The Case of the Missing Lifeguard
Time to find out how these strange events continue in episode 3, titled The Case of the Missing Lifeguard. The episode begins at Hopper’s cabin as Max and El have a sleepover and looking through some teen magazines dreaming of Ralph Macchio. The two wonder what Lucas and Mike are doing and realize, they can find out. El puts on a blindfold and goes into The Void (using her powers) to see Mike, Lucas, and Will who are discussing the breakup of episode 2. Lucas tells Mike that women are a “totally different species”. Meanwhile, Will has built the perfect dungeons and dragons game board that is all ready to play. He encourages them to play and forget about Max and El.
Hopper storms in the cabin, Hawaiian shirt and all, thinking Mike has made his way back to El, ignoring his request. He’s surprised, but relieved to see Max over instead.
The girls make a spin the bottle wheel with the names of different guys in Hawkins. They spin the bottle on Billy’s name which means El is going to watch him with her powers in the Void (the dark space in her mind). I don’t know how I feel about this spying subplot. It feels pretty of invasive of people’s privacy, but at the same time, someone does need to put a stop to Billy’s weird activities. El sees him whispering to the other lifeguard. She can hear the girl screaming and suddenly snaps out of the Void. The title credits begin.
Will’s Wake Up Call
It’s a stormy day in Hawkins and Will has decided he will no longer be ignored by his friends! Sporting a cape and wizard hat, he tells the boys they’re gonna play D&D without any talk of girlfriends, and that’s that! As they play the game, Will points out that a horde of zombies is attacking and “bites your arm”. Seems like another parallel for what’s happening in the show with Billy and his “army.” Mike and Lucas can’t take the game seriously and give up as soon as the phone rings. Will doesn’t handle this well and decides to bike home in the rain. Will laments about how the party is just not the same anymore...not even Dustin is around these days. He says it’s Mike’s fault for breaking up the group because all they talk about is girls. Mike hits back with a brutal statement saying “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” You can tell he immediately regrets saying it. He continues by asking if Will thought they’d just sit in their basement and play games for the rest of their life. This is a really sad scene to watch play out considering Will has had a major portion of his childhood stolen from him in seasons 1 & 2 due to his disappearance in the Upside Down. He just wants to have fun with his friends yet the struggle of adolescence is taking that away from him. He goes to his tree fort to mourn. Now he’s having flashbacks to season 1. He looks at all of his artwork and pictures with his friends. Now he’s holding the picture with the group dressed as Ghostbusters. That was my favorite episode. He’s really emotionally scarred about the D&D game gone awry. He rips up the picture AND destroys the fort. Will, stop making me sad.
Lab Exploration
Joyce goes to see Hopper to tell him about the magnets! Very bold of her to show up after blowing off their dinner date! He’s understandably annoyed with the situation. She doesn’t even say she’s sorry. Joyce is 100% focused on the magnets and she believes the lab is behind the strange phenomenon. The two decide to go to the lab because why not? What a fun place to go! They arrive at the lab and it’s completely abandoned. Joyce has a flashback to Bob being attacked by the demodogs. I didn’t need to see that kind man get killed again. Just gonna think about the time he confronted his fear of nightmarish clowns. Joyce and Hopper see that all of the portals to the Upside Down are safely closed off in the lab. Hopper reveals he knows she’s fixing up her house to put on the market. Joyce, don’t you dare sell that house! I know your family has been traumatized for years in that house, but you can’t separate Will and his friends! The two hear someone break in the lab and Hopper investigates. Suddenly a man who was seen in the Italian restaurant with Hopper in Episode 2 begins beating him up. *fight scene ensues* He drives away on a motorcycle when Joyce runs in the room.
Heather Needs Help
Max and El go to find Billy, but he’s not at his house. They find a bunch of ice in his bathtub...which could mean 1 of 2 things. Billy is just into the ice bath craze or it’s the Mindflayer. Also there’s blood on the cabinets near the missing lifeguard’s fanny pack, so he might be the Zodiac. (Mrs. Driscoll is not off the hook though!) The two head to the pool to investigate what in tarnation is going on. The two workers say that the fanny pack belongs to Heather who hasn’t been seen all day. While El tries to use her powers to find Heather, she sees a red door with a bathtub inside. When she approaches, the tub is filled with ice. Heather pops up from the tub screaming until she is pulled underwater into the dark depths.
Hawkins Post
Nancy pitches the rabid rat story to the Hawkins Post. She’s got a solid story together with pictures and everything! Gary Busey’s clone son has to ruin it by being obnoxious. All of the people in the writers room totally reject her idea. They start planting fake rats in the office for Nancy to find. So these guys will definitely get killed by the rabid rats. Side note- Why are Nancy and Jonathan even a couple? It’s like they only have chemistry when they can’t be together. They just bicker all of the time and get on each other’s nerves. Their storyline is one of the weaker elements Season 3. Well, it’s weak until they go visit Mrs. Driscoll. That’s when it starts to get more intriguing. They arrive at Mrs. Driscoll’s house and she won’t answer her door, so they just let themselves in. Don’t do that! The mystery solving duo hear something in the basement so they decide to check it out. They find a crazed Mrs. Driscoll standing in the corner eating fertilizer…
Spying on the Spies
Dustin and Steve are spying in the mall for “evil Russians”. While working on their espionage skills, Dustin tells Steve he should go out with Robin. He says she’s not even in the ballpark of his type because she’s “hyper and plays in band at school.” Dustin tells Steve he needs to date someone he enjoys being around, not someone who makes him cool. Wow, so wise for a teenager. During their chat, they find a man carrying a duffle bag with long blonde hair. Evil Russian has been spotted! James Bond, who? Steve and Dustin have the art of espionage down to a science.
The man walks into Jazzercise. What kind of game is he playing? He takes a radio out of his bag and starts teaching the class? He’s a jazzercise instructor. Never mind! Sometimes that happens to even the greatest spies. Your first lead isn’t always correct. Shake it off, boys! Get back to work. Robin is having more success with the Russian codes. She gets a delivery from LYNX transportation, a company with a silver cat logo. This leads to a total breakthrough in the code as she runs through the mall finding clues that lead her to a large clock in the middle of the food court. That night, the trio does some recon on the roof when they see a suspicious shipment coming into the mall. They confirm there are Russians sneaking things into Starcourt.
Final Moments
Max and El break into Heather’s house to see if she’s okay. It’s revealed that Heather’s dad is Nancy’s boss at the Hawkins Post! What kind of Love Actually plot twist moment is that? Heather’s parents are sitting at the table for dinner with none other than Mr. Ammonia, Billy! Heather walks into the room seemingly fine, shocking El (since she just witnessed her screaming for help). Since everything seems ok with Heather’s family, Max and El leave the house. Billy has a vision of El closing the gate in season 2, and Will tells the group that the Mindflayer is “back”. Heather’s mother blacks out at dinner and Heather proceeds to violently hit her father with a bottle of wine. She and Billy knock him out with chloroform as she tells her father it will “all be over soon”. The shot focuses on Billy’s face as the soundtrack plays American Pie. End of Episode 3. Wow, that was one of the most disturbing episode endings of the show. It’s interesting how every episode so far has ended with Billy. I guess they’re focusing on him building his army for the Mindflayer.
Lingering Questions: Will Mrs. Driscoll join Billy and Heather now that she’s been infected? What’s the next step for Steve, Robin, and Dustin?
Episode MVP: Eleven
Best Scene: Eleven finding Billy in the Void
Is Steve Alive in Episode 3?: He’s alive and a key to decoding the Russian side plot!