Show Notes
A missing boy, a small town, a mysterious girl...it's the first episode of Stranger Things! Join Sarah and Lea as they discuss set design, location, behind the scenes, introduce the characters/actors, and of course, discuss the episode.
View Full Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to Investigating, a movie and television rewatch podcast, where we're currently analyzing each episode of Stranger Things with no spoilers. We are your hosts, Leah and Sarah,
[00:00:16] Speaker B: and if you love Stranger Things, this is the podcast for you.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hey, guys. Welcome back to Investigating Stranger Things. Today we are talking about season one, Episode one, the Vanishing of Will Byers, written and directed by the Duffer Brothers and aired July 15, 2016.
And this feels so weird. Our first episode for Stranger Things. I, like, I. I'm trying to figure out the new format. I was like, as I was taking my notes and stuff, like, normally I have, like, a whole bunch of stuff that I say beforehand. And, like, this one was a lot different because there's not as much stuff. And I was like, oh, this is. This is a lot of adjusting. But I'm. I'm, like, so excited because I'm like, I'm ready for a fresh start, you know, for sure.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: This is definitely different because I feel like when we were doing angel, like, I would watch the episodes a few days, like before or, like, right before, but, like, I know the episodes so well, but now I feel like we watched the episode, like, what, two days ago?
[00:01:34] Speaker A: And now you're like, wow, this is all new.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: I'm like, do I remember what happened? No, I do. I'm just kidding. But it's just. Yeah, it's interesting. I. It was a great episode. I'm excited to talk about it.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: It's a very strong pilot. Like, as we were watching it, I was like, oh, yeah. They introduce a lot of plot points that they will flesh out, obviously, in the rest of the season, but there are a lot of callbacks. We were even talking about in season five to this episode, too.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: So many. Having just watched the finale of season five, I was just like, wow, so many ties and similarities and. Yeah, just because I haven't seen this since literally 2016.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, okay, so I have a little. A special treat for us today. So I looked up. There is. Do we have a guest host? Yeah. Yeah.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Who's Kevin? Is it one of the Duffer Brothers?
[00:02:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Here's Noah. Imagine, from his podcast, going to invite us on with him. No. So I have. So when I was looking up the scripts, I typically like to walk through the scripts with when I'm going through episodes, because I just find there's a lot of interesting things in there.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: So.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: So there is obviously the Vanishing of Will Byers script. There's also the OG Montauk script for the pilot. So I actually am going to follow that one, because I think it'll be really interesting to see what their earliest renditions of the characters were going to be before they kind of like changed things once they cast the characters and fleshed out the entire season. So there are some character beats and scenes and stuff that also happen in later episodes. Like, you can tell they. They kind of decided to spread some stuff out throughout the season. But then there's also character choices that are not anywhere in the season that'll be really interesting to talk about. So I thought that'd be really fun to do a little bit of a comparison and I learned a lot of. Of interesting things and stuff through it. So I think that'll be really fun. All right. So the episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Drama series. Matt and Ross Duffer were also Emmy nominated for writing and directing this first episode.
Um, and of course, we talked about this in our previous episode. Many aspects of the opening of the episode are influenced by E.T. the opening scene of Stranger Things starts with the camera panning down from the sky, just like the opening of ET it also. It also kind of feels a little Star wars esque, which I know you. You don't get that reference, but there's in. There's a. When you first open up, there's like credits rolling across a starry sky.
And then also the main characters in the film are playing Dungeons and Dragons and ordering pizza at the beginning of ET with which is what helped popularize the game in the 80s.
And then the Duffer brothers have said that the scene where Will goes into the shed is a blatant homage to ET in which the main character goes into the shed and makes first contact with ET and then there's so many other nods. Jim Hopper was named after the Green Beret of the same name from Predator.
The city of Hawkins has the same name as Shane Black's character in that film, the first member of Dutch team to die on screen. The scene in which Sheriff Hopper types the police report was intentionally framed to identify be identical to a scene in Jaws. There's a lot of homages to Jaws.
And then when the three boys pull up at the edge of the woods at night with their bikes, it's a reference to a scene in the Goonies.
The music apparently is almost identical, as is the conversation. I've not seen the Goonies, so I'm just going to take their word for it.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: I haven't seen E.T. actually.
I know. Really, I haven't.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: That is sacrilege. It's okay, I've seen it once and I don't remember.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: I haven't seen, obviously, Star Wars. Haven't seen that. I haven't seen. What else did you say? The Goonies.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Goonies. Star Wars. Jaws. You've seen.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I've seen Jaws.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Crazy. The one, the one movie you and I have both seen is Jaws.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: I know. Yeah. I need to. I need to watch them.
I know. Well, I feel like I'm missing out on a lot. Like, I got all the Halloween kind of references and stuff. Like, not necessarily references, but like I told you when we were watching it like that, that scene where like Will is looking out of the window and he sees the shadow of something in the.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Like in the back backyard. I was like, oh, that's very like Michael Myers, like Halloween esque.
But yeah, all the other stuff. I'm just like.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: This last thing I'm gonna say is this episode features the most screen time for Will in season one, which is really hilarious in a lot of ways. This season is.
It's so funny for being such a prominent character and someone that everyone's looking for. He's not really in this season very much.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: I was gonna say. I feel like his role in this season, it's like it's the absence of Will Byers that drives the season.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Right. And you. And we'll have him in flashbacks and other things like that as we go on. But yeah, it's crazy that like the opening sequence is the only time that we really see him with his friends and then he's just kind of gone. But. But yeah, we'll talk about it as we go. So, okay, so in the script, initially this was supposed to be set in 1942, World War II.
It says the United States builds a military base on the eastern most point of Montauk, New York. This is also supposed to be titles over black. So again, very Star wars. It spans 278 acres. It is called Camp Hero. 1972, the Cold War. An alleged series of top secret experiments begin to take place at Camp Hero. December 1980, Camp Hero is shut down for undisclosed reasons. To this day, its records remain classified. Dot, dot, dot.
So now we're supposed to be, I'm assuming in 1980. They don't specify.
And then same thing, we fade up from the night sky. Dark clouds here. We hear thunder. And we're now at Camp Hero military base. And yeah, they say October 5, 1980, two months before the shutdown. So we kind of go through the same quarter. I'm assuming it's going to be similar to the corridor that we see in the actual episode. The door bursts open. A scientist staggers out. He's gasping for breath. He's got, like, a Hazmat suit that's melting off of his body. And then he collapses to the floor. It dies. We go inside into a laboratory. There's, like, a dozen more scientists all lying on the ground. They're burned. Some are missing limbs. There are bulky computers everywhere, analog equipment. And then, most striking of all is an isolation tank, an upright metal cylinder filled with water. A tangle of electrical wires connect the tank to a metal door frame. The door leads nowhere. There's just an empty white space behind it. The base of the door is on fire. And then the fire spreads across the lab. And then the sprinklers kick in. And then they cut over to Mike's house. And then we see November 6, 1983, Hawkins, Indiana. All that stuff. So, obviously, what happens in the actual episode is it's November 6th, 1983, and we're in a starlit sky, and then we see the lab. And then we see the scientist coming down the hallway.
And then he tries to get into an elevator and is pressing the button. And then, classic, classic look above you, man looks up and there's something that makes this weird, like, clicky noise and then grabs him. And the elevator closes.
And that's our intro, which I really love. It's so good because it majorly contrasts the very familial suburban scene where we see these young kids. And so it hooks you right from the start. You're like, okay, there's a mystery. There's obviously some sort of, like, government thing happening. But then we also have these characters that were gonna get to know and become, like, heavily involved with and really care about, you know?
[00:09:07] Speaker B: So this is, like, very reminiscent. It. It feels like a movie. It feels like you're watching, like, a horror movie from the 90s. It also feels very much like this is how most Buffy episodes start, too.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: I feel like. Like, you start with, like, you. You go and you see something, like, weird happening. And then the cold open ends when. Or. Sorry, the cold open starts. Like, when something, like, somebody dies or the monster, like, comes out. And then you cut from the credits and you're back to your main characters, where they're like, oh, la la la. Like, everything's normal. And then obviously, like, as the episode goes on, they start to figure out stuff. But, yeah, this felt very much like.
Like a 90s, like, horror movie or TV show or something, which I loved, obviously, because that's like my favorite genre.
And yeah, a lot of my favorite, like, horror movies come from that era.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: So it's very familiar territory, for sure. Like, I was like, oh, here's our monster. Yeah, our characters.
[00:10:05] Speaker B: And I'm like, yeah, this is the big bad of. This is the monster of the week that we're gonna be.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Right, right.
Exactly.
Yeah. And it's like, it's funny because like you said, it's framed like a movie. And this entire episode, it feels like television, but not like we have the cold open, which is, you know, not. Doesn't really happen in movies.
With the exception. I will say, I feel like Scream felt like it had a cold open with the way that it was. It was framed.
But it's. Yeah, it's very cinematic like they were intending it to be.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: Okay. So the script talks about how we're in the suburban neighborhood very similar to what we see. The scene pretty much runs the exact same in the script as it does in the episode.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: So.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: So, you know, we have the boys sitting at a card table and Mike is the leader and he's talking about how they're being stalked by this monster and they're playing Dungeons and Dragons. So we talked while we're watching the episode. I assumed you probably have never played Dungeons and Dragons.
What do you know about it?
[00:11:11] Speaker B: I know that it's like a role playing game. Like, I know everybody kind of has their. A character and you're going on like an adventure and it's like role playing, but there's like a lot of rules. That's all I really know about it. Like, there's a lot of like, lore, essentially the boundaries and. Yeah, I feel like I would like it, to be honest. I've just. I just don't know anybody that's like, ever played it. I feel like the only person that I know that that plays D and D is my friend's husband. And they live in Ottawa, which is like an eight hour drive away from here. So I don't see them all the time, you know, so.
[00:11:44] Speaker A: And that's essentially it. It's really fun. So you get to play. Pick a character. Like you're creating a character. You have what's called a DND sheet. And you pick the character's race. So you can choose from elf, you can choose from half elf, human. And the list goes on and on. I can't remember them all. So there's like a. A race and then you get to pick a class. So you're like, okay, are we going to be a wizard? Are we going to be a. A mage? But, like, you get basically pick what class, and then you can kind of combine.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: There's like, subclasses, and they all have, like, specific powers. Like, it's all.
[00:12:16] Speaker A: Yeah, they all have specific powers. There's like, wizard. Okay, what kind of wizard are you gonna be? Are you gonna be. I'm totally butchering this. But, like, are you gonna be the kind that talks to animals? And you can have different powers, and then based upon what kind of class you choose and subclass, then you can have different kinds of magic. So that means there's different spells that you can cast.
It's really, really, like, customizable. So there's a lot of different ways to play it. And there's no way to play the same game twice, obviously. And you have one person which is doing. Here is the Dungeon Master. The DM is what they call it. So he's the one that you can either get campaigns that are already made for you, and he just walks it through and then tells them the scenario and basically rolls the die as the monster or whatever they're fighting. But it's really fun because it can be something like we're traveling along and the. The story is only as immersive as you as the player make it. So as you're going along, they'll say, okay, you enter this, you know, tavern, and there's like, some people playing cards, there's some people getting drinks, and then you see this one person sitting by themselves. Then you go, okay, what do I want to do? And some people will be like, oh, there. Is there a back room? And the Dungeon Master will be like, yes. And they'll be like, I'd like to sneak in there and steal the gold out of the chest. Or sometimes they'll be like, I want to go get a drink and flirt with the bartender, and you can customize it and do all this sorts of stuff. And the Dungeon Master's job is if they have not prepared for some of this stuff to kind of improvise and come up with it.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: Right? And they have to be good, like, storytellers.
[00:13:49] Speaker A: Yes, they have to be really good storytellers. So they'll be like, okay, head into that back room. Oh, there's a monster there. Roll for initiative. Which basically means we're going to roll to see who goes first. And you're at. You level up as the game goes along, and hopefully you try to defeat the monsters. And you roll die to See if you defeat the monster and all that stuff.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: So is that how fun you defeat. If you defeat the monster, then you win technically. Or is it like a game where somebody wins or is it like. Yeah, you just have to get to the end.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: Right. Well, you have a campaign. So the DM has written an entire story and you just have to travel along and try to get to the story. And there's side quests and things that you can do and there's always an objective that you try to get to at the very end. Usually a big boss fight that you have. There's choices that you make. You can have characters die and then they're just like out of the campaign.
You have certain times when you have to rest. You can run out of supplies. There's. It's again, very customizable and it's super fun because it's some. It's storytelling and it's a way to like immerse yourself in another world and just play with your.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really, really. I feel like you'd have to play with like specific people. Like, I feel like.
[00:14:57] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: If the group is not like you have to play with a group that is like invested, like a specific type of friend, you know?
[00:15:05] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Like there are some people that'll be
[00:15:08] Speaker B: like that, you know, and be like, hey guys, you want to play dnd? Because then it'll just be like, I feel like it'll peter out maybe, but.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: Well. And it's one of those things where it literally like, I mean, Mike's talking about how they played for 10 hours. That's how it is.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: And that's literally like you'll barely get anywhere if you sitting down. You're going to do an entire campaign. It's going to take days. And so it's something that you kind of have to like spend spread out. And it's hard to get people together as we know in our big age. Like. And so a lot of dms and
[00:15:37] Speaker B: one month business days to.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:15:40] Speaker B: To make plans.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: And some people, I don't know if you've ever seen on Tick Tock. Some people, you're probably not like you're on Dungeons and Dragons side of Tick Tock.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: I probably will be now that we're talking about it.
[00:15:50] Speaker A: Yes, you're gonna get. But you're gonna see some crazy stuff. Some people will literally transform their entire room so that it's an immersive experience. Experience for. And they'll have friends come over and people make whole game nights out of it and they'll come in. There's, like, monitors flickering with fire and be like, all right, guys, we're in the middle of a battle. We have to get out of it. Like, the building's gonna collapse, you know? And, like, they'll have theme music that will play and stuff, and it just. It becomes really fun. It's basically the adult version of, like, dress up. And, like, we're reverting back to childhood in telling these stories and fighting these monsters, and there's something just really fun about it. So I love that.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm definitely not, like a.
I'm not, like, a board game or card game person. Like, if I'm ever. If I'm ever at somebody's house and somebody pulls out, like, a card game or a board game, I'm immediately like,
[00:16:39] Speaker A: no, you're like, oh, I have to go.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: I'm just like, oh, my God. Like, can't we just, like, not do this right now? But I feel like if it were something, like, I just don't like something where, like, I'm with a group of people and I have to learn a bunch of rules. And, like, obviously people get really competitive and stuff, but I feel like this is different because it's, like, you said, collaborative, which I like. And obviously, it's more creative than, like, sitting there and playing, like, Monopoly for 35 hours.
God, I hate board games.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: Okay, well, Monopoly is the worst. I actually love.
Of course I do. I love hard games. Okay. My husband. My husband loves board games more than I do. I have to be in the right mood, but he will pull out. One of our favorite games is Pandemic. I don't know if anyone else loves board games. No one else probably does, but it's literally, like, you sit down and there's, like, 30 minutes of explaining the rules to you. Oh, my God. Like, everybody complaints about Catan. I'm like, guys, that's only a gateway. We're talking about.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: My friend group got into Catan for, like, a long time. Like, they got the expansion packs and all this stuff. And I remember I would, like, be at their house. This is, like, in university. So, like, obviously, we would all hang out a lot more than we do now.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: And you're just like, you would go
[00:17:52] Speaker B: to classes or you would skip classes, and then you would go to somebody's house and, like, hang out and play Catan. And they were just so obsessed with it, and they would always try to get me to play. And I'm like, guys, I don't understand what you guys are Doing. And I remember I tried it once, and everybody got mad at me because I wasn't understanding it.
I'm never playing this game ever again.
[00:18:18] Speaker A: That's so funny. And you're like, no board games for me ever.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: And they love Euchre. Like, I don't like card games either. I don't like Euchre. I don't. I don't know. I'm just. I'm not a very, like, competitive, driven person.
I'm just really not. Yeah, I know you are, but I'm. I'm really not. Like, I don't like. That's. I think that's why I don't really like sports. Sports. And I don't like stuff like this because I. Yeah, I feel like it's fun if you're competitive and you really get into it, but I just, like, don't care enough.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: So I feel like I'm just sitting there just, like, watching people fight each other, and I'm like, why? Why are we doing this, guys? But I feel like that's the fun part of it, right? So.
[00:18:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: Well, it. To be honest, it. As much as I love games, I hate learning new games. It's just daunting. You have to sit there and people are explaining. Explaining things to you, and you have no context for a lot of it. I'm very visual, so I'm like, okay, actually, show me how it's being played. Also, I have to have an objective, and if they throw me into this game, I'm like, why should I care? So sometimes is really difficult. There are some games that, like, grab me from the outset. Like, there's one that Andrew and I really love to play. It's called Robinson Crusoe. And you're stuck on. On an island, and you have to get off of it, and there's different things you have to do. So I'm like, okay, that's a little bit right here for my brain to grasp versus Catan. What am I trying to do with this?
I understand it.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: What are you trying to like, I still don't understand what that game is.
Build a village.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Yeah. You're trying to gather a bunch of resources and basically colonize all these different places.
[00:19:49] Speaker B: Wow. And basically, that's why I hate that.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: Resources. No, not. Not actually colonized. But it's like you're. You're essentially. Yeah, it's. You're. You're all a bunch of, like, almost like countries, essentially, trying to take as much of the resources as you can. And Catan can get really frustrating if the cards are just not right and all the other stuff. My kids love catan because, you know, oh, my God. Raising them right. But it's okay.
We still love you and it's okay. You don't have to like it.
[00:20:18] Speaker B: I mean, I don't. Yeah, that's the thing. Like, I'm. I'm not the type of person where it's like, everybody likes it, so I feel like I need to make myself like it. Like, if I don't like it, then I'm just.
[00:20:28] Speaker A: Just.
[00:20:28] Speaker B: I'm gonna go and, like, do something else while you guys play this game. Like, have fun. I'm out, though. It's like that one meme where it's like this guy jumping off of a cliff into a swimming pool when somebody pulls out a card game at a party. Yeah.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: You're like, bye.
[00:20:45] Speaker B: That's me. I'm the guy jumping into the swimming pool.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: I think you would like Dungeons and Dragons, and I feel like I might
[00:20:52] Speaker B: with, like, the right people.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: Next time Chrissy and I come up, I'll bring my. I have a. A little set.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Oh, my God, it was so funny.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: And we can play Dungeons and Dragons.
Like, wait, what am I doing? She would make the most off the wall decision.
That's. That's what you have to do. You just make crazy decisions and then boom, all of a sudden something happens. It's actually really fun. But yeah, anyway, okay, so that's what the boys are playing. So I'm gonna talk a little bit about the cast. So this was the first scene filmed for the show and also the first scene that the Duffers ever wrote. They intentionally scheduled a few days of rehearsal before. Before they shot it so that everyone would be more comfortable, get to know each other, and it would also help the Duffers kind of figure out how best to guide the performance.
Okay, so Mike Wheeler is played by Finn Wolfhard as kind of the leader of the boys. His class is Cleric, which is wisdom based. Supposed to be kind of like the healer of the group in a lot of ways. His abilities are courage, determination, intelligence, and loyal, but prone to emotional outbursts and mood swings.
[00:21:48] Speaker B: And disco likes the heart of the group.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I wonder. Okay, Xander, this kid is going to be a direct.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: Don't compare Finn to. Or what's his name, Mike, to Xander, please.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: I mean, there might be some comparisons later on, but, you know, someone's throwing things at me right now. They're like, how dare you? It's okay, guys. Give me time. Let me cook. Let her cook. Okay, so this guy.
Oh, no, here we go.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: So let our dm.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: I think.
I think Finn is.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: You're the DM in our podcast.
[00:22:25] Speaker A: Oh, I am the dmr.
[00:22:27] Speaker B: Yeah, you are.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: That's so true. I really am.
[00:22:31] Speaker B: And I get to pick different roles. I think that means I figure out more. Yeah, you're Mike.
[00:22:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: I want to be with you.
I want to be whatever he is. I love Dustin.
[00:22:42] Speaker A: Dustin is so cute. Oh, my gosh. Okay. I think when Finn Wolfhard is going to be a director one day, like, he already has kind of directed some stuff, but he's talked a lot about how that's his passion. I kind of feel like he's moving away from acting. I think he has an eye for it. Like, the Duffers constantly are talking about how he's asking questions. Was very involved with the filmmaking process. Like, really wanted to know how things were working behind the scenes.
He even says that he got into acting because he thought it was the best way to break into the business.
So he initially recorded his audition tape from his bed because he was sick, which is so funny. He originally only had smaller roles, such as in the 100 and supernatural. There are a lot of interviews from the Duffers talking about his eye for directing and breaking stories. They changed the character of Mike originally to be more like Finn. Actually, scratch that. They changed all of the characters to be more like the actors in the original scripts. It. There's a couple of little changes and stuff they did, but he was originally supposed to have, like, a birthmark on his face and be bullied because of that.
But then they changed that. Ross Duffer says, in the case of someone like Finn, the original Mike was more of the straight man. But Finn has a very specific kind of personality. He's fidgety, he talks fast. But we love that he's so very authentic and real. Even though he wasn't exactly how we imagined Mike, he was less cliche. So we went back and adjusted Mike, and in the process, he became funnier.
My favorite thing that Mike does is he goes coming to his mom or, like, shouts back. Now having a son that's getting close to that age is just really funny to watch that and be like.
[00:24:17] Speaker B: I mean, I feel like all of them. Those, like, those boys have such, like. Like, young boy energy. They just. They're all just, like, so hyper and they're so twitchy.
[00:24:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: I'm just like, whoa, guys, calm down. What's going on?
[00:24:31] Speaker A: It feels. It feels very realistic, and I love that they decided to make this the first scene that they were going to shoot because the boys brought that energy and there's a. I think Finn talks about that how they were very jittery because they were like they had so much energy and were excited. So a lot of that they brought to the screen and that's our first introduction to these guys and it feels really authentic because that's what 11 year old boys would be like.
[00:24:53] Speaker B: It is, it really is. I. It was so great. They're just a great group together. Anyway, I know you're going to talk
[00:24:59] Speaker A: about the other ones. No. Yeah. Well, okay. So Dustin Henderson is played by Gaten Matarazzo. His class is Thief and he's described as comic relief with abilities leaning toward conflict resolution, diplomacy and resourcefulness.
So Gaten was the first actor cast on the show and the Duffers only saw his audition tape once and knew it was him. Which I'm like, how could you not? There's something about Gaten that is so freaking charming and he has the cutest smile. He looks like he's straight out of the Goonies. Like again, I haven't seen the Goonies, but I've seen the pictures and some of the behind the scenes stuff and he literally looks like he walked out of an 80s film set.
[00:25:39] Speaker B: He's so adorable and he's a really great actor, I feel like.
[00:25:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: For being a kid so young.
[00:25:45] Speaker A: One of the strongest I think of the series for sure.
So his character was originally supposed to be a heavyset boy with glasses who was bullied at school.
Interesting. Before working on the show, gaten and Caleb McLaughlin who plays Lucas and then another actress, Sadie Sink, who's going to come in season two. They already all knew each other. They were all on Broadway and they starred in different productions and they would all meet at a park near Broadway and just play with a bunch of other kids. So they were all very familiar with each other. Gaten was in Les Mis, Sadie was in Annie, and Caleb was in the Lion King.
So they have a very musical background. And also I feel like kids who come from Broadway just have a special something about them.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: And I was gonna say I've always like just having watched the whole show, they're probably the strongest. I agree. Actors across the entire show. I feel like others have like their seasons but they are really great consistently. Really like they improve as they get older.
[00:26:50] Speaker A: I'm really excited to watch especially those three, like their futures. I think they're all gonna have really, really strong acting careers. And again, I think Finn is gonna do really well, with directing, but I think like Sadie, I mean, is already incredible. She's not even here. We're already talking about her. But like, and I'm really excited to see what Gaten does because I think there's also like a real passion for storytelling, like with the scenes and, or with the interviews I've seen of him. He really understands his character and he really tries to get to the heart of it. And I'm like, I feel like a great actor is someone who just loves stories, you know, for sure.
So Gain's influence caused Dustin to become the optimist of the group as a counterpoint to Lucas's realism, saying, I think that he's so overly optimistic because he's not at all optimistic on the inside. On the inside he is scared, he's frightened, he doesn't know how to handle it. So he tries to make a positive spin and make everybody comfortable, which I love because that is consistent all the way to season five.
[00:27:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:51] Speaker A: You know, which we'll talk about later. We're like giving so many, like, hints and spoilers, but I feel like they do a great job with keeping him very consistent and also like growing his character.
And then of course, Gaten's own genetic disorder, cladocranial dysplasia, was also given to Dustin. So you can see how the actors very much influenced their characters. And again, the duffers are very new to writing. And so I think a lot of times their characters that they put on paper were a little bit more one dimensional because they were writing caricatures. And then the boys came in and it became, okay, we can have a little bit more dimension with these guys.
So Lucas Sinclair is played by Caleb McLaughlin. His DND class is the fighter and he's described as intelligent, highly skeptical and hot tempered. He already starred on Broadway as Simba and then had smaller roles on Law and Order and Blue Bloods. He initially was more of an athlete and his sister wanted him to do community theater with her. And that's where he discovered his love for acting. He's also been posting a lot of photos and videos of himself doing martial arts and gymnastics. And a lot of people are speculating that he's going out for the role of Miles Morales in the mcu, which I'm like, fingers crossed because I think that would be so fun.
So McLaughlin immediately bonded with his actor peers and says that their rapport helped him portray the four devoted friends as closely as they ended up being. He says, we hit it off right away. That's why the chemistry was so strong on film. The first day on set, we could not stop laughing. We could not keep it together. Just so cute.
[00:29:24] Speaker B: Yeah. I love that.
It's nice to hear that they had a good like experience on set for being such young actors.
[00:29:32] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:29:33] Speaker B: Because it could have gone like a whole other way and I'm glad that it didn't.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Children on set. It's just I always am like, oh, are we going to hear about something ten years from now where it's like really horrible? And it seems like all of them were really like, they had a great experience.
Their either their parents were involved or they had other people, other adults on set. I know Winona Ryder was a huge advocate specifically for Millie Bobby Brown and would actually come on set on days when she didn't need to. Just to like keep her help make her comfortable and stuff.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: So then rounding out our group is Will Byers, played by Noah Schnapp. His class is magic user. So in D D there are many ways to use magic. And these characters usually start off as fragile and low level players and advance become more powerful as the game goes on. His abilities are true. Sight, good at hiding skilled artists and knows Morse code. Noah was nine when he was cast as Tom Hanks son in Spielberg's Bridge of Spy. So like imagine your first role is with Spielberg. Like he's probably the person who has the most prestigious experience at this point of the Four Boys. And then he was the voice of Charlie Brown in the Peanuts movie. So he originally auditioned for the role of Mike and then through the callback process he flew to LA to do readings with some other prospective actors and then got cast as Will. To his complete surprise, Matt Duffer says he was never less than impressed by Schnapp's ability to capture the intensity of a moment, then immediately snapped back to himself when camera stopped rolling. It's like he flips the switch on and off. Matt says he does this performance where he's traumatized and seems as though he's in severe pain. And then he's laughing five seconds later, which is. Yeah, he's one of the child actors that catches my eye like when I first watched the series, because he has this intensity and vulnerability about him that I feel like is very hard to pull off for a kid.
[00:31:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:26] Speaker A: Projecting a near constant state of fear without the benefit of dialogue was one of the greatest challenges for Schnapp. It's definitely harder. It's the same thing with 11, where you have to speak through your eyes and not with words. That was definitely A lot more difficult because you really have to be in the character when you're doing that. But I think it's a lot more powerful, which I agree.
So Matt Duffer said that everything got easier after the first day because the kids crushed it, and they all developed more confidence about the show. Finn Wolfhard said, the morning leading up to the shoot, the kids were so excited, and that's the energy that you see on screen. They also said that Gaten would keep making faces beforehand and that they couldn't stop laughing. And so they blew through a lot of scenes because the kids were just laughing. But, you know, it helped make exciting. Really? Yeah. The energy, really fun. And then he said that it just loosened everybody up, and the show was so much fun from then on. So. Yeah, so, yeah. Anyway, all right, so the boys are playing dnd and they end up going up against what's called a demogorgon. And they're like, oh, my gosh, Will, you should fireball it. And Dustin's like, no, I think we should cast protection. So, you know, the energy builds and builds and builds. And finally Will just impulsively, is like, all right, I'll fireball. So he throws the die and it rolls off the table, and everyone's, like, frantically looking for it. And then in walks Karen Wheeler. And she's like, mike, you guys have been doing this for a long time. It's 15 after. It's a school night. It's time to go to bed. And Mike's like, no, no, mom, no. So he, like, follows her upstairs. He's like, we're in the middle of a campaign. And she's like, you mean the end of a campaign? And then he's like, no, mom, just 20 more minutes. And he. He's like, it'll ruin the flow. I've worked on this for two weeks. How was I supposed to know it was going to take 10 hours? And Karen's like, you've been playing for 10 hours? And I love that this is our first reaction of her were like, lady, how have you not checked on your kid in 10 hours?
[00:33:14] Speaker B: But I feel like that was. That's how it was before. Like, we were talking about it when we were watching the episode. Like, you really, like, parents really didn't ask about their kids before? Like, you would just go and, like, play with your friends, go outside, and then you would come home.
Usually when the street lights came on, right. For dinner, like, that was.
Kids were outside. Like, they were playing back in those days. It's not like today where everybody's like on their phones or on the computer. Not doing.
[00:33:44] Speaker A: You can track your children and. Yeah, for sure.
And I just want to say Karen is played by the gorgeous and lovely Cara Buono. She made her film debut. Have you ever seen Gladiator?
[00:33:59] Speaker B: A long time ago.
Very long time ago.
[00:34:02] Speaker A: But she has been in Law and Order, Mad Men, for which she received an Emmy nomination.
Hulk, Paper Towns, Monsters and Men. So much more. And she is so fun to watch this series. And I think that first of all, she's gorgeous, but it's also just like, hysterical to see her in this, like, mom role and stuff. But, yeah, she'll be something. She'll be someone we talk about a lot more. So, okay, then we see Mike's dad, Ted, who's like, become a fan favorite. He's over there trying to watch a show and he's like hitting the TV and there's like static. He's adjusting the rabbit ears on top. And Mike's like, dad, don't you think Ted not even listening is like, I think you should listen to your mom, dad, gum, piece of junk. Like, wax the TV again.
Okay. The actor who plays Ted, Joe Crest, he's best known for 21 Jump street and Stranger Things, obviously. But he's been in a bunch of TV and films, three of which were nominated for best picture Oscar. So. Aaron Brockovich, the Aviator and the Blind side. He is actually Air Force vet. He received commendations for expert marksmanship and Cold War service.
And he's currently an adjunct professor at the School of Theater in Louisiana. I don't know if you've seen any, like, tiktoks where some of his students will be like, oh my gosh, that's my professor. And they'll like, take videos with him and on campus.
[00:35:20] Speaker B: I haven't seen that. That's crazy.
[00:35:21] Speaker A: It's really fun. He joined Stranger Things because he thought it would be. It was well written and he thought it would be fun, but he had no clue it would be as huge as it was.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: He wasn't wrong.
[00:35:32] Speaker A: Okay, so the production designer, Chris Trillo, imagined that matriarch Karen Wheeler would prefer an up to the minute high 1980s style in the house with wall to wall carpeting and an array of wallpapers. So one of the coolest parts about Stranger Things is the set design.
And I kind of want to talk a little bit about how they intentionally designed each of the houses to reflect the characters and personality, but also the socioeconomic status. We talked about this in the last episode.
They talk about how they wanted the upstairs. They're the first floor and the second floor, to reflect Karen's need for being very organized and orderly. But the basement is a bit like ramshackled. It's very much Mike and his friend's domain. So set decorator Jess Royal says it's a mismatch of life in stages of progress, installed progress. So the wood paneling isn't quite complete in the basement.
Royal modeled the Wheeler home after her childhood home and even brought some stuff from her parents basement to add to the set. She gave Karen an affinity for the work of an artist named Wendy Wheeler, whose still lifes were popular in the 1970s and loved botanicals and ferns.
They made it more of kind of a breezy Floridian feel with tropical inspired grass prints on the sofa and loveseat. And this is all to contrast Joyce's home, which, you know, Karen's home is very better homes and garden conscious and aspirational. Keeping up with the Joneses versus Will's mom is struggling to make it as a single mom and just doesn't have the luxury of being so to the moment and house proud. So there's lots of like, oranges and yellows in the space, which creates that very cheery and homey look. And you kind of. You definitely get the very perfect family vibe, which again contrasts Joyce's home and also Eleven's presumably like her absence of a home. So we'll talk more about that as it goes on. But like, that's just kind of like the first glimpse you kind of get as you're looking at these characters. You're like, oh, okay, so they're very much all American family, but you can tell the dad is like, disassociated. The mom's really running the house here, which is, you know, a classic.
[00:37:32] Speaker B: Classic.
[00:37:32] Speaker A: It's a classic trope. Yeah. For like, not just television of this era, but just in general. But it's also like, rings true to like, what actually is happening in a lot of the households now. And then.
All right, so now Lucas, Dustin and Will are, you know, packing up and everything, and they find the die and they realize that it was a seven. And Will's like, does it count? And Lucas and Dustin are like, did Mike see it? They're like, no, then it doesn't count. So as they're like grabbing all their stuff. So in the episode, Dustin is the one that finds the pizza and then brings it upstairs to Nancy. And that's where we meet Nancy. All the stuff. And it's so clear that he has a crush on her. It's the cutest, cutest thing. And she's on the phone with Barb, and she gets up, and she's just like, ugh. And, like, shuts the door right in his face.
But in the script, it was actually supposed to be Lucas who went upstairs. So they talk about how we're in Nancy Wheeler's room, and then Lucas comes in and it just wants to say hi to her. And she says, the hell, Lucas. Get out of my room. And then she storms over to him, and he goes, I'm not in your room. And then she says in the phone, one of Mike's loser friends. And then Lucas goes, not technically.
And then she slams the door, and then he explodes into the garage after and goes, she knows my name, guys.
[00:38:47] Speaker B: That's so cute. And also, like, a very classic trope, I feel like.
[00:38:51] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: From that time, too, where, like, you know, there's the older sister who's kind of, like, icy and then.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: Yeah. And. But she's also, like, newly. She's a teen now. And, yeah, the boys are, like, on the cusp of adulthood, so starting to figure out that, oh, hey, maybe we have crushes on girls, and she's already, like, so far beyond them because she's three years older or whatever. Yeah. Such a huge age gap at that point.
Natalia Dyer got her start in 2009's Hannah Montana, the movie opposite Miley Cyrus, which I did not know. I've never seen that movie.
[00:39:24] Speaker B: I watched the show, but not.
[00:39:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I watched the show, too. I. I did not watch the movie.
So to prepare, the Duffer brothers referred her to another famous Nancy. Nancy Thompson, the resourceful high school student portrayed by Heather langenkamp in the 1984 Nightmare on Elm street, who has a fondness for sweater sets and gets away with booby traps.
Dyer says, the more you get to know Nancy, the more you realize she does mess up a lot. I love that she's still figuring herself out, dealing with all the high school dynamics of life and boys and friends in that weird transition period between being a young girl and becoming a young woman. I think she's developing a strong moral compass, and she's going to be really fun to talk about. She's one of my favorite characters.
[00:40:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I was going to say watching her in this first episode, just, like, knowing the trajectory that she's going to go on is crazy to even. I don't know, to even conceptualize, because she just goes through, like, her arc is so. What's the word? I'm looking for, like, she changes so much. And I just want to say the teenage characters on this show, I feel like, obviously it's hard to relate to, like, the children, because they're children, obviously. Like, you're watching them and you're like, this is really great and stuff, but I feel like the teenagers, like Nancy, Steve, Jonathan, they're so much easier to relate to and especially, like, as they progress, because obviously they're, like, teenagers going into, like, young adulthood. But I just. Yeah, it's just crazy seeing them in this episode knowing, like, what happens after.
And I'm just excited to, like, watch it because I don't remember everything.
Like, I didn't remember that Steve and Nancy were, like, hooking up in this episode. Like, I. I thought that happened later. So I was. I was like, oh, wow, okay, we're, like, going right into this.
[00:41:15] Speaker A: Yeah, we start right off.
[00:41:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I. I didn't remember that, so.
[00:41:20] Speaker A: And just like with any. Any show, the first episode, most characters are not quite settled into who they're going to become. Like, the writers are still figuring out how they're going to write this, but I. And obviously this season, the characters are very different, and they grow from who they're going to become in later ones. But I feel like Stranger Things is slightly different because the characters grow, but they also remain very consistent from the pilot episode through the rest of the season because they wrote it all at the same time. So I feel like a lot of seasons that were 22 episodes along, they knew where they were going to go to by the end of the season. But even from the pilot episode, it was. A lot of times they would just shoot it and then be like, okay, is it going to get picked up? Is it going to get picked up? Okay, we'll tweak a few things, but then we're just going to kind of evolve things as we go. And so the characters are often someone very different by the time you get to the second season or the third season and keep going on this pilot. Obviously they're very different, but, like, they do such a good job of remaining consistent over the season while also, like, having somewhere to go with the characters, if that makes sense. So, yeah, it's. It's always fun going back to a pilot and being like, wow, like, they're still figuring it out, you know, for sure.
[00:42:30] Speaker B: They're all babies in this.
[00:42:31] Speaker A: They're so tiny.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: They're so young, all of them.
[00:42:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:36] Speaker B: Which is. I mean, makes sense. It was ten years ago.
[00:42:38] Speaker A: Right. Which I was gonna Say, obviously, like, the show runs for 10 years. It's. That is wild when you're starting with young child actors. So they're all going to be adults by the time we get to season five. So it's weird watching them and being like, yeah, wow, they're so little.
The boys talk about how Nancy is like, you know, there's something wrong with your sister is what Dustin says she's got to stick up her butt. Lucas is like, yeah, ever since she started dating that douche Steven. And then Dustin's like, yeah, she's turning into a real jerk. And she used to be cool when she dressed up as an elf for our campaign. Mike's like, four years ago.
[00:43:11] Speaker B: That's so cute, though.
[00:43:13] Speaker A: I know. I love that. I love thinking that Nancy used to, like, dress up for them. That's pretty fun.
So Dustin and Lucas take off, and Will takes a moment to tell Mike that the role was a seven, which I really. I think this is such an establishing moment for Will right here. And also shows how much he. There's kind of, like a sense where he looks up to Mike as the leader, but there's also a closeness. There just kind of shows how sensitive this kid is and how honest he is, and it's very endearing. I love it.
And then he's like, the Demogorgon got me. And then takes off, and we're like, oh, foreshadowing.
Poor little baby.
So then the light flickers. Mike ignores it, and then goes inside.
In the script, Dustin's talking about. They're talking about Nancy's boyfriend, and Mike's covering his ears. He's, like, not listening, not listening. And Lucas is like, steve Harrington. He's cool. And Dustin's like, she's cool. You lost your chance. Should have gone for her when she had braces and no boobs. And Lucas goes, I'm playing the long game. Dustin goes, oh, yeah, I'm sure a growth spurt will do. Really do it for you, Lucas.
[00:44:18] Speaker B: I love how they drag each other. These kids have the best comebacks. And I'm like, wow.
[00:44:21] Speaker A: I really do.
[00:44:22] Speaker B: Would never have thought of that at 11 years old, literally.
[00:44:27] Speaker A: And then the way they, like, swear like Dustin, he's like, son of a.
[00:44:31] Speaker B: Son of a Little list.
[00:44:34] Speaker A: It's so, so cute. I know, like, 10 years ago, I was closer in age, obviously, to these kids when I was first watching it. But, like, now I feel very maternal
[00:44:45] Speaker B: towards all of them.
[00:44:47] Speaker A: I'm like, oh, protect them. They're little. That's how you know you're getting old.
[00:44:51] Speaker B: I know.
[00:44:52] Speaker A: All right, so then we have this moment where the boys are just biking in the dark through the neighborhood. And again, another establishing scene of, like, this is the 80s. Like, no one today would let their kids go ride their bikes in the dark from one side of town to the other.
[00:45:08] Speaker B: They couldn't do any of the adventures that they do in this show if it was in this deck. This century, or. Yeah, this. Whatever. This decade or whatever.
[00:45:17] Speaker A: Whatever year it is.
[00:45:19] Speaker B: What year are we. I don't.
[00:45:20] Speaker A: What day? What month? Yeah.
[00:45:22] Speaker B: What's going on?
[00:45:23] Speaker A: What feels like 50 years later, exactly in the big year of 2026.
[00:45:28] Speaker B: Yeah, unfortunately.
[00:45:29] Speaker A: Yeah, unfortunately. Take me back.
[00:45:31] Speaker B: Oh, my God. It's only been 37 days. 38 days. Oh, my God.
[00:45:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And I don't think 2026 is shaping up to be. Be a good year. Sorry, everybody.
[00:45:40] Speaker B: Maybe it'll turn around.
[00:45:42] Speaker A: No.
All right. So Lucas peels off from the group to go to his home, says, see you, ladies. And another thing that I really love about this moment is it also establishes, like I said, the demographics and also the class status for the boys.
Lucas, his family is pretty wealthy, middle class, as we'll see later on. And so he lives class, closest to Mike in the suburbs. And then the next to go is Dustin. And then last of all is Will, which I love because it kind of shows where their families. How well their families are doing from a money standpoint. But then also, you now have Joyce, who's a single mom, so of course she'd be struggling. And, yeah, it's just very pariah.
[00:46:25] Speaker B: How dare she be divorced, woman with children pariah.
[00:46:32] Speaker A: How dare she? Even though everything we've heard about Lonnie is he sounds like a dirt bag. Like, he sounds horrendous.
[00:46:38] Speaker B: Doesn't matter. You have to keep up the image of, you know, the perfect American family.
[00:46:43] Speaker A: I do think it's interesting as we go through the series, and I think a couple times in this episode, people refer to Will as Lonnie's kid, not necessarily as Joyce's kid. So there's still this mentality, even though Lonnie doesn't seem to live in Hawkins anymore, that people still view him as the head of the household, kind of in charge of his boys, which is really interesting. Yeah.
So Lucas takes off, and then it's Dustin and Will. And Dustin says, race to my place. Loser gets a comic. Will's like any comic. Dustin says, yeah. Will takes off, starts pedaling fast. Dustin's like, shit. Takes off after him. And then Will whizzes past the house at the end of the neighborhood and waves at Dustin. Says, I'll take your X Men 134. So that comic was published in 1980, and it featured the Phoenix Saga, in which the telekinetic Dark Phoenix teams up with the X Men to defeat the villain Mastermind by pinning him to a wall with her powers.
[00:47:37] Speaker B: So interesting.
[00:47:40] Speaker A: And that's when we have Dustin out of breath. Son of a.
[00:47:44] Speaker B: So cute. I love Dustin. I was telling you. I think Dustin's probably my favorite character. Who knows if that might change?
[00:47:51] Speaker A: He's one of my faves, so I just love him.
[00:47:54] Speaker B: Like, if I were to build a team of little, like, so scoundrels or whatever to, like, fight, Dustin would be on there. Dustin would be on there. 100.
[00:48:01] Speaker A: He literally one of my top favorites.
[00:48:03] Speaker B: The most resourceful. Like, he gets shit done, and he's cute about it, so.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: And he's just entertaining to watch. Yeah, he's so fun. He's sensitive. He's not just, like, a complete little jerk. Like, when he mouths off, it's hilarious, but there's heart behind it, you know? He's not just, like, a little dick.
[00:48:22] Speaker B: What I love about him is that he very much is, like, he's a nerd in every way that you would describe somebody as being. And he's not ashamed about it. And he uses it to, like, do stuff. Like, he uses his knowledge and, like, his interests and the things that he's into or whatever to get shit done. And even when, like, he's being bullied, like, yes, he's being bullied for being the way that he is. But it just. Like you said, he never, like, feels ashamed about it.
[00:48:52] Speaker A: And I love that he's unapologetically himself. There's a confidence that there, too, that eventually, like, the other boys foster it and become more confident as they get older. He just has this ingrained confidence that he's had since day one. And he just says it, and I think he's just. He's just adorable. He's so fun to watch. And he has a great arc.
[00:49:12] Speaker B: Like, it's funny because Lucas on the outside seems to be the most confident or, like, the most outspoken. But Lucas has, like, as we will come to find out, like, throughout the series, Lucas has a lot of insecurities.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:27] Speaker B: Whereas, like, it's almost like the guy that seems the most confident on the outside is the one that has the most insecurities. And then Dustin, who's, like, the guy who's the probably arguably like the most nerdy who knows the most like niche things and whatever. Like he gets bullied the most, but he's the most confident out of all of them. And yeah, it's just it. I just love him. He's just the best. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:49:53] Speaker A: So then Will is now biking alone along the forest road and he doesn't notice, but he passes by Authorized Vehicles only no Trespassing sign, which we know he's getting close to that laboratory that we saw at the very beginning of the episode. His light blinks, he looks down, looks up just to see this weird alien looking creature in the middle of the road. And he startled, veers off to the side and goes down like this little hill in the forest and then falls over and then takes off leaving his bike. And this again was originally supposed, supposed to be Montauk, so he was supposed to be on the beach.
And he races up towards his house, which it's small, lower class and kind of falling apart a little bit. He gets inside the house, he has his dog Chester, you know, barking. And the house is really dark and it's smaller and he's running around yelling for mom and Jonathan. There's no answer. He checks all the bedrooms, he's all alone. He goes back to the living room window, peers out. And that's when we had that shot you were mentioning earlier. You can see the laundry lines within the mist. And then there's that dark feature approaching the house.
[00:50:53] Speaker B: Michael Myers.
[00:50:54] Speaker A: Terrifying. Poor kid.
[00:50:57] Speaker B: This whole sequence is so freaking good. Like it's a whole chasey. It's so like scary and horror movie esque. And I just this, I love this sequence.
[00:51:07] Speaker A: Anytime children are in peril too, I'm always like. It notches the, the danger level at an 11 for me.
[00:51:14] Speaker B: Yeah, you're like on the edge of your seat, like, oh my God, what's going to happen to this kid?
[00:51:17] Speaker A: And he does all the right things, right? Like he gets off the runs on foot, gets into his house, locks the door, like checks to see if his mom's there. Then you know, when he sees the monster still coming, he goes to the kitchen wall and dials 911 on the phone. But there's like static and a weird noise on the other end. He's like, hello, Hello. We kind of hear like a weird noise and then he ends up hanging up. And then he looks over at the door and the lock slides through and unlocks. And then he drops the phone, takes out through the back door again. He's doing all the right things. Goes to the shed, shuts the door, grabs the old rifle off of the wall and starts to load it. He's terrified. You can see here, like his heavy breathing. His hands are shaking, but he's like, got the rifle loaded and then he like holding it and pointing it at the door and just like sitting there, just tear on his little face.
And then we kind of see behind him something moving. And then the camera just goes immediately to the light that just kind of shines brighter and brighter and brighter, the single light bulb. And then all of a sudden it just turns off. And then the shed is empty and Will is gone.
[00:52:32] Speaker B: Where did he go?
[00:52:33] Speaker A: Wait, what?
What?
[00:52:35] Speaker B: They snatched him up?
[00:52:38] Speaker A: Yep. In the script originally, the doors were supposed to open to the shed. And it says, will finishes loading the rifle. He snaps the chamber shut and aims it at the door. The rifle trembles in his hand. The shed door slowly yawns open the rest of the way. And then we're supposed to first catch our glimpse at the monster. In this moment, it was supposed to be misshapen, withered, pale and slick.
And then, and then Will's ears and nose were supposed to start dripping blood. So anytime someone got close to the monster, they were supposed to start bleeding out of different cavities in their face. Yeah, but not seeing the monster in season one was a big mantra for the duffers. Like they really wanted to do kind of what Jaws did, where you only get glimpses of it.
[00:53:24] Speaker B: I was gonna say, just thinking about it now, I appreciate the fact that, like, right from the get go, we know that this is a supernatural show.
[00:53:33] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:53:34] Speaker B: And I feel like they could have easily done like a mystery like, oh, this is. You can, you can kind of like things are happening, but they're. You can explain them away with like a logical real life explanation. And then eventually you find out that it's something like supernatural happening. But I love that right off the bat, like from the cold open, we know it's something like fantasy, it's supernatural. This is not like from our realm. Something otherworldly is going on. And I really like that because like you said, we don't see the monsters all. I mean, I don't remember. But if what you're saying, from what you're saying, if we don't see them all season, like, I just, I love the building of anticipation like that where like at the end, eventually you like, see it.
But it's not like you're being misled, you know, it's not like you're being like, oh, no, no, like, this is not supernatural. Like, it can be. It's just this thing, you know? Like, you know what's happening, but also you're not getting the whole story, which I like a lot.
[00:54:38] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. There's enough of a mystery that you're like, okay, I need to know what's happening, but you. You know more than the characters do at this point. Yeah. And they kind of keep you in the loop a little bit, but. But give you just enough to keep you wanting to come back for more because you're not sure what the full story is.
[00:54:53] Speaker B: Because I feel like that's. It's harder to tell a story where, like, you've already set out from the beginning that this is what it is.
Like, it makes it harder to build tension and mystery and stuff like that.
[00:55:06] Speaker A: Yeah, that's.
[00:55:07] Speaker B: Whereas if you were to be like, hey, this might be supernatural, but it also might be something completely different. Like, for example, like, yellow jackets. Like, if anybody has ever watched Yellowjackets, it's very much a show that's, like. It's teetering on the edge of the supernatural, but at the same time, everything that's happening can be explained away by, like, a real logical, like, scientific reason. Right. Which is really fun in a show like that. But I feel like they use that a lot to build mystery, and they use that a lot to, like, keep the viewer hooked. And sometimes I feel like it can fall into, like, plot holes and it can turn into, like, a. They're overusing it.
But I like that this show doesn't, like, fall back on that, because it could have been, like, it could have made it really easy for them to just use that as a way to keep the audience, like, hooked. But from the beginning, you already know what you're getting into. It's just a matter of, like, the story unraveling, and you're going to find out what exactly this thing is. And that also, like, I think, gives them the opportunity to build lore about the supernatural.
[00:56:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Easier. Yeah. Well, it also allows them to be able to do stuff that you wouldn't normally like. It allows them to stretch the boundaries of things like, I don't know. Have you ever seen.
Oh, what's the. What's it? Pretty Little Liars. Have you ever seen Pretty Liars?
[00:56:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:56:29] Speaker A: Okay, so, like, it's not supposed to be supernatural, but there are times where you're like, how in the world is A actually doing these things? And because you don't know the identity of a. And frankly, neither do the writers at many points they, they're able to do things that you're like, I don't think one person is doing. This feels like an entire army of people who are very like, know a lot about these girls, but also might possibly be like, working for the CIA, are able to tap people's phones. It feels like there's like a whole bunch of people being a. With the amount of stuff that A gets done. But in the end, you have this reveal or like the multiple reveals that happen, it's usually just one person.
And when it's supernatural, you can kind of get away with a lot of the things happening. There's not as much of a suspension of disbelief because you're like, well, we don't know what the rules are. And also it's supernatural. So really anything is possible. So watching this, obviously they still have to establish, like, lore and boundaries and such as they go on, but it really gives the audience. We can sit there and go, okay, it's supernatural. So therefore, when a little boy just vanishes out of a shed, or we're not easier to accept, how in the world did that even happen? Where we still want to know how it happened, but we're like, okay, we know it's supernatural, so we want to
[00:57:42] Speaker B: know where he is.
Yeah, that's the question that you're asking yourself. How, how did he get there? Where he. Where is he?
You're not like, so worried about the how. You're worried about like the why, the where, the what. Right, right.
[00:57:58] Speaker A: We know that they'll explain how because we know it's supernatural, but. Yeah, exactly. So, all right, so now we are in a really, like, rundown trailer and it's Hopper's house.
So we open on a hand drawn picture of a family man, woman and little girl. Which is really interesting to be the first thing that we see because we find out later in this episode that his daughter died. And so he still has little remnants of her everywhere. But so, like, if you're opening up, you're thinking, oh, this is going to be a family home. Right? But then the next thing you see is this floral wallpaper. So you're like, okay, a woman lives here. And then you see trash, beer can, food containers, clothes strewn about, typical bachelor pad step. And we're like, okay, kid doesn't live here anymore.
And then we see Hopper laying on the couch. He's wearing a blue bracelet, which is important.
The. In the first shot of Hopper's trailer, there's a copy of the Old man and the Sea sitting on the table. This Book famously revolves around an aging fisherman who is considered extremely unlucky. That it appears when Hopper is first introduced foreshadows the feeling of being cursed that he shares later on.
So Jim Hopper is played by David Harbor. He'd been in several films for a few decades before, like Brokeback Mountain, Revolutionary Road, which I know you and I were talking about, End of Watch, Black Mass, and then also in tv, like the Newsroom, State of Affairs, Pan Am, and then the Tony nominated turn in who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He was on on Broadway for that. He was very intrigued by Hopper saying, certainly the most interesting character that has ever been sent my way. I love very flawed individuals as well, and I love very messy individuals who in turn discover who they are or through the course of a few series or of events, which forces them to either grow up or die.
We're like, wow, okay, casting director. So we have two options. Hopper's gonna grow or he's gonna die.
Casting director Carmen Cuba looked for someone that was similar to her grandfather, who was a lieutenant in the NYPD motorcycle division was super tall and intimidating. Harbor says, I grew up watching those movies that the series is homage to. And the leading guys, even a little bit before that time, were all the dudes who taught me how to become a man, what it is to be a man. These were guys like Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Roy Schneider, Nick Nolt. I was looking at movies about cops that are a little bit messed up and have to go into a situation that makes them face their biggest flaw.
And then Kimberly Adams says that Roy Schneider's character from Jaws was the big influence not only for Hopper's uniform look, but also a lot of his Persona.
She says what was great about how that movie was done was that the chief had a different uniform than his guys to make it more small town, not so perfect, she says, with the hat, we wanted to make it seem like it was something that had been on Hopper's head for a while. She said, even the way that his clothes hang on his body indicate that something's amiss in his life. David didn't want to slim down for the character. Hopper drinks a lot of beer and he's not taking care of his body like he should. So we played into that with the way that his jeans fit, the way his clothes fit. He's let himself go a little bit, and then he didn't, because I was gonna say so. Harper wanted him to be very emotionally unavailable and have problems with intimacy and surprise, surprise, guys in the show's sex symbol.
[01:01:12] Speaker B: That's my type.
[01:01:13] Speaker A: It literally is. We were literally watching this. You know, you have that moment where Hopper wakes up and then he goes out on his deck with his cigarette and he's, like, sitting there with his. Without a shirt, his jeans, like, unbuttoned. And Leia was like, I'm like, emotionally unavailable. Broad shoulders. Dad guy.
Yes.
[01:01:34] Speaker B: I was talking to Robbie yesterday. We were voice noting and he was. We were talking about Stranger Things because obviously, like, he did the art for us and he hasn't watched Stranger Things, so this is going to be his first time watching it. And he was saying, like, you know, it's going to be really interesting to hear you guys talk about a show where there's not going to be a lot of thirsting. And he's like, there isn't. Right? Like, it's all kids and stuff.
[01:01:55] Speaker A: What are you talking about, Rob?
[01:01:57] Speaker B: I'm like, well, you can find thirst anyway, David Harbour.
[01:02:02] Speaker A: And Rob's like, really? Yeah, really?
[01:02:05] Speaker B: And I'm like, yeah, just, like. Just, like, watch him. Like, just look. Just look at him.
And he was like, very. He was like, I don't know where you guys are gonna find thirst. He's like, well, I know no writer is in it, and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, yeah. What about hop, though?
[01:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Hello.
[01:02:21] Speaker B: So that's where our thirst is gonna come from.
[01:02:24] Speaker A: I really do have to say, like. And also, like, David harbor was.
I mean, he became a sex symbol for the show, but also, like, the rise of the dad bod was a lot in part to David Harper showing up on Stranger Things. That was when it kind of really got introduced into the, you know, zeitgeist of the Internet, where people were like, oh, my gosh, he's hot. And it felt like, like Hollywood. And everybody else was like, huh? And we're sitting there going, yeah, no. Like, we guys don't have to be uber ripped in order to be attractive to us. Like, I. I think Hopper is so hot. I think he has a very realistic body and yet he's. He still looks strong, he's still sexy. Like.
[01:03:07] Speaker B: And I think Hollywood aura, like you said, emotionally unavailable, like, very.
[01:03:13] Speaker A: We can fix him. We can fix him. We just want to help help him. He just needs a hug and a good meal and some clothes.
[01:03:18] Speaker B: I can fix him 1 million percent.
[01:03:20] Speaker A: It's not bad.
[01:03:21] Speaker B: Send him my way.
[01:03:22] Speaker A: But, like, again, this is the height of the mcu. So we have, like, Chris Hemsworth. We have. And that's very, very male gazy. I Feel like harbor is kind of female gaze.
[01:03:31] Speaker B: Which is funny because he's in the MCU now, is he not?
[01:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah, but he didn't.
[01:03:35] Speaker B: He.
[01:03:35] Speaker A: His body's the exact same.
[01:03:37] Speaker B: I know, but I'm saying, like, he was just in an MCU movie.
[01:03:41] Speaker A: Yeah, and in one of the best MCU movies too. I love Thunderbolts.
[01:03:44] Speaker B: Actually haven't seen it. I, I really good watch it, Leia.
[01:03:47] Speaker A: It's one of my favorite MCU movies now. It's so good. But, yeah, it's just hysterical how he, like, he didn't expect it. Nobody expected it, but us normal girlies over there. Like, yeah, muscles are great, but like more like emotional unavailability at the end of the screen. We're like, yeah, literally, it's. I want something to grab, you know?
[01:04:08] Speaker B: Right.
[01:04:09] Speaker A: Anyway, all right, so Hopper, you know, he's having a cigarette and then he goes into the bathroom and washes pills down with beer, then smokes again. You know, clearly he's doing swell. His mental health seems like top notch. Then he puts on a gun in a sheriff's uniform. So this is just great. This is the person that's protecting us mentally doing fantastic.
Apparently, David Harbour's or Chief Hopper's trailer reportedly only cost the art department $1 to buy. What?
[01:04:40] Speaker B: What is that?
[01:04:40] Speaker A: This is like the cheapest thing because it probably was abandoned and nobody wanted it. And they're like, perfect. This is what we need for an emotionally unavailable guy who is possibly abusing his pills.
According to the behind the scenes documentation, the pills the Hopper is seen taking, our medication called Tuanol Barbaturate, used for anxiety and insomnia. The drug was discontinued in the early 1990s after widespread abuse was reported.
[01:05:06] Speaker B: Oh, you think? Oh, so it's an addictive drug. Very good.
[01:05:11] Speaker A: And then that's when they came up with Xanax and Klonopin.
[01:05:14] Speaker B: You know what?
Good for him, Mental health king. He's taking pills to try to, like,
[01:05:21] Speaker A: help, and he's hydrating himself. This is.
[01:05:24] Speaker B: He could be like, I feel like
[01:05:25] Speaker A: he has a hobby, smoking.
[01:05:27] Speaker B: But the thing is, at the time it was very taboo still to have, like, mental health issues.
So the fact that he's, you know, he took the initiative to go on pills, he was probably forced to take them anyway, but.
[01:05:40] Speaker A: And then he got addicted to them and he law enforcement. So fantastic, fantastic.
[01:05:45] Speaker B: But he took the initiative to do something about his mental health.
[01:05:49] Speaker A: Okay, yes, yes, yes, absolutely. We can only go from here, Leia. We can only go up.
[01:05:56] Speaker B: Listen, we did this with angel on angel, where we're just like, no, like what murder? He did murder.
Now it's baby Hopper.
[01:06:06] Speaker A: As far as I can tell, the biggest crime that Hopper has committed is apathy. But then he quickly changes it around and then he starts care. So, you know.
[01:06:16] Speaker B: Exactly.
[01:06:17] Speaker A: We'll give him grace.
[01:06:19] Speaker B: I agree.
[01:06:19] Speaker A: We're now back at the Byers house. It's in the morning and we see Jonathan Byers. The script describes him as Will's older brother. Cooks breakfast. He is lanky with dark hair to his shoulders. He's quietly handsome, but he wouldn't believe it if you told him so. Jonathan is played by English actor Charlie Heaton. He had appeared in several roles in film and TV before Stranger Things, but really resonated with Jonathan. He says, I remember coming across it. I'd been reading a lot of material and I was like, wow, I really kind of understand this guy. I come from a music background. I used to play in bands. My upbringing was very similar to Jonathan's. I grew up in a working class family. I grew up with a single mother. So there was a lot of relations that I saw within myself and Jonathan.
And Jonathan is one of my favorite characters in season one. I really, really relate a lot to him. I also think it was really, really interesting for them to make the parentified sibling a boy. I think that's a huge subversion of the trope of always having the oldest be a girl. And I, I relate a lot with Jonathan and feeling like, like the burden for his younger siblings and trying to. He's almost trying to step into the shoes that his dad has abandoned. But he's still a kid, so he's really struggling with a lot of that.
So then we see Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers.
Script says late 30s. She wears a peach waitress uniform and too much makeup. She has a Long island accent, which comes out even stronger when she curses. So we can see how Winona Ryder kind of really changed, even just that little character flip there.
[01:07:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:07:45] Speaker A: Casting director Carmen Cuba was the one to suggest Winona Ryder as Joyce. Not only because of her strong connection to films from the era that inspired this series, but also because of her ability to project strength and vulnerability simultaneously. Winona was a perfect fit. Cuba says people have a strong connection to her from her very magical early work. But I especially love that this would highlight her as a grown up mother to children as complex as the ones she herself once played. And I think that's, I think in a lot of ways, like you were talking about how she's the reason you started watching Stranger Things?
[01:08:17] Speaker B: Yes, she was what sold me on the show. As soon as I saw that Wynonna Ryder was attached, I was like, yeah, I'm. I'm watching this because I love her. I love Girl Interrupted. I love Edward Scissorhands. I love her in, like, Dracula. Like, she's in so many movies that I, like, grew up loving and watching. And like, obviously she's like a horror queen.
[01:08:40] Speaker A: So, yeah, Beetlejuice, but we hadn't really seen her. She'd been in a few roles like, she was in Black Swan. She was in a few roles in, like, the 220 teens, but she hadn't really been anything super iconic or at least had a role that was super iconic. And so Stranger Things was kind of a resurgence for her after all of that stuff with her shoplifting. And then she kind of took a break from acting and stuff. And so it. She's almost. She's really had a resurgence and I love that new audiences are discovering her iconic. Her iconic.
[01:09:12] Speaker B: She was in the Heathers too, I'm pretty sure.
[01:09:15] Speaker A: Yes, she was in the Heathers.
[01:09:16] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah.
[01:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah. So Ryder says that she was excited by the opportunity to explore genre storytelling that eschewed the more gruesome conventions favored by some directors. I was really interested in the whole government consistent conspiracy aspect, she says. I've always been fascinated by that kind of stuff. Winona writer 100 conspiracy theorist 100 million so funny.
I liked that. While it was every parent's worst nightmare, it didn't get into territory that was incredibly upsetting. It's got a human thread throughout friendship and family and community.
So she was inspired by Marsha Mason's work in 1983's Max Dugan Returns and the 1977 film Audrey Rose. She also drew from Ellen Burstein's performance in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Trying to portray the sort of real desperation to just put food on the table and to just get by. According to the Duffers writer's approach fundamentally changed Joyce from a tough, hard ass to a character who was so much more fun. Matt Duffer says it could have been such a sad, depressing role of a mother whose child has gone missing. There's a fun, quirky quality to her performance that makes it a lot more fun to write and watch. And I will argue that, like, while all the characters or all the actors nail their characters, the season would have failed if Winona Ryder played Joyce differently or even potentially wasn't in the role like she is in A lot of ways the heart of this season.
[01:10:38] Speaker B: She is. She's the reason that like keeps driving the story of like, we need to find Will. Like, her commitment and her, like, resolve to find her son despite, like, every single sign pointing to like, him not being able to be found is what drives the story. If she wasn't like this, then they would have just given up trying to find Will and the story would be done.
[01:11:01] Speaker A: Yeah, she's fantastic. She's so fun to watch. The layers that she brings to Joyce is just absolutely incredible. The Duffers and Ryder have said that she would often be the person to check if something in the scene was not period accurate. There are so many behind the scenes stories of Joyce or Winona being like, hang on, no, that actually needs to be this color. Or let's put this in. She was the person that was. That would make suggestions for music and other things. And apparently the jeans that Joyce wears were Winona's mother's from when she was in the 80s. And it was really important to Winona that she be not only be accurate to the time period, but also to the fact that Joyce would be wearing hand me down clothes that Joyce be wearing stuff that maybe didn't fully fit because she's a working mom and doesn't have as much money. And according to Winona writer and Harper's Bazaar interview on YouTube, this was the longest commitment she had made to a role, having never been in a series before, and it felt weird committing to it just based on the pilot, which is all they gave her at the beginning. Her only request before signing on to player character was that if Beetlejuice sequel would ever become a real thing, they would give her the time to be involved because she and Tim Burton have been trying to make a sequel for over 15 years. So the Duffers agreed and she signed on, which was fortunate because Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice was eventually green. And that happened when they were still doing Stranger Things. So for sure.
[01:12:17] Speaker B: I'm so glad they got it done before Katherine o' Hara died too.
[01:12:21] Speaker A: No, don't. Don't speak of it.
So sad.
My gosh.
Okay, so Joyce is frantically looking around for her keys. Jonathan's making breakfast, and then Jonathan's like, hey, check the couch. She finds her keys, snatches them up, goes up to give Jonathan a quick peck on the cheek and then goes. And it's so. This is so interesting.
So Joyce doesn't realize that Will isn't there until she reaches out to put her hand where his head probably normally like he would be sitting at the table. And you can see her hand kind of like spasm a little bit in the air. And it's like her body registers that he's not there before her mind does. And it's such a brilliant introduction of Joyce's character and her dynamic with her boys. Like, she's distracted, overworked, stressed, and absent because of it, and is putting too much on Jonathan, probably because she has to. And you can tell that she's like, you know, you can automatically tell she's a single parent by the fact that Jonathan's making the food. There's no mention of the dad. They're a lower class family simply by how small and less nice their house is. But that one moment where she, like, goes to, like, just ruffle his head as she passes by, I thought was such an interesting choice. And I wonder if that was like, Winona Ryder, like, inserting that in as well. But so she's like, where's Will? Jonathan's like, sleeping, I guess. And Joyce immediately goes into go, oh, my gosh, how many times have I told you? Like, you gotta get him up. And Jonathan's like, I'm making breakfast. She's like, oh, what about you?
[01:13:46] Speaker B: You get him up?
[01:13:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And again, I can relate to, like, as a mom, like, when you're stressed and stuff, it's easy to just go into blaming mode, even though the kid isn't the one that you're necessarily upset at. But that can still affect them in ways that you aren't even aware of for sure.
[01:14:02] Speaker B: I think it also, like, it gives her more motivation. Like, it, it makes her pursuit of finding Will more layered. I feel like there's a part of her that maybe feels guilty because I think that scene that you're talking about where she reaches out where she thinks his head will be, it kind of shows that he's almost invisible.
She knows that he's there, but she doesn't really see him. Yes, but when he goes missing, it's almost like it makes her reevaluate everything, the way she's been doing things. And obviously, like, like you said, to no fault of her own as, like, a single mother or whatever. But I think it adds, like, a layer of guilt to her pursuit of finding him, where it makes her, like, look at herself in the mirror and be like, oh, my God, like, my kid went missing and I didn't even know until hours later because I'm. I was so overwhelmed with, like, just trying to survive or whatever, not paying it, like, neglecting my kids. In certain ways, which I think is. Makes her more interesting. It's not just like a mother searching for her child. It makes it, like. Which is interesting on its own. It makes her relatable. But I think the other parts also, like, make her more interesting and, like, flawed, which is what makes a good character.
[01:15:19] Speaker A: We want a flawed character. Absolutely. We want somewhere to go with the character, but we also want to see somebody that is relatable on screen. Because we're all flawed too, right?
Yeah. It. We don't want to see a caricature.
[01:15:31] Speaker B: No.
[01:15:31] Speaker A: So then she goes back into Will's bedroom and throws open the door. He's not there, of course. She comes back out and is like, wait, Will came home last night, right? Jonathan's like, he's not in his room. And then she. They go back and forth. I don't know. Like, Jonathan says, I was actually. I. Like, I got home late last night. I was working. And Joyce is like, you were working? Jonathan says, yeah, like air gas, if I could cover an extra shift. And I thought we could use the extra cash. Again, like, reinforcing this sense of responsibility that Jonathan has on his shoulders, Joyce gets upset, tells him that he can't take shifts while she's out working. And she's like, seriously, Jonathan, seriously. She just keeps blaming him over and over again and again. The way that Winona plays it, you get this sense that she's not necessarily talking to Jonathan. Like, it's. It's more of a reflection of that guilt that she's feeling in herself. She should not be taking it out on Jonathan. But it's very clear that there's obviously layers to why she's saying that. She says, I can't believe you sometimes.
And then she goes over to the phone and then starts calling the Wheeler's house. So then at the Wheeler's house, very different scene, the entire family sitting down to breakfast together. We have Nancy judging Mike for putting syrup on his scrambled eggs. Karen answers, and Joyce is like, hey, is Will there? And then we have Mike putting his syrup on Nancy's eggs. She screams. Then Ted's like, hey, language. And then Karen's, like, trying to talk through it all, and she says, no, Will did not spend the night. He left, you know, a little bit before eight. Is he not at home? Joyce tries to hide it. It's like, oh, you know, I'm sure he just left early for school. Thanks, Karen. She hangs up. And then we have that moment where her and Jonathan look at each other and they're both really Scared realizing that Will might actually be missing.
So the buyer's house will talk about it real fast. But it's far more dated than the Wheelers. Jess Royal says it's a reflection of the disparity in the family's economic circumstances, which is why it looks like the 70s in there versus the 80s in Karen's home. There's wood and earth tone palette. It's shabbier, more rustic feeling than the Wheelers. Wood flooring versus carpet. Everywhere, carpet was a little bit more of a luxury. The furniture is worn. The new, smaller TVs actually stacked on the older one. And even the colors, the greens and browns of the 70s and the dim lighting makes the house feel kind of dark and a bit sad.
So, again, supposed to reflect the fact that Joyce does not have the time nor the money to be able to keep her house updated in the way that Karen's would. And I, again, I was looking at this the. The set and just feels so lived in. Like, I genuinely believe these characters live there.
So now we're at the middle school. Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge, Georgia, is the location for the Hawkins Middle School school. And Mike pulls up with his bike with the rest of the gang, and they talk about how they don't see Will. They think he went to class early. Bullies show up. They make fun of each of the boys before they land on Dustin as the ultimate victim and his toothless disorder. He's like, I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. The bullies make him show how his arms can bend at a weird angle and pop. Then they gag and take off. Mike tries to make him feel better, tells him it's like a superpower.
[01:18:40] Speaker B: It is, though.
And that's what, like, this scene showcases exactly, like, his personality. Like, he tells it to them, like, okay, guys, like, I have a medical condition. Like, why is this funny to you? You know, it's almost like he's very matter of fact, and he's almost like, wow, you guys are like. You have pedestrian, like, sense of humor. Like, why are you laughing at this?
[01:19:03] Speaker A: Right? Exactly.
[01:19:04] Speaker B: He's still a kid, so it, like, hurts his feelings a little bit. But he does have that, like, I don't know, like, he's very logical in a lot of ways, which I love.
[01:19:13] Speaker A: But I also, like, they picked on all three of them. Obviously, they. They honed in on Dustin, but I think there's a solidarity the boys have that, okay, they're picking on all three of us, and so we can kind of band together. In that. Which again sets the tone for this feeling of being an outcast. So then we cut to Nancy going to the high school. And the script says that Nancy gauges her reflection in the rearview mirror. She's in the driver's seat of a hand me down. 1970 to station. We got Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen playing on the radio. She's fussing over herself, applying mascara and blush, but she's unhappy with everything. The song begins to skip. The radio signal stutters. Nancy looks down in confusion.
But I like that they kind of skipped that. And we have a little bit more of like, she looks like a little like cute mousy bookworm as she's just going through, like it establishes her as she still cares about teenage girl stuff. Stuff, but as a little bit more of a nerdy person, which is important because of all the stuff with Barb. And then Steve later on, she's more of a wallflower, I think. So then we see Barb. Her friend Barb is played by Shannon Purser. She was just 18 when she got cast as Barb. It was her first screen role and she went on to land parts in Riverdale as Ethel Muggs and then the limited run musical Rise as Annabelle. She taped her audition in her parents basement opposite her best friend who read for Nancy.
Carmen Cuba says, the Duffers had a very specific idea for Barb, as they do for every single role, even on one line roles. But once we saw Shannon, it was pretty clear she was our girl. She was singular and strong, yet still so young. She was still in high school and she really seemed to connect with material. She didn't feel like a Hollywood version of Barb. She felt like every Barb from our childhoods, which I really love.
[01:20:55] Speaker B: Yeah, that's so true.
[01:20:57] Speaker A: So then Barb's like, did he call talking about Steve? Nancy's like, oh, he doesn't like me like that. And Barb's like, really? Nancy's like, okay, yes. Like we only made out twice. And Barb's like, you're gonna be so cool now. You better still hang out with me. That's all. Which is an establishing line for her character if you become friends with Tommy H or Carol. And then Nancy's like, ew, gross, that'll never happen. And then she opens her locker, sees a folded note from Steve that says, meet me in the girls bathroom. And Barb's like you were saying.
And then we jump straight to the girl's bathroom and Steve and Nancy are making out. Okay, so here's My favorite character, guys, Steve is a ma.
And just. Just hear me out. Just hear me out. Walk with me, guys. It'll take a minute. You know, just let it. Just let it. Let it. Let me cook. Let me cook.
He's played by Joe Curie and supposed to represent the popular preppy jock from a wealthy family that maybe isn't the nicest guy. Ross Duffer says, this Steve character, he was just supposed to be this giant douchebag.
Joe Keery describes the as the jerk boyfriend from the breakfast club. Then Joe Keery came along. He says, or Ross Defer says, we fell in love with Joe. So after graduating from Chicago's Deep Paul University, where he studied theater, Massachusetts native Kiri began purposing a career in acting as well as music. Appeared in TV series such as Chicago Fire and Empire. Played in the psychedelic rock band Post Animal. He now goes by the stage name Joe, starting with the D. And you. If you're on TikTok you, you've probably heard his. His music, like it's gone viral times.
[01:22:35] Speaker B: Great song.
[01:22:37] Speaker A: Which Fun fact. He wrote that when he was in Chicago trying to figure out if he was gonna take the Stranger Things role because he knew his life would probably change. Yeah. His first feature film role was Henry Gamble's Birthday Party. After he got cast as Steve, he initially went out for the role of Jonathan. He decided he wanted to shape the character as something other than a straightforward antagonist. Honest, he said. I wanted to justify the character's actions so he wasn't doing terrible things for no reason. That was my goal going into it. Then as the process went along and the scripts came out, I worked with the brothers to create this sort of tightrope between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing. Just trying to make sure that every single choice that he made, whether it was good or bad, was justified.
There are a lot of rumors right now that the MCU is wanting Joe Keery for a role, possibly Harry Osborne. And I'm like, like, fingers crossed.
[01:23:25] Speaker B: I think he has a movie coming out too. It's like a horror movie or something.
[01:23:30] Speaker A: Maybe. I'm not sure.
[01:23:31] Speaker B: June.
[01:23:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I wouldn't.
[01:23:33] Speaker B: I think it's gonna be in theaters also.
I forget what it's called, but he's. He's got a movie coming out soon.
[01:23:40] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sure he's got a lot of people breaking down his.
Or busting down his door, wanting him in things.
[01:23:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:23:48] Speaker A: Fun fact. So have you ever seen Parks and Recipes?
[01:23:51] Speaker B: I've seen clips of it. I've never Actually watched the show, though.
[01:23:54] Speaker A: Have you seen the clips with. Don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. So there's two characters, brother and sister, that are in that. Ben Schwartz is the actor in that clip.
So he, Curie, is known to be kind of a lookalike of that character, Ben Schwartz. So to that effect, Michael Shore, who's the creator and producer of Parks and Rec, confirmed a fan theory that John Ralphio Saperstein of the series is the son of curious Stranger Things character Steve Harrington, effectively creating a crossover between. That's so cool series.
[01:24:25] Speaker B: I love that.
[01:24:26] Speaker A: It's really fun.
[01:24:27] Speaker B: Yeah, that is fun.
[01:24:29] Speaker A: So, yeah, Natalia Dyers and Joe Keery's first scene together was this scene in the episode. But anyway, they're making out. Nancy is still very distracted. Like, she's got to go to class, Keeps checking her watch and is like, hey, I gotta go. He's like, hey, let's hang out tonight. She's like, I can't go. I've got a. I've got a quiz that I have to study for.
And he's like, like, let me help you study. And she's like, well, you failed it. He's like, well, I got a C minus. And then he's like, okay, I'll come to your place at 8. And she's like, no, my mom is there. And he's like, well, fine, we'll just chill in my car. We can find a nice quiet place to park. And she's like, steve, I have to study. And he's like, well, why do you think I want it to be nice and quiet? And then she goes to leave and then gives him an address and tells him to meet her at 8 that night to study. And I just.
Joe Curie is just so charming like you and I were talking about as we were watching it. Like, Nancy knows what he's trying to do. We know what he's trying to do. But there's something really smooth about him that you just can't help but be hooked by it. You're like, I know what you're doing.
[01:25:31] Speaker B: As the kids today say, rizz up
[01:25:33] Speaker A: the Kabul like it really does.
The script says Nancy hurries out of the bathroom, trying to hide her smile. Steve grins. He knows he's got her hook, line and sinker.
So then we're now at the police station. Hopper walks in. He's just, like, lumbering, going for the coffee machine. His two deputies, Callahan and Powell, are playing cards. Everything is super casual. Of course, the one person that's running this Whole show is his secretary, Florence, and she's over there, like, hey, while you were sleeping or drinking or whatever. Whatever it is you deem so important on a Monday morning.
She says that Phil Larson says the kids are stealing gnomes out of his garden again.
Hopper's like, tell them I'll look into it. The script says he won't look into it. Like, he could tell. He just doesn't care. And part of that is not because he doesn't care about people, but it's because nothing really ever happens. Like, he's. He's the sheriff, but it's a small town. The worst that's happened is a bunch of owls are attacking someone and that kids are stealing gnomes. Like, it's really not that big of a deal. Like, nothing. Nothing is huge. He's a small town. Copy. Yeah. So she's like, hey, another thing. Joyce buyers can't find her son. Hopper's like, all right, we've discussed this. Mornings are for coffee and contemplation as he cliche eats a donut. And then I'm like, yeah, put that sign in your kitchen. You know. You know, live, laugh, love. Mornings are for coffee and contemplation.
[01:26:54] Speaker B: Honestly, I agree with that, though. Like, we need a little bit of time in the morning. Like, I just need to chill.
[01:27:01] Speaker A: Yes, relatable.
[01:27:02] Speaker B: Like, don't talk to me until I've had a full first coffee.
[01:27:06] Speaker A: I need my breakfast. I need no one. Yeah, exactly.
[01:27:09] Speaker B: Exactly.
[01:27:10] Speaker A: So Flo tries to tell him that Joyce is distraught and in his office, but he's dismissing her. They walk over, and then boom, there's Joyce sitting in his office. And he's like, oh, shoot. Like, you're not only, are you serious about this, but you're gonna, like, drag me into this. So then we see the famous. This scene where he's typing into the typewriter, and Joyce is really jittery, and she says, I've been waiting an hour. He says, and I apologize again. And he's like, you know, he's probably just playing hooky. And she's like, no, not my Will. He wouldn't do that. And Hopper's like, well, you know, when I was his age, I was screwing Christy Carpenter in the back of my dad's boat. My dad's car. Joyce is like, will's not like you. He's not like me. He's different. She says, he. He's constantly made fun of people. Make fun of him, his clothes. Hopper's like, what's wrong with his clothes? She's like, it doesn't matter. Like, they're still making fun of him. She says, he's just different. Apparently her husband always said that Will was queer, called him a slur. And Hopper, instead of being like, oh, wow, okay, that adds context to the situation, is like, well, is he.
Doesn't matter.
[01:28:13] Speaker B: Hopper, Hopper, do your job.
[01:28:16] Speaker A: Literally, he's like, give me the tea.
She's like, he's missing. That's what this is.
And then he's like, well, have you heard from Lonnie? He's like, most of the time, if some kid goes missing, they've been taken by someone that they know. Joyce is like, he was in Indianapolis last I heard. That was about a year ago. But he doesn't care about the boy. And Hopper's like, just give me his number. I'm gonna double check. And then Joyce is like, okay, well, what about those instances where there isn't a family member or relative that's involved? Like, what's. What happens to the kid then? And then Hopper, instead of answering, is like, this is Hawkins, Joyce, nothing bad really happens here. He's trying to lighten the mood a little bit. And so then Joyce says, I'll talk to Lonnie. He'll talk to me before he talks to you. Please find my son. Hop. Find him. The script says, Hop takes this all in all at once. He feels burdened with a responsibility he doesn't want. And then he goes back to typing things up.
And then in the script, we were going to have the. This whole sequence where agents are showing up in the subterranean tunnel system.
And then we meet Matthew Modine's character.
So it's very similar to the one we have, but they're going up to the isolation tank and Matthew Modine's character says, where is 11? And the other agents are like, we don't know. And then they end up going and looking at camera footage of what happened.
And they see the same shadowy character that we assumed took Will.
And then the agent's like, all right, we need to find 11. 11 will know what happened. And so they'd make it very obvious that 11 was more involved with all this stuff. Versus, I think in the actual, actual episode, we know they're searching for her, but we don't know as much as what they promised in the script. So right in the episode, the agents show up to the lab, meet with Matthew Modine, the white haired man in a suit. We'll talk about him later. They take him to a restricted area in the lab with a biohazard sign up. They put on the hazmat matsuits, grab weapons. We end up entering the same hallway that we saw at the beginning of the episode, only now it's dark. The air has weird particles floating in it, almost like ash. The lights are flickering, there's slimy vine like tentacles everywhere. And they finally enter this ginormous room that has like this opening that has a glowing like red light beyond it and it seems to be moving and breathing and there's even more like tentacle vine stuff surrounding it. And the white haired man confirms that this is where it came from and that the girl couldn't have gone far.
But then we jump to the woods and we see a young girl and she's got bare feet, her skin is pale, she's dirty and she's got shaved hair. And we're immediately like, oh, wait, what is it like? There's so many questions we have. And then now there's this.
And this is Millie Bobby Brown playing 11. Obviously she beat out 246 other girls for the role of 11.
[01:31:02] Speaker B: They made a good choice.
[01:31:03] Speaker A: They did. Ross Duffer says Millie was an incredible find that honestly was one of the harder roles to audition for because that's a character who rarely speaks. I think she has like 27 lines total in the first season or something like that. They said. We did this scene with her where she tried on this wig for the first time, was looking in the mirror and we filmed it in close up. The number of emotions she went through in just a few minutes just felt like this alien creature coming to Earth for the first time. I agree. What a phenomenal ability to be able to emote so clearly with her face at such a young age. Like, I don't even, I don't know how she does it, Truly.
[01:31:40] Speaker B: I agree. She's so good.
[01:31:41] Speaker A: So Brown made her screen debut as young Alice in Wonderland. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland had small parts in Intruders, ncis, Modern Family and Grey's Anatomy. But from the start, Brown says she was excited about the idea of playing Eleven, a character far outside the realm of parts normally available for, for pre teen actors. I think her ability to be vulnerable and her ability to be badass all at the same time, that's what really attracted to me. Casting director Carmen Cubis's Brown appeared to understand intuitively what 11 required. She had an adult quality of stillness and intelligence, but a slight turn of her head or a certain look towards something off camera would instantly remind you she's just a child. And her crying on command is Pretty nuts.
Millie Bobby Brown felt no apprehension about shaving her head. In fact, act. She found that it was really liberating and said it was very empowering. You could be cool with or without hair, with or without makeup. When you have words on the page, you can just say that. But with 11, she doesn't say it. She uses her emotion to do it. The true definition of an actor is acting with your face, acting with your expressions, your emotions, your feelings. And she would look at pictures of Furiosa and other badass women to make herself feel excited for shaving her head, which I really, really love.
[01:32:51] Speaker B: I saw she had no problem shaving her head, but she said that, like, she eventually started to feel like she felt a little bit less feminine as she was growing older, having no hair.
And that's something that she felt she had to, like, get over or, like, get past as she was playing 11 all those years. So I just found that, like, really interesting and, like, it's relatable. Right. Like, she's a young girl, she's shaving off all her hair, and, like, everyone around her, all the other girls around her have, like, beautiful hair and stuff. Stuff. So it's just. It's just interesting to think about, like, her having to go through that growing up. Like she was just a. A baby, like 11 years old, you know?
[01:33:32] Speaker A: Right. Well, that would be particularly hard because, I mean, she's supposed to stand out. And so there's probably. And as a teenager, you feel like you stand out so much even when you look completely normal, you're just like, your body's changing, you're becoming more awkward in a lot of ways because you're trying to adjust to how everything is popping out all of a sudden. And I would imagine, like, having a shaved head would even more difficult, for sure.
[01:33:55] Speaker B: Yep.
[01:33:55] Speaker A: According to IMDb, she's actually deaf in one ear, which I was like that.
Acting a little bit more difficult.
And she became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF at 14, making her the youngest person in history to be appointed that position, which is crazy.
But anyway, okay, so we see this little girl, 11. She joins or she sees a rundown restaurant, Benny's Fish and Fry. Benny's outside taking out the. The trash. And so she's looking for food. She sneaks inside the kitchen, sees Benny talking to some customers as she goes through and eats a bunch of french fries. He catches sight of her, ends up grabbing her, thinking she's a boy, and then kind of freezes when he realized that it's a little girl and is like, hang on. Something. Something's a little different here. Cut to the school now. The teacher, Mr. Clark, is trying to tell everyone about the test that's coming up. The class. Class clears out, except for Mike, Lucas and Dustin. I love this. This feels very Sunnydale's. Like, anytime the teacher is talking about something, important guy or something at all, listen. Because it probably is going to have something to do with the theme of the season.
[01:35:00] Speaker B: I kept seeing that, like, the law enforcement and like, the adults in this town are just like the adults in Sunnydale where they're just like.
Like, nothing's happening here. It's all good.
[01:35:12] Speaker A: Yeah, but it's so funny because, like, now I'm kind of getting a glimpse for what Buffy's childhood would have been like, a little bit. Well, I guess technically she would. Yeah, she would have been born in the 80s. I was like, oh, this is why the Scoobies are so independent in the 90s. Obviously a little bit more restriction because he started having technology catching up a little bit with where we're at now, but, like, still a lot of freedom in comparison to now.
[01:35:36] Speaker B: Well, I think also with Buffy, like. Like, Joyce is not really.
Like, there's no parental figures, which I noticed about this show. Like, it's. It's interesting because they could have gone that route where it's like a kid story. It's a story about growing up, which is what this is. But, like, there's so many.
[01:35:54] Speaker A: There's adult characters.
[01:35:56] Speaker B: There's adult characters that are like, fleshed out and actually characters. Whereas, like, if you look at Buffy, like, yes, you have Giles and you have Joy, but like, Joyce as Buffy's mother is not really, like, she's more of like a one dimensional character. Right. Like, she's there because sometimes it's unavoidable to be like, oh, Buffy's mom is not noticing these things, but she's there for the plot. I feel like Jon Sweden has talked about the fact that, like, he didn't want there to be, like, strong parental figures in the show because it takes away from like, the story of the coming of age of, like, the teenagers.
But I like that in this show, it's like you see the adult's perspective, you see the teenager's perspective, and then you have the kids perspective, which is just. It's different. They could have just not done that at all. But I like that they did that.
[01:36:45] Speaker A: Yeah. How crazy that we have two Joyces, two moms that are both named Joyce. Oh, my God.
[01:36:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
Joyce Summers and Joyce Byers. The two Joyces. I love it. Yeah, they're both badasses, too.
[01:36:58] Speaker A: We just need to get the hell away from my son moment, and then it'll be full circle, right?
[01:37:02] Speaker B: Oh, I wonder if that will ever happen.
[01:37:04] Speaker A: I do not know.
[01:37:06] Speaker B: I do not know.
Let's just hope Joyce Byers doesn't dive a brain aneurysm like Joyce Summers. RIP Joyce Summers.
[01:37:16] Speaker A: There is an episode this season called the Body.
Oh, God, no.
[01:37:22] Speaker B: I can't go through that again.
[01:37:24] Speaker A: I know. I like ptsd, but I twitch every
[01:37:26] Speaker B: time I do this as I rewatch Buffy, like, 12, 000 times.
[01:37:30] Speaker A: You always stop before you get to season five, though, so.
[01:37:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't really go into exactly.
[01:37:36] Speaker A: No one needs that, to be honest.
[01:37:38] Speaker B: I covered that, and I was like, no, it.
[01:37:40] Speaker A: I'm sorry. I love all y' all who are listening. If anyone wants me to be on their podcast, I will 100 come onto your podcast, But I don't know if I can come on to talk about the body. So any episode other than one that was so draining, that was so hard to talk.
[01:37:53] Speaker B: But honestly, for people who haven't watched Buffy, first of all, go watch Buffy. Second of all, the. The episode is. The body is just like, wow, peak television. Honestly, if you want to cry, if you want to feel big emotions and cry, you should watch that episode.
Yeah.
[01:38:10] Speaker A: It's so good, though, like, even just from a film perspective, technically, it's really, really. It's. It's like a piece of art in a lot of ways, too. It's just great. But anyway, all right, we're not talking about Buffy. All right?
[01:38:23] Speaker B: We're always talking about Buffy.
[01:38:25] Speaker A: It's so true. Let's go start a Buffy podcast. No, no.
Drag it. Sunnydale has its claws in us. Just drag us back in.
[01:38:34] Speaker B: We need to do, like, a. Like a Buffy slash Stranger Things crossover.
Imagine. Imagine if they all just, like, came together to fight evil.
[01:38:46] Speaker A: Yeah, we should. Like, maybe at the end of the season, we can sit down and, like, imagine if, like, there was a crossover. What do we think would have happened? Giles would be, like, going crazy. He'd be like, kids. He's like, not more of them. They're multiplying.
[01:39:01] Speaker B: He would take off his grass, his glasses, and pinch the bridge of his nose. Like, oh, my God.
[01:39:05] Speaker A: I feel like every single character would irritate Giles to no ends.
[01:39:09] Speaker B: Oh, 1 million percent.
[01:39:11] Speaker A: I. You know, actually, I do think Dustin and Giles would develop a friendship just because game recognizes game. Like, oh, you're nerdy, because Giles is Nerdy.
[01:39:19] Speaker B: He would definitely like.
[01:39:21] Speaker A: And Nancy's, too. Oh, yeah.
[01:39:24] Speaker B: Him and Nancy would. Would.
[01:39:26] Speaker A: Yeah. On many levels. On several levels here.
[01:39:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:39:29] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Anyway, okay, so the boys are eager to ask Mr. Clark if the ham radio came in. He takes them to his office, where they geek out over it. Mr. Clark makes a point of telling them they could talk to someone all the way over in Australia is important.
The Duffer brothers said that Mr. Clark is the science teacher that they wish that they had. He was just pure nerd.
So as they're, like, geeking out over the ham radio, then we have the principal coming in with Hopper and a lieutenant, and they're like, hey, we need to talk to you guys and interview you. This is just so funny. The three boys sitting there just, like, majoring on all the minor stuff, and Hopper over there, like, I have a headache forming already. They're, like, trying to bring up, like. Like, Lord of the Rings references and. Or, sorry, the Hobbit references, because they keep equating different roads to different places inside of Lord of the Rings. And Hopper's, like, trying to translate what they're saying and bring it into real time. He's like, come on, guys, let's go. So they tell Hopper where they last saw Will and what road. Mike's like, hey, we want to help. And Hopper, like, puts on his dad pants and is like, no, you will not. That means no biking around looking for your friend. No investigating, no nonsense.
And they're like, okay, all right. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And then we have Joyce in uniform heading to Castle Byers, a little fort where Will hangs out. And she tells him she got off work early. She's still kind of in uniform. She has two movie tickets to Poltergeist. Their dynamic is so sweet, and you can tell they have a great relationship. And then, boom, we realize it's a flashback. And we are with Joyce as she looks at the empty fort, and her and Jonathan are out yelling for Will in the woods.
So, first and foremost, Joyce has those tickets to Poltergeist, which the Duffers have repeatedly said that they took inspiration from Poltergeist for this season and I think a little bit of next season, but specifically with the dynamic between Joyce and Will and the supernatural element of this show, we'll get into that a little bit more as stuff happens later on down the line. But Poltergeist is a massive inspiration.
The other thing that's really interesting is as Joyce is approaching Castle Byers, she has to use the password Radagast in order to get inside. And this is especially interesting given the fact that we just had the scene right before with the boys in Hopper where they talk about Mirkwood. And that's the place where Will went missing. So in Lord of the Rings, in the book, Mirkwood is the place where the wizard Radagast lives. He lives like right outside of it.
Radagast is not in the movies, or at least he's not in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. He's in the Hobbit trilogy.
He is known as Radagast the Brown. He's one of five wizards sent to Middle Earth to contest the will of Sauron. But he becomes part of the big three. So we have Saruman and we have Gandalf and we have Radagast. And Saruman is the guy that ends up siding with Sauron to go after the Ring. And then Gandalf's obviously the wizard that combats all of this. And Radagast is kind of that guy that means well but gets really distracted in a lot of ways. His main concern was with the well being of the plant and animal world. He's also known as Tender of Beasts. And he didn't really participate heavily in the War of the Ring.
So Radagast was supposed to keep an eye on Sauron and then Saruman. So Sauron's like the big all seeing Eye. In Lord of the Rings, Saruman is the other wizard who basically betrays Gandalf and the rest and sides with Sauron. So Saruman, unbeknownst to Gandalf and Radagast, has sided with Sauron, is looking for the Ring and enlists Radagast to help him, asking for his aid with the birds and the beasts to act as spies. Radagast isn't aware that Saruman is bad at this point. So Radagast ends up doing all this in good faith, knowing nothing of Saruman's true ambition to acquire and keep the Ring for himself.
And then he ends up finding Gandalf and then is all like, oh, hey Gandalf, by the way, you need to be wary of the Nazgul. They're disguised as writers in black seeking news of the Shire. So he gave Gandalf Saruman's invitation to go visit him. And so all this stuff happens in the books, but it doesn't happen the movies. In the movies we just see Gandalf go immediately to meet with Saruman and they kind of cut out Radagast. Gandalf goes to meet with Saruman. Then Radagast in the books leaves and goes back to Mirkwood, not knowing that he set up Gandalf for a trap with Saruman.
And so then Gandalf, still believing that Radagast was not under Saruman's sway, ends up getting imprisoned. And then Radagast finds out that that's happened and actually sends the Eagles to go rescue Gandalf. They cut that all out of the movie because it just would be a whole extra thing and stuff. But he is described as displaying some qualities of innocence and naivety, making him an ideal accomplice of Saruman's plans, seen in providing his services to help help the White Wizard. Saruman in turn considered him simple minded and a fool. However, he was fundamentally good and honest and therefore did not fall to the Shadow, but did fail in his appointed task, which was to watch Sauron.
But he's seen as a good wizard. Essentially.
His motivations are rooted in a desire to protect and preserve the natural world and his actions are guided by a sense of duty and loyalty to the free peoples of Middle Earth as well as to his his fellow wizards. His trust in Saruman, despite Saruman's growing treachery, underscores Radagast's innocence and good faith. He embodies a lot of themes of innocence and trust. His character is essentially the wise, nature attuned mage.
The interesting thing about Radagast is the fact that his ending is not really known. Like he just kind of disappears from the narrative. He goes back to Mirkwood and then simply vanishes after the defeat of Sauron. His fate remains largely unknown, with some speculation suggesting he may have continued to care for Middle Earth's wildlife and remained in his realm near Mirkwood. Then we go back to Benny's Fish and fry and 11 is just inhaling a burger and fries and Benny's sitting across from her trying to get some information out of her.
And he's like, your parents forget to feed you? Is that why you ran away?
And then he's like, did they hurt you? Like you could just tell. This man is very swee and very compassionate. And then he's like, you went to the hospital and you got scared and ran off and found your way here.
And then he sees that she has a tattoo on her left hand that has the number 11 on it. And you could tell this is just completely disturbing to him. 11 Just like Yanks her hand away and then at one point he ends up taking her food and says, okay, until you answer at least one question, I'm not going to give you your food back. And then she points to herself and says that Eleven is herself and is her own name. So then he goes and ends up calling Child Services and is like, hey. Like, she won't talk about her parents. I think she's been kidnapped or abused or something. He gives the address and then says, it'd be great if someone came by, presumably, you know, again, presuming that he's talking to cps, the script says, he says, you gotta get the chief. I don't give two shits about a missing kid. I got a found kid right here.
But obviously that doesn't happen in the episode. So then back in the main room, Eleven's still eating her food, and she hears a fan kind of making a squeaky noise. And then she kind of squints at it, and it becomes very clear that she uses her mind to stop the fan from moving and then just goes right back and eats, like it's no big deal. And we're just like, that's the thing about this episode. It's just like reveal after reveal after reveal of things, but, like, just enough to get us interested. But then we're also, like, completely intrigued by all of the mysteries and things they're not explaining. So then now we're back on the road that Mike and Dustin and Lucas told Hopper about. They're kind of, like, lackadaisically, like, calling for Will. And Hopper's taken more pills. And then he looks over and sees Will's bike, and that's when he starts to kind of go, hang on. I don't think this is a case of him just running off, off. He's like, a kid wouldn't just leave their bike. Like, that's like. They're like catalysts.
Yeah. And you can tell, like, the moment when, like, Hopper, like, locks in. He's kind of like, okay, this is. This is not great. Like, he was in a hurry. So then we see a couple quick shots of the lab. We see a bunch of agents listening in on phone conversations and taking notes. We hear Joyce calling Lonnie's place. And then we cut to the buyer's house as Joyce talks to Lonnie's girlfriend while Jonathan sits in the living room making a missing poster for William.
Joyce is getting increasingly more agitated. The girlfriend hangs up on her, and Joyce is like. And then Jonathan's like, very softly, like, mom, you have to stay calm. And then she, like, dials the number again. I know he's such a sweetheart. She dials the number again. She leaves another message. She's like, lonnie, she's like some teenager answered the phone, and she tells him that he needs to call, that Will is missing, and says, please call her back. But then the line goes dead and she gets angry again. And then Jonathan notices that the cops are pulling up. And then they walk out and see Hopper is bringing Will's bike back. And, like, at this point, Hopper is completely zoned in. Like, he's like, okay, this is serious. He's walking around the house. He's like, does Will have a key to the house? Maybe he came home. Joyce is defensive. She's like, you think I haven't checked my own house? He's like, I. I'm not saying that you didn't. But then he looks at the back door and sees that there's a little bit of a dent in the wall from, like, the door being thrown open hard. And he was like, is this always here? Joyce is like, probably. I've got two boys. Like, just look at this place. And so then they hear the dog barking in the backyard. And the dog's just facing the shed, just barking non stop. And Hopper's like, what's up with this guy? Joyce is like, oh, he's just hungry. She takes the dog back into the house. Okay, so I have not verified this, but I've heard rumors that, spoiler alert, the dog is not in the show past this season.
They never explained what happened to it, all that stuff. As far as I know, maybe we'll find out that they did.
But apparently David Harbour did not like the dog. Like, him and the dog did not get along. So they ended up getting rid of the dog so that David Harbour didn't have to interact with him. But as far as I know, this is the only scene between the two of them. So, like, like. And all he had to do was just come out and, like, to, you know, scratch the dog. But I will say so, knowing that I watched the scene when David harbor approaches the dog. The dog tucks its tail between its legs.
[01:50:03] Speaker B: Oh.
[01:50:03] Speaker A: And doesn't want David harbor to touch it.
[01:50:05] Speaker B: So I'm like, does that mean that David harbor is a bad person?
[01:50:09] Speaker A: Well, well, well, we know this. We know this.
[01:50:13] Speaker B: Does that mean that the dog is trying to tell us?
[01:50:15] Speaker A: Spoiler alert, guys. Spoiler alert, alert.
Yeah. So I don't know. I'll have to. I have to look it up again. But that's just a rumor that I heard. But always, always trust a Dog, Right. Like, yeah, that's what I'm saying.
[01:50:30] Speaker B: Like, dogs know. They do.
Person.
[01:50:35] Speaker A: Yeah. And dogs love me, so. Must be. Must be true.
[01:50:39] Speaker B: Same cats even love me sometimes, and that's a lot.
[01:50:43] Speaker A: You're a really good person, then, Leia.
[01:50:45] Speaker B: I'm a. A great person.
[01:50:46] Speaker A: You're also a spicy person, which is why the cats love you.
[01:50:48] Speaker B: They.
[01:50:49] Speaker A: Probably. Because they know you won't judge them. They.
[01:50:51] Speaker B: They know that, like, sometimes I want to be left alone.
[01:50:55] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[01:50:55] Speaker B: I'm not, like, you know, and sometimes I want to cuddle.
[01:50:58] Speaker A: But, like, you respect their boundaries alone. They respect your boundaries. Yeah, exactly. And they also know if you, like, you know, are a little mischievous, knock a glass of water over. Like, you're not gonna. You're not gonna side eye them. They're. They're not gonna side eye you. They're gonna go, you know, girls do whatever girls got to do, too. Exactly.
[01:51:16] Speaker B: Yep.
[01:51:17] Speaker A: Mutual respect, right? Mutual. What is it, like, mutually assured destruction? You both have dirt on each other.
[01:51:23] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely, Cat.
[01:51:26] Speaker A: So then Hopper goes and checks out the shed and sees the rifle's missing, and then sees that there's bullets on the table. And then kind of looks around, and we kind of hear this, like, squelching noise, a little bit, like, slippery noise. And then he grabs a flashlight, like, looks under workbench. He doesn't see anything, but we can kind of hear a noise. The light bulb gets brighter, brighter, brighter. And then the deputy comes in and is like, hey, are you deaf? I've been calling you. And Hopper is kind of, like, shaken a little bit. In the script, Hopper's ear starts bleeding. So again, there's this I. There's something about. I think they were trying to make it, like, proximity to monsters, near the monster, or. Yeah, maybe Hopper was going to get. Get kidnapped or something. I don't know. So the deputy is like, are you sure you're all right, chief? Hopper's like, I'm fine. And then he goes, I want you to call Florence. We're going to get a search party together, get as many volunteers as she can muster. And the deputy's like, you think we got a problem here? And Hopper just doesn't really answer.
So in the neighborhood again, we have Mike being like, hey, we should be out there right now. We should be helping him. The Wheeler family's eating dinner, and Karen's like, okay, we've been over this. Mike's upset. Nancy is, like, trying to be as casual as possible because, you know, the kind of thing where, like, you're trying to ask your parents when they're in a really good mood, so they will let you do what you want them to do. But you're running out of time, so you kind of just have to, like, hedge your bets and just go for it. So it is as casually as she can. She's like, hey, so be in bar. We're gonna study for a chem test at her house tonight. That's cool, right? And Karen's like, absolutely not. She's like, am I speaking Chinese in this house? Until we know Will's okay, no one leaves. And she keeps looking at Ted for backup. This man is like.
[01:53:15] Speaker B: So Ted is like, nowhere to be found, literally. What a useful.
[01:53:19] Speaker A: What is going on in this man's brain? Like, do we know that's. That's what it is?
[01:53:23] Speaker B: Nothing.
[01:53:27] Speaker A: Clown cars, just constantly.
But he, like, locks in as soon as, like, Nancy starts swearing. He's like, language. And she just gets so irritated, she just takes off. And Karen's like, you decide to get involved now? And this is such classic tuned out dad behavior. Like majoring on something so minor like language, where, like, for. And missing all the signals and cues from your wife being like, help me actually parent here. Like, not speaking for. From experience at all here. Yeah.
[01:53:56] Speaker B: I was gonna say, I feel like Andrew's not like that.
[01:54:00] Speaker A: No, not. Not Andrew.
[01:54:01] Speaker B: Not at all.
[01:54:02] Speaker A: Andrew's locked in. Andrew's like, family dinner. We're gonna talk about things.
[01:54:05] Speaker B: I'm like, I'm the tuned out one.
[01:54:07] Speaker A: To be honest.
We get to dinner and I'm so tired from spending all day with my kids. I can't engage anymore. My brain is so tired.
[01:54:16] Speaker B: Yeah. But I would be. I was literally talking to my friend about this yesterday. About how, like, I don't know, we were. She has two kids, she just had another baby. And I'm just like, I. You know, I'm 32, about to be 33, and I still, like, I don't feel like I'm ready to have kids. Not because I think having kids will, like, ruin my life or anything, but I don't feel like I'm ready for my life to be different. Like, to let go of those freedoms. Because, like, at the end of the day, you are letting go. You are get like, yeah. You are losing freedom in so many different ways, you know?
[01:54:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:54:52] Speaker B: And that's not to say that, like, that's a bad thing because obviously, like, people like you love your kids or whatever, but, you know, you don't. They're sacrifices alone time really, anymore. And I'm like, I don't think I could do that.
[01:55:07] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, absolutely right. And I like, I tell people all the time, like, if you are not sure, if you don't think you can do it, then don't do it it, because I. You will end up swinging, like, falling off that cliff. You'll end up having kids and then being be resentful, and that's not fair to them or for you. So, like, just then you end up
[01:55:25] Speaker B: raising like a bunch of.
And then.
[01:55:28] Speaker A: Exactly. And then. Or you end up raising a bunch of kids that are traumatized and have to go to therapy later on because you're an absent parent. So take that, Ted.
[01:55:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:55:37] Speaker A: Why are you a parent,
[01:55:40] Speaker B: Ted?
[01:55:41] Speaker A: Exactly. But I also do, I want to point out. So obviously, Mike also brings up the whole, you're just pissed because you want to hang out with Steve. And then Ted, of course, locks in on Steve.
Steve. And then Mike's like her new boyfriend. And Nancy's like, you're such a douchebag. Ted yells back, language. That's when Nancy leaves. And then Karen, of course, typical mom trying to keep the family together is like, nancy, come back, Nancy. But Nancy's already gone. The script says Karen wants to follow her, but can't. The argument has caused Holly to cry, which Holly's not crying, but she's very close to it in the episode.
[01:56:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:56:13] Speaker A: And then Mike gets really upset and he's like, I'm the only one who cares about Will. And then the script says that he stares at his dad. He can't take his apathy. Not tonight.
Ted's like, what did I do?
[01:56:27] Speaker B: Of course, of course you don't know Ted.
[01:56:30] Speaker A: Oh, my God. Yeah, eat your chicken and choke is what you need to do.
Well, you know what?
[01:56:37] Speaker B: You know what?
[01:56:38] Speaker A: You know what? Like, I support it.
Like, Ted is just checked out and it's not fair for Karen and. But it's setting up a very interesting dynamic because Nancy's watching this. And I, I sense that Nancy's got a lot of frustrations for many different reasons, but one of the reasons is the fact that the only time her dad ever gets pays attention to her is when he's correcting her. And it's for something that's so small, like language. And then she's watching her mom having to settle for this. This, like, I would imagine there's a lot of resentment there, you know, for sure. So then in the woods, we've got a big search and rescue party. Lots of volunteers are looking for Will. We have Hopper with Mr. Clark walking by his side. Mr. Clark's talking about what a great student he is.
And then we end up having this revelation that Hopper has a kid, a daughter. And he says that she, you know, always loves sciency stuff. And Mr. Clark. Clark's like, well, how old is she? What grade is she? Maybe I'll get her my class. And Hopper's like, oh, she lives in the city with her mother. And then he kind of, like, stops the conversation and moves on. And another volunteer, having heard this, comes next to Mr. Clark and says, she passed a few years, his daughter. And Mr. Clark kind of, like, stares off at Hopper. And that also gives us insight into Hopper. And we're like, oh, wow, okay. I know the pills, cigarettes, and the. The drinking and, you know, all the. The apathy. He didn't clue us into the fact that this man is maybe not where he should be at mentally, but now we know.
[01:58:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:58:11] Speaker A: David harbor says his backstory with his daughter has so much complexity. There's a lot of secrets there that the Duffers and I have talked about. In terms of his own guilt around his daughter and the way that all particularly went down, never have I worked on something where I wanted to come back to it so much because I feel like the fabric is so dense, and you can really take the story anywhere. And we're starting to see kind of some parallels with. With Hopper and with Joyce here with that guilt.
[01:58:34] Speaker B: Right. Losing a child.
[01:58:36] Speaker A: So Mike is restless. He's in the basement, and he picks up his walkie talkie, calls Lucas and Dustin, and is like, all right, guys, I've been thinking, like, Will didn't have to. He could have cast Protection last night. He didn't. He cast Fireball. He could have played it safe, but he didn't. He put himself in danger to help the party. And all the boys are like, yeah, okay, we need to put ourselves in danger to go help find him. So they all meet up. Up, and they get their bikes. And as Mike's pulling out of the garage, he sees a shadowy figure climbing the drain pipe. And he turns, and Steve is climbing up to Nancy's room, and they kind of just like, stare at each other. And then Mike rolls his eyes and just takes off.
So funny. In the script, Nancy was actually. This is where it starts to diverge a little bit. Nancy's actually sneaking out of the house. She was gonna go to a beach bonfire party with Barb and Steve, and those are the events that we will see later on in the season. Okay, so then we have Nancy in her room, studying her note cards while listening to music. Steve taps on the window. She asks what he's doing there and he's. And then tells him that she had told him over the phone that she was on house arrest. He climbs in. He's like, well, just steady here. He's like, what did I tell you? Ninja. Like again, just so smooth.
Benny's Fish and Fry. I know. I love him. I'm obsessed with him. I am the Steve Tier. Dustin.
[01:59:54] Speaker B: Okay, Leia, you are the Steve Apologist show. I love it.
They love it so much.
[02:00:02] Speaker A: So now we're at Benny's Fish and Fry and Benny's washing dishes and Eleven is eating her ice cream. And they're kind of having a cute little bonding moment. It's not in the episode, but Benny has a dog and 11 kind of bonds with the dog. She's like feeding it strips of me. And the script says for the first time this day, she seems like an actual kid.
And Benny comments on the fact that like she's smiling, which means she's relaxing again. They bond.
There's a moment where Benny rolls up his sleeves and there's like names tattooed on his arms in the script. And they're his exes mostly, but then he has male named Tommy. And 11 says brother. And Benny stares and he's like, what did you say? And 11 says little brother. But Benny's like clearly moved and flustered by this. So there's some sort of like inference that maybe 11 either, like somehow she knows this information that she shouldn't know about Benny.
Oh yeah, but that's not in the episode. So then there's tires on the gravel, someone's at the door. Benny tells Eleven, who tenses, hey, don't worry, I'll tell them to go away. And it's a woman. And she says, oh, like I'm from Child protective Services, you called today. And he's like, oh yeah, okay. He's like, listen, I haven't told her about you. I don't want her running off. But of course, 11 can see from the back room the lady's super reassuring. She goes inside and then ends up shooting Benny in front of 11, which is so, so sad.
And then 11 takes off and a bunch of armed men come in through the front door. A bunch of armed men. The agents from the lab come in through the back door. We see that white haired man entering again. It's really sad. In the script, the, the dog ends up lunging at them and then the men shoot the dog in front of 11 and she. Yeah, I was like her little friend. It was really sad. But 11 ends up taking out some of the agents off screen. We don't see them. We see from the POV of the white haired man and then he races out the back door and she's gone. Disappeared into the woods.
And then this is from the script. It's not in the episode, but we're like on the beach and there's like a huge bonfire happening. Barb is feeling a little unclear, comfortable with everything. We have Tommy there and like the two friends that Barb was talking about earlier on in the episode. Eventually Steve ends up dragging Nancy off with him and Barb feels all alone and left behind.
And what ends up happening, really interesting is Steve wants to have sex with Nancy on the beach and Nancy's not very comfortable with it. And the script imp. They have sex in the script, but it's implied that it's not necessarily fully consensual.
[02:02:41] Speaker B: Consensual?
[02:02:41] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. Very, very different from what happens. Like Nancy's kind of like shy and like wait, and then Steve doesn't listen and just like.
[02:02:50] Speaker B: So they probably decided to change that when they cast Joe Keery and decided
[02:02:56] Speaker A: possibly, like, possibly this is not just
[02:03:00] Speaker B: gonna be a black and white, like, yeah, you know, popular like asshole guy. Yeah.
[02:03:05] Speaker A: And like, like a lot of the other character stuff was changed once they cast, you know, the people in their roles. So.
[02:03:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm glad they didn't do that. I don't like that.
[02:03:15] Speaker A: I am so glad they didn't do that.
[02:03:16] Speaker B: And so tired of like essay and like. Yeah, stuff like obviously I feel like there's. There are themes of that in this show, but I just like. Yeah, I just don't think it's like necessary.
[02:03:28] Speaker A: It's very. It also have to read it that way, but you could. But it's also a little more tastefully done than something like that. Yeah. And we'll talk about like the Nancy and Steve we've seen in a minute. But I feel like the way they did it is so much more tastefully done. Okay. But in the forest, Mike, Dustin and Will are I guess on the road. They all meet up and Dustin feels rain. Is like, hey, I think we should go back. Remember we've had like a storm kind of percolating all episode. Mike insists they go on. They park their bikes near where the search party was looking for Will, where his bike was found, and then head into the woods to search for Will. Now we're back in Nancy's room and Stacy. Steve is quizzing Nancy from her note cards on her bed. Steve recommends that every time she gets something right, he takes off clothing. But every time she gets something wrong, she takes her clothes off. She disagrees. And Steve teases her, before they begin to make out on her bed, she starts to unbutton her blouse, or he starts to unbutton her blouse. Unblotten.
He starts to unbutton her blouse. But she tells him that it's weird because her parents are there. And he looks around. He's like, well, that's weird because I don't see that, like, these lines would be so cheesy or so douchey by anybody else. But he does such a good job of just being funny. She pushes him off and is like, was this your plan all along to get in my room, get another notch in your belt? She's like, I'm not Lori or Amy or Becky. And he's like, you mean you're not a.
She says, that's not what she means. He teases her some more, using her teddy bear, calling her beautiful and making her blush. Then they go back to studying.
And. I don't know, I just really liked the scene. I thought it was very true to, like, what it would be like if having a boy in your room. And, like. Like, this is also, like, Nancy's first experience with a romantic relationship. So she's being very cautious, but you can tell she's falling pretty hard, pretty fast.
[02:05:11] Speaker B: Yeah. I will say, I feel like the way they're portraying Steve is. It's not in, like, the best light. Like, I feel like he's being shown as being, like, too pushy.
[02:05:21] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. Yeah.
[02:05:22] Speaker B: Like, I think that's what you're kind of supposed to take away, maybe. Is that, like, he's being pushy? She's like, can she trust him? Is he being like, is he trustworthy? Or is he. Or is he truly just after one thing? And I think we're supposed to find that out as, like, we get to know the character more. But, yeah, I feel like there are certain parts of the scene where I'm just like, okay, Steve. Like, yeah, I see through you. Like, I know what you're doing.
[02:05:50] Speaker A: That's true. Because, like, she was, like, not quite wanting him to come into the bedroom, but, like, she kind of just lets him in. You could tell she doesn't really, like, they're making out in the bathroom, but she also is like, okay, I need to stop. And he. He keeps pushing a little Bit farther, because this is his comfort zone. He's used to girls being, like. Right. And this is all brand new for her. And so she's allowing him. But you're also like, is it fully consensual allowing him?
[02:06:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[02:06:15] Speaker A: Or she just, like, she feels.
[02:06:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Because she likes him and that's what he wants. Which I feel is, like, a very.
It's a very, like, common experience that girls have. It's not like it's something that, like, makes you uncomfortable, and you get to, like. You learn how to navigate situations like that as you, like, learn how to navigate relationships. But, yeah, Steve is a little. In this episode, I will say. I thought. But, like, you said, like, he's very charismatic. And, like, I think they're not portraying him as, like, a complete bad guy, which I like.
[02:06:55] Speaker A: But he is selfish. Like, he seems very single.
[02:06:57] Speaker B: He's. He's a teenage boy. Yeah, he's a teenage boy, and he has one thing on his mind, but there is a sincerity to him at the same time.
[02:07:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[02:07:09] Speaker B: So it's just interesting because you want to know more about him. You're just like, okay, like, what's up with this guy?
[02:07:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, I agree.
All right, so then now we have Jonathan and Joyce sitting on the couch looking through photographs, probably trying to find something for Will's wanted poster. But it's almost like Joyce is realizing, like, she's going back through these photographs, realizing, number one, Jonathan has talent, but also, like, reliving memories through Will. And then her and Jonathan, they're mourning together, but they're also bonding through this experience. She apologizes to Jonathan for having worked so much, for not having been there for him, which there's so much character development happening just in this one episode. It's crazy. She says she feels so bad that she barely knows what's going on with him and that she's sorry. Jonathan cries and then tells her that he should have been there for Will. Joyce tells him that it's not his fault. And then she can feel that Will is close, that she can feel it in her heart. They find an adorable photo of Will for the poster. When the phone rings, they can't really hear anything other than just, like, some static, but then breathing on the other end, and she's like, who is this?
Answer me. And then we kind of hear a faint voice, and she's like, will. Will, where are you? Talk to me. Talk to me. And then all of a sudden, like, the static and, like, electricity shoots from the phone. She drops it. Jonathan picks it up and starts, like, talking on it as well. And Joyce just, like, sobs and then says, it's Will. And then they both end up sobbing in each other's arms.
In the script, Barb ends up being chased by the monster. She goes in her car to go home, and then the monster, she ends up getting taken just like Will. Will did.
[02:08:46] Speaker B: Oh, interesting.
[02:08:49] Speaker A: So then the boys, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, are out yelling for Will, and it's full on, just raining, thunderstorming. Now Dustin's like, hey, I have your comic book for you. Come get it. Like, it's so cute. Dustin and Lucas are like, okay, why are we even here? Like, what if. What if Will. Will isn't just missing? What if something took it? What if there's something bad out there? Like, now they're starting to, like, think through all of these things. And Dustin's like, have you ever wondered that maybe Will ran into something bad? We're going in that same direction. They hear rustling. And then all of a sudden, their flashlights land on a wet and disheveled 11. And the music picks up. We have a very Spielberg shot with the lens flare as we see the. The three boys.
And then we have this moment with Mike and Elle, like, staring at each other.
[02:09:40] Speaker B: Zoom in.
[02:09:40] Speaker A: The episode ends.
[02:09:43] Speaker B: Damn.
[02:09:43] Speaker A: There's a lot that happened in one episode.
[02:09:45] Speaker B: The gang has met each other.
[02:09:47] Speaker A: I know. I like it when everybody starts getting together.
[02:09:50] Speaker B: I'm like, yay, let's go.
Yeah. I love the. I love the cliff. Cliffhanger that this episode ends on from. I mean, I don't really remember what the.
The advertisements for this were like, but I'm pretty sure, like, they probably showed 11 and stuff. So it's like you're going through the episode thinking, like, when is the gang gonna meet this other person that's been. That's like, this mysterious little kid, this little girl with, like, superpowers of some sort.
And then, yeah, the episode ends on them coming together. Like, I wanted to watch the next episode. I was like, oh, my God. I want to know what happens, Even though I already know what happens, happens, so.
[02:10:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Well. And just something to keep an eye out for. I mean, the episode makes it pretty clear, but there's a lot of parallels between 11 and will in their circumstances and what goes on in their lives. And they make that very clear from the first episode on. And it's just gonna be really fun to kind of compare that. Yeah. Forward but true. Yeah. Fantastic first episode. Really draws you in. Lots of mysteries and things to be uncovered. Lots of messy characters, which is my favorite because it means there's lots to discuss. Guess.
And then this season, just like the characters don't make the best decisions, but then there's also some really great decisions. But then there's also some, like, moments where you're like, ooh, I don't know if there is a right answer. I don't know if there is a person that's technically in the right here. And yeah.
[02:11:12] Speaker B: Fun.
[02:11:13] Speaker A: I hope you guys enjoyed this. I know we have so many of you that are listening to this episode or listening to this show or I know so many of you guys are watching the show for the first time and so you're going to be listening along with us. But you guys have to let us know what you think of it. Even if this is like your 15th Jillian's time watching the series, let us know your thoughts when you first watched it. And as we go along, discuss with us dialogue. Tell Leia how wrong she is about Steve. No, I'm just kidding.
No, you're spot on with all of this stuff with him. And I'm very excited to talk about some of the messier aspects with like Joyce for sure. And yeah. And Steve and stuff. So. But yeah, thanks so much for listening, you guys, and we will talk to you next time. Time as we journey through stranger things.
Thanks so much for listening to Investigating. If you enjoyed this podcast, feel free to follow, subscribe and review us on all platforms. You can also find us on Instagram at Investigating Podcast and you can continue to email us@instimating angelpodcastmail.com.
