The Stranger Things Podcast

Some like it hot. The Mind Flayer does not. Eleven is worried that there is something wrong with Billy. Max says wrong is Billy’s default setting, but El can’t get what happened out of her mind. She closed the gate. There should not be any monsters left in Hawkins. Something still seems off. As dawn breaks Lucas is calling a code red. Maybe Eleven is right. Strange things continue in this town.

At Scoops Ahoy the code has been cracked and a plan is forming. The doors are too well guarded. There has to be another way in. Robin buys a copy of the Star Court blueprints from the city. The plan is to crawl through the vents. Despite his lack of collar bones Dustin cannot fit in the small space. As luck would have it, everyone's favorite little sister is at the counter seeking free samples. They tell Erica the plan to defeat the evil Russians. The sassy little girl tells them that she will not agree to the plan until she is told what benefits she will gain by participating.

The group minus Dustin has responded to the code red. They must come up with a way to corner Billy. Will says the Monster is back and will be looking for a new host. How will they know if the Mind Flayer is now controlling Billy? They head off to the pool to observe. Nothing seems too out of place, though Billy is shielded from the sun and sipping a slushy. Heat was used to drive the Monster out of Will. It is time to subject Billy to the Sauna test.

Nancy and Jonathan crossed a line. They were summer interns at the Hawkins Post, not official reporters. Tom is very upset with this turn of events. Nancy and Jonathan are fired on the spot. After how she was treated by her coworkers, Nancy just wants to be right. She didn’t think of the ramifications of what losing a summer job would mean for the Beyer’s household. Tom doesn’t look so good. I wonder what is wrong with him.

Hopper is on the case of the mysterious motorcycle man. He storms into the Mayor’s office and pressures him for details. At his mansion Larry unlocks a safe that contains a number of deeds for various pieces of land. After some more coaxing the Mayor reveals that all of these deeds represent land bought by the owners of Star Court. What are they developing now? Does it all tie back to the Russians?

It is closing time at the pool. Two operations are taking place across town from each other. Mike is using a walkie talkie to lure Billy to the sauna. Back at Star Court Erica enters the vent for “operation child endangerment”. As things heat up at the pool. Billy is begging Max to let him out. Is this the man underneath the Monster? They don’t have time to ponder this thought as Will feels the Mind Flayer activate. A battle of strength and will begins between Eleven and Billy. Back at the Mall Erica is able to open the door allowing her team to finally investigate the boxes. They certainly do not contain Chinese food. Inside are tubes of what looks like green lightning bugs swirling in formation. Are these another vessel set to spread the affliction across the whole town or farther? Billy gains the upper hand on Eleven for a moment, but in a last burst of power she tosses him through a brick wall.

Dustin and his team work to get out of the secret room. The buttons are not responding. Suddenly the secret room that turns out to be an elevator begins to plummet. Across town Eleven is completely drained. The kids might have won this battle but the war is on. The man that controls the Newspaper in Hawkins is under the influence of the Monster and he is not alone. The Mind Flayer retreated but is not defeated. Keep your eyes open for all things strange.

Billy is running for his life. He makes it to a payphone and dials 911. Before he can answer the operator his world is turned upside down. Literally Billy is taken to a dark mirror dimension. He is screaming for answers when he is faced with his doppelgänger. This made me wonder. Does the monster not only have the power to possess a body but also take the form of someone that you trust? If it wants Billy to bend to its will it must earn his trust.

Nancy has found the perfect excuse to leave the office. She takes Jonathan to chase down a lead about the rats. Is this just a crazy old lady or the first sign that a new plague is upon Hawkins? Mrs. Driscoll did manage to capture one of the little monsters and it is acting very strange. The rat is desperately throwing itself into the bars of its cage as if being called on by a higher power. Last week I said the rats were not strong enough to host the Mind Flayer. Now this episode reveals the remnants of an exploded rat slinking to it’s master. I wonder if there is a rat monster in the Dungeons and Dragons manual? Perhaps the rats are too weak to be hosts but they can still be minions for the Mind Flayer.

Billy is certainly showing the effects of his bite. The monster likes it cold so being a lifeguard is not ideal. Just like Will before him who also hosted the Mind Flayer it does appear that Billy can sometimes be in control. Luckily for Mrs. Wheeler Billy resisted the monster’s desire to hurt her.

Also hurt in this episode are Eleven’s feelings and it is all Hopper’s fault. He scares Mike into not seeing El. This forces Mike to lie to her. El seeks advice from Max. Max assures her that even though friends don’t lie, boyfriends do. They decide on a boy free trip to the Starcourt Mall. The boys minus Dustin are on a mall mission of their own. Lucas says Mike should buy Eleven an apology gift. Lucas knows all about girl troubles. After all Max has dumped him five times.

Dustin is hanging at the mall as well at Scoops Ahoy. He has enlisted the help of Steve to translate the Russian code. His other friends are not taking this revelation seriously enough so he is a little shorthanded on help. Luckily Robin speaks several languages and has genius ears. Questions are still stacking up. What do the strange sentences mean? Did the message come from Russia? Is the background music enough evidence to prove the message is from a more local source?

Hopper may be rethinking his decision to mess with his daughter’s relationship. Karma seems to be getting back at him. He gets Joyce to agree to meet him for dinner. Looking handsome in his new clothes and ready to impress Jim waits for Joyce. Unfortunately a magnetic mystery has Joyce distracted. She is off on a journey of her own as she seeks the advice of Mr. Clarke. She totally forgets about her dinner with Hopper.

So many questions left to answer. Billy brought the female lifeguard to the monster. Will she be another host? Will the town soon be dealing with an army of evil doppelgängers? The Upside Down always appears so dark and dead. Is the Monster intent on stripping our world of life and color? Is it trying to build a replica of its own world? Until next week. Keep your eyes open for all things strange.

Have you seen Heather? She’s a lifeguard at the Hawkins pool. She didn’t show up for her shift today. Come to think of it Billy isn’t there either. Perhaps they are “sick” together? Their fate is concerning but it’s far from the strangest thing to happen in this town.

Nancy continues to investigate the rat problem even though her coworkers continue to tease her about it. I mean it is weird. Why would fertilizer, cleaning fluid and diesel fuel go missing from several locations around town? Perhaps it is time to check back in with Mrs. Driscoll.

Meanwhile at Starcourt Mall Dustin and Steve are looking for Evil Russians. If only Steve could stay focused? Thank goodness they have Robin. She has cracked the code. The silver cat feeds is Lynx shipping company. A trip to China sounds nice is the Imperial Panda Chinese Restaurant. If you tread lightly leads to Kaufman shoes. When blue and yellow meet in the west. Perhaps this refers to the colors of the hands on the Starcourt clock. What is happening at 8:45? Who is meeting and for what?

Max and Eleven are having a sleepover. In a unique twist on spin the bottle they use the game to decide who to spy on. The bottle lands on Billy and El dives into the void to see what he is up to. She is immediately shaken when she hears screaming. Max is initially not phased by this revelation but agrees to go to her house to investigate further. The girls find a bloody whistle and a lifeguard pack in the bathroom. The search for Heather switches to high gear.

Mike and Lucas want to solve another type of mystery. The mystery of the female species. Will would love to distract his friends from their girl problems with a break from reality. He has created a new Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Will is soon moved to sadness and anger. It becomes clear that Lucas and Mike lack focus for the game. Dustin is nowhere to be found. Will storms off biking into the pouring rain.

Max and El arrive at the Hawkins pool but they do not have swimming on their mind. The staff at the pool is no help. The girls must take matters into their own hands. They grab a picture of the missing lifeguard. El returns to the void to search for more clues. She sees a mailbox and a red door. The girls set off armed with the new information and find Heather’s house. They are understandably shocked to find the family sitting down to dinner. Billy is there acting like a gentleman. Heather steps out of the kitchen bearing cookies as if nothing is wrong. After an intense glare between Billy and Eleven the girls escape back into the storm. Left to return to dinner Heather and Billy quickly subdue Heather’s parents.

Is this the work of the Mind Flayer? Does it hide in plain sight as harmless humans going about their normal routines. Monsters? No there are no monsters here. Is it a puppet master controlling the citizens of Hawkins? If any of these seemingly normal people start eating fertilizer like poor Mrs. Driscoll perhaps the men at the paper will take Nancy more seriously.

Joyce is correct. There is still something going on in the lab. Someone made it painfully obvious to Hopper. They don’t want the Chief of Police looking into things. Is the lab connected to the Russians?

Lucas and Mike go out in the storm and find Will in front of a destroyed castle Beyers. These boys may be distracted by girls but at the end of the day they will also be there for each other. This is very good news because he is back. I have no doubt who he is and worst of all he knows the girl that closed the gate lives. Can’t wait to see what happens next week. Keep your eyes open for all things strange. The Mind Flayer now has Eleven in his sight!

It is June 28th 1984. What is going on here? I thought the government shut the lab down! Wait! Our government is not in charge here. The fears of Dr. Owens and Murray Bauman are being realized. Russians know about the Upside Down. What are they doing? They clearly don’t understand what will happen if they succeed in tearing open a hole between dimensions. Has the Upside Down spread far enough to become a global problem?

Back in Hawkins we open in the summer of 1985. Things are changing and at the moment it is less about monsters and more about hormones. Mike is still crazy about El. Max and Lucas are still together. Dustin has fallen head over heels for Suzie at science camp. Will seems a little behind his friends. He’s not yet interested in a relationship. His desire seems to be just hanging with his friends playing dungeons and dragons in the basement.

Can Will Byers ever be the same? He went to the Upside Down and lived to tell about it. I think a remnant of the Mind Flayer may still be inside him. The Gang sneaks into the movie theater at the Star Court Mall. Suddenly the power goes out and Will has a flashback. It is clear that Will feels something when the monster across town stirs.

Hopper feels hopeless and seeks Joyce’s advice. El and Mike are always together and are having a hard time sticking to the 3 feet apart rule. Poor Hopper thrown right into the teenager stage of parenting. I love the friendship that has developed between Joyce and Hopper. I think the Chief is ready for the next step, unfortunately Joyce is not quite ready to let go of Bob.

Nancy and Johnathan have taken the next step. They are both dating and working together at the Hawkins Post. The newspaper is looking for the next big story. Nancy suggests an article about how the new mall is hurting small local businesses. The men ignore her idea and mock her for getting their lunch wrong. While working late Nancy receives a call. Something strange is going on. Why are all the rats moving in a single direction? Where is the new Lifeguard? The housewives of Hawkins will certainly miss Billy if he doesn’t make it to the pool tomorrow. The rats are too weak to host the Mind Flayer and they explode under the pressure. It needs something stronger. I think Billy might be late for work tomorrow and Nancy might get the story that turns this town Upside Down.

I am not sure if Suzie will ever answer Dustin but I know Darrell and Addi would love to hear from you. Spend your summer vacation with us as we take this strange journey week by week chapter by chapter. Suzie didn’t copy but Russia is sending a code. Do you know what it means? Until next week. Keep your eyes open for all things strange.

Did you hear that? Was that the fireworks? Did you see that? The trees are moving. Billy said the Monster can see Eleven. I think he is right and it has found the kids! Seconds later the creature’s vast tentacles burst through the walls of the cabin. El uses her considerable power to push the Mind Flayer back over and over. Her friends fight to help her. They shoot and chop at the vicious thing. They use all their might to tug El away from the grasp of its jaws. Ultimately they succeed and the Monster retreats but not before it manages to take a bite.

Team Scoops Ahoy is on the run. Using a stolen key card they are finally able to rise to the surface. They sneak through back corridors and slip into a packed theater to make a plan. They need to buy some time. The eldest among them are still suffering the effects of the drugs given to them by the Russians.

Elsewhere in Hawkins, Mike and the gang break into a grocery store to treat Eleven’s wounds. In a moment alone Mike apologizes to El for being jealous. He is so tongue tied he cannot say the word love out loud. This sweet scene in interrupted by Dustin calling a code red. The batteries give out on his walkie talkie so Eleven must return to the void to find him.

Hopper hopes the government will come and provide backup. He is angry with Joyce for the way she spoke to them. What if they don’t come now? What is so dangerous about the Fair? Why did Joyce insist their children need saving from it? Alexei is able to communicate details about the Russian’s base. You need two keys that are kept in a vault. You need to know Planck’s constant to access it. Someone call Erica and offer her a sundae, She is a math genius. Alexei warns that people must not be near when the laser explodes. He has seen it turn people to dust.

Hopper and Joyce arrive at the Fair and start investigating. Murray decides to purchase Alexei some tickets and show him how fun American Independence Day can be. Unfortunately Grigori catches sight of his former comrade and shoots him for being a traitor. Hopper follows the murderous man into the hall of mirrors. Due to a bulletproof vest Jim is unable to defeat Grigori but gets information on the location of the children. One of the fallen Russians radio provides the clue they need to find them.

Back at Starcourt Robin tells Steve who she really had a crush on. Erica and Dustin track down the giggling pair in the bathroom. The plan to escape is to blend in with the crowd as the mall empties for the night. On their way to the bus they are spotted and have to run. Before long Team Scoops Ahoy is cornered. Time is running out. A car alarm begins to blare. Eleven, Mike and the gang appear and El launches the car at the enemies.

Finally the kids are reunited but the joy is short lived. This “Red Dawn” situation is certainly related to the gate. The how and why remains a mystery. Billy is tracking El through the blood she shed in the grocery store. I fear he is closing in and the creature he serves won’t be far behind.