Perfect Stranger Things - Chapter Four
Steve and Anthony cover “The Body” and puzzle over the Hawkins Labs “Build-a-Will” department. Then they revisit an old Stephen King favorite: Stand By Me (1986)
Steve and Anthony cover “The Body” and puzzle over the Hawkins Labs “Build-a-Will” department. Then they revisit an old Stephen King favorite: Stand By Me (1986)
Steve and Anthony talk about a major hinge in Nancy’s character development and talk about the impact of Peter Gabriel’s voice. Then they dive deep into Pet Sematary.
Anthony and Steve cover The Weirdo on Maple Street. We talk about 1980’s police work and how Poltergeist influenced the Duffer Brothers.
Steve Ausburne (stand-up comic) and Anthony Le Donne (academic) rewatch the perfect pilot episode. We discuss Hopper’s homage to Chief Brody in Jaws, if Steve Harrington is a bad fit for Nancy, and how Eleven discovers a better way to eat french fries.
We’re back to put Netflix’s Stranger Things 3 to bed until next time. Speaking of next time, what’s the deal with Hopper? How will we even get the gang back together next time, with them scattering tither and yon? Is it really possible we’ll get more Stranger Things by Christmastime? We consider all this plus your closing thoughts and feedback!
We finish Netflix’s Stranger Things 3 with the finale episode, “The Battle of Starcourt”. We found it gross, hilarious, thrilling, and touching, which means we thought it was a pretty great ending to a pretty great season of Stranger Things. I can see how people who are kind of sick of the nostalgia pandering, the product placement, and skeptical of some of the more outlandish breaks in the action to allow for drama, but we loved every minute of it.
We resume our mini-marathon of Netflix’s Stranger Things 3 with the penultimate episode, “The Bite”. In which many people are forced to confront their true feelings for other characters, with mixed results. The Mind Flayer is running roughshod over the backwoods of Hawkins, while the thus un-merged Billy stalks down El to eliminate her as threat. The big question in our minds is whether the Duffer Brothers took the long off season to come up with a new way to resolve inter-dimensional threats, or are we in for another screaming session from El? Let’s find out together!
The Mind Flayer’s grotesque plan comes into focus in episode six of Stranger Things 3, “E Pluribus Unum”, the meaning of the title seeming obvious in retrospect. Aside from the citizenry of Hawkins literally pulling themselves together to stop El and the gang, we get some very sympathetic backstory for Billy, Dustin throws a tea party for Erica, Robin and Steve share a moment in a Soviet medical torture facility, and Mike confesses his love for El.
Today we’ll cover Stranger Things 3 up through the sixth episode, “E Pluribus Unum”. We’ll be back tomorrow to finish the season. Next week, we’ll be wrapping up our coverage of ST3, and considering feedback, so make sure you get it in using email and forum links below!
We resume our mini-marathon of Stranger Things 3 as we consider “The Sauna Test”. All the kids except Dustin are on board with the return of the Flayer, Nancy gets a pep talk from her mom about finishing her investigation, Dustin, Steve, and Robin recruit Erica for Operation Child Endangerment, as Hopper and Joyce put the…