Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to Investigating, a movie and television Rewatch podcast, where we're currently analyzing each episode of Stranger Things with no spoilers. We are your hosts, Leah and Sarah.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: And if you love Stranger Things, this is the podcast for you.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hey, guys. Welcome back to Investigating Stranger Things. Today we are talking about season two, chapter eight, the Mind Flayer, previously known as the Brain, which is really cruel.
RIP Bob the Brain. Written and directed by the Duffers. Aired October 27, 2017 and today, our guest of the week is Robbie. Welcome, Robbie.
[00:01:04] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:01:08] Speaker A: Believe it or not, we actually do not have him hostage in the studio. He is here. Not against his will. We're not.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: We're not covering his mouth.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: He did actually want to come. I promise he was not coerced under any situation.
[00:01:27] Speaker C: I'm not sure what happened to my voice. Just saying hello.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: I just totally shocked you by that. That introduction. I know you're. I know you're surprised to be on the podcast.
Yeah, No, I was trying to. I was trying to think. Do you remember the last time you were on the podcast for when we were talking about Angel? Was it season four?
[00:01:50] Speaker C: The last one that I did was that stupid episode where Cordelia takes the baby to the middle of the demon nest thing with the Skinner as a provider.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: No, not that person episode. Leia clocked that one immediately.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: That's funny. I hate that episode so much.
[00:02:14] Speaker C: She's amazing. She takes a baby to a dangerous place.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: It's because she's a warrior. Anyway, didn't you come on for season four at all?
[00:02:26] Speaker C: Why do I feel like, oh, oh, I did Jasmine. We did Jasmine.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: You were here for. Yeah, one of the Jasmines.
[00:02:35] Speaker C: I blocked that out, obviously.
[00:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah, so did we, apparently.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Yeah. It was like the first Jasmine episode. I'm pretty sure when she first. Like, the first episode where she's born, and she's like, there. I think that's the way.
[00:02:47] Speaker C: I think we were merging at that. Weren't you guys doing, like, two episodes at a time at that point?
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Yes. Yes.
[00:02:54] Speaker C: Yeah. Because actually, yes. Because I remember when they drive away from Wesley or someone's throat being slit, I was like, they should have just reversed the car and like, ra.
Yeah.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: Amazing.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Well, cut out half their storylines for season five.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: Seriously.
[00:03:17] Speaker C: Look, they came back swinging with season five. I have to say, after two slogs of a. Season five was amazing.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. Well, that makes sense because I was thinking, I was like, season three would have been a really long time.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: And I feel like you had been on sooner than that. But, yeah, that makes sense. So you came up with season four. Yeah, but now we're on Stranger Things. And, Robbie, tell us about your history with Stranger Things, because you have not seen the entire show, correct?
[00:03:47] Speaker C: No. So I've been watching it. It's actually forced me to watch it with the both of you on the podcast.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: Forced you to watch the show?
[00:03:57] Speaker C: I tried to watch it a couple of times just because it's such a big, like, phenomenon. I really had a lot of trouble getting past those first, like, I'd say, like, four episodes. I feel like I've watched the first four, like, a few times at different intervals, and then I've never been able to get, like, past that point.
I don't know why.
Objectively, it's, like, interesting and all of that kind of stuff. I just couldn't, like, commit.
But I'm committed now, and it's actually a really good show.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: We forced you.
[00:04:27] Speaker C: And I love Known a Rider, so I think that's why I always am, like, I should watch that show. But I actually learned to really like the kid characters as well. I find kids annoying in film. I'm sorry.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: No, it's okay. They have to be good actors, and very. Yeah, like, more often than not, they're just not believable, and it kind of pulls you out. Yeah. But I feel like these actors are very, very good. Okay, so what are you thinking of season two, then? Have you found it to be just as hard to get into a season one? Do you like it better or is it the same or is it worse?
[00:04:56] Speaker C: I think the show is get, like, gets better as it goes on. But I. I do think season two has been a little bit inconsistent. Although, having said that, because, like, it was the episode set. The episode before this one was like,
[00:05:12] Speaker A: yeah, the lost Sister.
[00:05:13] Speaker C: And it's like, oh, my.
But then this one was amazing. This is the best episode I've seen. Yeah, yeah, it was great. It was like. I like it when characters are all, like, trapped together somewhere, and then they've all got to work together to, like, kind of, like, there's something out there. And it had, like, really good character moments and a bit of a, like, Night of the Living Dead kind of vibe to it, like, you know, being trapped in the house. And I also really enjoyed that they.
They wanted to mask the house so that he didn't, like, recognize. I thought that was funny. Just putting the tin foil on that.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The shed.
[00:05:58] Speaker C: Yeah, I thought that was funny.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, Leia and I were texting earlier, when she was watching it, too, and both of us were talking about how we think this might be the best episode of the series so far.
I've always remembered. I have a hard time, as the show goes on, remembering specific episodes because they all kind of just start to blur together. There's not anything very specific that differentiates them.
There's a few, obviously, that stand out, but this is one of those episodes I always remember because it feels like Jurassic park to me. It's got a lot of that Jurassic park vibe of them hiding in the kitchen or, like, them going through the, like, even. Even bits of the previous. Well, not the previous episode, but episode six. Six, when they're in the junkyard, too. That felt almost Jurassic Park. But I just love, like, we were talking about how this reminds us of Apocalypse Now. Ish in angel, when the beast is taking over Wolfram and Hart and walking through and killing all the employees, and Connor has to hide. And I think both of us, we. I just. I really love the thrill of something chasing everybody in an enclosed space.
But, yeah, this episode also had a lot of other things and aspects to it apart from that, which even just, like, elevates it from further.
[00:07:13] Speaker C: But the Jurassic park comparison was good, though. That's so true. I didn't even think about that. Like, him going down to the computer and turning everything back on.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: It's so. Yeah, it's completely. And the duffers even said that they took inspiration from that. I mean, it's. It's clear as day, but. Yeah. Leia, what'd you think of it?
[00:07:31] Speaker B: Yeah, this is definitely, I think, my favorite episode that we've watched so far, like, since season one, just in general.
I just. Yeah, I thought it was really exciting.
I really liked the stuff they did with Billie. Like, that was kind of surprising.
I wasn't. I genuinely wasn't expecting the stuff that they did with Billie, obviously, like, the whole group's together. Like, the anticipation of all of them. Like, because they've all kind of been separate so far. Like, they haven't really come together. So it's been like Nancy and Jonathan and, like, Steve and the kids and Joyce and Hopper and, like, Will and whatever. And now they all came together. Yeah, Mike. Who gives a fuck?
So, yeah, it was exciting. And then obviously, like, I think the whole thing that, you know, with Bob dying, I think that was sad.
It was very sad. But I feel like it's just, like, raised the stakes, and I really like that. And then, obviously, they're reunited with Elle at the very end so there's just a lot that happens in this episode, and it never feels like any character is, like, left behind.
It feels like they all have something to do, which I really love because I feel like some of the characters have been kind of, I don't know, like, passive this past season a little bit. Like, we haven't really had a lot to do, but this episode kind of brought everything to a head. Yeah. I mean, Mike.
Mike.
Yeah. Great episode.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Yeah. I think the way they blended all of the dialogue and all of the individual personalities, especially when they're explaining the aspects of the Mind Flayer and everything in the house. Just the way, like, Steve's completely clueless, has no clue what's going on. Max is trying to keep up as well, but she understands a little bit more than he does because she's slightly nerdier. Then you have the dynamic with Hopper and Joyce. Like, I just think each person's individual voice came out, and that's really, really hard to do when your cast is this big. And it's also really, really hard to do in the first episode where everybody's all together.
And then obviously, Elle coming back too. We're just like, oh, thank God. She's been so separated this entire season, and it's just time, but.
[00:09:53] Speaker C: Oh, at the end.
[00:09:54] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. This episode was also very spooky, and I really like that.
[00:09:59] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. The fog and the, like. I always like a good kind of Stephen King ish, sort of like flashlights in the night kind of thing.
[00:10:08] Speaker B: Yes. That was definitely, like, the brilliant wolf pack.
Oh, my God. Oh, wow. Okay.
[00:10:16] Speaker A: Robbie's just rage baiting Leia at this point. I can just see it in your eyes. You're, like, waiting for that reaction.
Yeah, no, really, really great episode. And I feel like there's a lot to discuss, too. There's a lot of, like, interpersonal dynamics that are happen and, like, continuing on. So, yeah, lots to talk about. Okay, let's jump in and then we can discuss it further. So this episode actually won an Emmy for Outstanding sound editing for a comedy or drama series, which I feel like it completely deserved. The title refers to a species, obviously a very powerful creature. In Dungeons and Dragons, the Mind Flayer comes from the same mythos as Cthulhu, and they're tentacled faced beings who can suck the minds out of their victims as a form of sustenance.
Matt Duffer says, we came up with the creature, and it was always called the Shadow Monster. Then we were like, we need to come up with a Proper name for this thing. When we were going through the Dungeons and Dragons manual, I found this creature I'd forgotten about called the Mind Flayer. It was so close to the idea of our shadow monster was eerily the same. We were like, well, we've got our name. It's a weird ass name, but the Mind Flayer it is. Ross Duffer says it has nothing to do with the shape or the way it looks or the particles, but the fact that it moves from dimension to dimension, infecting the minds of others in order to control them and spread itself. I can't remember everything, El, but it's everything that we were talking about with our shadow monster. I don't think anyone will believe us. They're going to think we just day one look through the Dungeons and Dragon manual. I don't know why we didn't, but we did not. We were all a bit stunned in the room when we found it because we were like, that would have saved us time if we just seen this two months ago. So I say all of this because there is this purveying myth that the Duffers plan everything and also that the Duffers, I mean, I, I'm going to get so much hate for this. But Conformity Gate and all that stuff that came with season five where people believe that there's an extra episode, and then all of the, the research and analysis people were going into about what was going to happen with season five and stuff, I think it's really fun to do that, but I think we often forget who we're dealing with here, that often these showrunners and these writers are just kind of throwing things in there. And often we'll go back to Dungeons and Dragons, go, oh, that actually works really well with what we're doing. And because there was a lot of speculation there was going to be certain characters that were going to come back season five, and then people were really diving into the Dungeons and Dragons mythos. And I think the Duffers have been saying since the beginning that they just are not as aware of all of that stuff like we are. And so I think it just.
Yeah, because you guys have been hearing that Conformity Gate is coming back up, right? People think that on July 1st there's going to be another episode. Like, people are not letting it go. They think that it's. It's coming back.
[00:12:58] Speaker C: So like an animated series now?
No.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: Do you not know what Conformity Gate is, Robb?
[00:13:07] Speaker B: But I know it's mass hallucination.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: It's a mass psychosis. When season five came out, people were not happy with the finale. So much so that they basically came up with Easter eggs based upon things the Duffers had said, things within the show. And all believed that there was going to be a bonus finale that wasn't the real finale. The actual finale was going to come out, and they had different dates that they would point to. Like, people were doing full on, like.
Like, conspiracy, like, videos and stuff. It's still out today. And so they had. It was like the Rapture. They're like, jesus is gonna come back this day. And it happened, like, two or three times and it never happened. And then it kind of fizzled out a little bit. Well, it's starting to buzz back up because I believe there is a new Stranger Things ride that is coming to, I think, Universal Studio or something. And so. And then the Duffers have been giving new interviews, and then there's been posters going up around la. And so people are like, conformity Gain. So, like, there's. There's whole. On videos out there with people splicing together Easter eggs, in their opinion, for Conformity Gate.
[00:14:14] Speaker B: So mass psychosis.
[00:14:15] Speaker C: There is a bonus episode that's coming out. I actually have insider information about this. They're all gonna get proper haircuts, and then the show will end.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: Oh, God, Robbie. Someone's just gonna splice out the. I have insider information. Be like, yeah, but it's like sometimes the curtains are just blue. And I know this is so ironic with me saying that people out there going, sarah, but sometimes, though, these writers are just writing something because they think it's cool, not because they have some, like, grandiose plan.
And I. I think it's. It's okay to be okay with that.
[00:14:50] Speaker C: Anyway, sometimes they're winging it. Sometimes they just make. They have a spine that they kind of know where they're going, but they don't know how they're gonna get there.
[00:14:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
[00:15:01] Speaker B: Pretty much.
[00:15:01] Speaker A: And that's okay, too, you know, Sometimes
[00:15:04] Speaker C: it makes great television.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
So, obviously, Sean Astin makes his final on screen appearance in this episode.
I'll talk more about all of that decision making once we get to his death. But apparently the Duffer brothers experienced much difficulty in writing the episode because it featured his death, and he was their favorite character. They liked his performance and they didn't want him gone. He was originally supposed to be killed off in episode four by Will, but they kept putting it off and putting off, and eventually we're like, okay, like, he needs to. He Needs to die. It's the right thing to do by Will originally. Yeah, that's very dark.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:47] Speaker C: Yeah, I just was like, what?
[00:15:49] Speaker A: Yeah, if we wouldn't have gotten that really, you know, in a sweet, endearing and slightly creepy car speech about easy peasy, you know, Mr. Whatever his name is.
And then, of course, like, I was talking about this whole episode, and Escape from the Lab with Paul Reiser is very much Jurassic Park. The Duffers have said it's not 80s, but they were kind of branching out and decided, you know, Steven Spielberg is very prevalent in the 80s, so basically it's an homage to him. So in their minds, it still counts. But, yeah, this is completely Jurassic park coded. Everything to the talking over, the radios, guiding you through, having to go. It's like Laura Dern having to go down and, you know, pump up the levers and press the buttons and stuff. And I'm a huge Jurassic park nerd, so.
And then Robbie. I don't. I don't think we've gotten to this point in releasing our episodes, but we've started a new thing where at the end of the introduction, we talk about Reddit comments. We go back. I go back to. I say we. It's just me. I go back to Reddit, which I know can be dangerous and harrowing, and I find the comments or I find the thread that people were commenting on when the show was first coming out. So people have only seen up to then. And I like to get kind of a temperature check set and a gauge for how people were thinking, like, as they're watching through. And sometimes they're just really, really funny. So these are the. These are the cream of the crop that I found.
First one is so much phone violence in the buyer's household. And then someone else says, yeah, who the keeps calling?
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:22] Speaker A: And then someone else says, so many people feeling so bad for Bob. I knew he was gone the moment he started talking about Maine. Never make plans, Bob. That's when they kill you.
[00:17:31] Speaker B: Yeah, for real.
[00:17:34] Speaker A: And then someone else said, I don't know, guys, maybe he made it. And then someone else commented and said, my thought process for this episode. Dog just stabbed him a bit. My boy Hopper's gonna save Bob. Oh, there are a few more of them, but Jim's gonna kill them quick and get back to the.
Get. Get back to Bob. Okay, Policeman is turning around. Wonder how Bob is going to survive.
Justice for Bob.
And then someone else says, bob, Barb and Benny, if your nickname starts with a B in this universe, you're Screwed. Will is lucky he isn't called Bill.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: Yeah, Will's just possessed, that's all.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: He's only possessed.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: He's only possessed.
A fate worse than death.
Wow. What did I just say? A fate worse than death.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: My favorite one is some things bug me because they're so unrealistic. There's bodies laying around upstairs with one visible scratch on them, and the Demogorgons don't even bother with them, but they all decide to fe on Samwise together. You idiots should go finish off your scraps first. And then the top comment was fat, juicy hobbies.
[00:18:39] Speaker B: That's so mean.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Have you seen. I. I think I've asked you this. Have you seen Lord of the Rings?
[00:18:46] Speaker B: No.
[00:18:47] Speaker A: All right, well, it's a commitment.
[00:18:49] Speaker C: It's like three three hour movies.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: That's so good.
I'm. I'm definitely not down for that.
Definitely not.
[00:18:59] Speaker C: They don't feel like hours.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: It's not quickly. I don't think that's. It's my thing, to be honest.
[00:19:06] Speaker A: It's everyone's thing. Lord of the Rings is everyone's saying, I disagree.
So.
[00:19:13] Speaker C: Good.
[00:19:14] Speaker A: Anyway, all right, with that, let's jump into it. So we are right back, thank God, to where we were at before, when we were rudely interrupted for an entire episode.
We hear the roaring of the Demogorgons. We're back in the lab hopper staring at the glass. We see the Demogorgons coming up the side, and Owens and Brenner back away as the demo starts to put its legs up on the glass and then begins to completely body slam the glass. I'm sorry.
I don't care if someone says, oh, it's strong. It won't break. I'm already out of the room. The door is shut behind me. I actually might be in the car, might be in the parking lot at this point.
[00:19:54] Speaker B: Like, yeah, I mean, these are super powered creatures.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: Of course they're gonna break through. Even just one. If he slams it enough times, you're a goner. Yeah.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: So then the demo calls for reinforcements. We have dozens more swarming the area. Then they start hitting glass. We see it, spider webbing. And then that's when Hopper was like, you sure about that? And then Owens now presses the alarm button, begins to blare through the lab. In the hospital, Mike realizes that they're too late, tells Joyce and Bob that they're under attack.
Back in the control room, the scientists in the hopper evacuating. We see the demos just hammering away at the glass. Hopper shuts the Metal door. Just as the demos break through the glass. Guess we're like, okay. In the lab, we see Owen's directing Hopper away from the elevator and to the stairs, which is super lucky, because, guys, we have seen this now two, three times where people go in the elevator and Amelia get chomped on. And of course, that's what happens. Immediately Owens is like, hang on, hang on. Main characters take the stairs over here. And then in Will's room, Mike pulls out a syringe and is like, we need to make Will sleep. I was like, hang on. This is the most character development Mike has had all season long. Is he actually gonna stab Will right now? But no, alas, he didn't. I was a little disappointed.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Oh, I was a little disappointed.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: I was like, o is m gonna stab? Well, because he's just not really done much this season, and I thought it would be interesting for him to been
[00:21:16] Speaker B: a little mopey this season.
It's that damn haircut.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: Have you ever seen the Internet troll Uma Compton?
[00:21:26] Speaker B: No.
[00:21:26] Speaker C: No.
So I follow her on Instagram. She's been around since, like, I don't know, since, like, 2016 or something. She originally got famous because she did a tweet where she was like, I was treated so poorly by stewardess on this airline and tag the airline. And they were like, oh, my God, like, can you give us more information? And then she put up a picture of Britney Spears in Toxic and said, this is.
She steals the photos of this Russian woman called Napoli.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Steals them.
[00:22:01] Speaker C: Yeah. And she's got Will's haircut.
[00:22:03] Speaker A: I'll show you the bowl cut.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: That's so funny.
[00:22:07] Speaker A: Mike's hair is only marginally better. It's because it's slightly wavy, and so it's not super straight, so it doesn't look like a monk. You know, super cut special.
[00:22:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Their moms all took them to this one place, this one lady who's in her 60s who can cut their hair. Yeah, it's so funny. And that haircut actually came back in the 2000s for a bree in the late 90s 2000s for a brief time, and then eventually morphed into what we now know affectionately as the Bieber.
[00:22:38] Speaker B: So, yeah, had the haircut too, at some point.
Yeah, Pretty sure.
[00:22:44] Speaker A: Yep. I think I had a variation of that haircut at one point. My mom. I had super thick hair, and my mom didn't know what to do with it, so she kept cutting me bangs, and they kept getting thicker and thicker, and it would merge into. I'll show a Picture, guys. I'll put it on Instagram.
[00:22:57] Speaker C: It's.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: It's pretty great. It's like me. And I was also blind because I had to wear glasses that I couldn't see. And then this is back before they were able to do anti glare. So they made me take my glasses off for these pictures. And so my eyes were always cross eyed and I was struggling to focus.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: And then my mom would put these ginormous bows in my hair sometimes that were bigger than my head.
[00:23:19] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: I'll post some pictures. They're pretty great.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: What did you do to your mom?
[00:23:26] Speaker A: Nothing. My mom was just too cheap to take me somewhere to cut my hair, so she always cut my hair. And I always wanted to grow my hair out and have it be super long and luscious. And my mom would be like, let me just give you a trim. And I'd always cry because I KNEW that meant 5 inches was gonna be gone.
I have trauma. Don't ask me about it. Now I'm. Now I'm like, I'm going to a professional. None of this super cut stuff. Anyway.
I feel better now, lighter, getting all that trauma.
Where are we? Oh, yes. Death scream.
So in the hallways outside, the soldiers approach the elevator that's just come up. They see the demos eating the bodies of the scientists. They open fire. And then Bob, Mike and Joyce here. And I love how Bob, innocent, pure Bob is like, those are gunshots. We're like, yes, Bob, this is a military organization.
Will still yelling. And Joyce is like, okay, Will, do you know who I am? And let me just say, no snap going off.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: He's like. He's like.
[00:24:24] Speaker A: Like they're. It just doesn't sound like Will screaming. It. It sounds like. Like a. He's actually possessed. So Joyce is like, okay, tell me, do you know who I am? And he has to, like, stare at her for a minute. And I love the way Winona did this, because my gut instinct, I think if I was to do this, would be like, hold him down. But the way she does it, there's a. Like, her voice breaks a little bit. Like there's a sadness there of like, realizing what she has to do. And I just felt like it was very vulnerable and I really. I really liked that.
[00:24:54] Speaker C: She's such a good actress. She's so underrated.
[00:24:57] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. She has a vulnerability to everything she does that I just really appreciate. So then they hold him down and then she sedates him. And then Hopper and Owens come in and see what has happened. But there's no time to respond before they hear the demos trying to break down the doors. In the hallway, Hopper grabs an unconscious Will, and the others follow him. They head to the security room and barricade the door. And Bob's just staring in shock at the carnage and all the video screens. And the group realizes that they're trapped just as the power goes. Goes completely out. And then we zoom out, and we see the lab from outside as every light shuts off and we hear the demos roar. And I'm like, my kind of episode.
[00:25:36] Speaker C: And then Maggie Walsh walks through the room.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: Oh, no.
Follows her.
[00:25:44] Speaker C: I need to watch everything that's going on.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: She's like, oh, nobody's banging. Darn, this is boring. Boring.
See some demos getting it on. All right, so then at the.
Sorry, I'm unhinged today.
[00:26:01] Speaker C: I don't have the CGI budget for that.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: They are. They're like, well, I mean, this is technically maybe kind of sort of a kids show. We can only show death, destruction, and blood.
No. No sex, even if it's demo sex. All right, so now we're at the Mayfield slash Hargrove house, and this is the first time we've seen Billy and Max's parents, which instantly, I'm, like, locked in. Okay, who are these people? Where have they been? And apparently they've been gone all week for some reason. I don't know why. And Billy and Max have been home alone. They pull in, and Max's mom realizes that Max is gone, Sees, like, the door or the window open in her room.
We hear Billy's music blaring really loudly in his room. The Four Horsemen by Metallica, because, you know, of course. And so Billy's unaware that the parents are back, and he's preening in front of the mirror, smoking a cigarette, probably dreaming of Steve as he puts Cologne. Does he put cologne in his junk?
[00:27:03] Speaker C: Yes. I was like, what the.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: I was like, okay, thank you. I had to go back. And then I still wasn't sure I'd seen what I had seen.
[00:27:12] Speaker C: But I. Yeah, I.
One. I think.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: Think.
[00:27:17] Speaker C: I think you're like, you're not gonna get lucky, dude.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. Some of us are allergic to hot, heavy scents. Okay.
[00:27:26] Speaker C: And I was kind of like, what? Do you not. You not have a shower before a date?
[00:27:31] Speaker B: No. That's what he smells like. Cigarettes and cheap cologne and, like, hairspray.
[00:27:37] Speaker C: It reminded me of where, like, the Situation used to spray the deodorant down his pants. And I'd Be like, just have a shower. You crazy.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: I know he's doing that because he thinks he's gonna get lucky.
[00:27:52] Speaker C: And I'm like, stranger things. So.
[00:27:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: Yeah, this might be the stranger things.
[00:27:59] Speaker C: There are.
[00:28:01] Speaker B: There have been.
[00:28:01] Speaker C: Upside down.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: Yeah. Disgusting. He looks nasty.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: He does look nasty. When his hair doesn't move. Did you see? He, like, hair sprays it, and then it's like, literally, like the whole. He moves one lock of hair, and the whole hair moves because it's just a helmet at this point.
[00:28:19] Speaker B: I just genuinely. Like, I know people love characters like this that are, like, cocky and, like, you know, they're hot and they, like, you know, they're kind of gross in a way, but they have so much confidence. And I just see that, and I'm like, ooh. Like, yeah.
[00:28:35] Speaker C: I actually was rooting for the abusive dad. I was like, yeah, like, knock him.
[00:28:41] Speaker B: Somebody has to fucking tell him.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: That's so funny. Ravi.
[00:28:49] Speaker B: Knock him the out.
Like, don't. Don't let him anywhere near any woman or girl with the freaking cologne on his dick. Like, yeah.
[00:28:59] Speaker C: You're, like, always a crime, guys.
[00:29:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Sometimes your children do need to be hit.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: I just feel this is a situation of, like, which came first, the egg or the chicken?
No, like.
Like, is Billy a piece of shit because of his dad, or is Billy's dad a piece of shit? Because of Billy being a piece of
[00:29:24] Speaker A: shit, his dad is on his last straw. His dad is actually really great and has been taking a gentle parenting approach this entire time.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: And he's like, I can't just deal with this asshole anymore.
[00:29:34] Speaker C: He's like, did my son just put fucking perfume on his dick?
[00:29:41] Speaker B: He's like, I've reached my wit's end. I need to do something drastic.
[00:29:45] Speaker A: He saw the lights going out at the lab and heard roars and was like, hey, maybe go check out your sister in the vicinity of the lab. Oh, my God.
Maybe you won't come home.
[00:29:56] Speaker C: That scene felt a little bit out of place. Just to say, comparing it to everything else that's going on.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: I feel like they're setting up that he's gonna, like, join them the next episode or something. Like, Billy's gonna end up finding Matt, and then something's gonna happen. He's gonna save somebody, and we're all gonna be like, aw, Billy, you're just such a nice guy now.
[00:30:17] Speaker A: He's only mean because his daddy hit him.
[00:30:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
Robbie's like, no, next death, Billy.
[00:30:28] Speaker A: It starts with a B, guys.
[00:30:30] Speaker C: He's on.
[00:30:31] Speaker A: Yeah, it's on the list.
[00:30:33] Speaker B: Damn.
And he's also not a main character. He's like a brand new side character.
[00:30:39] Speaker A: So yeah, yeah, that seems to be the trajectory.
One can only hope. So he's smiling at himself at the mirror when Susan knocks and he immediately dismisses her. Then we hear Neil, his dad, yelling for him to open the door. His smile instantly vanishes from his face and we actually see like some new emotions we've not seen before. He opens the door, asks what's wrong? They're like, you tell us. Yeah, fear. He's like, because I don't know. And they tell him that they can't find Max, that her window is open. Billy says he doesn't know where she is and dismisses aggressively walks away and says she probably just went to the arcade and that she's fine. Neil hears this and you can see the rage as he smooths his mustache and he follows after Billy, saying that he was supposed to watch her. And Billy pulls on a jacket and he's like, well, you guys were three hours late and I have a date and I'm sorry, I've been watching her all week long. And Neil is like, so that's why you've been staring at yourself in the mirror instead of you watching your sister? Except he uses a homophobic slurp.
And Billy says he's been looking after her all week. If she wants to run off, then that's her problem. All right. And I'm like, interesting too. Also, Dacre Montgomery, again, Billy, horrible person. Dacre Montgomery, fantastic actor. His voice gets higher pitch as he's talking to his dad. Which I, I love that because this entire season it's been this really low, rough, like scary, domineering tone. And now it's very high pitched. And I don't know, it's just all these little details that add that, like helping me buy the dynamic between these two.
[00:32:12] Speaker C: That's like a trigger for him. So it gets his adrenaline going and everything and. Yeah, yeah. Interesting little acting choices.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:32:21] Speaker C: Well.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: And it's also something that I pointed out, I think a couple episodes ago, that Max did the same thing towards him. So it's interesting how they're showing the cycle being repeated, but also that's a natural response that you have when you're in a situation where someone is threatening you and domineering over you. You typically try to make yourself feel. Feel smaller or if you soften your
[00:32:40] Speaker C: voice and that's like you're potentially diffusing the threat.
[00:32:44] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:32:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:45] Speaker A: But it's also kind of backfiring against Billy because then his dad is referring to him as in these, as these slurs. But then also kind of even in the 80s, toxic masculine way of being like, you're acting like a woman, you're acting feminine because you're all of these things. Which is the opposite of how Billy has been presenting himself. Which adds another layer to, to what we're seeing of Billy.
So then Neil just like gets triggered, lunges after Billy, shoves him up against the wall, stares him down, is like, what did we talk about? Then he hits him, reiterates himself while Susan is flinching. The hit was really interesting. It's hard to tell, but it looked like an open handed slap, not necessarily a punch, which I feel like is even more emasculating versus like a punch.
And then Billy responds. We see the fear, the anger, the loathing, all of it. And then he spits out, you know, respect and responsibility. And then breaking eye contact, Neil tells Billy to apologize.
Billy does, glaring at Neil. And then Susan just looks uncomfortable and is like, it's okay, Neil. And then Neil's like, nothing about his behavior is okay. And then says that he's gonna call whatever he's seeing tonight. We're like, oh, I see where the language comes from. Cancel their date. And then he's going to go find his sister, like the good, kind respecting brother that he is. And then he ends up leaving, well after screaming it in Billy's face. And then Billy just kind of like looks shaken up and broken as he says, yes sir. And they leave.
[00:34:11] Speaker B: Then he cries.
[00:34:13] Speaker A: Yeah, he cries.
[00:34:15] Speaker B: Yeah. This is a crazy scene, especially when
[00:34:17] Speaker C: you consider like everything else is Jurassic Park.
It's like Lifetime original movie moment, like right in the middle of the episode or start of the episode.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: I think this is like another. I don't know if they did this on purpose or not, but. But it's kind of another example of like his parents are entrusting their responsibility on him to like look out for his sister. And they seem to be kind of like not present because this is the first time we meet them. So it's kind of the same thing. Kind of Jonathan like a parentified, like teenager where they're in charge of somebody that's younger than them, that's their sibling. And you know, we see Jonathan not really seeing it as a burden. And he goes out of his way to be kind to Will no matter how frustrated he is, no matter how, you know, his own life, like suffers because he has to look out for Will all the time. And then you have Billy, who's, like, obviously experiencing abuse from his dad, and he's really afraid of him, and it's crazy to see such a aggressive person be, like, kind of put down by his dad. Like, he doesn't fight back. He doesn't say anything back. He just kind of takes it.
And I. I'm interested to see if there's going to be, like, more to this. Obviously, I mean, we can already assume a lot from this one interaction, but, yeah, it's just.
It was wild to see him in this. And I like this. Like, this is. I don't feel like the show's asking us to feel like they're asking us to feel sorry for Billy, but at the same time, it's like he. He's still.
Like, his behavior isn't justified because of the way his dad treats him. He's just repeating the cycles of abuse. And being the way that he is isn't a valid.
The way that he grew up or his relationship with his dad isn't a valid reason for why he treats other people horribly, especially Max, who's 13 years old. And none of this is her fault. Fault. Right. So.
[00:36:25] Speaker C: But that's what's interesting about it. Like, two things can be true at the same time. You do feel empathetic towards him to a point, because obviously his father's horrible, but he's horrible.
[00:36:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:36] Speaker C: And they're not asking you to be like, oh, it's all right that he does all this horrible stuff. I like. I like that. They're just. They're just kind of giving you a reasoning. They're not telling you to wash it away.
They're just like, this is. This is why.
Which is very. Like, in a show like this, that's a very, like, grounded in reality kind of moment.
[00:36:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, let's contrast it with another character that's also been abused, Elle.
You know, especially after the episode previously where she had the opportunity to kill someone and chooses not to. You know, Like, I just think it is. We're all.
All victims of victims. You know, like, everyone starts out innocent, even abusers, and then eventually become abusers themselves. Like, it.
And it. And it's a tricky. It's a tricky, tricky thing to go, okay, well, at what point does the line get crossed, you know, and it becomes like, you. It's no longer a. Oh, I'm this way because my parents. These are the own choice. These are the choices that you're starting to make, too, you know, so it's just. It's a very complex and tricky thing.
And I. I hope the show explores this more because I think this is really, really interesting, and it adds a layer to Billie that we didn't have previously.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: I think what this is. What I'm. What I'm gathering from this, or what I feel like this is gonna lead to is it's going to.
I feel like they're setting up Billy to, like, find them, find the other people, like Max and all of them and kind of figure out what's happening. And I feel like this is showing us that Billy, he doesn't actually hate Max in a way. Like, the way that he treats Max is him lashing out about the way his dad treats him, which, again, it's not right to do that. But I feel like this is going.
I don't know if this is true. I don't remember. But I feel like this is going to make it so that when something happens between him and Max, it won't seem like it's out of nowhere.
He's gonna have a softness towards her in like. Like a life or death situation, maybe. And it's going to be like, oh, okay. Like, he. He doesn't actually hate her. He's just, you know, up in his own way and taking it out on her, which is, again, not okay. Yeah.
[00:38:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
So Dacre Montgomery actually lobbied the Duffers for a scene between Billy and his father, Neil Hargrove, saying that I can't just play bad because nobody. Somebody's just bad. Billy's anger ends up being obviously clarified when we have this and there's an interview with Hollywood Reporter. He's asked about this dynamic. He says that this episode or this scene was crucial to his understanding of Billy and to also the audience. He says, I was shooting episode six, and I hadn't read what was in episodes eight and nine yet. And I said to Matt and Ross, duffer boys, the audience needs something to care about and Billy to humanize Billy to see why he is the way he is. So he's not just angry all the way through. When they were shooting episode, I had gotten episodes eight and nine, and they had written me this scene. I thought it was amazing. It gives the audience a chance to really see Billy. That's the biggest response I've had. People messaging me going, I have this relationship with my dad. This humanized Billy. It made me see him in a light where he's not just an angry bully. The actor who plays my dad, Will Chase, was the most incredible actor I've ever worked with. Broadway Background. Sort of making his first debut here on screen. He was just amazing. He captivated the whole room we were shooting in. I think he captivates the screen. It's executed perfectly. That's the dynamic within Billy the monster and the even bigger monster that lurks at home in his father. I've mentioned in previous interviews that I was bullied in high school. I always thought the bullies in school were these higher beings or these unstoppable forces of nature. But coming from their side of the lens and approaching this character, I came to realize they were probably just as insecure as I was in school, just in a different way. I don't think this character lurked within me. It was someone I was able to conjure up with the help of the duffers. But there are insecure qualities that lurk within all of us, I think. And how does that come. Does it come out through anger and aggression? Does it come out as a mask for that anger and aggression? What is it really? Delving into the human psyche and the trickle down effect with his father and how that affects him and his fear of emasculation with the other males in his life, like Steve Harrington and Lucas. My mom's a psychologist and so is my grandfather. I chatted with them a lot. And I also looked at a lot of really fun portrayals of similar character types like Jack Nicholson and the Shining. His unpredictable kind of nature. Where does that stem from? That's what I dig into.
[00:41:06] Speaker B: Do.
[00:41:06] Speaker A: And we'll talk about later on stuff. But he. He talks about how he. He believes kind of like what you were saying, Leia, that Billy really does love Max and cares a lot for her. And a lot of his interactions with Lucas in particular, in his mind, don't stem from racism, but they stem from this weird overprotectiveness. But also, I would add a layer on that. I would wonder if, seeing how. How weird his dad is about, like, you need to be protective of your sister and stuff. I wonder if Billy has kind of twisted that in a way and is like, I need to get ahead of anybody that potentially my dad might not be okay with as a way to protect himself.
So he's like preemptively trying to stop this thing with Max and Lucas so that he doesn't get the punishment for Max's decisions and choices. So I think it's just a very.
And then last season we read an essay from the Eaten for Breakfast Club and they talked about how Stranger Things mirrors the teen movies from the 80s, but also subverts them in their portrayal of teen stereotypes. The essayist holds Billy up as another example in a different way from, say, Steve. They say the introduction of Billy Hargrove, a new student who immediately appears to adhere to a rigid teen movie stereotype, the bad boy Hasher, as seen in films such as St. Elmo's Fire. However, in the show, the show's final subversion of teen archetypes, Billy is revealed to have learned bigotry, violence, and intolerance from his father. In the season's penultimate episode, his father lectures him on respect and responsibility before pitting him against a wall and calling him a homophobic slur. Billy cries in a poignant moment, his suffering at the hands of a parent underlining two clear themes of Stranger Things that regressive values are passed from one generation to the next and that parents can be monsters to their children. The latter is first further explored through Stranger Things links to the slasher film. We've discussed how Stranger Thing adopts a lot of slasher tropes and subverts them, like the final girl being a virgin, for instance. Also the tropes of parents either being absent or inflicting horrors on their kids that directly endanger them. The show is making a statement about the dangers of the nuclear family during Reagan's time, when you have couples adhering to those toxic masculine and feminine tropes, I. E. Like the man being abusive, or the fact that the women have to be passive and just sit there and. And say nothing and either are in danger themselves or are in a position where they can't say anything. Neil talks about respecting, but abuses his son. And then Susan just stands there and I quoted this before. But it works here, too. Through adopting and subverting the conventions of teen films and slasher narratives, Stranger Things creates a scathing indictment of oppressive conservatism by rendering adults as contributors to their children's suffering. Its most cynical commentary is reserved for the pillars of the nuclear family. Set during a time when the New Right attempted to invigorate the nuclear family, Stranger Things implies that the most important battle a teenager can fight is against the oppressive conservatism embodied by their moms and dads. And you see that literally embodied right here with both the parents, the dad talking about, you know, respect and all that stuff while he's literally screaming and hitting his child. And then the wife over there, clearly uncomfortable, but she can't say anything because he might hit her too. So it's like these. This is. This is what happens when you have this. These Rigid, stereotypical roles that believe people can't veer from those boxes. And then you take that to the nth degree where it's like, to be a man means doing all of this. And, yeah, so it's. Stranger Things has been really, like. We've been talking a lot about it has been really interesting in how it's kind of pointing out a lot of, like, the conservative ideals from the 80s and in. In particular with. When it comes to, like, the very rigid stereotypes of the nuclear family. So I'm excited for what this could potentially set up for season three. When it comes to Billy, though.
[00:44:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it is like, it. It really is setting up something that I think will be really interesting.
[00:45:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree.
All right. So in the forest, speaking of Max, she and the guys are traipsing around in the forest talking about how Dar has grown so much, how he's going to be molting soon, be fully grown. Steve's like, yeah, he's going to be eating a lot more than cats. Which catches Lucas's attention. Mind you, the previous or the last episode with Lucas, he was the one apologizing to Dustin. Dustin didn't apologize to Lucas. So Lucas whirls on. Dustin is like, dart ate a cat. Dustin tries to play dumb, say no, but Steve rats him out. Lucas is like, I knew it. I knew you kept him. Dustin tries to lie, but it becomes clear no one believes him. There's no BSing his way out of this. He finally concedes and says he didn't know that Dart was a demo. Max is like, like, guys, who cares? We have to go. And Lucas is like, I care. You put the party in jeopardy. You broke the rule of law. Dustin's like, so did you. They start arguing. We pan over to Steve and Max, who are just standing there like, oh, my gosh.
Dustin points his flashlight in Max's face is like, you told a stranger the truth. Max starts fighting back, which I really love. She's like, what, stranger?
[00:46:08] Speaker B: Why is everybody so mean to her?
[00:46:10] Speaker A: Like, I know.
[00:46:13] Speaker B: Yeah, she's been around for a hot minute. You guys have been playing with her and taking her on adventures for episodes now. Like, let's be a little bit nicer to Max.
[00:46:22] Speaker A: They're using her like. Like she's an object or a thing to squabble over and to weaponize against each other. And I just really. I really love that she doesn't let them do that.
[00:46:31] Speaker B: And she's so much more mature than all of them. She's more mature than Mike she's more mature than Lucas. She's more mature than Dustin.
Hell, she's even more mature than Steve sometimes.
[00:46:41] Speaker C: I think it's just a product of the era of which the show takes place, to be honest. I just. Yeah, but to your point, the writers do make a really smart decision in being like, she's above all that.
[00:46:54] Speaker A: Yeah. It gives her some agency, because if not, she would just be an object passed around and nobody else.
[00:47:01] Speaker B: It's just been really nice to see Max go from this really, like, closed off, like, angry kid to opening up to these new people. And, you know, she still has her moments, but there's, like, a softness to her now that doesn't feel like they're assigning her the role of, like, the only female in the group. She's still Max. She's just a softer Max because she genuinely cares about these people and wants to be their friend, and I just really like that. It never feels like it's. Oh, it's just we're making a female character just more feminine because she's the only female. You know what I mean? Mean. And they don't do that with 11 either, which is nice. Or Nancy. Like, they really don't. They kind of veer away from that type of stuff in this show, and I. I really like that.
[00:47:50] Speaker A: So then they just continue to squabble. Steve, who looks like he's over at all, hears the demos roaring in the distance, calls everybody's attention over, and he's like, hey, I think I know where they're all going. We see him pull his bat out and heads in that direction. And Max is like, she doesn't want to go, but she ends up following him. They come out of the trees and see.
Or they can't see anything. And then Lucas pulls out his binoculars. That man always has a gadget. And then he sees the lab, and they're like, yep, the demos were going back home. So in the lab, Owens has a map and showing where they are and where the nearest exit is and says there's no way out, even if they were to get there, because the building's on full lockdown with the power outage. Bob asks if it can be unlocked remotely. Like, this is so Jurassic Park. Owens goes, yeah, but somebody has to reset the breakers. And they're in the basement three floors down. And we're like, oh, I think I've seen this film before. And then Hopper immediately grabs the map. He's like, all right, I'm gonna do this. And Bob's like, hang on, you don't know, Basic. And Hopper is like, okay, well, how do I do that? And Bob's, like, explaining things to him. And I love how Hopper sits there and he goes. His voice cracks.
[00:48:54] Speaker B: He's like, I don't know what that means.
[00:49:00] Speaker A: And then Mike helpfully cuts in, says, it's a computer programming language. Hops like, okay, teach it to me. And Bob's like, shall I teach you French while I'm at it?
[00:49:07] Speaker B: Jim the sass.
[00:49:09] Speaker A: And so then you could see him realize, oh, I'm the one that has to do this. And I love how he goes, okay, I got this. I'm going to do it. Joyce is in tears. She doesn't want him to go. He reassures her, tells her to remember Bob Newby, superhero. And that's when we all know he's doomed. Like that. The moment that comes out, we're like.
Then we see Hopper and Bob grab walkies and earpieces and guns from dead guards. Hop gives Bob a crash course in guns Deer. Sweet boy. Bob has no clue how to do any of this stuff. And so he's like, okay, easy peasy. Strike number two.
[00:49:39] Speaker B: He's. He's a goner.
[00:49:40] Speaker A: Last time these words were uttered was not, not, not a good day for Will. Hop tells him to come right back up if anything goes wrong. Bob's scared out of his mind, tells Jim not to wait for him as soon as they get those doors open. And Hopper reassures him that he'll get them out. And then that's strike number three. Passing.
[00:49:57] Speaker B: What a brave man. Oh, my God.
[00:50:03] Speaker A: Bob is not a runner. Bob is not an athlete.
Bob is a nerd.
I. I was initially thinking, I was like, why didn't someone go with Bob as a backup, like, to, you know, point a gun or whatever? Then I realized, like, it's just Joyce with two boys, one who's unconscious, and an old man like Hop had to stay, you know?
[00:50:25] Speaker B: Yeah. There was no one else.
[00:50:27] Speaker A: So then outside the lab, Jonathan and Nancy pull up. Are like, why are the lights off? They try to open the gates. Nothing's happening. I don't know why the guards are not there. That seems a little weird. Nancy hears something in the woods. When they go to investigate, out pop Steve and the kids. We get that very memeable moment where they're both like, Steve. And then the group quickly figures out that Mike and Will are inside the lab with the demos. And we see Jonathan just looking absolutely horrified.
The continuing the Eaten for Breakfast Club essay. They talk about how this season by Nancy Choosing Jonathan over Steve means that Steve doesn't get the girl. And that's also another subversion of that trope of like the cool guy always getting the girl in the 80s especially.
So the essay talks about how Steve and Nancy are examples of how 80s tropes again are subverted this season by saying, separated from Nancy, Steve becomes a softer, more sensitive character through his relationship relationships with Dustin and the other kids. He effectively babysits them, while Nancy and Jonathan are the ones that fight the show's monsters. This role reversal in the show's second season is a clear swipe at Reagan's conception of masculinity, with the only hyper masculine teen in the show's first season adopting a refreshingly domestic role. And so Stranger Thing breaks with the conservatism of teen movies of the decade films, which so often set up their characters as stereotypes that reinforce the dominant ideology of the 1980s, which is hyper masculine boys who long to prove their pro prowess through traditional customs, and girls who act up and act out their adolescence being no threat to the patriarchal status quo. So Stranger Things then allows its teens to become three dimensional young adults who shed Reagan's traditional roles. And I think you seeing that especially with Billy, I mean, I really think a big part of Billy's role is to kind of contrast Steve and even Jonathan. In a lot of ways, Steve just
[00:52:17] Speaker B: becomes cooler now that he's not a love interest. Like he really. He really becomes a lot cooler. And like, I think Jonathan isn't replacing Steve as like the man in his relationship with Nancy because Nancy has a lot more masculine traits than Jonathan does.
[00:52:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:52:38] Speaker B: You know, like even just the scene where Hopper asks Jonathan if he can shoot the gun and he's like, what? Like he's confused. Like he doesn't, he doesn't know how to now. And Nancy steps up and takes the gun and it. And like she's just like ready to go and. Yes. Yeah, I love that.
[00:52:55] Speaker A: So inside, Bob is continuing to make his way to the basement. The alarms are blaring in the creepy basement. He's like giving himself a pep talk, skirting dead bodies. And his gag reflex. He finds the breakers, flips them slowly restoring power to the building. In the security room, the gang can now see the rest of the lab. On all the monitors outside, the teens and the kids are all arguing. Nancy quickly notices the lights coming back up in the lab. They all run to the guard shed. This scene had me dying. Dustin is such a little prick. He's so arrogant. Jonathan's like Trying to press the buttons. Nothing's happening. And Dustin's like, let me try. And Jonathan's like, no. He's like, let me try Jonathan. And then, of course it doesn't work. And Jonathan's like, yeah. And Dustin's like, son of a.
It's like, no, me pressing the buttons is gonna make it work at this time. He's so.
He. He would be so annoying if he wasn't so funny, if he wasn't played by the Amazing Gaten. Like, Gaten just makes him so lovable. So in the lab, Bob's on the computer trying to reset the system. He unlocks the front door and then the outdoor gate, making Dustin think that he actually did open the gate. Bob's like, easy peasy. Tells them he'll meet them outside. He starts heading back out, but then Owen spots a demo on the stairwell. He tells Bob where it's at. Bob gets an idea, comes back, turns on the sprinklers to the stairwell, chasing off the demo, but in the meantime, leaves his gun. It's just all stacking up.
[00:54:17] Speaker B: So this whole time, I still wasn't sure how to feel about Owens and the part where he's, like, directing Bob through the building.
I don't know why, but I was convinced that he was directing him toward the demogorgons like he wanted. I didn't really remember this scene, but I was. I don't know. I just. Because we haven't been really sure about him. Obviously, he can't be trusted because he works for the lab, and they always. You know, they have an ulterior motive and all this stuff.
But for some reason, I just. I thought, oh, he's directing him to the demogorgons because he's seen too much. And this is another person now that they're gonna have to, like, swear to secrecy, and they don't know if he's gonna keep the secret.
But that ended up not happening. And I'm like, now I don't know how to feel about Owens. Like, is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? We don't know know.
[00:55:06] Speaker A: I think they've been giving us pretty good hints that he is a decent guy. Like him sticking up for Will, not being, like, the one person not wanting to kill him, and then being willing to stay back to get Bob out. Like, he could have just left with Hopper and Joyce. Also, is he still in the lab? So what happened to Owens?
Like, he's locked in there with all of the demos and all the dead bodies.
[00:55:31] Speaker B: So, yeah, we didn't see a body, so. So we can assume he's still alive.
[00:55:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Hopper ends up slinging Will over his shoulder. Joyce and Mike start to head to the door. Bob races up from the basement. At the front door, Joyce just pauses and waits for Bob. She's, like, begging for him to come.
[00:55:46] Speaker B: Oh,
[00:55:49] Speaker A: like, I obviously, like, I want Bob to live. I love Bob himself. But then I also think about Joyce, everything she's gone through, and it's just. It makes it doubly awful.
[00:55:59] Speaker B: Awful.
[00:55:59] Speaker A: So this is just stressful. Owens is communicating with Bob, and on the radio, and then he sees a demo. Bob hides inside of a mop closet. The demo goes by. Bob tries to get out, but then knocks the mop, which causes the demo to see him. And then it turns into this ginormous chase. And then we think that he's safe. He gets in the lobby and shuts the door. And then Joyce and Bob see each other, and he has.
[00:56:24] Speaker C: And that's when I was, like, dead. As soon as he smiles at Joyce, I was like, oh, It's funny how, like, certain things tell you what's going to happen. Like, your brain just kind of goes, oh, no.
[00:56:41] Speaker A: Oh, no.
Cleo.
Cleo, no.
[00:56:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:56:53] Speaker A: I hate this. I hate this. I. This is what I meant. Okay. So I'm curious, Leia, would you say that this is gratuitous?
[00:57:00] Speaker B: No.
[00:57:01] Speaker A: Death?
[00:57:01] Speaker B: I don't really. No, I don't think it's gratuitous.
[00:57:05] Speaker A: Them coming back after they've left the lab, and they're just, like, engorging themselves on his body.
[00:57:10] Speaker B: I mean, I feel like it's just to really. This is the first person that we've really seen die on this show. So I feel like.
[00:57:18] Speaker C: Yeah, except for.
[00:57:21] Speaker B: It's just. I just felt like it, like, was raising the stakes. Like, it was just. This is, like, what's. Like, there's all these demogorgons, and this is what they're doing. I don't know. I didn't. I didn't think the scene itself was gratuitous. Like, I just thought it was a normal, like, death scene.
I don't know.
[00:57:37] Speaker A: They just kept showing his body, and it just made me sadder and sadder.
[00:57:40] Speaker B: I think it's because the audience has, like, formed a bond with Bob because he's such a likable character. And it's just, like, a half. It's like they're just focusing, like, longer.
[00:57:51] Speaker C: Like, if it was Will and they kept cutting back to the body, you'd just be like, whatever.
[00:57:58] Speaker A: Yeah, no. No bond there whatsoever.
Yeah. I don't know.
[00:58:04] Speaker B: Do you think it's gratuitous?
[00:58:06] Speaker C: It was.
[00:58:06] Speaker B: It.
[00:58:07] Speaker C: I just. It was sad.
[00:58:09] Speaker B: Yeah, it was very sad.
[00:58:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:58:12] Speaker C: And I'm like, all the ways to die. That's how this lovely person, like.
[00:58:18] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah. I guess what I mean, gratuitous. I don't mean, like, it's like, overdone and stuff, but, like, we had had a conversation earlier on where you were like, oh, I don't think I forget the word that you use. But you're like, I don't think any of the deaths in. Maybe you use gratuitous. I don't remember what it was.
[00:58:33] Speaker B: I did. Yeah.
[00:58:34] Speaker A: Yeah. But I just. I. I was thinking specifically of this moment just because I felt like, the constant cutbacks. But I. I guess it is necessary because in this show it's like, oh, well, maybe they'll come back. Like, they needed to emphasize, no, Bob is dead. Bob. Bob is gone on.
[00:58:48] Speaker B: I just think it's supposed to be, like, a lingering moment because he was a character that we had come to know and really care about, because he was so.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: I just don't want to see Warm being eaten. I just don't like it.
[00:58:59] Speaker B: I think that's. I think that's the point, though. Like, that's why it's just to kind of drive that home, I guess. Yeah.
[00:59:06] Speaker C: And if you're someone that grew up on 80s films, you have a bit of a connection to Sean on the actor. So I feel like there's a bit of a double whammy in that as well. Because, I mean, if you've seen, like, the Goonies or like any. I think he's in a movie called the Willies. Like, there's a lot of classic kind of 80s horror, kind of schlocky sort of fantasy films that he's in that he's very good in. But, yeah, you feel that kind of like. It's like, oh, that's my childhood kind of thing. And then you're watching him getting eaten by, like, demon dogs.
[00:59:40] Speaker A: That's my childhood that I'm just gonna. I'm gonna post. I'm gonna post my childhood.
No, just the caption. That's. That's my childhood.
[00:59:53] Speaker B: That's why we all have a great sense of humor.
Yeah.
[00:59:57] Speaker A: Literally childhood drama every day, my child. There goes my childhood.
[01:00:01] Speaker C: Especially 80s kids movies and that. Like, I'm sorry, the Never Ending Story is not a kids movie.
[01:00:07] Speaker A: So sad.
[01:00:09] Speaker C: Like, you watch this stuff now as an adult and you're like to watch this, even Labyrinth.
[01:00:16] Speaker A: I look at that, and I'm like,
[01:00:17] Speaker B: aren't half the dis. Like, most of the Disney stories? They're like, true Origin is like, oh, they're horrendous.
[01:00:23] Speaker A: The Little Mermaid.
[01:00:24] Speaker B: Horrific.
[01:00:25] Speaker A: Like actual stories. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[01:00:29] Speaker C: It's. So they, like, really watered them. Well, there's. I mean, all Disney movies are kind of dark, really, but, like, yeah, they darker. They could be. Yeah, they water a lot of the
[01:00:41] Speaker A: stuff out of it anyways, so then where are we? Oh, yeah. So then Jonathan ends up pulling up just as Hopper gets Joyce out, who's just inconsolable. And then they all pile into the car, race past the gate, and then
[01:00:58] Speaker C: Hopper shut the gate.
[01:01:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I know they don't shut the gate. Guys, come on. Because we all know the demos can get out of the lab. They aren't not stuck.
And then Hopper pulls up and then grabs Steve and the rest of the kids, and we close out on another horrible shot of Bob's dead body being eviscerated. That was just great.
[01:01:18] Speaker B: RIP, Bob.
[01:01:19] Speaker C: RIP childhood.
[01:01:23] Speaker B: RIP our childhood. I love that, Sam.
[01:01:27] Speaker A: Okay, so originally, Bob, like, this was supposed to be gorier. Bob's death was supposed to be worse. He was supposed to unleash a torrent of blood from his mouth when the demo dogs delivered the death blow.
[01:01:39] Speaker C: Oh, they decided to pull it back.
[01:01:42] Speaker A: Yes. They thought, this is too far. We have enough blood. They cut it. And Matt Duffer says, this is what I was talking about earlier, about him, you know, going to die around episode four. We just kept delaying it because we started to really like the character, and he started to become more important to the plot. We just kept pushing it further down field his death until we got to the point where it was going to happen in episode eight. Then we wrote it, and I had a bit of a breakdown. It felt really nasty to write. It did suck. It just really hurt. And I was like, this doesn't feel. I don't want to lose this character. I don't want to lose Shawn. Then we paced around for a few hours and analyzed what it would look like if he made it out. And we decided it was just not a good idea. We needed to let go of the fact. See, they need to let go of their childhood, too. We needed to let go of the fact that we love Sean so much and we love this character. We felt it was the right thing to do narratively. It would hurt the show too much if we kept him alive. That was a hard day to film. You know what I mean? That was tough. It was tough on Winona because Winona also loved Shawn somehow. They knew each other before. Stranger things. They were bonded. They were both child actors, and. And they just really got along. They were always together on set and really good friends. Winona also, when she's shooting a scene like that, she doesn't turn it on and off very easily. Ross Duffer says, the most texts I've ever gotten from Winona Ryder was when she read the script when Bob dies. She was like, you're monsters. It was all half joking. She was not thrilled. Matt says, I thought I told her in advance, but she was appalled. Like, I remember having a long discussion about, is she actually angry at us? She's hard to read sometimes, so I couldn't tell if she was joking. I think she was a little angry with us, to be honest, for doing that.
[01:03:13] Speaker C: I think what makes Winona such a good actress is that she brings so much of herself to her performance. It's like, sometimes, like. I wouldn't say she is.
I don't think she can do, like, a variety of characters, but I think anything that she's been in, she's, like, a hundred percent, like, in it.
[01:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it totally makes sense.
[01:03:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:03:38] Speaker C: Like, she's not Meryl Straight, but, like.
[01:03:40] Speaker A: No. Right. She's not the type of person that can do everything, but there's a specific niche that she's very good at, very believable in. Yeah, yeah.
[01:03:49] Speaker C: It feels real when she has, like, an emotional moment or a funny moment or anything. Like, it always feels, like, very genuine.
[01:03:57] Speaker A: She seems like one of those actresses that has to kind of buy into the role in order to be able to sell it. Versus. I feel like Meryl Streep, doesn't she? She could do anything she wanted to and not really buy into the character and what they're doing.
And then Ross Duffer says, one of the favorite things we did all season in is the Escape from the Lab sequence. That Jurassic park style sequence, which really came about. It was not originally planned because we really didn't want to kill Bob. So we just kept drawing it out until we were like, all right, he's gotta go.
[01:04:25] Speaker C: I feel like they've traumatized themselves.
[01:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Seriously. I'm like, guys, like. Like, calm down.
Yep.
[01:04:34] Speaker A: And Sean Aston, like, Sean's like, yeah, kill me.
[01:04:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:04:38] Speaker A: He said. He's like, I don't care if you kill me. He's like, I just want to make sure he goes, I would like it to be a Heroic death, because he felt like Bob around that.
And he says, if I'm going to die. And he didn't want to die. He said, let's shoot the hell out of this and let's not shy away from it. For stranger Things, the show, it's a pretty brutal death. And that's the result of Sean wanting us not to hide from it. We had to shoot Winona's and everyone's reactions first.
Sean was there all day on the ground, just screaming and pouring everything into this performance. Every take. There was something loose about it because we went handheld and we went slow motion. It was more about capturing the moment as quickly as possible. But then there's also something humorous about it because we needed someone to interact with Sean as the demodog as he's getting eaten. We don't have an Andy Circus, but one of our writers was in town and she was about the right size, so we just asked Kate Treffery if she didn't mind getting bloody. She was on Sean pretending to be a demodog for hours and hours. So there was something silly about it too.
And apparently she had just flown into Atlanta just to see how the set works, because she. This is her first job and everything, just to experience it. And then suddenly they were like, hey, you're the right size. And she was covered in blood on top of Sean Aston with three cameras rolling. It was wild. He says it will say it was a fun. It wasn't a fun night. All these actors got into it. They don't switch it on and off like our kids. It was very intense. It was four in the morning and it went late.
[01:05:56] Speaker C: Oof.
[01:05:56] Speaker A: It was one of the toughest scenes emotionally for everybody. The duffers over there cry because they don't want to write Sean Aston out of their show.
[01:06:03] Speaker B: I feel like this is like a wild overreaction to everything.
[01:06:10] Speaker C: Yeah. I also like what you just mentioned about the generational divide of actors. Like, the older actors are fine, are like, in it, and then the young actors are like, whatever. Do I do my scene now?
[01:06:21] Speaker B: That just reminds me of that interview with Alexander Skarsgrd that I always remember, because he does an interview, right? That's the one that plays Pennywise. Alexander.
[01:06:32] Speaker C: Oh, Bill.
[01:06:32] Speaker B: Or is there another Bill?
[01:06:34] Speaker C: Sorry.
[01:06:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:06:35] Speaker A: It's like, don't ask me to remember
[01:06:38] Speaker B: which one of the Skarsgard brother that plays Pennywise. He went on a late night show and he was talking about how, like, you know, he's playing Pennywise, he's in his costume and he's Obviously acting opposite children.
And he said that he was doing this scene where he's, like, terrorizing this kid and screaming in his face. And, you know, he's like, wow, like, I'm really going hard on this kid. And, you know, I don't want to scare him. And this must be so scary for him. And he says, we yelled. Somebody yelled cut.
And I go to be like, hey, buddy. Like, are you okay? And this child actor goes. Literally snaps out of the fear immediately and goes, hey, man, like, that was great what you did there. And he was like, immediately just turns it off. No fear, nothing. He's, like, completely fine. Meanwhile, two seconds ago, he was being terrorized by Pennywise. And it's just funny because I feel like it applies here. Like, yeah, the adult actors. Like, I don't want to scare this, like, child actor. But then the child actor is like, whoa, that was so cool. Like, how did you do that?
[01:07:38] Speaker C: So hard on, like.
[01:07:40] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[01:07:42] Speaker B: It's just crazy that they're like, as a. As a kid, like, you'd think they wouldn't be able to separate, like, fiction and reality and wouldn't be at all.
[01:07:51] Speaker A: It almost seems like it's easier for them to do that. Yeah. And then the adults are the ones that are having a much harder time. And I. I wonder why that is.
[01:08:01] Speaker B: I think probably because the adults are, like, thinking about the psychology of it. Like, they need to. Yeah. And then the kids are more just like, you know, obviously, I'm on a movie.
[01:08:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, totally.
[01:08:17] Speaker B: They're not in their heads.
[01:08:18] Speaker A: The duffers are like, guys, we need a closed set.
Bob's dying.
[01:08:23] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Odd.
[01:08:25] Speaker C: Winona's shoplifting. She's like,
[01:08:31] Speaker B: Literally.
Wait, I know shoplifting. To feel something besides the pain of losing Sean Aston from the set.
[01:08:39] Speaker C: This is for Bob. The Chanel purse.
[01:08:46] Speaker A: All right. So then at the byers, I always forget that there's more to this episode. In my mind, it's always that first half, and then I'm always like, oh, yeah, there's like. Like, more.
[01:08:55] Speaker C: Now we're in the team shed thing.
[01:08:59] Speaker A: Well, I always. I always figure this isn't going to be in the finale, but it makes sense you would have it in this one. But. All right, set. The buyers we see will. He's still unconscious. Jonathan's talking him softly, saying that he's sorry he wasn't there for him, that he should have been. It's so sweet. Hopper's on the phone, presumably moving with the government, trying to tell them about the situation, trying to get them to help. They're not cooperating. Dustin's like, they didn't believe you, did they? Hop's like, we'll see. And Mike's like, we can't just sit here while these things. Things are on the loose. And then hops like, we're staying here. We're waiting for help. And then he goes to Joyce's room, and she's just comatose. And we get this beautiful moment, though, of her just sobbing, and he just sits on the floor and just sits with her. And I really love that. I think it's just such a beautiful moment.
And then we have eulogy playing. We heard that at the beginning of the season with Nancy crying in Barb's bathroom. So another little callback.
The show. The show will play that at every sad moment from now on until the end of time. So we pan through the house. We see Mike looking around, and he approaches the stack of games that Bob left for Will. And he's like, hey, did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of the AV Club? He's the one that petitioned the school. He had the fundraiser. And he, like, taught Mr. Clark everything that he knows. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, of course he did. And then he's like, we can't let him die in vain. Dustin's like, we can't stop the Demo Dogs on our own. Then Mike gets an idea, realizing that they need to stop the shadow monsters to stop the dogs, and that it's connected to everything. And then this is the moment that the kids realize that the shadow monster is the Mind Flayer. So they pull out their DND books, grab Hopper, who's like, what the hell is that? They explain that the Mind Flayer is a monster from a different dimension, so ancient that it doesn't even know its true home. It enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains. And Nancy's like, okay, well, what is it? Why I love how Nancy constantly coming through and be like. Like, can we get to the point, guys? Let's go. Wrap it up. And Dustin's like, it believes it's the master race and it wants us to conquer them. And Steve, who's been, like, drowning in this, like, latches on, is like, oh, like, the Germans. And they're like, the Nazis. The Nazi Steve. And then Steve's like, my contribution to this conversation is over. I'm gonna go put myself in the corner right now. And then Hopper's rubbing his eyes. He's exhausted. He's so tired. Lucas is like, we're talking about the destruction of our world as we know it. Steve has another panic attack.
This poor guy has ptsd. Every time he comes to the buyer's house, there's some world event that he has to, like, be contribute to. Hopper's like, well, what are we doing here? This is ridiculous. The kids are like, the military won't do anything. We know the demos are going to become demogorgons. The tunnels are going to reach town. Like, we have to do something. Joyce comes out. It's like, riveting speech, boys. Yes, they're right. We have to kill it. I want to kill it. And then Mike points out that Will knows the mind flares weakness and that they can get him to talk. They just have to disguise where they're at so Will doesn't know where he's at and can't lead the shadow monster to them. All great. All great. I just don't understand why they didn't just take him to Hopper's cabin.
Will's never been there. He's not gonna know. They wouldn't have had to do all the work that they're doing.
[01:12:11] Speaker B: I just don't understand. Like, how is it. Is it that if he can't see with his eyes, then the Mind Flayer won't know where they are? Like, doesn't it feel him? Isn't it connected to him?
[01:12:21] Speaker C: Like, but I think. I think he has to know the location for it to. I think that's what's implied. Like, yeah, because then he can be, like, come this way mentally or whatever, right?
[01:12:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:12:33] Speaker B: But they're, like, tethered. Like, the Mind Flayer is literally in Will.
[01:12:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:12:37] Speaker B: So that's what I'm not, like, what's not clicking for me? I'm like, no matter where Will is, it's gonna know where it is. Because.
[01:12:44] Speaker A: Because the Mind Flayer only knows what Will knows. The mind. It's like the Mind Flayer is seeing through Will's eyes and feeling what Will feels. That's why they did as much as they could to sensori deprive him. They have the lights glaring on him so he can't see super well. They camouflage the shed so it's like he's not aware of what location he's in and he can't hear anything. That's why the phone. When he hears the phone, it's obviously something Will recognizes.
That's when they immediately know where he's at. And they can send the demodocs but The Mind Flayer can't send the demodogs if Will doesn't know physically where he's at yet. Which I understand why they did it at the buyer's house, because that's already. They're already there. And Hoppers may be thinking, oh, I don't want to go to the cabin because L's probably there. But I'm like, at this point, we can let L come out of hiding. We might need L, actually. And then also, you won't have to do all that work to kind of disguise and stuff. But I don't know, yada, yada, yada, yada. You wouldn't have had this problem if he had been at Hopper's house, let me tell you.
[01:13:43] Speaker C: I think it was a misdirection opportunity, given that he's asleep, to not pull out a pair of scissors and cut his hair.
[01:13:51] Speaker A: I was like, where are we going with this?
Yes, Priority number one, buzz cut something, please.
[01:14:00] Speaker C: Every time. Every time I see him, I laugh.
[01:14:03] Speaker A: That hair, it's so bad.
[01:14:06] Speaker B: If Rob is there, he would have been like, hey, guys. So, like, since we're just waiting right now, can you guys give me a little sneak? I just, you know, just do. I'll just take a few inches off. It's fine. Few inches.
[01:14:18] Speaker C: I'm not a hairdresser. But
[01:14:23] Speaker A: the hair gets worse.
[01:14:24] Speaker C: Mind you, all their hair is terrible. I. I like Winona's because it's got, like, a unkempt, kind of cool vibe to it.
Yeah, they're all. Their hair's awful.
[01:14:34] Speaker B: And Max, Steve. Max's hair is very, very beautiful. Beautiful.
[01:14:38] Speaker C: Oh, it is that. Yes, that's true. And it's a nice color as well.
[01:14:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:14:43] Speaker C: I think the rest of them just look like they would smell bad.
[01:14:51] Speaker A: I think they do at this point.
[01:14:53] Speaker B: They look like basic white boys, is what they look like.
[01:14:56] Speaker A: It doesn't improve too much over the next couple of seasons. But we'll bring you back and you can give us a new hair rating for each season that you can come back and then tell us what you think about the updated looks.
[01:15:07] Speaker C: I think that's important.
[01:15:08] Speaker A: I'm very much looking forward to that. For.
[01:15:10] Speaker C: For real, they probably is an Instagram or something about bad haircuts.
[01:15:14] Speaker A: Oh, 100%. 100%. All right. So then the gang gets the shed ready, puts up tarps and stuff to make it unrecognizable. Steve and Nancy have a moment as they're working in the shed, where Nancy tells him that helping the kids was really cool of him and he's like, yeah, those little shits are real trouble, you know, in the making of Stranger Things too. Which is kind of like this big round table interview thing that they did. Charlie Heaton, who plays Jonathan and Natalia Dyer and Joe Keery all seem to agree that Jonathan and Nancy ultimately belong together. Joe actually doesn't even think that Steve needed to have any kind of confrontation with Jonathan over the relationship because as he puts it, it was kind of obvious to anyone, even Steve, how they felt about each other. However, there is one cast member Lay. I'm curious if you can guess who it is. There's one cast member who is allowed and proud. Stancy Shipper.
[01:16:03] Speaker B: Gaten.
[01:16:04] Speaker A: Nope.
[01:16:05] Speaker B: Who is it? Millie.
[01:16:06] Speaker A: Millie, Millie Bobby Brown.
[01:16:07] Speaker B: Really?
[01:16:08] Speaker C: Wow.
[01:16:09] Speaker B: Really? What's her reasoning?
[01:16:11] Speaker A: I don't know. I'll have to look it up. I'll look it up and get back with you. But yeah, at least at the time of the interview in season two, she was a huge, loud and proud Stancy shipper. I, I know you can look up those interviews and stuff, but it, I
[01:16:26] Speaker B: just feel like that ship, like that ship never really. Like it did sail, but it just.
I don't know, I don't know. Stancy is the type of ship. I feel like if you're a huge Steve fan and you want him to like, get what he wants, then maybe you're gonna like that. I don't know, it's just.
She's just not that into him.
[01:16:48] Speaker A: Well, yeah, that's the thing. If you care about your character, you want him to have one, what's best for him, but also someone who loves him just as much as he loves
[01:16:55] Speaker B: her, you know, like, Like, I think the storyline was interesting for what it was, but I just think it's like, it makes a lot more sense for Nancy and Jonathan to be a thing.
And I'm not even saying that they should be like, they're, you know, they should be endgame or whatever.
I just think in this moment in time, yeah, they're. Oh my God, they're endgame. I'm like, who fucking cares? I just feel like in this moment in the show, like it's been kind of building Nanc and Jonathan so much and it makes complete sense for them to be drawn to each other. And obviously they were in the. Not the last episode with the one before.
And even the scene with Steve, I'm just like, Nancy, like, just stay away from him. You don't want him, like, don't try to like, you know, bat your eyelashes at him. Or anything. And not because, like, she's being malicious or anything about it, but it's like, you know, you don't want to him and set him free. He seems to be. Yeah, like, just set him free. You're obviously having a connection with Jonathan. He's gonna. That's obviously gonna. Something's gonna happen there between all three of them, because that's like the love triangle.
But, yeah, I'm just like, you know, you don't want this man. Just let him be. Let him be. A mother of five kids, a single mom who works two jobs. Like, he's good at that. You're good at just handling the gun, emasculating Jonathan. Like, it's all good.
[01:18:22] Speaker A: Yeah. You could tell. They just put this scene in there as kind of closure because they had to have something there because the last time they were on screen together was, you know, he was unhappy with her. And so it kind of was a they've moved on kind of thing.
[01:18:35] Speaker B: It's gonna come up again. Like, I feel like this is not it.
[01:18:39] Speaker C: I feel that as well.
[01:18:41] Speaker B: Right. Like, I feel like he. Steve doesn't really know what's happened between Jonathan and Nancy at this point.
He's just kind of like, oh, they're here. What I think is gonna happen. And again, I don't actually remember any of this.
What I think is gonna happen is that right now, it's like the heat of the moment. They're busy. They're trying to survive. So nobody's really thinking about the particulars, like, the little details of everything. But I think once things settle down and Steve sees Nancy and Jonathan together, like, actually together together, there's going to be some type of confrontation, I think, or I'm hoping there will be.
[01:19:20] Speaker C: It's that psychology of, like, I don't really want this, but I don't want anyone else to have it. But I, like. It feels very like. Like that, if that makes sense.
[01:19:31] Speaker B: I just feel like Nancy has moved on from her relationship with Steve, like, long before they broke up. But I don't think that Steve has moved on from his relationship with Nancy at all, because he's. He wants to be in a relationship with her, I think, but she doesn't want to be in a relationship with him.
[01:19:48] Speaker C: I don't think she. And she's not doing anything wrong. But, like, I think he's misinterpreting her kindness.
[01:19:56] Speaker B: Yeah. But to be fair, he never really
[01:19:59] Speaker A: had Jonathan and Nancy. Yeah. Pulling up together.
[01:20:03] Speaker B: He was like the imoji. He's like, what's going on.
[01:20:12] Speaker A: And then Lucas and Dustin have a moment where Dustin apologizes. Thank God, about dart. And it's like, I broke the rule of law. So I understand if you want your girlfriend to take my spot in the party. And Lucas face palms and is like, she's not my girlfriend. Dustin's like, I saw you guys holding hands and I could feel the electricity.
And then Dustin or Lucas is like, wow. And then in the house, Max tells Mike that she knows now why l was his mage, that Lucas told her everything. And Mike's like, well, he shows we shouldn't have. Just because you know the truth doesn't mean you're in our party. You know, Max is like, yeah, I know. Who would want to.
[01:20:42] Speaker B: So goddamn annoying.
[01:20:43] Speaker A: Anyway, I'm just saying, Al sounds like she was really awesome. And Mike's like, well, she was until that thing took her, just like it took Bob. And I'm like, bruh, she's throwing you olive branch after olive branch after. Like, I just can't stand boys that are like that. I've met so many guys like that who just don't like you simply because you're a girl. Like, that's what it feels like. It feels like Mike doesn't like her just because she happens to be. Be a girl.
Yeah.
[01:21:07] Speaker B: Hate that she's trying so hard. Like, Max is being so freaking diplomatic for a 13 year old child.
[01:21:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:21:16] Speaker C: Like you forget that she is.
[01:21:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:21:19] Speaker C: Especially comparing it to the rest of them because the rest of them carry on like they're like two.
So.
[01:21:24] Speaker B: Yeah, she's literally gentle parenting Mike and Mike is just like a cement wall with her. Like, be nice to her.
[01:21:33] Speaker C: He's actually incredible. And I think that's maybe why it took me so long to get into it. I don't really like the boys.
Like, I find them hard to.
Well, I like the adult characters a lot and.
But yeah, it took me a lot to get invested in the actual.
Yeah.
The, like, the children character characters.
[01:22:00] Speaker B: I feel like, in my opinion, I feel like Dustin and Lucas are really likable when they're interacting with each other and with other characters. And I feel like Mike's storyline has been so wrapped up in 11 that when he's not around 11, he's moping about 11.
[01:22:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:22:22] Speaker B: And then he does nothing else. So then it's like, okay, we have these like, moments in season one between him and eleven that are really endearing and really cute and, you know, he's teaching her how to be human and it's. Everything is for the first time for her. And, like, they're connecting. And I feel like those scenes make him really likable because we're seeing him almost through Eleven's eyes. But then when he's away from Eleven, it's just like he's just, he's just moping.
[01:22:49] Speaker A: There's nothing him. Yeah. They really just didn't give him much to do this season. Like Mike, Mike was like almost the main character of season one, him and El. And then this season, there's just. He's really taken a back seat.
[01:23:02] Speaker C: Well, I think the writers realized that they like, there. Well, there's a lot of characters for starters.
[01:23:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:23:09] Speaker C: But I also think they realized they had like, a lot of. What's a word that I'm searching for?
Like, a lot of, like, the adult characters are actually really interesting.
[01:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:23:22] Speaker C: And like to bring them into it, like, more. And like. And then that balances out the.
Because something I've liked about season two a lot is that I feel like it's been a bit more balanced.
[01:23:33] Speaker B: Who would you say is your favorite character, Robbie, so far?
[01:23:36] Speaker C: Winona.
[01:23:39] Speaker B: Joyce.
[01:23:40] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:23:40] Speaker A: No, not even Joyce. Just Winona.
[01:23:44] Speaker B: Winona as Joyce.
Yeah.
[01:23:48] Speaker C: And I, I, I do think Lily Allen's ex husband is hot.
[01:23:54] Speaker A: David Harbour.
[01:23:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:23:56] Speaker B: My man.
[01:23:57] Speaker C: Every time he's on the screen, I'm
[01:23:59] Speaker B: like, he's so tortured and broody and angry and like, you never know. You never know what you're getting with that man. I love it. Just, just my type.
Emotional distress and see, I like.
[01:24:16] Speaker C: So that's why I love Winona.
[01:24:20] Speaker B: Are you also a thief?
[01:24:23] Speaker A: Robbie has a past on the set.
[01:24:27] Speaker C: They're like, you can't, you can't take that. She's like, you have to lock everything up.
[01:24:32] Speaker B: You know when you go to, like a local pharmacy and they have all the cosmetic stuff locked up because it gets robbed.
They have to have those on set in the prompt department.
[01:24:46] Speaker C: I sound like I'm picking on her. I actually love her. So, like, I'm, I'm just joking.
I feel like someone will be offended.
[01:24:54] Speaker A: It's okay. Someone's always offended about something.
All right. So then Jonathan asks Joyce if she thinks that it's going to work. And she says it has to that Will is still in there. The soldiers music comes back as everyone tapes every surface of the shed. Shed. Then Jonathan brings Will out. They time to a chair place bright lamps all around him. Hop wakes Will up and he Mike Jonathan, enjoy stay in the shed while the rest wait in the house.
So Will comes to and he's confused. He's like, where am I? Why am I tied up? Joyce and Hopper ask about the shadow monster, but Will goes ballistic. All the lights start to flicker. It's clear that this isn't working. He's screaming, let me go, over and over again. He eventually wears himself out, and then Joyce begins to tell him facts about himself, trying to remind him who he is and why he. Why she loves him. She reminds him that his birthday is March 22. Tells him about the huge box of crayons he got for his eighth birthday, which was his favorite thing, that he drew a spaceship. A rainbow ship is what he called it. That all his friends wanted to play with the Star wars toys, but he wanted the crayons. She talks about how proud she was of his drawing and of him. Jonathan jumps in and talks about them building castle buyers all night, the night that their dad left, and how they stayed outside even though it was raining and then got sick for, like, a week.
[01:26:01] Speaker B: And.
[01:26:01] Speaker A: And then all this is happening while the camera just keeps panning to Will's fingers tapping against the chair. Mike jumps in and talks about meeting him on the first day of kindergarten. And the Duffers actually said that this scene was very different, unlike anything that they had shot, because it didn't feature any music. And they said it was unusually quiet for the show because typically they would have some sort of music playing. And they said, especially in contrast with the big action scene in the lab. And they praised especially, essentially, Mike and Winona's or Finn and Winona's performances for making the scene that much more emotional.
So then Will looks tormented, but his face hardens as he says, let me go. Hop notices the tapping, though, and realizes that it's Morse code. What happened?
[01:26:48] Speaker B: Even the Duffers don't acknowledge Jonathan.
[01:26:55] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[01:26:56] Speaker C: Right?
[01:26:58] Speaker A: That's so funny. Oh, that's horrible.
[01:27:01] Speaker C: They're like,
[01:27:04] Speaker A: no fin in Winona. Just excellent performance.
[01:27:08] Speaker C: Jonathan.
[01:27:08] Speaker A: Really, like, chop liver.
[01:27:10] Speaker C: They think about Sha dying, and they're like, should have been you, Jonathan.
[01:27:18] Speaker A: Literally.
So funny.
[01:27:21] Speaker B: He's. He's never beating the allegations.
[01:27:24] Speaker A: Well, I mean, like, the Duffers are writing Joyce, so it really is the Duffers just forgetting about Jonathan all the time. That's hilarious.
Oh, my gosh. I feel like at some point we need to have, like, some sort of, like, jingle for every time Jonathan gets forgotten or whatever. It just, like, play like, oh, there it is again.
So funny. Okay, so Will looks tormented. His face hardens as he says, let me go. Then Hop notices the tapping, realizes that it's Morse code that Will's trying to communicate, but not with words. So he goes in the house, starts to write down Will's words on a piece of paper. They decide to keep sharing memories as a way to get Will to communicate more. So Jonathan grabs his radio and mixtape and play Should I stay or Should I go? For Will, sharing the memory of them playing it together. Hop watches Will's fingers tapping. It transmits the messages using Morse code to Nancy and the kids in the house who write down the message. They continue on until they have a complete message, which is close gate.
And Noah Schnapp says about this scene that there was a lot going on. There was the whole Morse code thing. The duffers asked me to watch a video on Morse code the day before that tells you where you have to put your fingers and how to tap. There's a certain rhythm I love after
[01:28:32] Speaker C: watching this episode because I was like curious about. Yes, I was curious about how Morse. Because I don't obviously know how Morse code works and that it's very complicated. I gave.
[01:28:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Because the dots and dashes and. Yeah, yeah, it is. For something that seems so simplistic, it's actually like you have to memorize the whole Alphabet.
[01:28:51] Speaker C: I didn't understand like, I watched like, I think a five minute video that was like the basics went over my head.
[01:28:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:28:58] Speaker C: I would not survive in a world where we need Morse code.
[01:29:02] Speaker A: No, not at all.
[01:29:04] Speaker B: That's like when I was watching Interstellar the other day and that's like a way that they were communicating through space and time. And I'm just like, this is the least effective way. If that was me, me that had to decipher that message, first of all, I wouldn't even know that it was Morse code. And it would take me like years to figure it out because it's. Yeah. It's not very simple.
[01:29:27] Speaker C: No.
[01:29:27] Speaker A: Yep.
[01:29:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:29:29] Speaker A: Same, same, same.
He says that he was tied to the chair for a while, but that was really cool because he's always watched those action movies where the guys are tied to the chair and he'll. And trying to escape. And he always wanted to do one of those scenes. Scenes.
And I love this sequence because it's reminding Will of who he is and how much he's loved by reminding him of all the ways that he's unique and different from everyone else. And that works on a really nice meta level this season because he's losing himself on a literal sense to the hive mind that makes everyone the same. But it's also a Reminder to not lose those parts of yourself to fit in with society's standards of normal. It's very Buffy season four coded, this whole thing. But like the song Should I Stay or Should I Go? His love of coloring over, wanting to play with toys with the other kids, his love of rainbows, it's all rejecting conformity and having an authentic self expression. And that's very similar to Elle's journey this season too, which is also represented through that punk look, that vibe, which is very different from normal. I say in quotations. That's been the theme this season since Mr. Clark talked about memory loss, Phineas Gage's loss of identity early on, since Will confessed to Mike and. And then talking about the shadow monster, saying that it's inside of him and he doesn't know where he begins and it ends. And I think both El and Will fear losing themselves and their ability to express themselves in this episode is kind of a celebration of non conformity. Um, and I think Will is probably the biggest example for the season's theme of finding a new normal and embracing change. Like we talked about how like season one was, oh my gosh, the status quo got changed up, switched up. And, and then season two is everybody trying to adapt this new normal. And for some people it's realizing, oh, we're never going to go back to the way things were.
We have to kind of learn to adapt to what is now the new normal. Um, and there's an essay called who is Will Byers? And they say the idea that we're individuals with the freedom to choose how we act sometimes collides with the roles we're expected to play, causing us to question our own value in the world. And they talk about how Will has been treated as fragile by his friends and his mom throughout this whole season.
But that's not a role that he wants for himself. I think back to that conversation with Jonathan in season early on in the season where he's like, stop treating me like mom, stop treating me like everybody else. He's wanting autonomy, I think, in a lot of ways. And they say that Will experience social trauma after his journey to the Upside down in season one. This experience maximized his reputation as fragile and shy while minimizing his initial and self control. And they influenced the way Will presented himself to others. Even though Will spends much of season two responding to the expectations exerted on him by others by remaining the quiet, weird zombie boy or accepting all of his mother's protective doting he found during his battle with the mind Flayer that his choices mattered and he could perform outside of his generally assigned fragile child role. Will had help, obviously, in realizing his agency. His friends and family rallied together with him and accepted the possibility that he could do more than idly accept the presentation of self invoked by the mind flare. Beyond just realizing his potential ability to change, though, Will also had to actualize his agency. In other words, it was not enough for Will to understand that he could change, but he also had to actually enact the changes that he wanted to see in himself. So, like, I really love what they're doing with I. I think of specifically with Elle and Will. I love how they're. They're showing the kids slowly coming more into themselves and also them fighting back against. Against these forces that are trying to say, no, you're too different. You're too monstrous. And in this moment, like, obviously this is one step in Will's story. Right. Like, we hope he gets to the point where he's no longer possessed and taken over and kidnapped and enslaved and all that stuff. But I see this is a really, a really nice stepping stone for Will and that he's fighting back. And by doing the Morse code, we're seeing that he's able to communicate in a way that's non normative. That's how Will's always, always been. Right. He's never been typical.
All right. So then the phone starts ringing in such a nice moment, and everybody's like, oh, no. Nancy rips it off the wall. I love that it's too late. Will now knows where he is. We see his eyes closed, and he begins to summon the army. Hops like he knows. He knocks Will out again, but the damage is done. They hear the roaring in the distance, so they untie Will and they all head into the house. Hop grabs a rifle, asks Jonathan if he can use it. And Jonathan's like, Nancy's like, I can.
Yeah, we all know who wears the pants in that relationship.
Hop and Nancy face the front door and windows with their guns raised. Did you guys see all the weapons everyone chose?
So Steve obviously has his bag.
[01:34:09] Speaker C: Lucas.
[01:34:09] Speaker A: Lucas has a slingshot.
So Mike grabbed a candlestick.
[01:34:15] Speaker B: At least it's not a spatula.
[01:34:17] Speaker A: He's just standing. Yeah, a spatula, spatula, candlestick. I think a candlestick would actually be more effective than a spatula, to be honest.
[01:34:23] Speaker B: For sure. You can use, I suppose if you
[01:34:25] Speaker C: were in a situation like that, though, he would, like, he would just want something.
[01:34:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:34:30] Speaker C: Even though your brain would be like, I'm not gonna fight These things with a. Like, a sleeve.
At least I have a weapon of some kind.
[01:34:39] Speaker A: So then we hear, like, the roar is getting closer. Leaves Russell outside snarling. And then a scuffle. And then we hear a demogorgon, like, whimper. Their silence. And then the demogorgon just flies through the window, but it's getting thrown. And then it's. It lays still on the floor and hop approaches it. We get a slow mo as he realizes that the demogorgon is dead. But then the deadbolt unlocks. And then we see the door slowly open.
And then we see sneakers. And we get this just amazing shot of Elle entering in dressed in. In her new fit. The gang is just, like, in shock. And then we get Mike moving forward as we see that he and Elle are just like, God, their emotional support person is here now.
[01:35:26] Speaker B: Finally.
Jesus Christ.
I'm just like, of course you're gonna zoom in on Mike's face. Of course. Yep. Is he finally gonna get to do something now?
[01:35:39] Speaker A: Yeah, literally. Okay. So funnily enough, so they differs. Were initially, like, not gonna have Elle's reunion with Mike happen until the very end. End of the show. And they're gonna have it take place. The snowball, the season finale. And then Ross Duffer says, by the time we actually got around shooting though that scene that they decided to move up to this episode, they had run out of fin time. So they only have a certain amount of time with each kid. And so he says, you run out of kid time. But we still had a lot of Millie time. So we were like, it's all right, Millie. We'll shoot this tomorrow. And she says, no, I don't need Finn there. I got this. So this entire sequence, that look on her face, it was shot without Finn even. Even being there.
She's like, I don't need him there. I can't do this.
[01:36:22] Speaker C: Well, dude, isn't there a rumor that they didn't get along or they were mean to her or something on this? Like, the boys were mean to Millie? Is that a thing?
[01:36:29] Speaker A: I don't know. I've never heard that. Yeah, I don't know. I haven't heard.
[01:36:33] Speaker B: Some issues with the guy that plays Hopper. I keep forgetting his name. David.
[01:36:38] Speaker A: Oh, David Harbor.
[01:36:39] Speaker B: They had, like, tensions, didn't they, Millie?
[01:36:41] Speaker A: Yeah, Millie. And he had tension, and. But they supposedly resolved it, and it's totally fine. So.
[01:36:48] Speaker C: I love those memes of Millie. It's totally not true, but I love those names of Millie. Like, being against the lgbt.
[01:36:55] Speaker A: Yes. So does Tony. Tony loves them too. He sends them to us all the time.
[01:37:02] Speaker C: Every time I see them, they're so funny.
[01:37:06] Speaker B: Those are hilarious.
I was like. I believe. I was like, is this true?
[01:37:13] Speaker C: Like, the one where they've got a picture of her and she's like, in a car and it's like Millie driving through a pride event.
[01:37:20] Speaker B: That's so funny.
[01:37:23] Speaker C: Love it.
[01:37:27] Speaker A: They're hilarious. I for. What was the one with about, like, the toaster? Was that the one that. That Tony sent to us? That one is hysterical. So funny.
[01:37:36] Speaker C: Tony. He's crazy.
[01:37:38] Speaker A: He is crazy.
Shout out to Tony. We love you.
[01:37:43] Speaker C: Love him, but he's crazy.
[01:37:44] Speaker B: So funny.
[01:37:45] Speaker C: Not that I can talk.
[01:37:48] Speaker A: All right, well, that's the end.
[01:37:49] Speaker C: Yay.
[01:37:49] Speaker A: Everybody's together. We're. Everything's all set up for the finale. Hooray.
[01:37:54] Speaker B: I have no idea what happens in this finale, really.
I have no clue how this season ends.
[01:38:00] Speaker A: That's exciting. I kind of like that. You don't know. It'll make it, like, really fun when we watch it.
[01:38:05] Speaker B: Yeah. I hope I'm not disappointed.
[01:38:09] Speaker C: And how many seasons are there after this?
Three, Four? Five. Oh, three.
[01:38:14] Speaker A: Because there's five total. So the tone of the show changes pretty drastically after this. Season three is very, very different tonally. And then season four is very different tonally. Kind of like whiplash a little bit. So I'm curious what you'll think about the remainder of it. Robbie, you'll have to come back.
[01:38:32] Speaker B: And I think season four is my favorite.
[01:38:34] Speaker C: I think when you make a show, like, every three years with the way they do streaming, I don't think you.
Same tone.
I mean, it's just.
[01:38:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:38:44] Speaker C: Not to mention the fact that, like, you've got a show that centers around children and they grow so quickly that, like, I mean, even from last season, all of them have, like, shot up a lot and look different.
[01:39:00] Speaker A: And this is only like a couple months later.
[01:39:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Literally. So, like, when they're trying to say, like, like, it's. It's happening within a certain time frame, I'm always kind of like,
[01:39:12] Speaker A: yeah, the whole show is supposed to happen within five years, and it's literally like an 11 year, 10, or 11 year difference. So.
[01:39:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:39:19] Speaker A: But yeah, I am very curious what you'll think of the finale and then also season three. So you'll have to come back and let us know. Leia, you'll have to let me know what you think of the finale next week.
[01:39:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, I think we're gonna talk about. About it.
[01:39:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:39:33] Speaker A: Yeah. You think so? Cool. I think I Think that's on my calendar.
[01:39:36] Speaker B: We'll get together and talk about it, just casually.
Cool.
[01:39:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:39:41] Speaker B: And then.
[01:39:41] Speaker A: And then we'll come on and record it and be like, yeah, wish you guys had been there. It was a really great discussion.
[01:39:46] Speaker B: So. Yeah. Yeah, of course.
[01:39:49] Speaker A: But. Okay, Robbie, where can we find you? Our listeners find you.
[01:39:54] Speaker C: Oh, God.
Well, I suffer from new mental illness.
And you can find said mental illness at my Instagram at.
Hang on. What's it called?
[01:40:11] Speaker B: One Draws over the Cuckoo's Nest.
[01:40:13] Speaker C: That's the one.
[01:40:17] Speaker A: Okay, let me close this out, and then. Yeah, we can continue.
Where? How do I close out? What do I do?
[01:40:22] Speaker B: All right.
[01:40:22] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Okay.
[01:40:23] Speaker C: What do I do? What do I got?
[01:40:25] Speaker B: Thank you for listening to Investigating Angel.
[01:40:27] Speaker A: Thank you.
[01:40:27] Speaker C: Go ahead, Leia.
[01:40:28] Speaker A: How about it? Give us a couple prompts. What should people be thinking about?
[01:40:32] Speaker B: So, guys, that's the episode.
Let us know your thoughts. Let us know what you think about Bob's death. That was huge. And also crazy. Do you think it was gratuitous? Do you think it was just right?
What do you think of the demo dog? Dogs?
What's the difference between a demo dog and. Wait, I'm getting there.
[01:40:55] Speaker A: And Sorry.
[01:40:57] Speaker B: And a regular demogorgon. What do we think of Billy? This new development in Billy's backstory? Do you feel more sympathy toward him? Do you think that he's still an asshole? Are you excited to see what comes next?
Do you think that Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan are gonna wrestle each other and fight?
[01:41:15] Speaker C: Fight?
[01:41:17] Speaker B: Are they going to punch each other in the face?
[01:41:19] Speaker A: Maybe there will be some oil of some kind. Yeah.
[01:41:23] Speaker C: What? Props, houses, people and things. Do you think Winona stole off the set of this episode?
[01:41:29] Speaker A: Very important. Very important.
[01:41:31] Speaker B: Exactly. Very important. And then lastly, does everybody agree that Max is the best character on the show?
[01:41:39] Speaker A: I don't think Robbie agrees with that one.
[01:41:41] Speaker C: I. She. She's the king. She's definitely my favorite. My favorite.
[01:41:45] Speaker B: And everybody should be nicer to her.
[01:41:47] Speaker C: Oh, my God. It's so hard to watch sometimes, isn't it? But then it also feels very real.
[01:41:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Anytime a new girl enters a boy dynamic, it's always. It's always like this.
[01:41:57] Speaker B: But.
[01:41:57] Speaker C: And as a. As a gay kid that grew up being friends predominantly with girls, you would see that all the time. A girl would enter, like, a straight male space and just, like, eviscerate her.
I don't know why. I don't know what that is. Like, lame.
[01:42:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:42:17] Speaker B: So, yes, guys, thank you so much for listening. Let us know your thoughts, and we will see you.
Are we gonna see us? Are they gonna see us next week?
[01:42:26] Speaker A: Yeah, we have the finale, right?
[01:42:28] Speaker B: Okay. Yes, we will see you next week.
[01:42:31] Speaker A: Mom, are we gonna be here next week?
Karen, where's our children?
[01:42:41] Speaker C: I don't know the schedule.
[01:42:46] Speaker A: You're like, what's our schedule? Yes, yes, we will be here next week.
[01:42:49] Speaker B: We'll see you here next week, same time, same place, wherever you stream. And thanks for coming, Robbie. You won't be here next week, but we will be.
[01:43:00] Speaker C: I guess I'll be here in spirit.
[01:43:02] Speaker B: All right, thanks for listening, guys. See you next time. Bye.
[01:43:09] Speaker A: Thanks so much for listening to Investigating. If you enjoyed this podcast, feel free to follow, subscribe and review us on all platforms. You can also find us on Instagram at Investigating Podcast and you can continue to email us@instimating angelpodcastmail.com.
