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‘Stranger Things’ season 3: Reconnaissance for ‘Suzie, Do You Copy?’

Tracey Phillipps
Stranger Things Season 3

Stranger Things / Netflix

Stranger Things is back in more ways than one!

Season 3 of the popular Netflix original series Stranger Things dropped on July 4th. It has been a long wait for our beloved group of Hawkins, IN teenagers to grace our screens again. The nostalgia is on point. Our gang is embracing the glory of summer 1985. The soundtrack is amazing. And, “oh, rats”! Another threat lurks in the air.

Stranger Things season 3 opens with Chapter 1 titled “Suzie, Do You Copy?”.

Russian interference

It turns out that Hawkins, IN was not the only place peeking into the Upside Down. We learn that in June 1984, the Russians made an attempt to open a gateway to dangers of the Upside Down. Their attempt is not deemed successful. An opening is made, but quickly closes to a mere crack. Officials give the scientists a year to get it right.

Flash forward to the current timeline of summer 1985.

Summer lovin’

Love is in the air. El and Mike are officially a couple and caught smooching under the watchful eye of Hopper. They pretend to be doing nothing and Mike leaves to meet up with friends. Lucas and Max, still a couple, and Will wait for Mike at the busy Starcourt Mall. El remains at the cabin with Hopper.

We get a Steve sighting when the teens approach him at his job serving up ice cream at Scoops Ahoy in the mall. The gang has established a routine where Steve takes them out the back entrance of the eatery to enter the movie theater from the inside without paying admission.

The gang settles in with their smuggled snacks to watch the movie. Suddenly, the power shuts down throughout the mall. The camera pans out to show a widespread blackout before closing in on rats entering an old warehouse. We see particles accumulate into some sort of figure.

The power returns and Will feels a sensation on the back of his neck. Uh, oh! It’s a year later. Have the Russians opened the Upside Down?

Where’s Dustin?

Dustin returns home from a science camp called “Camp Know Where”. Interestingly, his signature red, white, and blue ball cap (which would fit perfectly with a July 4th premiere) has been replaced by the green and gold colors of Camp Know Where. Dustin is a little disappointed that his friends are not there right away to welcome him home.

Then his perfect collection of 1980’s toy figures begin parading out of his room inexplicably. Fearing a threat, Dustin grabs his trusty can of hair spray and follows the figures to the living room. We catch a glimpse of his friends hiding to surprise him. El is “moving” the toys and has the blood dripping from her nostril to prove it.

The friends shout out to Dustin in surprise. He is so surprised that he fires at them with the hair spray. Poor Lucas is in the direct line of fire. Dustin is so stunned that he locks down on the hair spray nozzle for a long time burning Lucas’ eyes.

Max stands by her guy as he desperately attempts to wash the toxin from his eyes. Then Dustin reveals all the things he made at camp including a hopped-up ham radio he has named Cerebro. He also drops the name of Suzie, a super smart and beautiful girl he claims to have met at camp. Suzie lives in Utah.

On the job front

Jonathan and Nancy are also still involved romantically and they now have jobs at the same place, the Hawkins Post newspaper. Jonathan is a photographer and Nancy is supposed to be a writer. Unfortunately, the testosterone-fueled male writers reduce her role to fetching coffee and bringing them food.

Nancy is dedicated, though. She is the last one at the office when all the men have left for the day. She receives a mysterious phone call about rats and disease.

Joyce is still working at Melvald’s General Store. Her first customer of the day is Hopper coming to her for parenting advice. He wants to talk to Mike and El about boundaries and expectations for dating. Joyce writes some notes for Hopper and he struggles as he practices the speech on her. He then asks her to go out to dinner, but she declines saying she has plans.

Max’s step-brother Billy is now a lifeguard at the community pool. All the women drool after him as he approaches the lifeguard stand. Mrs. Wheeler, in particular, has her eye on him. He asks her to join him at a motel pool for some “private lessons” (Gag me with a spoon!). Run away, Mrs. Wheeler, please! She dolls herself up back at home in preparation for meeting Billy at the motel. Thankfully, as she starts to leave, she spies her husband curled up sweetly with young daughter Holly and changes her mind. Billy never makes it to the hotel either, more on that later!

Back at home

Joyce never really had plans. She sits on the couch eating her leftovers and reflecting on her time with Bob who died heroically last season. She recalls them laughing and snuggling on the couch watching Cheers. Interestingly, she remembers Bob talking about how everyone wished Sam and Diane would just get back together on Cheers. Could this be Joyce thinking about resuming a romance with Hopper whom she dated when they were younger?

Hopper is at home, too. He decides to approach Mike and El about his rules for them dating. He is nervous and stumbles over his words. Mike and El laugh and snicker about being in “trouble”. It is disrespectful. Hopper enlists his own methods. He tells Mike something is wrong at home and he needs to take him home right away. Mike freaks out.

Hopper gets Mike in the SUV and locks the doors. He demands respect and begins to tell Mike what the rules are for spending time with his “daughter”. While it’s probably a frightening moment for Mike, it’s pretty funny to a parent like me. And the sentiment of Hopper recognizing El as his daughter is super sweet.

Are you sucked in for the season? Billy is.

Dustin drags his friends up to higher ground to try to reach Suzie using the Cerebra. He never gets a response from Suzie, but he does make contact with someone else. He hears someone speaking Russian on the radio and the camera shifts to one of the original Russian scientists marveling at their results.

There is a big reason Billy never made it to the motel to meet Mrs. Wheeler. His car swerves off the road and he ends up at the entrance to the mysterious warehouse where rats have been exploding upon contact. Billy is dragged into the warehouse by a mysterious creature.

I’ll be back for more with an exploration of Stranger Things season 3 Chapter 2.

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