Instant Take

401 – Chapter One: The Hellfire Club

Stranger Things is back with a moodier season and we’re here for it. Hawkins, Indiana is haunted and harassed once more by…STRANGE things (I couldn’t help myself). The kids are growing up and growing apart while finding their place in the world. And who is this monster for this season? Mind Flayer 2.0, some sort of Soul Reaper, someone who spent way too much time in the sun? We’re ready to find out. 

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Stranger Things 3 Wrap Up!

We’re back to put Netflix’s Stranger Things 3 to bed until next time. Speaking of next time, what’s the deal with Hopper? How will we even get the gang back together next time, with them scattering tither and yon? Is it really possible we’ll get more Stranger Things by Christmastime? We consider all this plus your closing thoughts and feedback!

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308 – Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt

We finish Netflix’s Stranger Things 3 with the finale episode, “The Battle of Starcourt”. We found it gross, hilarious, thrilling, and touching, which means we thought it was a pretty great ending to a pretty great season of Stranger Things. I can see how people who are kind of sick of the nostalgia pandering, the product placement, and skeptical of some of the more outlandish breaks in the action to allow for drama, but we loved every minute of it. 

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307 – Chapter Seven: The Bite

We resume our mini-marathon of Netflix’s Stranger Things 3 with the penultimate episode, “The Bite”. In which many people are forced to confront their true feelings for other characters, with mixed results. The Mind Flayer is running roughshod over the backwoods of Hawkins, while the thus un-merged Billy stalks down El to eliminate her as threat. The big question in our minds is whether the Duffer Brothers took the long off season to come up with a new way to resolve inter-dimensional threats, or are we in for another screaming session from El? Let’s find out together!

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306 – Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum

The Mind Flayer’s grotesque plan comes into focus in episode six of Stranger Things 3, “E Pluribus Unum”, the meaning of the title seeming obvious in retrospect. Aside from the citizenry of Hawkins literally pulling themselves together to stop El and the gang, we get some very sympathetic backstory for Billy, Dustin throws a tea party for Erica, Robin and Steve share a moment in a Soviet medical torture facility, and Mike confesses his love for El. 

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305 – Chapter Five: The Flayed

Today we’ll cover Stranger Things 3 up through the sixth episode, “E Pluribus Unum”. We’ll be back tomorrow to finish the season. Next week, we’ll be wrapping up our coverage of ST3, and considering feedback, so make sure you get it in using email and forum links below!

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304 – Chapter Four: The Sauna Test

We resume our mini-marathon of Stranger Things 3 as we consider “The Sauna Test”. All the kids except Dustin are on board with the return of the Flayer, Nancy gets a pep talk from her mom about finishing her investigation, Dustin, Steve, and Robin recruit Erica for Operation Child Endangerment, as Hopper and Joyce put the…

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303 – Chapter Three: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard

Our mini-marathon of Stranger Things 3 continues with “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard”, a Nancy Drew title if we’ve ever seen one! We talk about evil Russians, telepathic prank phone calls, and Suzie! We can’t believe we haven’t talked about Suzie yet!

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301 – Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?

Welcome back to Hawkins! Stranger Things 3 is off to a fast start, as we catch up with all of the characters, see how the town is changing, establish the various emotional stakes, and uncover a secret Russian program to open their own tunnels into the Upside Down! How is this connected with the exploding rats…

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806 – The Iron Throne – Instant Talk

The Instant Talk podcast is our aftershow, with our own quick thoughts about the episode followed by an interactive chat discussion with our fans, live on YouTube.  The first half is released as the Instant Take podcast.  The audio from the interactive section is released as a premium podcast just for our club members.

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