Stranger Things: S2. Ch6. The Spy Ft. Revamped

Stranger Things: S2. Ch6. The Spy Ft. Revamped
Investigating
Stranger Things: S2. Ch6. The Spy Ft. Revamped

Jul 09 2026 | 01:48:55

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Episode 6 • July 09, 2026 • 01:48:55

Hosted By

Sarah Watson Lea Nasrallah

Show Notes

Lucas and Max meet up with Dustin and Steve to try to capture Dart, Jonathan and Nancy take a huge step in their relationship, and Joyce, Hopper, Bob, and Mike try to figure out what's wrong with Will at the Lab. Join Sarah, Lea, and guests Courtney and Brandon as they discuss the Dustin and Steve dynamic, the symbolism behind Nancy and Jonathan sleeping together, and Will's predicament being an analogy for the AIDS epidemic of the 80's. 

Listen to Courtney and Brandon recap Buffy and Angel over on Revamped

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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 to Investigating Stranger Things. Today we are covering season two, chapter six, the Spy. The episode title was previously referred to as the Pollywog, so they just swapped it. It's written by Kate Treffery, directed by Andrew Stanton. Aired October 27, 2017 and we have revamped with us, not just Brandon this time, but we have Courtney with us. So welcome, you guys. [00:01:08] Speaker C: Yay. [00:01:08] Speaker A: I'm here. [00:01:09] Speaker D: Oh, my God. [00:01:09] Speaker A: I feel complete. I feel complete. [00:01:12] Speaker D: This is the shit I dream of. [00:01:14] Speaker B: Aw, no. [00:01:16] Speaker A: But I'm so glad you guys are here because, Courtney, I know you well. I know I've heard from Brandon, hopefully it's been accurate, that you love Stranger Things. I know me throwing Brandon under the bus. I heard you really love Stranger Things. He's like, I never said that. Brandon on. Yeah. He's like, I didn't say that. We had Brandon on for the bathtub in season one. And. Okay, so I want to know both your guys's thoughts, but first I want to clear up, because someone's gonna go, this is intentional. Because Brandon 100 thought it was intentional. I did not pick this episode specifically because you hate Jonathan and Nancy together. It literally is just how it shook out. And then I went to go watch the. I was like, oh, which episode is it that I assigned to Corny and Brandon? Because unlike with angel, you have 22 episodes in a season, and you kind of have, like, a much longer season, so it's a lot easier to kind of pick something for someone. We have such a short season, and our schedule is so tight. I kind of have to be like, we just gotta pick a date that works for us. And whatever episode lands on that one is the one you get. And it happens to be this one, I just think. [00:02:22] Speaker D: Which is so absolutely perfect. We were. I was originally, like, talking how I wanted to come on even before y', all, like, invited me on for season one. I was like, I want to be on the Halloween episode of season two. Yeah, like, for sure. And she's like, okay, it's yours. And when, like, even after I was on that one, you were like, oh, we'll still try to get you in. And then just. We couldn't schedule. Cause Courtney was out of town this weekend because she had a life, and that weekend. [00:02:43] Speaker B: How dare you, Courtney. [00:02:44] Speaker D: That's how it happens. It's, like, the one time. But that was funny, though, because when I watched this episode, I watched it a few different times so I could really, like, immerse myself in it. And I texted Sarah, and I was like, you fucking bitch. And then, like, I wrote my notes, too. When I rewatched it the final time, take my notes. I was like, not 11 minutes into this damn episode, what I don't want to happen is happening. This is the exact moment I texted Sarah and was like, you mean bitch. You planned me coming on for this episode after I significantly express, I do not ship Nancy and Jonathan's ass. You are truly evil. [00:03:13] Speaker A: It's the universe cackling, man. [00:03:16] Speaker D: This is so much better than episode two. So here we are. [00:03:20] Speaker B: This is a good episode. [00:03:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:23] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:03:24] Speaker A: I think we were talking about it to Naj, who came on a couple episodes ago, but I. I've said it to her. I've said it to Leia. It has been so hilarious how I have not really assigned episodes to anyone. I've just kind of said, okay, this is your episode, and it's been perfect for every person that's come, and I feel like they've been able to add a unique spin, and every single person's been like, oh, I love this episode. Or there's aspects of it that I really want to talk about. So it's been. It's been really great. But, Courtney, I want to know your thoughts on Stranger Things. Have you watched it since the beginning? Did you jump into it halfway, like, [00:03:56] Speaker C: I think I did? I'm pretty sure I. My memory is, like, the worst, but I'm pretty sure that I got invested in it right when it came out, and I was one of those people. So, yeah, I. I will say that I haven't re. Watched it ever. So the. It almost felt like watching it for the first time just to kind of get to this point, because I didn't even watch season one because I was like, this will take forever. So I started from the beginning of season two, and I was like, they'll recap it, and I'll. I'll figure it out. You know? So it actually has been interesting because a lot of the things that I remember are, like, really primary things that are so obvious and stand out to most people as far as, like, the storyline is concerned. But it was really great watching this episode because I was like, I think I. I forgot this episode existed somehow, some way. Like, I knew that the things that happened in this episode happened. [00:04:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:54] Speaker C: But I didn't remember Anything else about the episode. So it was, like. It was neat. But, yes, to answer your question, I've been invested since, like, the very beginning. And, yeah, I love it. I love this show a lot. And the last season, because of the anticipation, obviously, was, like, both sad and great, you know, But I think that a lot of my memory, as far as the show is concerned, is obviously a lot more recent with the seasons and stuff, so. But, yeah, it's a great show. [00:05:26] Speaker A: I love it. Yeah, you're in the same boat as Leia, who watched the show, has only watched it all the way through once, but hasn't watched it since it first. Like, each season came out, which that's like. And we keep talking about that's the pitfalls of having such long gaps between your seasons. I find not a lot of people are rewatching the show because by the time the next season comes out, you're like, oh, I don't want to have to go watch all those other episodes. So you just watch it, and then you kind of forget about it for the next two to three years. So, I don't know. It'll be interesting to see. I actually saw something recently because I then now they've started splitting their seasons, even into two or three parts. [00:06:04] Speaker B: I don't like. [00:06:05] Speaker A: Stranger Things has kind of led that, and so it's starting to filter into other TV shows and other platforms. And I was curious, you would think that would actually affect the viewership and stuff. It actually has created more viewers, so they're gonna keep doing it. Isn't that crazy? [00:06:21] Speaker C: That is crazy. [00:06:22] Speaker D: Is it just because they leave people hanging in between those little pauses? [00:06:25] Speaker B: I think so. [00:06:25] Speaker A: I think so. [00:06:26] Speaker B: But people are complaining more. I find people are more, like, not satisfied with the stuff that's coming out is what I'm finding from the discourse online. So it's like. It's like this toxic, like, cycle of, like, oh, we waited so long to watch it, so we're gonna watch it. But then we watched it, and we don't really like how it came out, but we're gonna keep. Hate watching it. Like, I. [00:06:47] Speaker C: At least that's what you're doing. Best advice from the discourse online. [00:06:53] Speaker B: And I'm like, why are you guys torturing yourselves? [00:06:55] Speaker D: Like, yeah, I miss back in the day, though. Like, I mean, I do like the portions of the breaks and stuff, but I miss week by week watching things because I had time to process it. Binging is fun, sure. But even just watching the show to catch up with you guys last season and Then even going back to this one to fly through back to season two, like all the way up to now. I still haven't finished the rest of the season yet, but it's you. Everything blurs together. Like, I was writing in my notes and stuff like that, just little key things that I was remembering and stuff in general to put in my final notes. And I was like, oh, wait, that happened in episode five. I was like, that didn't happen in episode six. But they're so close and I watched them right back to. So I was like, what episode was what? You know, so you get kind of confused. And I think that kind of like, ties into with what Courtney was saying, where you remember all the things that happened in the episode, but you didn't necessarily know that it happened in that episode or like, was from that one, you know? [00:07:40] Speaker C: Right. Yeah. [00:07:41] Speaker A: Yeah. I think just like with horror movies where they don't really show the monster, our imagination is always going to be better than the real thing. And a lot of. And a lot. A lot of times, maybe I shouldn't say always, but I feel like most of the time. And so when you leave on a cliffhanger, there's just too much time between when the first part and the second part airs to sit there and come up with your own theories. And your own theories are going to be better, typically, because it's what you want, it's tailored exactly to you. So then by the time it airs, oftentimes there's a lot of a letdown because you've built yourself self up so much in anticipation. And that's where I kind of struggle a little bit with storytelling. With some shows, not all, but with that model in particular, there's less of a desire to tell a good, honest story than there is to just get eyeballs on the screen. And that's when you're getting execs involved in wanting more money and. And I think it starts to affect the integrity of the stories. So. Yeah, anyway, I could write a whole thing on that, but I won't. We'll talk about the show. Okay. So you guys have already roughly said you really enjoyed this episode. I really enjoyed this episode. The second half of each season is always my favorite part. I said this last episode because that's when we start getting the action. That's when we start getting into the meat of things. So much happens in this episode. My favorite dynamic, Stephen Dustin finally happens and it just like, lights a fire in the season. And like, I don't know, there's just something about their chemistry on scene that is just electric and it keeps me invested in the show all the way to the very end. But yeah, and apart from like the Steve and Dustin dynamic and like the Jonathan and Nancy, I felt like there was some real other really interesting stuff with, like, Max and Billy and Lucas. Max had a really great scene in this episode, but. Yeah. [00:09:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:09:30] Speaker A: What did you. What did you guys think? [00:09:31] Speaker B: I really like this episode. I thought it was, like, it more faster moving than the last episode that we watched, which was actually just a few days ago. Yeah, I really liked the developments with Steve. Like, I think we're starting to see a different side of Steve and I really like that because so far he's really just been kind of a love interest, but now he's kind of starting to become his own thing. And I really like that. And I like that it doesn't have to do with Nancy, because I feel like Nancy's now getting into something with Jonathan. So obviously there's going to be a fallout from that and I feel like there's some love triangles going on. There's like the Nancy, Jonathan and Steve thing, so that's obviously going to blow up at some point. And then there's the Dustin, Lucas and Max thing. And. Yeah, I just feel like there's. They're starting to, like, build tension. The stuff with Will was really scary. Like, I kind of remember where it goes, but also kind of not. But I just having, like watching this right now, just thinking, like, I don't know anything, like, this is very scary. And like, the fact that he, like, is leading them, like leading them into a trap, but also he doesn't want to, like, how. How in control is he? Like, what's controlling him? It's all just very weird. And then even with, like, Hopper, like, has he been affected by the upside down? Because he was down there and. Yeah, I just. I just feel like this episode is just really is like the season's taking off and I really enjoyed it. But we didn't see eleven at all. [00:11:07] Speaker A: She's not in this episode at all. [00:11:10] Speaker D: Even when he's talking to her on the CV or like, whatever at the end. Right. She's not. Yeah, she wasn't there. [00:11:14] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah. [00:11:15] Speaker D: I think she's already left by that point because it leads interestingly into the next episode. Because I do remember what the next episode is. I'm not a fan of it. [00:11:21] Speaker B: Right. The next episode. Okay, okay, I see. But it's just. It's bizarre. She's not in this episode because, like, really? [00:11:28] Speaker A: She's been a part of the story. [00:11:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:32] Speaker C: Yeah. A lot of the same things you said. Leah is. Is kind of how I felt. Especially because like you, I don't clearly remember what's next. So it feels like a cliffhanger at the end. That is, I. I genuinely can't remember where things go. So for that reason this episode was super good because I love a good cliffhanger and I like that it exposes how Will is this bridge between the two worlds. But it's also kind of terrifying because it makes it feel like this isn't a situation they can easily escape from because when they think one thing's going on, then a different thing is actually going on. And Will being at the center of it all and being like this fragile component in the situation, I guess because now everyone has to watch what they're doing and it's all really. Because everything's attached and everyone is realizing that. I don't know, it's. It's a crazy, A crazy episode. I'm surprised I didn't remember because it's such a heavy like change in the, in the story. So. And then Max, I love Max. Max is like one of my favorite characters. My cat is named after her, even though my cat's a boy, but he's a ginger. So it was like fitting anyway. But I love Max and I love that moment that you were talking about Sarah that she has in this episode. Yeah, it's like so eye opening because I think we get these glimpses into her obviously like kind of toxic personal life or what we assume is something is going on there and to kind of see her be vulnerable and let Lucas and who's essentially a stranger and you know, just kind of, you can tell she's trying to find her way. So it adds a good layer to like all the chaos that's constantly going on the rest of the time. So yeah, it's a fun, fun and action packed episode. [00:13:31] Speaker D: I really enjoyed it because again, I haven't watched the show since original airing either and I've seen here and there episodes with my nieces stuff but just watching the story through, I was like I was forgetting everything. And I haven't again finished the rest of this season yet. But I'm excited too because I don't really know what's to come except for the next episode. I do remember that just because it's so like different than what we've seen. But I feel like more than anything the characters, the way they're coming together differently now is really special for where we're at right now, too. I have so much to say, too, just to say about Steve. Okay, so the last time that we. I was on the podcast with you guys, we got into a huge discussion because Steve was starting to shift so much. Obviously we saw, like, the action of it, but the buildup was happening in the episode that I was on. He was starting to make changes. He was starting to be supportive to people and just, like, re. Evaluate his life and whatnot. And here in the spa, you're seeing the results of that choice. And he's not fully, you know, dad Steve, as we'll come to see, like, with, you know, again, no singers, but I feel like he's too hard. Girl, I heard you sing that every episode so far. She was whispering it in the background of the fucking thing, trying to continue seeking it. No one was paying her attention in episode one. I was like, I hear you, girl. I hear you laughing. But he's getting there, you know? And what's interesting is that nobody asks him to do it. Like, nobody appoints him leader of the kids. Nobody tells him to pick up the bat and fight the demo dogs. He just does it. And I think that's why Steve becomes such a fan favorite, not only for myself, but for everybody, because his growth feels earned. He carries pieces of the old stuff. You know, he's like, giving Dustin the hair advice, and the cool guy Persona is still there, and they haven't disappeared like those parts of him, but they're not. They're no longer the most important things I feel like about him. And for a character who spent so much of season one worrying about what people thought of him, I think it's pretty fitting that the best qualities emerge when nobody is watching. Like, towards the end, he's, like I said, gearing up to fight the demo Dogs. He has no social status to gain from this. He's just Steven, a junkyard with a nail bat and putting himself between these monsters and these kids. And I thought that was really special. But for the episode as a whole, Sarah, you, like, said it was like 11 months or something in between season one and season two for these people, right? When I heard you say that in the podcast and then I continued to watch the episodes, I was like, so you mean to tell me it's been almost a year, and it's like the anniversary of all this coming up? Like the doctor was saying, the trauma reappearance and all this other stuff? And I'm like, these people just finished dealing with all of this. And now here they are, like, smack dead right in it again. Like, how do you go from one thing being like my life was kind of getting back normal, and then all of a sudden it's like, flipped upside down. No pun intended. [00:16:02] Speaker B: On Muffy, they have, like three months break between apocalypses. [00:16:08] Speaker D: Weekly events too. Like, every Tuesday was crazy. But I couldn't also help but notice the themes around choices for everyone that they're going to like how everybody is being influenced by something as well, too. And I can, like, break that down a little bit later if you want to, towards the end and stuff. But I feel like everybody' like, some sort of influence steering them when it comes to, like, a theme and a metaphor type vibe, you know? Yeah, I'll leave that there for now so I can shut up. But I really like this episode. I'm glad this is the one that I did because it connects so much back to the one I was on before. [00:16:40] Speaker A: So glad you picked this one. So, so glad. [00:16:42] Speaker C: Brandon, [00:16:45] Speaker D: hold on. I have to say, too, I don't really want to reveal it too much, but my mindset is changing, I think on Jonathan and Nancy, from what I said last time. [00:16:52] Speaker A: It's crazy. I just know our listeners are like, oh, because they wanted to hear you. They wanted to hear you talk about it. But no, no. Yeah. That's so interesting what you're saying about everyone's reality is changing. Because that is something when you guys listen to. Well, I don't know if Courtney will listen to it, but when you, Brandon, listened to the episode that came out before this one, the one we just recorded, I was talking a lot about hyper reality. And that whole episode is Murray talking about the curtain that people keep up, like society keeps up between them and what's actually happening. But I think as the season has been going on, I've been seeing this theme emerge. Whereas the way I look at it, I think season one was very much, obviously everybody's lives changing, right? They're realizing the Upside down is a real thing and there are people with superpowers and it's absolutely bonkers. And it's something no one even thought was real. And now in season two, and we talked about with this car with car and staffer Mad Max. But you can tell everyone's kind of trying to go back to normal. But you have certain characters realizing that normal has changed for them and that there is no way to go back to the normal that they had pre season one. They have to find a new normal now. How do they incorporate that in their lives. And for some people, like Nancy in particular and Murray, they're not okay with just pretending like nothing happened. They can't just do that. Some people can. There are some of those people that cannot. And so I'm very excited to see what season three is going to be, because I think it's going to expound and open up the world even more. Okay. Now that we realize our normal is different, let's kind of blow the lid on. Off of this and. And go into that. So, yeah, it's just been really fun to see a pat pattern and a theme emerge, because I. I wasn't fully sure if I was going to find that in Stranger Things. So it's been nice to see that there's a little bit of that cohesiveness. So this is the first episode of the series that Millie Bobby Brown is 11 is not in. She only has one other episode that she does not make an appearance. And ironically, it is Dear Billy in season four. We all know what that episode is. Leia's like, no, not at all. Great episode. One of my favorites of the series. [00:18:59] Speaker B: It's the episode where Billy and Steve kiss. [00:19:02] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:19:03] Speaker D: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. [00:19:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what I remember. Come on. [00:19:14] Speaker A: What were you saying about mass psychosis? This is the first episode where Cara Buono, who plays Karen Wheeler, does not appear, though her voice is heard. There's lots of homages to Alien, probably because of the focus on Paul Reiser and the extraterres and the soldiers, all that stuff. A lot of homages to that. We also have a little bit of callbacks, too. Or not callbacks, but like links to Jaws and Stand By Me and the Goonies, obviously. But before we jump into a couple other things, I wanted to talk about how kind of going off of what I've been talking about with the 80s and Reagan and stuff, the Duffer Brothers through Stranger Things, whether intentionally or unintentionally, seem to be drawing a lot of attention to how culture was very antagonistic towards anyone or anything that was. Was different, particularly in the 80s. Obviously, we know that continues on to now, but I think there was a different flavor of it back then and how the Reagan administration really kind of like, contributed to this. The essay the Queer Subtext of Stranger Things draws parallels between Will being possessed by the Shadow Monster and the AIDS epidemic, citing several instances where Will is queer coded and perhaps actually gay, also alongside Al. But we'll talk more about that next episode. They say, despite the reassurances from Jonathan just as the 80s was an unsafe time for LGP communities, the world Will inhabits is not safe for him. And of all the characters in Stranger Things, he appears to be one of the most consistently vulnerable to its dangers. In his first two encounters with the Upside down, the second season, Will is framed by the image of doors, firstly in the arcade and secondly at his home. Will has his own private hut, Castle Byers, which he escapes to both in and out of the Upside down. And when the police hunt for him in the first season, they observe he is good at hiding. Jonathan also says this too. These repeated images of doors and confined spaces can be read when viewing Will through a queer lens as metaphor for closeting. In his text Queer Temporalities in Gay Male Representation, Dustin Bradley Goltz observes the line between in the closet and out of the closet is not stable or fixed. Instead, Gold suggests, the closet is a daily and moment by moment negotiation contingent upon context, social assumptions and shared social cues. This instability of the closet and the dangers to people both in and out of the closeted spaces is evoked through Will's relationship with the Upside Down. It is continuously present. It pervades his world even when he tries to escape from its grasp. Grasp. And then they go on to talk about how, like Will expresses himself primarily through art. When he can't talk about what's happening with him, he draws it and how that is a huge thing that the queer communities did in the 80s, especially with the AIDS epidemic, when they were being shut down by the government, by the scientific communities. Richard Goldstein says virtually every form of art or entertainment in the US has been touched by aids, but that creativity became a powerful weapon for communities medically and politically under siege. And then the they talk about how the rainbow obviously is a symbol. We're going to see a lot more in this show, and there's significance to it. For Elle, who's also another queer coded character, they said the arts were not only devastated by aids, but they also provided a space for gay and bi men to speak on their own terms and recount their experiences of the era through literature, art and photography. These works gave human voices to the AIDS crisis that was often discussed by mainstream media outlets outlets through dehumanizing narratives. And they talk about how the culture, through the media's treatment of AIDS and hiv, didn't often regard gay people, specifically even gay men, as fully or properly human, but as objects or things. And in the author's reading of this season and Will's a queer character, they see the show as making A commentary on AIDS and the struggles of gay men in the 80s. With the shadow monster taking over Will's body. The monster is ambiguously defined, a shape shifter, which is frequently described as a virus. Will's body is its host. Will struggling with having body chills. The uncertainty and the fear around the treatment of Will. Even in this episode, the scientists are kind of saying, well, let's just let him die, because then it like, it doesn't really matter. It'll like, we'll save a bunch of other people. And they point out the utilitarian philosophy that killing one person is justifiable for the safety of the many. This dispensable nature of human life, of queer human life in particular, is explicitly referenced in Stranger Things as the scientists discuss whether Will should be killed to stop the virus mutating inside him to save a wider population from contamination. And this goes into what we discussed last episode with the curtain society keeps up between them and what they fear. This resonates in the context of the AIDS epidemic where the primary narrators for the general populace were the media and the state, the former being overly sensationalist and the second notably silent. These narratives, or lack of narratives, serve to frame AIDS not only as something to be feared, but as a problem centric to minority communities, which could be ignored by those as outside of at risk communities or at risk groups. They note that it is commonplace of medical history that every major epidemic initially appears in a specific localized population, which I mean, we just went through Covid and how like Chinese people were stigmatized because of it. I mean, we can go back into like World War I, World War II with concentration camps and all that stuff with like Japanese people in the United States that they talk about how they observed that AIDS activists had to negotiate simultaneously attempting to dispel the notion that AIDS is a gay disease, while through their activity and leadership treating AIDS as a gay problem, basically saying it's not a disease because you're gay, but it is prevalent in the gay communities and you're treating them as objects. So you're almost saying that they deserve this and we should just let them die, which is just so sad. So, I mean, I think that as with any metaphor and stuff, you don't have to necessarily see it exactly that. But I thought that was a really interesting thing because we know, and I mean, like we've talked about on the podcast, like Will eventually comes out as gay. And so I think it's so interesting to look at the breadcrumbs here and we, like, I feel like, the Duffers did a really good job of showing how he struggles with his otherness from the very beginning. And they use the upside down in his. Almost the persecution of the shadow monster and all of that with him to kind of show him struggling and wrestling with his identity of being different, you know, so. And obviously, like, you guys can speak to that more than I can, but I thought that was really fascinating. And I'm curious what your guys's thoughts are with that. [00:25:41] Speaker C: That. That's. [00:25:43] Speaker A: Sorry, I just. [00:25:44] Speaker D: I know my damn ADD is like, everywhere right this second with that too. That was a very fascinating piece. Just to say I've read things like that when it comes to Stranger Things and heard it throughout, especially once season five came out. There was a lot of stuff like reemerging and stuff like this. So I was seeing little bits and pieces and articles here and there. But that is really relevant to Will's storyline and just like how they face the career community. I mean, it's kind of sucky to hear that that's exactly how people treated that. And they still kind of sort of in this way sometimes do today. Absolutely. Back then especially, like, we were just like a minority in ourselves and they were like, you know, y' all can just die. Y' all can whatever. It's Yalls fault. Or like, because of y', all, you know, being promiscuous and not at the gay clubs and doing all this stuff. Y' all are the ones helping spread this virus. But it wasn't necessarily the case, especially to this day. There's still a lot of, like, heterosexual people that are spreading stuff like that and whatever, but. But that is wild. Whenever it comes to the connection of Will and just how you can break that down that way. That's all super relevant. That's 100% accurate. And you can see those themes and honestly, the care that the Duffers, like you said, took to put that in there to tell this story and give a nice mirror of what they or I look back into through a portal in time to what the 80s was really like and didn't just tell it within this story and use it within the metaphor. I love it because that's the same way Buffy that they do with their metaphor, their themes, their subtext, their paralleling and all that other stuff. Like, it makes you appreciate the show and what they're doing more. [00:27:13] Speaker C: I think that I forget, based on watching the show in present day, I lose sight of the fact that this took place back then and I forget to put myself in that mindset like when I'm watching Buffy with Brandon for the podcast, it is easy to be in the 90s because it's a 90s show and most people watched it in the 90s. So I don't know, I have to more actively remind myself of like, what may have been going on in present day when they were, you know, experiencing all of this. But yeah, it is interesting to. To have parallels between Will and. And him coming out because I think that I forget to look for those kind of in the subtext of things in these earlier seasons because you lose sight of that. He's young, you know, and so I don't think to think about it through that lens. So that was actually really interesting. Interesting to connect what later does end up happening, you know, and how well thought out that is truly. Because to. To have that struggle, especially because I do feel like it happens that kind of at that age, you know, if. When. When you're experiencing those things and trying to make sense of everything. So I think it's so appropriate too for where we're at in the show. But yeah, I've never ever thought about how everything he's dealing with, both physically and mentally, with every. All the symptoms that are happening and the impact that it leaves him with. You know, I never ever thought to relate that to him being gay. So that was really interesting with him [00:28:51] Speaker D: being under the influence too, of the Mind Flayer in this episode too. That is something that kind of like is queer coded in that way. I feel like, like just listening to her say that, I could relate to that. Because you feel like something else is influenc you that's taking you away from other people because you're not. You stuck in a group of setting where everybody else is normal and you're not. And you're the person that's sitting. I mean, like him, he's sitting in this bed with everybody surrounding him, treating him like he's this oddity. And that's exactly how I felt as a kid, like, not being able to express that I was or was not this like, thing and trying to like, be my best self and things like that too. So that way I could like, wear my mask and do all this other stuff and. And I don't know, like, that's just something that kind of hits. [00:29:33] Speaker A: All right. To lighten the mood now since we, you know, went really heavy, I was like, I'm just gonna put this at the beginning so we can move on. Leia and I started this new tradition of reading the comments on The Stranger Things Reddit post from when people. Like, when the show first came out, people were going on and commenting as they were watching the show. So these are all people who do not know what's going to happen later on in the show. And they have been hilarious so far. And I do it to kind of of get a temperature check. And, like, what were people thinking when the show first came out? So the first comment was, take my son to a real hospital. Yeah, Joyce. Because a normal hospital totally knows how to handle interdimensional demon possession syndrome. [00:30:12] Speaker B: Seriously, some of the stuff Joyce is doing, I'm like, girl, like, do you not remember what happened last year? Yeah. Like, we. We need to be moving with a little bit more, like, common sensory. [00:30:24] Speaker A: Literally. This one. This one killed me. Your parents would be proud if they knew what you were up to. No, they're all patriots in their household. Someone else says, where's the tortoise? I don't know. But he had to witness the tragic death of Dustin's cat. And I'm sure he isn't the same turtle we knew and loved. The important thing is that none of us treat him any differently. And then the other one was Dustin. And Steve is greater than Jonathan and Nancy. [00:30:55] Speaker C: See? [00:30:55] Speaker A: And then a ton of people were commenting, I should get a bat. A lot of people wanted to be Steve for Halloween, apparently. And we're very excited that Steve shared his hair routine. [00:31:05] Speaker B: Yes. The fair spray. [00:31:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:31:09] Speaker B: Yes. [00:31:10] Speaker A: So funny. And then the last one. Dang it, Dustin, you could have saved. You could have used your suave skills on Max, but you cuddled up with a baby Demogorgon instead. [00:31:19] Speaker C: Seriously. [00:31:21] Speaker B: Also, the advice that Steve gives him was just horrible advice. [00:31:24] Speaker A: Horrible advice. [00:31:25] Speaker C: Horrible. I'm like, also, do men not evolve to some degree? I'm glad Brandon's not here for this. [00:31:33] Speaker A: I'm just like. [00:31:34] Speaker C: But no, seriously, because I'm like, haven't y' all told each other that? Like, hasn't this advice been passed down enough for where someone at some point is like, hey, actually, that. No. I don't know when it did work, but it no longer does. And when I went to school and I tried that, this chick looked at me and she punched me square in the jaw. So that's where that got me. You know what I mean? I'm like, that's today's energy. I'm like. [00:31:56] Speaker B: But Max is not. [00:31:57] Speaker D: Like, I need to go back in time and fight someone. Hit my. [00:32:06] Speaker B: To be fair, it is the 80s. I feel like. [00:32:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say it's Very stereotypical. [00:32:11] Speaker C: Even then I'm like, how long have we been around as humans? [00:32:14] Speaker B: Also, the thing is that Steve didn't even, like, use that on Nancy. Like, he didn't use that. [00:32:22] Speaker C: Give advice you don't follow. [00:32:24] Speaker A: He walked away and she wanted to talk the next day, and he was like, I think you're. And walked away. So maybe, maybe that's. [00:32:30] Speaker B: I feel he was genuinely hurt in that instance. Like, he didn't do it on purpose. [00:32:34] Speaker A: Not. He was just putting on a show. Just, you know, tough guy show. [00:32:39] Speaker D: I have to be super gay for a second. And oh my gosh, I forgot to put it on because whenever I was watching the episode and I saw his bat really reemerge, I was like, oh, I gotta wear that shirt that I found at the thrift store. [00:32:53] Speaker B: Wow. [00:32:54] Speaker A: Anyway, all right, let's jump into the episode. All right. We are picking right up from where we left off in the last episode. Will is screaming. We hear agents loading him up into the vehicle. Then we see him being wheeled down a hallway in the lab as he's got an oxygen mask on, still crying. Joyce is crying next to him. We see Hopper being hosed down in the lab, switched back to Will, now hooked up to monitors. Nurses are asking where it hurts. He says, all over. Owens is relaying what Joyce told him to the nurse, saying that he feels like he's burning. To check for burns. They cut off his clothes. There's no burns, no injuries anywhere. So the nurse is like, well, where does it. It hurts? And then he just screams every it. Like, oh, so good. Noah Schnapps acting is just. [00:33:33] Speaker D: He was getting it. [00:33:34] Speaker A: Oh, man, I. I buy it every time. It's so good. [00:33:37] Speaker D: And you feel bad for him too, because you forget after this season, like, how it moves on to the final season too. Like the absolute worst at the beginning. Like, besides Barb, like, he is the one that gets affected the most by what's going on, you know? [00:33:50] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Poor guy. And then, I mean, they see it. You see him, like, injecting him with something, probably to sedate him. And Joyce is being held by Bob as she's just devastated. Bob is just a rock. I gotta say, I'm so glad he's there for her during this. [00:34:04] Speaker B: Bob is a real one. Honestly, love Bob. [00:34:06] Speaker D: I didn't remember loving him this much. I remember, you know, what happens and stuff like that, but I. And I remember everybody like, oh, my God. But like, still just this little lead up and stuff. I'm like, I like his little. Especially this Episode. [00:34:16] Speaker A: He's such a good guy. [00:34:18] Speaker C: He's just so sweet. [00:34:20] Speaker A: Yeah. So in Steve's car, it's still night. We see Steve and Dustin silently riding in Steve's car. This is giving. You just told your dad something really bad that you did. And you're. He's still processing it. And you're just sitting there waiting for the explosion and the fallout. Once he's fully finished processing it, you're [00:34:36] Speaker C: waiting for your punishment. [00:34:38] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me how stupid I was. Steve doesn't believe him. He's like, how big was it? Dustin's like, first it was like, that shows, like, the size of a lizard. And then he's like. And then it was like that. The size of a cat. And Steve's like, I swear to God, man, if it's just a little lizard, Dustin's like, it's not a lizard. And Steve's like, well, how do you know? Dustin's like, how do I know? Because its face opened up and he ate my cat instead. Steve's like, okay. Then they pull up to the Henderson's house, gear up. Steve pulls out his bat with the nails. We all get excited because we know what that means. They head to the root cellar. Steve's like, I don't hear. Dustin's like, he's in there. They ended up opening it up. There's nothing. Steve turns around and just shines his flashlight straight into Dustin's face and is like, all right, kid, I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead. Justin's like, it's not. Get out of my face. And, okay, I read the script. Now. None of that, like, physical acting was in there. And Brandon and Courtney, we. Last episode and this episode are directed by Andrew Stanton, who is a Pixar director. He wrote and directed Toy Story with Joss Whedon, ironically, and Wally, Finding Nemo. And you can see that Pixar comedy come out. So there's a lot of. Obviously, there's the script, but these physical directions, I. I pretty sure is a lot of him inserting a lot of that comedic element. And I really think. Not that Dustin and Steve don't have a great dynamic, but I think he kind of elevated that and kind of gave us a little bit of a jump start into the greatness that is their relationship. They unlock the cellar, and then Dustin's like, okay, he's got to be further in. He's like, you know, I'll just stay up here in case it escapes. And Dustin and Steve's like, like, Steve is so brave. [00:36:21] Speaker B: He just goes in. [00:36:22] Speaker A: He's just believing this kid too. That's the thing. Like, yeah. [00:36:26] Speaker B: What a man. [00:36:27] Speaker A: King. [00:36:28] Speaker B: Yep. [00:36:29] Speaker A: So he goes in and then he ends up finding this giant piece of, like, skin that's oozing. And we're like, great. It's molted again. And then Steve calls Dustin down and we see this giant hole in the wall where Dart broke through the bricks and then dug and tunneled. Tunneled all the way through. I'm like, wait, so it's like a mole too? It's not just a dog, it's a demo mole. Like, is that the next. What's going on? [00:36:57] Speaker B: Thank you. Could have easily broken out through, like, the top door too. [00:37:02] Speaker D: That thing was that if he can tunnel through grass, he can get. Or grass ground, he can get through that. Did you guys happen to notice whenever Dustin does come down there and stands beside him, before they, like, pan over to the thing, though, there's this, like, crate that's over on the side of the railing that says Sunnydale Farms on it. [00:37:19] Speaker B: Does it mean. [00:37:21] Speaker A: That's crazy? [00:37:22] Speaker D: You know, we love it because I see the, like, it's not a Buffy call out or anything like that. Sunnydale Farms, I did my research, is apparently a milk and produce farm out of New Jersey that ships all over the US But. And especially back then and stuff like that. If it stop rates to this day as from what I could see, but I didn't even notice it at first. And I, like, went back to watch it again. I was like, wait, Sunnydale? I was like, hold up. Like, is this from the Hell Mount? That's what I'm saying. [00:37:47] Speaker A: Don't go in. Don't follow Dart. The Hell Mouth. [00:37:50] Speaker B: The Hell Mouth. [00:37:51] Speaker D: No. [00:37:54] Speaker A: So then we follow the tunnel. Great shot. Goes all the way through. Man, Dart really made a. [00:37:59] Speaker B: He really dug a process. [00:38:00] Speaker A: He really dug all the way out into the forest. And we just see trees upon trees and we hear Dart roar in the distance. And we're like, well, the Demogorgon's free. That's going to come back to bite us. [00:38:10] Speaker D: I wrote my notes. I said, catch me. Not on a hike out in these woods with that thing [00:38:16] Speaker B: or just in general. Why would anybody go hiking in those woods? Nuh. I'm staying on main roads and towns inside the town. [00:38:28] Speaker A: Get hit by Billy. Get hit by Billy on the main road. Going to town, getting eaten by a Demogorgon, which is a good freaking. [00:38:35] Speaker B: Billy. [00:38:36] Speaker A: Pick your poison. All right, so we're at the buyers and we see A bunch of agents pulling up to the house, taking photos of all the drawings. Back at the lab, Will's unconscious, sedated. As we see Bob and Will sitting at his side, Joyce is conferring with a bunch of doctors. Doctors in another room, including Dr. Owens. He asks her about the now memories. And all of the scientists are basically like, joyce, why didn't you tell us about this sooner? Why didn't you bring him in sooner? And she's like, I've been bringing him every day and he's been telling you that he's been experiencing this stuff. And you all said that it was just PTSD and it was all in his head. And just be patient. Owens is placating her, like, I get why you're upset. And Joyce interrupts and is like, what? You want me to just be calm, to trust you? Like, saying back all of the words that he said to her in episode one. And then she says she wants Will transferred to a real hospital. Owen's like, you know, that's not possible. And this so clever because the shot is on Joyce and you see Owens to the side and him responding. But you hear all the doctors talking, but you don't see their faces. They're just faceless men talking to Joyce. And I love that intentional decision to show how alone Joyce is in this man's world, trying to advocate for her son and being told essentially that she's the problem. [00:39:49] Speaker C: She's. [00:39:49] Speaker A: She's, you know, responsible. All this stuff, and she's just not having it. And my respect for Joyce goes way up. And this scene, apparently, is an homage to Aliens, where it resembles the scene where Ellen Ripley is subjected to a tense hearing by a hostile board of company directors, which also ends in a moment where both lose their tempers and start yelling. But in the reversal of Aliens, it's Joyce who's the skeptic of the group and stuff. [00:40:15] Speaker B: So. [00:40:16] Speaker A: All right, now we're back at Murray's place. Okay, this is. This is the episode where I start to really not like Murray. Nancy and Jonathan have last, like, wow, you've not liked him up until now. I can't believe Nancy and Jonathan have made a copy of the tape and they've all mailed it, along with a letter to the Chicago Sun Times. The music choice for Murray, I thought was really interesting. We saw a little bit of it last episode in his choice of 1940s swing, Jamie Jazz and swing era music. And it really comes out this episode. There are, like, four different songs that are played, whereas Jane goes at There's Frost on the Moon, you Better Go now, and Blue Bayou. So I decided to look more into it. And it's influenced by film noir, which now I'm like, like, okay, I should have guessed this. Which makes complete sense because this episode's called the Spy. They're leaning into that whole detective noir film. Um, and obviously that that's associated with swing and jazz. And we see how that's, like, evolved over time. Like the James Bond theme and stuff is very closely tied to that era. But conspiracies, detective work, corruption, moral ambiguity, that's all literally a part of that genre. And that's what kind of classifies Murray. And we've talked about how Stranger Things has kind of a soundtrack for each character. And Murray's is this detective noir, conspiracy theorist background soundtrack of his life. But it also distinguishes him from all the other characters who are very much got that punk rock, the. Or the just straight up glam rock and all the other different kinds of music that is very. The synth that's very different from Murray. So it's another way of showing how isolated he is from society in a lot of ways. And I thought that was just such a clever way, way of giving us an insight into his character. [00:42:05] Speaker B: I mean, he lives in a bunker that looks like it's musty as hell in there. Like, there's no windows. There's like smoke. It smells like water, like molded water, you know. [00:42:16] Speaker D: He low key was so happy to have some visitors, though. [00:42:21] Speaker A: He loved that. [00:42:22] Speaker B: But I just know. I just know his house is dirty. Like sheets that have never been washed. Oh, God, yeah. [00:42:29] Speaker C: Like water, Brandon. [00:42:31] Speaker B: Like water. Like old water in the water walls. That's what it sounds like. [00:42:36] Speaker C: Like standing water. [00:42:39] Speaker A: I think it. Well, it's also perfectly lines up with our first introduction of him back in Mad Max, where he shows up at Hopper's place in a trench coat looking like Sherlock Holmes. And we're like, okay, we see what you're doing here. [00:42:51] Speaker B: He's like the spike of this show because he's like, living in a crypt that looks unclean and must rusty by a triple water, please forever. [00:43:07] Speaker A: So we see them celebrating with vodka. They toast to taking down the man. Murray goes to pour them some more, but Nancy and Jonathan like, oh, no, we have to drive back. [00:43:14] Speaker B: These are children, by the way. [00:43:16] Speaker D: My notes. We're just willy nilly giving kids vodka [00:43:20] Speaker A: and encouraging them to go together. [00:43:22] Speaker D: Yeah, no, no, we'll talk about that in a second. [00:43:24] Speaker B: What's going on? [00:43:25] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. He's okay, Murray. I know he's funny, but he just. He. He's creepy. Okay, he is creepy. [00:43:33] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:43:34] Speaker B: Kind of creepy. [00:43:36] Speaker A: I'll just take my guest room. And Nancy and Jonathan are like, uncomfortable. They're like, okay, I guess we will. And Jonathan asks to sleep on the sofa. And Murray's like, I'm confused. He thought they were together. And I'm like, you're a horrible detective if you think that her and Jonathan are together. Aren't you supposed to be doing all this research on Barbara? [00:43:54] Speaker D: He like, was calling out that because he's like, what's that? What's that? And Jonathan's like, Steve. And he's like, yeah, exact. So he does have some information, but he's also like, the thing I do like about Murray is he does read the room. Like he knows things before other people do. He's calling things out. [00:44:08] Speaker A: Like it's always the most toxic character. [00:44:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:44:13] Speaker A: So Nancy and Jonathan are like, no, we're just friends. Murray's like, that's the first lie you've told me all day. You're young and attractive. You have chemistry history, plus the real shared trauma. And I was like, does shared trauma make a good relationship though? [00:44:28] Speaker D: Trauma bonding, man. [00:44:29] Speaker B: Maybe for a while. Of, yeah, I don't think they have trauma together. [00:44:37] Speaker A: They've created the trauma for others. [00:44:39] Speaker B: Created trauma? Yeah. They are the perpetrators of trauma. [00:44:43] Speaker A: So he looks at Jonathan knowingly and it's like, trust issues, am I right? Something to do with your dad. Nancy's like, yeah, your dad's an. Murray's like, it is a curse to see so clearly. Then he looks at Nancy, tells her that she's harder to read, that probably like everyone. She's afraid of what will happen if she accepts herself for who she really is and retreated back to the safety of. And that's when Jonathan helpfully supplies Steve, earning a look from Nancy. And Marie's like, oh, Steve, we like Steve. And I'm like, yeah, we do. Nancy's like, yes. And he's like, but we don't love Steve. And Nancy's like, what? And then she's like, no, I do. [00:45:17] Speaker D: Unconvincing. [00:45:19] Speaker A: Okay, okay, okay. So he's like, all right, just take. Do what you want. There's a pull out sofa in the study. And then he's like, I would just cut the and share the damn bed. [00:45:27] Speaker C: Okay? [00:45:27] Speaker A: He goes, here's the big question we've been having all so season. Are Nancy and Steve broken up? [00:45:35] Speaker D: That's what I said. But low key. Like, what did I put it At. I was like, is she still. Isn't she still with C. Vessa? Because their relationship, like, she said it was. And Steve clocked her the next day and, like, called her out about not loving him. He's like, you know, whatever. Can you say that? And she didn't, like, have any expression. But that's like, that's where we left off, right? They haven't verbally sat together and said, okay, we're over. It's just like, implied, I guess. Like, so technically that what's about to happen with these two. They cheated on each other, or she cheated on Steve with Jonathan. [00:46:04] Speaker A: The show and the writers and everybody says that they've broken up, but I. [00:46:08] Speaker B: I assume that they're broken up. [00:46:11] Speaker D: I never got that from this. [00:46:13] Speaker B: I think. I think the reason that I'm. I feel like they're like. My opinion is that they've broken up is because we've now gone several episodes where the two of them have not had any interactions, actions. So for me, like, that would indicate that they just haven't seen each other. They haven't talked about anything. And that was the last thing they said to each other, which would imply that, like, I would assume that me and this person are broken up if that was our last conversation. We never saw each other. [00:46:42] Speaker C: Clarity. Like, I need you to literally. Okay, so to be clear, this means we're broken up. And then I'll be like, okay, I get it. Pull. No vague on my ass. I'm be texting you tomorrow to make sure. So, by the way, so I'm. [00:47:02] Speaker A: Or yeah, yeah. Just, just, just so I know there's this really cute guy here, and I just need to know. Yeah, I don't know, because it's like you had Billy and Tommy egging Stevon in the shower, and Steve didn't know that Jonathan and Nancy were hanging out. That's what Tommy uses over his head, which devastates Steve. And they're like, oh, you didn't know? Then he goes to try to get her back, which doesn't feel to me like Steve has moved on. He talks about Nancy being, you know, special and different, but then here Nancy's talking about how we know she doesn't love Steve, but she's unwilling to say that she does it. So I think the show is trying to imply that she's holding on more. He's more of a symbol of her trying to hold on to that side of her life. But I'm with Courtney. I would need a whole lot more. And I. When I first Watched this, didn't know that they'd broken. I assumed they hadn't, so I was like, so basically, Nancy does what Steve thought she was gonna do in season one, which is sleep with Jonathan. [00:48:00] Speaker D: I think this moment, though, like, Murray strips away a lot of the excuses that Nancy's been making for herself. And he really puts it, like, in her phase. Like, I feel like all this time Nancy and Jonathan have spent time pursuing, like, the true together. They've been carrying the way to Barb together. And, like, what happened? She's had this connection with him. So that's where, like, when you really, like, dive into that and you don't put, you know, team Steve or team Jonathan, you kind of get into this mindset of being like, okay, well, who is Nancy becoming? Like, it's. It's aside from her boyfriends or, like, because they're both her boyfriends at this point throughout the series, it's a thruffle. They all each other. They, like, decide on whose hole it is that night and obviously bring billions, [00:48:40] Speaker A: because I think Billy's. [00:48:41] Speaker D: I would watch Steve at this point multiple times, but I don't know. Like, Nancy doesn't choose Steve. She chooses Jonathan and stuff. Like, they're here, right? You know, I know we haven't gotten there yet and stuff, but, like, I low key found myself, like, really liking what happened between them. Even the buildup of the scene and stuff like that as well. Like, the anticipation, the tension. I was like, oh, I've been there in that situation where you're like, you know, staying the night of someone's house or something, and you're like, kind of like, going, like, from room to room or something like that. Are, like, meeting back up. Like, I saw all that stuff, like, in my life, I'm like, oh, my God. I kind of like, do I like this now? [00:49:14] Speaker A: Do I like it? The complete 180. [00:49:16] Speaker D: And, like, I know I jumped ahead, but, like, just watching Nancy, like, putting it back in her, in the spotlight, this is so pivotal for her journey and who she's becoming. And I think now she's lining up with her authentic self and, like, the new representation of who she is versus what, who she was trying to be all along and trying to still stay back in this normal side of things and how it was. And no, like, everyone's lives again, no pun intended, is getting turned upside down by what's happening and all these events occurring. So it's forming change with all of them, and they have no choice but either meet it no matter how, like, what way that shows up, you know, So I don't know. Nancy's. Nancy's growing, and I'm here for it, even if that means she's got to be with Jonathan. [00:49:58] Speaker B: I just feel like, like, Nancy has already moved on. Nancy moved on from Steve that. The minute Barb died. [00:50:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:07] Speaker B: Like, Nancy was done with Steve. That. That moment and everything since then has been her. [00:50:12] Speaker A: I try to hold on to that. [00:50:14] Speaker B: Kind of in denial. Yeah. [00:50:16] Speaker D: She wouldn't have. If he had supported her, though. If he had showed up the way that Jonathan did, they could have, like, had this connection, I feel like. And maybe that would have been stronger if he had started to shift. [00:50:24] Speaker B: I think it's. I just. It's so hard to, like, like, put blame on anybody in this situation, because I feel. Feel like, you know, Jonathan and Nancy were in a unique situation at the time where they were both involved. Like, they both knew what was going on, and Steve kind of didn't. And I think Steve was meant to be the person that was like, oh, like, you know, we're gonna go back to everything being normal, even at the beginning of season two. Like, that was his role. But I'm interested to see, like, I said this in the beginning. I'm interested to see if there's gonna be tension once Steve becomes more, like, you know, involved and actively involved in what's happening, because I think that'll change the kind of, like, that'll change how he reacts to things. And I have a feeling that this, like, love triangle thing is gonna, like, go on for a while, but I don't really remember if it does. [00:51:19] Speaker D: Me neither. I'm excited to see what happens, too. I don't even know how he finds out. [00:51:23] Speaker B: I just feel like it's interesting because I feel like Steve has the potential to be somebody that would be really good with an Nancy, but not this version of Steve and Nancy. Do you know what I mean? Like, I feel like her and Jonathan are more on the same level at this time. [00:51:40] Speaker D: No, I think they would have to [00:51:41] Speaker A: go off on their own separate journeys [00:51:43] Speaker D: and then meet back up again later, like, after the change and stuff, because that sometimes can happen. You think of, like, Willow and Oz, like, her making comments to him and stuff like that, which I can't go into and elaborate on. But, like, you know, say that you meet somebody back up later in life, and, like, y' all have had all this change in time to be apart from each other, and you realize now, like, you can kind of come back together and be like, oh, we show up differently now. We've actually, like, more aligned than we did before. Because sometimes it takes a take two for a relationship or a take three. [00:52:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:52:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:11] Speaker A: I just think it's really interesting how the writers are really pushing Steve out of his comfort zone. And we'll talk about him in a second. But, like, how he made his choices in season one, but he's the character more so than any of the other characters in season two that was kind of comfortable with just kind of falling back into what had happened beforehand. But he's. We're watching him be forced to find a new normal and to pursue new friendships and relationships and a new identity because Billy has come into play and because Nancy broke up with him. And so I think that's creating a very interesting dynamic. But for this moment in particular, taking all the other stuff out, I think the choice to have Jonathan and Nancy sleep together in an episode where they have moved forward with the plan to get justice for Bart Barb is really intentional because there's this clear relief there for all three. But it also feels like a very clear closing of the door for Steve in, like, at least right now, given the narrative of season one and even this conversation with Murray. Nancy sleeping with Steve was when she actively was trying to be someone that she was not, and it resulted in Barb getting killed. Barb telling her, this is not who you are. Now Nancy's embracing more of who she is, which is someone in pursuit of truth and justice, even if that means danger. And I think her sleeping with Jonathan. Jonathan is a symbol of that acceptance and kind of a bookend on the whole Barb thing. I would. I would bet we're going to see Nancy pivot away from the Barb storyline in this. In the show, just in general, because this feels like a very nice bookend and a closing of that, and that includes, I think, the relationship of Steve. So what they have to do, because Steve has been that symbol of Nancy, of the normative life, they have to force Steve away from that as well. [00:53:51] Speaker C: Or. [00:53:52] Speaker A: Or else, like, they're gonna have to write him out of the show because he's that simple. So they have to change that. So I think that's really, really interesting. [00:53:59] Speaker D: Can I make one petty comment that. So we're saying with all of this, obviously, like, Jonathan and Nancy are becoming a thing now. Did Jonathan really beat Steve to Helen back and then steal his. [00:54:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:12] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:54:15] Speaker D: Crazy realization after they have sex in the second half. I was like, damn, he beat him up last season. And then he took his Girlfriend this season like he about. [00:54:27] Speaker A: So this scene between Nancy and Jonathan is cut and a reference to the scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with Indy and Willie Scott. That whole like push and pull where they both are in their. In separate rooms and then it's kind of like a enemies to lovers relationship. Or like not really enemies, but you know what I mean. That tension there. Writer Kate Treffy says about Nancy and Jonathan's dynamic. I love that bickering John Hughes, pick each other apart, teenage hyperverbal analysis stuff. So it was really fun to have the character of Murray be able to tear these two apart in ways that they wouldn't even have dared. And Natalia Dyer says they have this kind of I hate you, I love you thing. And I think there's a little bit of that between Jonathan and Nancy. Those days of filming with Brett Gelman were some of my favorite days of the whole shoot because we had two or three solid days of just getting to play in this weird space. Brett was so fun and funny and he was different in every take. So we'll give him his flowers, I guess. [00:55:20] Speaker B: Okay. But low key. The actors that play Jonathan and Nancy kind of look like they're related a little bit. [00:55:27] Speaker D: Oh, y' all think like Jonathan actually kind of looks like Michael Jackson. [00:55:32] Speaker B: They're dating in real life. [00:55:34] Speaker A: Like what? [00:55:36] Speaker D: No, like though he's got. He's got a certain type of face right here that looks like Michael Jackson after his chain. [00:55:42] Speaker B: He looks like a sickly British kid that's been taken to the see to Die. [00:55:47] Speaker A: That's actually better. [00:55:49] Speaker C: That's better than the meme I saw where someone said he looks like. It was something like he looks like an Asian detective who's always or who's never who doesn't get any sleep. Cuz like I guess like the bag and look, the picture that they used for the meme was like him wearing like a trench coat too. So he legitimately like looks like a detective. And I was like I'm never going [00:56:16] Speaker D: to unfair see people. [00:56:17] Speaker A: People have told okay, that picture is sure crazy. [00:56:20] Speaker C: Michael Jackson's wax. [00:56:23] Speaker B: That's crazy. [00:56:27] Speaker A: He looks like Michael Jackson's wax figure dead. [00:56:31] Speaker D: We always call out on our podcast whenever cuz Buffy is really good with this cut scene transition magic that they do where they enter cut of like one scene leave something where they either either the next scene picks it up. And in this scene obviously we just came off of Jonathan and Nancy making out and stuff. And then they cut scene to Erica with these damn dolls kissing in The. [00:56:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:48] Speaker D: Which is a fun foreshadow from last episode because she stole that. The little. Whatever the doll is he man or whatever, to play with her Barbie. And was making them kiss last episode, too. So it was kind of foreshadowing what was gonna, like, connect here. I thought that was cute. And Eric is such a little too just. [00:57:04] Speaker B: I love her. [00:57:05] Speaker A: I love her. [00:57:05] Speaker D: I love it. [00:57:07] Speaker A: Well, I was saying that Stranger Things doesn't always do super great with their transitions. And I say that coming from Buffy, where it's like, they're so great with their transitions, but I really think a big part of the last two episodes is Andrew St. Stanton. Like, his. His filmography is just fantastic. And the way that he directs is so interesting and entertaining. [00:57:26] Speaker D: And it must be, because I didn't [00:57:28] Speaker A: notice that he Man. And. And the Barbies, she's like, what strong muscles you have. Lucas comes in, I knew it. Erica's like, hey, they are in love. Lucas is like, no, they aren't. They don't even exist on the same planet. Erica's like, aren't you too old to be playing with toys? And Lucas gets all flustered. He's like, stay out of my room. And Erica's like, well, then tell your nerdy friend to shut his mouth. Which gets Lucas. [00:57:50] Speaker B: Code red. [00:57:51] Speaker A: Code red. Code red. Lucas runs to his room and starts radioing Dustin, who is in the woods by the road with Steve. They're unloading buckets of raw meat and gasoline. Dustin's like, well, well, well. Who has decided to show up and then updates him on Dart and his escape and how he thinks Dart is a baby Demogorgon. And to meet him and Steve at the old junkyard, Lucas is like, steve Harrington. Like, put some respect on a man's legacy and name Real demo Hunter Winter. [00:58:19] Speaker B: Okay. That amount of meat, the cost of that today would be like buying a house. [00:58:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:27] Speaker B: In Canada. [00:58:27] Speaker A: It's a good meat, too. [00:58:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:30] Speaker D: When they started dumping it, I was like, oh, my God. Chicken nuggets going no ways. I didn't know what kind of stuff it was, but it's watermelon they use [00:58:39] Speaker A: because it shows up better on screen. The bright red. [00:58:43] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:58:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:44] Speaker A: Because they desaturated. It looks like filter that they use. [00:58:47] Speaker D: It looks like stranger things. [00:58:48] Speaker A: Yeah. It's watermelon. Isn't that crazy? [00:58:50] Speaker C: That's crazy. [00:58:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:53] Speaker C: All right. [00:58:54] Speaker A: So at the lab, Owens comes to check on Hopper, who's vomiting into a bucket. He's like, hey, you're. You've got the clear. I want to show you something. And then they suit up and they take. He takes them to the room where the rift is, and they've been doing the burns, but instead of taking them to the rift, which isn't there as much anymore, they go down a lift, and deep down under the lab, the rift is, like, a hundred times bigger and thriving, burrowing underneath them. And what. Where. Where they thought they were containing it. There's now multiple tunnels that we sees, the tunnels that Hopper's been seeing. They. They dug that hole really fast, to be honest. After they found out everything, they're like, all right, all scientists go dig a hole in the observation room. So they hang suspended next to the giant rift. Owen says that all living organisms develop a defense mechanism against attack. They adapt. This sounds a lot like what the science teacher was saying about Will when he was trying to approach the bathtub and everything says they find some way to survive. Hopper's like, oh, my God. And he looks at all of the tunnels, and Owen says that they thought they'd been containing it, but it's been spreading beneath them. And then Hopper's like, well, why aren't you burning it? Owen's like, well, there's a complication. So we jump over to Will, still unconscious, and Mike's asleep in the chair next to him. And Joyce has finished telling Bob. Like, now he knows everything. She's bringing him up to date, saying that they had to sign tons of documents and paperwork, essentially saying that they weren't going to tell anyone and that they're probably going to make Bob do the same thing. And Bob's like, yeah, what kind of documents? Enjoys his confidentiality. And he's. He puts everything together and is like, oh, that's why you went with the story that Will got lost in the woods. He's like, man, I always thought stuff like that happened in comic books or movies and not in Hawkins, and not to people like you or me. And then he chuckles, and he's like, bob Newby, superhero. I'm like, or so sweet. He. And then he, like, tells her not to worry about him, that he's fine, that she warned him that they weren't a normal family. And the script says that she sees his hands shaking, but he clocks her concern and is having none of it. And he. He doesn't want her to worry about him because he sees that she worries about so many other people. [01:00:57] Speaker B: What a man. [01:00:58] Speaker A: Oh, he's just. [01:00:59] Speaker D: What a good man there, though. Like, he's just saying, like, I'm here for this, like, no matter what Like, I want to be a part of your family. And if that means it's not normal, then I'll still, like, reintegrate myself to it. Which is kind of like. If we're talking about the parallels between, like. Or just, like, the communication of gay, queer co stuff. Like, you have this new guy coming into the family. He, like, he might not want to be a part of the family because you have, like, a queer child or, like, you know what I mean? Your family's not normal. Like, I don't want to be a part of that. Or maybe y' all aren't religious or Niam or something. There's something to put them out there to where they don't want to do it. But he's saying, I'm going to be a stand for you guys. And I found myself, like, swooning for him. [01:01:32] Speaker A: I was just like, y' all are so together. Please stay forever. [01:01:36] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:01:37] Speaker A: Well, Bob has. Bob has repeated. Talked about how he relates to Will, in particular, being an outsider and how he was a giant nerd and stuff. And I think that's just. I love how they're showing Bob is essentially who these boys would become when they get older. He's an older nerd. He's not. He wasn't. He was like them as a child. And so they're kind of showing that it makes sense that Bob would be accepted into this, would come into this, because he's already an outsider as well. The script also says that they smile softly at each other, briefly sharing their fantasy of a future far from all of this. Anyway, Will wakes up. Bob runs out for Owens. Joyce asks how Will is feeling, and he doesn't recognize. Bob moves away from him, asks if he's a doctor, and Joyce starts looking concerned, and Will is looking sketchy. Okay, Noah Schnapp. So good. He's been playing this very, like, visceral fear, and now there's this, like, calculating, sinister emptiness and sinisterness behind his eyes. It's crazy, crazy, crazy. [01:02:40] Speaker C: I was like, did they give him contacts? Like, how do you look? Like a sociopath. No, literally, I was like, he looks like. I don't know if that was my kid. Maybe under some delusion, I would be like, oh, yeah, everything's fine. [01:02:56] Speaker B: Yeah, he's good. [01:02:57] Speaker C: No, it's not like, that is not my child. [01:03:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:01] Speaker C: I take one look at him. Like, I don't know what happened in the last four and a half seconds where my eyes weren't on him, but that something did. [01:03:07] Speaker D: I completely forgot. [01:03:08] Speaker C: I need my son back, please. Thank you. [01:03:10] Speaker D: Yeah, I completely forgot that he lost his memory though, like in the episode. And for a second I was like, is it because he's under the influence of the mind player? And it's like something another host in his body not recognizing because like that the mind player and everything else that knows Will's experience would know his friends and like everybody else but Bob, like Max and all these other people, he probably wouldn't have never seen those through his eyes before. So I was like, is this like, what's happening here? I'm not sure because that's really isn't like spoken to. [01:03:36] Speaker B: But I think we're meant to like think that he isn't himself. Like he's like Will is in there, but some. There's something else that's controlling him too. Yeah, yeah, like something else that's latched on to him. Obviously the shadow monster is what we can assume, but it's like to what [01:03:53] Speaker A: extent going inside of him, I'm going [01:03:55] Speaker B: to assume that's what it is in every. Every part of him. [01:03:59] Speaker A: Yeah, every. [01:04:00] Speaker C: Everywhere. [01:04:01] Speaker B: Everywhere. [01:04:02] Speaker A: So at Murray's, it's morning. Everyone's in a really good mood. Murray's making some breakfast. They all sit down to eat. Nancy and Jonathan are kind of like self conscious eating their eggs, clearly in great mood. And Murray can tell, he knows exactly what happened. He knew what was going to happen. [01:04:18] Speaker B: Teenagers, by the way. [01:04:20] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. How was the pull out causing Jonathan to sputter? Murray's innocently like the sofa. Jonathan and Nancy make eye contact and he's like, oh good. And Murray's like, I bet. And then he like goes to eat a bite of eg and then he missed it and he's like, oops. [01:04:34] Speaker B: Him and his crusty ass plates. I just know he doesn't wash his dishes. Well, I know there's like. I know there's like dried up egg on those plates from like two days ago and he didn't scrub them. I just know. [01:04:49] Speaker A: Yeah, and his beard looks so uncapped. I just, I just don't like him. I think he's. I don't think he's a good person. I don't think he'd be giving teenagers. You should be giving teenagers alcohol, encouraging them to sleep together and lie to their parents. I don't know. He also gives me. I'm the smartest person in the room vibes and I just can't stand those people. So anyways, anywho, Murray Bauman is played by Brett Gelman because I have to talk about it. We always wanted that conspiracy theorist because, you know, I'm a completionist, I'm thorough. We always wanted that conspiracy theorist. Ross Duffer says, as you do research on programs like MK Ultra, there are always those men and women who are obsessed with it and they're making some really crazy and bold accusations about our government. So it was always fun for us to go, well, if. What if one of these guys is really right about this? So done talking about Marie. Later we see Nancy calling Karen, telling her that she'll be home for dinner. And then we see that Jonathan has already tried to call his mom but hasn't gotten a hold of her. Nancy's like, oh, they're probably just at the matinee and you can tell Jonathan's getting kind of worried. So then they go outside to leave and Murray gives them more alcohol. He's like, for your travels. I was like, so now we're driving with alcohol in our car. I know this is a metaphor, but oh my gosh. [01:05:58] Speaker B: I think it's just meant to show. Show, like within the show. I think it's meant to show that he's very like. No, I think it's meant to show just how anti social and like weird he is. Like he. It's not like clocking in his mind that these are like teenagers. Like he just views them as like his friends now or something. Or like his. Somebody who helped him with like a project. But I don't think he like, like it's. They're teenagers. [01:06:23] Speaker A: Yeah, they're like juniors in high school, sophomores in high school, something like that. [01:06:28] Speaker B: Oh yeah. [01:06:30] Speaker A: Anyway, all right. At the Mayfield house, Lucas pulls up and we see Billy's car up front. We hear loud music from inside. He's listening to Round and Round by Rat. It's a glam metal band. They're a sub genre of heavy metal that features pop influenced hooks, guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam rock, defined by flashy and tight fitting clothing, makeup and an overall androgynous aesthetic in which the traditional denim and leather aspect of heavy metal cultures replaced by spandex, lace and usually heavy use of bright colors. I was like, okay, Billy trying to tell us something. So Billy's pumping weights, smoking as the doorbell rings. Where are their parents? We have not seen them at all. I don't know. Does a woman live here other than Max? Like, I could not imagine. Anyway, Max is in her room taping up her skateboard. Guys, I Never really thought too much about this scene while I read the story. Script gives us more context. So, interestingly, it says Max is in her room trying but failing to duct tape her skateboard together, the front end of which has been snapped in half. She looks like she's been crying. I think Billy snapped Max's skateboard as retaliation from the last episode when he saw her with Lucas. [01:07:46] Speaker D: Damn. And that's how she gets around everywhere, too. Yeah, I didn't pay attention to that she was taping the thing either. Like, I was so focused on on him being like, max, you gonna get that? I'm like, you're four feet away from the door. [01:07:59] Speaker A: Right behind him, he's giving Ted Wheeler. [01:08:04] Speaker C: Like, if y' all did a weekly wigs on your podcast, this would be mine. Is Billy doing this? Because I was like, are you joking me? [01:08:11] Speaker A: Every episode of my our weekly wigs would be Billy. [01:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:14] Speaker C: I just feel like if I was Max, like, he better just be glad I wasn't his little sister, cuz I would have stormed out of my room and acted like I was going to open the door, and I would have have punched him in the face and [01:08:23] Speaker B: walk back in my room like, you [01:08:24] Speaker A: got drop the barbell on. [01:08:25] Speaker D: Was it all of y' all in episode one that said y' all thought his mullet was cute and like that? [01:08:30] Speaker A: I did. [01:08:30] Speaker D: Yeah. From a hairdresser perspective, they hacked up this wig or extensions. They put in his hair. The haircut. If it hadn't been executed well, it would look good. Mullets can be, like, a cute thing. I mean, I hate that they're revisiting it nowadays, but, like, in the Time era, total vibe. But his, like is disconnected on one side and it's short. Like, I. I was like, unless this motherfucker's been in here cutting it himself, which probably should, he can' go to a hairdresser. Then I was like, well, they executed that real good because it looks Jack the up. [01:08:57] Speaker B: Like, we can just. [01:08:59] Speaker A: We can just do it, Max. But yeah, Max goes into his room at night and cuts away his hair, and it's uneven and he doesn't notice. Yeah, he has no clue because he can't see the back of his head. [01:09:10] Speaker B: He's just too busy. He's just too busy lifting things up and putting them down. And his big muscles, man. Yeah, that's all he does. And also gooning to Steve Harrington. [01:09:25] Speaker D: Gooning a. No, not the Gooner. [01:09:29] Speaker B: He like, [01:09:33] Speaker D: Sarah's like, what's gooning? [01:09:35] Speaker A: No, no, no. [01:09:36] Speaker B: We learned we Learned already. [01:09:38] Speaker A: We learned. We looked it up. [01:09:39] Speaker B: We have Gen Z in our Discord server. [01:09:44] Speaker C: Loves looking up a definition. [01:09:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:50] Speaker A: All right, so Max ends up opening the door and seeing that it's Lucas. And he says that he has proof what he told her was true, but they need to go now. Max is terrified, and as she's talking to Lucas, Billy's like, oh, she's taking too long out there. And starts to approach the door, but Max runs inside. And then she tells him that there were Mormons out there, talkative ones, and then takes off. And he's suspicious. He goes and opens the door, but no one's there. Thank goodness. I'm so scared for. For poor Lucas. And then Max ends up sneaking out her window, hops onto the back of Lucas's bike, telling him that this better be good. Stalker. [01:10:22] Speaker D: Did y' all expect to see him staring out the window, seeing them leave? I thought he was gonna. Yeah, I was like, where is he? Where is he? I was like, okay, they got away. That's fine. Okay, good. [01:10:32] Speaker A: I know. I feel so maternal. Well, it was last episode. Leia was saying she's so tired of seeing Billy just act threatening. She wants him to do something. And, yeah, I like that he snapped Max's skateboard. Not for Max, but just because it gives us something. But I wish they'd maybe shown us doing that or, like, seen, like, the after effects of it, because so far, he just seems like all smoke and no fire. [01:10:54] Speaker D: So he's just angry. He's an outlashing little boy. Because of the situation we're about to hear Max talk about in a little bit, you know? [01:10:59] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you got some demons in there. [01:11:02] Speaker D: Yeah, no, I'm not saying that's an excuse. [01:11:05] Speaker B: Like. Like, literally, he needs an exorcism, I think. Think [01:11:11] Speaker A: so. At the lab, Owens is doing some tests, asks Will a bunch of questions. The doctors and Joyce observe. We see through the monitors that a bunch of suits are also watching Will's answers. Will doesn't remember who Owens is, but remembers his name and Mike's. After a few minutes, he doesn't remember Hopper either. And then Owens asks Will if he remembers anything from the night before. Will still doesn't remember anything. He just says that he remembers that they hurt him, clarifying that the soldiers hurt him and that they shouldn't have done that. It upset him. And we're like, oh, we're back to talking about yourself in the third person. That's really great. Owens pulls out a photo of Will's drawings of the Shadow Monster and asks if that is him. Will nods yes. Owen says that he wants to try something. That seems odd. They wheel in a container that has, like, a little bit of a vine inside that's kind of still moving, and they use a blowtorch. And as it gets closer to the vine, we can see that Will starts to feel really uncomfortable. And then they full on start burning the vine, and Will just starts screaming and. And they don't stop. When Joyce begs them to. In Hopper, he has several times how to interject and be like, hey, she said stop. [01:12:13] Speaker D: The point was across. Like, y' all went on way too long with this. [01:12:18] Speaker A: You made your point. We don't need to keep going here. What were they doing? [01:12:21] Speaker B: Testing. Like, I think it goes with the scene later where they. They just don't really care about. Well, ultimately, they have one mission, and they're going to do anything possible, which I thought it was really interesting. I mean, we can talk about it. When we get to that scene, I'm [01:12:36] Speaker C: just confused because I'm like, he's a kid and his mom is telling you to stop. And you. To my knowledge, you're doing this to prove one single point, not a million. And so I'm like, what it. What advantage is there for you to keep doing this? You know, like, to see what happens when the vine, there's nothing left of it, and there's just, like, it's all shriveled up, and then Will's dead. [01:13:00] Speaker B: That's their own ultimate goal, I think. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. [01:13:05] Speaker C: Because Joyce is about. Probably gonna snap everyone's neck in the room. [01:13:08] Speaker A: And Bob would help her. He'd be over there like, wow, you [01:13:11] Speaker B: girls are very kind [01:13:16] Speaker C: if I apologize to them beforehand. I'm really sorry that I have to do this. [01:13:21] Speaker A: I'm so sorry. But Joyce really has to murder you now because you hurt Will. [01:13:25] Speaker C: So. [01:13:26] Speaker A: Yeah. So outside in the hallway, Owens tells Hopper and Joyce that their best guess is that it's a virus causing a neurological disorder. And then it's attached to its host and has hijacked Will and its intelligence. We see flashbacks of Will throwing up the baby demos. Owens explains that it isn't unusual, but what is unusual is the infected host seems to be communicating. We see the flamethrowers, Will convulsing. Owen says that it has some sort of hive intelligence and it's connected to all of the hosts, including Dart. We see Will, the Shadow monster, the vines, Dart. Owen says the good news is viruses can be cured and that they will run tests and see what they can find. And Joyce is like, well, what happens when will can't remember Remember anything in the virus has taken over? And Owens obviously has no answer. And I love again how Andrew Stanton has directed this. It's shot from very far away. You're in a very claustrophobic feeling hallway. It's from a low angle, so it just. You feel small. They look small. They look very helpless. On the tracks, our favorite dynamic duo, Steve and Dustin, are walking, tossing chunks of raw meat with their bright yellow gloved hands. Steve's like, let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who you just met? Dustin's like, that's grossly oversimplifying things. And Steve's like, I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway? Which is basically verbatim what Leia has been saying this whole season. [01:14:45] Speaker B: Exactly. [01:14:46] Speaker A: Dustin's like, I'm an interdimensional slug is awesome. And Steve's like, okay, well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, I just feel like you're trying way too hard, man. Dustin's like, all right, well, not everybody can have your perfect hair. And Steve's like, well, it's not about the hair. The keys to act like you don't care. And he's like, driving drives them nuts. Then you wait until you feel it. Dustin's like. Like an electrical storm. [01:15:08] Speaker D: Clueless. [01:15:10] Speaker B: He's like, like, when the clouds do the thing with the. The air, I'm like, [01:15:18] Speaker D: oh, it's gonna rain. [01:15:23] Speaker A: So then they just start talking about Nancy. I like how Dustin refers back to Nancy, because we know that was his first. First crush. Steve says, nancy's not like other girls. Dustin's like, yeah, she seems pretty special, but this girl's special, too. And Steve's like, hang on. You're not in love, are you? Dustin's like, no, no, no. Definitely not. And Steve's like, don't. She's only going to break your heart. And you're way too young for that. It's so cute. And then he feels bad for him, so he decides to tell him all about his hair routine. Gives him the entire regiment. And Dustin's like, okay, like, practically writing it down. And then Steve's like, if you tell anyone I said this, your ass is dead. And Dustin's like, all right, Farah Fawcett. Really? And Steve's like, yeah, she's hot. And then we pan away and see they're coming up to one of those flags that Hopper and the deputies marked for rot. [01:16:09] Speaker B: And we're like, so that brand of shampoo and conditioner, is it good? Does it still exist? [01:16:16] Speaker A: Accurate. [01:16:16] Speaker C: Brandon's like, let me go back to 1985 and let you know. [01:16:20] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm not. I'm not from the. That era of doing hair at all. I've unfortunately didn't have to. Well, I wouldn't say unfortunately, fortunately, did not have to, like, deal with any of that stuff. Like, don't know if that's. I'm sure they had it, though. But I mean, like, I love it that he's primping and stuff. We've always talked about that with Steve, that he actually takes time to make himself look good and stuff. And it's not obviously, in, like, a queer coded way or anything like that. It's just like, he cares about his, like, maintenance of himself, which is refreshing. It's like putting him and Murray beside each other. You got him, like, living in this nasty, rat infested, looking like a disgusting home. And then, you know, Steve has a clean home. Along that scene, though, I was curious for you guys. I posed, like, a question because he asked, like, what type of girl is Nancy or something like that, or what type of, like, he's talking about girls. Like, they either, like, stealthy, you got to be stealthy to get to them, or they, like, aggressive, hot and heavy. And I was curious, like, out of the three of you girls, what do y' all prefer? Do y', all, like, stealthy, like, to get to y', all, or y', all, like, aggressive, hot and heavy? [01:17:14] Speaker B: I don't like, like, aggressive whatsoever. Aggressive will turn me off immediately. [01:17:20] Speaker C: I don't know. I need both. I guess that's what I raffle kind [01:17:24] Speaker D: of like, I need a little bit of a. And I don't want, like, aggressive to be that aggressive. You know what I mean? But I want somebody that's pursuing me kind of like, coming on, like, especially if it's in the moment. Like, you can be hot and heavy. Then I knew Sarah was gonna. [01:17:34] Speaker B: I think there's a time and place, like, I think. I think, like, you can't come right out of the bat like, hot and heavy, because then that's going to be like, what the hell are you doing? [01:17:44] Speaker D: No, but then apparently, though, you know, so. [01:17:48] Speaker B: But then at a certain point, it's like the stealth, okay? You've done the work with the stealth, and you have to like, yeah, I [01:17:54] Speaker A: need to know where this is going. [01:17:55] Speaker B: Like, yeah, you have to graduate. [01:17:57] Speaker C: You got to graduate. From there somewhere. So then you can, like, get aggressive. [01:18:02] Speaker A: Well, it's really funny. Just like a side tangent. When I was dating this guy in college, Andrew and I, my husband, we were friends. Andrew, he's autistic, and so sometimes he doesn't understand social cues. And so Andrew and I were just friends. But the guy that I was dating was really intimidated by Andrew because we would hang out a lot. Obviously, he had a right to worry. Now I realized he was right. But at the time, I truly didn't have feelings for Andrew, and Andrew didn't for me. Well, this guy, at one point, Andrew wanted to hang out with me and this other guy, my boyfriend. And my boyfriend wasn't happy with it. And I was like, why not? It's just friends, whatever. And so Andrew was, like, texting my boyfriend and was talking to him about it, and my boyfriend was getting, like, aggressively, like, texting him, being like, if you show up here, like, I. Blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't remember what he said. And Andrew thought he was just joking. So Andrew started texting him back, like, quotes and says, well, I'll bite your kneecaps off. Just thinking they were being funny. And my boyfriend was so. He's like, he. [01:19:00] Speaker B: He's serious. [01:19:00] Speaker A: He could have bite my kneecaps. [01:19:04] Speaker C: That terrible. [01:19:07] Speaker B: Bite your kneecaps off. Here's signs you should have used. [01:19:10] Speaker A: He was probably, like, so oblivious. [01:19:15] Speaker C: The threats out, like, what is this? [01:19:18] Speaker A: But it unnerved my boyfriend so much, who was not a good person and all and stuff. But Andrew was over there thinking, Andrew believes the best of everyone. And so he was coming in thinking, oh, he just is having fun, having. No clue. This guy was, like, genuinely terrified of Andrews. [01:19:32] Speaker D: Like, when. [01:19:33] Speaker B: But, yeah, I couldn't. [01:19:34] Speaker A: I'll never forget. Oh, I'll bite your kneecaps off. [01:19:38] Speaker B: Should have done it. Honestly. [01:19:45] Speaker C: That's a weird threat to make. It's very specific. [01:19:48] Speaker D: He's like, his comment, it was giving Hostel. [01:19:51] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:19:52] Speaker A: Literally, it was taken. Hostility, for sure. [01:19:54] Speaker C: Hannibal. [01:19:56] Speaker A: The music that's played right here with between Dustin and Steve is Lazy Boy, which is the same music that was played when Mike was earning Elle's trust in season one, which I thought was really cute. You have Dustin and Steve earning each other's dress. Stephen. Dustin's pairing was a happy accident. In an article by Vulture, Ross Duffer says, we love Joe. We fell in love with him during the making of season one, which is why we ended up writing that arc for him where he's helping save the day with Jonathan and Nancy Steve was supposed to be the jockey douchebag, and Joe was so much more than that. We knew moving into season two, we really wanted to utilize him, but we didn't actually know how to do it. We didn't know. We didn't know quite what to do with him. Sean Levy says, it pained us to see Steve so beaten down by Billy and by Nancy and by circumstance, and we couldn't let our guy spend the second half the season wallowing. That led to the Duffer's notion of pairing him with Dustin, who's also kind of keeping a secret and is about to have his heart broken in a similar love triangle. It came from a place of not wanting Joe Keery to play the sad sack beat for nine episodes. What's this scenario we can put Steve in to once again surprise us, once again step up in a way that a stereotypical character wouldn't. So originally we had talked about this earlier. They had planned for Steve and Billy to have much more of an altercation and a buildup, and especially in the second half of the season. But they pivoted, obviously, and decided to have Steve with Dustin. So according to Sean Levy, the answer about Steve's evolving role in the story came to light halfway into the writing process. The storyline of Steve in the second half of season two was completely unanticipated in the outlines for the season. That was the Duffers reacting to what they were seeing in the first couple of episodes and having the audacity to say, you know what, we have a better idea. We're going to completely change the game game plan for episodes five through nine. We thought that they could help each other get over their heartbreaks. And so Ross Duffer says, we were in the middle of writing the season and we were like, Steve and Dustin just has to happen. And they said that the minute they started writing them together. At this point, we knew the voices of the actor so well, and they just seem to work really well together. It was like two very different notes that played really nicely together, and it was one of their favorite surprises because it was never planned. Gaten Matarazzo says him and Steve are very, very different. I don't know that Dustin really wants to be like Steve or even really like Steve all that much in their first interactions. But I think they grow on each other, though. They're very different. They kind of complement each other in a way. Dustin is very book smart, but he's not exactly up to the trends like maybe Steve is. He helps Steve out with knowing, with knowledge. About what's going on. But Steve helps Dustin when it comes to girls and even being more courageous and confident. I love Joe so much. For me to get to work with him so much this season, it was amazing. He's such a great guy, and he really is a great act. He's very passionate about what he does. I look up to him in a way like that. He's kind of like a big brother to me, [01:22:42] Speaker B: and I think you can [01:22:42] Speaker A: see that on screen. Like, yeah. I think Gaten even talked about how him and the other boys used to follow Joe Curie around the set all the time, to the point where their parents were like, hey, you need to leave, Joel. [01:22:55] Speaker B: I also would follow Joe all around the set, [01:23:00] Speaker D: same. The end of that beginning. [01:23:03] Speaker B: Nope. Find me in his trailer every day. [01:23:09] Speaker A: He'd be like, oh, there she is again. [01:23:11] Speaker B: She's here again. [01:23:13] Speaker A: So back at the lab, Hopper's sending Morse code to Elle, who isn't responding because she's not there. Obviously, Hopper thinks she's still mad, so he decides to just radio her directly, telling her that he knows he's been gone too long and that he wants her to know that it's not about her or their fight, that something came up, that he'll explain it when he sees her, but he wants her to know that he's not mad mad. He's just sorry about everything. [01:23:33] Speaker B: A sensitive Hopper. [01:23:35] Speaker A: I know. He continues it says he doesn't want her to get hurt at all and he doesn't want to leave her. We pan over the empty cabin as he talks. We see all the stuff L pulls out as Hopper continues. He says, just make sure you heat up some real food, not just Eggos, and eat all the peas, even if they're mushy and gross, and that he'll be home soon. [01:23:53] Speaker B: He's her dad. [01:23:54] Speaker D: Can I just say that Giles would love those as well? [01:23:58] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [01:24:04] Speaker A: I didn't need that. Thanks, Brandon. [01:24:06] Speaker D: Well, as soon as they said mushy peas, I was like, no. And we just came off that episode recently, too, so that's so relevant for Courtney. I'm like, no. [01:24:15] Speaker C: So sad. [01:24:17] Speaker B: God damn it. [01:24:18] Speaker C: And that ends today's episode, since Brandon's made us cry. [01:24:23] Speaker A: Yeah, literally. [01:24:25] Speaker C: Now we gotta collect ourselves. [01:24:26] Speaker A: Seriously. Well, I just think the last time we saw Hopper with Elle, like, he had that moment where he's leaving the house and the door shut, and he, like, wants to say something really sweet and kind to Elle, but then he kind of, like, he does that boomer thing where he's like, no tough love. I can't, you know, can't soften myself at all. And then leaves. And I think since he's had a near death experience, he's kind of realizing, hang on, I need to redo how I have, how I approach this. I want her to know how much I care about her because ultimately that's what I really. What really matters to me. Yeah, yeah. [01:25:00] Speaker D: I forgot that there was all that time in between that that that was like he told her to clean up the house and then he left after their altercation and then he was trapped and all this other stuff like that coming off episode five, I'm just like, oh, yeah, they caught him out of the hole. Like he was like, that was the last interaction they had. And it makes that hit a little bit more too. And then obviously we know his story with his daughter and things like that too. So now he's like, oh, wait, I got to do things different a little bit this time around because not every time, obviously, clearly, but these people life and everything that's going on, it's not promised like for any of us at this point too. So his life flashing before his eyes was probably a nice wake up call for him to be like, okay, when I get back to the house, I'm going to be treating El a lot different and just sympathizing with her in a different way for her situation. [01:25:39] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. The writer basically says that of the episode, she talks about how Hopper and El are very non verbal characters and they don't really communicate verbally a lot. And so she says that it's really hard to get them both to a place where they're spilling thoughts and it's basically like a season long thing. And so getting Hopper to this place, she says, he's a cowboy, he's a man's man. You really have to work to get him here. But harbor is amazing and when you give him that stuff, you really buy it. It finally is the crack in the veneer, the terror of parenthood that I think is fundamental to his character. And I just, I so agree. This moment feels very earned. So inside the lab, the doctors are brainstorming, going over Will's brain scan, seeing how essentially his brain has changed and is he's being taken over by the shadow monster. Owens asks for a suggestion. The doctors are basically like, he's gonna die anyway, so why not just try and like burn? Like why, why don't we just go and burn and let the boy die? Which is horrifying. And I will Say to Owen's credit, because we've been kind of on the fence with him. We're not sure if he's a good guy or a bad guy. He's like, no, I don't want the boy to die. And I was like, okay, so you actually do have a moral code. And the script says that Owens is outnumbered and alone on this, and he's the only person standing between them and. And Will's death. And then in the. In his office, the script emphasizes that he looks at a photo on his desk which is of his daughter and his two granddaughters. So he's like seeing himself as like a grandfather to Will, essentially. And then in Will's room, Joyce is getting antsy with how long it's taking. And then she ignores Bob's suggestion to be patient and goes and confronts the guards at the door. And we see that Will kind of hones in on the guards guns and has flashbacks of something. And then Mike says, snaps him out of it. I will say again, there's a continued theme of Mike snapping Will out of a lot of these nightmares. And then Will tells him that he thinks he knows how to stop the shadow monster. And then we get to the junkyard. Steve, the most dad thing ever, shows up with the sunglasses and is like, oh, yeah, this will do. This will do just fine. Good call, dude. And we see Dustin just like beaming with this like, affirmation here. So cute. They dump out the rest of the raw meat. Lucas and Max show up. I know, such a dad. He's got the cleaning gloves. [01:27:54] Speaker D: Listen, that I mentioned it last time and some clipped it. No, I'm just kidding. But this is him from the video game Dead by Daylight. This is one of the outfits that they give him. And I like, used to main I main him on the game and stuff that I was like, this is a screenshot from the video game. [01:28:06] Speaker A: Oh my God, it's so accurate. [01:28:10] Speaker D: Like with the sunglasses specifically, I'm like, dude, it's about to be night time. What the are you doing? [01:28:16] Speaker B: Gotta got to protect the eyes. [01:28:19] Speaker A: So then Lucas and Max show up. Steve's like, who's that referring to Max? Dustin looks dejected because he realizes that Lucas told Max everything. And Stephen clocks and realizes, oh, this is that girl. [01:28:30] Speaker B: That's the girl. [01:28:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:28:32] Speaker B: The one thing though, like this whole, like, Max, Lucas, Dustin love triangle, like, I just don't. I just feel like Gaton is not like playing up the crush. Really? Yeah, like, I just don't really feel it. It's almost like he Feels like he has to have a crush on Max. Not that he actually does. You know, maybe that's just because we haven't seen them interact with each other as much as we've seen Lucas and Max interact with each other, but there's just, like, something missing there. Like, I get what they're trying to do, but it's just not hitting. Like, it's not really a love triangle, in my opinion. [01:29:11] Speaker C: No, I kind of agree with that. I don't think he's clear enough. And like, Lucas, I don't know. Obviously he's, like, more assertive in. In. [01:29:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:29:20] Speaker C: What he's doing. And so I think that from a girl's perspective anyway, it would be really clear to me that Lucas might have interest in me. Whereas, like, if Dustin came to me later and was like, hey, I've had a crush on you this whole time, I'd be like, like, what? What? [01:29:37] Speaker B: What? [01:29:38] Speaker C: Didn't I just meet you? You know, like, you have hardly spoken to me at all or gone out of your way. Yeah, I don't know. I don't consider it a love triangle either. But I get. Like you said, I get what they're doing there to kind of throw a potential tension. Yeah, exactly. Or to give Dustin his moment where he. He has to be, like, sad about what's happening. I don't really know. [01:30:00] Speaker B: You know, I just don't really think that Dustin has a couple crush on Max. Like, I just don't. [01:30:04] Speaker C: I think he's, like, in enthralled with her being a new person around. And of course, they have this, like, instant infatuation with, like, her when they figure out who Mad Max is. So I. I get it, but I don't. Like, you're saying it doesn't translate to me properly. Like, it's a crush as far as Dustin is concerned. Whereas, like, you have a character like Lucas who's like, hey, what the. What's up here? I am. Yeah, I'm like, well, that's really clear. I get. I appreciate that. [01:30:33] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. [01:30:35] Speaker A: I think they didn't do a good enough job with showing that the motivation for Dart for Dustin was to make an impression on Max. Also, too, like, his initial attraction to Max was the fact that she liked playing video games was. Which is something he liked. So the way that Dustin has been trying to relate to Max this entire season has been through his own interests. The costumes with Ghostbusters, which he didn't recognize that she was making fun of him for it. And then again with Dart and all of that stuff. He isn't, I think, mature enough to recognize that you have to meet someone where they're at and their interests. And don't just assume that everybody's going to like what you like. Versus Lucas, I feel like, was going out of his way to figure out what she liked. But also, to be really honest with her, Dustin just seemed to like Dart because he likes science. So that felt like a natural projection of everything that we've seen of him. But, like, yeah, I didn't feel like he was doing dart because he wanted Max, you know? [01:31:32] Speaker B: No. [01:31:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So when they brought it up, this episode, I was like, wait, hang on. I didn't know that you liked her. Like, I was confused. [01:31:40] Speaker C: But. [01:31:41] Speaker A: So we see Dustin and Lucas conferring behind a vehicle. Dustin's upset that Lucas told Max everything that he wanted to tell her, but he didn't. They all agreed to not and look for dart. And Lucas calls him out and is like, well, you conveniently found Dart. And Dustin's like, are you saying I'm lying? And I'm like, well, yeah, you are. Lucas says he has a creepy little bond with him and then is like, so you haven't heard from Mike? Like, they just, like, completely go right past that. He's like, you haven't heard from Mike, Will, or Hopper? Dustin's like, no, no one is around. Why do you think I'm with Steve Harrington? They both agree that something is wrong, which is why they need as much help as they can get. They hear Max grunting as she helps move metal and boards up against the bus. Lucas points out that she didn't believe him anyway. And then, I really appreciate this. Lucas holds out his hand to say, so, are we good? Hold up to the party rules that we saw established in season one, which is, I drew first blood, so I'm the person that needs to apologize. And before Dustin can shake his hand, Steve comes and bangs the car next to them with this metal chair and is like, hey, how come the only one helping me out is this random girl? Which is the funniest line. He's like, let's go. He's like, we're losing light in 40 minutes. Minutes. And they're both, like, following him, mumbling, like, and stupid. [01:32:57] Speaker D: You do such a good Dustin impersonation. I'm always laughing when you do his voices. [01:33:03] Speaker B: Stupid. [01:33:04] Speaker A: He reminds me a lot of my little brother David. Had a lisp when he was going on and a little stutter. [01:33:10] Speaker D: Yeah, that does not come through. Now, obviously, I've heard him a lot on the podcast on your previous one. [01:33:16] Speaker A: Yeah, right. [01:33:17] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:33:18] Speaker A: So every time I hear Dustin, I think of my brother. So at the Byers, Jonathan, Nancy, pull up. See, the papers everywhere instantly are transported back to season one. They find the empty. Or Jonathan finds the empty Polaroid cartridge on the floor and is like, hey, this isn't mine. Someone was here. I was like, worst government agents ever. The fact that they're like that. Something. No, they really don't. No accountability. So then at the lab, Will's looking through all the photos of his drawings that they laid out as a map. He's surrounded by the doctors. They're all impatient, saying they don't have time. Time Hopper shuts them down. Thank God. Finally, Will points to a place on the map and says that that's it. He knows the shadow monster doesn't want him to see there and that he thinks it's important. So now we get a montage. I love this soundtrack. It's soldiers. So good. The scientists and soldiers are suiting up with weapons to go down the tunnels. We see Steve and the kids fortifying the bus. And then we go back and forth. The soldiers going down the lift. Steve making a gasoline trail from the meat to the bus. Bus Max putting a ladder in the bus. They can get to the top of it. And then we see the soldiers heading to the tunnels and turning on body cams. And we have, like, a radar machine that is capturing where all the soldiers are in the tunnels. [01:34:28] Speaker D: That sonar machine was cool, man. I like the shots, like, you're saying too, just, like. Because you didn't expect that element to be there. So we could see all the, like, demogorgons later. Like, like, the little dots all over the screen and stuff from the, like, sonar blips. But, like, the interconnecting shots between the preparation on one side of things and then the other side of things. Like, they don't even know that this demo dog thing issue is going down. You know what I mean? So, like, there's these two separate entities taking care of the business, which I [01:34:51] Speaker A: thought Stranger Things so well. [01:34:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:34:55] Speaker A: I love it when it. When Stranger Things has separate story lines and then they all start to come together. It's so satisfying. It's the best. So in the control room, Owens and Hopper watches as scientists use Will's map to guide the soldiers through the the tunnels, saying, we'll see if the kid is a wizard or a schizo. I like that wizard. Little nod to Will, we see a radar machine going off again. And this is again an homage to aliens as well. And both scenes and aliens. In this one, they feature Paul Reiser watching the process through a monitor. This next scene right here, that's nighttime with everybody in the bus. Again, that YouTube video that I've referenced many, many times, they talk about. Talked about how in their footage, they discovered that they didn't actually take a shot from the back of the bus. And so when they were going in to put everything together, they realized they didn't have a shot. So what they. They had to do is they had to take. I don't know if you guys are familiar with a ball pass in film. And so they had a ball pass shot. So what they did is they edited out the person with the ball and then they literally cookie cuttered that. So there's one scene with, I think Lucas looking out the back of the bus in his binoculars. They added in the mist. They grabbed cars and stuff from different footage and they superimposed it all into one shot. And it's completely edited together and you would never know. [01:36:17] Speaker D: Yeah, that's pretty cool. I did not know that. [01:36:20] Speaker A: Yeah. So next time you guys look at the shot from behind the bus, it's literally. And they were talking about how hard it was because they had to pick cars that were the same. Same depth as that one specific shot. And so they had to go back and look through all their other footage and find cars and different things like that. [01:36:39] Speaker C: Oh, my God. [01:36:40] Speaker D: Put it in all that type of stuff. That's insane. And then you have to be that precise to make it fit within there. As if not something's going to be off, though. [01:36:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:36:49] Speaker A: And it fits perfectly in there. So they Frankenstein it. Essentially. Pretty cool. So in the bus, Max questions Steve about the last time he fought the demo. She still thinks that they're dogs. And then she's like, are you sure it wasn't a bear? Dustin's like, don't be an idiot. And he's like, kind of harsh with her. And Max ends up leaving and going up to the top where Lucas is at. And Steve is like, hey, good job, Dustin. Show her you don't care. And Dustin's like, I don't. And Steve's like, sure. And, like, winks at him. Dustin's like, why are you winking? Steve, stop. [01:37:17] Speaker D: He doesn't get it. [01:37:22] Speaker A: And then here's a scene we were talking about with Max and Lucas where Max really opens up, talks about how she misses California because her dad is still there, and how her mom and stepdad had wanted a fresh start. A away from him as if he was the problem and that things are just worse now and that her stepbrother has always been a dick. But now he's angry all the time and can't take it out on her mom, so he takes it out on her. She says she knows she can be a jerk like him sometimes, but that she doesn't want to be like him ever. That she's angry too, and that she's sorry she snaps out of it and is like, man, what's wrong with me? Like, you could tell. Vulnerability is really hard for her. And Lucas handles it so well. He says, you're not like you breath. Like, he hits the direct heart of everything. And he says you're cool and you're smart and totally tubular. And I like talking with you. I love them so cute much. [01:38:11] Speaker D: I like they've been using the word tubular too, because I always think back to hocus pocus. [01:38:21] Speaker A: A fun little fact that I found out. So Max calls Lucas Stalker twice. Well, it obviously has the references of when the boys were spying on her. It's also the name of the first African American soldier soldier in that time periods. GI Joe action figure. So I looked him up. He's the original Ranger and debuted in 1982. He sometimes called Sergeant Stalker on Toys. He was the first African American character in G.I. joe, a real American hero. So she's giving him a cute little nickname, too. That's in reference to, like, his little camo scarf and bandana that he wears. And the script says that they look at each other, their eyes meet, and boom, there's that electricity Steve was talking about. [01:39:05] Speaker D: Yes. [01:39:07] Speaker A: I love them. I don't ship many characters in this show, but those two I ship, so. [01:39:11] Speaker D: And I love it too, obviously, because of the biracialness of it. Like, the fact that they're, like, again, taken away from the normal side of things and just putting this in your face, like, especially for the time era, that they're supposed to be, like, presenting this within it too. I'm just like, I love the representation. Patient. [01:39:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep, I agree. So then we hear a demo roar. They all look out the bus, and Lucas sees a demo emerge from the mist and then go back in. Max is like, you sure that's not a dog? Steve's like, why isn't he taking the bait? Then makes the decision to go out there, much to Dustin's panic. Steve tosses him the lighter, tells him to get ready. Man, Steve is brave. [01:39:45] Speaker B: He's so brave. [01:39:46] Speaker A: He's so brave. [01:39:47] Speaker B: He. [01:39:47] Speaker A: He's gone up. He know, mind you, he's doing all this knowing what a Demogorgon can. Can do and what it has. Like he's fought one. [01:39:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:39:54] Speaker B: Yeah. I think that's why I also like Hopper so much because they're like just bravery in these types of shows is just like catnip to me. I'm just like, yeah, they're like protectors. [01:40:07] Speaker D: It's great. [01:40:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:40:08] Speaker D: Just seeing him walk out there too, I was just like, oh my God. Like that's just a bold move to go step out there and get ready to like take on these things. I'm like, oh my God. And then obviously with like him looking out through the thing and being like, oh, he's like cool and like that [01:40:20] Speaker A: or whatever the he said like Dustin's like, he's awesome. [01:40:24] Speaker D: Awesome. [01:40:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:40:25] Speaker D: I couldn't run it, write it down, but I was like. But I also think it's funny. Like this whole like. Cuz obviously that she's Max is still like, is that. Are you sure that's not a dog? Whatever, whatever. I was like, oh, she ain't believing right now. Like I said. Well, she about to in a second cuz. [01:40:37] Speaker A: Yeah, she's going to. [01:40:40] Speaker B: When that thing opens its mouth, the [01:40:42] Speaker A: demodog comes out of the mist. On all four wars, Lucas spots several more surrounding Steve and shouts to him. Steve realizes that there is more than one. This was giving me very like Jurassic Park. I think it was two inside of this old junkyard with like Ian Malcolm and the Velociraptors. It kind of felt like that. And then Dustin yells aboard. The demos start to lunge. Steve gets a hit in and is able to make it back to the bus, where the kids brace themselves as the demos try to break in. The script says the monsters charge Steve in unison, hurling at full speed. We think Steve is a goner for sure. But unlike everyone else in this show, Steve isn't a nerd. He's a goddamn athlete. [01:41:21] Speaker B: He was doing like parkour, like jumping on cars, like rolling around. [01:41:27] Speaker A: Jonathan could never. Jonathan could never. [01:41:30] Speaker B: Jonathan is still at the seaside. [01:41:33] Speaker A: Yeah, Jonathan. Sidewinder buyers. [01:41:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:41:36] Speaker A: So Dustin gets on the radio, is like, help. Anyone there? Mike? Will Hopper? Erica? Got anybody? [01:41:43] Speaker B: Eric? You know what? If they had Erica on their team, they would be just fine. She's not taking shit from nobody. [01:41:52] Speaker D: She'd be a damn Demogorgon. She'd be like, ah, she had a [01:41:55] Speaker B: stink ass Matthew dance in your house. [01:42:00] Speaker A: They run away with their tail between their legs. [01:42:02] Speaker B: She would drag them. She'd Be like, your breath stinks, your hair looks crusty, your skin is slimy. [01:42:11] Speaker A: All right. So Max hears one jump on the roof of the bus appear at the opening. And Steve leaps in front of Max, is what the script says, pulls his bat over his shoulder. His fiery eyes lock onto the demogorgon and starts baiting him. I was like, man, such a. Such a good guy. And then in the aftermath, they all end up leaving and Dustin notes Lucas and Max holding hands. And we're like, well, you lost that one there, Dustin. It's okay. You have dark. Oh, no, you don't have to. Never mind. [01:42:42] Speaker B: Yes, Steve. [01:42:43] Speaker A: Now I love how Dustin's like, did Steve scare the moth? He's like, clearly not. They're going somewhere. Then we cut to the tunnels. I really love how this is cut because at this point, we know what's going to happen. We can just tell. And we see the soldiers radioing to Roger, the man at the microphone, who tells them that they are almost there. They end up coming to the place where Hopper was at the bone graveyard. And Hopper recognizes it it on the screen and is like, hang on, I've been there. And then we hear growling. The soldiers report that there's a fog rolling in in Will's room. He begins to cry, says that he's sorry that he made him do it. He tells Joyce that he told her that they upset him and they shouldn't have done that. Mike clues in and is like the spy. Oh, Mike was wrong. He races out just as the scientists see several more dots ping on the radar and the Demodogs converge, take out all the soldiers, join. Joyce is begging Will to explain to her, but Will is in tears as he says it's too late. All the video monitors go blank as Hopper sees that all the soldiers are down. But now all of the demodogs are heading towards them. And then Will tells Joyce that she should go now. As Hopper races to the observation window where he can look down the hole where the lift is above the tunnels. Will tells Joyce that they are almost here. And we get a slow mo of Hopper and Owens, the other scientists watching the lift cables move, before there's a roar and a demodog emerges from the hole. No brutal cliffhangers of the season. [01:44:07] Speaker D: I was so glad they did it on the cliffhanger, though. Like, I mean, obviously back in the day we, or even till to this day, you get to roll into the next episode. So you didn't have to wait. But can you imagine if you had to wait a week to find out, like, what was then gonna occur. I don't really remember what situation's about to occur from this. There's, like, what, three more episodes left? And we don't even pick up on this on the next episode, Right. [01:44:25] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. So next episode obviously isn't about that, which I think is partially why people hate the next episode. [01:44:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:44:32] Speaker A: But the episode that picks up red after this is one of my favorites of this, the season. It is so good. It gives me Jurassic park vibes. It's really, really good. [01:44:41] Speaker D: Like, episodes, except from this moment, not episode seven episode. Okay. [01:44:45] Speaker B: Really? [01:44:45] Speaker D: I was like, okay. Well, maybe I don't see how that plays in, but okay. [01:44:52] Speaker A: You're like, I believe you, Sarah. [01:44:55] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:44:55] Speaker A: Well, I'm also very excited for episode seven, too, because I know that it was, like, the lowest rated episode for so long. [01:45:02] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:45:02] Speaker A: And people really didn't like it. So I'm curious to see how we're gonna feel about it. [01:45:07] Speaker D: And I think it's just because it fits, like, within the season, too. And then, like. Yeah, like. Like we're saying, like, it trails off of this and leaves you on a cliffhanger. And they're like, no, I want to know, like, what's going on. But that is actually kind of nice. So people did, for, like, an episode at least, even though they were getting the vengeance, they did have to take a break. Almost like it was like a week just for that 45 minutes or so. Are there only eight episodes this season? [01:45:26] Speaker A: Nine. [01:45:26] Speaker D: There's nine. Okay. [01:45:29] Speaker A: Yeah. I. I've heard some people say in their re watches, they go straight from episode six to episode eight and then watch episode seven after that, and they feel that it flows better. So I don't know. [01:45:41] Speaker D: I can see that technically it enrages them less. [01:45:45] Speaker A: Exactly. They do it with a more open mind. [01:45:48] Speaker B: That's so funny. [01:45:50] Speaker A: But, yeah, that's it. Thanks so much for joining us, you guys. This was fun. [01:45:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:45:54] Speaker C: So much fun. [01:45:55] Speaker B: This is awesome. [01:45:57] Speaker A: All right, thanks, listeners, so much. Let us know what you guys think about this episode. About the Steve and Dustin pairing, about Matt, Max, and Lucas. What do you guys think about Max opening up, but also the supposed love triangle between Dustin, Max, and Lucas? Did you guys buy into it? Did you guys think that it was a little ambiguous? Give me all your hate thoughts on Murray. I don't want to hear anybody loving on Marie. Tell me what you hate about Murray. No, there's a lot of really fun dynamics and a lot of big stuff that happens, and I hope you get you Guys, tune in for next episode because I have a feeling we're gonna have a lot of really good things to pull out of that episode, even though it's not a fan favorite. My favorite. My favorite episodes to cover are always the ones that people hate because I feel like I can always subvert their expectations. So that's me setting the bar way too high for myself. But we'll. We'll see. So, again, thank you, Brandon and Courtney. Where can we find you guys? And where can they listen to you? [01:46:55] Speaker B: And what are you guys covering? [01:46:57] Speaker A: And what are you covering? What are you. What are you doing? [01:46:59] Speaker B: What are you guys doing? [01:47:00] Speaker D: No one knows at all. [01:47:03] Speaker B: Angel. [01:47:05] Speaker D: Like, I have, like, a plug, like, in here and stuff like that. Obviously, you guys have. I'm sure we'll be linked and stuff like that. Your description and whatnot. But we are revamped to Rewatch Podcast. Me and Courtney are currently going through [01:47:16] Speaker B: Buffy, the original one. [01:47:18] Speaker D: The original. [01:47:19] Speaker B: Yes, the original. [01:47:20] Speaker D: We're covering Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel in chronological order. We're right now currently in season four of Buffy and Angel. Angel Season one. Courtney's never seen the show, so you can come over and get her, like, authentic reactions with the 2026 and future lens. Because it's gonna be a while that we're doing it. Every now and again. We'll be doing some bonus content with some, like, other horror movies and, like, other things that I like because that's my platform to do all that stuff. You can find us at Revamped Rewatch podcasts on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, all the things. Wherever you find your podcasts, come hang out. Follow us on Instagram too. I think it's like revamped Underscore Rewatch podcast. There you can stay updated with our, like, releases, watch Courtney react to episode episodes, and basically keep up with all things happening. So come listen if you need your Buffy fix. If y' all are just an Investigating angel, you can read, get a recap, and also with Prophecy Girls, because that's been doing it for me since y' all left us and went and did this. [01:48:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:48:08] Speaker B: And they just started season four. [01:48:11] Speaker A: Finished it. I ain't going back. No. Well, this was so much fun. We hope you guys all enjoy enjoyed it. Let us know your thoughts. Go follow Revamped and we will see you guys next time. 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 at Investigating angel podcast gmail.com. Sam.

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