WEBVTT

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Welcome to Fandom Shmandom, the fandom podcast

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that covers everything you love and more. I'm

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

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episode, we will be ordinarily orating about

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Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 8. Spoiler

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warning, we will be talking about everything

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to do with Stranger Things. That includes all

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four previous seasons, the play, and now all.

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of season five. Keep your finger on the pause

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button and rewind that tape. It's the prestige

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category. What did we notice on this watch through?

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Well, Sierra, this is a tale of two episodes

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in one. We had one section, which I'm calling

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the final fight and the other section, the. 45

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minute long epilogue in a quick sort of summary

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of how i felt about these two episodes i loved

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the epilogue and i didn't like the final fight

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fair uh the potential of what they set up in

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for the four seasons but also i i think digging

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a hole kind of in the media Of just like, we're

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going to answer all your questions. You guys

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are going to be, you know, desolate. It's going

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to be super sad. Everything's going to be emotional

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and everything of that nature. We just didn't

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reach that level of craziness. You know, sort

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of telling your audience, analyze everything.

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Well, I think a lot of fan theories ended up

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being more crazy. I won't say more creative or

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anything of that nature, but more crazy. And

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in -depth. And really focusing on those details

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that they told us to focus on. Right. Totally.

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And so by the end of that, like, the first hour

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of the show, I was underwhelmed. And then I was

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like, oh, good. This epilogue's perfect for this

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TV show. Like, it's not perfect in terms of writing.

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Nothing really is. But I was like, this is a

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great send -off for the last 40 minutes of an

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epilogue. That was my overall reaction. What

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about you? I mostly agree. I don't know that

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I loved the epilogue. I wasn't mad about it.

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There was just, in general, a letdown for me

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both in that final fight section and then also

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with the epilogue. It just felt a little lackluster.

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It could have been that my experience of watching

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the epilogue was slightly soured by the fact

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that it didn't feel earned based on the first

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half of the episode. So the first half of the

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episode kind of left me with this lackluster

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kind of, okay, feeling. And so by the time we

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get to the epilogue, I'm going, oh, so they're

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just going to wrap everything up. and give everybody

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a nice little bow and here's what they're doing.

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And kind of one of those, almost a throwback

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to, well, 80s movies with, and then he became

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the president and then he became a criminal.

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Oh, and then he went on to build a baseball team.

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Yeah. And it just felt a little like, what's

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this person up to? Check. What's this person

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up to? Check. Yeah. I, I, as you know, was traveling

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during New Year's, and so I ended up watching

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this in three distinct parts. I watched all the

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way up through Vecna fight and killing Vecna,

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and then I paused right when Dustin is telling

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Hopper, we've got the kids, we're back. Everyone's

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good. Then I had to pause. So I didn't know what

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happened to Elle and Dr. K. Although I will say,

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what I texted you as my prediction was eerily

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close. pretty pretty pretty close pretty right

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on i mean obviously at that point i had abandoned

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all hope of dr k might be good uh clearly super

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wrong on that not triumphant whatsoever but and

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then i watched that section which is about 10

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minutes and then i watched all the epilogue uh

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when i got home so i had a couple of days to

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sit with just the final fight which may explain

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why the epilogue sits a lot better with me Because

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I watched that entirely separately. It was almost

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as if these were two distinct episodes. Which

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I'm like, the epilogue does a nice job of sort

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of tying everything in a bow. Now, I really like

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when they go through with each of the characters.

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Less so with the doobs, as we call them, the

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older teens. More so with the scoobs and more

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so with Hopper and Joyce. But I still really

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like that. It's very reminiscent of Parks and

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Rec's finale, series finale. Where Leslie Knope

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goes through to each person and when she touches

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them, it shows the future of what they're doing.

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Which I think is one of the most perfect finales

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I've ever seen. Versus the first half, the fight,

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definitely felt more like Lost or Game of Thrones.

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Where I just kind of felt there being like, I

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feel hollow. Like everything that I feel like

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this could have been is just really not there.

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With the exception of some small twists that

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we'll talk about as we move forward. Yeah, I

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think that that might have had a determining

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factor is your gap between the two. Because I

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can see that if I had had space to sit with the

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first part, then the second part might feel a

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little bit lighter and a little bit better because

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it's not coming right off of, oh, well, that

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didn't go how I thought it was going to go. And

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then now all of a sudden, here we are trying

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to wrap everything up, but I don't feel wrapped

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up from what I just watched. So I think that

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was my biggest issue. I think that's really fair.

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I think the epilogue did a nice job of wrapping

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up all five seasons, but the finale did a bad

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job of wrapping up season five. I would agree.

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Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it. I

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think that, oh, hey, there's a lot of talk about

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like, well. I will admit, Sierra, I grow very

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tired of online discourse of many things in life,

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specifically because there's just the polarizing

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effect of being online, the polarizing effect

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of not having media literacy or storytelling

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literacy or understanding of subtext or any of

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this sort of stuff that in general, what you

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and I run into on a daily discourse online, we

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see. So there's just a lot of polarizing around

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like, this is the best finale ever. This is the

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worst thing ever. It's definitely not the worst.

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Right. So I genuinely believe that. I subscribe

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to the idea that Game of Thrones finale was bad.

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I subscribe to the idea that Lost's finale was

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bad. This isn't anywhere close to that. This

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also, I happen to love the Sopranos finale, and

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I love Parks and Rec finale. This isn't anywhere

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close to that. And it's okay to be like, yeah,

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so there was some good and some bad on this,

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and we'll go over both. So let's just move in

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straight into it. The final fight. I found this

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section plain and straightforward. It was, yes,

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it was quite boring considering everything that

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we've gone through to get here. And okay, we

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finally reached Dimension X and here's this new

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place that we didn't know existed until two episodes

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ago. Now this is where the kids are being kept

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and we're going to have to go to this whole fight.

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And we spend two minutes in Dimension X before

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this, where Holly's just running away. And then

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we have no real time to sit in this new world

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to have any knowledge about it or any additional

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information. We spend so much time in the upside

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down. And then it's like. Haha, but that wasn't

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really the other dimension at all. It's this

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one. And then you go, okay, so tell me more about

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this one. And then they go, no. I think one of

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the main things that's my problem with this section.

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Which is really the conclusion of the big mystery.

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The story. Right, the story. Every time that

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you and I have been like, so why is this part

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important other than the fact that it's the main

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story? This is the main story. And it wraps up

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Barb and Bob and Billy and Betty and Brenner

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and everybody, right? It wraps up all of their

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deaths. It wraps up the mystery. And a caveat

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here, it is really easy to set up a... a convincing

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mystery as compared to finishing a convincing

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mystery. Like, you can throw a lot of things

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in there that throws people for a loop while

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you're building a mystery. But to finalize it

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is really difficult. And so I like, give that

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caveat, because I understand that this is a difficult

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task that they set up for themselves. The problem

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is that they've given so many twists and turns,

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and there's been so many theories about what's

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going on or what's happening, that To be this

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plain and straightforward where it's like, yep,

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go for Vecna, kill Mind Flayer, body, there's

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nothing else happening. As compared to everything,

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this sort of conspiracy that's been built up

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in this show. That's what's lackluster to me.

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That's where I go, eh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, it's

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very much, there's, you know, one kind of moment

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where you fear for people's lives, but... But

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overall, I wasn't afraid for any of them. Including

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Steve. In that whole fight. Well, the one moment

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was the tower. When Jonathan catches him. My

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heart did stop for a hot second. I was like,

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no, they're not going to. No, no, no. See, I

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was so convinced that they weren't going to that

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my heart did not. I was like, they're not going

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to kill him off like this. Well, but the way

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that they have it and then they kind of have

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the break. And you're going. Wait, but no, they

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wouldn't kill Steve. But at the same time, there

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was just enough space where you're like, no one

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can grab him. See, I was more concerned for Nancy

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when she turns her head away from the mouth of

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the Mind Flayer than I was for Steve during that.

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It just felt like that would be such an inauthentic

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and... not satisfying way for steve to go oh

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this the tower the tower crashes into the upcoming

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whole planet that's falling on them and steve

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falls off of it and i that that just never registered

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to me as like this is realistic and so i at no

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point was i really afraid for anybody's death

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well yeah i mean and after that one moment where

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i was like no they're not gonna do it it and

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then they didn't i was There didn't feel like

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there was stakes, really. Like, they're fighting

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this thing, but you go, okay, but, like, at this

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point, they're all fighting it. It feels very

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much like the Mind Flayer fight from the mall.

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So that is my point. It's like a repeat. That

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is my point, precisely. It's end of season three

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meets end of season four meets season five mid

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-season finale. Because you've got. Yeah. L and

00:12:07.009 --> 00:12:08.789
Vecna facing off just like you do at the end

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of season four, except this time it's in a physical

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location. You've got the entire mall fight of

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season three, where instead of being up on a

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second floor of a mall, they're just up on some

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cliffs. Yeah. And then you've got Will hive minding

00:12:23.129 --> 00:12:27.049
in to like he did at the end of season five finale.

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Yeah. For a second to like break an arm off and

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talk to Vecna for a minute. But like, When they're

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in Dimension X, my wife, the scientist, went,

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how do they know they're going to breathe air?

00:12:39.250 --> 00:12:41.269
How do we know that fire works there? That it's

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the same level of oxygen? Shouldn't it be really

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cold? Because he likes it cold. Yeah. Also, why

00:12:47.330 --> 00:12:50.090
is there so much sun when the sun burns away

00:12:50.090 --> 00:12:54.350
the mind flare? It's very Star Trek. They show

00:12:54.350 --> 00:12:56.029
up on a planet and they're like, look, it's an

00:12:56.029 --> 00:12:58.169
M -class planet. And that just means to the audience

00:12:58.169 --> 00:13:00.960
that... oxygen levels are fine and the radiation

00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:03.720
levels are fine and everything like i'm glad

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that they didn't fast forward and just like everybody

00:13:06.659 --> 00:13:09.879
dies of cancer at the age of 30 but like what

00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:15.679
why is this dimension so convenient yeah i the

00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:19.080
only thing that i can think of with how do they

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know that they're going to be able to breathe

00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:23.120
and how do they know that fireworks. I mean,

00:13:23.139 --> 00:13:25.799
I guess if you can breathe the air, then fire

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is going to work because both require oxygen.

00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:31.659
So the only reason you would know that is because

00:13:31.659 --> 00:13:35.059
that's where Vecna and kids are currently. Therefore,

00:13:35.299 --> 00:13:39.559
there must be air because Vecna is human. Here's

00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:42.860
one of the things that I questioned, which was

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the Mind Flayer has to eat a certain amount of

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chemicals. In fertilizer or rat poison or something

00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:51.320
in season three. I forget off the top of my head.

00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:54.580
In order to constitute a physical form. Yeah.

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Why is it not the opposite? Like, I understood

00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:59.320
that Vecna kind of looks crazy and maybe has

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constituted a physical form in Dimension X. And

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that the kids are being pumped full of those

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chemicals. And Will was being pumped full of

00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.200
those chemicals. So, I guess they're just there

00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:11.159
for a light amount of time. Which, again, speaks

00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:13.740
to our whole, like, we didn't discover. We didn't,

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like, think at all about Dimension X. We're just

00:14:16.299 --> 00:14:19.259
there. Yeah, well, and it's the same thing as

00:14:19.259 --> 00:14:22.559
how, you know, they go into the Upside Down and

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they're all wearing hazmat suits and Hopper's

00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:28.519
getting hosed down. And then for the rest of

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the show, they're just waltzing in there whenever

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they feel like it. Is this stuff safe to breathe?

00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.600
It's probably fine. It's probably fine. It's

00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:40.279
probably fine. My goodness gracious. Yeah. Okay.

00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:43.679
Well, speaking of something that both you and

00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:48.279
I legitimately loathed. About this episode. Not

00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:51.620
just had questions around. Not just felt kind

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of strange about. Or hollow about. But actually

00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:57.679
genuinely loathed. Was the lack of there being

00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.460
a Callie twist. Now caveat. There is a Callie

00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:03.080
twist. Maybe sort of kind of. In the epilogue.

00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.240
But we'll get there when we get there. We talked

00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:08.960
a lot about. Callie's working for the Mind Flayer.

00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:11.440
Callie's working for Vecna. Or something's really

00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:14.700
off with Callie. And there wasn't. There was

00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:18.139
just nothing. I will say there was even the potential

00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:22.700
in the episode for it to be Callie. When Hopper

00:15:22.700 --> 00:15:25.840
is seeing visions, 100 % at first thought it

00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:27.500
was Callie. That was my thought too. Callie had

00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:32.139
turned and I was going, oh, oh, this is so good

00:15:32.139 --> 00:15:33.960
because she's just sitting over there in the

00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:36.919
other room. Yeah. So she can do something else.

00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:38.940
Elle's the one in the tank. She doesn't have

00:15:38.940 --> 00:15:40.879
to be in a tank. And I was going, oh, she's messing

00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.860
with him. This is going to be her. And then Vecna

00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:45.580
started talking and I was like. okay, but is

00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:49.039
she doing it? And then Vecna is just like piggybacking

00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:51.919
on her little illusion. And then it just straight

00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.100
up wasn't. Yes. Which was probably the most disappointed

00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:58.460
I felt through all of Stranger Things. Was that

00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:03.799
moment being Vecna. Yes. And it didn't even have,

00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.799
I thought that the whole hallucination of Hopper

00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.769
was very well done. Super cool. Super good. I

00:16:11.769 --> 00:16:13.490
thought it was very cool. I thought that the

00:16:13.490 --> 00:16:16.149
things that he was seeing were very impactful.

00:16:16.250 --> 00:16:20.629
I think that Vecna, although it was Vecna, but

00:16:20.629 --> 00:16:23.610
he was really pinpointing those things that would

00:16:23.610 --> 00:16:25.750
get Hopper to do what he wanted. And he manipulated

00:16:25.750 --> 00:16:29.509
him very well. Yeah. It was excellent. Excellent.

00:16:29.710 --> 00:16:32.350
From a villain standpoint, like a very good plan.

00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:38.940
But what was really bothersome is First of all,

00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:43.700
that it just was Vecna. But then also, there

00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:46.779
was no payoff of it being Vecna doing this to

00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:49.360
Hopper, knowing their previous connection. So

00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:50.960
knowing that they went to high school together

00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:52.740
and they were in the play together and all the

00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:56.240
things that you hear about in the play, there

00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:58.179
was no real connection. Like, I think at some

00:16:58.179 --> 00:17:02.539
point he calls him Junior. So like, Hopper kind

00:17:02.539 --> 00:17:05.000
of can make the connection that, oh, this...

00:17:05.309 --> 00:17:10.890
Is I know him. That's the only reference to the

00:17:10.890 --> 00:17:13.910
fact that Hopper and Joyce legitimately knew

00:17:13.910 --> 00:17:17.869
Vecna. Which, in the play, it's a big deal that

00:17:17.869 --> 00:17:20.890
Hopper and Joyce are investigating the Creel

00:17:20.890 --> 00:17:24.210
household. That they have information about what

00:17:24.210 --> 00:17:28.009
happened in 1959. And instead of exploring...

00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.720
Any of that. Any of that. We get a little bit

00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.799
of junior because he's Jim Hopper is Jim Hopper

00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:37.440
Jr. His dad was the chief of police and the senior.

00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:41.200
And that's it. We got nothing else. And it was

00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:43.700
just kind of like, okay, why did I end up watching

00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:47.079
this play if none of that information for Joyce

00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:49.640
and Hopper were going to turn up? And they also

00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:52.519
changed the equipment that goes missing to something

00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:55.119
completely different. What's in the briefcase

00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:58.180
isn't advanced military stuff. It's just a rock

00:17:58.180 --> 00:18:03.200
that has AOL instant messenger to the mind flayer

00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:11.259
in it. Find me. Okay. Yeah. It just, it seemed

00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:15.559
very odd. And it is something that we were worried

00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:17.900
about is that they were going to start retconning

00:18:17.900 --> 00:18:22.519
the play. At first, it seemed like they weren't

00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:24.259
going to. They had, you know, you're going into

00:18:24.259 --> 00:18:27.079
his mind and you see Joyce and you see the flyer

00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:29.519
for the play. And then I thought it was pretty

00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:33.640
hilarious, Max, walking them back through. Mr.

00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:36.180
Wheeler's filling up Mrs. Wheeler in that room

00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:38.220
right there. Yeah, in that room right there.

00:18:38.299 --> 00:18:41.119
And Hopper's over there, like, smoking or something.

00:18:41.259 --> 00:18:44.599
And it was just the rundown of where everybody

00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:46.799
was. But we don't have time for that. I thought

00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.210
that was pretty clever. But then again, it just

00:18:49.210 --> 00:18:52.549
had no real payoff of pulling all that information

00:18:52.549 --> 00:18:57.069
in. I realized I could have used a whole season,

00:18:57.089 --> 00:18:59.170
a little bit more stretch, another episode of

00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:01.730
them leading up to this information with the

00:19:01.730 --> 00:19:03.950
Abyss and Dimension X and then the Upside Down.

00:19:04.529 --> 00:19:07.089
And then I could have used four episodes, if

00:19:07.089 --> 00:19:10.069
not a whole other season, of them exploring the

00:19:10.069 --> 00:19:14.420
play within the play, Joyce's whole... play and

00:19:14.420 --> 00:19:18.220
hopper and everything plus the whole fight and

00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:20.640
any twist that they could have put in there i

00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:24.400
definitely think the fight needed a full maybe

00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.039
not a full like two hours just on the fight but

00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:30.720
like the lead up and the chase to get to the

00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.079
big fight and then the fight and then a resolution

00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:36.460
i could have used a lot more time sitting with

00:19:36.460 --> 00:19:40.380
that and then also I do think it would have been

00:19:40.380 --> 00:19:42.599
very interesting if there was an entire episode

00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:45.980
dedicated to them going through Henry's memories.

00:19:46.299 --> 00:19:48.859
Yeah, certainly. That could have been a cool

00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:51.839
penultimate. Yeah, that could have been a very

00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:55.700
cool penultimate episode of just like learning

00:19:55.700 --> 00:19:58.359
even more about Vecna. And that could have made

00:19:58.359 --> 00:20:01.799
the neat little payoff even more of a payoff,

00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:04.799
which I think both of us felt pretty good about.

00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:09.519
Okay, so it was the mind flare all along. Henry

00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:13.460
gets to face that right there and then with Will

00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:15.799
explaining like, look, you were just like us.

00:20:15.859 --> 00:20:19.960
You were just a kid. And Henry being too far

00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:24.599
gone, not even able to think about his – because

00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:27.559
I really don't think he's actually saying, oh,

00:20:27.619 --> 00:20:30.799
no, it was me and it all along. I really think

00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:34.880
there he's justifying to himself. that this was

00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:38.240
the right place to be that he's convincing himself

00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:42.079
you know inauthentically convincing himself that

00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.059
it was the mind flayer in him the whole time

00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:46.240
and therefore he is irredeemable and therefore

00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:48.619
you can actually move forward and kill him i

00:20:48.619 --> 00:20:50.460
thought that was a neat little twist on what

00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:52.180
everybody's been saying that it's the mind flayer

00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:54.480
all along and it was very satisfying to me that

00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:57.079
was the one part of the finale yeah that i swung

00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:00.240
the opposite way from like callie's weird storyline

00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:04.289
right Yeah, I agree. I think it was very interesting

00:21:04.289 --> 00:21:08.490
to not have Henry turn on the mind flayer and

00:21:08.490 --> 00:21:11.250
to have him continue to make a conscious choice

00:21:11.250 --> 00:21:14.109
that nope, this is exactly I agree with this.

00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:17.269
This is what's happening now. And I don't even

00:21:17.269 --> 00:21:20.789
think that in that moment, he had to like re

00:21:20.789 --> 00:21:23.430
justify it to himself. I think he's just like,

00:21:23.450 --> 00:21:27.150
no, you know, I've been making these choices.

00:21:27.210 --> 00:21:29.630
I've been making these choices. And yeah, maybe

00:21:29.630 --> 00:21:32.650
I was a kid, but He made some solid points. So

00:21:32.650 --> 00:21:36.750
here we are. And just really accept it. And I

00:21:36.750 --> 00:21:40.289
like that it gave him the autonomy in that scene.

00:21:40.970 --> 00:21:43.410
Not that he's been a pawn this whole time or

00:21:43.410 --> 00:21:45.769
anything. And I think it's definitely refreshing

00:21:45.769 --> 00:21:48.809
to see that, especially where almost everything

00:21:48.809 --> 00:21:51.410
you're trying to redeem the villain and you're

00:21:51.410 --> 00:21:54.470
trying to find, well, you know, there's still

00:21:54.470 --> 00:21:57.599
human under there. And this is really like. He

00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.880
has abandoned his humanity. He has chosen to

00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.920
side against humanity, and he's fine with that.

00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:05.619
Totally. And I think that that's really interesting.

00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:08.779
And that reveal, and then showing that, hey,

00:22:08.779 --> 00:22:11.619
by the way, this spiky building that he's in

00:22:11.619 --> 00:22:13.680
with the heart right above him is the physical

00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:15.660
manifest of the Mind Flayer, and here it comes

00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:18.460
in this giant corporeal form, is such a fulfilling

00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:22.480
moment. And then the fight was so lacking. It

00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:25.000
was so empty. Like, even the space that they

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:28.599
were fighting in. was fairly empty and boring.

00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:32.079
And so you just sort of have this empty fight

00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:35.279
with no real emotional stakes from that moment

00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:36.940
forward. And that I think is what left you and

00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:40.220
I with that hollow feeling. Yeah. But what didn't

00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:42.619
leave us with a hollow feeling was that blog.

00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:46.880
Yeah. Which the Duffer Brothers said, we're going

00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:50.559
to answer all your questions. And then it came

00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:52.039
out later that they're going to have this live

00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:54.720
action spinoff that's going to explore a little

00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:58.119
bit of like, what the weird pulsating stone with

00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:01.220
the direct connection to the mind flayer's mind

00:23:01.220 --> 00:23:03.720
is going to be. It's like, oh, okay, so you're

00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:05.619
not answering all of our questions. And so the

00:23:05.619 --> 00:23:07.500
epilogue doesn't really answer any questions.

00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:11.819
It just settles character stories. Right. But

00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:16.559
it did that pretty well. I really loved the conformity.

00:23:16.579 --> 00:23:18.740
This is a Dune reference for anybody that doesn't

00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:22.440
know it. Conformity is the mind killer. It's

00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:24.460
basically the Duffer Brothers whole thing, which

00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:27.769
is like, Yeah. And Dustin's whole message is

00:23:27.769 --> 00:23:29.549
the Duffer Brothers sort of speaking directly

00:23:29.549 --> 00:23:32.690
through Dustin to tell you what the theme of

00:23:32.690 --> 00:23:36.230
the show is, which is let's all learn that we're

00:23:36.230 --> 00:23:39.890
not so different and to mix in with one another

00:23:39.890 --> 00:23:42.730
because you might find people that you love.

00:23:43.430 --> 00:23:46.410
And I loved that. And it was weirdly first explored

00:23:46.410 --> 00:23:49.789
with the whole Troy's serial killer storyline

00:23:49.789 --> 00:23:54.180
in season one. And then, of course. When Lucas

00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:56.359
talks to Jason and he's like, now I realize being

00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:59.259
normal is psychotic. And then we get Dustin's

00:23:59.259 --> 00:24:03.480
speech. And I love it. It was great. Yeah, definitely.

00:24:03.539 --> 00:24:06.599
I thought that that was really good and a nice

00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:09.960
way to get their message across without a lot

00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:12.640
of times in shows when they have a specific message

00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:14.339
that they're trying to, they kind of hit you

00:24:14.339 --> 00:24:16.000
over the head with it over and over and over

00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:19.299
again. And I feel like they just kind of sprinkled

00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:21.380
it in here and there. And then they wrap it all

00:24:21.380 --> 00:24:24.339
up in this. In a form of a speech that does not

00:24:24.339 --> 00:24:28.700
sound out of place at a graduation. And I think

00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:31.099
that they did a very good job of weaving it into

00:24:31.099 --> 00:24:34.579
the story without making it blatantly obvious

00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:36.799
that this is what they were going for. And Hellfire

00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:40.640
Lives, which was great. Yes. And you saw when

00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:44.440
Hellfire Lives was, you know, revealed, a bunch

00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:46.240
of people both in the audience and in the crowd

00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:49.220
rose up and clapped, which means Dustin is doing

00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:51.700
what Eddie asked him to do, is to look after

00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:54.930
his sheep. Which I love. I just love it. Yes.

00:24:55.230 --> 00:24:59.569
I do. Yeah. That he said he's going to flip off

00:24:59.569 --> 00:25:03.710
the principal, snatch that diploma, run off the

00:25:03.710 --> 00:25:06.470
stage. And that's exactly what Dustin does. That's

00:25:06.470 --> 00:25:09.430
really cool. You and I disagree a little bit

00:25:09.430 --> 00:25:10.769
on this one. I really loved what they did with

00:25:10.769 --> 00:25:12.950
Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, and Steve. I believe

00:25:12.950 --> 00:25:15.710
that they are going to have their monthly dinner.

00:25:16.230 --> 00:25:19.849
Because the writers told me so. Are you a real

00:25:19.849 --> 00:25:22.779
adult? You know, they made some really big promises

00:25:22.779 --> 00:25:24.500
to each other. And I do think if they all stay

00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:26.500
on the East Coast that, yeah, they'll be doing

00:25:26.500 --> 00:25:31.859
that. No. Okay. Sorry. As someone who has lived

00:25:31.859 --> 00:25:34.880
within five hours driving of multiple best friends

00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:39.559
for five years now, I've seen one of them twice

00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:44.339
and one of them zero times. And we made lots

00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:48.500
of promises. You also didn't save the world with

00:25:48.500 --> 00:25:50.519
them, though. As far as I know. This is true.

00:25:50.859 --> 00:25:53.380
This is very true. But I feel like that would

00:25:53.380 --> 00:25:56.700
almost make it worse. I feel like with the fact

00:25:56.700 --> 00:26:00.619
that nobody died in like nobody of any real consequence

00:26:00.619 --> 00:26:05.279
died in this show, that it is not entirely unrealistic

00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:07.559
that in this fictional world, these characters

00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:11.759
do all meet together. Yeah. I think it's just,

00:26:11.819 --> 00:26:16.920
it's just kind of. Fairly unrealistic that they're

00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:20.880
going to monthly meet, despite kids and friends.

00:26:21.380 --> 00:26:26.000
Monthly is crazy. Quarterly, maybe. Yeah. Once

00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:30.259
a year? Sure. A yearly trip back to Hawkins,

00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:33.019
a yearly trip to whichever city. They're just

00:26:33.019 --> 00:26:36.000
going to trade off wherever they all are. I can

00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:38.660
believe that. But monthly is insane. I did feel

00:26:38.660 --> 00:26:40.240
a little bit for Steve when he was like, you

00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:42.599
guys really don't miss any of this? The family

00:26:42.599 --> 00:26:45.960
video that I worked with you, Robin. Any of the

00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:46.900
things that we did together. And they're all

00:26:46.900 --> 00:26:49.640
like, no. And I'm like, yeah, I get that. I also,

00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:52.200
like, I love Bow, New Hampshire, but I will probably

00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:55.839
never move back there. Like, I get it. But I

00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:00.059
also was like, no, Steve. Yeah. He's so funny.

00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.460
He just wants to hang out with them. Yeah. He

00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:04.759
just wants to hang out. He likes his little life.

00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:08.859
And he's like, what? Everything's great. Why'd

00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:11.190
you have to leave? Yeah, for real. There's other

00:27:11.190 --> 00:27:16.109
stuff out there? Nah. Nah. Nah. I love what they

00:27:16.109 --> 00:27:18.789
did with Joyce and Hopper. Yes. Finally having

00:27:18.789 --> 00:27:22.730
that date at Enzo's. But also, Hopper, what took

00:27:22.730 --> 00:27:25.950
you so long? Seriously. Another 18 months? First

00:27:25.950 --> 00:27:28.250
of all, it's already been 18 months since you

00:27:28.250 --> 00:27:32.450
got back from Russia. So you're telling me we're

00:27:32.450 --> 00:27:34.769
near three years and you haven't proposed to

00:27:34.769 --> 00:27:38.529
Joyce yet? What's been keeping you back? Yeah.

00:27:38.809 --> 00:27:41.089
That is absolutely crazy, especially considering

00:27:41.089 --> 00:27:43.750
when Hop is posing in the graduation photo with

00:27:43.750 --> 00:27:48.109
Will as his dad, basically. That is how you take

00:27:48.109 --> 00:27:50.289
graduate. You have your parents on either side.

00:27:50.849 --> 00:27:54.509
And that's like the graduation photo for people

00:27:54.509 --> 00:27:56.890
who have two parents. That's what it looks like.

00:27:56.930 --> 00:27:58.809
You don't have them on the side. You don't have

00:27:58.809 --> 00:28:01.309
like the kids in the middle. So it was very like

00:28:01.309 --> 00:28:03.910
cliche. This is a graduation photo of the family.

00:28:04.170 --> 00:28:07.109
And then so I was like, oh, they're already married.

00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:10.019
That made me think that they were already married

00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:12.680
is them taking that picture. So the fact that

00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:17.119
he hadn't even proposed yet, I was like, wait,

00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:20.220
what? Literally because after seeing them take

00:28:20.220 --> 00:28:23.519
that picture, I kept looking for a ring. Yeah.

00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:26.599
On both of their hands. I was like, no, but I,

00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:28.880
then I would get distracted and then I'd forget

00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:30.500
to look for the ring. Cause I was focused on

00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:33.259
all the other stuff. Yeah. But. Then he proposed

00:28:33.259 --> 00:28:35.299
and I go, oh, well, then there's definitely no

00:28:35.299 --> 00:28:38.660
ring. I guess there's no ring. For those of you

00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:40.480
who have been listening to this podcast, you

00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:44.000
know that Bob Newby, a .k .a. Samwise Gamgee,

00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:48.740
has a stepsister that is Henry Creel's love interest

00:28:48.740 --> 00:28:53.240
in the play. The singing at the end, the singer,

00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:57.440
so to speak, is kind of a shout out to Patti

00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:00.960
Newby, where Patti Newby is a good singer, but

00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:05.559
her mother. Is like a traveling singer. And is

00:29:05.559 --> 00:29:07.799
also African American. And so that's a little

00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:09.680
bit of a shout out. Right at the end. Although

00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:12.619
we never ever see Patty Newby. Which bummed me

00:29:12.619 --> 00:29:17.140
out. A lot. But anyways. I thought that was a

00:29:17.140 --> 00:29:20.079
little cool. And Enzo's there to have Patty Newby's

00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:25.059
shout out. Kind of. Maybe. A little bit. I also

00:29:25.059 --> 00:29:30.180
really loved the final scene. And I think. It's

00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:33.619
not surprising. But it's satisfying to have them

00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:36.500
end on a D &D play session where Max is finally

00:29:36.500 --> 00:29:40.839
the Zoomer and has her own special little binder.

00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:43.799
And Will has his own binder. And they say their

00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:47.759
names on the side. And then they win their campaign

00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:51.539
with a little shout out to Elle there. And also

00:29:51.539 --> 00:29:53.759
then he does this little Parks and Rec run through

00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:56.880
where we get to see that Lucas and Max stay together

00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:59.660
forever. We get to see that Dustin goes on to

00:29:59.660 --> 00:30:02.309
be super bright. His friendship with Steve is

00:30:02.309 --> 00:30:06.450
also maintained. We get to see Will lives a comfortable

00:30:06.450 --> 00:30:10.829
life where he's accepted. And we get to see Mike

00:30:10.829 --> 00:30:15.369
pursue his dreams of being an author and a storyteller,

00:30:15.390 --> 00:30:17.130
just like he's always been, which was really

00:30:17.130 --> 00:30:19.710
cool. I really loved all of that. But I really

00:30:19.710 --> 00:30:23.339
loved... When Mike is leaving and Holly and Derek

00:30:23.339 --> 00:30:25.740
and crew come downstairs and start playing. This

00:30:25.740 --> 00:30:27.900
idea that this will never really end and the

00:30:27.900 --> 00:30:30.500
stories will go on and play will keep happening.

00:30:30.900 --> 00:30:34.680
You know, as an adult who, you know, is doing

00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:37.900
this with you, which is a form of play. That

00:30:37.900 --> 00:30:39.859
really, that was the one thing that gave me a

00:30:39.859 --> 00:30:42.680
little tear jerk. Yeah, I really enjoyed them

00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:47.799
running down and I almost half expected. mic

00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:50.039
to kind of walk down there and maybe like start

00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:52.000
explaining it and then it would kind of like

00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:54.579
the sound would fade out as he starts explaining

00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:57.380
or something like that kind of like what samwise

00:30:57.380 --> 00:31:00.440
gamgee does at the end with his daughter when

00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:02.940
he's just like we're finally home and it's just

00:31:02.940 --> 00:31:04.819
like it's at least a line from one of the main

00:31:04.819 --> 00:31:09.960
characters so i i thought it would be kind of

00:31:09.960 --> 00:31:13.039
nice If that were to happen, but I did enjoy

00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:15.920
him just kind of watching and going, okay, this

00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:21.019
will live on and it's all right. And also, I

00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:24.059
think there's just that bit of relief from Mike

00:31:24.059 --> 00:31:27.440
that they were able to get Holly home safely.

00:31:27.500 --> 00:31:31.440
And she has started making friends that she wouldn't

00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:35.559
have had otherwise, like Derek as well, kind

00:31:35.559 --> 00:31:39.730
of like Mike had found Elle. They formed these

00:31:39.730 --> 00:31:42.009
odd friendships. Dustin and Steve. So Holly did

00:31:42.009 --> 00:31:46.369
that too. Lucas and Max. Right. Well, I mean,

00:31:46.410 --> 00:31:50.309
so at the end of this, I think the finale is

00:31:50.309 --> 00:31:53.349
pretty good for the season. But there were still

00:31:53.349 --> 00:31:55.710
many questions that we had. So many questions.

00:31:55.990 --> 00:31:58.789
So many questions. So on to our next segment,

00:31:58.970 --> 00:32:01.950
questions. Questions that need answering. Now,

00:32:01.990 --> 00:32:05.049
I just got a list of questions that... Either

00:32:05.049 --> 00:32:07.130
frustrating to me or I'm being pedantic about

00:32:07.130 --> 00:32:10.609
or actual questions. First and foremost, Karen

00:32:10.609 --> 00:32:14.750
Wheeler's scars disappear. Why? In graduation,

00:32:14.990 --> 00:32:17.509
she got big old scars. And then like four hours

00:32:17.509 --> 00:32:21.910
later, she's got no scars. Yeah. Continuity error

00:32:21.910 --> 00:32:27.230
is a nitpick on that one. I do remember. I think

00:32:27.230 --> 00:32:30.490
I missed noticing that when she's calling them

00:32:30.490 --> 00:32:34.339
up because. I do remember at the graduation having

00:32:34.339 --> 00:32:38.079
a very clear thought of, I'm so glad they left

00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:41.339
those. Yeah. And they didn't just write it out

00:32:41.339 --> 00:32:44.660
and, oh, she's perfectly fine. Because I think

00:32:44.660 --> 00:32:47.220
that it shows her strength. It shows her character

00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:51.859
growth. It shows, because she was, just think

00:32:51.859 --> 00:32:54.200
about back with all the Billy stuff. It was all

00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:57.380
about how she looked. Yeah. And her physical

00:32:57.380 --> 00:33:01.630
appearance. And that was a big thing. And so

00:33:01.630 --> 00:33:07.109
her wearing these scars proudly, like she has

00:33:07.109 --> 00:33:11.210
an open shirt or dress. Yeah, a dress to show

00:33:11.210 --> 00:33:14.710
the chest scars too. Exactly. Not just her neck,

00:33:14.710 --> 00:33:18.470
but also her chest and really just not shying

00:33:18.470 --> 00:33:20.690
away from that. And I thought that was very good.

00:33:20.829 --> 00:33:24.910
I thought that was so cool and really did without

00:33:24.910 --> 00:33:27.589
telling you. It showed you how much she's changed.

00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:30.380
At the same time, I mainly bring this up just

00:33:30.380 --> 00:33:33.500
because I think it's indicative of a little problem

00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:35.279
that I have with Stranger Things overall, which

00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:37.819
is like continuity. There are just a couple of

00:33:37.819 --> 00:33:41.359
things that for a show that is based on picking

00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:43.380
things apart in order to try and figure things

00:33:43.380 --> 00:33:45.680
out, which is part of the fun of a mystery show,

00:33:45.779 --> 00:33:49.799
continuity errors like Will Byers' birthday being

00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:52.119
March 11th and them being at spring break on

00:33:52.119 --> 00:33:56.349
March 11th. Yeah. Not a huge deal like this,

00:33:56.450 --> 00:33:59.549
but just a little bothersome. Yeah. Nancy and

00:33:59.549 --> 00:34:03.630
Jonathan being up to their knees in the solidifying

00:34:03.630 --> 00:34:07.289
goop and then having clean legs. Yeah. Yeah.

00:34:07.390 --> 00:34:13.630
Not great. No. Not great at all. So Max graduates

00:34:13.630 --> 00:34:16.889
after 18 months in the hospital. Question how?

00:34:17.570 --> 00:34:22.429
No. No, indeed. She doesn't. I mean, I had friends

00:34:22.429 --> 00:34:25.050
and acquaintances in high school who were in

00:34:25.050 --> 00:34:29.409
and out chunks of a semester or two semesters

00:34:29.409 --> 00:34:32.110
due to illnesses and things. And they had a really

00:34:32.110 --> 00:34:35.289
tough time graduating on time or were not able

00:34:35.289 --> 00:34:40.550
to. And straight up missing at least three semesters.

00:34:40.989 --> 00:34:43.679
No. My only thought as to how this could happen

00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:45.260
is that they have summer school available for

00:34:45.260 --> 00:34:47.699
everybody in the class of 1989 because of all

00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:50.079
the weird disasters and everything. And we know

00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:53.059
Max was a straight -A student before season four,

00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:55.739
before Billy died, because the counselor goes

00:34:55.739 --> 00:34:58.000
over that with her. So maybe they're throwing

00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:01.559
her a bone there a bit. Maybe she took some classes

00:35:01.559 --> 00:35:04.360
outside of high school in order to make up stuff,

00:35:04.519 --> 00:35:08.000
but... You know, there are ways to do that. What

00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.039
I'm now realizing is that I really could have

00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:13.019
used a small montage, like they've done in seasons

00:35:13.019 --> 00:35:16.320
past, of just showing a little bit of, like,

00:35:16.380 --> 00:35:19.000
Sam Owens comes through and cleans some stuff

00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:21.400
up. And here's what happened with a newspaper

00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:24.599
clipping declaring Jim Hopper alive. Or just

00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:26.480
a bunch of little things like this to help to

00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:29.219
clear up some of these questions. Which I feel

00:35:29.219 --> 00:35:32.260
like they could have easily done right when Robin

00:35:32.260 --> 00:35:36.750
is doing her radio talk. Yes, definitely. But

00:35:36.750 --> 00:35:38.730
we don't get that. And so we have a lot of lingering

00:35:38.730 --> 00:35:41.469
questions. We mentioned this already. Why did

00:35:41.469 --> 00:35:43.909
Joyce and Hopper never say they know or were

00:35:43.909 --> 00:35:46.449
friends with Henry Creel? And how does that not

00:35:46.449 --> 00:35:49.070
make it into this? No idea. Just stupid. What

00:35:49.070 --> 00:35:52.409
happens to Dr. K? War crimes. Straight to jail.

00:35:52.630 --> 00:35:55.230
But do we know? We don't know. We know nothing.

00:35:55.449 --> 00:35:57.170
No, we don't know. She probably just went back

00:35:57.170 --> 00:35:58.909
to whatever corrupt thing she was doing before

00:35:58.909 --> 00:36:02.369
this project. The morbid answer to this one is

00:36:02.369 --> 00:36:04.210
they're all dead. But what happens to all the

00:36:04.210 --> 00:36:06.239
pregnant women? They're all dead. They're all

00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:08.920
dead. They blew up the lab. They did. And Elle's

00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:10.900
like, yeah, I knew that there were pregnant women

00:36:10.900 --> 00:36:13.860
in there. Yeah, I was going to say, to be fair

00:36:13.860 --> 00:36:16.920
to everybody else, only Elle knows this part

00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:22.659
of the story. Good on Elle. We know that she's

00:36:22.659 --> 00:36:27.780
a killer. Yeah. Goodness gracious. I mean, I

00:36:27.780 --> 00:36:30.019
guess they were all dying anyway, if that gives

00:36:30.019 --> 00:36:33.440
any tiny bit of... Yeah, but that was because

00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:35.239
they were being transfused with blood. All they

00:36:35.239 --> 00:36:36.739
needed to do was take those out and then get

00:36:36.739 --> 00:36:38.099
them a different blood transfusion. They should

00:36:38.099 --> 00:36:41.820
be okay. I mean, does Elle know that, though?

00:36:41.880 --> 00:36:43.559
She probably just thinks they're all dying and

00:36:43.559 --> 00:36:47.480
this is a mercy kill at this point. One can only

00:36:47.480 --> 00:36:50.719
hope. Did the Turnboat family survive being drugged

00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:53.099
by Pi? That was a question you brought up in

00:36:53.099 --> 00:36:55.579
the first... The Turnboats, yeah. I don't...

00:36:55.579 --> 00:37:01.949
I saw this really hilarious TikTok of... Derek

00:37:01.949 --> 00:37:04.269
prancing back home knowing he's got the house

00:37:04.269 --> 00:37:06.190
to himself because his family's still in the

00:37:06.190 --> 00:37:09.510
barn. I mean, ostensibly? Ostensibly. You know,

00:37:09.510 --> 00:37:12.210
I realized the other day that the word is ostensibly

00:37:12.210 --> 00:37:15.829
and not obstensibly. Ostensibly, yeah. Yeah,

00:37:15.829 --> 00:37:18.730
well, turns out I'm an idiot. But ostensibly,

00:37:18.869 --> 00:37:22.230
if Vector's threatening to kill his parents and

00:37:22.230 --> 00:37:25.309
sister, they are alive, but like... And they're

00:37:25.309 --> 00:37:27.210
at home, probably. We've been shown nothing.

00:37:27.750 --> 00:37:33.219
Yes. And... They didn't. How did they get home?

00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:34.840
How did they get untied? They were still tied

00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:39.119
up in a barn last we saw them. They know who

00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:42.860
did this to them. And Erica is not in jail. There's

00:37:42.860 --> 00:37:45.179
so much more about like, how did anybody escape

00:37:45.179 --> 00:37:48.139
any justice? Yes. But we'll get there. We'll

00:37:48.139 --> 00:37:51.199
get there. Why is graduation set in the fall?

00:37:52.260 --> 00:37:56.170
Like, this is just like that. What is it? Season

00:37:56.170 --> 00:37:59.730
two finale, I think? Where it's like, it should

00:37:59.730 --> 00:38:02.730
be Christmas time. It's definitely not season

00:38:02.730 --> 00:38:05.530
three. It's season two because it should be Christmas

00:38:05.530 --> 00:38:07.130
time. It's one month later. It's like December

00:38:07.130 --> 00:38:09.469
1st. And it's like brightly spring. And I'm like,

00:38:09.510 --> 00:38:11.449
is this the one thing that's real about Hawkins?

00:38:11.590 --> 00:38:13.909
This isn't Vector's Curse. It just has the opposite

00:38:13.909 --> 00:38:16.610
seasons. It's somehow in the Southern Hemisphere.

00:38:18.530 --> 00:38:21.369
Maybe. That's what the Upside Down did, is it

00:38:21.369 --> 00:38:23.550
brought the Southern Hemisphere to Hawkins. To

00:38:23.550 --> 00:38:26.829
Hawkins. side effect. That's so true, though.

00:38:27.489 --> 00:38:29.989
Yeah, I mean, I guess it could go along with

00:38:29.989 --> 00:38:32.369
your summer school idea that they're doing summer

00:38:32.369 --> 00:38:34.369
school for everybody and so they are graduating.

00:38:34.449 --> 00:38:36.449
That whole class kind of just gets pushed back

00:38:36.449 --> 00:38:40.010
a couple of, like, a whole semester, maybe. Very

00:38:40.010 --> 00:38:43.929
possibly. How does Henry have no scar from the

00:38:43.929 --> 00:38:46.489
gunshot wound that he received as a kid? They

00:38:46.489 --> 00:38:48.090
shot him in the hand and I was like, is this

00:38:48.090 --> 00:38:52.230
memory real? He has no visible scarring. Science.

00:38:52.449 --> 00:38:56.679
Magic. I don't know. I think, honestly, I think

00:38:56.679 --> 00:39:00.079
that the real reason is because when he makes

00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:02.679
the, well, no, never mind. I was going to say

00:39:02.679 --> 00:39:05.079
when he makes the transformation to Vecna, then,

00:39:05.079 --> 00:39:07.260
you know, he has kind of like healing ability

00:39:07.260 --> 00:39:10.400
through the vines and whatnot, but he doesn't

00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:12.480
have it even before. Yeah, when he's talking

00:39:12.480 --> 00:39:15.820
to El. He doesn't. When he's one slash Henry,

00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:21.909
the nice orderly. Orderly. They either A, hadn't

00:39:21.909 --> 00:39:24.369
decided they were going to shoot him yet, or

00:39:24.369 --> 00:39:33.090
B, he has great healing abilities. How does Nancy

00:39:33.090 --> 00:39:35.969
get away with killing multiple soldiers? Now

00:39:35.969 --> 00:39:39.010
there are witnesses because when Dr. K shows

00:39:39.010 --> 00:39:40.650
up, she's like, what happened? And then a bunch

00:39:40.650 --> 00:39:42.869
of people explain. So like, how does she get

00:39:42.869 --> 00:39:45.230
away with killing multiple US soldiers? How does

00:39:45.230 --> 00:39:46.909
anybody get away with anything in the justice

00:39:46.909 --> 00:39:50.230
system? Again, This is simply explained if Dr.

00:39:50.349 --> 00:39:52.309
Owens comes in and the whole good side of the

00:39:52.309 --> 00:39:54.309
U .S. government fixes the bad side of the U

00:39:54.309 --> 00:39:55.949
.S. government. But they don't show it. So how

00:39:55.949 --> 00:40:02.510
does that happen, Sierra? So you say no witnesses.

00:40:02.829 --> 00:40:05.530
However, there's no witnesses who would be able

00:40:05.530 --> 00:40:09.010
to explain without also implicating themselves

00:40:09.010 --> 00:40:13.550
in what they've been doing. To Dr. K? Dr. K knows

00:40:13.550 --> 00:40:16.539
what they've been doing. I know, but she can't

00:40:16.539 --> 00:40:18.639
get them in trouble because she would have to

00:40:18.639 --> 00:40:20.800
reveal what she's been doing. Right, because

00:40:20.800 --> 00:40:22.980
we've been doing nothing here. We're all good.

00:40:23.059 --> 00:40:26.559
We've just been guarding Hawkins, Indiana. It's

00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:29.320
fine. There was another crazy accident. They're

00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:32.380
going to release a book about how Nancy survives

00:40:32.380 --> 00:40:34.960
multiple CIA attempts on her life in Boston once

00:40:34.960 --> 00:40:39.780
she works for the Herald. Oh, my gosh. Why are

00:40:39.780 --> 00:40:42.539
there no Demogorgons or Demodogs helping in the

00:40:42.539 --> 00:40:45.289
final fight in Dimension X? See, this one actually

00:40:45.289 --> 00:40:47.710
made perfect sense to me. They're in the upside

00:40:47.710 --> 00:40:51.389
down. They're not in Dimension X necessarily.

00:40:51.949 --> 00:40:54.929
But when Henry goes to Dimension X, when L banishes

00:40:54.929 --> 00:40:57.110
him there, they're crawling all over that Dimension

00:40:57.110 --> 00:40:59.730
X. They could have purged them and sent them

00:40:59.730 --> 00:41:01.909
all down. I mean, I think once they're in the

00:41:01.909 --> 00:41:04.650
upside down, they can't get back up. They certainly

00:41:04.650 --> 00:41:07.880
can't fly. We know that. I guess... The demo

00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:10.320
bats only existed to kill Eddie and then they

00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:12.579
disappeared. So nothing is around to fly. Did

00:41:12.579 --> 00:41:16.380
you hear the demo? So when Steve and Dustin are

00:41:16.380 --> 00:41:20.440
stabbing above, those are all egg sacks of demo

00:41:20.440 --> 00:41:23.219
bats. They made the little demo bat noises when

00:41:23.219 --> 00:41:26.440
they started getting stabbed. And I was like,

00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:33.400
that's cute, but nothing more than cute. Yeah,

00:41:33.699 --> 00:41:39.010
I mean. Speaking of things that can't get up

00:41:39.010 --> 00:41:42.650
into Dimension X, I am a thousand percent upset

00:41:42.650 --> 00:41:47.369
that we did not see Elle jump. She just appears

00:41:47.369 --> 00:41:50.130
and I was like, she literally is like, I'm going

00:41:50.130 --> 00:41:51.610
to make that jump. And you're looking at this,

00:41:51.650 --> 00:41:56.230
such this cool cinematic floating islands. And

00:41:56.230 --> 00:41:58.889
then she's just there. And I was like, what?

00:41:59.769 --> 00:42:02.590
I wanted to see the jumping. This is probably

00:42:02.590 --> 00:42:05.329
a budget thing, right? That they spent so much

00:42:05.329 --> 00:42:09.849
money. animating the entire carnal mind flayer

00:42:09.849 --> 00:42:13.150
that we couldn't get Elle going bloop, bloop,

00:42:13.150 --> 00:42:16.269
bloop. Yeah. Mario style hitting question blocks

00:42:16.269 --> 00:42:20.489
out of the air. Speaking of things that can fit,

00:42:20.610 --> 00:42:22.650
how does Derek fit through the hole that Max

00:42:22.650 --> 00:42:26.110
barely got through? My idea is that the kids

00:42:26.110 --> 00:42:30.389
wake up before he goes through. Oh, okay. That

00:42:30.389 --> 00:42:33.539
is how it read to me because it cuts. It cuts

00:42:33.539 --> 00:42:35.860
as the kids are going through. Right, that's

00:42:35.860 --> 00:42:38.639
true. And as Henry is transfixed by what he's

00:42:38.639 --> 00:42:42.800
seeing in the cave. And then the next thing that

00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:45.199
we see about the kids is that they're ripping

00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:47.699
all of the tubes out. That's true. And waking

00:42:47.699 --> 00:42:51.480
them all up. And so I think he just woke up.

00:42:51.480 --> 00:42:54.659
Didn't. Before he had to get there. Because he

00:42:54.659 --> 00:42:57.679
was last almost in line with Holly. Yeah, that's

00:42:57.679 --> 00:43:01.480
true. That's true. How does Hopper get his chief

00:43:01.480 --> 00:43:03.760
of police job back after being dead for three

00:43:03.760 --> 00:43:07.780
years? He's a nepo baby. Officer Powell would

00:43:07.780 --> 00:43:12.460
be so pissed. Officer who? We don't see him.

00:43:13.099 --> 00:43:17.420
Yeah, he's - He's gone. He got transferred? But

00:43:17.420 --> 00:43:19.440
Powell is not mentioned, I don't think, at all,

00:43:19.500 --> 00:43:23.599
right? He gets transferred. His deputy was so

00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:27.380
horrible that they both got fired. When the military

00:43:27.380 --> 00:43:31.360
came in and took over, they had no need for a

00:43:31.360 --> 00:43:34.340
sheriff anymore. Yeah. And so the spot was vacant.

00:43:34.639 --> 00:43:39.500
Okay, so this one. Yes, yes, absolutely. Okay,

00:43:39.599 --> 00:43:42.159
so this question legitimately makes me almost

00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:44.920
as angry as Callie. This whole situation, which

00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:48.239
is we've had Will when he's connected to the

00:43:48.239 --> 00:43:51.940
hive mind. Every time a hive mind is in pain,

00:43:52.099 --> 00:43:55.139
he's also in pain. This is a huge plot point

00:43:55.139 --> 00:43:58.199
of season two. How does Will not feel anything

00:43:58.199 --> 00:44:00.300
in the hide mine when the Scoobies and the Doobies

00:44:00.300 --> 00:44:02.460
and Elle are all killing Vecna and the Mind Flayer?

00:44:02.780 --> 00:44:08.199
He conveniently lost service. His walkie -talkie

00:44:08.199 --> 00:44:11.840
antenna broke. It's really upsetting. This is

00:44:11.840 --> 00:44:14.179
like one of the biggest plot holes in this episode.

00:44:14.360 --> 00:44:18.699
Things like this. Oh my gosh. What? What did

00:44:18.699 --> 00:44:21.500
they say? Couldn't possibly piece that together.

00:44:21.500 --> 00:44:25.739
Sorry, Vecna, you're breaking up. Sorry, I can't.

00:44:28.409 --> 00:44:31.309
I'm going through a tunnel. I honestly thought

00:44:31.309 --> 00:44:32.710
he was going to die. I thought this was going

00:44:32.710 --> 00:44:34.690
to be a big twist that he's connected in the

00:44:34.690 --> 00:44:37.510
mind, the hive mind, and that he was just going

00:44:37.510 --> 00:44:40.269
to just like everything else. And everyone's

00:44:40.269 --> 00:44:43.429
going to be really sad. Especially because he's

00:44:43.429 --> 00:44:46.389
not anywhere near the fight. Yeah. And I was

00:44:46.389 --> 00:44:49.170
going, okay, it seems kind of odd to just like

00:44:49.170 --> 00:44:51.369
leave him in a place where you don't know where

00:44:51.369 --> 00:44:54.519
enemies may or may not be. And you leave him

00:44:54.519 --> 00:44:57.880
and Joyce, who up until this point, like, has

00:44:57.880 --> 00:45:02.559
done - Nothing. A couple of things. She axed

00:45:02.559 --> 00:45:06.119
a wall and she figured out a mystery and she

00:45:06.119 --> 00:45:09.960
went into scary places. But in terms of actually

00:45:09.960 --> 00:45:13.500
fighting things, not so much. Well, that's not

00:45:13.500 --> 00:45:16.539
true. She fought a lot in Russia when they're

00:45:16.539 --> 00:45:19.360
going through the whole base. Yeah. How much

00:45:19.360 --> 00:45:22.059
was she fighting and how much was Hopper and

00:45:22.059 --> 00:45:26.599
Enzo and Murray actually doing the fighting?

00:45:26.699 --> 00:45:30.059
She's just like not bait. She's in charge of

00:45:30.059 --> 00:45:34.920
closing the door. And she half does that and

00:45:34.920 --> 00:45:39.519
then half opens it. She means well. Yes, she

00:45:39.519 --> 00:45:43.559
does. She's there for emotional support. I gotta

00:45:43.559 --> 00:45:46.380
say, I'm pretty overall disappointed with Joyce's

00:45:46.380 --> 00:45:50.679
whole storyline in season five. It's akin to

00:45:50.679 --> 00:45:53.380
what happened in California for the California

00:45:53.380 --> 00:45:56.559
Bros. Like, just benched all season. They could

00:45:56.559 --> 00:45:58.760
not figure out something else for her. She showed

00:45:58.760 --> 00:46:01.960
so much growth in both season three and four.

00:46:02.460 --> 00:46:04.500
But they were like, Nancy's the only girl who

00:46:04.500 --> 00:46:09.320
can figure out mysteries now. So it also really

00:46:09.320 --> 00:46:12.280
bothered me with Joyce's character that... At

00:46:12.280 --> 00:46:15.699
the very beginning, basically, well, this season,

00:46:15.860 --> 00:46:19.820
the first four episodes, she's like, no, I still

00:46:19.820 --> 00:46:23.179
must protect my baby, Will, and keep him sheltered

00:46:23.179 --> 00:46:25.179
from all of the things that are out there. And

00:46:25.179 --> 00:46:28.280
then episode five, she's just like, so, Will,

00:46:28.440 --> 00:46:30.719
you're going to go straight into Vecna's mind.

00:46:30.860 --> 00:46:34.019
We're just going to feed you to him. And you're

00:46:34.019 --> 00:46:36.699
going to be fine, right? Really swung that pendulum.

00:46:37.769 --> 00:46:40.010
Yeah, she just keeps that attitude the entire

00:46:40.010 --> 00:46:43.849
rest of the season. And I'm going, that seems

00:46:43.849 --> 00:46:47.030
out of character. Methinks thou did pendulates

00:46:47.030 --> 00:46:53.789
too much. Speaking of pendulating people, Dustin

00:46:53.789 --> 00:46:57.690
went from zero to 60 to happy to unhappy. And

00:46:57.690 --> 00:47:00.530
Susie was caught up in the crossfires, question

00:47:00.530 --> 00:47:03.929
mark? I best guess. I think I said it before

00:47:03.929 --> 00:47:09.610
in our... first season five episode where he's

00:47:09.610 --> 00:47:13.429
just not dusty buns anymore and so i just don't

00:47:13.429 --> 00:47:16.670
see suzy being able to stick around with him

00:47:16.670 --> 00:47:19.769
or him putting in enough effort yeah yeah well

00:47:19.769 --> 00:47:21.849
and i just don't think that he'd put in the effort

00:47:21.849 --> 00:47:24.710
to continue to connect with her long distance

00:47:24.710 --> 00:47:27.900
relationships are hard Her dad is not a fan.

00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:30.320
There was a lot going against them. Also, he

00:47:30.320 --> 00:47:32.400
probably doesn't have Cerebro anymore because

00:47:32.400 --> 00:47:34.659
the military would have been like, no unauthorized

00:47:34.659 --> 00:47:37.099
radio equipment outside of the quarantine. But

00:47:37.099 --> 00:47:40.139
you guys can still have your radio tower. Yeah.

00:47:40.679 --> 00:47:43.679
Yeah, but the radio tower is only supposed to

00:47:43.679 --> 00:47:47.260
reach Hawkins. And somehow is way bigger than

00:47:47.260 --> 00:47:49.880
Cerebro. It's fine. All right, that's fine. I

00:47:49.880 --> 00:47:53.460
can be down for that. Otherwise, Dustin is cheating

00:47:53.460 --> 00:47:55.679
on her at the end of the finale where he's like,

00:47:56.300 --> 00:47:58.300
Ooh, this person from season two that I wanted

00:47:58.300 --> 00:48:02.000
to dance with now invited me to a party. No,

00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:05.820
I don't think so. I think he probably just also

00:48:05.820 --> 00:48:07.739
doesn't, yeah, he doesn't have any way to contact

00:48:07.739 --> 00:48:12.039
her. And she's living such an insular life that

00:48:12.039 --> 00:48:16.940
maybe they reconnect eventually. What happened

00:48:16.940 --> 00:48:20.019
to Vicky and Robin? They broke up. Are you saying

00:48:20.019 --> 00:48:21.800
that because of the overbearing partner's comment?

00:48:22.510 --> 00:48:24.949
Well, it's either that or Robin just really doesn't

00:48:24.949 --> 00:48:28.670
like her anymore. I mean, what other there's

00:48:28.670 --> 00:48:31.010
nobody else who hasn't who has a partner that

00:48:31.010 --> 00:48:33.190
we know of. I think she's speaking to the future

00:48:33.190 --> 00:48:36.369
where she's saying we will not let our spouses

00:48:36.369 --> 00:48:39.250
in the future stop us from doing this once every

00:48:39.250 --> 00:48:43.730
30 days meet up in a five hour drive. Yeah, but

00:48:43.730 --> 00:48:46.309
at the same time, why say overbearing partners?

00:48:46.349 --> 00:48:49.940
You could just say we won't let. Kids and spouses

00:48:49.940 --> 00:48:52.599
and whatever get in the way. But the way that

00:48:52.599 --> 00:48:55.079
she specifically says overbearing partners, I'm

00:48:55.079 --> 00:48:57.860
like, hmm. Hey, Vicky was actually pretty good

00:48:57.860 --> 00:49:01.340
for someone that was being lied to 24 -7. Yeah,

00:49:01.380 --> 00:49:04.519
and then suddenly dragged into this horrifying

00:49:04.519 --> 00:49:07.719
world. And then arrested by the military as a

00:49:07.719 --> 00:49:12.539
candy striper. Okay, continuity error here. Does

00:49:12.539 --> 00:49:15.019
the Upside Down have liquid or no? Because...

00:49:15.309 --> 00:49:18.110
When Barb is dragged down into the pool in season

00:49:18.110 --> 00:49:21.550
one, there is no water. But water tank for Elle

00:49:21.550 --> 00:49:25.750
in season five? Am I crazy or did they fill it?

00:49:26.250 --> 00:49:29.190
Nope. He opens up for the first time and there

00:49:29.190 --> 00:49:35.710
is water. Okay. Sorry to burst your bubble. No,

00:49:35.730 --> 00:49:38.829
that's okay. I don't know why I just had this

00:49:38.829 --> 00:49:42.070
weird memory of like them pouring something,

00:49:42.230 --> 00:49:47.289
but. I'm crazy, apparently. You are crazy. I'm

00:49:47.289 --> 00:49:49.570
also crazy because why did the squawk dial change

00:49:49.570 --> 00:49:56.210
color? See, that goes into the conspiracy theories.

00:49:56.429 --> 00:50:00.170
Yeah. Yeah. So that goes into the conspiracy

00:50:00.170 --> 00:50:05.329
theories of not everything is okay. Some of these

00:50:05.329 --> 00:50:11.150
things are actually Vecna's imposed image or...

00:50:11.659 --> 00:50:15.559
in his mind, things like that. And if we were

00:50:15.559 --> 00:50:17.559
getting Dimension X, if we were getting another

00:50:17.559 --> 00:50:20.239
season, I would say, wow, all of this is right.

00:50:20.320 --> 00:50:23.519
What is created by Vecna? What is eight helping

00:50:23.519 --> 00:50:26.219
him do with amplified powers? What is he using

00:50:26.219 --> 00:50:28.719
these 12 children for? But we're not. And so

00:50:28.719 --> 00:50:32.719
it's just like, it's clearly not a thing. Yeah.

00:50:32.760 --> 00:50:35.840
Again, it's one of those really unfortunate continuity

00:50:35.840 --> 00:50:39.329
errors where. Unfortunately, they set a precedent

00:50:39.329 --> 00:50:42.829
that if something changes color to gray, it means

00:50:42.829 --> 00:50:47.690
that it's not real. Because Holly's looking at

00:50:47.690 --> 00:50:51.829
the merry -go -round and sees that it should

00:50:51.829 --> 00:50:55.090
be yellow or blue or whatever it is, but it's

00:50:55.090 --> 00:50:58.110
gray. And so then they know that they can lift

00:50:58.110 --> 00:51:00.929
it and go through it. Which doesn't necessarily

00:51:00.929 --> 00:51:03.670
mean it has to be gray. It just means that Beckner

00:51:03.670 --> 00:51:06.510
got the color wrong. particular thing but it

00:51:06.510 --> 00:51:08.329
does it does point to the fact that if the color

00:51:08.329 --> 00:51:11.329
is wrong something is happening and i just whatever

00:51:11.329 --> 00:51:16.710
uh also so if we're going with this whole 11

00:51:16.710 --> 00:51:18.510
plan which we'll we'll actually talk about if

00:51:18.510 --> 00:51:21.889
you and i believe this or not but if l does survive

00:51:21.889 --> 00:51:26.650
and it's because eight is projecting her eight

00:51:26.650 --> 00:51:32.190
has a giant chest wound from a gunshot that she's

00:51:32.190 --> 00:51:37.070
bleeding out on In Hawkins Lab. Mm -hmm. Hawkins

00:51:37.070 --> 00:51:39.289
Lab is where the C4 charges are. That's the thing

00:51:39.289 --> 00:51:42.610
that blows up that then the entire Upside Down

00:51:42.610 --> 00:51:46.269
collapses and sucks everything out. So, Eleven's

00:51:46.269 --> 00:51:49.170
projection should have vanished right there,

00:51:49.250 --> 00:51:52.309
right? There should have been no convenient,

00:51:52.510 --> 00:51:55.329
you know, fading away right when everything gets

00:51:55.329 --> 00:52:00.269
stormy. Mm -hmm. Yes. The only thing that I can

00:52:00.269 --> 00:52:04.920
think of is, one, they... changed part of the

00:52:04.920 --> 00:52:09.719
plan and hid her somewhere that would not be

00:52:09.719 --> 00:52:12.840
part of the initial blast, knowing that this

00:52:12.840 --> 00:52:19.219
was going to be the plan. Or they finally actually

00:52:19.219 --> 00:52:24.400
touched on that Eleven can heal people, and she

00:52:24.400 --> 00:52:27.699
heals her enough of said gunshot wound that she

00:52:27.699 --> 00:52:30.739
can make it far enough away. That I would believe,

00:52:30.820 --> 00:52:34.139
because she does heal Max. Yes. But also not

00:52:34.139 --> 00:52:38.659
enough to save her. Yeah. Convenient. Yes, indeed.

00:52:38.980 --> 00:52:43.960
Contrived, if that's true. So, I mean, it is

00:52:43.960 --> 00:52:48.760
difficult, yes, because she should be disappearing

00:52:48.760 --> 00:52:53.000
then, not later. Right. There are ways around

00:52:53.000 --> 00:52:57.340
it. I think it's a missing scene situation. Certainly.

00:52:57.360 --> 00:53:00.800
And because it's not shown at all, it doesn't

00:53:00.800 --> 00:53:04.769
make sense. Yeah. Going back to season one. So

00:53:04.769 --> 00:53:06.949
one of the main questions that everybody had

00:53:06.949 --> 00:53:08.750
that the Duffer Brothers promised will answer

00:53:08.750 --> 00:53:10.610
all your questions about Will and the Upside

00:53:10.610 --> 00:53:14.070
Down. We know the Upside Down is created the

00:53:14.070 --> 00:53:15.889
day that Elle makes contact with the Demogorgon

00:53:15.889 --> 00:53:19.469
in Dimension X. So it's frozen to that day. Days

00:53:19.469 --> 00:53:22.889
later, Joyce puts up Christmas lights. We know

00:53:22.889 --> 00:53:25.789
because of season four with Holly's little play

00:53:25.789 --> 00:53:28.929
light thing that you can still sense new lights.

00:53:29.610 --> 00:53:32.389
Mm -hmm. In Hawkins and the Upside Down. So the

00:53:32.389 --> 00:53:35.389
Christmas lights aren't the problem. How does

00:53:35.389 --> 00:53:39.210
Will see the letters painted on the wall? Because

00:53:39.210 --> 00:53:43.429
all the physical stuff won't change. Right. He

00:53:43.429 --> 00:53:46.369
just goes, A, B, C, D, E, E, F, G, H, I, J, K,

00:53:46.469 --> 00:53:49.349
L, M, N. Oh, God, there's the R for R. That means

00:53:49.349 --> 00:53:52.590
U has to be, like, is he just guessing? I'm,

00:53:52.590 --> 00:53:58.539
maybe. No is the real answer. The real answer

00:53:58.539 --> 00:54:00.619
is that they didn't. This is a continuity error

00:54:00.619 --> 00:54:02.639
that they created themselves, which is just really

00:54:02.639 --> 00:54:08.559
frustrating. Yes. Yes, it is. Why did Vexen need

00:54:08.559 --> 00:54:10.619
exactly 12 kids for smashing worlds together?

00:54:11.079 --> 00:54:13.059
That's how many numbers are on a clock. Okay,

00:54:13.139 --> 00:54:15.860
but so here's the big question. Why is the clock

00:54:15.860 --> 00:54:17.820
even a thing? We never really get an answer on

00:54:17.820 --> 00:54:20.159
that. He's just really obsessed with clocks.

00:54:20.639 --> 00:54:23.610
Really obsessed with time. But there's no satisfying

00:54:23.610 --> 00:54:27.050
answer. It just becomes a visual motif. There's

00:54:27.050 --> 00:54:30.190
no actual reason behind it. Because they needed

00:54:30.190 --> 00:54:32.949
them sitting all around that table as if they

00:54:32.949 --> 00:54:36.329
themselves were a clock. And he's one. Mm -hmm.

00:54:36.409 --> 00:54:39.409
Dear Lord. See, this is why I thought Will was

00:54:39.409 --> 00:54:41.829
12. And then we went back and watched season

00:54:41.829 --> 00:54:44.409
four. And Dr. Brennan's like, 17. And I was like,

00:54:44.510 --> 00:54:51.769
oh. Yeah. Whatever. Also. Why didn't anybody

00:54:51.769 --> 00:54:54.050
ever try to steal one of the military's sound

00:54:54.050 --> 00:54:57.610
emitters to use on Vecna? They either didn't

00:54:57.610 --> 00:55:00.429
know how to get a hold of them or had no idea

00:55:00.429 --> 00:55:02.050
how they were going to get them into Dimension

00:55:02.050 --> 00:55:05.250
X. Meh. Yeah, I mean, it would have been a good

00:55:05.250 --> 00:55:10.690
plan. Okay, fine. Fine. Okay, conspiracy question,

00:55:10.849 --> 00:55:13.070
then we'll get to the really big question. Conspiracy

00:55:13.070 --> 00:55:17.050
theory. All the kids, right, the 12 kids, are

00:55:17.050 --> 00:55:20.659
actually still infected at the end. And bring

00:55:20.659 --> 00:55:23.320
the flayed infection with them. And that's why

00:55:23.320 --> 00:55:26.960
everybody believes that they are in happily ever

00:55:26.960 --> 00:55:29.519
after, which is a feature of the black thing

00:55:29.519 --> 00:55:32.019
in A Wrinkle in Time. A Wrinkle in Time makes

00:55:32.019 --> 00:55:34.639
you think you're living your best life. And in

00:55:34.639 --> 00:55:37.320
fact, you are not. So do you believe this? Yes

00:55:37.320 --> 00:55:40.980
or no? I don't. Yeah, me either. But I think

00:55:40.980 --> 00:55:45.920
it's an interesting idea. I don't like the idea

00:55:45.920 --> 00:55:49.539
of ending on a, and it was all a dream. Yeah.

00:55:49.900 --> 00:55:53.619
And so that would bother me. Continuing the conspiracy

00:55:53.619 --> 00:55:57.840
theory, I have seen out there on the interwebs,

00:55:57.880 --> 00:56:01.119
there's a conspiracy that there's a secret episode

00:56:01.119 --> 00:56:04.340
nine that's going to release on January 7th and

00:56:04.340 --> 00:56:07.960
rewrite the end of episode eight and explain

00:56:07.960 --> 00:56:11.599
all of these things and how it really hasn't

00:56:11.599 --> 00:56:16.679
happened this way. And then redo. I like, I in

00:56:16.679 --> 00:56:19.739
general, like a lot of theories. To be put out

00:56:19.739 --> 00:56:21.280
there. I think it's really fun for everybody

00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:23.059
to comb through. I think it's really stupid to

00:56:23.059 --> 00:56:24.960
get bent out of shape when your theory is wrong.

00:56:25.539 --> 00:56:28.119
Yeah. But I like theories. This type of theory

00:56:28.119 --> 00:56:30.460
is a theory that generates clicks and gets people

00:56:30.460 --> 00:56:32.940
who are much younger than you and I very excited

00:56:32.940 --> 00:56:36.420
in a way that I think is cruel. It's silly. Yeah.

00:56:36.760 --> 00:56:40.320
I just, I saw that and I go, no. No, no. And

00:56:40.320 --> 00:56:43.440
now you have my view and now you're getting people's

00:56:43.440 --> 00:56:47.139
likes and that's all this is for. I can't stand

00:56:47.139 --> 00:56:52.840
it. No. I think that the conspiracy theory in

00:56:52.840 --> 00:56:56.199
general is interesting. I don't think it's true,

00:56:56.300 --> 00:56:59.239
and I don't want it to be true either. But it

00:56:59.239 --> 00:57:01.519
is an interesting theory, especially considering

00:57:01.519 --> 00:57:04.400
how many, as we have just gone through, questions

00:57:04.400 --> 00:57:07.480
still need answers. Still remain. Still remain.

00:57:07.639 --> 00:57:13.079
So there's a possibility. But I think that this

00:57:13.079 --> 00:57:15.980
is just it. This is the end. Yeah, me too. Same.

00:57:16.760 --> 00:57:19.400
I think this is the end. The biggest question,

00:57:19.460 --> 00:57:23.300
of course, is do you believe Sierra? Because

00:57:23.300 --> 00:57:27.159
I do not. And, of course, I'm referring to Mike.

00:57:27.340 --> 00:57:31.179
No, I actually do. I actually do believe. And

00:57:31.179 --> 00:57:32.780
I'll tell you why in a second. But there's this

00:57:32.780 --> 00:57:35.880
whole conspiracy theory that Max is like, this

00:57:35.880 --> 00:57:38.300
is just a theory, right? About Max explaining

00:57:38.300 --> 00:57:40.500
how Eleven survives. So do you believe that Eleven

00:57:40.500 --> 00:57:43.340
is alive, yes or no? I do think she's alive.

00:57:44.280 --> 00:57:47.840
I don't think that they would have done. That

00:57:47.840 --> 00:57:51.739
whole sequence of Mike seeing the speakers, thinking

00:57:51.739 --> 00:57:55.800
of the emitters, then piecing it all together,

00:57:55.880 --> 00:57:58.380
then telling the whole story to everybody else

00:57:58.380 --> 00:58:02.099
about how she survived. I think that that's completely

00:58:02.099 --> 00:58:05.500
pointless unless it's true. Yeah. If you're going,

00:58:05.659 --> 00:58:08.679
oh, well, he's just trying to put his friends

00:58:08.679 --> 00:58:10.679
at ease. They're at ease. They're already at

00:58:10.679 --> 00:58:12.219
ease. They've gotten over this. They're already

00:58:12.219 --> 00:58:14.599
at ease. He's the only one who's not over. Right.

00:58:15.300 --> 00:58:20.039
So. There's no point of him making up this story

00:58:20.039 --> 00:58:23.880
and, you know, quote, piecing all of this together

00:58:23.880 --> 00:58:26.679
if it's not actually what happened. Now, again,

00:58:26.800 --> 00:58:28.559
there are plot holes with it, with the whole

00:58:28.559 --> 00:58:31.480
Callie of it all and the timing and all of those

00:58:31.480 --> 00:58:35.519
things. But I will say I did have that question

00:58:35.519 --> 00:58:38.260
of how is she talking to Mike right now? Precisely.

00:58:38.260 --> 00:58:40.019
With all this stuff going on. She's just standing

00:58:40.019 --> 00:58:43.480
there. She's completely fine. All the other times

00:58:43.480 --> 00:58:46.590
we've seen those things going off. She has been

00:58:46.590 --> 00:58:49.849
freaking out and in pain and rolling on the ground,

00:58:49.929 --> 00:58:52.530
barely able to move. And she's just standing

00:58:52.530 --> 00:58:55.590
there staring and it's fine. So I was going,

00:58:55.710 --> 00:58:58.389
it seems weird. The only thing I can think of

00:58:58.389 --> 00:59:00.909
is like she was far enough away somehow. Well,

00:59:00.909 --> 00:59:03.150
so I was realizing I was talking myself into

00:59:03.150 --> 00:59:05.469
reasons because that is absolutely live during

00:59:05.469 --> 00:59:07.929
the 10 minute segment that I watched that day.

00:59:08.090 --> 00:59:11.380
Yeah. I was like, she should be. This shouldn't

00:59:11.380 --> 00:59:13.639
be possible. What is going on? And the one thing

00:59:13.639 --> 00:59:15.519
that I thought of is that remember that Murray

00:59:15.519 --> 00:59:19.099
and Hopper move out in front of the truck and

00:59:19.099 --> 00:59:21.500
then the military vehicles come. And so I thought

00:59:21.500 --> 00:59:24.519
she maybe bailed out of the truck early. But

00:59:24.519 --> 00:59:26.420
if you go back, you can see her getting out of

00:59:26.420 --> 00:59:28.079
the truck and you can see someone while they're

00:59:28.079 --> 00:59:30.099
all being pressed up against things moving in

00:59:30.099 --> 00:59:32.320
the background into a place that has a tunnel.

00:59:33.900 --> 00:59:36.460
Although where that tunnel comes from and how

00:59:36.460 --> 00:59:38.960
they knew it was there. I was like, wait, were

00:59:38.960 --> 00:59:40.840
we shown that? So I got to go back and do that

00:59:40.840 --> 00:59:43.739
on a rewatch. But yeah, I think that she's alive.

00:59:44.000 --> 00:59:46.719
I don't know that she's in the exact place that

00:59:46.719 --> 00:59:49.119
Mike thinks that she is. And I don't know that

00:59:49.119 --> 00:59:50.960
anything happened exactly the way that he spelled

00:59:50.960 --> 00:59:53.860
it out. But I do believe in sweeping strokes,

00:59:54.000 --> 00:59:57.679
he got it right. So I think that when we see

00:59:57.679 --> 01:00:00.880
her and she's hiking and then she finds that

01:00:00.880 --> 01:00:03.679
town, I think that's actually flashing to her.

01:00:04.480 --> 01:00:08.059
Because... If it was Mike's imagination, there

01:00:08.059 --> 01:00:10.039
would have been three waterfalls. There are technically

01:00:10.039 --> 01:00:12.980
three. One's real tiny all the way over on the

01:00:12.980 --> 01:00:15.159
right. I don't think it counts. But in Mike's

01:00:15.159 --> 01:00:17.440
imagination, it would have been flooding. It

01:00:17.440 --> 01:00:20.119
would have been literally one, two, three waterfalls.

01:00:20.199 --> 01:00:22.780
Because this is his imagination, his perfect

01:00:22.780 --> 01:00:25.579
world. When he's thinking of three waterfalls,

01:00:25.699 --> 01:00:27.579
he's thinking of one, two, three waterfalls.

01:00:27.579 --> 01:00:30.280
No, I totally agree. And so I think that that

01:00:30.280 --> 01:00:33.059
is legitimately her. And what I do like about

01:00:33.059 --> 01:00:36.860
this is... You know, they have all these things

01:00:36.860 --> 01:00:40.699
about how Mike has become this storyteller and

01:00:40.699 --> 01:00:42.840
there's all these stories that he'll write, but

01:00:42.840 --> 01:00:46.599
there's one that he never will and he can't divulge

01:00:46.599 --> 01:00:51.699
it. I do subscribe to the additional call it

01:00:51.699 --> 01:00:55.699
a conspiracy, call it a fandom theory, whatever

01:00:55.699 --> 01:01:01.360
you want, that at some point he has some sort

01:01:01.360 --> 01:01:05.670
of tour for a book. And they find each other

01:01:05.670 --> 01:01:08.170
again. That'd be cool. I wondered if she was

01:01:08.170 --> 01:01:11.610
going to turn up in like a last sequence with

01:01:11.610 --> 01:01:14.610
Mike, but I was grateful that we didn't get that.

01:01:14.949 --> 01:01:18.570
I will say this gives Callie a little bit more

01:01:18.570 --> 01:01:21.909
reason to be there because up until they're in

01:01:21.909 --> 01:01:24.269
Vecna's mind and Callie is hiding the children

01:01:24.269 --> 01:01:27.849
from Vecna and therefore exposing all the children

01:01:27.849 --> 01:01:30.849
to the fact that Holly is right. Right. She has

01:01:30.849 --> 01:01:34.190
had, you could have done that whole scene. The

01:01:34.190 --> 01:01:36.369
whole season without her. There wasn't really

01:01:36.369 --> 01:01:38.690
a point to her. So that gave her a little bit

01:01:38.690 --> 01:01:40.489
of a point. And then this, obviously, it's like,

01:01:40.550 --> 01:01:43.429
oh, this is why they brought her back. Which

01:01:43.429 --> 01:01:45.869
I thought was good, but I'm still frustrated

01:01:45.869 --> 01:01:49.550
overall with the Callie situation. Yes. I think

01:01:49.550 --> 01:01:53.550
bringing her back for a plot convenience is very

01:01:53.550 --> 01:01:55.829
annoying. Yeah. I think that there was a lot

01:01:55.829 --> 01:01:57.289
more that could have been done with her character.

01:01:57.369 --> 01:01:59.369
And also, if you're going to bring her back,

01:01:59.530 --> 01:02:03.369
I think you have her. have a larger role yeah

01:02:03.369 --> 01:02:06.630
and don't give her so such weird direction on

01:02:06.630 --> 01:02:10.289
the way like i get that she's been like blood

01:02:10.289 --> 01:02:13.349
sucked out of her with these emitters around

01:02:13.349 --> 01:02:16.809
her and kept in a way and that she's going to

01:02:16.809 --> 01:02:20.690
be different than she was earlier but Boy, everything

01:02:20.690 --> 01:02:23.010
was just at a perfect little place for people

01:02:23.010 --> 01:02:25.349
to have all these wild theories about her, especially

01:02:25.349 --> 01:02:28.750
given her name and the D &D connections and the

01:02:28.750 --> 01:02:30.570
Shadowfell references and people talking about

01:02:30.570 --> 01:02:33.230
the Raven Queen, all that sort of stuff. So then

01:02:33.230 --> 01:02:35.550
there should be like, this is just the direction

01:02:35.550 --> 01:02:37.289
given to this actress, which again, I think the

01:02:37.289 --> 01:02:39.369
actress does a great job with what she's told

01:02:39.369 --> 01:02:42.630
to do. But I think the mistake is the way in

01:02:42.630 --> 01:02:46.409
which the story is crafted. Exactly. Yeah, definitely

01:02:46.409 --> 01:02:50.360
agree with that. Speaking of, though, actors

01:02:50.360 --> 01:02:54.760
who do a lot. Yeah. I would like to have a moment

01:02:54.760 --> 01:02:58.940
for Jamie Campbell. Yeah, for real. Because his

01:02:58.940 --> 01:03:03.699
facial acting. Yeah, really good. Is incredible.

01:03:03.800 --> 01:03:06.900
I'm really glad that they gave him regular human

01:03:06.900 --> 01:03:09.940
form acting to do as Beckner, not just as one.

01:03:10.400 --> 01:03:15.900
Right. Oh, he really pulled it out. All the sequences

01:03:15.900 --> 01:03:22.400
in the cave. Him showing rage and terror and

01:03:22.400 --> 01:03:27.679
grief and all of these emotions when he and Will

01:03:27.679 --> 01:03:30.780
are kind of having their little battle as well.

01:03:30.820 --> 01:03:36.380
I thought he just has such a way with the control

01:03:36.380 --> 01:03:41.280
that he has of his face and his expressions and

01:03:41.280 --> 01:03:45.019
his eyes and then just the timber of his voice

01:03:45.019 --> 01:03:48.789
as well. Very, very wonderful. I think he definitely

01:03:48.789 --> 01:03:53.110
won in terms of just general acting. He's so

01:03:53.110 --> 01:03:56.210
good. He's just – he's phenomenal. It felt the

01:03:56.210 --> 01:04:00.309
same way about Montgomery, Billy's actor, just

01:04:00.309 --> 01:04:02.849
in terms of – and Joseph Quinn, obviously, with

01:04:02.849 --> 01:04:05.789
Eddie. And Jamie Campbell Bower is already a

01:04:05.789 --> 01:04:08.369
well -established actor, much more so than Montgomery

01:04:08.369 --> 01:04:12.170
or Quinn. But still, just I feel like came out

01:04:12.170 --> 01:04:17.119
of this going – Yes. man, do I enjoy his whole

01:04:17.119 --> 01:04:19.980
deal. I thought he was just perfect. And I really,

01:04:20.119 --> 01:04:23.139
I was already not, you know, a big fan of Vecna's

01:04:23.139 --> 01:04:25.579
Grinch design in season four. And then they were

01:04:25.579 --> 01:04:28.699
like Groot's design for Vecna in season five.

01:04:28.699 --> 01:04:31.320
And I was just grateful to get some, some Mr.

01:04:31.380 --> 01:04:35.380
What's it regular, like Henry Creel looking stuff

01:04:35.380 --> 01:04:37.579
so that we could see him act. Cause, oh man,

01:04:37.739 --> 01:04:40.139
it was great. It was really great. And I felt

01:04:40.139 --> 01:04:43.239
like gave a lot more emphasis. To the Vecna parts,

01:04:43.320 --> 01:04:45.639
because now I can imagine what this actor would

01:04:45.639 --> 01:04:49.519
be like. Right. Yeah, definitely. And I thought

01:04:49.519 --> 01:04:55.019
that also on top of everything, there's so much

01:04:55.019 --> 01:04:57.159
information that always comes out and all their

01:04:57.159 --> 01:05:00.539
behind -the -scenes footage and whatnot. Getting

01:05:00.539 --> 01:05:06.539
to see him in studio do the voice changes from

01:05:06.539 --> 01:05:10.380
Henry to Vecna, amazing. So good. And incredible.

01:05:11.800 --> 01:05:14.400
First, when you first see Vecna, you go, oh,

01:05:14.400 --> 01:05:16.659
yeah, I mean, they can voice modulate that. You

01:05:16.659 --> 01:05:18.940
know, they can put it through whatever. No, that's

01:05:18.940 --> 01:05:20.559
just him. No, it's not. And it's really impressive

01:05:20.559 --> 01:05:23.039
given like his role in Sweeney Todd where he's

01:05:23.039 --> 01:05:26.400
a tenor. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Phenomenal. His vocal

01:05:26.400 --> 01:05:29.679
range is Freddie Mercury -esque. It's absolutely

01:05:29.679 --> 01:05:32.159
incredible. And for those of you who are 12,

01:05:32.539 --> 01:05:35.619
Freddie Mercury was a four octave singer in a

01:05:35.619 --> 01:05:45.260
band called Queen. Speaking of MVPs. Yes. Let's,

01:05:45.260 --> 01:05:49.000
for the final time, for Stranger Things. Yes.

01:05:49.039 --> 01:05:51.159
Man, our first season coming to an end on this

01:05:51.159 --> 01:05:55.639
episode. So crazy. For the final time, let us

01:05:55.639 --> 01:05:58.559
dust off that card deck and get ready to shuffle.

01:05:58.639 --> 01:06:02.260
It's our Joker category for who is the MVP of

01:06:02.260 --> 01:06:04.440
this episode. I had an honorable mention for

01:06:04.440 --> 01:06:07.760
Mike just because his... His putting things together

01:06:07.760 --> 01:06:10.780
about Elle and his wrap up is really good for

01:06:10.780 --> 01:06:14.840
the show. But I think in terms of the storyline,

01:06:15.059 --> 01:06:19.039
it is Nancy because she is bait and survives

01:06:19.039 --> 01:06:23.019
being bait. And that does a huge amount of allowing

01:06:23.019 --> 01:06:27.039
everybody else to get up to the cliff sides and

01:06:27.039 --> 01:06:31.039
throw fire at everybody, which I think is the

01:06:31.039 --> 01:06:33.119
most important bit. But you have somebody else.

01:06:33.949 --> 01:06:38.730
I do have somebody else because I just feel like

01:06:38.730 --> 01:06:42.670
at that point, Nancy saying, yeah, it's just

01:06:42.670 --> 01:06:45.349
going to be me. And then stomping off was basically

01:06:45.349 --> 01:06:49.769
just Rambo. She just, well, yeah, but also it

01:06:49.769 --> 01:06:51.389
just doesn't seem like she really has a will

01:06:51.389 --> 01:06:54.070
to live anymore. She's like, Oh really? That

01:06:54.070 --> 01:06:56.769
is not how I interpreted that. See, I interpreted

01:06:56.769 --> 01:06:59.989
it as just like, well, I might as well just like

01:06:59.989 --> 01:07:03.110
go for it because. I'm awesome. And also, like,

01:07:03.110 --> 01:07:06.369
if I die, oh, well. Just have that vibe to me.

01:07:06.449 --> 01:07:08.070
I'm the one with the biggest gun. I'm the one

01:07:08.070 --> 01:07:10.389
who can handle this. And I'm the most daring

01:07:10.389 --> 01:07:12.449
out of everybody. And we need to make a decision

01:07:12.449 --> 01:07:14.489
now. And she's the only one with the nerve to

01:07:14.489 --> 01:07:17.989
do that. Yeah. I don't know. It just didn't win

01:07:17.989 --> 01:07:21.489
MVP for me. For me, it was difficult to pick

01:07:21.489 --> 01:07:25.289
somebody. I went with Holly, though. Because

01:07:25.289 --> 01:07:31.449
Max and Eleven and Callie. all disappear. And

01:07:31.449 --> 01:07:35.030
it is up to her to lead all of the kids and get

01:07:35.030 --> 01:07:37.110
them in the cave. And she goes back for Derek

01:07:37.110 --> 01:07:41.150
and doesn't let him get caught and is ushering

01:07:41.150 --> 01:07:43.150
everybody and encouraging everybody and telling

01:07:43.150 --> 01:07:44.889
them when they get in the cave. Anything you

01:07:44.889 --> 01:07:46.989
see in here, it's not real. You just keep moving.

01:07:47.050 --> 01:07:49.389
Don't watch it. And she is being the shepherd

01:07:49.389 --> 01:07:51.949
and guiding people. And she is taking on that

01:07:51.949 --> 01:07:54.329
leadership role. And she gets all of the kids

01:07:54.329 --> 01:07:57.369
all the way through. She stands up. She has that

01:07:57.369 --> 01:08:00.449
moment with the fire poker. And she's standing

01:08:00.449 --> 01:08:04.710
up to Henry. And she's finding her nerve where

01:08:04.710 --> 01:08:07.989
she didn't have her nerve before. She's coming

01:08:07.989 --> 01:08:12.110
into her, you know, cleric moment. All of these

01:08:12.110 --> 01:08:15.230
are true. And at the same time, the kids are

01:08:15.230 --> 01:08:18.909
saved because of the fight outside. Yeah. And

01:08:18.909 --> 01:08:21.029
the tubes get pulled out because of the people

01:08:21.029 --> 01:08:24.829
outside. So she ultimately, kind of like with

01:08:24.829 --> 01:08:28.090
Eddie, it's like, yeah, but who does this actually

01:08:28.090 --> 01:08:33.170
save in the end? She saves D &D. Okay, if we're

01:08:33.170 --> 01:08:35.390
doing epilogue, then Dustin wins for his speech.

01:08:36.970 --> 01:08:39.829
I still think if we're just doing epilogue, then

01:08:39.829 --> 01:08:43.220
Mike would still win. Probably. Yeah. Yeah, I

01:08:43.220 --> 01:08:47.000
think it's Nancy's, you know, distraction. Her

01:08:47.000 --> 01:08:51.659
putting her life on the line allows for everyone

01:08:51.659 --> 01:08:53.680
to position themselves up on the cliffs without

01:08:53.680 --> 01:08:57.119
those positionings and also giving Mike the flare

01:08:57.119 --> 01:09:01.500
guns, which go very well with Lucas's water balloon

01:09:01.500 --> 01:09:04.859
gas things that we have no explanation as to

01:09:04.859 --> 01:09:10.119
what he has, but he has them. All of that, you

01:09:10.119 --> 01:09:12.380
know, the flamethrower, all of that jazz that

01:09:12.380 --> 01:09:16.460
Jonathan has, they go up, and without that plan

01:09:16.460 --> 01:09:19.760
of drawing them into the cave, or not to the

01:09:19.760 --> 01:09:22.159
cave, to drawing the mind flayer towards the

01:09:22.159 --> 01:09:24.159
cliffs where everybody can bomb it, L doesn't

01:09:24.159 --> 01:09:27.420
win. Mm -hmm. The mind flayer doesn't die. The

01:09:27.420 --> 01:09:31.319
abyss collides, and everybody dies. Yeah. And

01:09:31.319 --> 01:09:34.539
I can't give it to L, mainly because it was just

01:09:34.539 --> 01:09:38.199
boring. Yeah. Well, but that's why I feel like

01:09:38.199 --> 01:09:41.479
giving it to somebody for that fight in general,

01:09:41.659 --> 01:09:44.439
I just can't do it. So then it's either that

01:09:44.439 --> 01:09:46.840
or it's the epilogue. In which case, I think

01:09:46.840 --> 01:09:51.119
Mike wins. That's crazy. You're probably right.

01:09:51.279 --> 01:09:53.279
I think Mike wins. If we can't settle on somebody

01:09:53.279 --> 01:09:56.020
for the fight. Okay, and even if you don't want

01:09:56.020 --> 01:09:57.840
to do the fight, but you don't necessarily want

01:09:57.840 --> 01:10:01.159
to do the epilogue, there's him talking to Elle

01:10:01.159 --> 01:10:07.329
and that whole scene of him like, Not wanting

01:10:07.329 --> 01:10:09.609
to let her go, but kind of understanding, but

01:10:09.609 --> 01:10:13.649
not understanding. And then him piecing everything

01:10:13.649 --> 01:10:16.270
together that happens in that scene. And he had

01:10:16.270 --> 01:10:20.409
to be paying attention to that situation. Although

01:10:20.409 --> 01:10:22.270
I will say, the fact that it took him 18 months

01:10:22.270 --> 01:10:24.949
to figure out because of speaker feedback. Was

01:10:24.949 --> 01:10:26.689
that the only time a speaker feedback has happened,

01:10:26.770 --> 01:10:30.250
Mike? I mean, maybe. How often are you around

01:10:30.250 --> 01:10:33.270
speakers? He's in the AV club. He's probably

01:10:33.270 --> 01:10:37.079
around it all the time. What, bigger, like, standing

01:10:37.079 --> 01:10:38.600
speakers? Also, how many times have I around

01:10:38.600 --> 01:10:42.720
speakers? We do podcasting together. No, okay,

01:10:42.800 --> 01:10:48.520
I meant the colloquial you. I mean, probably

01:10:48.520 --> 01:10:50.939
a lot. You're around a lot of microphones. Yeah,

01:10:50.960 --> 01:10:56.479
the 80s didn't have earbuds. So, earbuds. As

01:10:56.479 --> 01:11:00.279
in the dog? No. I mean, it didn't have that either.

01:11:00.560 --> 01:11:07.569
They didn't have AirPods. The 80s did not have

01:11:07.569 --> 01:11:09.770
AirPods, so there's a lot more microphone stuff

01:11:09.770 --> 01:11:13.189
happening all the time, I'm sure. Anyways, this

01:11:13.189 --> 01:11:16.970
is crazy. We should probably give it to Mike.

01:11:17.229 --> 01:11:20.989
Yes. Because there's also a theory that when

01:11:20.989 --> 01:11:26.029
she, when Elle is talking to Mike, she somehow

01:11:26.029 --> 01:11:28.949
makes it so that he won't remember until later.

01:11:29.529 --> 01:11:31.869
I hate that. Enough time will have passed. And

01:11:31.869 --> 01:11:33.630
I don't like that at all. I hate that so much.

01:11:34.239 --> 01:11:36.220
And it doesn't make any sense. That's like...

01:11:36.220 --> 01:11:37.840
But there is a theory. That's like Guardians

01:11:37.840 --> 01:11:39.960
of the Galaxy 2 when he's like, yeah, I put that

01:11:39.960 --> 01:11:42.779
tumor in your mother's head. And it's like, oh,

01:11:42.800 --> 01:11:47.380
you did? Well, that sucks. Yeah. That's how I

01:11:47.380 --> 01:11:50.939
feel about Mike getting a memory blocker. No.

01:11:52.060 --> 01:11:55.880
But I think it's Mike. Yeah. Okay, that's...

01:11:55.880 --> 01:12:00.899
I don't know if that feels great. Honestly, none

01:12:00.899 --> 01:12:04.760
of them feel great. Is it Vecna somehow? No,

01:12:04.920 --> 01:12:08.380
it's not. It's just Jamie Campbell Bauer. Jamie

01:12:08.380 --> 01:12:12.880
Campbell Bauer. Oh my gosh. I can't think of

01:12:12.880 --> 01:12:14.859
anybody else that it should go to. I mean, doesn't

01:12:14.859 --> 01:12:18.600
it have that awesome speech? Yeah, but again,

01:12:19.239 --> 01:12:21.500
we almost always give it to somebody with story

01:12:21.500 --> 01:12:24.300
implications. Yeah, and Mike has the biggest

01:12:24.300 --> 01:12:26.859
story implication, which is where has Elle gone?

01:12:27.079 --> 01:12:28.439
And he's the one that figures that. All right,

01:12:28.479 --> 01:12:32.260
it's Mike. Mike, your first win in the finale.

01:12:32.960 --> 01:12:36.840
Of the series. You're the main character, ostensibly,

01:12:36.920 --> 01:12:42.159
by the Duffer Brothers. You and Will. Yeah. Okay.

01:12:42.399 --> 01:12:45.340
And it took until the final season for both of

01:12:45.340 --> 01:12:48.939
them to get a win. Yeah, for real. For, you know,

01:12:49.020 --> 01:12:52.000
this has always been about Will. This has always

01:12:52.000 --> 01:12:54.460
been about Will. And Mike is the main character.

01:12:54.520 --> 01:12:57.079
He's the leader. He is? He's the heart. Wow.

01:12:57.340 --> 01:13:02.170
He's the main storyteller. Oh. Now we understand.

01:13:04.229 --> 01:13:08.590
Because he did the storytelling thing. Now we

01:13:08.590 --> 01:13:14.510
know. I do have an additional question for you,

01:13:14.529 --> 01:13:16.989
Sierra, as this is our last Stranger Things episode.

01:13:18.069 --> 01:13:21.069
Until the cartoon comes out. And I'm sure we'll

01:13:21.069 --> 01:13:23.649
talk about that as a bit of nostalgia for our

01:13:23.649 --> 01:13:28.130
first season. But who is the MVP of the whole

01:13:28.130 --> 01:13:30.760
television show? I shouldn't call it television.

01:13:30.920 --> 01:13:33.680
It's not on television. Of this show via the

01:13:33.680 --> 01:13:38.880
Netflix. That is such a good question. Do you

01:13:38.880 --> 01:13:41.060
want me to throw some options at you? Well, I

01:13:41.060 --> 01:13:43.640
was going to say, if we're doing it by MVP wins,

01:13:44.140 --> 01:13:47.279
then it's Dustin. Because he's the only one who

01:13:47.279 --> 01:13:50.659
has won more than one time. Which I am 100 %

01:13:50.659 --> 01:13:55.439
good to just call it there. I mean, I think we

01:13:55.439 --> 01:13:58.460
might just have to say Dustin. It could also

01:13:58.460 --> 01:14:02.939
be Steve. Yeah. Definitely fan favorite. Yeah.

01:14:02.960 --> 01:14:06.020
If you're talking about, you know, things that

01:14:06.020 --> 01:14:08.100
he has been able to accomplish. But not the most

01:14:08.100 --> 01:14:09.859
actionable. With his character. And Dustin is

01:14:09.859 --> 01:14:11.479
the one who gives them all of the scientific

01:14:11.479 --> 01:14:13.359
information that they need to know in order to

01:14:13.359 --> 01:14:17.979
destroy Dimension X. Right. Nancy, however, is

01:14:17.979 --> 01:14:20.460
the person that action -wise does a lot of that.

01:14:20.880 --> 01:14:22.760
Especially because Hopper's kind of benched in

01:14:22.760 --> 01:14:26.119
this last episode. In terms of being the Rambo

01:14:26.119 --> 01:14:27.420
character, because they couldn't really have

01:14:27.420 --> 01:14:30.720
two. So they have caring parent Hopper and then

01:14:30.720 --> 01:14:34.640
caring parent the light version with Joyce. Yeah.

01:14:34.960 --> 01:14:39.720
Yeah, I feel like Nance, you could also say Lucas,

01:14:39.779 --> 01:14:44.060
but he wasn't as present in these last four episodes

01:14:44.060 --> 01:14:47.479
of season five. True. I mean, he rescues Max,

01:14:47.720 --> 01:14:49.479
but that clearly is not the main story. It's

01:14:49.479 --> 01:14:51.560
the side story. And so I think either Dustin

01:14:51.560 --> 01:14:54.909
or Nancy are the most impactful. Pound for pound.

01:14:55.010 --> 01:14:56.590
You still could convince me we could give it

01:14:56.590 --> 01:15:02.890
to Mr. Clark overall, though. He's always, he

01:15:02.890 --> 01:15:05.449
is always a good pound for pound argument. He

01:15:05.449 --> 01:15:08.569
really is. But I think if we're not going to

01:15:08.569 --> 01:15:10.850
give it to Billy, who I like, I'm weirdly tempted

01:15:10.850 --> 01:15:14.270
to give it to Billy. I think it has to go to

01:15:14.270 --> 01:15:16.829
Dustin or Steve. And I have a slight edge towards,

01:15:16.949 --> 01:15:19.430
not Dustin or Steve. If we're not giving it to

01:15:19.430 --> 01:15:22.369
Billy, I have an, I think it's either Nancy for

01:15:22.369 --> 01:15:26.350
the action. Of the plans. Or Dustin for the brains

01:15:26.350 --> 01:15:31.369
of the plans. I think I would go Dustin. I think

01:15:31.369 --> 01:15:33.949
the tiebreaker there being just like two MVP

01:15:33.949 --> 01:15:37.550
wins for Dustin is what does it. Is that it?

01:15:37.689 --> 01:15:40.470
We're going to call it? I think so. Dustin, congratulations.

01:15:40.850 --> 01:15:46.529
Dustin Henderson. You have won the MVP of Fandom

01:15:46.529 --> 01:15:50.250
Shmandum for the first series ever. Well done.

01:15:50.920 --> 01:15:55.340
And now it's time for a new segment. Statlers

01:15:55.340 --> 01:16:00.399
and Waldorf's Who's That Muppet? So to explain

01:16:00.399 --> 01:16:03.340
a little bit, Sierra and I, when we finish up

01:16:03.340 --> 01:16:06.159
with a season, you know, whether it be Stranger

01:16:06.159 --> 01:16:09.020
Things or whatever is next in our future, we

01:16:09.020 --> 01:16:13.199
will be casting Muppets as if they were redoing

01:16:13.199 --> 01:16:16.630
this show. Now. Mainly I am the driving force

01:16:16.630 --> 01:16:18.869
on this one, Sierra, because you have, as you

01:16:18.869 --> 01:16:21.489
say, very little background with Muppets. Yes,

01:16:21.489 --> 01:16:26.149
I have very little experience watching Muppets

01:16:26.149 --> 01:16:30.770
and knowing Muppet things. So your homework between

01:16:30.770 --> 01:16:33.970
now and season two is to watch more Muppet things

01:16:33.970 --> 01:16:38.449
so that you know these Muppets. Now you know

01:16:38.449 --> 01:16:40.949
them enough to comment on them and you know enough

01:16:40.949 --> 01:16:43.869
for me to tell you who they are. Yes. So here

01:16:43.869 --> 01:16:47.689
we go. Mike, controversially, cast as Pepe the

01:16:47.689 --> 01:16:51.510
King Prawn. Because... Clearly not season five,

01:16:51.550 --> 01:16:53.670
Mike. No, not season five, Mike. This is season

01:16:53.670 --> 01:16:57.989
one when Mrs. Wheeler calls down and says, Mike,

01:16:58.109 --> 01:16:59.289
you were supposed to be done with that hours

01:16:59.289 --> 01:17:03.270
ago. And he's like... That's Pepe the King Prawn

01:17:03.270 --> 01:17:09.289
for sure. Will is Robin the Frog, which if you've

01:17:09.289 --> 01:17:10.789
ever seen Muppets Christmas Carol, he's Tiny

01:17:10.789 --> 01:17:14.869
Tim. Okay. And I think that is perfect. For those

01:17:14.869 --> 01:17:17.529
of you who are Muppets lovers, I hate Scooter

01:17:17.529 --> 01:17:20.390
with a burning passion. So that's why Will isn't

01:17:20.390 --> 01:17:24.590
Scooter. Okay, moving forward. Dustin is Gonzo,

01:17:24.630 --> 01:17:27.750
which I think is a perfect cast. I love it. No

01:17:27.750 --> 01:17:30.449
notes. Excellent. No notes. And Lucas is Rizzo,

01:17:30.609 --> 01:17:33.250
which I also think is a perfect cast. Especially

01:17:33.250 --> 01:17:35.810
hilarious, though, because Sadie Sink stays.

01:17:36.649 --> 01:17:39.289
And so she has to end up with Rizzo the rat.

01:17:40.850 --> 01:17:44.260
Now. You're going to find that a lot of female

01:17:44.260 --> 01:17:50.159
actresses are themselves. Because there are problematically

01:17:50.159 --> 01:17:56.779
very little female Muppets. Now, I have Mrs.

01:17:56.960 --> 01:18:00.100
Wheeler as Miss Piggy. And I'm going to explain

01:18:00.100 --> 01:18:04.560
that in a second. I do not have Miss Piggy as

01:18:04.560 --> 01:18:07.579
Winona Ryder. And I do have Hopper as Kermit.

01:18:07.579 --> 01:18:10.229
So you might be standing there going, what? But

01:18:10.229 --> 01:18:12.850
Kermit and Miss Piggy. Aren't they always a couple?

01:18:13.270 --> 01:18:18.189
Yes, from everything that I've seen. However,

01:18:18.329 --> 01:18:21.289
and listen, there's a lot to love about Miss

01:18:21.289 --> 01:18:24.470
Piggy playing Winona Ryder's character, Joyce,

01:18:24.649 --> 01:18:29.850
which I've just now learned, apparently, in season

01:18:29.850 --> 01:18:32.689
one with her being like, my son! And like all

01:18:32.689 --> 01:18:35.270
of these high action moments. However, I will

01:18:35.270 --> 01:18:38.909
point you to the end of season two for Mrs. Wheeler.

01:18:39.289 --> 01:18:41.829
When she's in the bath and Miss Piggy is reading

01:18:41.829 --> 01:18:44.810
this romance novel and who rings at her door

01:18:44.810 --> 01:18:49.869
but Billy. And I'm keeping Montgomery as Billy.

01:18:50.130 --> 01:18:54.630
So just the hilarity of that scene alone is why

01:18:54.630 --> 01:18:59.729
I have Miss Piggy as Mrs. Wheeler. Oh my gosh.

01:19:00.069 --> 01:19:03.869
Do you agree? Yes? Hilarity would ensue? Hilarity

01:19:03.869 --> 01:19:07.050
would indeed ensue. Great. Good. Excellent. Who

01:19:07.050 --> 01:19:13.250
is Mr. Wheeler? Mr. Wheeler is himself. That

01:19:13.250 --> 01:19:18.069
makes it even better. Yeah, right? Oh, excellent,

01:19:18.189 --> 01:19:21.329
excellent, excellent. Okay, so, you know, Winona

01:19:21.329 --> 01:19:24.890
Ryder stays. Hopper is Kermit. Jonathan is Fozzie

01:19:24.890 --> 01:19:29.149
Bear, which I just think is terrible, but also

01:19:29.149 --> 01:19:32.210
very cringe funny. For Fozzie Bear is cringe

01:19:32.210 --> 01:19:37.869
funny. You just imagine in season one, Fozzie

01:19:37.869 --> 01:19:42.210
Bear's just taking pictures of Nancy. Nice. Which

01:19:42.210 --> 01:19:46.689
I have Joe Keery. Joe Keery. Joe Keery, who's

01:19:46.689 --> 01:19:50.050
Steve, and Natalia Dyer, who's Nancy Stang in

01:19:50.050 --> 01:19:53.970
their roles. Joe Keery is a Muppet, so he gets

01:19:53.970 --> 01:19:56.569
to stay. And Natalia Dyer, I think, bringing

01:19:56.569 --> 01:19:58.829
that seriousness of being the gun -wielding Rambo

01:19:58.829 --> 01:20:01.550
of season five with a bunch of Muppets tickles

01:20:01.550 --> 01:20:06.020
my gizzard for sure. Probably Ferguson, who's

01:20:06.020 --> 01:20:08.380
Erica, gets to stay because I feel like all the

01:20:08.380 --> 01:20:10.359
Muppets would cower around her and that's funny

01:20:10.359 --> 01:20:16.399
to me. Vecna is Uncle Deadly, which I'm going

01:20:16.399 --> 01:20:19.319
to let you Google Uncle Deadly right now. Because

01:20:19.319 --> 01:20:22.020
you don't know who he is. No, I do not. Which

01:20:22.020 --> 01:20:25.739
nobody does, but he's a wonderful Muppet. And

01:20:25.739 --> 01:20:32.199
he's sort of this, like, sneer Alan Rickman type.

01:20:32.939 --> 01:20:37.779
Uh -huh. Excellent. Maya Hawk stays as Robin.

01:20:38.020 --> 01:20:41.619
The Mind Flayer I have is a giant animal. Just,

01:20:41.640 --> 01:20:44.319
like, not a giant animal. Like, Animal the Muppet.

01:20:44.439 --> 01:20:50.119
He's just enormous. I'm not just changing the

01:20:50.119 --> 01:20:52.819
Mind Flayer into, like, any animal that you can

01:20:52.819 --> 01:20:55.140
think of that's big. It's just a blue whale.

01:20:55.979 --> 01:21:01.119
No, Animal the Muppet. Got it. I have Brett Gelman

01:21:01.119 --> 01:21:05.409
as Murray, staying as... I have Mr. Clark as

01:21:05.409 --> 01:21:08.050
Beaker, which I think is really funny. The idea

01:21:08.050 --> 01:21:11.390
of me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Just during science

01:21:11.390 --> 01:21:12.949
class and everyone's like, yeah, yeah, I got

01:21:12.949 --> 01:21:15.149
it. Or the scene where he's explaining the portal

01:21:15.149 --> 01:21:17.510
and just being like, me! And puncturing the paper

01:21:17.510 --> 01:21:21.590
with the pencil. It's a great cast. No notes.

01:21:21.590 --> 01:21:23.630
That would be really good. Sean Astin, of course,

01:21:23.649 --> 01:21:28.590
stays as Bob. Dr. Owens I have as Dr. Bunsen.

01:21:29.130 --> 01:21:33.229
Beaker's partner. Because, of course. I have

01:21:33.229 --> 01:21:36.649
Officer Powell as Clifford, which is a not as

01:21:36.649 --> 01:21:39.470
well -known Muppet, but he's in Muppets in Space.

01:21:40.770 --> 01:21:43.869
I have Officer Callahan as Clueless Morgan, who's

01:21:43.869 --> 01:21:47.789
the goat in Muppets Treasure Island. Okay. He's

01:21:47.789 --> 01:21:50.810
a goat. He's funny. You should rewatch Muppets

01:21:50.810 --> 01:21:54.609
Treasure Island. I have Holly as Bean Bunny,

01:21:54.770 --> 01:21:57.350
which is the caroling little bunny rabbit who

01:21:57.350 --> 01:22:01.590
gets a wreath thrown at him by Scrooge. In A

01:22:01.590 --> 01:22:04.670
Christmas Carol. Oh, yes, yes, yes. I have Dr.

01:22:04.810 --> 01:22:08.369
Montgomery staying as Billy, as previously mentioned.

01:22:08.829 --> 01:22:13.010
I have Yuri as Stratler and Enzo as Waldorf,

01:22:13.130 --> 01:22:15.670
the old men who heckle all the time. I just think

01:22:15.670 --> 01:22:17.270
it'd be really funny if they showed up only for

01:22:17.270 --> 01:22:19.829
season four as these Russians. That would be

01:22:19.829 --> 01:22:21.630
pretty funny. But they'd constantly make fun

01:22:21.630 --> 01:22:24.029
of the USSR from like a fourth wall perspective.

01:22:25.250 --> 01:22:28.859
I love it. I have Alec Utkoff, who's Alexei,

01:22:28.899 --> 01:22:31.739
staying as himself. Joseph Quinn, another Muppet,

01:22:31.739 --> 01:22:34.960
who plays Eddie, staying as himself. Chrissy,

01:22:35.020 --> 01:22:37.640
I have being played by Aunt Sue, who's like related

01:22:37.640 --> 01:22:39.500
to Miss Piggy. So it's just like a pig that gets

01:22:39.500 --> 01:22:43.739
fecned, which I thought was funny. Okay. I've

01:22:43.739 --> 01:22:46.680
got Shannon Purser as Barb staying. Although

01:22:46.680 --> 01:22:48.560
I really thought about casting her as Janice,

01:22:48.600 --> 01:22:50.600
who's in the Animals band. She's like this total

01:22:50.600 --> 01:22:53.220
druggie hippie person. And I thought it'd be

01:22:53.220 --> 01:22:57.609
funny to have her in sheer terror. But whatever.

01:22:57.689 --> 01:23:00.750
And then I have Derek as Bobo the Bear, who's

01:23:00.750 --> 01:23:03.090
this buffoon character from Muppets in Space.

01:23:03.489 --> 01:23:06.510
And there you have it. I love it. By the way,

01:23:06.529 --> 01:23:11.649
all Demogorgons are Sweetums. Come on, Sierra,

01:23:11.750 --> 01:23:13.270
look up with Sweetums as you'll know them immediately.

01:23:13.710 --> 01:23:24.369
Oh, God. The hilarity of the name being Sweetum.

01:23:26.140 --> 01:23:29.319
And now, because I've said this on a recording,

01:23:29.460 --> 01:23:32.539
Sierra will make sure to create a social media

01:23:32.539 --> 01:23:36.180
post putting all the character of the Muppets

01:23:36.180 --> 01:23:43.500
up with who they are. No. That took me so long

01:23:43.500 --> 01:23:48.100
before when we did casting stuff. Yes. Oh my

01:23:48.100 --> 01:23:51.399
gosh. Yes. Today's public service announcement.

01:23:51.880 --> 01:23:58.229
Friends don't lie. Oh, yes. Oh, of course. Amazing.

01:23:59.050 --> 01:24:06.289
That's fabulous. Yes. Well done, Sierra. No notes.

01:24:06.489 --> 01:24:08.829
Chef's kiss. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

01:24:09.970 --> 01:24:13.090
Thank you, dear listener schmissners, for listening

01:24:13.090 --> 01:24:15.649
to this episode of Fandom Schmandom. If you'd

01:24:15.649 --> 01:24:18.289
like to discuss this episode or any other episode

01:24:18.289 --> 01:24:20.930
we've done, please hit us up on our social media

01:24:20.930 --> 01:24:23.750
channels. You can find us on TikTok and Instagram

01:24:23.750 --> 01:24:27.890
at fandomshmandumpod and on X at fandom underscore

01:24:27.890 --> 01:24:31.250
shmandum. Please don't forget to rate and review

01:24:31.250 --> 01:24:33.510
us if you liked the episode. It really helps

01:24:33.510 --> 01:24:35.489
the algorithm place us in front of other like

01:24:35.489 --> 01:24:37.930
-minded shmissioners out there. With that, we're

01:24:37.930 --> 01:24:40.770
out, y 'all. Don't forget to tip your DMs. They'll

01:24:40.770 --> 01:24:43.930
make your epilogue sound good. I will take whatever

01:24:43.930 --> 01:24:48.970
tip that you'd like to give me, your DM. And

01:24:48.970 --> 01:24:55.430
fare thee well, y 'all. Here's your tip. Bye.

01:24:57.130 --> 01:24:58.789
Thanks, y 'all, for listening to this season.

01:24:58.890 --> 01:25:00.489
We've really enjoyed having you along with us.

01:25:00.829 --> 01:25:02.850
Please give us a like and subscribe. Tell your

01:25:02.850 --> 01:25:04.510
friends about us. We want to keep the podcast

01:25:04.510 --> 01:25:07.569
rolling as much as possible. And we've really,

01:25:07.630 --> 01:25:12.079
really enjoyed creating this season. of Stranger

01:25:12.079 --> 01:25:14.520
Things, Fandom Shmandam. Thank you very much.

01:25:15.199 --> 01:25:19.279
See you next season. See you next season. All

01:25:19.279 --> 01:25:28.359
right, bye y 'all. Fandom Shmandam was created

01:25:28.359 --> 01:25:31.039
by Sam Williams and Ciara Obermark. The show

01:25:31.039 --> 01:25:33.800
is produced by Aurelia Lieb. The editor is Brittany

01:25:33.800 --> 01:25:55.890
Fisher. The music is by Jeremiah Alves. What

01:25:55.890 --> 01:25:58.170
is it called? Not a shoot -off. An off -shoot.

01:25:58.210 --> 01:26:01.130
No. Spin -off. There we go. Here we go, Britt.

01:26:01.789 --> 01:26:03.850
Maybe she took online classes to make it up.

01:26:03.890 --> 01:26:07.890
There are ways, but it's like... What I realized

01:26:07.890 --> 01:26:09.710
that I could have used is that, you know, at

01:26:09.710 --> 01:26:12.569
a lot of the end of... What did I say? You said

01:26:12.569 --> 01:26:20.470
online classes. Let me redo that. I lost my whole

01:26:20.470 --> 01:26:23.970
train of thought. Hold on. In California, she

01:26:23.970 --> 01:26:28.409
ended up... Sorry, Britt. I'm sorry. Lost my...

01:26:28.409 --> 01:26:31.149
My sorry was because I just did a giant suck

01:26:31.149 --> 01:26:34.989
on a straw and it really is on my audio file.

01:26:37.189 --> 01:26:39.250
Well, at least this bird's getting cut out for

01:26:39.250 --> 01:26:46.229
you. The whole blooper is just... Oh, yeah. Pepsi's

01:26:46.229 --> 01:26:53.680
great. This podcast not sponsored by Pepsi. This

01:26:53.680 --> 01:26:56.340
podcast is sponsored by the fact that I can never

01:26:56.340 --> 01:27:02.880
find the Diet Coke stream soda mix. And that

01:27:02.880 --> 01:27:05.359
they only ever have Diet Pepsi available. So

01:27:05.359 --> 01:27:10.100
I have to have that. When I make my sodas at

01:27:10.100 --> 01:27:12.800
home. I am now looking at the actual episode.

01:27:12.880 --> 01:27:19.890
So play, I don't know, elevator music. I don't

01:27:19.890 --> 01:27:22.210
know. Is that copywritten music? It's in like

01:27:22.210 --> 01:27:38.109
every elevator everywhere. And so that would

01:27:38.109 --> 01:27:45.449
bother me. And now it's time for a new segment.

01:27:45.630 --> 01:27:47.250
No, I'm going to do that bigger. I just don't

01:27:47.250 --> 01:27:49.500
want to blow out the mic. Sorry, there's like

01:27:49.500 --> 01:27:51.859
weird noises. Hold on. I think it's just a cat,

01:27:51.960 --> 01:27:54.340
but I don't know what they're doing. Don't get

01:27:54.340 --> 01:27:58.659
murdered. Don't get eaten. Don't be dead. I don't

01:27:58.659 --> 01:28:02.539
want to do this with anyone else. Well, I would

01:28:02.539 --> 01:28:05.600
probably stew. RIP Sierra, moving on to a new

01:28:05.600 --> 01:28:11.500
partner. Sierra just goes, rude, because she

01:28:11.500 --> 01:28:14.380
can hear me in her headphones. I'm just kidding.

01:28:14.859 --> 01:28:16.800
You're my one and only Sierra, except for the

01:28:16.800 --> 01:28:18.729
fact that I'm married. And you're married too.

01:28:19.229 --> 01:28:22.109
You're my one and only podcast partner. Okay.

01:28:22.149 --> 01:28:24.090
Well, I walked out there and a cat immediately

01:28:24.090 --> 01:28:29.090
approached me and went. So it's barely that cat.

01:28:29.609 --> 01:28:32.810
So it was that cat. Okay. Seriously. I'm sorry.

01:28:32.930 --> 01:28:34.989
This cat is doing something and it's like right

01:28:34.989 --> 01:28:39.090
against this wall. Dear listeners. Sierra's cat

01:28:39.090 --> 01:28:42.689
is currently transforming into a demo dog. We

01:28:42.689 --> 01:28:45.329
will have to find. Live auditions for Sierra's

01:28:45.329 --> 01:28:47.869
partner. You must first have gone to college

01:28:47.869 --> 01:28:50.710
with me. Second, have been my best friend for

01:28:50.710 --> 01:28:53.109
the last... How long have we known each other?

01:28:53.489 --> 01:28:58.250
15 years. 16 years, almost. Cool. And your name

01:28:58.250 --> 01:28:59.949
has to be Sierra, and your maiden name has to

01:28:59.949 --> 01:29:04.189
be Powell. Yeah. It's gonna be real tough. Hi.

01:29:05.989 --> 01:29:08.949
Chonk monster. You're like the size of Dart.

01:29:09.590 --> 01:29:16.989
She is LeChonk. LeChonk. LeChunk, we are so close

01:29:16.989 --> 01:29:18.770
to being done. Just let your mother podcast.

01:29:19.710 --> 01:29:22.729
No. Do not come further into the room, please.

01:29:25.270 --> 01:29:28.829
Do not into this dark night. Hello, Chunk. This

01:29:28.829 --> 01:29:33.550
is the smaller one. Hi, smaller Chunk. I banish

01:29:33.550 --> 01:29:37.770
the smaller Chunk to the hells of the pits. The

01:29:37.770 --> 01:29:40.569
smaller one is waiting for me to go to bed because

01:29:40.569 --> 01:29:44.739
she sleeps on top of me. Excellent. Just have

01:29:44.739 --> 01:29:50.640
that voiceover. Just the clapping. Amazing. Fabulous

01:29:50.640 --> 01:29:52.699
clapping. Just incredible. I don't know why I

01:29:52.699 --> 01:29:54.899
went French suddenly. I don't know.