Stranger Things: S3. Ch1. Suzie, Do You Copy?

Stranger Things: S3. Ch1. Suzie, Do You Copy?
Investigating
Stranger Things: S3. Ch1. Suzie, Do You Copy?

Sep 03 2026 | 01:20:39

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Episode 1 • September 03, 2026 • 01:20:39

Hosted By

Sarah Watson Lea Nasrallah

Show Notes

(Note: Both this episode and the next were recorded before we knew the podcast was ending. Unfortunately there will only be one more episode airing after this.)

The new Starcourt mall has the town of Hawkins buzzing, yet something sinister lurks underneath. Join Sarah and Lea as they discuss costuming, Mike and El's infatuation with one another, Hopper's rage (justified or no?), Billy and Karen's impending sexual rendezvous, and more!

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Episode Transcript

[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to Investigating, a Movie and Television Rewatch podcast, where we're currently analyzing each episode of Stranger Things with no spoilers. We are your hosts, Leah and Sarah, [00:00:16] Speaker B: and if you love Stranger Things, this is the podcast for you. [00:00:43] Speaker A: Hey, guys. Welcome back to Investigating Stranger Things. Today is season three, Chapter one. Susie, do youo Copy? Written and directed by the Duffers. And this episode, just like all the other episodes for the rest of the season, and this is the last season we can see say this. It aired on July 4, 2019. So next season and season five, that's when they start splitting the seasons off, so. [00:01:07] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:01:08] Speaker A: Enjoy it while we can. No, I mean, it makes no difference to us. [00:01:11] Speaker C: It's already up. [00:01:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:15] Speaker A: But, yes. Happy October, everyone. Which is really bizarre because we are currently recording this in August, but you all will be listening to it in October, and we hope you guys had a great break and are ready for spring spooky season. I kind of wish. Obviously, we didn't really plan this very well, but it would have been fun if we'd planned our seasons to, like, correlate with the season and the holiday that was like, the season has aired around. Like, this would come out around 4th of July. [00:01:41] Speaker B: And then. Let's see. [00:01:43] Speaker A: I guess the other ones would have been season one and two around, like, Halloween and Halloween. Yeah. [00:01:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:49] Speaker A: And then season four, I think. I don't think season four has. Has a theme, but maybe we'll figure it out. Who knows? [00:01:56] Speaker B: I don't remember. Season 5 is [00:02:01] Speaker A: its own thing. [00:02:02] Speaker C: It's its own thing. Yeah. [00:02:04] Speaker A: Everyone is done. Everyone is, you know, what is it? [00:02:08] Speaker C: Calling it in, Phoning it in, phoning [00:02:10] Speaker B: it in, Ready for summer. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Yeah, that's okay. [00:02:14] Speaker C: That's two seasons away. [00:02:15] Speaker A: We're still in the thick of it. We're after this season. We're gonna be more than halfway done with the show, which is really wild because it feels like we just. [00:02:24] Speaker B: Crazy. [00:02:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:25] Speaker B: I mean, we did literally. [00:02:27] Speaker C: We did just start six months ago. What is this? This is weird. [00:02:33] Speaker A: All right, so first impressions of season three. What did you think of this episode? What do you think of the vibe shift? How are we feeling? [00:02:43] Speaker B: I thought this first episode was really similar to the first episode of, like, season two. It just feels like everybody's in their groove. They're all doing their own thing, trying to live a normal life, and then obviously, something is. Something spooky is happening. Will is feeling, and he's still not telling anybody. [00:03:05] Speaker C: Yeah, he's like, maybe this time it won't be anything. [00:03:08] Speaker B: No, it's Nothing. And then his. The back of his neck is tingling like, come on. Well, we've done this two years in a row. Just tell somebody. Oh, anyway. But yeah, I thought. I thought it was like. [00:03:21] Speaker C: It's like. It's like your period coming every month, and you're like, gosh, why do I feel this way? Must be nothing in your period because you're like, oh, that's Will. Every time he feels something, he's like, man, what is this feeling? Why do I have goosebumps? [00:03:32] Speaker B: He, like, turns around and looks ominously into the distance. I'm like, hello. [00:03:38] Speaker C: His head does a 180 swivel, just like, you know, the Exorcist or whatever that movie is. [00:03:43] Speaker B: But no, I. I like this episode. I feel like it's kind of shaking up the dynamics a little bit. I mean, yeah, obviously Ellen, Mike are like, up each other's buttholes 24 7. [00:03:54] Speaker C: Did we expect anything less? No. [00:03:56] Speaker B: My God, I'm so shocked. [00:03:58] Speaker C: It would have been out of character [00:04:00] Speaker A: if they were not. [00:04:02] Speaker B: And then obviously Max and Lucas are like, a thing now, and they're very cute and. And it feels like Dustin is kind of feeling a little isolated from the group. He was away for the summer. And then we got to meet. We get to meet Robin, who I. Did we. Did we find out her name in this episode? [00:04:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:20] Speaker B: Oh, okay. So, yeah, we get to meet Robin. We get to see more Karen. I thought that was really interesting. And I like, the final scene of the episode with Billy was, like, very spooky. And I actually started watching the next episode because I wanted to know what happens next. But then I stopped because I was like, I'm gonna have to watch it next week anyway. But, yeah, I'm very excited. It made me excited for next week because I feel like they're kind of jumping into the thick of it. [00:04:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:49] Speaker B: Right away, which I like. I don't want to wait a couple episodes before stuff, like, starts happening. [00:04:56] Speaker A: So, yeah, if I remember the pacing of the this season, it could be completely different once we start getting into it. I remember it like the first section of it, like, speeds along, things are happening, blah, blah, blah. I think the middle of it, if I remember correctly, is where it kind of lags a little bit and then obviously ends with a bang. But I feel like that's a kind of a nice change of pace to the previous two seasons, which you and I both talked about how, like, it starts off really slow and then just kind of builds and builds and builds, and then you get to the end, and then it all kind of comes together and stuff. And I think for season two especially, it was really slow to begin with. Yeah. So it's kind of nice. I. I felt like the energy was really good for season three, I think, you know, they seem to at least, like, know what they're doing, knowing what they're going for. It's a very clear tonal shift. Yeah. I don't know. I always. I always struggle with season three. To me, before season five came out, I always felt like season three was the weakest of the seasons. Doesn't mean that's not fun. Doesn't mean there aren't things to love. I just think that it's just very different. I think the Duffers knew what they were going for with seasons one and even seasons two, but from here on out, it was kind of like, all right, we're. I mean, there's a quote from the Duffers where they talked about how, like, they had set up their sandbox and now they get to play in it. So it's kind of this idea where it was more of like, we're just going to do the things we really think are fun and that we love. And it's not necessarily, like, we have a specific story in mind that we want to tell. It's just more of like. Like, what do we think would be a blast to show on screen? And then. Yeah. That obviously we have season four and five where they're like, oh, we have to wrap it up. [00:06:33] Speaker C: Let's go. [00:06:34] Speaker A: Like, let's figure it out. Yeah. Okay. So I have a lot of behind the scenes stuff. I'm gonna try and get through it. I know. [00:06:41] Speaker C: Get through it. [00:06:41] Speaker A: I sound like a. You know, I'm gonna go hike. No, but I have a lot of. I say get through it because I have a lot of other things I want to talk about. But I'm not going to talk about this episode just because there's just so much we have to cover. But there's a lot of things that I'm very excited to talk about. Me, too. Movements, influence. And then also even talking about, like, the cinematography shift, the color shift, the change in even the camera movements, and all that stuff will be really fun to talk about, but we'll get into it in future episodes. So just a little teaser for you guys, but. Okay. The Duffers say season one was setting up the story and the characters. Season two became. Okay, how do we start to expand the story in the world of it? And then season three was. We have our Sandbox. Now let's play Planet. The season received positive reviews from critics and received eight nominations at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and one for Outstanding Sound editing for a comedy or drama series for an hour. As part of the 2019 Teen Choice Awards, the series received a nomination for Choice Summer TV series for the season. Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo and Noah Schnapps of the Four Core Boys were all nominated for Choice Summer TV actor and Millie Bobby Brown was nominated for choice Summer TV actor actress. The series Schnapp and Brown all won awards in their respective categories, which I think that is well deserved. Not that and not everybody did a good job, but I think in particular, like Millie and Noah just killed it. So, yeah, I. I just. [00:08:13] Speaker C: I love that. [00:08:14] Speaker A: Within four days of its release, Netflix reported that over 40.7 million accounts had seen at least 70% of one episode of the third season, a record viewership for 80 any Netflix program. While 18.2 million had seen the entire season within that time within four days. [00:08:32] Speaker B: Wow. Wow. 18.2 sounds about right, honestly. Yeah, but that's cr. That's still crazy. Those are crazy numbers. [00:08:41] Speaker A: But it also speaks to the one, the binge ability of it, but also the fact that people wanted to finish the season. That's a really strong, like, indicator that something is working if people are not getting bored of it halfway through, like, they're wanting to finish it. Netflix reported in October 2019 that over 64 million households had watched Stranger Things 3 within the first four weeks of its release. Crazy. And like, mind you, this is back when unfortunately, or I would say fortunately, it's unfortunately for us now. Netflix wasn't as bogged down as it is now. Like, I don't know about you, but when I go on Netflix now, it just gets super overwhelming to find anything to watch. And there's constantly new stuff that's coming out. [00:09:25] Speaker B: So. [00:09:25] Speaker A: So I often either find out about something in retrospect or I wait until someone recommends something to me before I watch it on there. [00:09:34] Speaker B: So, yeah, I Very rarely. Anytime I've tried to sit down and, like, just pick a movie because I don't even bother watching shows on Netflix or anything. Like, I don't put on a random show. I don't know. I just. [00:09:46] Speaker A: You're not like other girls? [00:09:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I'm not like other girls. But yeah, I. I have a hard time sitting down and just scrolling through because I. I can never decide on. [00:09:54] Speaker A: It's overwhelming. [00:09:56] Speaker B: The other day I watched Scooby Doo the OG actually, it was Scooby Doo 2 is the second one. The second one, I was scrolling and scrolling and scrolling, and I'm like, nothing seems enticing. And then I saw Sarah Michelle Geller's face. [00:10:10] Speaker C: You're like. [00:10:10] Speaker B: And I was like, okay, I haven't watched this movie in a long time. Let me put it on. So it was so corny. [00:10:16] Speaker C: It's so, so good. I love it. [00:10:18] Speaker A: Yeah, well, it's so funny. Funny story. My kids obviously know who Sarah Michelle Geller and slash Buffy is because, like, I have her face all over my house. And I love Buffy, and I've shown them, like, clips of it. Anyway, they started watching Scooby Doo, and [00:10:33] Speaker C: they don't call her Daphne, they call [00:10:35] Speaker A: her Buffy, of course, because she also [00:10:38] Speaker B: fights in that movie. [00:10:40] Speaker C: Right? So in their minds, it's like, that's. That's their version of Buffy. So I'm like, you know what? [00:10:44] Speaker A: That works. [00:10:45] Speaker C: I'll allow it. [00:10:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:47] Speaker C: I think it's the cutest thing. They're like, can we watch that Buffy movie? And I know it's Scooby Doo. [00:10:54] Speaker B: That's cute. [00:10:54] Speaker A: All right. [00:10:54] Speaker C: So. [00:10:55] Speaker A: Sean Levy noted in November 2016 that he and the Duffer Brothers had already begun planning a potential third season, saying, we are not going to be caught off guard and we don't want to be making stuff up like the day before we have to write it and make it. So we are definitely optimistic and we have started thinking ahead. The Duffer brothers anticipated having about four to five seasons to work with, but do want to have a really finite ending while the series is still at its height of success, according to Matt, rather than letting it draw out indefinitely. Oh, okay. In August 2017, the duffer. I'm like, reading all this. [00:11:25] Speaker C: I'm like, did none of this is what happened. [00:11:28] Speaker B: You sure about that? [00:11:29] Speaker C: They're talking about not wanting to be making stuff up the day of. And I'm like, okay, can't wait till we get to season five, to be fair. [00:11:39] Speaker B: And then Covid happened. Covid just. I think we ended up. It did happen. [00:11:44] Speaker A: Well, in the writer strike. The writer strike was also around this time, too. In August 2017, the Duffer Brothers confirmed there would be a third season, with the likelihood of one more season following that with Ross saying, we're thinking it will be a four season thing. And then out. Now I remember. I remember when this happened because I. I would look up, okay, how many seasons are they going to do? Like, I was curious, and I remember very clearly when they stated it's going to be done after four seasons. And it wasn't until season four went into production that we started hearing, okay, they're going to do a season five and this season is going to end on a cliffhanger and stuff. So. Executive producer, however, Sean Levy later suggested that either four or five total seasons were possibilities, claiming that the truth is we're definitely going four seasons and there is very much the possibility of a fifth. Beyond that, it becomes, I think, very unlikely. Matt Duffer later commented that no official decision had been made, claiming that it's hard, like four seems short, five seems long. So I don't know what to do. In December 2017, Netflix officially confirmed that they had greenlit the third season consisting of eight episodes. Levy also confirmed that a fourth season was definitely happening and that there was potential for a fifth season. A year later, the episode titles for season three were revealed, along with confirming the season would be named Stranger Things 3, similar to the second season. So then writing for the third season began before the second season's premiere, with a good portion being written in 12 to 14 hour bouts by the series creators. So very similar to season one. And then it was reported that Netflix wanted both the third and fourth seasons to be written simultaneously as to facilitate a back to back production schedule because they were like, hey, the kids are starting to get older and they're aging faster than their on screen characters. But the Duffers and Levy were like, we want to just focus on one season at a time because we feel like it'll be better developed, more fleshed out. We don't want to be stretched too thin and stuff. So in terms of narrative, Levy said the season would be less about Will, saying, we're not going to put Will through hell for a third season in a row. Thank God. Although I'm not optimistic after seeing his neck goosebump. He'll be dealing with stuff, but he won't be at rock bottom. We're going to be dealing. [00:13:54] Speaker C: Oh, that's good. [00:13:55] Speaker A: Not rock bottom. He's only gonna be. He's only gonna be mostly in pain. [00:13:58] Speaker B: Not he's only gonna be in denial. [00:14:01] Speaker A: Yeah, he'll be in pain and then in denial. Yeah, we're going to be dealing with the forces of evil that are new. David harbor has said that the third savvily from the film Fletch Levy and Natalia Dyer echo sentiments that the season's events would be more adult oriented, with Dyer calling the season's narrative bigger, darker and scarier, which is really funny. And crazy, because the Duffers specifically said that they wanted this season to swing the other way from seasons one and two and make it lighter, focusing more on laughter and romance. [00:14:29] Speaker C: I like how, as you're gonna watch, too, like, the scenes with Natalia Dyer is very different from what everybody else. [00:14:36] Speaker B: Else. Yeah, she's in a different show. [00:14:39] Speaker C: Yeah, she's like, it's dark, it's scary. Meanwhile, over here, we have everybody, like, eating ice cream and going to the mall. [00:14:49] Speaker A: So the Duffer says, we like the idea of mixing outrageous comedy with outrageous horror. We liked creating a fun, poppy blockbuster season. This is really the last summer before high school. There was talk about that transition from childhood to adulthood. You're also going through serious puberty at that point, which led to the body morph storyline. Spoilers. While we had the action stuff with Russia and the stuff with Hopper and Joyce, on the flip side of it, we wanted the season to be gross. We wanted to juxtapose those different tones and smoosh this together. So filming began on April 23, 2018, and it concluded in November 2018. And they said this was the longest hiatus they've had between seasons. So season one came out in 2016. Season two was 2017. This one came out in 2019. And Netflix noted that the Duffers and Shawn Levy understand the stakes are high. They want to deliver something bigger and better than last year. I think it's going to be fantastic. It will be worth the wait. So that is all the initial behind the scenes and stuff. But, yeah, this is a massive shift this season for the show. And the show's never the same again, for good or for bad. You know, like, it's very. You can tell, like, the camera's a little crisper. They. They're not. They don't have that grainy quality as much anymore. There's a lot more color. We're, like, in the neon side of the 80s now. Like, we're in the Madonna. All of the, like, really, like, bright colors, the side ponytails, all of that stuff. Like, this is what we think of when we think of the 80s. And, yeah, it's just. It's fun to look at. And then, okay, return of my Reddit comments, because we have to do that. Some of them were very funny. So here is the first one. [00:16:36] Speaker C: Smug son of a Mike. The reply is, honestly, I thought he was being harsh until the scene where he's trying to do. [00:16:44] Speaker A: To seriously talk. Talk with him. Talking about Hopper. And Mike straight up, laughs in his face and makes a smug joke. [00:16:49] Speaker B: So rude. [00:16:51] Speaker C: Oh, I know. [00:16:51] Speaker A: I can't wait to talk about it. Someone else says, yeah, Mike is feeling untouchable right now, and he needs to have a reality check. Somebody else says, mike has always been the character who is the least mature but can become the most mature one of the group. He has the widest range in that sense and dips from low to high. [00:17:05] Speaker B: That's very true, actually. [00:17:07] Speaker C: Yes. [00:17:07] Speaker A: Yeah, he's the writer's vending machine. And then someone said, I remember the completely illusory sense of masculine power that came from making out with a girl at 14. [00:17:18] Speaker C: It's a rush. You don't realize how goofy you were [00:17:20] Speaker B: until several years later when he started singing. I was like, oh, no. [00:17:25] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. [00:17:27] Speaker A: So here's the thing. Like, some of their behavior is irritating [00:17:34] Speaker C: as an adult, looking back, but it's [00:17:35] Speaker A: also incredibly age appropriate. [00:17:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:38] Speaker C: It's so relatable. [00:17:39] Speaker B: It is. For sure. For sure. [00:17:42] Speaker C: It's just now I'm in my 30s looking back, going, ooh, yeah. [00:17:49] Speaker A: And then someone else said, I would set sail on the ocean of flavor with Steve. Sad face. Someone else says, honestly, they've done my boy Steve dirty. [00:17:57] Speaker C: He was the suave cool guy in the first season. Now he's a single mother working in an ice cream shop just to get by and trying to keep the spark going with anyone. Someone else says, I mean, he's doing an excellent job of it. Go, mom Steve. Those girls don't know what they're missing out on. [00:18:10] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:18:11] Speaker A: And then another person. [00:18:12] Speaker C: Is that a news it? No, Lucas, don't. And someone else says, lucas has been it up all episode. It's hilarious. And then someone else said, Mike and 11 are cute and all, but those other two have that real love. When you're at the stage, when you can casually say, is that a new zit? That's a true relationship. [00:18:27] Speaker B: True. He, like, spit into the bottle. I was like, huh? [00:18:35] Speaker C: I love them so much. And then this one. Damn Stranger things turned horny on main fast. [00:18:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it did. [00:18:43] Speaker C: Yeah, it did. [00:18:44] Speaker A: They're like, well, they're 14 now. [00:18:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:49] Speaker C: Then the last one, bold by Mike and Elle to have the music blaring out loud every time they make out quite a power move. [00:18:57] Speaker B: Like the fact that they're just in there and the door is cracked open and they're just going at it. I'm like, you guys know whose house you're in? [00:19:06] Speaker A: Can you, like, go. Go find a field or something? [00:19:08] Speaker B: Like, surely. Yeah. Like, go do this elsewhere. [00:19:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:12] Speaker A: And then save, like, actual hangout time. For when you have to be back at Hopper's house and. [00:19:16] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:19:17] Speaker A: But again, they're 14. We're asking them to be rational. [00:19:19] Speaker B: They're not actually hanging out, though. They're just making out. [00:19:22] Speaker A: That's true. We don't see them interacting and have conversations. We just see them kissing. [00:19:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:27] Speaker A: Ooh, that's a red flag. All right, we'll show up that one for later anyway. Okay, where were we? Oh, yeah, we haven't even started the episode yet. Okay, let's start. [00:19:38] Speaker C: Let's start. Stranger Things. [00:19:39] Speaker A: We were talking about horny, and then. Yeah, that's where we go. [00:19:42] Speaker C: Okay. [00:19:42] Speaker A: Wow, this is. [00:19:43] Speaker C: This is great. [00:19:44] Speaker A: All right, so we start off. It's June 28, 1984. For everyone listening at home and for Leia, this is between the events of season one and season two. So season one was set in the fall of 1983. Season two was a year later, fall of 1984. This opening scene is the summer in between. And the rest of season three is the summer of 1985. I believe so, yes. It's been nine months since the events of season two. We're in some sort of lab. There's a bunch of suited and masked men setting up a machine. We see some men in lab coats coming into the observation room. Pulling out a briefcase that holds two keys activates the giant laser leg machine. It blasts its laser at the opening of the wall, creating a very familiar looking rift. We see tentacles start to emerge from the opening. And then the entire room begins to shake. The machinery begins to spark. The laser weakens and eventually sputters to stop. And we see that the rift closes up again. Just when we think it's over, the machine explodes. This is actually a pretty cool graphics effect. You can tell the budget's gone up a lot because, like, we literally see this guy just, like melt. Completely incinerate and melt, and all the scientists in the room die. And then we see this man who, you know, General is a big. He's big mad. And he has his right hand man who's very Terminator esque, chokes out the lead scientists. And then the General tells the second in command that he's now in charge. He has one year, presumably, to open the rift. They're speaking Russian and we hear a man's. A men's choir singing in Russian. We close out on a Russian flag. So, you know, very obvious where this is. And then the opening sequence actually, like, it's set in a secret Soviet lab. They actually went to Russia and filmed in a Secret Soviet lab. Just kidding. [00:21:25] Speaker C: I'm. [00:21:25] Speaker A: I'm joking. [00:21:27] Speaker B: But the Duffer Brothers, Christopher Nolan, he's [00:21:30] Speaker A: like, hey, guys, I need to be extremely authentic. [00:21:33] Speaker C: So could you imagine? [00:21:37] Speaker A: The Duffer Brothers wanted the massive industrial bunker aesthetic to look heavy metallic and starkly utilitarian, using actual vintage style Soviet military surplus gauges and hazard lights sourced from Eastern European collectors to maintain absolute historical accuracy. [00:21:53] Speaker B: Didn't even notice. [00:21:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:57] Speaker A: So, guys, it's almost as good as going to Russia, you know? [00:22:00] Speaker B: Right? They brought Russia to them. [00:22:02] Speaker A: Exactly. They one upped Christopher Nolan. Take that. Yeah, take that, Chris. So one year later, one year later, we open up in Elle's room, which is now full of tween slash teen girl stuff. I like that. It's, like, filled with stuff that she loves. Mementos. There's actually even, like, the mask that she wore when she was with Cie's gang that's, like, on her dresser that we pan over. They're just making out. Her and Mike listening to Never Surrender by Corey Hart. Mike just starts singing along in a goofy manner, exasperating l like so teenage boy. And then they just start smooching again. And then we cut to the real man here. [00:22:45] Speaker C: Hop is clutching his Tostitos and desperately trying not to think about sweating. You know what? [00:22:52] Speaker A: I would be too. [00:22:53] Speaker C: Yeah, some of it is valid, but also, some of it is, like, definitely an overstep. [00:22:57] Speaker B: But also, like, just calm down a little. But also, like, I see where he's coming from. [00:23:02] Speaker A: Is this a safe space? Can I say that? [00:23:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I see where he's coming from. [00:23:06] Speaker C: I think I would kind of act like him, to be honest. [00:23:09] Speaker B: Me too. I wouldn't be a joy. I'd be like, I'm gonna kill you if you get your together. [00:23:16] Speaker C: Literally, like, oh. [00:23:18] Speaker A: Anyway, so Hopper is reclining in his seat so we can see through the cracks. He's the making out. [00:23:24] Speaker B: And he's like, hey. [00:23:26] Speaker C: And then he, like, runs over and out. [00:23:28] Speaker A: Like, uses her powers to shut the door. [00:23:29] Speaker C: And he's like, the door needs to be open at least three inches. He kept yelling three inches. And I thought he meant they had to maintain a 3 inch space between them. And I was like, that's what I thought. Like, not very far. [00:23:41] Speaker B: No, he said 10 inches. Didn't he say 10 inches apart? [00:23:45] Speaker A: I think he said yelled 3 inches first. But that's because she slammed the door. But I assumed it was because they were, you know, mouth to mouth. [00:23:53] Speaker C: So the door finally unlocks, and then they're sitting there, laying there they're, like, open. Oh, I would. I would rage the way I would go, oh, blow gasket. Oh, my gosh. [00:24:06] Speaker A: They're like, what's wrong? [00:24:07] Speaker C: And he's like. [00:24:08] Speaker A: You know, you can tell he's, like, one foot away from, like, going into the loony bin. He's, like, completely losing it. So later, Mike's biking home, laughing about it with Elle. [00:24:16] Speaker C: Do you see his face as red as a tomato? [00:24:19] Speaker B: The audacity of this guy. [00:24:21] Speaker C: I think I'm too old to sympathize with the teenagers guys, because, yeah, they're [00:24:29] Speaker A: like, I wish I was still with you. I wish I was still with you. I'll see you tomorrow first thing. I was like, maybe if you actually spent time hanging out instead of just kissing, you would not miss each other as much, but whatever. So we cut to the opening of the new Star Court mall. [00:24:43] Speaker B: Very cool. I love the vibes of this mall. [00:24:46] Speaker C: I love the mall. [00:24:48] Speaker A: Okay. Someone out there needs to open a mall like this, and I bet it would make so much money. [00:24:54] Speaker B: I bet you there's malls out there that look like this that are abandoned. [00:24:58] Speaker A: This is. This mall is abandoned. Like, it actually had all the original stuff in it, like the. The tile work and stuff. They had to obviously add the storefronts and stuff. But, like, we talk about how teens don't have, like, the loss of third spaces for teens to be able to go somewhere and hang out. And, like, we're. We yearn for the mall, you guys. [00:25:17] Speaker B: Yeah, we used to hang out in the mall all the time. That was all the time. We would all go every Friday night. [00:25:22] Speaker A: It was so fun. [00:25:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:25] Speaker A: Yeah. So Mike joins Max, Will, and Lucas, and they're complaining that he's late again, that he's gonna miss the opening. Lucas makes fun of Mike being late because he was making out with Elle. Max is tells him to stop. And then we get a shot at the mall's food court area and all its 80s glory. We'll talk more about, like, the design of it and stuff. I don't have time this one because it's a lot, but it's really cool. I will say, though, Netflix partnered with around 75 companies to produce tie in products to promote the third season. But for many of the deals, there was no financial exchange between Netflix and the third parties, with Netflix allowing the third parties to generate their own marketing buzz for their products, while helping to promote Stranger Things, which is honestly so smart. So companies included H M, Burger King, Coca Cola, Baskin Robbins, and even Microsoft, among many others. And then this Starcourt Mall is not a set built on a studio soundstage. The production's design team completely transformed a largely abandoned real world shopping center called Gwinnett Place mall in Duluth, Georgia. The crew rebuilt roughly 40 period accurate storefronts down to the finest detail, including vintage packaging, cash registers, and storefront signs for brands like Radio Shack, Walden books, and D. JCPenney. Creating a time capsule that was so realistic, local residents frequently tried to enter to shop. [00:26:44] Speaker B: Oh my God, I love that. They should do that for real. [00:26:48] Speaker A: Just leave it up like. [00:26:49] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, just have these, like, imagine if there was one mall and all of these companies just opened, like an, like a vintage looking storefront. [00:26:59] Speaker A: It would probably make so much money [00:27:01] Speaker B: and people would come. It would be like an attraction. I would go, yeah. Just to have that experience. [00:27:07] Speaker A: I agree. They should do it as like a Stranger Things pop up too. Like make Star Court model and fun. Yeah, that would be really, really fun because it's almost like a walk in exhibit. Like, you also get to do stuff. You get to have an experience on top of being able to like, you could purchase fun, like memorabilia and stuff. [00:27:24] Speaker B: I feel like Disney would do something like that. [00:27:26] Speaker A: Oh, like maybe Disney World. [00:27:28] Speaker B: Disney World. [00:27:29] Speaker A: Yeah. If Disney owned it, that would be so fun. [00:27:32] Speaker B: They. If they owned it, they would 1 million percent have an entire like, village dedicated to stranger things. [00:27:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, 100. I was just at Disneyland like a couple weeks ago and I. It's been a few. It's been two years since I've been back there, but the Star wars land area has gotten so cool. This is how like intricate they were. So I went. We had lunch there. And like, you know how when you put your card into like the little machine and you have like the little like loading screen or whatever. They even made the screen look like it was out of Star Wars. Like that's how like their attention to detail is so meticulous. And I just like, imagine if they had, you know, at Disneyland, there's literally Stranger Things world and they made Starcourt Mall. Like, don't get me started. [00:28:17] Speaker B: That would be fun as hell. And then obviously they'd have to make the upside down. [00:28:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Above you could see like a ride flicker. Oh, all right. [00:28:24] Speaker B: It would probably be a ride, like a roller coaster or something. [00:28:27] Speaker A: Yeah, that'd be so fun to run away from the mind flayer. We have a new costume designer this season, Amy Paris. She's actually also the costume designer for yellow jackets too. Oh. Which I know you love. Yeah, yeah. She's actually Going to be the costume designer for the rest of the series. I'll talk more about costuming later, but a few fun facts that I'm going to sprinkle in is for Lucas. Paris wanted Max's influence on his wardrobe to be really apparent, which is why he's wearing brighter colors. [00:28:57] Speaker C: Isn't that so? So cute. I thought that was so adorable. I love them so much. [00:29:03] Speaker A: For Will. Well, you know, this is the bummer. She intentionally made his clothes ill fitting and immature, both due to getting hand me downs from Jonathan since the buyers don't have too much money and due to being emotionally stunted compared to his growing friends. [00:29:14] Speaker B: Yeah, because he's in denial. [00:29:16] Speaker C: Also, he's been gone for, like, two years of his life, so. [00:29:21] Speaker A: Yeah, but it felt like that. It was also important to establish that Will was feeling left behind for Max. Paris saw the season's summer setting as a perfect opportunity to display her sunny California wardrobe. Mike Paris wanted to make him more preppy and mature looking. [00:29:37] Speaker C: Failed. [00:29:38] Speaker B: No, just kidding. [00:29:38] Speaker A: Compared to the other boys, since he comes from a more rich family. [00:29:41] Speaker C: Sorry, I really need to get my foot off his neck. Struggle, struggle. [00:29:48] Speaker B: When they were running off down the hill in that, like. Oh, the grass. [00:29:51] Speaker C: Don't even get me. [00:29:52] Speaker B: You look so. Mike, you. You're such a goofy man. [00:29:58] Speaker A: He's so tall and lanky and like, he's in that awkward stage for kids, but especially boys where they're still very little, but they're starting to look like men. [00:30:07] Speaker B: Yeah, he looks goofy as hell. [00:30:09] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:30:11] Speaker A: He's like four chin hairs. [00:30:13] Speaker B: Oh, my God, [00:30:15] Speaker A: I love that. The thing that the kids are into, like, keeps getting upgraded as each season happens. Like, dnd board games to the first season, then the arcade, now the mall. Like, it feels age appropriate. And it also is kind of like the fact that they're more into something that's so mainstream also shows them losing a bit of that childishness too, which I think is really fun. So the gang pushes their way through the crowds. We pass Erica with her posy of friends. They call them nerds. [00:30:40] Speaker B: What the hell is Erica doing there? [00:30:42] Speaker C: Where? Why is this small child? She's like 11. L has a curse. [00:30:50] Speaker B: That was a crazy dis. [00:30:53] Speaker C: He's like psycho. She's like butthead. He's like mall rat. She's like fart face. And they're screaming at each other. Max is like, that's really mature. They run into the scoops ahoy. Well, okay. [00:31:03] Speaker B: Well. [00:31:03] Speaker A: And then the person they end up running into is actually, I think, Sean Levy's daughter is like a cameo, which is really fun. But then they run into Scoops Ahoy, which is the nice cream place where it's Steve works in a hilarious outfit that makes him look like a cross between a sailor and a child from the 1920s. Like, oh, my God, swimsuit. So, so funny. In an interview, Joe Kerry and Maya Hawk, who plays Robin, revealed that the uniform for the Scoops Ahoy ice cream parlor was intentionally designed to be as uncomfortable and visually ridiculous as possible. Costume designer. Costume designer Amy Paris sourced authentic itchy polyester sailor suits from the 1980s. And Hawk recalled that the tight hats and striped shorts naturally help them tap into the absolute humiliation and deadpan misery of working a low wage summer retail job. I love that the Duffers were extremely serious on making sure the outfits were goofy looking yet appealing, since Steve and Robin, spoiler alert. Were going to wear it for almost the entire season. Paris also. I'm not even joking. Paris also wanted to make sure both Steve and Robin's uniforms were unique instead of being the same. The sailor hats were originally larger and blue, although this was ultimately scrapped. Wrapped for Robin's red Converse sneakers, which, if you ever get the chance to look at them up close, very cool. Maya Hawk actually drew on them herself and doodled on them and everything, which is a really fun, cute, neat detail. Joe Keery. It took him a minute to get used to the idea once he saw them because it was, in his mind, humiliating. But one of my favorite fun facts about the show is Joe Curie's friends loved the outfit so much that they asked him to wear it while he officiated their wedding. And so there's a photo of Joe [00:32:48] Speaker C: Curie wearing his Scoops Ahoy outfit officiating his friend's wedding. [00:32:53] Speaker B: That's adorable. [00:32:54] Speaker A: I love that we have Maya Hawk joining the cast as Robin, daughter to Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, two absolute legends. I love that she not only fits into this world, but she's a great homage to, you know, the 80s movies that her parents were featured in. So the kids ring the bell. Robin's like, hey, dingus, your children are here. He's like, like, again, [00:33:17] Speaker B: a single mom who works too hard, who loves her kids and never stops. [00:33:23] Speaker A: Brandon's gonna message you for sure about that one. [00:33:25] Speaker C: Yeah, he's gonna be like, he's gonna [00:33:28] Speaker A: have a drinking game. [00:33:28] Speaker C: Gotta drink. [00:33:29] Speaker A: Every time you hear Leia sing that, [00:33:32] Speaker B: I feel like everybody should start doing that. [00:33:34] Speaker A: Yeah, everyone should start drinking when they listen to our podcast. So then Steve lets The kids through the back so they can traverse the back hallways and sneak into the movie the Day of the Dead without having to pay. I. I will say what I really love about the first half, at least of this episode is it's just rapid fire. They're introducing all of the characters, showing us where they're at, and it's literally like going from one place to the next. And it's got a great connectivity to it and it keeps the energy going and you're locked in. And I just, I really, really enjoyed this entire, like this entire episode, but especially the first half of it. [00:34:12] Speaker B: I think we've like spent two seasons with these characters and we're invested in knowing what they've been up to and what they're doing now. Yeah. You know, like just on a day to day basis. [00:34:23] Speaker A: Agreed. So they're in the movie. The power cuts out of the whole mall. We hear the upside down music as Steve tries to flip the switch. Robin's like, that isn't gonna work, dingus. And he's like, oh, really? And then just like flips the switch a bajillion times. [00:34:36] Speaker C: We pan out and see that the [00:34:38] Speaker A: outage is town wide and even affecting the buildings on the outskirts of town. Town. [00:34:42] Speaker B: Oh no, that surely means nothing. Just a power outage. Electric, nothing. Difficulties. [00:34:50] Speaker A: Yeah, it's absolutely nothing. Why would there be a bajillion rats swarming to an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere? [00:34:56] Speaker B: Maybe there's food down there. Who knows? [00:34:58] Speaker A: And you know, that giant dust cloud swirling doesn't seem like anything. Like absolutely nothing. [00:35:03] Speaker B: Global warming. Global warming. [00:35:05] Speaker A: Yes. The Santa Ana winds coming in. [00:35:07] Speaker B: Yeah. From California. [00:35:10] Speaker A: From California all the way to Hawkins, Indiana. So that warm weather current from, you know, the, the south and then we have. That's literally Canada coming in from what [00:35:19] Speaker B: people of Hawkins would say to deny that something weird is happening in their [00:35:23] Speaker C: city instead of Sunnydale, you being like, oh, it was just disbestus and white [00:35:29] Speaker B: boy gangs on pcp. [00:35:34] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, now it's rat boys. [00:35:36] Speaker A: Shout out to prophecy girls. [00:35:37] Speaker B: Shout out to prophecy girls. [00:35:40] Speaker A: So then the mall lights turn on, the movie theater rejoices, except for Will, who feels the goosebumps rising on the back of his neck. Mike's like, are you okay? And Will's like, yeah, of course. We're like, okay, yeah. [00:35:49] Speaker B: Well, yeah. [00:35:50] Speaker A: First of all, Mike, you should know better. Second of all, Will, you should also know better. But you know he's not going to tell anyone because we have to save that for episode seven. [00:36:00] Speaker B: For real. [00:36:03] Speaker C: I just Threw out a random. [00:36:04] Speaker A: I just threw out a random number. I'm sure it'll be sooner than that. [00:36:07] Speaker C: Please. [00:36:08] Speaker A: Yeah. You know how you're talking about how this episode started off with a bang. Get ready for it to come to a screeching halt for five episodes. [00:36:14] Speaker B: No, it won't, because Will just is withholding information. [00:36:18] Speaker A: The good news is we're not reliant on Will this season to be the one that tells us whether the bad guys are there or not. [00:36:24] Speaker B: So true. It's gonna be Billy. [00:36:26] Speaker C: Yup, yup, yup, yup. [00:36:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:31] Speaker C: The new rat king to go along with this ratty mullet. [00:36:38] Speaker A: Then we're in Jonathan's bedroom where Nancy has slept over and unfortunately overslept because the power outage real. They both scramble into their clothes. Nancy's racing out the window. Jonathan tries to head out the front door, but Joyce stops him, rubs a lipstick stain off his cheek. [00:36:51] Speaker C: Bruh. [00:36:52] Speaker A: Joyce not only noticed that Jonathan was there, but she noticed the lips. Lipstick stain on his. On his. [00:36:57] Speaker B: She some white people. Shit. Honestly. [00:36:59] Speaker A: And she knows. Knows that Nancy's sleeping over. [00:37:02] Speaker B: Like, yeah, like I said, this is some white people. [00:37:06] Speaker C: Why? Why is it? [00:37:08] Speaker B: I just feel like if that was like an immigrant household, like you can't do that stuff. You can't. [00:37:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Joyce is very open minded because of being a single mom and having probably a gay son. But I just am surprised she noticed Jonathan. I think this is the first time [00:37:27] Speaker C: she's recognized him in seasons. [00:37:31] Speaker A: Like, I was like, wow, Joyce's. And also her hair looks so good. She looks rest. [00:37:35] Speaker B: She's looking good. [00:37:37] Speaker A: Like, it seems like she's a lot calmer. Like for the first time, Jonathan's the one stressed out, not Joyce. I was like, I mean, actually, sorry. Jonathan has been stressed out since day one. [00:37:46] Speaker B: But Joyce was born. [00:37:48] Speaker A: Yeah, he was born into this world stressed. [00:37:50] Speaker B: He was born on the seaside and [00:37:53] Speaker A: he's during a thunderstorm. [00:37:55] Speaker C: Yes, it was his cortisol levels too high. [00:37:58] Speaker B: There was gray clouds in the sky. [00:38:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Matched his gloomy complexion. I think it's funny because I don't think Joyce would care if Nancy's been sleeping over. But, you know, whatever. So Will's like, gross. Joyce is like, oh, he won't. You won't think it's gross when you fall in love. And Will's like, I'm not going to fall in love. [00:38:17] Speaker C: And Joyce is like, okay. [00:38:19] Speaker A: And then she notices that all the [00:38:20] Speaker C: magnets fell off the frid. Sometimes as a mom, that's just what you got to do. Okay, you just move on. [00:38:27] Speaker B: Sure. [00:38:28] Speaker A: My kids quite regularly will say things like that. [00:38:32] Speaker C: Oh, mom, why? [00:38:33] Speaker A: Why do you never do anything fun? Me? Okay. After, you know, taking them to Disneyland for two days in a row. Okay. Never, never, ever do anything fun. [00:38:42] Speaker B: I need to recharge my batteries. [00:38:45] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. We. We've been asked by so many people, are you guys having a really good summer? To my kids. And my kids are like, no, it's horrible. It sucks. And I have to stare them down and be like, we went to Disneyland for two days in a row. And right before that, we went to the beach, and then we got to fly on a plane. Like, all the things that they got to do this summer. [00:39:04] Speaker B: Preach. [00:39:05] Speaker A: These days. [00:39:06] Speaker B: Kids these days. Ungrateful. [00:39:08] Speaker A: Ungrateful. Still love them to death. But my goodness. The costume designer is talking about Nancy and Jonathan's outfits, and she described them as getting into the new wave era of the 80s, getting into fashion, but not in the mainstream. They're probably not shopping at the mall. For Nancy in particular, Paris was inspired by Molly Ringwald. You can really see that in her outfit this episode. She wanted it to establish Nancy's growing maturity, balancing giving her feminine outfits for the workplace while also not making her overtly dainty. [00:39:40] Speaker C: And then there's nothing about Jonathan's costume whatsoever. So why would there be? [00:39:49] Speaker B: Why would there be? To be honest, it's true. [00:39:52] Speaker C: It is kind of true. [00:39:53] Speaker B: Jonathan. It's probably just Charlie's clothing that he has from home. They're like, he pulled up, Charlie, bring your stuff with you. Bring that. And they're like, you're on screen. [00:40:03] Speaker A: We forgot to get you costumes. [00:40:05] Speaker C: Can you just wear that? [00:40:06] Speaker A: Actually, that works really great for that grungy, wet rat look we're going for, actually. Absolutely. Great. [00:40:12] Speaker C: Perfect. [00:40:13] Speaker B: Just very moist. Like, very damp. [00:40:16] Speaker C: All of it. [00:40:17] Speaker B: Just damp. Yeah. [00:40:19] Speaker C: Okay. [00:40:20] Speaker A: So in Jonathan's car, Nancy's begging Jonathan to drive faster. Okay. I really liked the scene. She's like, I can't be late. She's like, the people that they work for don't respect her because she's a woman. And Jonathan's kind of being dismissive and is like, hey, it'll be fine. Like, they do love you. It'll be all good. And she's like, I don't want a pep talk. I just want you to drive faster. And I'm like, oh, man. Every girl knows this feeling of being held to a much higher standard than the men who can just kind of get away with doing the bare minimum. Not that that's what Jonathan's doing, but you know. So then, keeping up the momentum, they pass Dustin, his mom in her car as he's returning from summer camp. He's already on his headset trying to reconnect with the gang. Nobody's answering his outfit. He's continuing his obsession with graphic T shirts layered with button shirts. His camp nowhere outfit he wears is custom made by Paris's team, while his shorts were from the brand Sportive. So at his home, Dustin's all sad nobody is contacting him. Thankfully, Yertle is happy to see him and we're all thankful to see Yertle because that means he isn't dead and wasn't killed by dart. So then suddenly a bunch of electronic toys start making noises and heading towards him all at once before marching out the door. He's terrified, grabs his Farrah faucet spray, heads down the hall. [00:41:33] Speaker B: He's like, I would immediately run out of the house. [00:41:35] Speaker C: Just a dream. [00:41:36] Speaker A: Well, he's his. He's got to save his mom and Yertle. [00:41:39] Speaker B: No, no, everybody else, everybody for themselves. [00:41:44] Speaker A: Unbeknownst to him, we see Max, Lucas, Will, Mike and Elle hiding. Elle's using her powers to make the toys come to life. They all jump out and surprise him with signs and everything. But it's all a little too effective because Dustin ends up spraying poor Lucas [00:41:57] Speaker C: in the eyes with your spray. [00:41:58] Speaker B: Screaming. [00:42:00] Speaker C: He's got like the little like thing in his mouth that you have for Bardies is so funny. [00:42:06] Speaker A: So apparently that was all practical effects. The special effects team relied entirely on the practical effects instead of cgi. Puppeteers hid underneath a fake floorboard structure and inside a hollowed out bed frame. Using thin clear monofilament fishing wires to manually yank the vintage transformers R2D2 and simple chimp toys on Q. Isn't that cool? [00:42:29] Speaker B: Wow, I thought they, they, I'm like, why didn't they just put like a, like make them remote control? [00:42:34] Speaker A: It would probably be harder to time it, you know. Yeah, but I just think that's so cool. I love practical effects. And now we're at the pool, the scene everyone wants to hear us talk about. The iconic pool sequence featuring Dacre Montgomery as Billy Hargrove working as lifeguard, was filmed over several blazingly hot summer days at a community pool in Atlanta. To capture the precise sun drenched saturated visual style of 1980 Summer teen movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the cinematography team utilized specific vintage polarizing filters on the camera lenses to maximize the reflection of the blue water against the bright red swimwear for Billy. Paris researched lifeguards of the 80s to make sure his outfit was accurate for the time period. Since most of them were basically the modern day equivalent to booty shorts. Paris tailored the shorts to match actor Dacre Montgomery's physique week for Karen. Her color block swimsuit was custom made by Casey Crespo, with Paris working with actress Cara Buono to make sure the swimsuit was high enough to match the time period but also make Cara comfortable. The beaded, colorful neck necklace Karen wears was a genuine vintage Avon necklace. Both Karen's and Billy swimsuits were made exclusively as part of a collaboration with H M that was purchasable in the summer of 2019. [00:43:49] Speaker B: Oh, my God, I'm so sad. I. I didn't know that because I would have totally. Yeah. [00:43:54] Speaker A: I bet you still find something out there. I bet you they still sell it, but that's true. [00:43:58] Speaker B: Like ebay. That's so cute. I love that. [00:44:01] Speaker A: I know. I really love that, too. And Cara's talks extensively about how much she just loved working with the designer. And coming up, they. They looked through several different types of swimsuits and then came up with the color blocking, and they really loved it. And she just looks amazing. [00:44:15] Speaker B: I love that she does. The body is tea. [00:44:19] Speaker A: Oh, it really is. Yep. So at the community pool, we see kids playing in the water and an assembly line of hot moms. This is what I aspire to be at the community pool, but alas, this is not me. All in swimsuits, heels, chunky jewelry, and full faces of makeup laying out with their books and magazines. One of them alerts the rest of them as the female lifeguard on duty is coming off her shift. Then they all begin the process of primping as the door to the pool house opens and shirtless Billy with his ratty mullet comes out. I love the lady with the compact. Showtime time. And then just, like, close it. [00:44:50] Speaker C: So good. [00:44:50] Speaker A: The ladies are watching him. Everyone's like, you know, mogging, even the other lifeguard. And just in case the audience, you know, is reeled in, the duffers undercut it all by reminding us how much of a dick Billy is by having him suddenly blow his whistle and yell [00:45:03] Speaker C: at this poor fat kid. [00:45:06] Speaker B: Hey. [00:45:07] Speaker C: Lord, [00:45:10] Speaker B: that was so mean. And people are like, oh, my God, he's so cool. [00:45:16] Speaker C: And then he struts past the hey, ladies. And they're like, hey, Billy. Oh, my God. [00:45:20] Speaker B: That's a teenager, by the way. Yeah. [00:45:23] Speaker A: Let me remind you all. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so my favorite part 1985 romance novel that Karen is reading. Johanna still reading. It's entitled Tender is the Storm. The COVID has been altered to look like Billy and Karen again, but it was actually incredibly controversial when it came out because. Was it? It featured a naked man on the front with a fully clothed woman. Like you can only see like a side profile. So like half a booty cheek or whatever. But it was still incredibly, like, controversial because typically you would have these women in states of undress, but the men were fully clothed. Many bookstores had to cover his butt with stickers and stuff to like sell it. But it, it was hugely popular because of the artwork. I'll have to show you a picture. I wish. I can't show it to you, but I'll. I'll describe it. [00:46:12] Speaker B: Why can't you show it to me? [00:46:13] Speaker A: Well, I can show it to you. I just meant I can't show it to the other, like to the people not here. To the people not here. She's like, oh my. [00:46:24] Speaker B: What's so scandalous? Is that scandalous? [00:46:27] Speaker A: I can't show it to you. But no, I will. I'll show you the. The COVID So a lot of people. [00:46:35] Speaker C: Oh, come on. [00:46:35] Speaker A: Where's the original cover? Okay. It's really hard to find. [00:46:39] Speaker C: People call it titty because of the way the is going on. Wow. [00:46:50] Speaker A: So let me describe it for you. It's a lady who looks like the front or the top half of her dress is like falling down to like halfway down her boobs. And she's like kneeling in front of this guys with her boobs. Boobs pretty much pressed indirectly into his junk. And he's completely naked. Hence the titty. [00:47:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:09] Speaker A: So this is. This is the description of the book. Headstrong heiress Charisse. [00:47:15] Speaker B: What a name. [00:47:15] Speaker A: Hammond wants no part of the New York society marriage that has been arranged for her. So she heads west across a vast, dangerous land with no intention of honoring her agreement to become the mail ordered bride of a rugged Arizona rancher. But Lucas Holt needs a wife, any wife, if his plan to destroy his most hated enemy is to succeed. And this gullible Eastern lady would do quite nicely. However, their separate schemes to use one another are complicated by raw, aching passion. For Lucas's beautiful, unsuspecting pawn was not supposed to be so irresistibly alluring and freedom loving. Cerise never dreamed she could ever desire one man so much. [00:47:52] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:47:54] Speaker A: Yeah. So here are some of the comments. [00:47:56] Speaker B: Passion. Oh, no. Is this on Goodreads? [00:48:02] Speaker C: Yeah, you guys can pick it up [00:48:04] Speaker B: let's go, let's go, let's go. [00:48:08] Speaker C: The heroine seems to have collapsed at a mere glimpse of this hero's nudity. Luckily, he caught her mid swoon and didn't fall backwards into the bush that's behind him for some reason. [00:48:19] Speaker B: If it's for, it's to hide his other butt cheek. [00:48:24] Speaker C: I like how too like, I think his booty. [00:48:27] Speaker A: I don't know if they went for accuracy. His booty looks like it might be slightly paler than the rest of him, which I feel like would be accurate. [00:48:34] Speaker C: Okay, the next comment is lol. [00:48:36] Speaker A: I love how the crotch is perfectly [00:48:37] Speaker C: nestled against her bosom. I mean, it could be her mid swooning or eagerly presenting herself to him. And then the next comment is either works. In both cases, he is making good use of her position. [00:48:50] Speaker B: Oh, my God. This just reminded me of the giant controversy of Sabrina Carpenter's album cover. [00:48:57] Speaker C: Oh, the. [00:48:57] Speaker A: Like Lolita. [00:48:59] Speaker B: Was it the Lolita S. Because she was, like, kneeling. That was. Oh, the Olivia. Yeah, yeah. And people were, like, losing their minds. [00:49:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:09] Speaker B: Over her album cover. That just reminded me of it. It kind of looks like it a little bit. [00:49:15] Speaker A: I mean, people were quite literally clutching their pearls. Again, the last one, I didn't read through all of them, but if you gu. Ever need some fun, go read through these Goodreads comments and reviews. They're so funny. So this one is not gonna lie. I flipped through this because the COVID is just amazeballs. [00:49:29] Speaker C: What do you even call the sexual maneuver? Stomach job. Just under the boobs job. [00:49:35] Speaker B: It just doesn't make any damage. [00:49:37] Speaker C: It doesn't make any sense. [00:49:39] Speaker A: It just. [00:49:40] Speaker C: Yeah, that's ridiculous. Anyway. [00:49:42] Speaker A: Oh, so funny. [00:49:43] Speaker B: Good for Karen. [00:49:44] Speaker C: Good for Karen. [00:49:45] Speaker B: I love that. [00:49:45] Speaker A: Just maybe let's. Let's leave it to fiction and not. [00:49:48] Speaker B: She would 1 million percent read Akatar. [00:49:52] Speaker A: Yeah, she would. She'd be disappointed because it's not nearly as smutty as this. [00:49:58] Speaker C: Not nearly. I mean, I'm just like, imagining, like, [00:50:01] Speaker A: you know, there's some people you just can't imagine having sex. Ted is one of those people. [00:50:06] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. [00:50:07] Speaker A: Like, I refuse to believe he's actually the father of these. [00:50:10] Speaker B: I am convinced he showers fully clothed. Like he's never been naked in his life. [00:50:15] Speaker A: They're the milkman's kids. [00:50:16] Speaker B: Possible. [00:50:19] Speaker A: So in the downtown area, we see that many businesses have closed up due to the mall taking away their customers. Joyce is hanging up a discount sign in Melvald's as Hopper rolls in and asks if she's busy. She's like, what now? So, like, this is not the first time this has happened. He follows her around the store complaining about Mike and Elle. So here's the thing. The episode paints Hopper's feelings of exasperation as if he's just completely being unwanted, irrational, and blowing this out of proportion. And I fear that I just don't agree with that. [00:50:53] Speaker B: I don't agree either. [00:50:55] Speaker A: Yeah. So Joyce is all for the gentle parenting approach. And he's like, I need for them to break up. They're spending entirely too much time together. She's like, it's not his decision. Not your decision. They're just kissing hops like. But it is constant. This is not normal or healthy. Joyce encourages him to talk to them and have a heart. Heart. He's like a heart to heart. What is that? And then he looks miserable when she explains what it is. She tells him that it's important that he remains calm and doesn't lose his temper and that he sets boundaries. He's like, maybe you can do it for me. And she's like, no, it has to come from you, but maybe I can help you find the right words. Then we see a stressed out Nancy pass by and head into the Hawkins Post where she pulls out sandwiches for everyone. She heads into the room where all the men are discussing what their next issue should be. They make sexist and belittling jokes about women and their bodies and hands out, out. As she hands out sandwiches, Nancy offers a suggestion on writing about how the mall is changing the fabric of the town with its forced closure of small businesses. The men laugh her off and criticize her for forgetting mustard on one of their sandwiches. [00:51:55] Speaker B: That's boots on the ground journalism and they are idiots. [00:51:59] Speaker A: Yep, I will say. Okay, so my one criticism of season three is, I understand, obviously trying to make it more fun and light hearted and stuff. I think that what here's I like an unhinged Hopper. I think he's hilarious. He's so much fun. It's so enjoyable to watch. I'm not going to complain about that. I do think the characterization is a little uneven because it's hard to compare this Hopper with the Hopper of season one sometimes and see it as consistent because I. I feel like the Hopper of season one was a little bit more close, like obviously more closed off, but a little bit more stoic. I guess an argument could be made maybe that he's opening up and he's. He's coming out of his shell. But I just feel like tonally with like this scene and Then with, like, Hopper and stuff, the show is kind of going more for, like, campy and super funny and almost screwball. And the show's never really been that before. So it's a very, very different feel, at least to this level. And I. I personally, especially when it comes to, like, overt sexism like this, I feel like it kind of becomes more of a caricature than anything else. [00:53:16] Speaker B: It doesn't feel that way in this scene. Yeah, this scene really feels like a, like, caricature. Yeah, it's over the top. It's. It's just. It is over the top. Like, it doesn't feel. It feels like they put it in just to have a scene that way to say that this is how men act in 1984 or whatever year it is, you know? [00:53:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's just. It's hard because I think when it specifically with scenes like this or, like, if you would have scenes like this about other topics that I think are really important, I think pretty much anybody, even sexist people, would watch this and go, oh, yeah, that's not good. That's not right. And I think sometimes we. We think of sexism in the workplace. Sometimes people expect it to be this overt. And I think it doesn't always do a service this to women in the real life because I think we expect it to look like this. And oftentimes it's so much more subtle. And again, maybe I'm holding Stranger things to, like, too high of a bar here, but I just. This scene, I just. I don't like it very much, but it accomplishes what it needs to. I guess I preferred so much more the scene early on when Nancy was talking about, hey, I have to get to work, because I felt like that was a wonderful, subtle way of conveying the workplace sexism. [00:54:31] Speaker B: So. [00:54:32] Speaker A: Fair enough. So at Dustin's, Lucas is washing his eyes out. This is when we have that funny moment about the news it on his face or on Max's face. She just shoves his head back underwater. Dustin's showing Mike, Ellen, Will Al his new inventions. Ellen, Mike are practically glued to each other. [00:54:47] Speaker C: Did you see, like, Elle's, like, arm is, like, around him. [00:54:50] Speaker A: She's, like, leaning. [00:54:50] Speaker B: They're like that. They're glued together. They're like this, [00:54:56] Speaker C: they're that. And like, we've talked about it before, they're that one couple everybody had in height school and in college that literally [00:55:03] Speaker A: just like they're breathing each other's air, essentially. [00:55:06] Speaker B: They're literally inside each other. Like, they are like one person. [00:55:10] Speaker A: They would wear this, like the same shirt if they could and just. [00:55:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:14] Speaker A: Yes, exactly each other's skin. [00:55:16] Speaker B: It's so funny. [00:55:19] Speaker A: So Dustin shows them his ham radio, says he made it so he can talk to his girlfriend he met at science camp. Susie says she's from Utah and she's super hot. And they're all like, oh, okay. They're such good friends. They're like, yeah, so let's go talk to Susie. So they all go head out to go set up the ham radio to talk to Susie. The massive, high powered radio tower that Dustin named Cerebro, obviously based off X Men, was fully constructed as a practical prop by the construction department on top of a steep hill in rural Georgia. Because the metallic structure was completely functional as a framework, the young actors genuinely had to carry the heavy aluminum pieces up the hill themselves during filming, resulting [00:55:55] Speaker C: in the authentic heavy breathing and physical exhaustion seen on camera. [00:55:59] Speaker B: Love it. Practical child labor. [00:56:03] Speaker A: So back at Scoops Ahoy, Steve is trying and failing to pick up girls. And it seems he's a massive fish out of water in this ever expanding pool of fish. Robin pulls out a whiteboard to Tally's failures, tells him that he sucks. Steve says it's his hat which is hiding his best feature. And then he like takes it off. Robin's like, wow, you're a whole new man. And then he tries to impress another group of teenagers and she adds another Tally to his failures. Oh, Steve, how the mighty half fallen. [00:56:32] Speaker B: Those girls just don't know what they're missing out on, honestly, the whole package. [00:56:37] Speaker A: So then it Melvald's. Melvald's Hop is running through the script he enjoys came up with. He's like, this doesn't sound like me at all. This isn't going to work. He's like, maybe I should just kill Mike. I'm the chief of police, I can cover it up. [00:56:49] Speaker B: Makes sense, honestly. [00:56:51] Speaker C: Is that. Is that your tactic? [00:56:54] Speaker A: That's like the extreme opposite of gentle parenting. [00:56:56] Speaker B: What is that? [00:56:56] Speaker A: Nuclear parenting? [00:56:57] Speaker B: I think gentle parenting is for gentle kids. And Mike is not gentle. [00:57:04] Speaker C: Mike is not a gentle child. [00:57:11] Speaker A: So they have a moment. Joyce covers his hand with her own and Hop seizes his moment. Is like, you want to do dinner tonight? You can give me some more pointers. Joyce is like, oh, I have have plans. And it gets all awkward. And then another customer comes in and we close out on Hop just staring [00:57:25] Speaker C: longingly at Joyce and we're like, okay. [00:57:27] Speaker B: Oh, brother. So have they been doing dinner? [00:57:31] Speaker A: Like, what's this feels like this is the first time he's asked her. Right. That's what I. [00:57:36] Speaker B: He just asked so casually. And that's what kind of threw me off. I was like, wait, like, do they do this regularly? Is he just asking her like it's another night where he's asking her out to dinner? Or is this like. Like the first time he's worked up the courage to ask her? Maybe he's just smooth like that. I don't know. [00:57:54] Speaker A: I think he is smooth like that. But also, given the fact that he's [00:57:56] Speaker B: just, like, smiling and he's like, yeah, you want to get some dinner? [00:58:00] Speaker A: Well, the fact that he's like, you can give me more pointers. I was like, oh, like he has plausible deniability if she says no. [00:58:05] Speaker C: You know? [00:58:07] Speaker B: Yeah, Joyce, I have other plans, girl. [00:58:10] Speaker A: And she doesn't. [00:58:10] Speaker C: And I. [00:58:11] Speaker A: She still hung up on Bob, so I don't think they have been. I think this is more. She's just not ready to move on yet. [00:58:17] Speaker B: But, yeah, that's. Which is fair. Yeah, Bob left an impression. Rightfully so. [00:58:23] Speaker A: Bob the man Bob. So at the field, the kids are all hiking up to Hawkins High Point. Max points out that Dustin could just call Susie on the phone. He's like, no, she's Mormon and super religious. And Lucas is like, oh, they don't have electricity. Max is like, no, that's the homage, sweetie. [00:58:40] Speaker C: There are some great lines in this episode. [00:58:44] Speaker A: Dustin says that since he's not Mormon, her parents wouldn't approve and that it's all Shakespearean with them being star crossed lovers. She's like, I. I get it. Just then Mike and Elle are like, hey, guys, we need to go. Elle's curfew, Bye. And they just take off giggling. [00:59:01] Speaker C: Let me tell you, I had friends [00:59:03] Speaker A: that were like this. And it sucks. I'm sorry. [00:59:06] Speaker B: So annoying. [00:59:07] Speaker A: Nobody likes people like this. [00:59:09] Speaker B: No. [00:59:10] Speaker A: Like, I hate it when the coolest people get into a relationship and then they don't ever want to hang out with you anymore because they're just in a relationship and you're like, oh, my gosh. [00:59:19] Speaker B: Or they bring their significant other to, like, everything. But this is especially frustrating because they're all friends. Like, they're all mutual friends. It's not like Mike is friends with everybody and Elle isn't. And you know what I mean? [00:59:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:35] Speaker B: So it's like you guys don't want to spend time with your friends at all. And I mean, I get it. They're. It's like a teenage romance where they're like infatuated with each other and. [00:59:44] Speaker A: But they have all day to hang out together. [00:59:46] Speaker B: I don't know. There's not enough hours in a day, Sarah. [00:59:49] Speaker C: To make out in the woods. That's where they're going. [00:59:51] Speaker A: They're just gonna go make out. [00:59:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Tis the. I guess that's. That's what they do at that age. [00:59:59] Speaker C: That's what they do at that age. [01:00:02] Speaker B: I don't know. [01:00:03] Speaker C: Oh, it's so annoying. [01:00:05] Speaker A: It just was like a. Such a thing. Especially like in high school and college. It was like as soon as your friends paired off, it's like, okay, bye. I'm not gonna see you till you never. [01:00:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Literally. [01:00:14] Speaker A: I hate it. [01:00:14] Speaker B: I have friends. [01:00:15] Speaker A: A huge pet peeve of mine. [01:00:17] Speaker B: It is. [01:00:17] Speaker A: Don't like it. [01:00:18] Speaker B: It's very annoying. I will say it just reeks of like I'm not gonna get into it. Never mind. [01:00:26] Speaker A: Not worth it. [01:00:27] Speaker B: Reeks of insecurity. [01:00:29] Speaker A: Well, just. It's selfish. I think like, I think it's selfish to. We're just like flaming these 14 year [01:00:35] Speaker B: old kids who are themselves. [01:00:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:37] Speaker B: You're just selfish. Self involved. [01:00:39] Speaker C: Selfish 14 year olds. [01:00:40] Speaker A: How dare you. No, it is. Here's the thing. [01:00:45] Speaker B: First love. [01:00:45] Speaker A: Because there's always going to be that couple. But I gotta say like, I just really appreciated Max in particular because the boys are all like, ugh, looks gross. They've been like this all summer and Max is like, I think it's romantic. Like she stopped Lucas earlier on when he was teasing Mike about kissing her all the time. And I like how she's supportive of. [01:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:06] Speaker A: Of Elle. But I also like, I just really appreciate Lucas and Max's relationship because like Lucas is a complete dork. But you can tell he's a well meaning dork and like he does stupid teenage boy boy stuff. But you can see Max like get exasperated with him. But there's also still like this like friendship that they have at the core of it. [01:01:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:01:28] Speaker A: And like they're not running out and making out all the time. [01:01:32] Speaker B: Like to be fair, Mike and eleven, I feel like in season one they, they did build up like a friendship between Mike and 11. Like I do think they like each other as people. [01:01:46] Speaker A: Yeah, they do. I just want to see more talking. [01:01:49] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I think that like we spent season two where they were separated and like they couldn't be together and now they are together again. It's like they're trying, they're almost trying to make up for lost time maybe. [01:02:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:02:01] Speaker B: You know, so it's like that, you know, intense. Like I can't be apart from you for a single second. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I. I'm. I'm interested to see, like, where they're gonna go with this. [01:02:16] Speaker A: We're probably gonna have a lot of death, destruction, mayhem, terror, and tears for the rest of the season. So, you know, and then they're just [01:02:23] Speaker B: gonna, like, that's a good burrow deeper into each other's skins. [01:02:27] Speaker A: So they're gonna become one. They're gonna become the. The shadow monster. [01:02:32] Speaker B: They're gonna be the villain. [01:02:34] Speaker C: Yeah. Lumat. Or not Lumax. [01:02:37] Speaker A: What is it? 11. The ultimate season three villain. No, that's a really good point and a really great perspective. Like, we've been wanting this normal life for Elle. This is that normal life. This is what it looks like. So we can't begrudge her it. Yeah. And she's happy, so I'll allow it. I guess so. Then will again feel something weird. [01:02:58] Speaker B: But oh, brother. [01:02:59] Speaker C: Continues to follow everybody back up the hill. [01:03:03] Speaker A: Doesn't notice a bunch of rats racing by. And then we're back to the abandoned Steelwork works building. And then we just see hundreds of rats flooding in. Go down to the basement, and they're all just writhing on the floor and exploding into pile of guts. [01:03:14] Speaker B: Nasty. So one thing about Will. If I was Will, and I started feeling tinglies on the back of my neck, and I knew that what that meant because of the last two years that I've experienced tinglies on the back of my neck. There isn't a living human being that I wouldn't be telling right now. I would literally just go out in the streets and be like, you need to leave. Something bad is coming. [01:03:38] Speaker A: Turn into chicken Little. [01:03:41] Speaker B: I would tell everybody I ever. I've ever met. [01:03:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:03:43] Speaker B: Yeah. There's no way I'm keeping that to myself. [01:03:47] Speaker A: Meanwhile, Karen. Where her. Where's Holly? What's. What's going on? Karen's doing, apparently the backstroke. [01:03:54] Speaker C: Is. [01:03:54] Speaker A: Is she safe? [01:03:55] Speaker C: Is he actually watching Holly? Poor Holly. [01:04:00] Speaker A: So Karen's doing the backstroke to conveniently show off her cleavage and keep her makeup looking nice. Billy's hooked and approaches her when she comes out. Tell her she has perfect form. She tells him that his form is amazing, and he tells her that he can teach her if she wants. That he knows all the styles. Freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke. She's like. Drops her towel, and it's like, I don't. I didn't think you taught adults. And he's like, there's a good pool at Motel 6, shall we say tonight at 8 o'? [01:04:26] Speaker B: Clock? [01:04:26] Speaker A: She's like, sorry, I can't. He's like, what? You can't have any fun? He's like, karen, what did you think I was asking you about? And then she's like, oh, I just don't think I need any lessons. And he's like, I just think you haven't had the right teacher. And then he leans in and says, it will be the workout of your life. [01:04:43] Speaker B: Wow. That's crazy. He's crazy. [01:04:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:04:49] Speaker A: And also kind of smooth. Not gonna lie. [01:04:52] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, also, this is like so problematic, this entire thing. [01:04:57] Speaker C: Like completely. [01:04:59] Speaker B: Like the fact that Karen actually goes. [01:05:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:05:03] Speaker B: Like she goes. [01:05:04] Speaker A: Like to go, yeah, yeah. [01:05:07] Speaker B: Like you're a first of all, married woman. But also you're like an adult. He's a teenager. This child is Billy. [01:05:15] Speaker A: At this point, I'm going to assume he's Nancy's age. He's at least a junior, a senior in high school. [01:05:21] Speaker B: So like 17, 18, maybe. [01:05:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:05:25] Speaker B: Which is still. You could. [01:05:28] Speaker A: You could argue if we're going to take the most. [01:05:31] Speaker B: The old enough to be his mother. She's Nancy's mother. [01:05:35] Speaker A: There's no good way to be his mother. So I'm not justifying it, no matter what. You could say maybe that he's already 18 and he was a senior in high school. Maybe he's already graduated. Maybe this is the summer after graduation. That is a loose interpretation. Right? [01:05:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:51] Speaker A: But either way, it's still not a great look because she's mayor and he is 18 at the old oldest. [01:05:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like this is definitely like a. Like a of the time. Like in the 80s, it was like, oh, like the hot jock at school or whatever. But yeah, this, this Wild Karen. You're wild Karen. [01:06:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Low key. So happy that something happened to Billy at the end and they didn't actually go through it because I didn't want to see that. [01:06:22] Speaker B: That. No, no. Kind of icky. [01:06:28] Speaker A: All right. So back at the hill, the kids have finally made it to the top. Will's like, why can't we just play DND D? Lucas is so thirsty, guzzles the water from the canteen. Max is like, got the ick. She's like, did you just drink the rest of our water? And then he spits it back to the canteen, offers it to her. Oh my gosh. [01:06:45] Speaker C: Geez Louise. [01:06:47] Speaker B: That was so funny. I like laughed so hard at that. I actually. I think I rewound this scene and watched it again. [01:06:55] Speaker C: His face too. [01:06:57] Speaker A: Caleb McLaughlin's facial acting is really, really funny. [01:07:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:07:02] Speaker A: So then we get a montage of the kids building the antenna. I gotta say, these kids are just really good friends to each other, too. They're out there just building stuff in the hot sun. Also, they can hear Dustin talk to his girlfriend and be supportive. Like, it's just really, really cute. Dustin's like, are you ready to meet my love? Max is like, okay, sure. [01:07:18] Speaker C: And the other boys are like, y. [01:07:23] Speaker A: Unfortunately, though, despite many of Dustin's attempts, Susie doesn't respond. So then back at the Byers, Joyce comes home that night. No one's there. So then she pulls out leftovers, heats them up, sits in front of the TV with her dinner and a bottle of wine. She watches Cheers and sadly remember snuggling with Bob and watching the show with him. Unbeknownst to her, the magnets all fall off the fridge again. So Sean Astin actually returned to the Atlanta set to shoot his brief scene with Winona Ryder. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Duffer said he flew in for one day to shoot that scene with Winona. We had talked about, like, we can just flash back to them dancing or whatever, but we really thought it would hit a little bit harder if it was a new moment between the two of them. That was hard, too, just having Shawn back for one day. Winona and Sean are especially close. It just made everybody miss him that much more. [01:08:11] Speaker B: I just feel like this is the most devastating thing that has ever happened on Stranger Things. [01:08:16] Speaker C: Like, yeah, literally is for them. They're like, they're gonna write back a scene flashbacks for every single season from now on so they can just have [01:08:25] Speaker B: Bob back still crying about Sean Astin being written off the show. [01:08:30] Speaker C: Him flying out just to do one scene of him holding Joyce and then laughing hysterically is just really funny. [01:08:37] Speaker A: But, you know, every single opening episode for every single season, we have to have the song eulogy playing while we have a flashback of the person whose name starts with B that died. The scene season before, like, that has just become tradition. So it ain't looking good for Billy, [01:08:52] Speaker C: is what I'll say. [01:08:55] Speaker B: Not after the last scene of this episode. [01:08:57] Speaker C: Exactly. [01:08:59] Speaker A: So at the Hawkins Post, Nancy's cleaning up after everyone. She gets a phone call about rats and writes down the address on a notepad in Elle's room. They're oops, surprise, surprise, Ellen, Mike are making out again. The music's blaring. [01:09:11] Speaker C: Hops in bed hugging a pillow as he goes over his script about boundaries. [01:09:15] Speaker A: And he gathers himself, knocks on Elle's door, asks if he can talk to them for a minute. Mind you, this man has his own room now, but it's just a sheet covering the doorway. He doesn't even have his own door. So, like, there's just no privacy, no boundaries. He stands there awkwardly, and they just stare at him. They're like, hi. They're so antagonistic. He finally shuts off the music. They just stare at him expectantly. He's so awkward. He's like, so, what I wanted to say to you, what I needed to say to you. And then Mike looks at Elle, smirks, and is like, oh, I think we're in trouble. They both start snickering. Hop's like, no, nobody's in trouble. Then as he's talking again, Mike leans over and just starts whispering in Elle's ear. [01:10:05] Speaker B: This is like my. Okay, sorry. Pause. This is like, have you ever been out in public and you have to watch walk past a group of teenagers and it's the most mortifying, horrifying, like, 30 seconds of your life. [01:10:19] Speaker A: Start laughing as you walk by. You just know they're, like, talking about you. [01:10:22] Speaker B: Judgmental. [01:10:24] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [01:10:26] Speaker B: And then, oh, I can't. I will literally go. I will take the long way home rather than walk in front of a group of teenagers. Anyway, yeah, this. This gave that vibe. Vibe. [01:10:37] Speaker A: I just couldn't believe the disrespect. And it just gets worse every time I, like, watch it because I didn't remember. Remember it being this bad. And the way that it's shot, it's from just behind the teens. And then it's. It's almost like we're in Hopper's shoes. It feels like he's on trial. [01:10:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel judged. [01:10:53] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. [01:10:54] Speaker A: And then the camera's, like, low down next to him as they're just, like, staring at him from, like, over him. [01:10:59] Speaker C: It just. [01:11:00] Speaker A: You really do, like, feel for Hopper. So Hop's face just, like, changes. You can see the moment where he decides to switch tactics. He's like, you know what? Your mom called. She needs you home. Right away. You see kind of like the fear of God get put into Mike's face. He's like, is everything okay? Hop's like, I don't think so. It's your grandma. [01:11:20] Speaker B: Not grandma. [01:11:21] Speaker A: So apparently the scene cuts really quickly after grandma because David Harbour kept laughing after each time he said, it's your grandma. [01:11:30] Speaker C: And. And so it seems as if the [01:11:32] Speaker A: duffers had to cut right after because they needed to salvage the scene. [01:11:35] Speaker C: They couldn't get through the rest of it, because he just thought it was [01:11:38] Speaker A: like the funniest thing. He says it's like the line that people like, quote to him the most. [01:11:41] Speaker B: It is. [01:11:42] Speaker C: It's your grandma. [01:11:43] Speaker B: Oh, I thought. I thought you said it's the line people use to get out of stuff the most is like your grandma. [01:11:49] Speaker C: Something happened to your grandma. Yeah. [01:11:52] Speaker B: Like when you need to call in sick from work. [01:11:55] Speaker A: Not that you've ever used that before. [01:11:57] Speaker C: Me? [01:11:57] Speaker A: It's my grandma. [01:11:58] Speaker B: No, never. Of course not. [01:12:00] Speaker A: So cut to outside as Hop is walking to his truck to drive my call, Mike's like, what happened? What happened to Nana? Did she fall again? Does she have cancer? [01:12:07] Speaker C: And Hops like, there's nothing wrong with Nana. They get in the car, he's like, but there's something very wrong with this thing between you and l. Mike's like, you lying piece of. [01:12:16] Speaker A: Tries to get out of the car [01:12:18] Speaker C: to go back inside Hopper's house. [01:12:20] Speaker A: The audacity. I'm sorry. If I was at my friend's house and his dad would very obviously didn't want me there and was uncomfortable, there's no way I'd be like, like going back inside. [01:12:29] Speaker B: Yeah. There's also no way that I would ever talk to my friend's dad like that or just like a grown up at that age. [01:12:37] Speaker A: Like, this is what happens when you don't have a strong father figure. [01:12:40] Speaker C: I'm just kidding. [01:12:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Ted, Ted, step up. [01:12:44] Speaker A: Your son is a menace. [01:12:46] Speaker B: Ted is like, where's my kids? Where's Karen? Where are the kids? He doesn't even know that they're not in the house at this point. [01:12:55] Speaker A: He doesn't know where his wife is either. Either. [01:12:56] Speaker B: Like, true. [01:12:57] Speaker C: This man's life is this close to falling apart. [01:13:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:13:02] Speaker A: So Mike's like, you're crazy. And Hop's like, you want to see crazy? His eyes get all wide and then he turns on his scary eyes, tells Mike not to disrespect him again. He then tells him that he's going to drive him home and then he's going to speak and that Mike's going to listen and that maybe if he's lucky, he will continue to allow him to date his daughter. [01:13:17] Speaker C: Mike looks terrified and Hops like, not if you understand. [01:13:20] Speaker A: Mike's like, nodding vigorously. I. It's like, you know what? Mike needed a firmer hand. Like there needed to be like, okay, you're being disrespectful to me when I'm trying to approach you and listen. Like, have you listened to me? So okay, we're done for. For the night. Like, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Obviously. Hopper takes it a little too far, but, like, yeah. Oh, man, I. I could never. [01:13:43] Speaker C: Nah. [01:13:43] Speaker A: Oh, I'm gonna be the worst when my kids are teens. I just know it already. [01:13:46] Speaker B: I laughed so hard when he was like, not. If you understand the way he delivered that line. [01:13:52] Speaker C: You understand, because he's, like, waiting for something, and he's just. He's staring at him with that. Was it the Gen Z stare? [01:13:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's like, mouth open, like, hello, Is anybody in? Are you alive? Do you know that you exist? [01:14:07] Speaker C: Nope, not at all. He. Him and Elle. He doesn't know that he exists. Apart from Elle. [01:14:13] Speaker B: Yeah, true. They are one. [01:14:15] Speaker A: So it's now solidly night. Dustin's still trying to reach Susie while Will, Max, and Lucas all lay on the ground. They finally tell Dustin to just give it up. With Lucas not believing that Susie even exists. Exist. He's like, oh, come on. She's a genius. And she's hotter than Phoebe Cates. [01:14:27] Speaker C: Come on. [01:14:27] Speaker A: No girl is that perfect. Max is like, hang on, is that so? [01:14:32] Speaker C: Lucas is like, backpedaling. He's like, I mean, you're. [01:14:34] Speaker A: You're perfect in your own special way. And she snickers and is like, I'm just teasing. And Dustin is obviously lying. And then they head off. Will decides to head off too, saying it's late and is like, maybe tomorrow we can play DND or something fun like we used to. And Dustin's like, yeah, sure, but, like, obviously not. [01:14:48] Speaker B: Okay. [01:14:49] Speaker A: Will says, welcome home. Dustin's like, yeah, welcome home. And as soon as everyone leaves, then his radio begins to crackle and a man with a Russian accent begins to recite over and over in Russian. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly. The week is long. So then we see that the man is broadcasting from the lab with the scientists that we saw in the opening scene. And then back at the Wheelers, Karen is primping and teasing her hair, getting all ready to go meet Billy. She pauses a second when she and then takes off her wedding rings and then heads downstairs. [01:15:23] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:15:24] Speaker A: And then stops when she hears snoring and sees Ted asleep in his chair with Holly snoozing in his lap. And she looks like she's second guessing, but we don't really know if she decides not to show up or not because of what happens with Billy, but. [01:15:39] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that's true. We don't actually see her. Like. [01:15:41] Speaker A: No. She could have shown up at the motel and then Billy never did. [01:15:46] Speaker B: Right, right, right. [01:15:47] Speaker A: Yeah. We don't know if she went. [01:15:48] Speaker B: Do we ever find out? [01:15:49] Speaker C: Out? [01:15:49] Speaker A: Yeah, we find out. [01:15:50] Speaker B: Okay. [01:15:51] Speaker A: According to Cara Buono, she talks about how it was her idea to put Holly on Ted's lap to kind of show what Karen would be breaking apart. That it's not just the marriage, but it's the family itself, which I thought was a really great touch because I don't know that, like, cheating on Ted would be enough of a motivator for kids. [01:16:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I was gonna say, I think it's. It's very telling that they had that shot of Ted and Holly, because I don't think if it was just Ted, she would have looked down and been like, oh, he's sleeping again. [01:16:23] Speaker A: Gonna look even hotter. [01:16:24] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:16:27] Speaker A: So meanwhile, Billy's speeding down the road practicing his lines for Karen in the mirror. He's so distracted, he doesn't notice when something hits his windshield, causing the car to spin out and crash. We see that he's right outside the steel works building. As he gets out and rages at his car, that's when he notices the goo on the crack in his windshield. Something runs past off screen, startling Billy. And then something whips the out, grabs Billy's leg, dragging him screaming back into the basement of the building. [01:16:51] Speaker B: Whoa. [01:16:52] Speaker A: Man, that happened fast. Things escalated real quickly. [01:16:56] Speaker B: Well, I wonder if Will's gonna feel the tingle in the back of his neck and not tell anyone. [01:17:03] Speaker A: Will and Bill are connected. Willie and Billy. Yeah. [01:17:08] Speaker B: Very great into the episode, honestly. Like I said, I put on the next one because I was like, oh, my God, I want to know what happened, happens. But then I stopped. So I'm gonna. I'm excited to watch it next week. [01:17:18] Speaker A: I'm proud of you. Proud for the self control that you're exhibiting. [01:17:22] Speaker B: Thank you. [01:17:25] Speaker A: This closing sequence was, according to IMDb, an incredibly complex piece of atmospheric sound design to create the auditory illusion of a massive unseen entity shifting through the darkness. The sound department recorded the deep metallic groans of an actual active cargo ship hull and layered it with the slowed down screeching of rusted factory gears and wet, rhythmic breathing. So I need to go back and listen to that because. Wow, I didn't catch any of that. [01:17:52] Speaker B: But yeah, I was gonna say, but [01:17:56] Speaker A: honestly, this episode is just like reading all the behind the scenes stuff. And it's so funny because this show has been going for, you know, three seasons now, and it's Such a huge success. Not that the first two seasons were. But it's becoming more and more and more mainstream. And now that we have, like, the sheer amount of data and information on the seasons is becoming more and more. Because they're actually documenting it, and people are actually like, you know, interviewing the duffers and the actors and everything about it. But it's just I. I love learning about all this stuff that happens behind the scenes because I just think practical effects and sound design are just some of the most fascinating things to me when it comes to. It comes to television. [01:18:37] Speaker B: Yeah, they just create things out of, like, the most unlikely sources, you know, like, they. They will just make something out of nothing. And it's amazing that, like, somebody could think of that, you know? [01:18:49] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know if you've ever watched There's a Gal. There's probably a couple people, but there's one in particular, she's a fully artist, and I've watched her, like, on Tick Tock and Instagram and stuff, and she shows how she'll be watching a scene from a movie, and then with all the different ways that she tries to mimic the sounds like footsteps or water running. And, like, she doesn't always use actual water when she's trying to replicate it because sometimes it doesn't sound quite right on film and you want it to be a little bit crispier or more muted or something. I'm like, man, I went into the wrong trade. Because that just sounds like it would be so much fun to do. Yeah. [01:19:27] Speaker B: But I love it. [01:19:29] Speaker A: All right, well, that is the end of our first episode of season three. Let us know what you think about this episode. Tell me your thoughts about season three. Yeah, a lot to talk about, actually. A lot to talk about. What do you guys think of Maya Hawk joining the Billy and Karen dynamic? Are we being too hard on Mike? Where would you fall? [01:19:49] Speaker C: Would you be Joyce or half of this situation? We're gonna get so many people telling us, oh, my gosh, Mike's my favorite. You're so mean to him. [01:19:57] Speaker B: I know. [01:19:58] Speaker A: We are also in our 30s, so I think perspective wise, it's just very different. But yeah, let us know what you guys think, and thanks for listening. We'll talk to you guys next time. Thanks so much for listening to Investigating. If you enjoyed this podcast, feel free to follow, subscribe, and review us on all platforms. You can also find us on Instagram at Investigating Podcast and you can continue [01:20:20] Speaker C: to email us at investigating angel podcastmail.com Sam.

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