact that Max is an immediate,

00:40:04.780 --> 00:40:08.639
like, lights flickered, PTSD, quickly, upside

00:40:08.639 --> 00:40:12.539
down is kind of funny to me, but so be it. Max

00:40:12.539 --> 00:40:14.260
sees the cops in the morning and goes to Dustin

00:40:14.260 --> 00:40:16.380
with the information since she can't reach Lucas,

00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:19.739
and Mike and company are in. California. Dustin

00:40:19.739 --> 00:40:21.980
and Max take over the family video, where Steve

00:40:21.980 --> 00:40:24.619
and Robin are brought into this story. After

00:40:24.619 --> 00:40:26.159
calling around to all of Eddie's friends, the

00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:30.320
video crew finds a guy named Reefer Rick, I wonder

00:40:30.320 --> 00:40:34.599
what he does, who may know where Eddie is. After

00:40:34.599 --> 00:40:36.320
arriving at the boathouse and finding a terrified

00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:39.199
Eddie, they all share what they know, reassuring

00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:42.360
Eddie they believe him, and figure out that the

00:40:42.360 --> 00:40:46.199
person doing this must be Vecna, a dark sorcerer

00:40:46.199 --> 00:40:49.280
with incredible powers. But how is he choosing

00:40:49.280 --> 00:40:52.360
his victims? Max figures out Chrissy and Fred

00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:54.079
were both seeing the school counselor and finds

00:40:54.079 --> 00:40:56.320
their files, only to realize she's having the

00:40:56.320 --> 00:40:59.659
same symptoms as the deceased. Max is having

00:40:59.659 --> 00:41:02.599
many hallucinations and writes goodbye letters

00:41:02.599 --> 00:41:05.019
to everyone she cares about because she knows,

00:41:05.039 --> 00:41:07.960
and her whole crew knows, Vecna is coming to

00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:12.699
kill her in less than 24 hours. So what's important

00:41:12.699 --> 00:41:14.659
about this, y 'all? This is kind of the main

00:41:14.659 --> 00:41:19.039
story. Of season four. The discovery of Vecna,

00:41:19.179 --> 00:41:22.940
right? So Max and Eleven will, they're all benched

00:41:22.940 --> 00:41:26.400
for this season to set up. You know, we can't

00:41:26.400 --> 00:41:28.239
have Superpowered Girl here because she always

00:41:28.239 --> 00:41:30.139
saves the day. We have to have Mike with Eleven

00:41:30.139 --> 00:41:32.059
because he has no relevance to the story otherwise.

00:41:32.159 --> 00:41:33.519
Even though I actually think it would be a really

00:41:33.519 --> 00:41:36.280
cool idea to have him grow on his own away from

00:41:36.280 --> 00:41:38.519
Eleven with this crew. But whatever. I'm not

00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:41.099
the writers. And we can't have Will there because

00:41:41.099 --> 00:41:43.900
he senses Vecna. He knows what's going on. He's

00:41:43.900 --> 00:41:46.519
sort of a spy still on the inside. So they're

00:41:46.519 --> 00:41:49.480
all benched. And when you bench Will, you've

00:41:49.480 --> 00:41:51.579
got to bench Jonathan. And when you bench Jonathan,

00:41:51.739 --> 00:41:54.429
his new friends are also benched. Here's the

00:41:54.429 --> 00:41:58.489
main story where we've got this discovery of

00:41:58.489 --> 00:42:01.630
Victor Creel, which also has Nancy, and we'll

00:42:01.630 --> 00:42:04.070
get to her side of it in a second. But we have

00:42:04.070 --> 00:42:06.469
the deaths going on. We've got Eddie's death,

00:42:06.670 --> 00:42:11.849
where he witnesses Chrissy. We've got all of

00:42:11.849 --> 00:42:14.630
Dustin and Max's trying to find Eddie, all of

00:42:14.630 --> 00:42:17.829
that sort of stuff, all leading up to Max realizing

00:42:17.829 --> 00:42:21.849
that she's the next victim, which is a huge plot,

00:42:22.030 --> 00:42:26.809
like the plot. Why is Vecna choosing these specific

00:42:26.809 --> 00:42:30.130
victims? And what are they for? So that gets

00:42:30.130 --> 00:42:33.809
us, Max's part really is what gets us to what

00:42:33.809 --> 00:42:39.809
is this for? Oh, four sacrificial deaths to open

00:42:39.809 --> 00:42:43.429
up one really large gate from the Upside Down

00:42:43.429 --> 00:42:45.530
into Hawkins. So that's what we're going for.

00:42:45.570 --> 00:42:47.309
And that's what this is all about. Sierra, do

00:42:47.309 --> 00:42:50.179
you have any other thoughts about this? I mean,

00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:52.780
I think you summed it up pretty good with just

00:42:52.780 --> 00:42:56.539
this is the main plot. So, you know, we have

00:42:56.539 --> 00:43:02.239
all of this very important information. And Max

00:43:02.239 --> 00:43:08.420
realizing that she's next is a huge and is a

00:43:08.420 --> 00:43:10.280
huge bringing together of all the information

00:43:10.280 --> 00:43:14.679
that we have so far. So I think that is really

00:43:14.679 --> 00:43:19.809
the key is just. We have all these little bits

00:43:19.809 --> 00:43:22.349
and pieces here and there. We figure out it must

00:43:22.349 --> 00:43:24.510
be a sorcerer. How is he doing it? He must be

00:43:24.510 --> 00:43:26.929
doing it this way. How is he choosing everybody?

00:43:27.130 --> 00:43:29.110
And then once it all comes together and they

00:43:29.110 --> 00:43:33.269
realize that Max is next on the list, we can

00:43:33.269 --> 00:43:37.869
launch into the remainder of the season. So I

00:43:37.869 --> 00:43:41.610
think that it's very interesting because we're

00:43:41.610 --> 00:43:45.050
also only getting kind of half the story when

00:43:45.050 --> 00:43:49.360
we're saying, okay, Vecna's fault. That Chrissy

00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:54.519
is dead. Yeah. And that Fred is dead. And in

00:43:54.519 --> 00:43:57.780
just a second, we'll get into the other half

00:43:57.780 --> 00:44:01.239
of that story, the Victor Creel side, which I

00:44:01.239 --> 00:44:04.400
really do like that it's almost like the exact

00:44:04.400 --> 00:44:07.460
same story is being told in three parts. And

00:44:07.460 --> 00:44:09.900
you're getting little bits and pieces. You're

00:44:09.900 --> 00:44:12.820
slowly putting the puzzle together. kind of in

00:44:12.820 --> 00:44:16.079
almost like a spiral circle all the way to the

00:44:16.079 --> 00:44:19.820
middle where we, it all comes together. And we

00:44:19.820 --> 00:44:26.159
have that really great scene of Henry one, Henry

00:44:26.159 --> 00:44:28.599
one Vecna. What are we calling him? And everybody

00:44:28.599 --> 00:44:31.099
says something different. Yeah, totally. Absolutely.

00:44:32.019 --> 00:44:37.059
So I, I enjoy this a lot. I will also say, this

00:44:37.059 --> 00:44:39.360
is, I think my favorite part of season four is

00:44:39.360 --> 00:44:41.920
the max storyline. This is where a lot of the

00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:44.119
heart of the story is. The audience is really

00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:47.119
invested in keeping Max alive. We have not had

00:44:47.119 --> 00:44:51.679
a character be so threatened with death in the

00:44:51.679 --> 00:44:53.860
way that Max is, where it's like, everybody else

00:44:53.860 --> 00:44:55.900
has died. How are we supposed to protect her

00:44:55.900 --> 00:44:59.039
from this? All of that sort of stuff. And these

00:44:59.039 --> 00:45:01.820
moments of Max writing letters, listening to

00:45:01.820 --> 00:45:06.059
the song, escaping Vecna, are... incredibly hugely

00:45:06.059 --> 00:45:08.300
emotional i mean they do this mid -series finale

00:45:08.300 --> 00:45:10.340
at the end of season four with this incredible

00:45:10.340 --> 00:45:14.480
run sequence with her escaping uh from the upside

00:45:14.480 --> 00:45:17.199
down back to the outside so i think that's also

00:45:17.199 --> 00:45:19.500
important from a storytelling standpoint this

00:45:19.500 --> 00:45:23.500
is like it's such a heavy lifter of the emotional

00:45:23.500 --> 00:45:26.559
force propelling us forward in the story like

00:45:26.559 --> 00:45:29.820
you it's hard to put down what's going on it's

00:45:29.820 --> 00:45:32.260
hard to stop watching because max is in danger

00:45:33.659 --> 00:45:37.800
And lastly, we've got Chrissy is Dead and It

00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:39.860
Was Victor Creel, the Nancy and Robin edition.

00:45:40.440 --> 00:45:46.039
Yes, so Nancy is on team investigation. Once

00:45:46.039 --> 00:45:50.940
she finds out about Chrissy and what's going

00:45:50.940 --> 00:45:56.500
on at the trailer park, she heads out to go investigate

00:45:56.500 --> 00:45:59.940
and she brings Fred along. Her managing editor.

00:46:00.179 --> 00:46:04.940
Her managing editor, yes. Fred, who we've never

00:46:04.940 --> 00:46:09.139
met before or seen before, same as Chrissy before

00:46:09.139 --> 00:46:12.019
all this happens, starts to have these visions

00:46:12.019 --> 00:46:15.880
and these hallucinations referencing a facial

00:46:15.880 --> 00:46:18.659
scar that he got in a crash where someone died

00:46:18.659 --> 00:46:25.099
last year. Please tell me more about that. He's

00:46:25.099 --> 00:46:28.460
very Nigel coded from Harry Potter where he just

00:46:28.460 --> 00:46:33.880
pops up out of nowhere. Anyways, so sorry. Please

00:46:33.880 --> 00:46:40.559
continue. But is that Vecna's clock again? That's

00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:42.579
a terrible clock noise, but you all get it. Yeah.

00:46:42.679 --> 00:46:45.780
We know what we're talking about. You do too.

00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:51.400
Fred wanders into the woods after the clock sound

00:46:51.400 --> 00:46:55.880
and sees the clock on a coffin and people standing

00:46:55.880 --> 00:47:00.820
about declaring him a murderer. Meanwhile, Eddie's

00:47:00.820 --> 00:47:04.199
uncle starts to talk to Nancy and says that he

00:47:04.199 --> 00:47:07.840
thinks that the killer is Victor Creel, who is

00:47:07.840 --> 00:47:10.360
someone who back in the 50s killed his family,

00:47:10.500 --> 00:47:13.539
cut out their eyes. Chrissy had her eyes missing.

00:47:14.099 --> 00:47:17.019
This Victor Creel is in Pennhurst Asylum, but

00:47:17.019 --> 00:47:20.380
maybe he got out, question mark. Yeah. So Nancy

00:47:20.380 --> 00:47:23.900
and Robin. head to the library to look at old

00:47:23.900 --> 00:47:26.820
newspapers and to find out more about Victor,

00:47:26.920 --> 00:47:30.099
what happened. And they find out that Victor

00:47:30.099 --> 00:47:34.139
claimed a demon had killed his family. So then

00:47:34.139 --> 00:47:36.119
when the whole gang meets back up to discuss

00:47:36.119 --> 00:47:39.659
Max's potential fate, Steve makes some great

00:47:39.659 --> 00:47:42.800
points. How is Vecna getting through? How did

00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:45.559
he get through before when there was no gate?

00:47:46.329 --> 00:47:49.630
Why kill one family, vanish for 30 years, and

00:47:49.630 --> 00:47:53.369
then start killing random teens? So he raises

00:47:53.369 --> 00:47:55.610
a lot of points, and in order to get some answers,

00:47:55.809 --> 00:47:58.929
we have to talk to Victor Krill. So Robin and

00:47:58.929 --> 00:48:01.590
Nancy manage to score a meeting with the Pennhurst

00:48:01.590 --> 00:48:05.429
director, and Robin, in a brilliant moment, manages

00:48:05.429 --> 00:48:08.050
to talk their way into meeting Victor himself.

00:48:09.309 --> 00:48:12.289
He tells his story, how his home, the town, and

00:48:12.289 --> 00:48:15.690
his family was cursed by a demon, and the horrifying

00:48:15.690 --> 00:48:19.610
nightmare that they lived and died in. Victor

00:48:19.610 --> 00:48:22.309
Creel says that he followed an angel, a song,

00:48:22.550 --> 00:48:24.590
and he was able to escape from the nightmare

00:48:24.590 --> 00:48:26.989
that he had found himself in, where he was reliving

00:48:26.989 --> 00:48:31.659
his worst memory. So then Nancy and Robin get

00:48:31.659 --> 00:48:34.360
this vital, vital piece of information about

00:48:34.360 --> 00:48:39.940
how to escape from Vecna and the situation that

00:48:39.940 --> 00:48:43.599
a victim of his would find themselves in. And

00:48:43.599 --> 00:48:47.960
is able to relay it to Dustin, thankfully, at

00:48:47.960 --> 00:48:52.119
just the perfect moment in order to save Max

00:48:52.119 --> 00:48:56.710
so that they can get her a song to follow. through

00:48:56.710 --> 00:48:59.849
her mind back to reality. Right, because when

00:48:59.849 --> 00:49:03.449
they're interviewing Victor Creel is when Max

00:49:03.449 --> 00:49:06.590
is at the grave site of Billy and Vecna does

00:49:06.590 --> 00:49:10.429
his final attack. So she's floating in the air.

00:49:10.789 --> 00:49:12.469
Steve's freaking out. Dustin's freaking out.

00:49:12.510 --> 00:49:17.329
Lucas is freaking out. Calling Nancy on the radio.

00:49:17.570 --> 00:49:20.110
And they finally get that information. They're

00:49:20.110 --> 00:49:23.389
able to put Kate Bush on and she runs. Max runs

00:49:23.389 --> 00:49:26.820
for safety and lands. Back in Hawking. So, tell

00:49:26.820 --> 00:49:28.760
me, Sierra, why is this important? Why did we

00:49:28.760 --> 00:49:31.579
note this as our third biggest one? Because it's

00:49:31.579 --> 00:49:34.739
really the other half of the main story. Because

00:49:34.739 --> 00:49:39.559
this continues Max's plotline, why she is important

00:49:39.559 --> 00:49:44.960
to this season, to Vecna's plot, etc. And also

00:49:44.960 --> 00:49:49.079
explains, without fully explaining, because we

00:49:49.079 --> 00:49:53.829
don't 100 % know why yet, but... it explains

00:49:53.829 --> 00:49:58.949
more of some of Vecna's early victims and how

00:49:58.949 --> 00:50:02.989
the Creel family is tied in to the plot at large.

00:50:03.150 --> 00:50:07.949
We don't have all of the pieces yet, but we have

00:50:07.949 --> 00:50:10.590
very important information about how to keep

00:50:10.590 --> 00:50:15.789
somebody safe from Vecna, potentially. Not indefinitely,

00:50:15.929 --> 00:50:20.909
but for at least a period of time, we have more

00:50:20.909 --> 00:50:25.619
information about... what can happen when someone

00:50:25.619 --> 00:50:29.179
succumbs to Vecna, what those people experienced

00:50:29.179 --> 00:50:32.579
before they died, what Chrissy and Fred may have

00:50:32.579 --> 00:50:34.880
went through beforehand. They're reliving their

00:50:34.880 --> 00:50:37.840
worst memories. They're reliving the worst things

00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:41.159
of their life. You know, Chrissy is being bullied

00:50:41.159 --> 00:50:44.659
by her mom about her weight and what she looks

00:50:44.659 --> 00:50:47.820
like and all of that. Fred has his whole, you're

00:50:47.820 --> 00:50:52.750
a murderer thing because of a car accident. Then

00:50:52.750 --> 00:50:57.010
we have Max with Billy. And so we're really getting

00:50:57.010 --> 00:51:03.309
all of these moments that mirror Victor Creel's

00:51:03.309 --> 00:51:07.610
moment when he was fighting in the war and made

00:51:07.610 --> 00:51:10.130
a bad call and had to live with the consequences.

00:51:10.210 --> 00:51:14.730
So, which is absolutely traumatizing and horrifying.

00:51:15.130 --> 00:51:20.559
One of the saddest. bits that's just slid into

00:51:20.559 --> 00:51:26.179
this whole season um but we get to also understand

00:51:26.179 --> 00:51:29.940
okay well even if you live through vecna's attack

00:51:29.940 --> 00:51:33.139
what does that look like for you your life is

00:51:33.139 --> 00:51:35.239
kind of never going to be the same so absolutely

00:51:35.239 --> 00:51:39.360
we're already you know in max is in immediate

00:51:39.360 --> 00:51:42.699
danger but then also is still going to continue

00:51:42.699 --> 00:51:46.699
to be in danger even after she quote, escapes.

00:51:47.179 --> 00:51:52.659
So it's very, very important for kind of all

00:51:52.659 --> 00:51:54.820
of those reasons and really building the puzzle

00:51:54.820 --> 00:51:58.079
that is Vecna and his plot and who he is and

00:51:58.079 --> 00:52:01.340
why. And it's amazing that Steve... brings in

00:52:01.340 --> 00:52:03.820
such huge hammering questions. I mean, it's almost

00:52:03.820 --> 00:52:06.460
a bit of, he's almost a bit reflective of the

00:52:06.460 --> 00:52:09.519
audience, where he's, and they have these, like,

00:52:09.519 --> 00:52:12.699
every season in Stranger Things, I'm not criticizing

00:52:12.699 --> 00:52:14.760
the writing here, they occasionally, you need

00:52:14.760 --> 00:52:16.840
to just overtly ask something so that the audience

00:52:16.840 --> 00:52:20.159
can keep up with what's going on. But he asks,

00:52:20.280 --> 00:52:22.940
like, why did he do this 30, like, why has he

00:52:22.940 --> 00:52:25.699
disappeared for 30 years? Why, how did he get

00:52:25.699 --> 00:52:29.969
through the last time? And, and I, It's so interesting

00:52:29.969 --> 00:52:32.190
knowing what we know. It's like, oh, well, he's

00:52:32.190 --> 00:52:34.489
one, and so it was him, this, and then he got

00:52:34.489 --> 00:52:37.750
taken over by Brenner, and then he's kind of

00:52:37.750 --> 00:52:40.949
put on a blocker for his powers, and he can't

00:52:40.949 --> 00:52:44.050
do anything. And so we know all that information

00:52:44.050 --> 00:52:46.429
as the audience now who's already watched this

00:52:46.429 --> 00:52:49.570
show. But of course, it's majorly confusing to

00:52:49.570 --> 00:52:53.289
be like, who is Vecna? And you're getting all

00:52:53.289 --> 00:52:56.010
this sort of side story with 1 and 11 later on

00:52:56.010 --> 00:52:58.389
in the season. But you don't make that connection

00:52:58.389 --> 00:53:00.590
yet until the very end. And even you don't really

00:53:00.590 --> 00:53:03.329
need Eleven's story for that. You get it with

00:53:03.329 --> 00:53:07.289
Nancy later as well. So really good job by Steve

00:53:07.289 --> 00:53:10.050
there as putting some stuff in. But also you

00:53:10.050 --> 00:53:14.630
get to see this nice Silence of the Lamb moment

00:53:14.630 --> 00:53:17.710
where she's down talking to Victor Creel, Nancy,

00:53:17.809 --> 00:53:22.869
and Robin. And you also get this absolute horrific

00:53:22.869 --> 00:53:27.929
look at why Hawkins may feel cursed. Yeah. Keep

00:53:27.929 --> 00:53:30.630
your finger on the pause button and rewind that

00:53:30.630 --> 00:53:33.489
tape. It's the prestige category. For what did

00:53:33.489 --> 00:53:37.969
we notice on this rewatch? Episode one. Starting

00:53:37.969 --> 00:53:39.869
out the mystery of what happened in the lab is

00:53:39.869 --> 00:53:43.710
pretty awesome. And so is revealing Brenner.

00:53:44.050 --> 00:53:46.110
And then being like, oh, but it's a flashback.

00:53:46.150 --> 00:53:49.150
It's okay. Yeah. He's not actually here. The

00:53:49.150 --> 00:53:50.670
way that they set it up, too, with, like, we

00:53:50.670 --> 00:53:53.010
get an actual little L again, which is so much

00:53:53.010 --> 00:53:55.530
fun to see. And the fact that you were like.

00:53:55.840 --> 00:53:57.960
oh, this is how all the kids are no longer around

00:53:57.960 --> 00:54:01.380
except for eight. And, oh my gosh, Eleven did

00:54:01.380 --> 00:54:04.639
this, and she opened up a gate previous to the

00:54:04.639 --> 00:54:06.019
beginning of Stranger Things. Like, that's a

00:54:06.019 --> 00:54:09.260
crazy good way of starting that. Yeah. It did

00:54:09.260 --> 00:54:11.900
make a lot of questions, though, about where

00:54:11.900 --> 00:54:15.719
is eight, and how is she not there, and question,

00:54:15.840 --> 00:54:17.840
question, question. Question, question, question.

00:54:18.260 --> 00:54:21.500
Season five, answer our questions. Please answer.

00:54:21.860 --> 00:54:27.150
Yes. Um, a tiny little bit. Ellen Joyce matching

00:54:27.150 --> 00:54:32.329
is so adorable. I just love it. I really love

00:54:32.329 --> 00:54:34.530
that she's stepping into the role as her mom

00:54:34.530 --> 00:54:37.349
and it's just so cute. Yeah. I made fun of this

00:54:37.349 --> 00:54:40.530
at the beginning with my season recap or my episode

00:54:40.530 --> 00:54:44.969
recap, but like Jason, he's like 32 years old.

00:54:45.090 --> 00:54:47.610
I know he's not the actors. I think like 27 or

00:54:47.610 --> 00:54:49.630
something like that, but he just doesn't read

00:54:49.630 --> 00:54:56.409
at all. No. Like a 17, 18 -year -old kid. And

00:54:56.409 --> 00:55:00.730
I really like him in this part. Oh, he's very

00:55:00.730 --> 00:55:03.389
sinister. We will have a lot more to say about

00:55:03.389 --> 00:55:07.469
the visuals of age in this season over the next

00:55:07.469 --> 00:55:10.590
couple of episodes. But immediately I'm like,

00:55:10.730 --> 00:55:14.110
who is this 32 -year -old and why is he on this?

00:55:14.150 --> 00:55:17.590
What's that movie? It's this rom -com where the

00:55:17.590 --> 00:55:21.869
main girl character's brother. goes and joins

00:55:21.869 --> 00:55:24.849
school as a baseball player so that he can get

00:55:24.849 --> 00:55:28.389
drafted again. No idea. All right. Audience members,

00:55:28.530 --> 00:55:31.210
if you. It's not like never been kissed or something,

00:55:31.269 --> 00:55:33.150
is it? Maybe. Is that the one where she like

00:55:33.150 --> 00:55:35.750
goes undercover at a high school? Oh, no, no,

00:55:35.789 --> 00:55:37.670
no, no. Oh, wait. No, that's not what I'm thinking

00:55:37.670 --> 00:55:40.500
of. It's something about pitch. fever pitch or

00:55:40.500 --> 00:55:42.360
something like that i don't know you said baseball

00:55:42.360 --> 00:55:44.179
that's why i was thinking about it but i don't

00:55:44.179 --> 00:55:47.019
think i'm right at all i i think that this guy

00:55:47.019 --> 00:55:49.840
is i'm like is this guy an undercover fbi agent

00:55:49.840 --> 00:55:53.480
who's there at the high school to be like oh

00:55:53.480 --> 00:55:56.179
yeah hi fellow kids anyways it's just i'm pretty

00:55:56.179 --> 00:55:58.940
sure he was 28 when they filmed yes it's just

00:55:58.940 --> 00:56:04.280
yeah he's he's not he 18 yeah no he he also just

00:56:04.280 --> 00:56:08.320
has this like creepy quality about him and and

00:56:08.320 --> 00:56:11.239
i think it's great it's not the actor it is the

00:56:11.239 --> 00:56:15.940
acting and it's great um but that definitely

00:56:15.940 --> 00:56:20.739
contributes to the like you don't fit well i'm

00:56:20.739 --> 00:56:22.360
like i know that they really have to age up the

00:56:22.360 --> 00:56:25.639
seniors because yeah like 11 is supposed to be

00:56:25.639 --> 00:56:28.199
a freshman 20 years old and she's not really

00:56:28.199 --> 00:56:31.250
but Yeah. They're all quite old for freshmen

00:56:31.250 --> 00:56:33.389
and they need to age them somehow. It was like

00:56:33.389 --> 00:56:35.210
when they did Smallville and they were like,

00:56:35.289 --> 00:56:39.570
Tom Felton's 14. So that means Tom Felton. Sorry,

00:56:39.730 --> 00:56:42.750
Tom Wellington is 14. Tom Felton was actually

00:56:42.750 --> 00:56:48.030
14 at the time. Yeah. I am a big fan, though,

00:56:48.070 --> 00:56:50.989
of how Will has stepped into this brother role

00:56:50.989 --> 00:56:54.510
for Elle, despite everything else going on in

00:56:54.510 --> 00:56:57.389
his life, too. I just think it's really sweet.

00:56:58.920 --> 00:57:02.380
And also kind of in that vein of just sweet things,

00:57:02.539 --> 00:57:06.559
I'm realizing that I realized that ending with

00:57:06.559 --> 00:57:10.840
a letter in the last season and then starting

00:57:10.840 --> 00:57:14.860
with a letter is a nice full circle moment and

00:57:14.860 --> 00:57:18.780
a kind of father to daughter transition. So I

00:57:18.780 --> 00:57:24.599
do like that a lot. A potentially question mark

00:57:24.599 --> 00:57:27.239
thing. So Elle is having a lot of trouble in

00:57:27.239 --> 00:57:31.440
school. She changed schools. They would have

00:57:31.440 --> 00:57:35.420
tested her in and tested her in at a lower grade,

00:57:35.500 --> 00:57:37.880
for sure. She would have been held back. It is

00:57:37.880 --> 00:57:40.460
possible, and I don't know what it was like in

00:57:40.460 --> 00:57:42.800
the 80s, but it is possible to have that low

00:57:42.800 --> 00:57:45.239
skills and test into a public school in high

00:57:45.239 --> 00:57:47.719
school, but you just go into a lot of remedials

00:57:47.719 --> 00:57:49.760
and you get an individual education plan, an

00:57:49.760 --> 00:57:52.679
IEP, to help with your learning differences so

00:57:52.679 --> 00:57:54.019
that you are getting a ton of stuff. But it doesn't

00:57:54.019 --> 00:57:56.719
seem like she has that. Correct, but it was also

00:57:56.719 --> 00:57:58.980
the 80s, so they might have just been shilling

00:57:58.980 --> 00:58:01.500
a kid in there and being like, ah, whatever.

00:58:02.340 --> 00:58:05.360
Yeah, you're the right age, sure, here you go.

00:58:05.599 --> 00:58:07.320
I mean, it's crazy that we do that already in

00:58:07.320 --> 00:58:09.159
education. We're like, you're the age, not the

00:58:09.159 --> 00:58:11.059
right smarts or maturity or anything like that.

00:58:11.260 --> 00:58:16.480
Age, great, here you go. Yeah. Oh, well. I also

00:58:16.480 --> 00:58:19.480
forget how quickly Vecna enters the story this

00:58:19.480 --> 00:58:23.059
season. It is so fast. It's like right away.

00:58:23.599 --> 00:58:26.940
Yeah. Wild. Yeah. Wild. I always feel like the

00:58:26.940 --> 00:58:30.119
Chrissy scene is at least episode three, if not

00:58:30.119 --> 00:58:32.860
four. I know. And it's no, it's one. She just

00:58:32.860 --> 00:58:35.360
makes such an impact in this episode. She does.

00:58:35.539 --> 00:58:37.920
She's almost a pound for pound MVP candidate,

00:58:38.019 --> 00:58:40.880
but not quite because she does actually nothing.

00:58:41.599 --> 00:58:46.380
Yeah. But her acting's great. There's this great

00:58:46.380 --> 00:58:48.699
moment where it's the final moment of the game.

00:58:49.119 --> 00:58:51.420
There's an injury on the basketball team. Lucas

00:58:51.420 --> 00:58:53.949
gets put in. And Jason says this line to the

00:58:53.949 --> 00:58:55.949
coach where he's like, no, pass the ball to me.

00:58:56.849 --> 00:59:00.409
Winners find a way to win. And he doesn't. Lucas

00:59:00.409 --> 00:59:02.809
figures out a way to win. And I just love the

00:59:02.809 --> 00:59:04.889
inference that Lucas is a winner who will find

00:59:04.889 --> 00:59:08.309
a way to win. Also, also Erica at the same time,

00:59:08.309 --> 00:59:09.909
because she's the one that wins the D &D campaign.

00:59:10.030 --> 00:59:17.769
So go Sinclair's. Episode two. I simply do not

00:59:17.769 --> 00:59:22.170
like everything about. Kill them. Get them. I

00:59:22.170 --> 00:59:24.289
don't like anything about the reunion at the

00:59:24.289 --> 00:59:27.210
airport. Mike's outfit sucks. His attitude sucks.

00:59:27.489 --> 00:59:31.289
Argyle's awkward. Will is so sad. And once again,

00:59:31.489 --> 00:59:34.130
Mike sucks again for not wanting to see his painting.

00:59:34.309 --> 00:59:36.989
Get him. Elle's lying through her teeth and Jonathan

00:59:36.989 --> 00:59:41.230
is just giving me nothing. Get him. Sound off.

00:59:41.329 --> 00:59:46.750
Let's go. Continuing my frustration with episode

00:59:46.750 --> 00:59:51.980
two. Tops. Generally, I'm on your side. You had

00:59:51.980 --> 00:59:57.239
Hopper for quite some time. And you seemed decently

00:59:57.239 --> 01:00:03.340
-ish competent under him. You suck. You told

01:00:03.340 --> 01:00:08.800
the person who cares most about who the killer

01:00:08.800 --> 01:00:12.920
would be, who you think the killer is, and you

01:00:12.920 --> 01:00:16.000
just are shocked when this turns into a manhunt?

01:00:17.289 --> 01:00:20.070
teenagers are gonna go off and try to find another

01:00:20.070 --> 01:00:22.650
teenager because they killed his girlfriend like

01:00:22.650 --> 01:00:31.110
what what what what um and then this this goes

01:00:31.110 --> 01:00:36.429
to the fred situation i i don't understand why

01:00:36.429 --> 01:00:38.889
we don't know more about this car accident where

01:00:38.889 --> 01:00:42.500
someone died yeah i and i Couldn't at the time

01:00:42.500 --> 01:00:45.519
when I was writing my notes on this, I couldn't

01:00:45.519 --> 01:00:47.780
remember if this was answered. It's not. I finished

01:00:47.780 --> 01:00:51.599
this season. It's not answered at all. And there's

01:00:51.599 --> 01:00:54.579
someone else who has died amongst all these other

01:00:54.579 --> 01:00:58.239
deaths in Hawkins in this fiery car accident.

01:00:58.340 --> 01:01:00.820
And we don't know who they were, what the situation

01:01:00.820 --> 01:01:04.840
was, how it was. Was it built into the lore of

01:01:04.840 --> 01:01:07.960
Hawkins being cursed? We don't know anything

01:01:07.960 --> 01:01:09.719
about it. It's just like, oh, yeah, someone else

01:01:09.719 --> 01:01:15.260
died. Yeah. She's like, what? What? That's crazy.

01:01:16.400 --> 01:01:23.420
And then going back to Jonathan, while he was

01:01:23.420 --> 01:01:25.599
giving me nothing, now he's giving me too much

01:01:25.599 --> 01:01:28.519
because he has some crazy self -confidence here.

01:01:28.960 --> 01:01:31.579
Thinking that Nancy is just going to throw her

01:01:31.579 --> 01:01:33.980
life out the window to go to community college

01:01:33.980 --> 01:01:40.469
with him in California. Have you met Nancy? He's

01:01:40.469 --> 01:01:43.170
just, he doesn't want to tell her that he's not

01:01:43.170 --> 01:01:45.650
going to go to college because he thinks she's

01:01:45.650 --> 01:01:48.309
going to throw her life away for him. And like,

01:01:48.550 --> 01:01:52.909
um, I know that you're like pretty cool, but

01:01:52.909 --> 01:01:58.050
no. Yeah, for real. My God. Um, all right. I'm

01:01:58.050 --> 01:02:01.090
just going to very quickly say my, my piece about

01:02:01.090 --> 01:02:05.320
the, the California stuff. Yes. Okay. First of

01:02:05.320 --> 01:02:07.139
all, I love the fact that Mike's outfit sucks

01:02:07.139 --> 01:02:10.380
because I think it's well -deserved. It's indicative

01:02:10.380 --> 01:02:13.320
of his taste. I also think that it's a very,

01:02:13.360 --> 01:02:17.420
like, classic 1980s California vibe, which I

01:02:17.420 --> 01:02:19.360
just think that that sense of style right there

01:02:19.360 --> 01:02:21.639
is pretty bad and it doesn't work on him. I still

01:02:21.639 --> 01:02:24.099
think he looks iconic, even though I think he

01:02:24.099 --> 01:02:31.199
also looks terrible. I, my actual, in all seriousness,

01:02:31.219 --> 01:02:34.019
my biggest... problem with this entire thing

01:02:34.019 --> 01:02:36.460
is the use of argyle's character which we have

01:02:36.460 --> 01:02:41.039
like very little indigenous or or uh latino representation

01:02:41.039 --> 01:02:45.340
in the show and they choose for him to be a big

01:02:45.340 --> 01:02:48.539
california stoner the entire time who can only

01:02:48.539 --> 01:02:50.860
calm down and is only there for comedic relief

01:02:50.860 --> 01:02:54.119
and i think it's like a borderline in irresponsible

01:02:54.119 --> 01:02:57.059
use of his character and then to not bring him

01:02:57.059 --> 01:02:59.119
back in season five to help fix some of those

01:02:59.119 --> 01:03:02.559
stuff i'm like Dude, what the heck are you guys

01:03:02.559 --> 01:03:05.599
thinking? You take one of your only brown characters

01:03:05.599 --> 01:03:09.300
outside of Lucas and you make him just this stoner

01:03:09.300 --> 01:03:12.739
pot man thing who is like a bad influence on

01:03:12.739 --> 01:03:17.039
a Mormon girl later on. Like, there are moments

01:03:17.039 --> 01:03:19.420
where he's funny and good, but that's your only

01:03:19.420 --> 01:03:22.179
version. Like, that's the only guy who is of

01:03:22.179 --> 01:03:29.420
that ilk. He has two moments of legitimate. planning

01:03:29.420 --> 01:03:33.179
intelligence knowledge yes one is recognizing

01:03:33.179 --> 01:03:37.719
tire tread as military vehicles why amazing and

01:03:37.719 --> 01:03:41.960
the second one is being able to commandeer a

01:03:41.960 --> 01:03:48.239
pizza boy freezer an entire pizza place so that

01:03:48.239 --> 01:03:50.760
they can use the freezer for the mind no he's

01:03:50.760 --> 01:03:53.219
like later on he's like a fbi agent of pizza

01:03:53.219 --> 01:03:55.639
places i need to commandeer your uh your shop

01:03:56.799 --> 01:03:59.320
Anyways, that's an actual serious thing. In terms

01:03:59.320 --> 01:04:02.480
of the rest of it, I just, like, Jonathan's storyline

01:04:02.480 --> 01:04:05.780
stinks. Like, he's just, like, a stoner. He has

01:04:05.780 --> 01:04:08.260
a storyline? He's not. No, he doesn't. He's,

01:04:08.280 --> 01:04:10.380
like, freaking out about Nancy for a second.

01:04:10.440 --> 01:04:12.619
Like, they set up a bunch of cool stuff in episode

01:04:12.619 --> 01:04:15.440
one. They set up Jonathan having major problems

01:04:15.440 --> 01:04:17.719
with dealing with all of this stuff. They set

01:04:17.719 --> 01:04:21.250
up Mike and Elle not getting along. Elle's trouble

01:04:21.250 --> 01:04:23.210
socializing and getting used to California and

01:04:23.210 --> 01:04:25.409
being bullied and having a difficult time with

01:04:25.409 --> 01:04:27.429
her powers. The only thing that gets really continued

01:04:27.429 --> 01:04:29.190
is her having a difficult time with her powers.

01:04:29.369 --> 01:04:33.070
Will and his connection with Mike and how that's

01:04:33.070 --> 01:04:35.989
been interrupted and why aren't they really together?

01:04:36.090 --> 01:04:40.190
And also his love and professed interest in being

01:04:40.190 --> 01:04:44.460
kind of Mike's soulmate in a way. uh completely

01:04:44.460 --> 01:04:46.440
not really followed through lightly drizzled

01:04:46.440 --> 01:04:49.320
in there jonathan ends up having really no storyline

01:04:49.320 --> 01:04:51.539
oh nancy and we're not gonna get together and

01:04:51.539 --> 01:04:53.019
i'm just afraid and i want to be with my family

01:04:53.019 --> 01:04:54.920
and then he ends up in hawkins and the only thing

01:04:54.920 --> 01:04:57.400
is that they're like are we okay yeah we're okay

01:04:57.400 --> 01:04:59.099
all right great now we've got a love triangle

01:04:59.099 --> 01:05:02.369
totally And we've got Argyle, who's apparently

01:05:02.369 --> 01:05:04.429
not, like, not in season five, not apparently.

01:05:04.469 --> 01:05:06.829
He said, the actor said himself he's not in it.

01:05:06.849 --> 01:05:09.489
So then we have him for, what, no reason at all.

01:05:09.550 --> 01:05:11.710
Just those two things that you mentioned. And

01:05:11.710 --> 01:05:14.449
then, like, Elle's entire story is just this

01:05:14.449 --> 01:05:17.469
frustrating, sort of, we have to hem and haw

01:05:17.469 --> 01:05:19.690
into getting her powers back because we deleted

01:05:19.690 --> 01:05:22.349
them at the end of last season. And I just, I,

01:05:22.469 --> 01:05:25.889
those three, those storylines are just such a

01:05:25.889 --> 01:05:29.380
bag of nothing. That I, like, when I think about

01:05:29.380 --> 01:05:31.739
this season, and I love this season, I, like,

01:05:31.739 --> 01:05:33.579
delete those out of my memory. But other people

01:05:33.579 --> 01:05:35.659
that I talk to are, like, they don't like this

01:05:35.659 --> 01:05:36.920
season because that's the only thing that they

01:05:36.920 --> 01:05:39.599
can remember. Is that Elle does nothing. And

01:05:39.599 --> 01:05:41.219
she doesn't do nothing. We'll get into the nitty

01:05:41.219 --> 01:05:43.639
gritty of it later. And Mike does nothing. And

01:05:43.639 --> 01:05:45.360
he really doesn't do anything. They just, like,

01:05:45.380 --> 01:05:48.880
go on a road trip through desert to find Nino.

01:05:49.380 --> 01:05:57.239
Like, it's really frustrating. Anyways. Conversely,

01:05:57.280 --> 01:06:02.099
Eddie is super good. The actor for him is incredible.

01:06:02.860 --> 01:06:06.400
Amazing. There's that absolutely gorgeous scene

01:06:06.400 --> 01:06:09.019
of them explaining everything to Eddie in the

01:06:09.019 --> 01:06:13.159
boathouse. Where they set up how they think Hawkins

01:06:13.159 --> 01:06:16.579
is cursed. They're not entirely far off. And

01:06:16.579 --> 01:06:19.119
it's just welcoming this other guy into their

01:06:19.119 --> 01:06:23.460
story. And that's all interwoven with Fred being

01:06:23.460 --> 01:06:26.699
killed at the same time. And it's just a great

01:06:26.699 --> 01:06:29.340
sequence. And I just, I love Eddie Munson so

01:06:29.340 --> 01:06:32.840
much. He legitimately might be my third favorite

01:06:32.840 --> 01:06:35.860
character on the show. Yeah, I love that. I think

01:06:35.860 --> 01:06:39.760
he's, I think he's fantastic. And I mean, obviously,

01:06:39.820 --> 01:06:44.039
Joseph Quinn has done some pretty phenomenal

01:06:44.039 --> 01:06:50.239
things since this too. Between one of the Quiet

01:06:50.239 --> 01:06:54.159
Place movies, Gladiator 2. And now Fantastic

01:06:54.159 --> 01:06:58.199
Four. And he's signed on for, you know, being

01:06:58.199 --> 01:07:02.639
Johnny Storm in all future projects. And he's

01:07:02.639 --> 01:07:06.900
going to be I think he's even signed on for being

01:07:06.900 --> 01:07:11.860
in some Beatles biopics as George Harrison. So,

01:07:11.960 --> 01:07:14.099
I mean, he's just he's got a lot in the works.

01:07:14.119 --> 01:07:16.840
And that really, I mean, really all stems from.

01:07:16.880 --> 01:07:19.309
Yeah. Stranger Things. performance in Stranger

01:07:19.309 --> 01:07:21.789
Things. Didn't Cardi B want to DM him, too? Or

01:07:21.789 --> 01:07:23.230
was that Megan Thee Stallion or something like

01:07:23.230 --> 01:07:26.809
that? I can't remember exactly, but yeah, I mean,

01:07:26.829 --> 01:07:30.449
he was in some things before, bit parts here

01:07:30.449 --> 01:07:33.170
and there and stuff like that, but this is really

01:07:33.170 --> 01:07:35.989
where things kicked off, and it shows because

01:07:35.989 --> 01:07:41.110
he is phenomenal. I think he is the MVP acting

01:07:41.110 --> 01:07:44.409
-wise of this season. Yeah. Yeah, I would definitely

01:07:44.409 --> 01:07:48.329
agree with that. Episode 3! Okay. fascinating

01:07:48.329 --> 01:07:50.250
politics with dr sam at the beginning with the

01:07:50.250 --> 01:07:51.869
fact that the u .s government is infighting about

01:07:51.869 --> 01:07:54.530
that some people think that l is the problem

01:07:54.530 --> 01:07:56.389
and should be killed and this is tying into a

01:07:56.389 --> 01:07:58.449
storyline that i never bought into even in the

01:07:58.449 --> 01:08:01.329
first watch which is like l is the monster and

01:08:01.329 --> 01:08:03.210
they like really try and hammer this idea that

01:08:03.210 --> 01:08:05.190
like 11 is the one that killed all those kids

01:08:05.190 --> 01:08:07.630
when they do the flashback and then she even

01:08:07.630 --> 01:08:09.769
herself was like what if i am the monster and

01:08:09.769 --> 01:08:12.130
dr sam's like i'm betting my life that you aren't

01:08:12.130 --> 01:08:15.360
and it's like come on people like she's Not in

01:08:15.360 --> 01:08:17.239
this season. She's not going to be the monster.

01:08:18.020 --> 01:08:21.560
But maybe in season five she'll turn. We'll see.

01:08:22.500 --> 01:08:24.659
But I just I liked the politics. I liked bringing

01:08:24.659 --> 01:08:26.220
in a little bit of real life. You know, we see

01:08:26.220 --> 01:08:27.720
very little of what the U .S. government does

01:08:27.720 --> 01:08:31.079
outside of Hawkins directly. So to see it on

01:08:31.079 --> 01:08:32.960
Dr. Sam's front door with the military, I thought

01:08:32.960 --> 01:08:37.800
was cool. Yeah, definitely. I had an issue with

01:08:37.800 --> 01:08:40.159
Murray and Joyce because did they really not

01:08:40.159 --> 01:08:42.520
come up with a cover story before the kids got

01:08:42.520 --> 01:08:45.199
home? They made this plan and had all day to

01:08:45.199 --> 01:08:49.060
figure it out. And then Joyce has the worst lying

01:08:49.060 --> 01:08:53.239
I've ever seen out of anybody ever. And you have

01:08:53.239 --> 01:08:59.279
a five year old. A thing. Yeah. I've got a thing.

01:09:00.420 --> 01:09:04.180
Yeah, that conference. A conference. Yes, a conference.

01:09:04.300 --> 01:09:13.159
In Alaska. That's stupid. Sure. Sure. I do, unfortunately,

01:09:13.619 --> 01:09:16.180
Sam, I'm really sorry, but I do have to give

01:09:16.180 --> 01:09:20.220
Mike some props here. Okay. For how he talks

01:09:20.220 --> 01:09:24.510
to Elle. I know he's not the best, but he does

01:09:24.510 --> 01:09:26.810
have yet another moment where he's trying to

01:09:26.810 --> 01:09:31.069
connect to her, tries to understand her. And

01:09:31.069 --> 01:09:35.289
it works okay until his feelings come up and

01:09:35.289 --> 01:09:39.310
then he panics. Overall, though, he does pretty

01:09:39.310 --> 01:09:42.369
well. And this is really the second time ever

01:09:42.369 --> 01:09:45.529
that we see this from him, of him actually being

01:09:45.529 --> 01:09:48.569
able to like really connect with Elle and communicate

01:09:48.569 --> 01:09:54.199
properly and kind of. bring bring his viewpoint

01:09:54.199 --> 01:09:57.880
and her viewpoint together yeah and so i do have

01:09:57.880 --> 01:10:00.300
to give him a little bit of a no i i totally

01:10:00.300 --> 01:10:02.899
agree i totally agree and i think it's a necessary

01:10:02.899 --> 01:10:05.180
scene to keep his character alive in any way

01:10:05.180 --> 01:10:12.739
shape or form um i think murray sierra i get

01:10:12.739 --> 01:10:14.899
that joyce is trusting of yuri but murray is

01:10:14.899 --> 01:10:17.560
way too trusting of yuri as compared to oh for

01:10:17.560 --> 01:10:20.119
sure what season two murray like murray changes

01:10:20.119 --> 01:10:22.779
a ton Over this show, into whatever the show

01:10:22.779 --> 01:10:27.220
needs him to be. And he's just such a great physical

01:10:27.220 --> 01:10:30.100
actor, and his voice is so dramatic that I get

01:10:30.100 --> 01:10:32.560
why they're utilizing those talents to make him

01:10:32.560 --> 01:10:36.340
this big, huge character. Big energy -wise, right?

01:10:37.079 --> 01:10:39.840
But he's way too trusting of Yuri. Season 2 Murray

01:10:39.840 --> 01:10:44.960
would never, could never. No. Never. Would never,

01:10:45.060 --> 01:10:46.880
could never. Would never, could never. Never

01:10:46.880 --> 01:10:51.390
in a million years. Were you... Ever afraid that

01:10:51.390 --> 01:10:54.529
Lucas would actually join Jason's crew? Because

01:10:54.529 --> 01:10:57.390
to me, the Jason's crew line is a little weak

01:10:57.390 --> 01:11:00.970
in these four episodes. No, I never thought that

01:11:00.970 --> 01:11:05.970
he'd actually like wholeheartedly join in. You

01:11:05.970 --> 01:11:07.609
know, I think that there's a little bit of a

01:11:07.609 --> 01:11:12.689
fear of how far he'd go playing along. Right.

01:11:13.569 --> 01:11:16.350
But I think that that's where it ended for me

01:11:16.350 --> 01:11:20.380
is, you know, I think it's just. Well, what if

01:11:20.380 --> 01:11:24.140
they actually do show up and they are all there?

01:11:24.279 --> 01:11:27.180
You know, what is Lucas going to do then? At

01:11:27.180 --> 01:11:31.220
what point does he turn his back on? Who is he

01:11:31.220 --> 01:11:34.840
going to turn his back on? Yeah. But he escapes

01:11:34.840 --> 01:11:36.840
from them before any of that really happens.

01:11:36.979 --> 01:11:40.319
So I don't know. Yeah, I feel like it falls a

01:11:40.319 --> 01:11:44.060
little bit flat because we just don't have that.

01:11:45.080 --> 01:11:49.520
Yeah, and I think that overall, just the Jason's

01:11:49.520 --> 01:11:55.720
crew plot doesn't – it stays weak. Jason's not

01:11:55.720 --> 01:11:59.880
weak. Jason's great. Jason's great, but none

01:11:59.880 --> 01:12:02.579
of his, like, lackeys – I mean, they start out

01:12:02.579 --> 01:12:04.779
with, like, what, eight basketball players or

01:12:04.779 --> 01:12:06.899
something like that? And by the time that we

01:12:06.899 --> 01:12:08.960
get to the lake, there's only three of them,

01:12:09.000 --> 01:12:12.880
and then the one, you know, dies. And so then

01:12:12.880 --> 01:12:15.739
– By the time that we get to really the impactful

01:12:15.739 --> 01:12:21.159
Jason stuff, there's Jason and a guy who tackles

01:12:21.159 --> 01:12:27.600
a small girl. There's just one other guy who

01:12:27.600 --> 01:12:30.239
tackles a small girl and then can barely hold

01:12:30.239 --> 01:12:33.640
on to her before she kicks him in the bejubies.

01:12:36.600 --> 01:12:40.479
Yeah, you know, I like it as a runner storyline,

01:12:40.659 --> 01:12:41.979
right? It's not an A story, it's not a B story.

01:12:43.000 --> 01:12:46.560
But it is, at moments, I just wish that it was

01:12:46.560 --> 01:12:49.180
more like Lucas felt stuck being there, rather

01:12:49.180 --> 01:12:52.020
than playing with the audience in terms of like,

01:12:52.060 --> 01:12:54.180
Lucas might choose them because he wants to be

01:12:54.180 --> 01:12:57.220
popular, not a freak. Nah, no. I just found,

01:12:57.319 --> 01:12:59.699
and so his big line at the end where he's like,

01:13:00.119 --> 01:13:02.760
normalcy is psychotic. And I'm like, cool, that

01:13:02.760 --> 01:13:06.520
feels like the Duffer Brothers having a theme

01:13:06.520 --> 01:13:08.779
that they're trying to teach. And it's almost

01:13:08.779 --> 01:13:11.439
a little didactic in that moment because... I

01:13:11.439 --> 01:13:13.720
never really believe that Lucas, for a moment,

01:13:13.819 --> 01:13:16.939
is like, I'm going to be with these guys even

01:13:16.939 --> 01:13:19.420
though they're killing people. Versus I do believe

01:13:19.420 --> 01:13:20.920
it at the beginning when he just wants to be

01:13:20.920 --> 01:13:23.859
on the basketball team. Right. All right, cool.

01:13:23.960 --> 01:13:26.800
Cool, cool, cool. Yeah, definitely. Last thing

01:13:26.800 --> 01:13:28.779
about episode three before we get to episode

01:13:28.779 --> 01:13:32.100
four. The realization that Max is in danger and

01:13:32.100 --> 01:13:35.020
is going to be killed is an all -time TV moment

01:13:35.020 --> 01:13:38.279
for me. Mm -hmm. Like, absolutely. I remember

01:13:38.279 --> 01:13:42.979
specifically being like, what? And then not even

01:13:42.979 --> 01:13:45.520
asking my wife if we can watch the next one,

01:13:45.539 --> 01:13:48.619
just hitting the next button. Like, I had to

01:13:48.619 --> 01:13:50.699
watch more. Because like I said, Max in my first

01:13:50.699 --> 01:13:51.920
watch, in my second watch, in my third watch,

01:13:52.020 --> 01:13:54.680
my favorite character. Still tied for my favorite

01:13:54.680 --> 01:13:58.000
character with Dustin. Like, my anxiety around,

01:13:58.180 --> 01:14:00.539
oh my gosh, we're going to lose Max was huge

01:14:00.539 --> 01:14:03.819
because I just like her so much. And then episode

01:14:03.819 --> 01:14:09.279
four, I got super chills when Max says, Percy's

01:14:09.279 --> 01:14:12.420
headache started seven days ago. Fred's six days

01:14:12.420 --> 01:14:16.399
ago. I've been having them for five days. Oh,

01:14:16.619 --> 01:14:25.859
I went, not this redheaded delight. My poor girl.

01:14:26.000 --> 01:14:31.560
Yeah. But yeah, really, really well done delivery

01:14:31.560 --> 01:14:34.159
on that line reading as well. Yeah. From her.

01:14:34.279 --> 01:14:39.779
The Mike and Will conversation. about doing things

01:14:39.779 --> 01:14:44.840
together as a team of best friends is a beautiful

01:14:44.840 --> 01:14:49.239
callback to when Mike says that if they're ever

01:14:49.239 --> 01:14:51.539
going to go crazy, at least they'll go crazy

01:14:51.539 --> 01:14:53.720
together. I like that. It's a nice callback.

01:14:53.739 --> 01:14:57.060
I really like that kind of rounded moment. And

01:14:57.060 --> 01:15:03.420
that full circle moment is very sweet. And even

01:15:03.420 --> 01:15:07.520
though Mike and Will are not quite in the same...

01:15:07.930 --> 01:15:11.510
of where they're coming from with their friendship

01:15:11.510 --> 01:15:14.770
and their relationship with each other. I think

01:15:14.770 --> 01:15:17.989
it's just a really nice moment that we don't

01:15:17.989 --> 01:15:24.449
get a ton of between the guys in these episodes.

01:15:24.710 --> 01:15:29.779
Totally. So it's nice. Yeah. I've... Sorry to

01:15:29.779 --> 01:15:31.560
keep bringing it back to Max. I've never been

01:15:31.560 --> 01:15:33.939
more stressed about a character surviving in

01:15:33.939 --> 01:15:39.380
a TV show ever. Like, I'm like, oh, yeah, sure,

01:15:39.479 --> 01:15:41.159
the Michael Mills stuff. Absolutely. Give me

01:15:41.159 --> 01:15:44.199
Max. Where is my precious darling baby girl?

01:15:45.000 --> 01:15:48.779
I don't want her dead. Feels like a niece that

01:15:48.779 --> 01:15:51.439
I'm super protective over. But the sequence of

01:15:51.439 --> 01:15:55.409
Max being under Vecna's spell. Robin and Nancy

01:15:55.409 --> 01:15:58.189
being nearly arrested with Dustin calling on

01:15:58.189 --> 01:16:00.850
the radio for info and then putting music on

01:16:00.850 --> 01:16:03.489
Max's head and Max running for it is just like

01:16:03.489 --> 01:16:07.670
crazy good and might be the best thing in season

01:16:07.670 --> 01:16:11.130
four period. No, I think it is. It's incredible.

01:16:11.289 --> 01:16:14.090
Which is kind of a bummer that it happens halfway

01:16:14.090 --> 01:16:17.270
through season four, but it is, it is phenomenal.

01:16:17.470 --> 01:16:20.689
I think it is. It is very, very, very well done.

01:16:20.689 --> 01:16:23.529
The finale is really good for season four, but

01:16:23.529 --> 01:16:27.170
I just, like, the stakes are so big. I don't

01:16:27.170 --> 01:16:28.649
know. Maybe season four might be, but we'll get

01:16:28.649 --> 01:16:29.850
to that when we get to that. The season four

01:16:29.850 --> 01:16:32.470
finale might beat it. But this is such a crazy

01:16:32.470 --> 01:16:36.829
good bit of television. Yeah. And so is Hop's

01:16:36.829 --> 01:16:41.210
Escape. Yeah. Oh, gosh. However, me just, I'm

01:16:41.210 --> 01:16:44.109
watching this going. There's no way that he's

01:16:44.109 --> 01:16:47.289
doing all of this barefoot. Oh my God, he's doing

01:16:47.289 --> 01:16:52.850
all of this barefoot. Yep. Because I was watching

01:16:52.850 --> 01:16:55.350
it and I was going, he must have taken the guard's

01:16:55.350 --> 01:16:59.069
shoes before he runs through the snow, hops on

01:16:59.069 --> 01:17:03.670
a snowmobile, goes for quite some time, hops

01:17:03.670 --> 01:17:06.869
out, walks again through the snow, gets into

01:17:06.869 --> 01:17:11.069
a building. And then I go, no, oh, no, no, no.

01:17:12.630 --> 01:17:15.510
How does he not have frostbite on all of his

01:17:15.510 --> 01:17:18.369
toesies? It's an absolutely, like, oversight

01:17:18.369 --> 01:17:21.250
by the show. He 100 % should have frostbite for

01:17:21.250 --> 01:17:23.750
that long of a trip out in the cold. And when

01:17:23.750 --> 01:17:26.329
his feet are in snow and then on metal in exposed

01:17:26.329 --> 01:17:29.270
winter air in Siberian Russia, like, are you

01:17:29.270 --> 01:17:32.670
kidding? Absolutely, he should be amputating

01:17:32.670 --> 01:17:34.529
his feet. He should have lost multiple toes.

01:17:34.750 --> 01:17:38.289
If not feet. Yes. If not feet. Because he's got

01:17:38.289 --> 01:17:42.430
an exposed wound, too. oh yeah it should be is

01:17:42.430 --> 01:17:46.510
it an exposed wound or he just it was hit so

01:17:46.510 --> 01:17:48.829
hard that it like broke something on the inside

01:17:48.829 --> 01:17:52.390
i i think i remember it being exposed so his

01:17:52.390 --> 01:17:54.430
blood vessels no matter what should be freezing

01:17:54.430 --> 01:17:58.430
everywhere yeah also a big welcome back to billy

01:17:58.430 --> 01:18:04.289
uh coming into the scene i honestly really enjoyed

01:18:04.289 --> 01:18:07.609
yeah seeing him again just for a minute i hope

01:18:07.609 --> 01:18:10.500
he's back in all of season five that would be

01:18:10.500 --> 01:18:13.060
fantastic he's so good it was also what a harrowing

01:18:13.060 --> 01:18:15.840
scene for max and the viewers yeah where he's

01:18:15.840 --> 01:18:17.760
billy and then vecta appears and it's like wow

01:18:17.760 --> 01:18:21.100
oh you know i don't really love vecta's design

01:18:21.100 --> 01:18:25.680
but i love his whole the way in which he's scary

01:18:25.680 --> 01:18:29.739
yes yeah His whole terrifying existence. Yes.

01:18:29.899 --> 01:18:31.960
All right. Rapidly moving on with the rest of

01:18:31.960 --> 01:18:33.800
our categories, y 'all. Thank you for bearing

01:18:33.800 --> 01:18:37.060
with us. There's so much happens in season four

01:18:37.060 --> 01:18:38.520
that our episodes are probably going to be a

01:18:38.520 --> 01:18:41.779
little longer than our previous ones. So into

01:18:41.779 --> 01:18:46.319
our last categories. You know you don't always

01:18:46.319 --> 01:18:48.899
have to face down a horde of angry soldiers by

01:18:48.899 --> 01:18:53.539
yourself. Buckle up, Schmisseners. It's our Sansa

01:18:53.539 --> 01:18:57.489
is smarter than John category for. What is the

01:18:57.489 --> 01:19:00.850
most important character moment of these episodes?

01:19:01.850 --> 01:19:06.409
I think, Elle, what if I'm not good? What if

01:19:06.409 --> 01:19:09.550
I'm the monster? Yeah, I think it's an important

01:19:09.550 --> 01:19:11.109
moment. I think it's pretty important. It is.

01:19:11.130 --> 01:19:14.109
It's really important. I can't get behind it,

01:19:14.130 --> 01:19:17.310
mainly because her storyline is so unimportant.

01:19:17.899 --> 01:19:20.420
Mm -hmm. That I kind of tossed it aside. Like,

01:19:20.420 --> 01:19:22.000
that's an important moment for her to come to

01:19:22.000 --> 01:19:23.600
the realization that she might be a problem.

01:19:24.220 --> 01:19:26.659
Mm -hmm. And the audience has been lingering

01:19:26.659 --> 01:19:28.500
with questions about that since the end of season

01:19:28.500 --> 01:19:32.779
one. Mm -hmm. But for me, for whole season reasons,

01:19:33.079 --> 01:19:36.079
the most important moment is Eddie running away,

01:19:36.260 --> 01:19:38.079
trying to wake Chrissy up, and then bolting.

01:19:38.140 --> 01:19:42.279
Yeah. Yeah. Mm -hmm. I know you just lost a hand,

01:19:42.399 --> 01:19:46.250
but listen up. It's the eye. am your father category

01:19:46.250 --> 01:19:48.789
for most iconic character moment. I think there's

01:19:48.789 --> 01:19:51.550
only one. It's Max. Yep. At the end of season

01:19:51.550 --> 01:19:54.409
three, realizing she's next on Vecna's list and

01:19:54.409 --> 01:19:57.829
seeing the clock in Hawkins High. Yes. All right.

01:19:57.930 --> 01:20:03.350
Kinker. Done. That's it. Everybody sit down.

01:20:03.789 --> 01:20:10.010
It's time for our I am Iron Man award. Most iconic

01:20:10.010 --> 01:20:14.090
and most important scene. Yeah, there's only

01:20:14.090 --> 01:20:15.970
one again on this. It's the sequence of realizing

01:20:15.970 --> 01:20:18.449
Mac is under Vecna's spell with Steve coming

01:20:18.449 --> 01:20:21.409
up to the grave, realizing that she's under Vecna's

01:20:21.409 --> 01:20:23.250
spell, and then the Scooby -Dooby's coming to

01:20:23.250 --> 01:20:26.109
her rescue. And then her saving herself by running

01:20:26.109 --> 01:20:29.829
up that hill slash running on a plane. Yes. Like

01:20:29.829 --> 01:20:31.689
a flat plane. Yes. While running up that hill

01:20:31.689 --> 01:20:35.449
is playing and she gets out. Yes. 100%. Sorry.

01:20:35.569 --> 01:20:38.829
I would like to mention I'm very tickled by the

01:20:38.829 --> 01:20:42.720
Scooby -Dooby. I'm just so grateful. I was going

01:20:42.720 --> 01:20:45.899
to say it after the first time. I was going to

01:20:45.899 --> 01:20:47.520
say it after the first time you said it, and

01:20:47.520 --> 01:20:51.180
we just kept moving on. But I have to mention

01:20:51.180 --> 01:20:53.100
it. The Scooby -Doo, it's a great nickname for

01:20:53.100 --> 01:20:55.220
him, is it not? It's so good. I love it. It's

01:20:55.220 --> 01:21:01.140
so great. Crack open an encyclopedia, as Elijah

01:21:01.140 --> 01:21:04.359
Wood once said, no, how could we have known category,

01:21:04.640 --> 01:21:06.720
where we discuss the most important information

01:21:06.720 --> 01:21:10.140
disseminated to the fandom in these four episodes.

01:21:11.279 --> 01:21:15.079
Elle was created to be a long -range assassin.

01:21:15.699 --> 01:21:19.619
Yeah. What? Officially confirmed. Wildly impactful.

01:21:20.840 --> 01:21:24.939
Crazy. It's insane. Just bonkers. It's really

01:21:24.939 --> 01:21:28.060
insane. That four seasons in, we are learning

01:21:28.060 --> 01:21:31.079
her progress. Why she was developed. Yeah. Exactly.

01:21:31.079 --> 01:21:34.119
And once we get to the play, Sierra, you will

01:21:34.119 --> 01:21:36.619
see how that's not exactly accurate from only

01:21:36.619 --> 01:21:39.920
Brenner's standpoint. Right. The U .S. government

01:21:39.920 --> 01:21:42.000
thinks that's what's going on, but it is interesting

01:21:42.000 --> 01:21:44.300
what Brenner is doing. So a little teaser there

01:21:44.300 --> 01:21:48.319
for y 'all to tune into our season five prediction

01:21:48.319 --> 01:21:52.439
slash play episode. Yes. Keep your horses safe.

01:21:52.640 --> 01:21:55.720
It's the I'm going to make them an offer we can't

01:21:55.720 --> 01:21:59.880
refuse category of best lines. Before we start,

01:21:59.920 --> 01:22:01.539
Sierra, I'm going to tell you right now. Yes.

01:22:01.659 --> 01:22:04.319
Usually, I think you pick the better lines. And

01:22:04.319 --> 01:22:06.619
all of my lines, I think, are better this time.

01:22:07.620 --> 01:22:10.800
Oh, really? Yeah, I do. I love it. Okay. I'm

01:22:10.800 --> 01:22:13.640
so excited. Okay, go for it. Your lines. All

01:22:13.640 --> 01:22:17.880
right. I don't like this Chrissy. From Eddie.

01:22:18.079 --> 01:22:21.500
The full line being Chrissy, wake up. I don't

01:22:21.500 --> 01:22:26.420
like this Chrissy. I mean, alone. Let's face

01:22:26.420 --> 01:22:30.680
it. We totally suck. Totally and utterly. I do

01:22:30.680 --> 01:22:35.260
like this. Steve and Robin. This one cracked

01:22:35.260 --> 01:22:39.909
me up just so much. It's okay. Steve will get

01:22:39.909 --> 01:22:43.670
him with his oar. That's a great one. By Dustin.

01:22:45.210 --> 01:22:48.409
I sense tension. It's the risotto, isn't it?

01:22:48.550 --> 01:22:52.510
Everyone hates the risotto. By Murray. That's

01:22:52.510 --> 01:22:54.510
a really good line. I might take it back on that

01:22:54.510 --> 01:22:57.329
one. That one line might be on par with mine.

01:22:59.390 --> 01:23:06.819
Which I actually, two days ago, saw. A clip of

01:23:06.819 --> 01:23:11.159
this exact line again. Amazing. On some sort

01:23:11.159 --> 01:23:12.680
of social media. I don't remember what it was,

01:23:12.760 --> 01:23:16.000
but I saw it again. Steve saying, I could have

01:23:16.000 --> 01:23:22.079
taken you out with this lamp. So good. And then

01:23:22.079 --> 01:23:27.199
my last one is Enzo. A hundred to one. Yeah.

01:23:27.239 --> 01:23:29.899
It's a good, it's good. It's a great line. It's

01:23:29.899 --> 01:23:31.779
a good line. And it's a great delivery. And it

01:23:31.779 --> 01:23:34.340
comes back. It's better delivery though, than

01:23:34.340 --> 01:23:37.710
it is a line. Fair enough. But I mean, that actor

01:23:37.710 --> 01:23:40.369
is just great, too. The guy who plays Dimitri

01:23:40.369 --> 01:23:45.430
slash Enzo is incredible. So I had Chrissy wake

01:23:45.430 --> 01:23:47.789
up as well, but I have the whole thing. Chrissy,

01:23:47.850 --> 01:23:51.510
wake up. I don't like this. Chrissy. Because

01:23:51.510 --> 01:23:54.510
it became a whole TikTok song during the pandemic

01:23:54.510 --> 01:23:57.810
-y time when this show was out. So I have that.

01:23:57.909 --> 01:24:01.449
My other two are great lines. First of all, it's

01:24:01.449 --> 01:24:04.590
Robin with a killer of a lore builder line here.

01:24:05.510 --> 01:24:07.250
She's telling Nancy as they're about to get arrested

01:24:07.250 --> 01:24:08.489
when Nancy's like, we're going to make a run

01:24:08.489 --> 01:24:10.829
for the car. She goes, I got to tell you, I have

01:24:10.829 --> 01:24:12.649
terrible coordination. It took me six months

01:24:12.649 --> 01:24:14.569
longer to learn to walk than all the other babies.

01:24:18.850 --> 01:24:22.289
Which if you think about it. It's so funny. It's

01:24:22.289 --> 01:24:24.470
not just it took me six months longer, like on

01:24:24.470 --> 01:24:27.350
average. It's the last baby to have learned to

01:24:27.350 --> 01:24:30.630
walk. Then add six months and that's when I learned

01:24:30.630 --> 01:24:37.630
to walk. And then I have a very serious line

01:24:37.630 --> 01:24:39.289
here, which I think is one of the best lines

01:24:39.289 --> 01:24:41.649
that Lucas has ever given. He says, I don't need

01:24:41.649 --> 01:24:44.229
a letter. Talking to Max about the letters that

01:24:44.229 --> 01:24:46.630
she'd written. I don't want a letter. Just talk

01:24:46.630 --> 01:24:50.439
to me. To your friends. We're right here. I'm

01:24:50.439 --> 01:24:53.479
right here. That's a good one. It's a great one.

01:24:53.659 --> 01:24:56.739
Anyways, some good lines in there. Dust off that

01:24:56.739 --> 01:24:59.300
card deck and get ready to shuffle. It's our

01:24:59.300 --> 01:25:02.680
Joker category for who is the MVP of this set

01:25:02.680 --> 01:25:05.140
of episodes. I have an honorable mention before

01:25:05.140 --> 01:25:08.140
you give me the winner and slash pound for pound

01:25:08.140 --> 01:25:11.579
argument. Honorable mention to Steve. He has

01:25:11.579 --> 01:25:14.619
the timing right down in terms of being a good

01:25:14.619 --> 01:25:16.560
babysitter and then going to find Max right before

01:25:16.560 --> 01:25:18.000
she, like, because if he goes any second longer,

01:25:18.100 --> 01:25:20.819
she's probably dead. So pound for pound there

01:25:20.819 --> 01:25:23.340
for saving Max. And that leads to this whole

01:25:23.340 --> 01:25:26.819
confirmation that it's Victor and where Vecta

01:25:26.819 --> 01:25:29.500
might be, et cetera, et cetera. Right. Mm -hmm.

01:25:30.680 --> 01:25:34.560
I have a pound for pound on this one, which is

01:25:34.560 --> 01:25:37.060
Harmon. And if that name doesn't sound familiar,

01:25:37.319 --> 01:25:41.600
it's because it's mentioned one time. It is the

01:25:41.600 --> 01:25:50.579
cop guard Owen's guy who is... who's the one

01:25:50.579 --> 01:25:54.279
who is protecting the boys in the house. Not

01:25:54.279 --> 01:25:56.060
the one who gets taken captive, but the other

01:25:56.060 --> 01:25:57.840
one. So there's two. There's a black officer

01:25:57.840 --> 01:25:59.300
and there's a white officer. This is the white

01:25:59.300 --> 01:26:01.539
officer. Yeah, this is the white officer. He

01:26:01.539 --> 01:26:04.840
takes out an unbelievable number of soldiers

01:26:04.840 --> 01:26:09.579
with a pistol. He saves Jonathan, Mike, and Will,

01:26:09.699 --> 01:26:12.619
getting them out of the house, into the car,

01:26:12.680 --> 01:26:15.800
and away. He gets shot and killed in the process.

01:26:16.100 --> 01:26:21.439
But he does... A phenomenal amount of work in

01:26:21.439 --> 01:26:23.079
a very short amount of time. And he gives them

01:26:23.079 --> 01:26:25.279
the pen that has the location of where Elle is.

01:26:25.439 --> 01:26:29.039
Of Nina. Yeah. Mm -hmm. It's an exceptionally

01:26:29.039 --> 01:26:31.859
good argument. It really actually might be –

01:26:31.859 --> 01:26:35.119
he might be the MVP. I just – it's hard to give

01:26:35.119 --> 01:26:37.760
a one -name character – It's hard to give a pound

01:26:37.760 --> 01:26:40.239
-for -pound – yeah. To harm it. Versus, like,

01:26:40.239 --> 01:26:42.640
all the other legitimate pound -for -pound arguments

01:26:42.640 --> 01:26:46.640
have been, like – Yeah. Like the AV club teacher.

01:26:46.640 --> 01:26:50.229
Like a big character. yeah you know like he's

01:26:50.229 --> 01:26:52.350
a bigger character he's in a couple more episodes

01:26:52.350 --> 01:26:55.550
but yeah oh it's so true a little bit more going

01:26:55.550 --> 01:26:57.670
on but i think the real winner is this other

01:26:57.670 --> 01:27:01.970
person you have okay robin yeah for getting her

01:27:01.970 --> 01:27:06.449
and nancy in to see victor comes in clutch impromptu

01:27:06.449 --> 01:27:11.270
wild speech after nancy's telling her to just

01:27:11.270 --> 01:27:13.609
sit there and be quiet and let me do the talking

01:27:13.609 --> 01:27:19.640
and robin just in a moment of utter brilliance

01:27:19.640 --> 01:27:24.800
comes up with this monologue of cinematic proportions

01:27:24.800 --> 01:27:29.680
to explain why they desperately need to visit

01:27:29.680 --> 01:27:33.819
this man and and they do and they get the information

01:27:33.819 --> 01:27:39.039
that nitty -gritty that they need to know for

01:27:39.039 --> 01:27:44.300
real i i think it's got to be robin and i know

01:27:44.300 --> 01:27:48.380
that yeah that It's hard, because you could make

01:27:48.380 --> 01:27:50.880
this argument that Harmon saves those three boys,

01:27:51.039 --> 01:27:53.920
and those three boys end up saving Eleven, and

01:27:53.920 --> 01:27:56.260
Eleven is probably going to save the whole universe.

01:27:56.420 --> 01:27:59.239
At the same time, Robin is a bigger character

01:27:59.239 --> 01:28:02.020
who gets Nancy and her to figure out the Victor

01:28:02.020 --> 01:28:03.899
Creel stuff, which saves Max, which allows them

01:28:03.899 --> 01:28:07.500
to do more Victor Creel research and plan and

01:28:07.500 --> 01:28:10.420
really weaken Victor and allow time for Elle

01:28:10.420 --> 01:28:12.000
to get there before everything's been destroyed.

01:28:12.699 --> 01:28:17.159
And so I think just... I'm going with, I think

01:28:17.159 --> 01:28:19.340
we got to say Robin because I just, I can't have

01:28:19.340 --> 01:28:23.800
our list of MVPs be Harmon. Like when we put

01:28:23.800 --> 01:28:27.220
up the MVP doc winner, when we do that social

01:28:27.220 --> 01:28:29.859
media blast after we're done, I get like Harmon.

01:28:29.979 --> 01:28:33.880
No, I can have Mr. Scott. I can't have Harmon.

01:28:34.199 --> 01:28:37.539
Like we'd have to put up a photo of the guy.

01:28:37.779 --> 01:28:40.159
And even then we'd have to put up like a link

01:28:40.159 --> 01:28:45.369
to the scene that he's in. Exactly. All right,

01:28:45.390 --> 01:28:50.130
good. Clean your evil air. And get ready for

01:28:50.130 --> 01:28:55.090
our I was the turkey all along category for biggest

01:28:55.090 --> 01:28:57.869
takeaway viewers should leave with in preparation

01:28:57.869 --> 01:29:02.630
for season five. Okay, so Dustin goes over how

01:29:02.630 --> 01:29:05.649
Eleven only opened the gate and that the Upside

01:29:05.649 --> 01:29:08.170
Down probably existed for millions of years,

01:29:08.289 --> 01:29:11.949
which is not a surprise necessarily, but it's

01:29:11.949 --> 01:29:15.859
nice to get it written. For legal purposes, in

01:29:15.859 --> 01:29:21.520
case we need to sue. No. Interestingly, the upside

01:29:21.520 --> 01:29:24.600
down in a couple episodes, where one sort of

01:29:24.600 --> 01:29:27.000
originally gets there, doesn't look like Hawkins

01:29:27.000 --> 01:29:28.800
at all. So like a major question that I have

01:29:28.800 --> 01:29:32.659
for season five, is this something that opening

01:29:32.659 --> 01:29:37.640
the gate does? Or does Vecna do this? Secondly,

01:29:38.859 --> 01:29:42.180
Vecna's attacks are inside your mind, first and

01:29:42.180 --> 01:29:46.560
foremost. He is not like L's physical telekinesis.

01:29:46.800 --> 01:29:49.979
He attacks your mind, takes everything in your

01:29:49.979 --> 01:29:52.020
head for himself, and then breaks your bones

01:29:52.020 --> 01:29:55.319
and bodies after that. But it's very much an

01:29:55.319 --> 01:29:57.960
inside your own head. Not to, like, quote the

01:29:57.960 --> 01:30:02.199
Cranberries, but... In your head! In your head!

01:30:03.260 --> 01:30:06.439
Zombies! Okay, we can't get sued. That's parody?

01:30:06.680 --> 01:30:12.340
Question mark? But speaking of music, music that

01:30:12.340 --> 01:30:14.340
activates different parts of your brains and

01:30:14.340 --> 01:30:16.680
exists on different signals in the physical world

01:30:16.680 --> 01:30:19.960
can be a way to defeat or stall him. So we both

01:30:19.960 --> 01:30:25.140
got what his attacks originate in and also what

01:30:25.140 --> 01:30:27.420
types of things can mess with him, which is really

01:30:27.420 --> 01:30:29.560
good that we've got somebody like Dustin on the

01:30:29.560 --> 01:30:32.180
team who knows, who continues on with his AV

01:30:32.180 --> 01:30:36.729
knowledge and technology knowledge. Well, Sierra,

01:30:36.909 --> 01:30:39.289
I have a public service announcement for today.

01:30:39.930 --> 01:30:44.329
Before creating a long -range telekinetic assassin

01:30:44.329 --> 01:30:47.770
out of a child, please check that said child

01:30:47.770 --> 01:30:51.189
cannot create interdimensional doors. This will

01:30:51.189 --> 01:30:53.989
avoid unnecessary cleanup like rotten pumpkins,

01:30:54.270 --> 01:30:57.409
slugs in your sink, and dead bodies strewn about

01:30:57.409 --> 01:31:07.229
your town. Oh my goodness. The zero to 60 at

01:31:07.229 --> 01:31:11.170
the end of that sentence. Yes. Cotton pumpkins.

01:31:11.689 --> 01:31:20.829
Slugs. Dead bodies. Oh man. Thank you, listener

01:31:20.829 --> 01:31:23.270
schmissners, for listening to this episode of

01:31:23.270 --> 01:31:25.939
Fandom Schmandom. If you'd like to discuss this

01:31:25.939 --> 01:31:28.520
episode or any other episode we've done, please

01:31:28.520 --> 01:31:31.460
hit us up on our social media channels. We would

01:31:31.460 --> 01:31:34.399
love to hear from you. You can find us on TikTok

01:31:34.399 --> 01:31:37.939
and Instagram at fandomschmandompod and on X

01:31:37.939 --> 01:31:40.939
at fandom underscore schmandom. Please don't

01:31:40.939 --> 01:31:43.140
forget to rate and review us if you liked the

01:31:43.140 --> 01:31:45.279
episode. It really helps the algorithm place

01:31:45.279 --> 01:31:47.380
us in front of other like -minded schmissioners

01:31:47.380 --> 01:31:50.340
out there. And also, please subscribe wherever

01:31:50.340 --> 01:31:52.199
you get your podcasts. That really helps with

01:31:52.199 --> 01:31:56.010
the algorithm as... Well, and with that, we're

01:31:56.010 --> 01:31:58.489
out, y 'all. Don't forget to tip your menacing

01:31:58.489 --> 01:32:34.229
clocks. Fare thee well. Somebody had this had

01:32:34.229 --> 01:32:38.970
this thing about watching K -pop Demon Hunters

01:32:38.970 --> 01:32:44.569
with like his daughter and wife or whatever and

01:32:44.569 --> 01:32:46.489
like how he was resisting it and then he ended

01:32:46.489 --> 01:32:48.130
up watching it on his own and then he was like

01:32:48.130 --> 01:32:49.930
all obsessed with it and was like singing along

01:32:49.930 --> 01:32:51.630
dramatically and he turns around and his wife

01:32:51.630 --> 01:32:53.770
and daughter are behind him and he just like

01:32:53.770 --> 01:32:59.619
roomies my bias and then just walks out. It's

01:32:59.619 --> 01:33:02.680
amazing. And so I commented on it because I thought

01:33:02.680 --> 01:33:04.720
it was hilarious. And I was like, Rumi is my

01:33:04.720 --> 01:33:07.779
bias. What an iconic walkout. And he commented

01:33:07.779 --> 01:33:10.939
back to me. I was very excited. That's very exciting.

01:33:11.880 --> 01:33:14.279
The best person that has ever commented back

01:33:14.279 --> 01:33:15.939
to something that I've ever written was Mark

01:33:15.939 --> 01:33:18.579
Hamill. Oh, yeah. You told me about that. That's

01:33:18.579 --> 01:33:21.659
pretty great. It was great. I had a two -sentence

01:33:21.659 --> 01:33:26.619
conversation with Mark Hamill. No one, nobody

01:33:26.619 --> 01:33:34.600
can stop you. Mark stopped me. Mark never replied

01:33:34.600 --> 01:33:39.979
to my reply. I gotta tell you, I couldn't stop

01:33:39.979 --> 01:33:44.180
myself early last week when a student was like,

01:33:44.319 --> 01:33:47.279
wait, so Star Wars doesn't take place in our

01:33:47.279 --> 01:33:49.979
universe but in the future? And I was like, in

01:33:49.979 --> 01:33:52.760
universe, yeah, but not in the future. It's in

01:33:52.760 --> 01:33:57.840
a galaxy. A long time ago, far, far away. The

01:33:57.840 --> 01:34:00.699
kid was like, oh, yeah. And everyone was just

01:34:00.699 --> 01:34:07.880
sort of like, you idiot. It's like the first

01:34:07.880 --> 01:34:12.119
thing that it says. Oh, my God. Oh, that's ridiculous.

01:34:12.520 --> 01:34:15.159
I was watching a show earlier and someone was

01:34:15.159 --> 01:34:17.970
like. I'm really, you know, like fitness is really

01:34:17.970 --> 01:34:20.109
important and nutrition is really important to

01:34:20.109 --> 01:34:22.250
me and all this stuff. And, you know, there's

01:34:22.250 --> 01:34:27.090
this guy and his kid has diabetes. And like,

01:34:27.109 --> 01:34:32.069
how can a kid like be so unhealthy that they

01:34:32.069 --> 01:34:36.470
have diabetes? The kid has type one. Type one.

01:34:36.529 --> 01:34:45.720
Okay. I was like, you're a moron. Dear God. allowed

01:34:45.720 --> 01:34:50.079
you to speak today? Can I talk to them? Your

01:34:50.079 --> 01:34:54.220
speaking privileges have been revoked. As you

01:34:54.220 --> 01:34:57.939
address an envelope, God, Heaven, I don't know

01:34:57.939 --> 01:35:02.539
your postcode. Dearest Father Malmighty, why

01:35:02.539 --> 01:35:47.289
did you allow this man to speak today? I feel

01:35:47.289 --> 01:36:16.090
like I know you just lost a hand. Make with the

01:36:16.090 --> 01:36:28.329
oom -pah -pahs. Welcome to Fandom Shmandam. The

01:36:28.329 --> 01:36:32.810
Fandom Card... The Fandom Cardcast. Coming again.

01:36:34.329 --> 01:36:38.069
Steven. I almost said Steven. Because I saw Jonathan

01:36:38.069 --> 01:36:52.199
right below it. Steven. Steven. Steven. One way

01:36:52.199 --> 01:36:54.340
to kill millennials that graduated our exact

01:36:54.340 --> 01:36:59.000
year. Steven. They're rescuing hoop. They're

01:36:59.000 --> 01:37:03.539
rescuing. They're rescuing hoop. Rescuing. Rascuing.

01:37:07.300 --> 01:37:10.840
Nancy and Robin need to do more Victor Creel.

01:37:10.939 --> 01:37:14.699
So they pretend. Wait. Need to do more Victor

01:37:14.699 --> 01:37:21.239
Creel. I don't know what that sentence was. My

01:37:21.239 --> 01:37:23.840
brain clearly fizzled out in the middle of it.

01:37:24.600 --> 01:37:27.779
Not gonna bite you in the ass and arm and face

01:37:27.779 --> 01:37:36.359
and... You want to re -say that line? Yes. It's

01:37:36.359 --> 01:37:39.739
not as bad as Benedict Cumberland... Benedict...

01:37:39.739 --> 01:37:43.500
Benedict Cumberdatch's. Everybody knows who you're

01:37:43.500 --> 01:37:48.149
talking about. It's not as... Bandy Snitch! Cumblepot.

01:37:48.310 --> 01:37:49.729
Bandistatch Cumblepot.