Discussion for episodes 301-303, "Suzie, Do You Copy?" through "The Case of the Missing Lifeguard"

A_Ron_Hubbard

Seemed like a discussion thread per episode was too much last time, so we're going to group them up the way we're podcasting them! 

JoshTheBlack

For reference:

Podcast 1-3 are planned for today 7/4.
Podcast 4-6 are planned for Monday, 7/8.
Podcast 7-8 are planned for Tuesday, 7/9.

JoshuaHeter

This is the smallest of points, and I’m probably alone in this, but did the fancy restaraunt in “Mall Rats” seem like a little much? I’ve spent my fair share of time in small-town Indiana and a place with a string quartet and a wait staff that wouldn’t be out of place in the swankiest hotel in NYC seemed out of place for Hawkins.

Oh well... loving ST3 so far.

kingbee67

My sisters had that radio. I think I may have stole at some point. Bad brother!

kojiattwood

"You've got this" was not a phrase used in the 80's.  "Go for it" would have been more appropriate.

Dee

I’ve watched these three so far and I’m loving it. I can live without the teenage romance angst, but I why it’s there. I like the way they keep everyone separate and they all have their own things going on - Joyce and Hopper, the three boys, El and Max, Dustin and Steve, etc. I like that El is not quite as central to the story as last time - she can be tiresome. 

I love what they’ve done with Billy. I really hated his character last season and I wasn’t looking forward to him being more prominent this season, but making him the possessed villain is great. 

My one eye roll was the number of songs they squeezed into the first episode. That was a little much. 

Poor Will, though. It must be terrible when you’re still a little kid but your friends have all turned into hormone-raging sex pervs. :-(

Michelle

So much 80s in this first episode.  I died when Dustin picked up the can of Farrah Fawcett hairspray. I love that they referenced it again (Steve told Dustin about it in ST2 when he told him how to get his hair like his). 

A_Ron_Hubbard

JoshuaHeter said:

This is the smallest of points, and I’m probably alone in this, but did the fancy restaraunt in “Mall Rats” seem like a little much? I’ve spent my fair share of time in small-town Indiana and a place with a string quartet and a wait staff that wouldn’t be out of place in the swankiest hotel in NYC seemed out of place for Hawkins.

Oh well... loving ST3 so far.

It's weird. My small hometown had a 4 star French restaurant. Very fancy, very expensive, the waiters were all black tie.  But the major metro bus system is what had me and Jim rolling. Indianapolis doesn't even have that nice a system today!

JoshuaHeter

A_Ron_Hubbard said:

It's weird. My small hometown had a 4 star French restaurant. Very fancy, very expensive, the waiters were all black tie.  But the major metro bus system is what had me and Jim rolling. Indianapolis doesn't even have that nice a system today!

This is the inside info that sets Bald Move apart.

As for the bus system, if I remember correctly, they did the same thing in Fargo season 2. A small Minnesota town (smaller than Hawkins, presumably) in the 70s had a fairly extensive bus system. Implausible, but not a big deal (to me) I guess.

kojiattwood

Did someone alert Jim to the fact that Matt Modine is NOT Crispin Glover?

robotk

JoshuaHeter said:

This is the smallest of points, and I’m probably alone in this, but did the fancy restaraunt in “Mall Rats” seem like a little much? I’ve spent my fair share of time in small-town Indiana and a place with a string quartet and a wait staff that wouldn’t be out of place in the swankiest hotel in NYC seemed out of place for Hawkins.

Oh well... loving ST3 so far.

JoshuaHeter said:

A_Ron_Hubbard said:

It's weird. My small hometown had a 4 star French restaurant. Very fancy, very expensive, the waiters were all black tie.  But the major metro bus system is what had me and Jim rolling. Indianapolis doesn't even have that nice a system today!

This is the inside info that sets Bald Move apart.

As for the bus system, if I remember correctly, they did the same thing in Fargo season 2. A small Minnesota town (smaller than Hawkins, presumably) in the 70s had a fairly extensive bus system. Implausible, but not a big deal (to me) I guess.

I was about to comment on the restaurant, when I kept reading. My small-ish suburban town in NY had one fancy restaurant, it was over the top, and I took a date there when I was 15. I had about as much of a clue as Hopper did. In regards to the bus, my town had a mediocre bus system. I took it once in my life, to the mall when I was about 15. When they got off the bus, it hit home for me. Loving the first few episodes. Just watched episode S3E4 and am now waiting for the coverage to catch up. 

PeggyB

A_Ron_Hubbard said:

JoshuaHeter said:

This is the smallest of points, and I’m probably alone in this, but did the fancy restaraunt in “Mall Rats” seem like a little much? I’ve spent my fair share of time in small-town Indiana and a place with a string quartet and a wait staff that wouldn’t be out of place in the swankiest hotel in NYC seemed out of place for Hawkins.

Oh well... loving ST3 so far.

It's weird. My small hometown had a 4 star French restaurant. Very fancy, very expensive, the waiters were all black tie.  But the major metro bus system is what had me and Jim rolling. Indianapolis doesn't even have that nice a system today!

Have we ever been given an estimate to how big population-wise Hawkins is? Big enough for a mall. Small enough for like 3 cops? Big enough for a high school. Small enough for the kids to be able to ride bicycles around everywhere. Big enough for one fancy restaurant. Small enough for a small "downtown." Big enough to be a stop on the Greyhound route to Chicago. I'm going to guess 15,000-25,000?
According to the a study done recently, 18 cities in Indiana have bus systems. Big ones like Indy and Fort Wayne and small ones like Marion, Richmond, and Valparaiso. https://www.fwcitilink.com/pdfs/ITA-Ridership-Profiles.pdf 
It wouldn't surprise me if the bus routes sprouted up in Hawkins along with the mall. I agree it was a shock to see at first along with the string quartet in Enzo's, but having grown up in Hoosierland myself, I know that it is often a place with many contradictions and surprises. 
Very much enjoying Season 3 and the BaldMove coverage! 

CapeGabe

Maybe it wasn't a bus system and just a Mall Shuttle

LCR3070

Wanted to point out that the "My Bologna" playing was a nice callback to a scene in Reality Bites which is well known to Winona Ryder fans of a certain age.

And on another level, that's "Robin"'s dad Ethan Hawke there as well.

lengmo

PeggyB said:

Have we ever been given an estimate to how big population-wise Hawkins is? Big enough for a mall. Small enough for like 3 cops? Big enough for a high school. Small enough for the kids to be able to ride bicycles around everywhere. Big enough for one fancy restaurant. Small enough for a small "downtown." Big enough to be a stop on the Greyhound route to Chicago.

Hawkins doesn't have to be big for a number of those such as the mall, just well-located.

Zarquon

A deep cut pop culture reference: The music Will plays to set the mood for his campaign is the Pod Dance from The Dark Crystal (deep cut, that is, unless you are a huge Henson fan and listen to that score all the time.)
It also serves as a Disney-level subtle cross promotion move, as Netflix's Dark Crystal prequel miniseries is set to release on September.

N8Jak3

According to the StrangerWiki page for Hawkins, the population is estimated to be around 30,000 people.  Given that this wasn't terribly long ago, I think that looking at modern cities in Indiana with around the same population would be a valid comparison to what Hawkins may have been like.  One example I know of, West Lafayette, has a system that's pretty extensive, and the city has an estimated population of 42,000 right now.  Granted, things may have been different 35 years ago, but I think it's plausible that there was a bus system in Hawkins.

Michelle

As an aside, I’m at Target right now and they have Dustin’s ‘Camp Know Where’ tshirt in their juniors section.

awookiee

Ahhhh I can't get enough of this show.  I didn't grow up in the 80s but I had older sisters that did and pushed lots of their 80s references onto me.  There have been a few that have gone over my head but I'm absolutely loving where they're going with this season.  I read that initially they were going to write Steve as one of the "big bad" characters but then they realized what they had with him and rewrote the script.  So glad they did because the Steve/Dustin combo is just as good as the Arya/Hound travelling road show. Steve/Dustin is easily my favorite combo so far although I loved the Max/Elle(El?) mall scene and dumping your ass lol.  

Marci

Just finished the coverage of episode 3 and wanted to comment that during Will and Mike’s argument, when Mike says something about Will not liking girls, I think it's especially hurtful to Will because we know from earlier seasons that Will's own dad called him names. When he first goes missing in season 1, Joyce says he's been bullied at school then adds, "He's a sensitive kid...Lonnie used to say he was queer, called him a f**." I don't even think Mike meant it that way, but hearing that from your best friend when you're already feeling like the odd man out, would have been extra salt in the wound (especially in small town Midwest 1980s). I feel for Will - he's not quite ready for childhood to be over, but everyone around him is changing and forcing him into it.

Aww_PHuuCk

I never knew I so badly needed a Max and Eleven shopping montage set to "Material Girl" in my life.