Fandom of Fandoms Podcast
Fandom of Fandoms is a podcast that dives into the worlds that fans love most — from galaxies far, far away to magical schools, epic quests, and everything in between. Each episode spotlights a different fandom, exploring its history, what makes it special, and why people are so passionate about it. We’ll chat with real fans, share wild stories, and invite you to geek out with us, one fandom at a time.
Fandom of Fandoms Podcast
Into the Upside Down: Fandom of Fandoms Talks Stranger Things
Start with the monsters, stay for the heart. We invited our friend Isaiah to help us unpack why Stranger Things still hits: the tactile 80s world‑building, the small‑town stakes that feel huge, and the way friendship and found family keep outshining the darkness. We revisit the pilot’s lived‑in details, the Goonies and E.T. DNA, and that synth score that made half of us pick up a keyboard. Then we get into the real reason Hawkins works—characters who surprise us. Steve’s evolution from smug to selfless. Billy’s heat without a safety net. Bob’s courage that still hurts. Dustin as the glue that holds the party together.
We also play rapid‑fire would‑you‑rathers: Dustin’s brains over Eleven’s burden, Scoops Ahoy over a pizza van, Eddie’s brutal D&D campaign over a gentle one. It’s a fun way to test what we value in this story: resourcefulness, humor, loyalty, and choices that reveal character under pressure. If the finale brings those qualities to the surface—and lets consequences stick—Hawkins has a shot at a sendoff that feels true, not tidy.
Loved this conversation? Follow the show, share it with a Stranger Things fan, and leave a review so more people can find us. Tell us your spiciest Season 5 prediction—who makes the final sacrifice?
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All right, gentlemen, welcome to episode 12. How are you guys feeling? Is it 12? 12 is crazy. But it is 12. Oh man. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:So before we introduce our guests and our topic, uh, why don't we catch up a little bit? Ben, what have you been up to the last couple weeks?
SPEAKER_01:Not a ton. A lot. I feel like a lot of catching up on not just work work, but freelance work and podcast recording I got in Just Under the Wire last week. So hopefully I can break that cycle a little bit. But uh yeah, just a lot of work and catch up and stuff like that. Uh Nick, how about you?
SPEAKER_04:Um Yeah, we so I was off last week for fall break, which is kind of a weird thing. Um I feel like when I was in grade school, that was not a thing. Like, did you guys have a fall break? No, I was homeschooled, so nothing counts. It was all break from my fault. Oh man. No, that was, I don't know. It's a I feel like it's a fairly new thing, but it's kind of nice because it breaks it up a little bit. So we've got kind of a little bit of time off really every single month. Yeah, uh, so the kids got a whole week. I technically, so I was supposed to work. Uh like we had a a work from home day on Tuesday, but like, let's be real, you know, like it wasn't that much work. It was a blue day. It was a blue week. No, but it was it was good. Like it was we didn't do anything. We we just kind of hung out around, didn't didn't go anywhere because we have this big Disney trip coming up in a couple months. So it's like let's save some money and like just hang out around here and do our thing. But uh yeah, it was it was fun. It was just kind of relaxing, I would say. So very Michael, how's the how's the baby? You getting any sleep?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thanks for asking. Our sleep is improving significantly. She's starting to sleep like longer stretches, and it's it's amazing the first night that like your baby has a good night of sleep. Your world just is like different, you know. Like, think and uh yeah, Nick, I know like I'm sure you experienced the same thing, but um, yeah, it's been it's been amazing. We've been enjoying all the fall activities. We've taken her apple picking twice now. We've gone to a pumpkin patch with her, like we've had two fall parties that we've taken her to.
SPEAKER_04:It's the nice thing about fall babies. That was our that was our kid's first outing too was going apple picking because my wife made a big deal, so we had to go back to Lynn's fruit farm. That's where we went. Yeah, she's like, Well, we've gotten a picture in the big chair every single year. We got to get that picture in the big chair. I'm like, all right, I guess you're more connected to this than I am. I mean, like, I know it was their first outing, but I I didn't need to go back every year and keep on going with it. That's good to know, though. So she's sleeping a little bit better, huh? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, praise God for that.
SPEAKER_01:All right, Ben, we'll want you intro our episode. Yeah, so we are here this week to talk about Stranger Things. So welcome to Fandom of Fandoms, where every week we dive into a different fandom, something that we know people or you people love to talk about and geek out on and dive deep in. So this week we're joined by a friend of our church, uh, Isaiah. So, Isaiah, welcome to the show and thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh so why don't we get started? Like, tell us a little bit, first of all, actually, sorry, my bad. First, we usually talk about what we all know about Stranger Things before we throw it to you. So um, I'll start. Like, I mean, I've I was a not a super late adopter, but I feel like it was like a year after the first season dropped that I was like finally into it, but binged the whole first season in a day. Cause like, again, like you just started watching. It was a Saturday, I had nothing to do. So yes, like it, I was like, why not? And yeah, I I was in yeah, I was all in after that. So uh yeah, Michael, how about you?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, um, so same thing. I first when it first came out, uh first season, I was I watched it, uh binged it probably, and I was super hooked. I mean, I so you guys know I'm a musician, you know, have been since I was a kid. And uh in the last 10 years or so, I really got into like synth, and like I've played synth in a couple different bands. And so just the throwback, the just the soundtrack alone hooked me in immediately. I mean, you guys just heard the intro music that we threw in there. Like, it's just so iconic and like a very yeah, it has that nostalgia factor. But anyway, yeah, I've seen all the seasons. Um, I'm all caught up. I love them all. I mean, obviously I have gripes here and there, but um, yeah, I've been I've been into it since the beginning. Nick, what about you?
SPEAKER_04:Uh same. I can remember at the time I think Netflix was the only uh like the the only streaming platform that we were using or had. Because it was still like that's 2016. Yeah. And that was uh pretty early on. Like, I mean, it's Netflix had been around for a while, but like there weren't you know Peacock and all that other stuff. It wasn't around yet, so I didn't have all of those. So Netflix, though, I had that one, and I can remember that they they pushed it out. And I mean, just like with any of their shows, it was immediately like on their front page and they were trying to promote it. Yeah, yeah. And I remember seeing it going, like, oh, this seems interesting. And I'm not really like a horror genre kind of person, but it intrigued me. I was looking at oh, this looks kind of cool. So I I picked it up and started watching it, and kind of like you, it was it just it grabs you and it takes you in right away. And I was just very compelled by the storytelling. So I just I kept on going, and every single season I've been super excited. Like, I I'll binge it right away.
SPEAKER_01:So whatever as soon as it comes out, like and that's why they're that's why they're spreading it out. So yeah, to stop me, keep you coming back, can't just buy one day's worth of uh uh Netflix to watch it all. Yeah. Uh so Isaiah, did you uh start watching right from the beginning?
SPEAKER_02:Uh no. Okay, yeah, that's okay. Um there were like three seasons at the time that I started watching. Oh wow. Um honestly, it was because I wasn't allowed to watch a lot of these shows. Okay, yeah. I was pretty young.
SPEAKER_01:I can relate. I can relate more than you. We were just talking Michael this weekend. Michael has not seen The Goonies, which he was not allowed to watch as a kid, which this heavily comes out in that same way.
SPEAKER_04:And very inspired by Goonies.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, it was. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So I yeah, there were three seasons out before I even kind of dove in. I had always been interested in the show, um, but never was, you know, had the chance to watch it. Um, and so uh when I finally got the chance, I just remember being in my childhood bedroom and just like immediately just being enthralled in the show because I I believe fully that I should have been growing growing up in the 80s. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I absolutely love the 80s, and so then when I found out this show was sci-fi and 80s, I I was just I was like, this this is the show meant for me. And so I just yeah, I just started watching and I binged the entire thing in the summer. Um really, it was more like a couple of weeks. Um, and yeah, it was just amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, I mean, the entire every season pulls from something, uh some classic part of an of an 80s movie. So, like season one, you know, ET, the Goonies, Polterguy, season two. There's a lot of um, a lot of uh just references and kind of inspiration from like Ghostbusters. Yeah, and it just kind of goes, I mean, we can talk about it more later. It goes on and on from there, but yeah, just that that 80s, um, I don't know, just that 80s, the how they managed to capture the 80s culture is pretty amazing. So I was just watching the the pilot today, and it was like all these details, like the furniture and the floors and the cars, like it's just amazing, honestly. But anyway, yeah for sure.
SPEAKER_01:So Isaiah, and we were talking before the show, and you grew up in kind of a small town. Do you feel like they did a good job of capturing kind of like that small town essence and feel?
SPEAKER_02:Uh yeah. So I mean, I grew up in an even smaller town. Okay, then Hawkins is like way smaller. Um, like cornfields are all we had, that yeah, like a tiny gas station. Um, but no, I think they did a really good job of kind of capturing like a like a small town. Um, and I again like you were talking about just how they had the all the small details. I think they had the small details of the town as well. They did a really good job of that. It wasn't it didn't feel like it was a forced sort of okay, this is a forced small town feel. Um, it felt like it was it was meant to be set in uh in a very small town.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It wouldn't work, I don't think it would work well, yeah, in a bigger city or anything. Uh so Michael, why don't we uh I think you pulled up a little bit about the background of the show?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, definitely. So, you know, I mean I'm I we I think we kind of assume most people hear about these, you know, fandoms, but yeah, just you know, to give a quick background.
SPEAKER_04:For anybody that's like maybe you're on the fence and you've you've heard about it, you know a little bit about Stranger Things and you've heard people mention it, that sort of thing, but maybe you've just never jumped in yourself. What's the what's kind of the overview for it?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly. So so Stranger Things is a science fiction horror drama series. Um it was created by the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross. Uh it was for Netflix specifically. Um it originally premiered in July of 2016. I remember it coming out every uh every 4th of July. That was like a big thing. Uh anyway, but um very quickly became a global pop culture phenomenon, you know, thanks to its blend of the 80s nostalgia, which is what we're just talking about, you know, the supernatural suspense, you know, it's a very heartfelt coming of age style of storytelling. Um like we just talked about, you know, it's set in a small town, Hawkins, Indiana, during the 80s, um, and just kind of goes from there. So um that's the that's our overview. Thank you, producer Michael.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Um yeah, so talk to us, uh Isaiah. What's so kind of you talked about how it kind of grips you right away. Um what what exactly about this fandom is is meaningful to you or why does it mean so much to you?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like I said, uh the 80s vibes are just immaculate. I guess that's one way you can put it. Um I just absolutely love the entire premise of the show and the idea that you know this like these kids with such grand imaginations can um just take on such a massive, massive role um in a you know, a worldwide, you know, catastrophe. And I think it's really cool um just because I felt almost like um it pulled me back into being a kid, and also you know, just that nostalgia factor really made me feel like almost like I could be that kid. Yeah, um, and I really, really love that about the show. And of course, um I am such a huge sci-fi fan as well. Yeah, and so to hear that um, you know, like I said, there's a sci-fi show set in the 80s. I mean, that's that's perfect. So that that's what really gripped me.
SPEAKER_04:So have you so we were talking about the Goonies a second. Have you seen the Goonies?
SPEAKER_02:Um, yes, one time because my wife had me watch it. Okay, good for Gracie. Yeah. How do you feel about it? Um, I like it. Yeah. I mean, it's just a classic.
SPEAKER_04:So and what about the other? So obviously, E.T. was a big inspirational factor for Stranger Things. Have you seen E.T.?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I've seen E.T. way too many times.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it's can I give you guys a hot take already? This is the episode. I do not like E.T.
SPEAKER_02:You you and Gracie would get along very well. She thinks it's so creepy.
SPEAKER_04:I don't know what I mean. I I need to watch it again. It's been a long time. I know that I've seen it for sure. I've seen it all the way through one time. Um, but the he's looking for the boo button to boo me, but it was turned down. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Can you can you just give your hot take one more time?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, uh, I I don't like ET very much, honestly. Sorry. But how about uh here's here's one that I did like did either of you guys do you remember uh Super 8?
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I honestly don't think so.
SPEAKER_01:No, I don't think I remember it. That was JJ Abrams like E.T. Goonies mashup, essentially.
SPEAKER_04:Same thing. I mean, and it was it, I think it was definitely before this, and this again kind of hit those same kind of, you know, Stranger Things hit those Super 8 vibes quite a bit. Um, and the reason that that one uh it's kind of taking it away from it, but it just kind of it they're all in the same vein, and it reminds me of each other because it it kind of informs the um and inspired Stranger Things for sure. But my dad was big into uh Super 8 because they filmed it in his small little uh Steubenville, Ohio. Okay. Oh, no way. That's crazy. Abrams was showing up and filming a movie there, and then just kind of those vibes, those uh the coming of age story, the kids kind of solving a mystery of sorts is is kind of that same same kind of thing. So if you if you haven't seen it, Michael, definitely worth checking out. Isaiah, you seen Stuper Eat?
SPEAKER_02:I hadn't even heard of it, to be honest. You'd also like it.
SPEAKER_04:Then it's very pre-Stranger Things almost. Like, yeah. Um, what do you think? So you kind of talked a little bit about what makes the the fandom so special. Let's think like standing out. I mean, obviously we're we're getting close to this final season. That's part of the reason that I really I pushed forward. I was like, we gotta do a Stranger Things episode. I'm so hyped for this next, you know, this next season. So I think it's worth talking. Like, let's let's do some speculation. I don't think it's it's really on the the notes too much, so I'm going a little bit off book, but what do you what do you see as being like maybe speculating? What do you think is gonna happen in this upcoming season?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, spoiler warning for anyone who has not seen it yet.
SPEAKER_02:I I don't I honestly think there are a lot of ways they could take things. Um, I just recently saw an interview, I forget which person it was, I want to say it was Dustin's actor decided to say that he pitched the idea for his character to die. Oh, I think I remember hearing that about that. And so I don't know. I mean, I can't tell if he's just playing mind games or playing double mind games. Yeah. Um, so I think that I mean that's entirely possible. Um, but I mean, if it's gonna happen, I mean I they're definitely going to kill off at least one major character.
SPEAKER_04:But I mean it's who do you think most likely it's gonna be?
SPEAKER_02:I don't want to say that it's I don't want to say that it's gonna be eleven. Oh, yeah, but I feel like that one's just a final sacrifice sort of thing.
SPEAKER_01:Obviously you know either that or Will has always been like the scapegoat for everything.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, yeah. I don't know. There's a lot of people that think that it's gonna be Steve. Like that he's gonna sacrifice himself.
SPEAKER_00:I I am totally blaming you. Where the heck did I just I just heard this recently. I Steve was originally supposed to be written off the show after the first season. I heard that too. He was just supposed to be this like jerk that gets killed at the end. And his character was so lovable. It made him do likable. Yeah, yeah, that he they had to bring him back. So maybe they'll come kind of follow through with it.
SPEAKER_04:I don't know if we read the same article or not, but the the article that I read said that they gave Steve um what is it, Will's dad's redemption arc. Okay. No way. So Will's dad was eventually gonna supposed to get a redemption arc, but they gave him a lot of things. I don't know like to see it. Lonnie, I would like Lonnie. That's what it's now making. Yeah. But yeah, no, that's I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:All right, Isaiah, you think uh Max, she's making a recovery?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think I think that's gonna be one of those things that that that happens. I think she's gonna make a recovery. Um, it just kind of reminds me of Star Wars, honestly. Um there are a lot of a lot of times where you have a character that's you know down and out, um, and they're recovering, but they always you know wake up. And I feel like that, uh again, not to get into too much speculation, but I feel like that might play a role in the uh the grand finale.
SPEAKER_04:I think I think her that was my I was I was honestly see, I feel like this is gonna sound bad, but I was a little bit disappointed that they kind of like pulled back because I thought for sure that she was dead at the end of the last season, and then they like pulled out and they're like, oh no, actually she survived, she went into the hospital and she's recovering in some way. So I I thought for sure she was gonna die last season.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, could see that for sure. I just think it plays too much into the the 80s trope of like uh we can't kill off this character.
SPEAKER_04:That's the nice thing about this is that it is in the horror genre, but the amount of heart that the series has always had, like the it has been more about that than the horror in a lot of ways. Wouldn't you guys agree? I agree.
SPEAKER_00:I I just teared up today, actually, because I was watching the finale of season two and jumped around today. I jumped around, I did. And again, spoiler, do I have a spoiler alert? Uh uh pick something. I'll get some later. Uh I gotta come up with, I gotta find one. But um when Mike is just ticked off at Hopper and he's like fighting him, he's punching him, punching him, and then Hopper just grabs him and starts hugging him. Yeah, oh man, that like that was a tear jerker. But but I'm just saying that as an example to your point, like it's just got a ton of heart, like even in these random spots you wouldn't really expect. I'm trying to remember when was what was going on in this? So he had Mike had just seen 11 for the first time. I think I think it was the first time in season two because he thought that 11, you know, was long gone. Yeah, she was off in Chicago most of season two, right? But Hopper had been hiding her from everyone. And so, yeah, they reunite for the first time, and it's just a super emotional moment. And yeah, that that got me today. But very cool.
SPEAKER_01:Well, Isaiah, I I'm gonna skip the we usually start with our starter pack. We usually ask, you know, where to start because it's usually like a we've talked a lot about fandoms that are span multiple media, but obviously Stranger Things, we would recommend that people probably start episode one, season one. Like yeah, but um, so like we're gonna jump down to our elevator pitch. So why don't you talk? You've talked a lot about the nostalgia and everything like that, but if you had to give someone a 30-second to one-minute pitch on why they should watch Stranger Things, what would that be?
SPEAKER_02:That's a lot of pressure in the I would say if you love 80s, if you have a heart, you have a heart, if you want action, mystery, or thrills, if you want to see kids succeed, but also cry your heart out when they fail, then watch Stranger Things. Yeah, beautiful. Well said.
SPEAKER_01:Perfect, yeah. I love that. Good deal.
SPEAKER_04:Well, I have something uh because we we're we're running like a little bit quicker than we normally do here. That's man, we're we're gonna be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I mean, I feel like we're gonna spend a lot of time talking about through some of our group discussion stuff.
SPEAKER_04:But yeah, I got this little little thing here. I might give this to you, Isaiah. This little uh keychain here. Normally we always give a gift to people for coming on the podcast, so thank you. I figured it'd be fun to open it up and see what character you got on this. So lots of options on there.
SPEAKER_00:Why don't I play a song while he's uh on this ocean of flavor with me? I'll be your captain. If I can figure out how to open it. There we go. I need to grab you some scissors. Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_02:There it is. There we go.
SPEAKER_00:See, this is why everyone needs to watch the YouTube video because they'll see uh what have we got going on?
SPEAKER_02:Ah, here we go. Oh, nice. We got Robin.
SPEAKER_04:Robin energy from I think that was was that season three, I think. I believe so. Maya Hawk, yeah, I believe so. Yeah. When she was down when they were, yeah, that was a fun storyline, the whole secret Russian base. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_00:That was just a whole nother level of fun for me. Yes. Well, Isaiah, you mentioned uh a couple minutes ago that you know the kids are involved in this worldwide kind of event, but we don't know that because initially you do think it's just contained this one little lab in Hawkins, but then you know, as the onion is peeled back, you know, season after season, it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. I think that's one thing that's exciting about the show, too, is like, you know, that scale continues to grow.
SPEAKER_04:It does, yeah. And then we'll, I mean, at the end of the last season here, it kind of like we you have this this huge event. So it kind of makes me wonder is it going to incorporate more of the outside of I mean, it did in the in the last season, but even more so that like this huge thing happens in Hawk Hawkins and like probably on the news, you know. Like, are they gonna bring in I don't know, it'd be weird to bring in more characters for the last season, but I could see it happening. Like sure.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I feel like you have to again, like they're they're zooming out even more, like, yeah, because was it last season that they were in like California for a good chunk of it too?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. So uh what was it? The buyers move there, right? At the at the beginning. Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. Yeah, I guess that's something that kind of confused me about it. It was like, okay, this massive event is happening with like aliens. Yep. And uh where is everyone? Like, why is why is the news like what what's happening? Like, why is this not a bigger event everywhere else? And I wonder if that's just because we're not seeing that perspective, but also at the same time, uh I don't know. That was something that always confused me. So I'm I'm excited to see uh I think at this point, just like at the end of the last season where it just kind of shows like a very panoramic view of Hawkins, and you're like, oh my goodness, like I think that that is also saying, you know, okay, now we're gonna see a panoramic view of what's happening in in the world based on these events.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, definitely. And one thing too is you know, in the 80s, um, you didn't have social media where news would spread, you know, in a in an instant. So I almost think of it like nowadays, if yeah, like you were saying, if something this big was happening, you know, in some remote location, surely everyone would know about it. But maybe just for the time, like you know, it didn't get out that fast. But anyway. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Sorry, I was looking at my phone because I I told you guys a while ago that I had this is kind of segue a little bit, but I had a piece of of interesting information that I discovered about the show. You did, and you decided you're gonna withhold it until now. I did, so I was just looking up to make sure that I had my my information correct here. Um, but did you guys know that Joe Curie, the actor that plays Steve Harrington, is in a band?
SPEAKER_00:I did not. No way, really.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, it is called Joe. But it's spelled DJ O. So DJ O. Okay. Yeah, yeah, Joe. Yeah. I don't know. Is that the I don't know how to do the DJ sound apparently. Like Jimbe. Yes, exactly. Um but the re so it was weird. It came across my my feed. I had heard this song that had been kind of trying to remember what the what the title was. That was part of what I was trying to look up, but there was a a viral song that went out, and I'd heard the song a lot. Like I hadn't associated it with anybody, it was just something that I had heard on social media a lot that had been used in clips, and I'll have to look it up here in a minute and find it, maybe at our break. Um, but uh it was a video came across my feed, and I'm sitting there looking at it, I'm like, is that is is that Steve Stranger Things. And at first, like I went and I looked in the comments, and everybody's like, Oh yeah, it's Steve from Stranger Things. I'm like, all right, is it just that he looks like him? And then I slowly was like peeling it back and went and looked it up, and I was like, no, this is actually him, and his band is very good. Very, very good.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you guys saw there was a viral viral clip, and this was like years ago, of the boys, the four boys, doing a uh a song. I think it was on Jimmy Fallon. Oh, Jimmy Fallon, yeah. And they were amazing. The only guy I ever saw that. I'm gonna send it to you. Yeah, they were they sounded so good. They all had great songs.
SPEAKER_01:And you know, Gaiton Matazzaro, um Dustin, was on Broadway.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I was gonna say he was what did he do?
SPEAKER_01:Gavros in uh Le Miz.
SPEAKER_04:Ah, yes, yes. Yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, so I don't know. It blew my mind, honestly. I didn't know if you did you heard that. I had not.
SPEAKER_02:That's crazy.
SPEAKER_04:Wild. I gotta look up that song. We'll find it here in a minute and I'll play it for you guys. I'm sure you've heard it at some point for sure. Um well, we're kind of at the at the midway point of the episode a little bit. We can come back and take a take a quick break and then come back and have like our larger discussion. What do you guys think? Sounds good. All right.
SPEAKER_00:There we go. All right, we are back from our break. We got our uh clock ticking here. All right, um, so we're gonna jump into a segment of just fandom culture. Um, one something we love to talk about. So, Isaiah, is there any content outside of the show or the main continuity that you enjoy? Like, you know, any YouTubers, podcasts, you know, TikToks, you know, things like that. Anything that you've kind of found outside of the show that's stranger things related that has been just enjoyable for you?
SPEAKER_02:Um honestly, I love to just get on the Reddit and just see people go ham at each other be with their hot takes, or just completely debate, you know, which character um or whether they're whether they're on team Steve or not. That's like the biggest one. Um and it's just fun to see like you see so many people come to the same conclusions, but they're all watching it at different times, and so they're like, guys, did you know that Steve did this? And yeah, yeah, that was that was that was years ago. So, but yeah, no, I just I love I love to like look on Reddit and just have discussions in there. Yeah. So nice.
SPEAKER_01:So you participate in them as well?
SPEAKER_02:Um starting to like one of those longtime lurkers. Is it that's what it is?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's called longtime lurkers. And so I've just over the past like six months or so, I've started to get on Reddit, and so it's quickly become my Stranger Things obsession. Yeah. Let's just dive into the community on that.
SPEAKER_01:Well then, yeah, like why don't you start us off with like what are some hot takes that you see on there?
SPEAKER_02:Um Team Steve.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:That's the biggest one. Really? That's a hot take. Yeah, that's a hot take. There are people who don't like him. A lot of people don't like Steve.
SPEAKER_04:Wait, hold on. So the the hot take is that there are people out there that they say team Steve or they are they are against Team Steve. I'm confused.
SPEAKER_02:Honestly, both are hot takes in the community. Um, there are there are people out there that are very opposed to Steve. What's there was one, there was a post today that someone was just absolutely appalled that anyone could be on Team Steve. Wow. They really wanted Steve to go down season one.
SPEAKER_00:Wow. Dang, that that's honestly surprising. Well, we were just talking right before we came back from our break, and I'm blanking on Max's brother's name, Billy, wasn't it? Yeah, yes, you're right, Billy. But he kind of becomes, I think, what Steve was originally supposed to be. Like he's just that jerk that's like, you know, bad boy. But Ben was saying like they took it up a notch with that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because like we were talking about like was that on air we were talking about? Like where there was he was supposed to be written off at season after season one. Okay, yeah, yeah. And then yeah, but so they're like, okay, if we introduce this other character, he has to 100% be unlikable. Like zero redeeming qualities. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:There's some people. I mean, there are some people that like Billy too, let's be real. But I don't know if it's really hot. I don't know if it's not. I'm not gonna lie. I kind of like Billy.
SPEAKER_01:I thought he was pretty darn cool. Yeah, oh, for sure. So it was just the the coolness of Billy that like you was cool.
SPEAKER_02:I think it was just one of those like classic 80s cool guy.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, sorry, go ahead, go ahead. I could crosstalk. I'm sorry. No, I was about to say, because the episode that I was watching before before this was um it was the beginning of the season where you know Billy is a lifeguard in the whole entire scene where he's coming out to his duty and the moms are like watching him and it's like I I love that it was it was a funny scene. I love the scene, but I still don't like Billy. That's fair. He is he is a jerk, he is definitely less likable than Steve, and that's the point. But yeah, I mean the very fact that like they they put Max in there to kind of be that foil to his character because then you do like you kind of feel when it all goes down, you do feel bad for Billy. Like you do kind of like I'm sad about his death a little bit, you know? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, should I have hit the spoil?
SPEAKER_01:We're gonna have to do that. Again, this this this far into it. If you haven't watched, you might want to stop now. Yeah, we are we already talked about season five.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we've been all right. Yeah, that's true. Well, Isaiah, so you brought up that hot take. How do you feel about Steve? What's what's your opinion of him?
SPEAKER_02:Honestly, I really like Steve. I think that he has, I mean, I think he has the strongest character arc across the board. Um, and I think that um he just yeah, I I think they developed him really, really well. And I'm so glad that they took him in a direction that you know they didn't originally intend, but that they they read the fans, they read the story and said, you know what, let's adapt it. And honestly, I think his character and just the way that he's he's so self-sacrificial, um, I think it's a really, really cool quality to watch as it as the show progresses. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04:I might take us into our our first uh hot take that I saw just the other day, again, as I was perusing, prepping for the episode. But um somebody, it was a video that I was watching was talking about how um basically in season one, Jonathan kind of sucks and he is a creepy camera guy, like just kind of whatever. And that their hot take was that um he was lucky that Steve didn't do more to him than just break his camera. So I was kind of like, okay, yeah. Like I can feel that if you go back and you're watching from the beginning, it's like uh the fact that Nancy ends up with with Jonathan in you know later seasons is kind of like okay, well, I don't know. Maybe it's because they just made uh Steve's like redemption arc just that good that you're like, oh man, Steve, he's just a he's a good guy. I like that. I like that guy.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, that's true. John yeah, Jonathan's interesting character. I I kind of relate to him because like I I was homeschooled, like I was kind of a loner, you know, and like I wasn't in photography until my adult life um personally, but I don't know, he's relatable.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. He he's got plenty of good moments in the scene, but there was just like those those scenes where it's like, well, coming from if you're imagining uh Jonathan from from um you know Steve's perspective. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. You can kind of see like why that might set Steve off a little bit, why he might act the way that he did, even if it was a little bit too macho and you know, bully like, I guess.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, honestly, I I I always struggle with with his character. Yeah. I I don't know. I I think I definitely saw him from Steve's perspective. Maybe I was just by From the beginning.
SPEAKER_01:No, that's okay. Yeah, I will admit that like Jonathan did not have to take some of those photos. When you're in the woods and you see some people, like you don't need to just take photos of people, even if there's someone you know, that might that kind of make it worse, even like it does make it a little bit worse. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Well, in fact, I think the point they were making was and I think this is in the show too, is that he had what the the last photo of Barb before she she went missing. So it was kind of like, okay, well, hmm, that's weird. Yeah. All right.
SPEAKER_01:Let's discuss Barb. Did like did everyone feel okay with her fate and like how mysterious she like they didn't really resolve anything other than she's lost on the upside down?
SPEAKER_04:I thought they came back to her eventually.
SPEAKER_00:Did they? Yeah. So um, correct me if I'm wrong, in the season finale, when they find Will, yeah, I think that Hopper and um I think they found her body.
SPEAKER_04:Joyce, they find her body.
SPEAKER_00:I don't think they really say anything about it, but she's I'm pretty sure she's definitely down there. Okay, but honestly, it's so sad because then jumping to the next season, um, in in the uh the first episode of season two, her parents obviously don't know. They're like they're selling their house to get money to pay for the investigation to continue looking for her. And that was like really like it was so sad to watch. I was like, I don't really remember like feeling this bad, and maybe because I've just that was you know almost 10 years ago and I'm a little more mature now, and I have a kid, like but it's a really sad like storyline. It is so I yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Well, I felt like in that first season, they they kind of went for in terms of like dark tone. Yeah, I feel like the the first season is probably one like the darkest because I think that's part of what uh people I mean, there have been some people that are like, hey, you know, the Duffer brothers have pulled their punches quite a bit, like they haven't really been as likely to kill off characters, and even when it looks like they might, they pull back. You know what I mean? Like it's that's what they did with Max, you know, they pulled back, and you thought that Hopper died this this sacrificial death, and then uh it turns out he's a lot. But that's that's kind of been like the trend of the show when you look at it. Like, I mean, it was 11 the the first season, then I remember who where how and all it went. No, she was first and second, wasn't she?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, because she tries to get she appears to go with the demagorgon when uh in the first season, she's then she's gone. Yeah, and then the second season she's trying to close the riff or the um the tear.
SPEAKER_04:And that's when she disappears, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So anyway.
SPEAKER_04:But yeah, I guess that's always I guess that's what we can always count on coming from uh from Stranger Things. There's gonna be some sort of big sacrifice set up at the end, and then like, oh well, is it actually gonna end that way? So maybe this time it will be like, oh well, somebody has to die. This I don't know, because it's gotta end, right? It's gotta come to a finale. So who knows?
SPEAKER_00:Well, this brings up kind of a larger question. So, Isaiah, I mean, just even outside of Stranger Things, how do you feel about the current trend, I'll call it that, of just either not bring killing off characters or clearly killing them off and then bringing them back. Like you mentioned Star Wars, a couple, you know, at the beginning of the episode. What's your kind of opinion on that?
SPEAKER_02:I think it really depends. It's one of those nuanced things where if it makes sense to bring them back, um, like storyline-wise, and it's not just a nostalgia factor, then I'm all for it. But I think a lot of the time it's really just there to, you know, for you know, to play into the fans and just hopefully make some extra money because you brought back someone that everyone recognizes, and I absolutely hate that because I'd rather you just I'd rather you just bring in some new characters if you wouldn't need new characters.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I mean, and good for Stranger Things for I mean, our hero of season two, Sean Aston's character. Was it Bob? Yeah, Bob. Oh, yeah. Yeah, uh good for them to not like make him just pull through miraculously somehow or something like that, because I think we all would have loved to see more Bob.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. Bob Bob was a great character. I felt really bad. That was probably one of the most impactful things in the show. Just watching Bob go. Um, the demo dogs, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, exactly. I got I got another uh so here's a fan theory for you guys. Maybe we'll come to you. I don't know. This is just one that was at the top of my head, so I don't know if you've got any fan theories that that you've heard, but this is one that I saw that was uh kind of compelling to me. Um so the fan theory is that Vecna was in the show from the beginning, and that he was in fact the the uh it wasn't the Demigorgan that kidnapped Will, it was Vecna from the very beginning. That's the that's a fan theory that's out there. You guys heard anything like that?
SPEAKER_02:I did hear something about that. Um, and then people were um showing like pictures um that people had people had found like in the backgrounds of different scenes, um, and a lot of people were kind of fighting back against that, saying that that even you know even the the creators of the show decided to, you know, they they said that there was that wasn't even part of the plot at that point. Oh really? Um I don't know if that's true, um, but it it seems like they were saying that it was it was still just demogorgons or demodogs in those in the pictures in the back in the backgrounds of the scenes or whatever. Um but like you're shooting down my hopes and dreams. Honestly, I would love it if they they do this from the beginning. And I think it's entirely possible that we see that in season five. Maybe that's one of those big reveals. It's like, yeah, Vecna was there from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and I think too, like, if we if we wanted the demagorgon to remain consistent, like in his character, he was just eating everyone. So, like, why would he kidnap Will and take him down there? Why would he just eat him, you know, right on the spot? Because I feel like he was doing that.
SPEAKER_01:Well, did the demagorgon kidnap Will, or did Will just disappear into the upside down and didn't know how to get back?
SPEAKER_00:And was being hunted by him.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, because they yeah, because when he's in the garage um and he's got his gun ready and stuff, you clearly hear like Well, it was the same thing with Barb too, because Barb was in the so she was hanging out in the pool and then she just disappeared, so she got dragged into the upside down by by something. I don't know. So that was that's kind of the I think that's part of the fan theory is that like, well, there you know, it's Vecna that was taking people, and the demigorgon is just there to, you know, cause chaos and kill and like the demodogs, you know, that sort of thing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I don't know. It was it was interesting. I saw that. What about have you heard any other interesting fan theories or or things that stand out to you?
SPEAKER_02:Honestly, I think that's the biggest one that I've seen. Um there seems to be a lot of debate around that. Yeah, um, there's a lot of contention um just on just in general on everything that's especially right now, because we're so close to season five coming out that everyone's really just there's not even a lot of discussion around anything except for what's coming in season five. Um, so I th I'm not even sure what other people are speculating about from the first few seasons.
SPEAKER_01:So in that that vein, then we talked a little bit about it. Have you seen any wild theories about season five then?
SPEAKER_02:Um nothing that nothing that we haven't already said. Um I think that a lot of people are just basically choosing who they think is gonna die. It's just like one person, and they're like, okay, it's going to be 11 or it's gonna be Will or it's gonna be Dustin, and they're all just kind of jumping into each, you know, these different segments of who who do we think is going to die. Gotcha.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I could see I could see Will being killed off because correct me if I'm wrong, because again, I haven't seen all the seasons in recent years, but like he never really finds his place after being back from the upside down. Like, I feel like all the characters find someone like or kind of something to be like, you know, that they find their place in the world to some degree. Yeah. Um, but with Will, he's always kind of just lost and kind of like I don't know, like othered in a sense. And it that's and they're trying to bring him back in, like, you know, especially Mike.
SPEAKER_01:But that's kind of like the big struggle of for him of season four, is right his loss of connection. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So I almost wonder, like, for him to to make an ultimate sacrifice, you know, because again, he felt like he never really found his place again. Like, that seems like you know, it might be a logical choice, but I don't know who my my most likely pick is.
SPEAKER_04:Uh I th I mean there's several of them that I think could be could potentially go. Honestly, I think I think there's a good chance that they don't end up killing anybody off. Or if they do, it'll be like a more minor character or something like that. I don't know. But I I think about just the the nature of how the show has been these last several years, and that's that's kind of been their way. Like it has it it is dark, but it's not. Like it's it's it's got a a lightness to it while like it doesn't feel completely dark and heavy. Oh, yeah. It's like dark with the light, exactly, the hope that's in there as well. So I don't know. I just think that I don't think they're gonna go that complete direction and like have it end on a on a a bad note. I think that we're gonna see it come to a close and kind of be like, all right, you know what, this is kind of ending on a I'm sure there'll still be something. Like the door will be open for potential spin-offs and things like that, but I don't think they have to make them do it until they're 90. All right. Well, I don't know about further. I I think I heard that supposedly there was going to be a spin-off. Yeah, like it was already in the works.
SPEAKER_02:They've definitely they've definitely teased some spin-offs recently, but I did hear there is one I guess there is one big theory that I just remembered. Um, it got shot down by a lot of people, but I think it's I think it's possible. Um, and it's the idea that at the end of this we're gonna find out that it was all just the the game of D D. Oh my god. I mean could happen, it'd be interesting. So then, you know, no one dies, you're right. Right. Um, so I I don't know. I don't know about that. I I think a lot of people would be disappointed if that's the case, right? Including myself, but I can see it happening. I can see it happening like Jumanji style, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I it would I think it would be so out of left field that I I couldn't be disappointed. It would just be like I'd be too shocked to be disappointed.
SPEAKER_04:Is so we actually we touched on this a little bit in different fandoms, but like are we set up in this show that it is going like no matter what happens, it's going to be disappointing. You know what I mean? Our expectations so high that like no matter what, when the show comes to an end, it's just like the the toxic fan base is gonna come out, which so far I don't think I've seen it too badly. Like we've had we've talked about some some toxic fan bases and things like that, or yeah, toxic fans, but um I I haven't seen it a lot for Stranger Things, but it's got me wondering, like, well, when this we're we're coming up on an end, this is like the all right, what's what's gonna happen here? Is it going to fracture the the fan base and we're gonna see like all right, there's just a lot of so many people that are angry about the way that it ends? I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, I would I would definitely think that this is gonna be this is gonna be a divisive point because yeah, like you said, there's really not a whole lot of toxic culture around Stranger Things. I think that's I don't I honestly don't know why that is. Um, but I'm I mean I'm happy for it. And you're seeing this on Reddit, which is yeah, that's the most toxic place. Yeah, oh it's terrible. Um but yeah, to see that to see that it really isn't that bad right now. Um I think it's it's it's coming because you know, like you said, this is gonna establish the I guess the history of the show. Yeah, yeah, right. The the coming up on the end, and when people don't get their way, I think it's gonna I think it's gonna split the fan.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, a lot of pressure on this last season for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there's a ton of pressure. Yeah, it's it's just well you you were saying this in a previous episode, Nick. It is it is literally impossible to avoid. Like it just it's you cannot you cannot please everyone. It's just impossible. And maybe Stranger Things has a little bit more of a chance of of doing okay because it's not from an existing IP, you know, it's not like a remade or you know, it's it's not based on the book where you know you have the book ending and people are expecting that. So maybe from that regard, it's it has a little bit more of a chance, but I think like you were saying, Isaiah, like yeah, you just can't it's just unavoidable, you know. And I think Reddit is the upside down, actually. Maybe that we might take. No doubt.
SPEAKER_01:Well, yeah, you want to dive into it.
SPEAKER_04:So this is a a fun little part that we've added to the show. Uh just a quick kind of rapid fire. I got some questions for you. So would you rather be trapped in the upside down for 24 hours or be hunted by Vecna for one night?
SPEAKER_02:Uh just put me in the upside down.
SPEAKER_04:Vecta's got me in no time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'll take my chances.
SPEAKER_04:Oh man, yeah, Vecta's terrifying. I'll tell you what. Like that whole entire season, just him, like that anticipation of what's gonna happen. Man, what about you guys? Where I'll jump over. You guys got a preference on that one? That's the same. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:If I was listening to Running Up That Hill, I might be able to take the Vecna one. It's on there somewhere. Yeah, let's let's see. There we go. I mean, this is just you can take anyone you can. That's true.
SPEAKER_04:I I can't believe so. It was so funny to see um that song come out of nowhere. Yeah, and I I'm sure you guys remember, like, it came up and it topped the charts, and it was like this, you know, 30-year-old song, and the artist was like, This is crazy. This is wild. Um because it it's it's obscure. Like when you listen to it, like it's I don't know, it is a banger in some ways, but like but it wasn't even like it was like popular in the 80s or anything, right?
SPEAKER_00:Like, yeah, so I'm gonna I'm gonna take us down a quick rabbit hole. Oh, yeah. Let's do it. So yeah, so Kate Bush was the original artist that wrote that song. Uh placebo was a band from the early 2000s that got really popular after the movie. Um uh oh my gosh. I should have looked this up before. But anyway, placebo, this band, they did a cover running up that hill that was really popular. I think it might have been more popular than the original. That's the version that me and everyone else knew. I had never heard Kate Bush's version until the show. Yeah, I only knew that cover that they did in the early 2000s.
SPEAKER_04:Oh man, you're gonna have to play that for us. I don't know if I've heard it or not. Wow. Yeah, yeah. But I I think you'd recognize it because it's it was was it in another movie or show?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, um, Cruel Intentions. That was so I think Cruel Intentions made this band placebo like pretty popular. And then they released a cover of Running Up That Hill, and that's the only version I ever knew. And then this, you know, obviously hearing the Kate Bush version. Yeah, but um, but yeah, it did it did hit number one on iTunes charts uh during that time that it came out, so yeah, it got super popular. Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Anyway, oh that's something. Uh would you rather have Eleven's powers or Dustin's brain and charm?
SPEAKER_02:Um honestly, I'm going Dustin's brain and charm. I just I love his personality. I love I've always loved like the clever kid, um, and just the the creativity that he has. And I don't really care to have telekinetic powers. Yeah. I just feel that's too much responsibility for me. Absolutely, but I would rather just be very, very intelligent.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. He's he's also got the Riz, like uh so much charisma just dripping with it, you know.
SPEAKER_00:See, you're uh you're a middle school teacher, so you know all the lingo that they say these days.
SPEAKER_04:Yes. Yeah, they would hate it if they heard me using that word. Like that is, you know. Um would you rather be best friends with Steve or Eddie?
SPEAKER_02:Oh man. Eddie, honestly, he like for as much as he got hate. I mean, he's such a lovable character by the end. Um I think I'd have to go with Eddie. Wow, okay. I feel like Eddie much shit. He'd be he'd be uh he'd be difficult to get along with, I think a lot of times we'd butt heads, but at the end of the day, I think he's super protective. Yeah. Dude, I love Steve. I guess you could say about Steve too, but I don't know. Something about Eddie just like I feel like he's just a he'd just rock on.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I loved Eddie's character. He was, man, such a good, and that was another thing too. Like he he came in and crushed the role and just like made everybody love him. And this was a a breakout, like he hadn't really been in anything. That was that was a breakout role for him. And since he is I feel like he's been very successful.
SPEAKER_01:I know he was in Gladiator 2, and then we just saw him in Fant Fantastic Four. Yeah, I think he's got other stuff lined up too, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so I thought he's he's really ridden the ridden up that that hill quite a bit with success, exactly. Um what about uh would you this is a funny one? Would you rather uh work summer at Scoops Ahoy or Surfer Boy Pizza?
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, yeah, I'll be at Scoops Ahoy any day. Oh man, working out of that pizza van would be that would be so tough.
SPEAKER_04:See, it really comes down to like who who your co-workers are like is would you rather work with Steve and Robin or Absolutely? What's uh oh my god, why can't I think of his name right now? I can't remember his name. I can't think of it. It's right there. Darn it. Dude, but he was so funny. Like I appreciate that he was another one. I mean, it was just comic relief mostly, but I really did appreciate him.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, he's funny, but I would be so annoyed. Yeah, I could not work with him.
SPEAKER_04:Producer Michael's Michael's going for it. Why can't I think of it right now?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'm honestly having a fun, like I'm having a hard time finding out who this guy is.
SPEAKER_04:Our listeners would be like shouting at us if they know stranger things. Like, obviously. Come on, is it um Okay?
SPEAKER_00:So the actor is Eduardo Franco, but what's his name? Argyle. Argyle. Oh my gosh. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Nope, that's an interesting name for sure. Not a last name or a first name?
SPEAKER_04:Uh would you rather face a demogorgon with only a baseball bat or a demodog with a slingshot?
SPEAKER_02:Well, um, I grew up playing baseball. Okay. And my dad always said, I have a beautiful left hand swing. There we go. So I'm going with a beautiful left-hand swing. We'll face a demogorgon with a baseball bat.
SPEAKER_04:One of the iconic things about the the show right there, too, the baseball bat.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04:Um, would you rather oh this is another good one. Would you rather be in a D campaign led by Eddie or Will?
SPEAKER_02:I have to go with Eddie. I'm sorry, Will, but but I want I want to see Eddie like he just gets really intense. Yeah, I love that. I'm in a D campaign with um my wife and a couple of our friends, and he our our dungeon master makes it lots of fun, and he gets intense with it. So to have Eddie get really intense with it, I mean way more intense than we get, right? I would be so much fun.
SPEAKER_04:I'm thinking like Eddie would be like so dark. Like he would be trying to kill off characters. Oh, yeah, no, absolutely. Zero zero punches pool. Whereas Will, I think he'd you know it'd be it'd be a much like I don't want to say soft, he'd be he'd be a good storyteller, but it'd it'd always be like, uh, this there's there's this undercurrent of like niceness. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:I gotta I gotta come at you for something though. Isn't Mike the DM?
SPEAKER_00:He is in the in uh in the first uh season.
SPEAKER_04:But it's Will that really, especially this last season, wanted to like go back to the time of like, oh, I want to play DD. I wanna, you know, like don't you guys want to come back just like like old times kind of thing? So I think that's where the the spirit of the question comes from.
SPEAKER_00:And as a producer, I really got to make a shameless plug here. Um go go back, listeners, and listen to our DD episode. Yes, it was very enjoyable, and we did reference Stranger Things. We did.
SPEAKER_01:That was that was part of the reason why we had to talk about it. That was gonna be one of my questions to you. It was not on the list, but like, did you get into DD because of Stranger Things?
SPEAKER_02:Um, no, honestly. So there was an attempt to start it at my tiny tiny high school, and um I went for one day and it just was a total flop. Um, so then I never really had any interaction with it, and then one time um our friends were just like, Hey, we really want to do a D campaign. And my wife and I were like, Yeah, honestly, that sounds pretty fun. So we just started doing that, and so like once a month we'll meet up and just um just play D. And it I don't know how that really came about other than that, but we love it. Yeah, love to hear that. That is awesome.
SPEAKER_04:What's uh so I think I mean it's fair, like since this is I know it's not a DD episode, but what's your what's your character that you play in DD?
SPEAKER_02:Uh yeah, so I'm it's it's it's not even like a a standard character. Um, it's like a custom character that he created. Um, it's an ancient dwarf. Okay. And it's an acolyte, and it's really, really cool. So acolytes, are you running like uh more cleric or um it I'm I don't really understand fully what's happening with my character. Okay. Um this is my first time um ever doing DD campaign, and I don't know. Um we just take on so many different roles and do so many different things, and we definitely stretch the boundaries of what's technically supposed to be happening. Awesome. That's great. Okay, I guess we'll let this happen.
SPEAKER_04:How long have you guys been playing for?
SPEAKER_02:Um, just uh I think we've met up four times. Oh, okay. So you're this is a fresh campaign.
SPEAKER_04:This is fresh. Wow, nice awesome. I love that. Um here, so kind of to to round things out, we were just talking about running up that hill. Um, would you rather listen to Kate Bush's running up that hill on repeat to survive Vecna or have to sing your favorite 80s song every time you're scared?
SPEAKER_02:Um yeah. I'm gonna go with the first one because honestly, like we said, that song's an absolute banger. Yeah, agreed. I love that song. Ever since I heard it on the on the show, which was also my first time hearing it. Um, I just was like, okay, this is kind of a guilty pleasure song for me now.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, I know I would, I, I would listen to it. We got it. Nice. Well, I'll bring us into our uh more broad QA, which we've been around a lot. So um, let's see. Uh, what's one character you wish had more screen time?
SPEAKER_02:That's a very good question. Um I don't know. I feel like everyone got a pretty decent amount of screen time, but I I think the best answer is just Bob. I think I wanted more of Bob.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That makes sense. That's fair.
unknown:That's fair.
SPEAKER_00:Well, yeah, we'll just go in a circle here. Um, who do you think is the real heart of the party?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um, I think it it has to be Dustin. I think he's just I think he just does such a good job of just being so passionate. Um, a lot of people would say Will, um, just because, like you said, a lot of it revolves around him coming back to hey, let's let's come back to our roots in D. But I think Dustin does a really good job of tying together every aspect of the characters from from the main DD group to even like Eddie and Billy and all of you know Max, even like I feel like he just ties together all of the groups really well, and he's so passionate in everything that he does. And so I really, really enjoy his character. Yeah, I'd agree with that.
SPEAKER_04:Well said, well said. Um, if you had the ability to change one storyline so far, so I know we already talked about Bob, so let's let's but if there's any other storyline that you could change, uh, go back and adapt a little bit better, what would it be?
SPEAKER_02:Man, I think that the storyline um of Robin was kind of interesting. Um it didn't go the way that I was expecting it to, honestly. Um I I wasn't really sure what was happening uh between her and Steve for a while. I mean, I think that was pretty much obvious, like that was very intentional in how they did that um in the whole Scoops ahoy thing. Um, but at the same time, I think I might adapt that story just because I feel like that was a really good opportunity for them to develop more tension between Steve and Nancy and Robin even more. Um, and so maybe you know, I don't know.
SPEAKER_04:I might adapt that making Robin into like an actual love interest for Steve.
SPEAKER_02:I think that could have been really interesting.
SPEAKER_04:For sure, for sure. I know what mine is for sure, and it's gotta be season two, right? Like, I mean, it's gotta be from season two.
SPEAKER_01:Are we talking about eleven storyline? Yes, 11 storyline.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and really, I so I I've we've talked about this a lot before, at least I have with Ben. I don't know about Michael, but um, just the whole entire thing. I wasn't even mad about the direction that season two went. I just think that it needed to be a two-parter. Like they they had a cool story that they had kind of developed, and then it felt like the you know, producers or whoever well, I guess the the Duffer brothers are the producers, but whoever whoever's higher up above them was like, Hey, you gotta wrap this up this season. Like, you can't leave this hanging by a thread at the end of this season. Like, we gotta find some way to bring some closure to it. And that's kind of what it felt like to me is that like they could have just been like, All right, we're gonna leave this in a huge cliffhanger, and I wish they would have, like, because it felt that way coming into the last episode that, well, you know, the the mind flare is kind of coming into town, it looks like it's gonna tear things up, and I think it should just been like, all right, that's that's the end. Now we gotta try and figure out like what what are they gonna do? You know, Elle's way out in Chicago doing things, nobody's really the party's all split up and doing all kinds of different stuff, and just make it look like kind of I don't know, lean into the tension more. Yeah, and I'm I'm knocking the the mics a lot tonight. But you're getting passionate. I know, I'm getting very passionate about this, but yeah, no, just like leaning into the tension a little bit more into the the darker tone and like make us think like uh maybe maybe somebody's not gonna make her something bad is is really going to happen, but instead they kind of brought it to an end. Just like, all right, hey, you know, Elle gets to have her sacrificial moment and all that. But I don't know. That's my that's well see.
SPEAKER_01:I thought you were gonna talk about what's what's the other the leader of the gang out in Chicago. Yeah, I can't remember her name. Well she's another number, I know, but I can't remember which one. Okay. Well, she has a number eight, but I don't know what her name was. Yeah, we'll call her eight for now. But like, see, I feel a little bit better about that storyline now that we've had season four and like duh dial dove a little bit more into like the backstory of the program that created her and Levin. But yeah, I still I I still do think that we could have explored that relationship a little bit more and yeah, just yeah, what uh Levin could have been doing out there in Chicago with them.
SPEAKER_04:It does make me wonder, especially like how they they took it to like they did come and bring it back to Chicago a little bit in that way, that you get to know about the program. Do you think that we'll see that's another thing that could come up in season five? Like, do you think that we'll see those those characters make a comeback potentially?
SPEAKER_00:I could see that because I think in a lot of finales, quote unquote, the shows will bring the whole gang back together. Like that, you know, in order to defeat the big baddie, whoever that might be, you kind of need like this joining together of all these different like groups. Uh I'm thinking of like endgame, obviously, is like the the biggest example. So I definitely could see it.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I think that I think like you said, uh you pretty much need to bring everyone in for this one. And I think that I think that's definitely what's coming. Do you think so? Uh absolutely. I think that I think that that is just perfect for Stranger Things for an 80s an 80s set mm show to just pull in every character, just bring it all together, um, and wrap it up. But to your guys' point of like changing the plots of you know, like season two or like later seasons, I just think that like we've kind of discussed that the the the first season was really, really good in terms of story building, but then it just kind of started to fall off. They started to get a little less dark and then get a little looser on who they let live, and just uh yeah, I think that I think that they really need to do a good job of coming back to their roots from season one and just just go ham. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I I think this is typical of when you're given, you know, it was written just for one season initially, and just like you when you're given like, okay, this is all we've got, and then like you're kind of forced to expand upon that and make it bigger and more dramatic or whatever, like you start to get outside of what it was originally. And so, yeah, hopefully it's something they can get back to. Not that I'm disappointed in anything so far, but like, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Is that what it was? It was written for one season. I thought they did have a a multi-season art, no? Maybe not, but I just don't know.
SPEAKER_01:I was I I can't recall, but I feel like it would probably I mean it could have been one of those things where I mean my guess is that it was something that for Netflix, like in the way they do things, like they usually give you one season to see how well it does, and then they'll give you more. Because like we've seen plenty of other Netflix shows fall off after a season, so sure, sure, yeah. Yeah, could be wrong, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, we're about out of time. Ben, why don't you ask one more question and then we'll wrap it up?
SPEAKER_01:Oh wow, okay. Um, I mean, we've talked a lot about uh predictions for the series, and okay. If you had to spend a day in Hawkins with one of the characters, who would it be? Alive or dead? So you can bring Eddie in if you want.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um honestly, I think I would want to spend it with Dustin. Okay. Yeah, I think it would be so much fun. I think he would show me around the place and then we would probably just geek out over all the things that he's invented or is building, probably his radio. You'll probably have to tell me about his girlfriend. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, it would just it would just be so awesome. I think it would be a great time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's that's a great answer. And to circle back real quick, uh, Ben, yes, it was only originally supposed to be one season. Yeah, really.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. Again, like I said, I've I just feel like that's generally how Netflix does things. Like, we'll give you a season, like you can leave it open, but like we don't we can't guarantee you you're getting more. So yeah. All right.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you want to wrap us up, Ben?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so I mean, obviously we know what the next big thing in this series is. I do have to ask you though, you did mention that they teased potentially some spin-offs. What have you seen about that?
SPEAKER_02:Um I haven't seen anything recently, but it did seem like um there was a lot of teasing before the season five ramp up started to happen. Um, that potentially there was something coming um down the line of just some spin-off. So I wonder, I don't know if that's going to play into how season five pans out, okay, just so they can have something spin off, but I guess we'll have to see.
SPEAKER_04:I'll have to look up. I I'm I'm almost certain that there is one that's already in production and they are working towards, and I think. It has something to do with the lab. Um, but I'll have to I'll double check that and make sure I got my facts.
SPEAKER_00:Vecna prequel. Yeah, that's nice. Yeah. Yeah. Nice.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Great. Well, Isaiah, thank you so much. Really appreciate your insights. Thank you, Isaiah. Thanks for sitting down. And I uh this is another topic. I feel like we could sit here and talk for another hour about various things, and maybe we will off air. But regardless, we super appreciate you coming on and uh sharing all your wisdom and passion for the fandom with us. So yeah, um, Michael, why don't you tease uh what's coming up next for us?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. So episode 13, we're having the uh the the great Jerry Lozier coming on to talk about adventure time. So I have no background adventure time. I'm super excited to learn more. Um so stay tuned for that.
SPEAKER_01:Just realizing we should have timed this out, so this was episode 11, not 12. Darn it.
SPEAKER_00:Oh man. That's okay. I I cannot live with myself.
SPEAKER_04:Technically, the first episode was a dream. It's the 11th true episode. That's exactly right. That's exactly right.
SPEAKER_00:All right. Thank you guys. Yep, have a great time, everybody.
SPEAKER_04:Thanks for joining us on this episode of Fandom of Fandoms. If you had fun, be sure to follow us at FOF.pod on Instagram and threads and at fandomoffandoms on YouTube. Make sure to leave a rating or review wherever you get your podcast. It really helps new fans find the show. Lastly, if you've got a fandom you want us to cover, shoot us an email at fandomofpodcast at gmail.com. Until next time, keep being passionate, keep being curious, and keep being a fan.
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