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Stranger Things (3x03): “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard” Review

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things Reviews:

Stranger Things Episode Reviews:

Season 1:

The Vanishing of Will Byers

The Weirdo on Maple Street

Holly Jolly

The Body

The Flea and the Acrobat

The Monster

The Bathtub

The Upside Down

Season 2:

MADMAX

Trick or Treat, Freak

The Pollywog

Will the Wise

Dig Dug

The Spy

The Lost Sister

The Mind Flayer

The Gate

Season 3:

Suzie, Do You Copy?

The Mall Rats

Stranger Things Play:

Stranger Things The First Shadow

NOTE: If you’d like to listen to the Behind The Scenes: Stranger Things 3 Podcast, this link here will take you to all three videos.

Back in 2022, when I was rewatching Stranger Things in preparation for season 4, I remember talking with @pusheen1802 frequently about the show, speculating what direction they would take the characters and arcs in future seasons, as well as commenting on previous ones. At the time, neither of us were particularly big fans of season 3 (a sentiment I witnessed for quite a while on both Reddit, Tumblr, TV Tropes, and other social media platforms). However, I didn’t hate season 3 with the same intensity as other fans did. There were good moments sprinkled in, some nice 80s songs, and I didn’t mind the change in aesthetic where everything was more colorful and bright compared to seasons 1-2. Regardless, I could never put into words what felt off to me about season 3, despite knowing which aspects of that season I didn’t like. It wasn’t until I saw this episode again during that specific rewatch years ago that I finally came to this conclusion:

It's not that season 3 itself was bad. It’s that it came off as FILLER.

To explain what I’m referring to: In both seasons 1-2 and 4, there were different aspects of the mythology introduced to the show that expanded on both Hawkins Lab and the Upside Down.

Season 1 was our first commencement to those characters and elements: El, Brenner, the Demogorgon, and so on.

Season 2 added on to this with the Mind Flayer, the concept of the hive mind, demodogs, and Kali, while also giving a little more information about the Upside Down and Hawkins Lab without revealing all the details.

Season 4 is where the show finally started giving answers about what happened at Hawkins Lab and how the Upside Down is structured. They also presented new aspects of the mythology, including demobats, the Creel House, the NINA Project, and the character who was central to the mythology: Vecna.

Season 3, on the other hand, pushed Hawkins Lab and El’s past into the background (notwithstanding Joyce and Hopper’s visit to the Lab in this episode), with this being the first season where Brenner was completely absent from the narration. Meanwhile, aside from Billy’s vision in “The Mall Rats,” the Upside Down itself gets little to no focus, with no new elements or creatures introduced. The Duffer Brothers admitted the way they wrote season 3 didn’t leave them a lot of room to explore that dimension in more detail, and it shows. There isn’t a lot of expansion into Hawkins Lab or the Upside Down in season 3, and some of the story beats (i.e. the Mind Flayer wrecking havoc, the Gate needing to be closed again, etc) are recycled from season 2.

Yes, I know there’s the Flayed and the Russians, but I don’t consider the Flayed to be a new creature introduced to the show since they are essentially humans possessed by the Mind Flayer (which they already explored with Will’s possession in season 2). Meanwhile, the Russian’s connection to the Upside Down and the main characters has always been tenuous at best. I’m still waiting to see how season 5 pans out before I make a full judgment on the Russian arc, but I do understand the current fan complaints that they didn’t need to be on the show, and that they’re more of a forced plot device to open the Gate again and cause problems in Hawkins.

On top of that, this is arguably the first season where the show deviates heavily from the “mystery” aspect. By this, I’m referring to how other seasons (1, 2, and 4) usually unfolded in a way where characters were piecing together information and coming to conclusions at the same time as the audience.

In season 1, when Will was kidnapped and El was introduced to the Party, we only knew as much as the characters did about what was going on. We knew something had taken Will and was stalking other characters, but we didn’t know what it was or what it wanted. Same goes for Brenner and his connection with El and the Upside Down. We knew they were involved, but it was a question of why and how. When it finally was revealed to the audience, it happened the same time the main characters got that information.

Same goes for season 2 with Kali and the Mind Flayer: When Kali was first introduced in the season 2 premiere, we didn’t know what kind of person she would be. Would be she be an ally? An enemy? Somewhere in-between? What were her goals and motivations? It was only when El undertook the journey to meet Kali that we found out in the same moment El did. As for the Mind Flayer, while it was obvious that this was a malevolent entity, the tension in the story came from figuring out how it was operating through Will, what kind of effect it was having on him, and how dangerous of a monster it was in the overall hierarchy of the Upside Down.

As for season 4, the mysteries surrounding Vecna, the Creel House, and the Massacre at Hawkins Lab were at the center of the story. Just like the characters in-universe, we were discovering how all these elements connected with one another in sync with them.

Season 3 is the anomaly: At this point in the show, we already know what’s going on and it becomes an exercise in frustration to wait for the other characters to get on the same page as the audience. This isn’t a case of tension in the story over the audience knowing something the characters don’t. It’s the characters meandering for several episodes (not helped by them engaging in petty arguments and contrived drama) with no new information given that the audience didn’t already know about beforehand. As a result, it’s not as exciting or engaging to watch.

What’s happening in Hawkins? The Russians have arrived and opened a Gate with their key. Why has the Mind Flayer returned? Because a piece of itself left stranded in this world has reawakened thanks to the Russian Gate. What’s wrong with the rats? They’ve become possessed by the Mind Flayer, and exploded into blood and guts so it can form a body. What happened to Billy and Heather? They’re possessed by the Mind Flayer, and they’re looking for more victims. How come possessed rats and humans can be molded this way by the Mind Flayer? Because they are either drinking chemicals (as we saw in the storage closet with Billy in the last episode) or eating fertilizer that turns their insides into mush. What is the Mind Flayer’s end goal? Revenge (which we could already infer from the ending of season 2).

All of this is information conveyed in the first two episodes. We’re now on episode 3, and we’re still waiting for most of the main characters to catch on. The result is the pacing slows, and it has the unintended effect of making the show look like it’s just spinning its wheels.

I wonder if that’s the same frustration fans experienced at the time when season 3 came out: That the show wasn’t really progressing the overall narrative so much as rehashing the same story beats from previous seasons in a less interesting way. It doesn’t help that there was a three-year gap between seasons 3 and 4 (caused largely in part by the Covid-19 pandemic), which probably made a lot of fans nervous over whether there was an end goal, or if the Duffer Brothers were struggling to come up with a satisfying conclusion.

In hindsight, now that season 4 has come and gone, do I still feel the same way about season 3 being filler? Not Really. What’s nice about doing retrospective analysis is getting to see how plot-points that might have seemed inconsequential at the time become enlightening later on. Given the direction season 4 went, I would argue a lot of story developments in this season (i.e. El and Max’s friendship, the Mind Flayer arc, etc.) not only were important for how season 4 played out, but also make season 3 look a lot better. There are still flaws in its structure, but at least the same cynical outlook of believing the Duffer Brothers are just making stuff up as they go along isn’t there anymore. There is an endgame.

Nevertheless, if I were to pick one episode (not just from this season, but from the show as a whole) that came off as filler, it would have to be this one. It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just that it didn’t develop anything new that we didn’t already know, and featured most of the characters in unsatisfying arcs while the plot caught up to them.

Part 1: Max, El, Billy, and Heather

I wanted to like the Max/El story in this episode. To be fair, I did enjoy the beginning where Max was introducing El to different music and a young Ralph Macchio. I also appreciated Max’s reassurance that El’s relationship with Mike will work out. It demonstrates that even though both girls aren’t impressed with the boys right now, the break-up isn’t permanent, and the ball is in Mike and Lucas's court to reach out. I could have done without their trip into the Void to spy on Mike, Lucas, and Will (for reasons I’ll cover later in the review), but at least Hopper’s reaction to seeing Max with El was hilarious. Judging by his surprised look, this is probably the first time Max has been to the cabin to visit El, and he’s grateful it isn’t Mike this time. It makes me wonder what would’ve happened if Mike was there. Since Hopper didn’t get his date with Joyce, I’m willing to bet Hopper would’ve furiously frog-marched Mike out of the house (assuming El didn’t try to stop him).

Despite those few positive, this was the least interesting arc in this episode. For something titled “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard,” there wasn’t much of a mystery here since we, the audience, already know what’s happened to Heather, which only makes the characters discovering the clues here redundant. Doesn’t help that, by the end of the episode, Max and El still don’t know what’s going on, and no new information (that the audience wasn’t aware of) has been given to advance the plot.

The way this search kicks off is also something I had an issue with. While I buy into the idea of Max and El playing “Spin the Bottle” to see who they’d spy on (I would have loved to witness them reacting to Dustin, Steve, and Robin at Starcourt Mall talking about Russians infiltrating Hawkins), the one aspect that had me calling bullshit was putting Billy’s name on there. Everything about the past season (including the tie-in novel Runaway Max) established Max wanted as little to do with Billy as possible. This is someone who was abusive to her, to the point she actively went out of her way to avoid him whenever possible, and only put up with Billy at her house because they were living together and she had no other choice. She is also aware of his less-than-stellar treatment of women he’s dated (whom he views as sexual conquests to satisfy his ego), to the point she’s disgusted by it. I’m not talking about gross in the “boys will be boys” way, but more in the “he’s a repulsive misogynist” sentiment. While it’s likely Billy has left Max alone since the end of season 2, especially after Max made it VERY CLEAR to him that she wasn’t going to tolerate his abuse anymore, that doesn’t mean their relationship has improved for the better (If the idea was supposed to be it had, the show didn’t do a good job demonstrating that in a believable manner), or that she suddenly has any interest in his personal life given she already knows what he’s up to and how he acts. For Max to be okay with putting Billy’s name on the board so that El can see what skeevy stuff he’s doing not only feels out-of-character for her, but it’s also a contrived way for both El and Max to conveniently stumble upon what Flayed Billy is doing with Heather so the plot can begin.

The only part of this I found believable was how creeped out Max was at the idea of going into Billy’s room (“Why do I get the feeling we’re gonna find all kinds of wrong in here?”) and how icked she was at seeing his dirty laundry, cigarette butts, and porno magazines. All of which makes her earlier encouragement towards El to spy on Billy look baffling. If she was that unnerved to think about what Billy does in his room during his spare time, why on earth would she want El to view that through the Void in the first place?

Additionally, the scene when El remote-views and finds Heather in an ice bath begging for help was unsettling.

I was reminded of the moments from Under the Skin (the movie that inspired the concept of the Void on this show) when Scarlett Johannsen’s character would lead men into a black void where she would trap them, and then this would happen:

There is a similar theme of otherworldly beings harvesting humans in both Stranger Things and Under the Skin. The purposes are both self-serving and without much empathy towards the victims. I’ve talked about this movie before in my review of “The Monster,” but while the aliens’ motivations for what they do is left ambiguous and open to interpretation, as well as the idea they may operate on a different morality scale from humans, that is NOT the case with the Mind Flayer. What it is doing is entirely personal and filled with malicious intent. Even its emotions, which are rooted in anger, pettiness, and vindictiveness, are qualities that are human-like despite its apparent hatred of humans. It knows what it’s doing is evil; it just doesn’t care.

In any case, the scene with Heather in the ice bath begging El for help leads to some horrifying implications: Not just that Heather is perfectly aware of what’s going on while she’s become the Mind Flayer’s newest slave, but also the idea that her consciousness is being assimilated into the hive mind and there’s nothing she can do about it. Best way I can describe this is to compare it to how the philosopher’s stones worked in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: They were powered by the souls of those trapped within the stones via human transmutation. They acted as an energy source that could elevate an alchemist’s power, or even prolong someone’s life span (as we see with the main antagonist, Father). They were, in many ways, a battery. A battery that could be composed of hundreds or thousands or even millions of souls. The more souls there were, the more potent and long-lasting the stone was. The worst part of this was that, not only were the souls inside those stones alive, they were at risk of losing their identities and individuality the longer they were trapped. A sentiment I think can be seen in how the Mind Flayer operates and how the hive mind works. Ever since the revelation in season 4 that Vecna doesn’t just kill his victims, but also consumes them to the point they become a part of him, it has led me to the belief that many of the human casualties under Vecna and/or the Mind Flayer have resulted in those people's consciousnesses being assimilated into the hive mind. They’re still technically alive and aware of what’s happened to them, but they have now become a power source for either the hive mind, Vecna, or the Mind Flayer, all while they lose their memories and identities bit-by-bit.

On top of that, there’s also the question of how much Vecna and/or the Mind Flayer is allowing El to see in the Void. They establish that it picked up on El’s presence when Flayed Billy was giving Heather to the Meat Flayer (which is why the vision dissolved). However, I’m curious about the ice bath scene with Heather: Did they allow El to see that as well? If so, why? To torment Heather by giving her false hope? To rattle El without giving away their entire plan? The ending of the episode implied they were getting a kick out of gaslighting El into thinking she was seeing things, but was that just about spiting El? Or was it trying to throw El off her game so she’d leave and they’d be able to kidnap Tom and Janet once they were alone?

Speaking of the ending scene, let’s talk about two inspirations for the Mind Flayer’s arc this season: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and John Carpenter’s The Thing.

I’ve already covered The Thing in my reviews during season 1 (specifically with how MacReady and Childs’s fights in the movie paralleled Mike and Lucas’s confrontations in that season), but the main heart of the story, combined with all its gory special effects, is on full display here in season 3. The Thing centers around a group of scientists in Antarctica (from U.S. Outpost 31) who stumble across an extra-terrestrial being that can absorb and shape its cells to imitate a life form. The movie opens with it disguised as a dog, running from a group of Norwegians in a helicopter (who die in their failed attempt to kill it), and managing to infiltrate the base. After showing its true from in a disturbingly gory scene in the dog kettle (and following MacReady finding and transporting the corpse of a frozen malformed humanoid figure from the Norwegian base back to Outpost 31 for research purposes), the group eventually realizes what they’re dealing with and are forced to take extreme measures to figure out which one of them is “The Thing” and who isn’t, all while keeping themselves isolated to prevent it from escaping to the mainland and infecting the human population. Think of the plot from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None if it was set in Antarctica, if the murderer was an alien, and if the kills were more gruesome and gorier than the ones dished out in that book.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers also ties into the heart of season 3’s plot. I haven’t read the book the movies are based on, but I have seen the 1956 and 1978 versions, and the story is the same: A group of parasitical aliens leave their dying world and arrive on Earth from the skies to colonize it. To this end, they plant pods near humans, which can create an exact clone of a human being while assimilating their memories and physical aspects. Once the clone is complete (usually when the human is sleeping), the original person dies and disintegrates. The difference between the clone and the original is that the clones have no emotion, and concepts like love, empathy, and hate are meaningless to them. There’s a chilling scene in the 1978 version where David (Leonard Nimoy’s character), who acts as the unofficial leader of the Pod People, tells Elisabeth Driscoll (one of the main characters) that they don’t hate humans, and he means it. This entire process is just a means of doing what they’ve always done: Try to survive. From their perspective, this isn’t personal. Humans just happened to be the ones unlucky enough to cross their path.

Out of the two, I prefer the 1978 movie to the 1956 version, primarily because it does a better job capturing the horror of realizing something is off about everyone around you, and how alienating that is. There’s a bleakness to the movie that’s disturbing, and the third act reminds me of the nightmares I used to have as a kid where I’d be chased by a group of people in the dead of night. I didn’t know what would happen if they caught me, but I knew it would be horrific. Additionally, the 1978 movie is also grisly (to the point I’m surprised it got away with a PG rating instead of an R). The elaborate process of how the pod people form from the flowers and take shape is gross, and the scene were Donald Sutherland’s character destroys the replica of himself while the other pod people shriek (as if they can sense its pain) reminds me of what happens in the next episode when the Party tries to force the Mind Flayer out of Billy and the impact extends towards the other victims the Mind Flayer has possessed, including Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital.

I know there’s been interpretations about the themes from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, ranging from a metaphor of communism taking over the United States in the 50s, to a critique of consumerism in the 70s, to even a scathing rebuke about going along with what the masses want. In the case of the Duffer Brothers with how they write this show, I would argue the latter is likely what they were going for. It’s Eddie’s “Conformity is killing the kids” speech from season 4, as well as the “Normal is a raging psychopath” rebuke from Lucas. It’s also seen in The First Shadow (which is set in the 50s) where the characters around Henry/One/Vecna (save for Patty Newby) try to force him to be normal despite having a power that’s abnormal. Or how Patty gets treated as a black girl in an adoptive white family, as well as her interracial relationship with Henry/One/Vecna and how the other characters react to it. It’s the idea that just because certain behaviors may be considered “acceptable” by a majority of people (i.e. racism, bigotry, self-serving ideologies, etc) doesn’t make them right.

If I were to talk about where I’ve witnessed a “hive mind” mentality in real-life, it would be the internet. Notably, social media outlets like Reddit, Twitter/X, TikTok, Tumblr, and so on. The regurgitation of popular takes (no matter how stupid or asinine they are), as well as hostility towards anyone who voices an opposing opinion. Dehumanization in both political circles over “acceptable targets” or those considered to be “unworthy” of empathy (Antisemitism has made a vicious comeback, specifically in Leftist circles, over the past year and a half), radicalization towards certain destructive ideologies, regurgitating certain talking points and misinformation/disinformation with no critical thought put into them, and people going out of their way to be smug condescending assholes towards anyone who disagrees with them. There’s a reason I quit Reddit years ago, and why my go-to method for people who behave like that on Tumblr is to block them: I don’t need to put up with that shit. Sadly, it seems to have gotten worse over the years, to the point people are openly comfortable suicide-baiting, spewing the most hateful, bigoted, ignorant takes imaginable, or being cruel for the sake of it. We are living in a culture of Angelas, and that is both scary and depressing.

Getting back to the show, if the Duffer Brothers were intending to use the Flayed from season 3 as a metaphor for conformity………..it was with mixed results. I personally believe they did a better job with the “hive mind” mentality in season 4 when it came to certain groups of people who were NOT possessed by the Mind Flayer and yet still went out of their way to be vicious because they could. Like Angela, her friends, and the Rink-O-Mania crowd bullying El for sport (much like how a lot of internet users purposefully dogpile on individuals they believe has said or done something wrong). Or the special kids at Hawkins Lab tormenting El during her childhood because they saw her as weak (and because Brenner enabled them). Or Jason and his basketball team whipping up the Hawkins residents into a witch hunt against the Hellfire Club under the belief it would purge the town of “evil” when it only made the situation worse than it needed to be. It’s going along with the masses, and no critical thinking is required. What makes it insidious is there is a choice involved here, but because people have been so calcified in their beliefs that they’re in the right to behave this way, they will make the choices to hurt others and justify their actions later. Empathy and Compassion be damned.

In this arc though? There really isn’t any agency for the Flayed. The Mind Flayer has stripped them of that, and turned them into its personal drones. Whatever they do is under its command, regardless of how they feel about it. I could see an argument that this is a commentary on the idea of whether humans deserve to have agency or not, especially when they’re prone to making bad choices (similar to the story and themes they explored with Viktor’s character arc in Arcane Season 2), but that kind of metaphor doesn’t work with how the Mind Flayer operates: It wants control for the sake of having it. In the long term, it doesn’t give a damn about killing off every human on the planet if that’s what it takes. While there’s a possibility that maybe the Mind Flayer was attracted to the demons within people (Billy’s rage, Bruce’s misogyny, Tom’s sexism and how that impacted his wife and daughter, Mrs. Driscoll losing her husband, etc.), that’s mostly speculation. It’s ambiguous if the Mind Flayer targeted specific individuals because they’d be easier to control, or if it just went after whatever random person it could get its hands on. The result is the metaphor falls flat and takes away any philosophizing that could be done over the state of humanity and society. The “hive mind” concept in the Upside Down is interesting from a science-fiction perspective, but when you start analyzing the Flayed in season 3 through the lens of social commentary and real-world themes, it starts to show holes in its presentation. I’m NOT saying the theme of “hive mind” mentality isn’t applicable (I’ve just listed several examples from season 4 where it was) or that the Upside Down isn’t a perfect metaphor for the rot existing within Hawkins’s community, culture, and social structures (something I’ve been arguing was the case for years). In this instance with the Flayed, however? It comes off like they took the concept of “pod people” and “The Thing” without considering what kind of social commentary they were trying to make this season.

On top that, another aspect that’s missing is the sense of paranoia which was a key component in both Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Thing. Don’t get me wrong: Shawn Levy does a great job filming some creepy scenes (the picture of Billy and the Holloway’s above being one such example), but the overwhelming sense of dread, mistrust, and isolation that made those movies work isn’t present in this episode (or the rest of season 3 for that matter).

One of the best qualities about The Thing is, even after so many rewatches, it’s still hard to tell which characters have been assimilated by the titular Thing, and which haven’t. Even the ending with MacReady and Childs leaves it deliberately ambiguous if one of them, or both, are the Thing. Or if the Thing is even still alive at this point. There’s also the debate about whether a person who becomes a Thing even knows about it until they’re exposed, or if the Thing is THAT GOOD at mimicking humans. It’s a mind screw, and it’s far more disturbing than the gory effects.

Likewise, Invasion of the Body Snatchers enforces paranoia, but on a much grander scale. Except for the main characters (three of whom eventually fall prey to the Pod People while the fourth is left to an ambiguous fate), everyone is suspect. It’s a question of how far they’ve spread. One of the most insidious scenes comes from the phone calls Donald Sutherland’s character makes to different agencies to warn them about what’s going on, only to get dismissed as a nutcase who’s trying to cause mass panic. The scary part is we don’t know if the people over the phone simply see this as a crackpot conspiracy theory with no proof, or if they’re the Pod People in disguise who’ve managed to infiltrate those agencies already. The claustrophobic camerawork in the scene also conveys the sense that it’s too late to contain this situation.

In season 3, that paranoia element is absent because we already know how the Mind Flayer functions. We also saw the process through which Heather and Billy got infected (via its fleshy Meat Flayer body), meaning that people would have to be brought to the abandoned steel mill where it resided for that to happen. By that logic, it couldn't have possessed that many residents in Hawkins (at least not to the scale seen in Invasion of the Body Snatchers), even if the Mind Flayer ultimately got a significant amount of people by the end. This also factors in how the Flayed would be trying to keep below the radar from El or anyone else who’d notice their friends and loved ones missing. When I saw the scene at the Holloway’s house for the first time, I knew the only reason Billy and Heather would be there at all was if they were going to add Tom and Janet to their collection of Flayed. If the goal was about attacking El in that moment, they would have just done it. The result is the scene is creepy, but not suspenseful like it could have been.

Even the twist about what the Mind Flayer was planning is pretty much spoiled from the poster:

The only thing I would argue was a legitimate twist from this arc is the revelation that the Meat Flayer was formed as a means for Vecna to assimilate El’s powers so he could open a bigger Gate in Hawkins. It’s a twist that comes a season later, but it changes the context of the Mind Flayer’s motivations: Instead of the Meat Flayer looking like a desperate (and apparently sloppy) attempt to kill El and everyone else (and inadvertently taking away her powers in the process), it now establishes this was a calculated, coordinated plan both Vecna and the Mind Flayer knew could only be executed in a certain time frame (especially since they knew the Russians opened the Gate and it was only a matter of time before their operation was discovered) to rob El of her abilities and render her obsolete as a threat. They still intended to kill her and everyone else, but that was secondary at the time. Even with the Russian Gate closing, they still achieved their primary goal.

Aside from that, and the lack of paranoia, it didn’t help that the people who were possessed by the Mind Flayer were minor characters that either were asshole victims (Tom and Bruce) or ones who barely had any connection to the main characters and didn’t get a lot of screen time to flesh them out properly (Heather, Janet, Mrs. Driscoll, etc). The only exception to this is Billy, and he was a character who was deeply divisive with the fandom from the beginning.

I discussed this in my review of “The Mind Flayer,” but a big reason I had a hard time investing in Billy is because his arc was predictable. When I first saw season 2 back in 2017, around the same time Stephen King’s IT had been in theaters for a number of weeks, I was already drawing comparisons between Billy and the character of Henry Bowers. Abusive, bigoted bullies with abusive, bigoted fathers who take their rage out on the world and make the main characters’ lives a living hell. Anyone who has read the book or seen the movies or miniseries knows Henry Bowers falls under the influence of the entity IT/Pennywise, to the point he tries to kill the Losers on IT’s direction. Since the Duffer Brothers cited Stephen King as a major inspiration for the show, as well as how blatantly obvious the comparisons between Henry Bowers and Billy Hargrove were at the time…………I immediately realized where Billy’s arc was going to go from there: Getting possessed by the Mind Flayer in the next season, and used as a tool to try and kill the Party. The season 3 trailer sealed the deal for me. It wasn’t ever a question of whether Billy was going to die by the end of this season. It was a question of HOW that would happen.

It doesn’t help that there wasn’t any mystery surrounding how the Mind Flayer was influencing Billy. We already saw this unfold with Will in season 2, and it stands to reason that the effects of the Mind Flayer on its host would be the same, even if they introduced the idea of them guzzling down toxic chemicals and fertilizer this time (with the logical conclusion being the only reason they hadn't died yet from doing that was because the Mind Flayer was keeping them alive for the time being).

Finally, there’s the factor of whether you cared enough about Billy’s character to want to see him survive. Some fans did. Some fans didn’t. I’m in the latter category. I don’t have the same passionate hatred for Billy as I did years ago (that has since shifted to Angela’s character), but at the same time, I was indifferent to his fate. Putting aside how I saw it coming from a mile away, they wrote him to be such a deeply hateful creep with barely any redeeming qualities that I just didn’t care. Doesn’t help that all the Billy stans who bullied/harassed people for saying anything negative about his character permanently soured my outlook on him. For what it’s worth, I felt the same indifference for what happens to Tom in this episode and Bruce later on. It sucks, but considering they were already terrible people, I’m not shedding any tears over their demise.

If anything, I mostly feel bad for Heather. Imagine having a crush on someone, and then one day you witness them acting unwell. When you go to check on them alone to see if they need help, they attack you, bind you, kidnap you, and take you to an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere. They then say something that makes it sound like they’re going to rape you……………only for an abomination to step out of the shadows and force itself on you. You then become a part of this thing as you target your parents next. All the while, you’re conscious of what’s happening (as we see from El’s vision of Heather in the Void) but there’s nothing you can do about it.

Same goes for Janet and Mrs. Driscoll. The latter was trying to warn people through Nancy and Jonathan that something was amiss in Hawkins (only for her warnings to go unheeded by the chauvinistic pigs at The Hawkins Post) and the former seemed like a nice lady who was under the thrall of what appeared to be an unequal relationship with her sexist husband.

As for Billy, there’s a dark irony in how his arc in season 2 was about pushing Steve out of the role of King of Hawkins High School to become the Alpha Male who could dominate everyone else and act however he pleased. Now he’s under the servitude of the Mind Flayer, the ultimate Apex Predator, who is far more dangerous, vicious, and unstable than Billy could ever dream of being. It reminds me of what happened to the characters of Leo Johnson and Windom Earle from the show Twin Peaks. The former was a vicious drug dealer, a wife beater, and a real piece of work. Through a series of misfortunes (mostly from his own doing) he ends up as a reluctant pawn for Windom Earle, who not only was a dangerous psychopath, but also a serial killer who took sadistic delight in torturing Leo and reducing him to a slave forced to wear a shock collar to inspire obedience. In a twist of fate, Windom Earle himself ended up on the receiving end of horror when he invoked the wrath of the main antagonist from that series: BOB. Anyone who’s seen Twin Peaks knows just how dangerous BOB was.

Regardless, there is a hard-truth message from both Stranger Things and Twin Peaks that’s applicable not just to characters like Billy, Leo, and Windom, but also for people in real-life who act vicious towards others: No matter how awful you think you can be, there will always be a far worse monster out there who will either chew you up and spit you out, or devour you whole.

Part 2: The Scoops Troop (Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Erica)

Similar to the other arcs in this episode, this one had a lot of filler moments as well. The biggest plot development was Robin cracking the code, and the ending on the roof which confirmed for certain there were Russians operating at Starcourt Mall. Unlike other arcs though, I didn’t mind because there were at least fun moments here. Compared to romantic relationship drama, I’ll take Steve and Dustin’s antics any day.

I haven’t talked much about Erica in these reviews since she hasn’t become a part of the main story yet, but the argument she gets into with Robin over sampling ice cream was amusing. Erica reminds me of those people at Costco who make multiple rounds with the sampling booths even though you’re only supposed to take one food sample per booth, and even though that’s something frowned upon, I can’t help but grin. Doubly-so for being a 10-year-old kid who doesn’t have any money and sees this as an opportunity to try new foods and make a meal out of it. I get why Robin was annoyed though, and why she initially pretended not to hear Erica and her friends. Too bad for Erica that Steve wasn’t there.

Come to think of it, aside from the free ice cream, I wonder how much Erica knows about Steve sneaking Lucas and his friends through the backdoor to see R-Rated movies at the theater? Has she ever asked Steve to do that for her, or are the favors just unlimited ice cream samples?

Speaking of Steve, I think most people figured out quickly that the guy he and Dustin were tailing wasn’t a Russian spy, especially considering Dustin’s stereotypical description to Steve beforehand about what a Russian looked like. The one positive thing I’ll say is that I find humorous that those workout outfits really were a thing, and that the 80s jazzercise videos are as cheesy as they’re said to be:

Getting back to the Russians, I get Steve and Dustin are likely basing their ideas of what they look like from the movies they’ve seen. At the same time though, it highlights what I was criticizing back in my review of “Suzie, Do You Copy?” regarding this arc: Aside from how the Duffer Brothers based their idea of Russians from the movies they grew up watching rather than how they were historically portrayed (something they admitted to in the Season 3 Podcast), there really isn’t a sense of fear or anxiety about the idea that neighbors, friends, or even family could secretly be in league with the Russians. They play this for a joke with the Jazzercise instructor as opposed to the true horror of realizing there are certain people that can’t be trusted. It’s ironic how Invasion of the Body Snatchers was cited as inspiration for this season since the first movie came out in 1956 (around the decade McCarthyism took off), with the Pod People being a not-so-subtle metaphor for the idea of communists infiltrating a town. And despite the 1978 remake doing a better job with the psychological horror (mainly because they weren’t tied down by the Hays Code), the original 1956 movie was still creepy in its own right, and conveyed a sense that the main characters were truly on their own.

That is not present here with Dustin, Steve, and Robin at Starcourt Mall. Robin lampshades this in the previous episode with how loud Dustin and Steve are, but despite all three of them suspecting there might be Russians at Starcourt Mall, they still talk in the open about it like it’s no big deal. As if they haven’t considered the possibility there could be Russians secretly disguised as ordinary citizens at Starcourt Mall listening in on what they’re saying, or how that could get them in serious trouble. Jazzercise instructor aside, I’m talking about the various people at the food court, the customers at Scoops Ahoy, or just anyone in the mall to begin with who could plainly see Steve and Dustin spying on people with binoculars behind the foliage. It’s a jarring tonal dissonance compared to previous seasons when the characters considered the possibility of being under surveillance when Hawkins Lab was still active, and took the best precautions they knew to minimize that. Remember the argument Steve and Nancy had over telling the truth about Barbara’s death in “Trick or Treat, Freak,” and how Steve was so freaked out by the idea of Government agents listening in on their conversation that they went to a quiet room in the library, with Steve even shutting the blinds? Or “Will the Wise” when Jonathan and Nancy were at the park supposedly waiting for Barbara’s parents when they were actually planning to get caught, all while slowly noticing something was off about how people were acting around them before it was revealed most of them were Hawkins Lab employees disguised as ordinary civilians?

This is one of the issues I had with season 3 (and I suspect other fans had as well): They put an emphasis on comedy at the expense of the story and characters acting in a way that made sense. Doesn’t help that Steve and Dustin tailing the Jazzercise instructor (no matter how funny the reveal was) doesn’t do much to advance the plot. It’s only when Robin encounters the Lynx employee, realizes that the shell company is the “Silver Cat,” and pieces together the remaining message that things start to advance.

This isn’t to say I consider Dustin and Steve spying on people to be a complete waste of time. I appreciated the conversation Dustin had with Steve pointing out that he needs to move on from caring about high school social status. Steve falling back on what he’s familiar with doesn’t surprise me because I remember having that kind of experience post high school. Not in a “who’s dating who” or a “popularity ranking” way (I didn’t date in high school, and the cliques they like to depict in movies weren’t much of a thing at the school I went to), but more in a “high school was familiar to me, and having to be an adult holding down a job is intimidating” kind of way. Contrary to what Dustin might say, I don’t think Steve cares as much about popularity as Dustin thinks he does. His encounter with the Demogorgon in season 1 (or even when he started dating Nancy) was the beginning of the end for his emotional investment in that. Even with the ending of season 2 inferring that Billy took Steve’s spot as King of Hawkins High School, Steve’s general attitude during that season conveyed how disillusioned he’d become with popularity. It’s not like he was making much of an effort to hold onto that title to begin with.

By the way, I find it telling that Steve hasn’t mentioned Billy since season 2. It was clear to me that Steve never cared about the one-sided rivalry Billy tried to instigate with him at school, and I get the feeling he’s just glad he doesn’t have to associate with Billy anymore. Like I said, it’s significant that, despite Steve’s prior experience as a lifeguard, he decided he’d rather work at Scoops Ahoy (even if finding a job was mandated by his father).

Adding on to Dustin and Steve’s conversation, Dustin pushing for Steve to date Robin implies that he’s been privy to the girls Steve’s dated since breaking up with Nancy and was not impressed with any of them. There’s the sense both parties were just dating each other for superficial reasons (looks, attractiveness, etc), but there’s also how Steve hasn’t really moved on from the breakup with Nancy (something season 4 highlights). His attempts at dating are less about getting notches under his belt and more about finding a girl similar to Nancy who likes him beyond the surface, and visa versa. For all his protests to Dustin about how he’s not interested in Robin, he sure seems to know a lot about her personal life (i.e. being hyper, participating in drama class, being in band, etc), indicating he’s been paying attention to her. I wonder if he also knows about “Operation Croissant” from Rebel Robin, which was Robin’s dream of traveling to Europe, visiting the different countries, and being able to order breakfast from coffee shops on her detour. The whole reason she’s working at Scoops Ahoy is because she’s trying to get the money for that dream trip after having lost her savings paying for the damage she caused on Prom Night the year before (long story). Robin’s the first girl since Nancy who has caught Steve’s attention precisely because she isn’t superficial, is intelligent, isn’t above calling out Steve when he acts badly, and (snarky attitude aside) is good company. Who knows? If Robin survives the events of season 5, it’s possible she may want Steve (along with Vickie) to come with her to Europe.

In any case, I see Steve wanting to be around Robin having more to do with who she is as a person than it does with physical looks. The fact he loses interest in her quickly when he discovers she’s a lesbian indicates he didn’t have much of a sexual attraction to her to begin with. He genuinely cared about her as a friend.

Additionally, the two of them holding hands on the roof for comfort was a nice moment:

Finally, there’s the ending where they’re spying on the arriving shipments and almost get caught. Like I said before, from the way they cast the Russian characters this season, it’s so blatantly obvious who they are that the show doesn’t even try to pretend this is a surprise:

I did appreciate the nods to Close Encounters of the Third Kind with the truck scene. In the movie, when the U.S. Government is attempting to contact the aliens at Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, they make plans to clear out the nearby towns by spreading a false story about a train wreck spilling toxic GM nerve gas. To facilitate the deception, they send out trucks disguised as fleet vehicles (i.e. Baskin Robins, Piggly Wiggly, Coca Cola, etc) to smuggle supplies through undetected. Much like how the Russians are using shell companies like Lynx Transportation to bring essential equipment for the underground base disguised as merchandise for the mall.

Part 3: Nancy and Jonathan

If the show’s intention was to make Bruce and Tom as loathsome as possible so we wouldn’t feel bad when they got possessed by the Mind Flayer, well congratulations: They succeeded. I was deeply sick of the creeps at Nancy’s work, and wish Nancy had thrown a pitcher of scalding-hot coffee on all of them. Yes, it would have gotten her fired, but she was going to lose her job anyways by the next episode. Given how humiliating and degrading her employment was, she might as well have cut her loses then and there. They were never going to let her advance at the newspaper (no matter what she did to try and prove herself), and would have just kept her as their personal caterer while making nasty cracks at her expense.

Can I just say how gross it is to see grown-ass men twice Nancy’s age belittling her despite the fact she’s a teenager? Doubly-so for Tom who has a daughter (Heather) around the same age as Nancy. If he’s willing to be that vicious to Nancy (while smirking at the sexist jokes directed at her), it makes me seriously question what kind of relationship he has with Heather and his wife. I would not be surprised if there was an abusive situation going on in the Holloway’s household. All of which makes me indifferent when Heather clocks Tom over the head with a wine bottle before drugging him.

On a related note, it's time to talk about an 80s movie that factors into this arc in multiple ways: 9 to 5.

9 to 5 is a 1980 film centered around three women named Judy, Violet, and Doralee who work at Consolidated Companies under the employment of their sexist boss, Franklin M. Hart Jr. Initially cold with one another due to the soul-crushing work environment (as well as the mistaken belief Doralee is having sex with Franklin despite her repeatedly turning down his inappropriate advances), the three women bond over their mistreatment under Franklin (especially after Violet gets passed over for a promotion despite working 12 years at the company, as well as Franklin claiming credit to his superiors for an idea Violet designed). The movie is part social commentary about sexism in the workplace, and part wish-fulfillment regarding women who’ve had to put up with misogynistic bosses and would love to give them a piece of their minds.

Jake Busey (who plays Bruce on the show) cited this movie as inspiration not only for Nancy’s arc this season, but also for how Bruce’s character was modeled. The last tidbit I find interesting because while Franklin is an awful person, the movie depicts him as an incompetent buffoon, so much that the main characters are able to get one over him. He’s a lot like Captain Hook from Disney’s Peter Pan where his misfortunes are played for comedy, to the point you sometimes forget that they’re supposed to be a threat. Bruce, on the other hand, reminds me of Angela: A character who’s played seriously and is so deeply vile and unpleasant that they overstay their welcome and you wish they’d get off the screen. Jake Busey mentioned that Bruce’s character was also based on adult men he knew as a teenager who acted in that chauvinistic manner, and I believe him: You can’t write a character to be this believably hateful unless it’s based on people in real-life who behave like that.

Another theme the movie explores in a subtler way, similar to Stranger Things, is internalized misogyny. In 9 to 5, Doralee is initially treated with contempt because it’s believed she’s sleeping her way to the top (which isn’t true), to the point other women at the company give Doralee the cold-shoulder despite her being a friendly person. Violet is scornful of Judy when she first meets her, right down to her wardrobe choices (“We’re gonna need a special locker for the hat”). There’s also the character of Roz, who is a bootlicker to Franklin and gleefully throws other female employees under the bus if it means she can suck up to him. For all the criticisms thrown at Nancy’s arc this season about how the depictions of sexism and misogyny when it comes to men is “stereotypical” and “cliché” (never mind the fact men in real-life have acted this way with women, and in some cases have taken it further than that), some fans seem to forget the show’s also done subtle criticisms of internalized misogyny. Case in point: The way the housewives at the pool judge Billy vs Heather. Because Billy is a guy and conventionally attractive, he gets away with publicly fat-shaming a kid in front of everyone, and it gets treated as no big deal. Heather, meanwhile, scolds a different kid for dunking in the pool, but because they believe her voice is “nails on a chalkboard,” Heather gets criticized for her actions even though she’s doing her job and acting more professional than Billy. Same thing goes for Carol Perkins in the first two seasons: Remember when she gleefully slut-shamed Nancy when it was believed she cheated on Steve? Then one season later, she’s thirsting over Billy despite supposedly being in a relationship with Tommy? In any case, my point is there’s a lot more thought put into the themes explored on this show than the Duffer Brothers are given credit for.

Given Tom and Bruce’s eventual fate, I’m curious what happened to The Hawkins Post in the aftermath of the Meat Flayer’s demise, or if other employees were abducted and became the Flayed. Nancy’s comments in “Vecna’s Curse” indicate the newspaper is still ongoing with some of the same people (Chuck Bailey), and her scathing remarks imply nothing about the work culture has changed since she left. I’d question if anyone still employed there did any investigative work into the Starcourt Mall Fire (which was the Government cover-up story for all the people who died at the hands of the Mind Flayer), but given how quick they were to dismiss Nancy’s evidence about the rats, I seriously doubt it. I just wonder how many scandals and dead bodies will slip through their fingers before the newspaper loses all credibility and they either get shut down or replaced with competent reporters.

One thing I’m curious about: Why didn’t Nancy and Jonathan bring the rat with them from the previous episode as evidence to show Tom and the others? I’m talking about BEFORE the rat exploded into a pile of blood and guts (which they didn’t witness since they left at the time to investigate another lead). Nancy tells Jonathan in this episode they should get the rat from Mrs. Driscoll’s for further proof, but you’d think they’d have considered that option before they started developing the photos and Nancy had that degrading meeting with Tom and her asshole male co-workers. Not that it remotely excuses their vile behavior towards her.

Jonathan didn’t have a lot to do in this episode aside from trying to support Nancy as best he could (and reassure her when she got humiliated by the other men), so I don’t have much to say about him here. I’ll go more in-depth about his argument with Nancy in the next episode, but it is worth noting he made the choice to go with her to Mrs. Driscoll’s for the rat despite knowing they could possibly get fired for it. I mean that in both a positive and negative way. That’s also including how Nancy gave Jonathan an out by insisting on going alone if he was that worried about losing his job. This is important because it factors into how I view their upcoming fight with one another.

Part 4: Mike, Lucas, and Will

The first half of this arc was rough to get through, but it did pick up around when Mike and Will got into their argument, which is when things turned interesting.

To say I wasn’t impressed with Mike and Lucas in this episode is an understatement. Juvenile toilet humor aside, them whining about not doing anything wrong (despite having lied to El and Max) didn’t inspire much sympathy. Nor did their comments about women acting on emotion and not logic. I found myself siding with Will when he insisted on all of them playing D&D. Unfortunately, that didn’t go well either.

When I first saw this episode prior to season 4, I was under the impression that one of the reasons this arc existed was to show how Lucas and Mike had started to outgrow D&D and were no longer interested in playing it (which is why they were half-assing Will’s campaign). It still doesn’t make their behavior okay, but I could at least accept the idea D&D no longer appealed to them the same way it did for Will, and that they had moved on to other hobbies and interests. Given the Hellfire Club storyline though, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. It has the unintended effect of making Mike and Lucas look like bigger jerks here than the narration intended to portray them as. It’s especially egregious they’re only thinking now of calling El and Max in the middle of Will’s D&D campaign, as opposed to doing it the night before when they were moping. I give credit that they apologized to Will later, but still.

Not helping matters is that, compared to Mike and Lucas, Will is the one who seems to get the most flak regarding his comments about girls in this episode (at least from what I’ve witnessed from this fandom). I’ve seen people take the “stupid girl” comment about El and run with it to portray Will as a misogynist, which…………. REALLY? 😒 I’m not going to argue that was Will’s best moment, but neither Mike nor Lucas come out looking any better with their comments about women, yet they seem to get let off the hook easier compared to Will. And before anyone puts words in my mouth, I am NOT saying that Mike, Lucas, and Will are misogynists. I am simply pointing out that fans have a bad tendency of running with the most extreme interpretations of characters, no matter how biased those interpretations are.

This even extends into season 4: I recall during my time on TV Tropes there was an infuriating entry made into the “Unintentionally Unsympathetic” category that accused Will of standing by and allowing Angela to bully El when they were living in Lenora because he was secretly jealous of Mike’s crush on El. I was so put-off by this braindead take that I immediately edited the page to remove it. I’ve also seen one or two similar takes circulating on Tumblr, which is one more reason I’ve distanced myself from this fandom. And I thought it was bad when there were actual Angela apologists who demonized El and downplayed Angela’s sadism to infantilize her. Sometimes, I wonder when people are intentionally trolling or ragebaiting because I have a hard time accepting they can come up with opinions this asinine and truly believe them. I get this is the internet, and disingenuous idiots exist, but Good Lord. 😒

Is Will hurt by the lack of interest from his friends in playing D&D despite the work he’s put into this campaign? Yes. Do I believe that Will is upset because he has a crush on Mike and doesn’t know how to deal with it? Also, yes. Do I view Will as having a hard time relating to his friends getting into relationships with girls since he’s gay? Ditto. I say that as a gay man who watched his friends and colleagues in high school prioritize romantic relationships with the opposite sex while I felt alienated because I could never open up about my orientation in a community that was deeply conservative. It sucks, and I don’t begrudge Will’s frustration over not knowing how to cope with that, especially at his age.

However, the idea that Will has a personal grudge against El, or harbors a deep hatred of women and girls stemming from misogyny, is complete bullshit. Will is many things, but he isn’t petty, and he doesn’t hate El. I’ve always taken the “stupid girl” comment to be less about El herself, and more about Will’s unhappiness that Mike is more interested in romantic relationships with girls over him. Mike could have been dating any other girl besides El in this moment, and Will would still have an issue with it because it’s not really about the girls. It’s about his own internal dilemma: He’s a gay teenager trying to wrestle with conflicting feelings, the reality of his orientation in a time period that was deeply homophobic, and also dealing with unresolved trauma over everything that’s happened since the Demogorgon took him into the Upside Down. The show emphasizes this via flashbacks to previous seasons, but Will’s desire to continue playing D&D is just as much about nostalgia and wanting things to go back to the way they were, as it is about finding some way he can continue to relate to Mike and Lucas via shared hobbies without feeling like he’s losing them.

On a related note, the comic Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons depicts Will as the Dungeon Master inviting El and Max several times to play D&D with them. So yeah, I maintain Will has never had a problem with El and Max in the Party, and that his “free of girls” comment at the beginning of this episode was more about wanting Mike and Lucas to be free of relationship drama for a day.

I remember when I watched this scene with my sister that she suggested a theory that’s stuck with me: That Mike IS AWARE Will is gay, and the “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” comment was an acknowledgment of that instead of Mike being dismissive about Will’s feelings. It’s still unclear to me if Mike knows Will has a crush specifically on him, but I can buy the idea Mike’s known about Will’s sexual orientation for a while, and kept quiet about it because he didn’t know how to approach this topic with Will. It could also provide context in “Vecna’s Curse” for why Mike acted distant with Will compared to the frequent letters he sent El when both her and Will were living in Lenora. I don’t believe Mike is homophobic, same as I don’t believe Will is misogynistic, but I also don’t think he knows how to handle this situation between him and Will. The result is it has put a strain on both of them. It’s tragic, but it’s also a more sympathetic context compared to Mike just being completely oblivious and insensitive. A lot is going to depend on how they handle Will coming out to Mike in season 5, and where it goes from there.

Finally, there’s Will destroying Castle Byers and him realizing the Mind Flayer has returned. I remember a particular take from someone (whom I’ve since cut contact with, and have zero interest in ever speaking to again) about how this moment was supposed to be about Will finally taking action and no longer being a victim who lets things happen to him. I was put off by that opinion at the time, and it’s only years later that I understand why: It’s belittling of the trauma Will has gone through, and dismissive of how he’s fought for his life (and the people he loves) prior to this moment. Will was dealing with otherworldly threats who had the upper hand, but he wasn’t passive about it, and he certainly wasn’t someone who refused to act. One of the first things he did on the show when he was being chased by the Demogorgon was grabbing a gun and loading it with bullets to fend off the monster. When he got taken into the Upside Down, he spent a week evading danger, and even went as far as to warn Joyce when the Demogorgon was coming for her. Likewise in season 2, he attempted to force the Mind Flayer to go away when it came it for him. While that didn’t work, it was an example of Will standing his ground despite the Mind Flayer's overwhelming presence. On top of that, even though he was possessed by the Mind Flayer, he used the connection to help the others locate Hopper in the tunnels, warn them about the Mind Flayer’s demodogs coming to slaughter everyone at Hawkins Lab, and even gave them information about closing the Gate. These may not seem like big actions on the surface, but they’re significant in that Will was always a fighter, even with the odds against him. Is it true he needed aid in being rescued from the Upside Down, or exorcising the Mind Flayer from him? Yes. But that wasn’t due to a character flaw on Will’s part.

There’s also the unresolved trauma he’s still dealing with: I surmised Will initially brushing off sensing the Mind Flayer was him assuming it was PTSD-related at the time, as well as not wanting to believe the monster which tormented him for so long had come back into his life (which is understandable). Once it became clear to him that wasn’t the case, he didn’t hesitate to tell Mike and Lucas about it. Character development didn’t need to happen for Will to be able to do that.

I see the destruction of Castle Byers as more symbolic of a bigger issue with Will: That he’s still stuck emotionally in the past, frozen like the Upside Down. He’s desperately trying to cling to the moments in his life that made him happy (like dressing up as the Ghostbusters from last Halloween, or the D&D campaigns from season 1) as he’s coping with changes going on in his life, as well as the horrors of what happened to him. This is something that gets put on hold due to the current situation with the Mind Flayer's return, but it is one of those arcs the Duffer Brothers will likely revisit again in season 5. The BTS photos heavily imply there’s a reckoning in Will’s future where he can finally face his trauma, make peace with what happened, and come to terms with who he is and where he goes from here.

Part 5: Hopper and Joyce

Compared to the previous two episodes featuring Hopper, this one was an improvement. There are still some aspects regarding his character I wasn’t happy about, but he at least mellowed out enough towards the end to laugh at Joyce’s joke about Scott Clarke.

This is more of a nitpick regarding personal hygiene, but if I was Hopper and I was recovering from a hangover, I would not be drinking shower water or even chugging milk straight from the fridge. Blergh! 🤢

I have mixed feelings about the argument Joyce and Hopper get into at his cabin. On the one hand, Joyce turns out to be correct in her assumption that another Gate has opened, and her concern over the magnets not working (and investigating why it was happening) helped them in the long-term. As she points out to Hopper, after everything that’s happened in the past 2 seasons, it would have been stupid to ignore any potential warning signs of something being off in Hawkins. I don’t think Joyce intentionally skipped out on her date with Hopper, but just simply forgot about it. She’s always had that quirk of myopic fixation on something she deems important, to the point of filtering other stuff out. It’s how Joyce was able to believe Will was alive in season 1 (despite everyone else telling her otherwise and the fake corpse presented to her) and eventually rescue him. It’s also how she was able to get the Mind Flayer out of Will because she’d been paying attention to how it was affecting him. In this instance, it’s going to lead them to the Russians.

On the other hand, despite not being impressed with Hopper’s initial dismissal of Joyce, I get his irritation over being stood up. I also slightly understand why he’d be pissed about Joyce standing him up AND going to see another man, even if nothing romantic happened between her and Mr. Clarke and the visit was about getting scientific information. I said this in the previous review but, if the genders were reversed and it had been a male character who stood up a female character, not only would the narration never let them live it down, but the show (and to a certain extent, the fanbase) would have a field-day raking that male character over the coals. I’m still sympathetic towards Joyce, and she made the right call in following through with her gut instinct, but I also get where fans are coming from when they complain about that double-standard.

Regardless, Hopper lost me with his belittlement of Joyce’s claim, as well as the accusation that Joyce was scared of dating him and was inventing this to push him away. Putting aside how much of that is projection on Hopper’s part (How many women do you think Hopper has pushed away from a long-term relationship because he’s still grieving over Sara’s death?), it comes off as wildly out-of-character. Remember how he handled Joyce back in season 1 when she still believed Will was alive despite his apparent corpse showing up at the Quarry? How he didn’t dismiss or belittle her claims, and even kept an open mind, which is what led him to uncovering the conspiracy at Hawkins Lab? Where is that Jim Hopper? I miss him.

It's also just a low blow. This isn’t like Hopper is ignorant of the fact Joyce is still grieving over Bob’s death. Or that her past trauma, combined with the desire to move out of Hawkins, are a big reason for her acting the way she does. It makes him look insensitive to her feelings with how he pushes so hard to get into a relationship with her. It also presents an ulterior motive to Hopper’s reasons for wanting a date: He’s trying to keep Joyce in Hawkins.

I can’t really blame Hopper for wanting Joyce to stay. Moving to Lenora was a big mistake for a multitude of reasons (To this day, I still consider Lenora to be one of the worst arcs the show ever did). But the way he initially went about handing the situation didn’t help, and it made him look callous. His sarcastic attitude at Hawkins Lab (i.e. mockingly calling out in the darkness, knocking on the concrete-filled Gate) also wasn’t impressive. You’d think that if Joyce was willing to come back here, to a place where she saw her previous boyfriend die gruesomely, that Hopper would pick up pretty quickly that Joyce wasn’t messing around.

To his credit though, he eventually starts sympathizing with Joyce over her trauma, and even shares his experience almost shooting Betsy Payne’s dog because he believed it was one of the demodogs. He also talks directly with Joyce about her desire to move out of Hawkins, and empathizes with why she’s doing it: To escape the bad memories of the past. He of all people knows that’s not something you can easily walk away from, and it does follow you regardless of where you move on the map. In hindsight, I wish Joyce had taken up Hopper’s words of encouragement to stay, even with Hopper’s apparent death at the end of this season. It would have saved Joyce, her sons, and El a whole bunch of unnecessary grief. Hopper was right in that she had a better support system in Hawkins than she would have anywhere else.

On a related note, the scene where Hopper and Joyce have their conversation inside Hawkins Lab while it’s raining outside reminds me of the moment from Romancing the Stone when the characters of Joan Wilder and Jack T. Colton take refuge inside an airplane during a downpour.

Aside from both locations being an area where people died, the scene parallels Stranger Things in that it features two individuals who’ve been at odds with one another having a moment to bond. In Romancing the Stone, it’s Joan finally revealing to Jack why she hired him to help her get to Cartagena in Columbia (after initially being misled and isolated by the main villain): She’s trying to exchange a treasure map with dangerous people to save her sister’s life. While Jack initially seems callous about her situation, he eventually shares details about what he does for a living, and saves Joan from a poisonous snake. He also reveals his dream of purchasing a sailboat to travel around the ocean. In Stranger Things, it’s Hopper appealing for Joyce to remain in Hawkins and insisting he’s doing everything he can to keep her family safe. His dream (which becomes a recurring gag starting this season) is wanting a date with Joyce at Enzo’s. There’s also how both couples are chased by foreign adversaries: Grigori and the Russians in Stranger Things vs Colonel Zolo and his corrupt police force in Colombia. Given Romancing the Stone was cited as inspiration for season 3, it’s worthwhile to discuss it.

Speaking of Grigori, while it’s obvious the activated security camera Joyce and Hopper missed while exploring the Lab alerted him to their presence there, what’s less clear to me is why he only attacked Hopper without killing him and didn’t try to go after Joyce. We know Grigori wasn’t above targeting them for murder, as we see from later episodes, and we also know he was working to keep the Russian operation a secret from outsiders (This is assuming the reason Grigori thought Joyce and Hopper were at Hawkins Lab in the first place is because they already knew about the Gate). Why not take the opportunity to eliminate them here? He had Hopper on the ground. He could have finished Hopper then and there, waited in the dark for Joyce to come into the room to off her, and then gotten rid of the bodies while blackmailing Mayor Kline into putting out some cover-story about how they died. Why leave them alive and risk getting caught or recognized from his face and motorcycle license plate (which is exactly what happens in the next episode)?

On top of that, the security camera at the Lab raises questions about how much the Russians knew regarding the inner workings of Hawkins Lab and who was associated with it. They obviously knew about the Gate, but did they know about the special kids like El? Did they know about Vecna? The two different massacres that happened in 1979 and 1984? We know Grigori saw Hopper at Mayor Kline’s office, and was later at Enzo’s when Hopper got drunk, which implies Grigori had been tailing Hopper. Did Grigori know beforehand about Hopper's past connections to Hawkins Lab and the previous Gate? If so, how did he get that information?

Like I’ve said before, there’s a bunch of unanswered questions with the Russian arc. It’s why I’m pushing for season 5 to bring it back to give proper closure.

Finally, while the idea of exploring a deserted Hawkins Lab in a thunderstorm was ripe for scary possibilities, I was disappointed in how underwhelming the creepiness factor was. Maybe I was hoping for something along the Mr. Nightmare true horror stories about abandoned buildings and urban exploration, but Joyce and Hopper’s encounter with Grigori wasn’t as intense as it could have been (not helped by the fact I could see the jump-scare involving Grigori attacking Hopper coming several scenes beforehand), and I didn’t feel a sense of fear on behalf of the main characters. For comparison, Hopper’s first foray into Hawkins Lab when he evades security and encounters the Gate for the first time was one of the most thrilling scenes in the show because it was unknown at the time what Hopper was going to encounter, or if he’d make it out alive. In this scene from season 3? The sense of danger is absent, not helped by the lack of logic in Grigori’s action.

Part 6: Song Choices

This episodes feature plenty of songs. Because of the Tumblr restrictions of 10 videos per post, I'll only post videos for a few of them, but I highly recommend listening to all of the songs on Youtube.

First one in the episode is “Angel” by Madonna. Max is shown singing to it in El's room while El looks through magazines.

Similar to “Like a Prayer,” the song was inspired by Madonna’s Catholic upbringing, and the idea of angels watching over people in the mortal world and protecting them from danger. While the song in the context of this scene is about El and Max bonding, it holds more significance in hindsight with the fight El and Max have against Vecna in “The Piggyback.” I’ve analyzed before about how Vecna holds parallels to Lucifer residing over Hell (which is represented by the Upside Down). In season 4, he is the Devil coming to collect Max’s soul. The only thing holding Vecna at bay (while Max’s friends are dealing with other struggles) is El, the “Angel” attempting to protect Max (“Cause you came when I wished for you. This just can't be coincidence. The only way that this makes sense is that. Ooh, you're an angel”).

Next song that's heard is “Phone to Phone” by Life at Night. This plays when Hopper angrily storms into El’s room, believing Mike is there, only to find Max hanging out with El.

The song has a soothing melody, and is probably going to be another 80s favorite of mine. I’m glad this show introduced me to it. While it’s likely another song Max has El listen to as a means of building up her musical library, the lyrics talk about a long-term relationship between two people and how rough it is (“You’ll never know this life out in the streets. Some empty room, I crawl into sleep. I don’t know why I keep thinking that we’ll see each other again.”) The way they’re able to maintain this connection is via phone calls while the singer waits for his lover (“Phone to phone, I’m calling. Phone to phone I’m falling in love again.”). In the context of this moment, it’s a not-so-subtle indication that Max and El want the boys to call them to explain themselves and apologize. In the context of the show, I see it applicable to the long-distance relationship Jonathan and Nancy have in season 4, which puts a strain on them that has yet to be resolved.

Following that, we have “Lovegirl” by Teena Marie. This plays during the “Spin the Bottle” segment with Max and El while Hopper is watching TV outside. The lyrics center on someone who wants to be the lover for another person they’re attracted to, as well as the belief that other person feels the same way about them (“Cause I got a vibe on you. The first time that I saw you, saw you. I need your love and I won't bring no pain. A little birdie told me that you feel the same.”). I’m assuming this is how El feels about Mike despite the recent breakup, which is why Max is quick to reassure her they will get back together eventually. In the meantime, they’re going to have fun together until that time. Too bad that doesn't last long, given what they see Flayed Billy do.

The next musical segment is instrumental, but it comes from the movie The Dark Crystal (which I briefly discussed in my review of “The Weirdo on Maple Street”): “The Pod Dance” by Trevor Jones. It plays when Will wakes up Mike and Lucas for the D&D campaign he’s put together.

Ironically, I talked about that movie in relation to Will, his connection to the Upside Down, and how Will’s arc in season 5 might involve fixing something broken in the Upside Down to restore balance, similar to the Gelfling Jen’s quest to restore the missing shard of the Dark Crystal to end the Skeksis’s tyranny and restore stability to his world.

Then we have “Electric Knights” by Head On. This plays in the background when Max and El investigate Billy’s room to find evidence of Heather’s disappearance. The main chorus (“Come on. We’re waiting for you”) is a warning in the song, and one that ties ominously well with Flayed Billy: He’s waiting for El to find him.

Following that is a song heard when Nancy and Jonathan are developing photos in the darkroom: “All Your Reasons Why” by Smart Remarks. This is one of those songs where the beat is nice, but it’s difficult to make out the lyrics beyond “For all your reasons why.” Doesn’t help the lyrics aren’t available in the subtitles on Youtube, or online for that matter. There were a few I was able to pick up on: (“You hurt me and you cry.”) (“So you stay sober.”) (“You’re standing at the window, so surprised. It must be night.”). From what little I can understand, it conveys the idea this is a relationship in trouble, and while reasons are given, they aren’t really fixing the problem. Considering this is heard in the background during a positive moment right before Nancy goes outside to get ripped to shreds by her male coworkers, I’m guessing this is supposed to be reflective of the growing issues between Nancy and Jonathan over how they’re dealing with their jobs. Nancy’s reasons for wanting to prove she’s good as a reporter instead of being dismissed because of her sex vs Jonathan’s reasons about not wanting to step on toes and keeping his head down so he can keep his job.

The next song plays when Dustin and Steve are spying on people in Starcourt Mall: “Things Can Only Get Better” by Howard Jones. The song deals with taking a risk despite the fear associated with that (“Do you feel scared? I do. But I won't stop and falter. And if we threw it all away. Things can only get better.”), and living life to the fullest without regrets (“Future dreams we have to realize. A thousand skeptic hands won't keep us from the things we plan. Unless we're clinging to the things we prize.”). This is reflective of Steve’s dilemma right now, which Dustin spells out for him: He’s out of high school, and he can either continue to be held down by meaningless dates and social constructs like popularity, or he can take a chance to try something new and make the most of his life. While we know that Steve won’t get together with Robin due to her orientation, his developing friendship with her is a big reason he's able to move past those constructs by the end of the season and start thinking about what he wants to do with his future. Things can only get better, indeed.

Next song is “Place in My Heart” by Brian Page. This plays when El and Max go to the pool to talk with the lifeguards and find out where Heather is. In the context of the scene, it’s mostly background music. In the context of the show, where the song is about love and making room in someone’s heart for another person, the lyrics could apply to any popular relationships on the show (“There's a place in my heart. Don't you see my baby? I just wanna tell you, there's room inside this heart of mine.”). In a broader sense, now that Stranger Things is coming to an end, and season 5 will be the last time we see all these characters together, these particular lyrics hit home: “Hold onto the times, you really better. 'Cause the times we have together are so few. Always know what we have will last forever.”

Following that is a classic everyone should recognize: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! This plays when Dustin and Steve are staring at the Jazzercise instructor and all the ladies taking his class. The song’s lyrics are about being crazy in love when someone brightens your life (“You get the grey skies outta my way (whoo-hoo). You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day”). Additionally, a “go-go” is a dance club, and the song refers to a guy who’s upset that the girl he’s in love with didn’t wake him to go dancing with her. (“But something's bugging me, something ain't right. My best friend told me what you did last night. You left me sleeping in my bed. I was dreaming, but I should've been with you instead.”). As a result, he asks the girl to wake him up so that he doesn’t miss that again with her (“Wake me up before you go-go. I don't wanna miss it when you hit that high.”). In the context of the scene, it’s mostly Steve and Dustin looking bemused when the Jazzercise class starts, and probably wondering how they pegged the wrong guy.

Next song comes when El and Max enter the Holloway's house and find the creepy sight of Billy having dinner with Heather’s parents: “Is It A Sin?” by Al Hazan. This show has a thing for taking old songs and playing them for eerie effect. The lyrics convey the question of whether it’s a sin to fall in love with someone who doesn’t love them (“I believe it's wrong. Wrong to love. When the one you love won't love you. But it could be so heavenly. If you'd only say that you love me too.”). In a very twisted, macabre sense, I see the lyrics applying to the Mind Flayer’s desire for control and its possessive intentions (“So tell me that you’ll be mine forever, and I will never, ever have to ask you again”) The difference is the Mind Flayer isn’t asking. It’s taking without consent.

Finally, we have “American Pie” by Don McLean which is played for morbid effect during the scene when Flayed Billy and Flayed Heather drug and attack Tom and Janet Holloway.

This was one of my favorite songs growing up, and it’s an interesting choice that they used it for this scene. The song refers to the infamous plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Booper (J.P. Richardson), which was termed “The Day The Music Died.” The song itself is lengthy, going on for over 8 minutes, and has been subjected to multiple interpretations. Personally, I’ve always viewed the song as one about nostalgia, loss, and accepting the reality that life changes and things can’t go back to the way they were before. It’s one that perfectly encapsulates the theme of season 3, which is about the characters wrestling with change and coming to terms with that. The Mind Flayer is the antithesis of that change: While it certainly has no qualms about destroying the world to fit its image, it likes things the way they are in the Upside Down: On top with all the power, and everyone and everything enslaved to its will. There is no ability to change, or even the agency to do so, under the Mind Flayer. It’s a fate worse than death since everything is stuck and unable to progress. Just like what happened to Billy, Heather, and everyone else that’s become the Flayed.

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