Welcome to my Stranger Things 3 Recap! Over the next few blog posts, I will be writing all about the new episodes in the 3rd season. I’m a big fan of the show and very excited about the latest season, so why not do a recap? These recaps will include my thoughts on Steve Harrington, the status of Mike and Eleven’s relationship, and all of the strange things taking place in Hawkins. So get your Eggo Waffles ready because it’s time to go through Episode 1! (This recap will discuss spoilers in Episode 1, so if you have not seen it yet, do not read.)
Russian Interference
This episode is titled Suzie, Do You Copy? Right off the bat, I’m wondering if I accidentally pressed play on Chernobyl because I’m seeing a bunch of characters in Hazmat suits standing next to something that looks like a nuclear reactor. A date flashes on screen that says June 28, 1984. Several men in lab coats make their way into a control room and try to turn on this machine. The massive reactor begins firing at a huge cement wall, that looks a lot like the gate Eleven closed at the end of Season 2. The machine misfires, killing several of the men in Hazmat suits. PLOT TWIST: the men in the control room are Russian! Wow, this really does fit in with Chernobyl. The title credits kick in.
ONE YEAR LATER flashes on screen to reveal we’re in 1985. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard) are kissing in her room at Hopper’s cabin. Wow. Ok. How quickly the children grow up. They were just dancing at the Snow Ball sharing their first kiss. Time flies when you’re feeling nostalgic about a fictional 80’s TV show. Hopper (David Harbour) is angstily eating Tostitos while watching Magnum, P.I. in the other room. When he catches a glimpse of the two, Eleven slams the door shut with her powers. This sends Hopper into a rage about the necessity of keeping the door open at a 3-inch minimum. Those crazy kids!
Starcourt Mall
After leaving Hopper’s cabin, Mike bikes to the new Starcourt mall, a shopping oasis for the citizens of Hawkins. Mike meets up with Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), Mike, and Will (Noah Schnapp) to go see a movie. Let me just say, I’ve never seen a mall this packed with people. The escalators are overflowing. People are sitting around just so they can be there and take in the sights of Gap, Burger King, JC Penny, and Jazzercise. What a place to be! This is not just a mall, but a glowing neon paradise for the people. I have to give major props to the set designers of Season 3 for making Starcourt look as great as it does. These scenes were filmed at a mall called Gwinnett Place and it’s mostly abandoned. Sorry to ruin the magic for you. Enjoy what you see on TV.
9 minutes into the episode and Steve Harrington has arrived! Time to party because the best character on the show is here. Wow, that was 9 minutes too long without him. This season he is working at an ice cream shop called Scoops Ahoy in the food court of Starcourt. He’s joined by new character, Robin, played by Maya Hawke. Steve is still trying to figure his life out post high school graduation and he’s struggling a little bit. He admits he took the job because he didn’t get into college and had to find work. He can’t even get the ladies to notice him while he’s working this new gig. Are they crazy? Do they understand that Steve Harrington is asking them out? Did they see him at the Halloween party in Season 2 dressed as Tom Cruise from Risky Business?
The kids go to the movie theater to see Day of the Dead (could that be foreshadowing?) when the power suddenly goes out. The entire movie theater starts booing and screaming at the screen intensely which is…an overreaction. It’s not gonna bring the power back. Spookily, all the power in Hawkins goes out. The camera pans to several rats running through an abandoned auto shop as eerie music plays. In just a quick second, the power is back on, and the movie theater patrons are cheering like they brought it back themselves. Suddenly, Will gets a flashback to the Mindflayer from last season. Someone, please let Will have one good day.
Dustin Returns
The next day, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) returns home from summer camp. He attempts to get in contact with the group, but they aren’t answering their walkie talkies. Could they have forgotten about him? Upon arriving home, he notices all of his toys are walking right out of his room. He grabs his Farrah Fawcett hairspray as a weapon (a nice callback to season 2), only to realize El is moving the toys with her mind. Mike, Lucas, Max, and El are there to surprise him since he just got home from camp. Of course they wouldn’t forget him!
Dustin has built a scientific contraption called “Cerebro”, a radio tower, that will help him communicate with his new girlfriend Suzie. Hold up…Dustin has a girlfriend? Apparently, they met at camp and she lives in Utah. The group climbs to the top of a hill to put the radio tower together and call Suzie. Dustin can’t call her on the phone because she’s Mormon and her parents probably won’t approve of him. Mike and El leave the group early because they want to go be alone. The kids put the tower together, only to find Suzie does not answer. Dustin is accused of making up Suzie. Soon, all of the gang leaves him there alone. Just as they’ve gone, Dustin picks up a signal that seems to be a secret Russian code. The plot thickens.
Pool Time
What’s summer without the pool? Mrs. Wheeler (Cara Buono) couldn’t even imagine considering she’s out there every day to get a glimpse of Billy as the new lifeguard. Apparently he likes seeing her there too considering the two flirt a lot. Ok, Mrs. Wheeler, you’ve got a husband and 3 kids…this is not a path you want to take. It’s in this scene that we get our first glimpse of some very blatant product placement for new Coke! Billy and Mrs. Wheeler flirt through this whole episode. She has on so much makeup while swimming. How does she get it to stay on? Anytime I put on makeup and go swimming it runs all over my face, making me look like Bucky in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Anyway, Billy tells Mrs. Wheeler that she should meet him at the Motel 6 because they have a great pool there. Wow, very subtle Billy.
Joyce and Hopper
Joyce is working back at the town general store where there are no customers because everyone is at the mall! Come on, Joyce, haven’t you seen the neon signs at the mall? Or the way everyone cheers enthusiastically at the movies? I think you would rather be there too if you just gave it a shot. Hopper comes by to get her advice about Mike and El. He wants the two to break up because they’ve been spending way too much time together. Oh Hopper, have you not heard Ms. Taylor Alison Swift’s new song?
Clearly he doesn’t know everything these two have been through. They’ve supported each other through good and bad times. Mike never stopped searching for her in season 2! Hopper, you are not going to destroy this relationship. Joyce says he needs to dial it down a bit and he can’t force them apart because they’re teenagers and they’ll rebel. She encourages Hopper to talk to them in a mature way. Joyce agrees to help him write down some ideas of what to say to Mike and El in order to put some boundaries up with their relationship.
The Stranger Life: Interns
Oh yeah, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) are in this show. If you recall, Nancy dumped the true star of this show (Steve) to date Jonathan. Everyone makes choices and Nancy has to live with that one. This summer, the two are interning at the Hawkins Post. Jonathan is working in the photo dark room, while Nancy has to get coffee and food for all of the writers. She is constantly bombarded with sexist comments all day. One of the writers has to be a Gary Busey clone. If anyone believes in cloning themselves, I wholeheartedly believe Gary Busey would do it. Ok, just looked it up and it’s Garey Busey’s son, Jake. That makes sense too, I guess. Nancy attempts to move away from running errands and actually pitch an idea for a story about the Starcourt Mall taking away business from small town Hawkins. I see Nancy has not been blinded by the mall’s neon glow. Gary Busey’s clone son says he really likes the idea, then proceeds to tell her she got him the wrong sandwich. The whole room bursts out laughing. Yeah, absolutely hilarious. A girl gave you a great idea for a story and you undermined her about a sandwich. Later that night, Nancy gets a tip about diseased rats. Perhaps she’ll be able to find a big story without the approval of the writers.
The Speech
Hopper is ready to attempt giving his speech to Mike and El. Mike makes it difficult for him to give the speech by interrupting and aggravating Hopper. That’s all it took! As much as I’m a fan of Mike’s character, he can be a bratty teen. Who among us wasn’t at 14? This sets Hopper off and he tells Mike something is wrong with his grandma. Once Mike gets in the car with Hopper to go home, he tells him that he was just lying to get him out. He wants Mike to stop spending so much time with El. Ugh, I hate that Hopper is acting like this. This is too much. He should’ve just taken Joyce’s advice and talked to them in a civil way. Does Hopper not understand that El could do way worse than Mike? He’s a good kid! Obviously, he wasn’t paying attention to the greatness of the Snow Ball scene.
Rat Hive
Oh my gosh, there’s a scene of a bunch of rats running to the abandoned auto shop. There are so many rats. Rats everywhere. Rat hive. We’ve got a rat hive in Hawkins. It’s so gross. The rats are shaking and then blowing up. Good luck on that new investigation, Nancy. Time for a big finale. Mrs. Wheeler is getting ready to go to the Motel 6, for “swimming lessons” with Zac Efron’s mullet brother. Don’t do this, Karen. Billy is driving his car practicing what he’s going to say to Karen when he gets into a major car accident right next to the auto shop where all the rats were just exploding. Billy, stay in the car. There’s a RAT HIVE DOWN THERE. Oh no, he didn’t hear me talking to the TV. He’s out of the car. He’s walking freely with no knowledge of the exploding rat hive. It’s too late for him. Something just grabbed his leg and he’s being pulled down to the rat wasteland. End of Episode 1.
Lingering Questions: Is Billy already dead? What’s the deal with the rats?
Episode MVP: Joyce
Best Scene of the Episode: Introduction of the Starcourt Mall
Is Steve Alive?: He’s alive and no one’s even beat him up yet!