Stranger Things 3 premiere recap: 5 big takeaways

In Netflix Life’s recap of the Stranger Things 3 premiere, we shared our five biggest takeaways from the Stranger Things 3 premiere, “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?”

Stranger Things 3 is officially here! The new season was released on Netflix on July 4, 2019, and we’ve already watched and recapped the first episode of the season, “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?”

Below, we’ve shared our five takeaways from the Stranger Things 3 premiere. Let’s get to it!

1. It’s awesome to be back in Hawkins

After almost two years, we’re finally back with the Hawkins Heroes (and the less heroic people) in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. It’s the summer of 1985, and we’re getting close to the Fourth of July festivities.

In Hawkins, we first catch up with Eleven and Mike, who are kissing in Eleven’s bedroom. Hopper catches them, but Eleven uses her powers to slam the door in his face. When he finally gets the door open, Eleven and Mike are acting as if nothing was happening. It’s driving Hopper crazy, and he makes it known to Joyce a few scenes later.

Shortly after, we see Mike, Lucas, Max, and Will sneaking through Scoops Ahoy, thanks to Steve, and into the movie theater at the Starcourt Mall to watch George Romero’s Day of the Dead. 

The next morning, Nancy and Jonathan are late for work at the Hawkins Post, where they are interning for the summer.

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Later in the day, The Party surprises Dustin at his house after he arrives home from science camp for the summer, and he claims to have a girlfriend, Suzie, who is Mormon and lives in Utah. To contact her, he needs help assembling a radio tour outside of Hawkins. Some of The Party help him do that, but when Suzie doesn’t answer, they doubt that Suzie even exists.

Is Suzie real? I have no idea, but it seems like a very Dustin thing to do to make up having a girlfriend.

We also pay a visit to the Hawkins Community Pool where Billy is a lifeguard. Oh, Billy, Billy, Billly, we’ll get to you soon!

Within a matter of minutes, we checked back in with all the main characters of the series, and everyone seems to be doing well, for the most part.

2. The Mind Flayer is back

Earlier in the episode, all the lights go out in Hawkins, stopping the projector at the movie theater. It causes a blackout that lasts for a few seconds.

At the same time, we are taken into the basement of an old warehouse. Is it the one from the trailer? It sure seems like it. Shortly after we arrive there, the rats start acting weird, and there is a lot of spinning and twirling of air that looks exactly like the Mind Flayer from Stranger Things 2.

If there was any doubt this is the Mind Flayer, it doesn’t last long. Immediately after the lights come on, Will gets this chill. The hair raises on the back of his neck just like it did in the second season.

It happens later in the episode, too, when Will is walking through the fields of Hawkins to help set up Dustin’s radio tower.

And, then, the rats are flocking to the warehouse. Is the Mind Flayer drawing them in? It sure looks like that. Then, the rats start exploding!

This is not good for all the people of Hawkins, especially Billy, which we’ll get to.

To make it all more interesting, Nancy gets a call at the Hawkins Post later in the episode from Doris Driscoll about “diseased rats.”

3. Hopper is losing his mind

As referenced earlier, Hopper is having a really hard time being the dad of a teenager, and one with a boyfriend.

After practicing his speech for Eleven and Mike with Joyce, Hopper tries to use it on Eleven and Mike, but it does not go well.

Side note: Why Mike and Eleven being together is bothering Hopper so much doesn’t really make much sense to me, honestly. We’re not that far removed from her losing it from being in isolation and running away. Hopper should understand her want to be around people, especially people she likes a lot like Mike.

Anyway, it all blows up in Hopper’s face, and he loses his cool. He tells Mike that his grandma is sick to get him out of the house, and then Hopper lays into Mike in the car. Basically, he forces Mike to stop seeing Eleven.

This is a great scene between Mike and Hopper. These two have history after Hopper refused to tell Mike that Eleven was still alive for all that time. That history feels very real and fresh in this argument.

Will Mike honor Hopper’s “or else” threats? Or will he continue to see her anyway? This is the dude who called Eleven over the radio every day for almost a full year. He isn’t going to let Hopper stop him!

4. The Russians are trying to open a gate to the Upside Down

Stranger Things 3 begins with the Russians, and that’s not a good thing for those keeping track at home.

As you recall, Stranger Things 2 ended with Eleven locking out the Mind Flayer and saving the people of Hawkins. As long as the gate was closed, the Mind Flayer couldn’t get into Hawkins. Prior to the beginning of Stranger Things 2, though, the Russians were trying to open a gate to the Upside Down in Hawkins.

The series opens, and it’s June 28, 1984, roughly four months before we catch back up with heroes in Stranger Things 2, and a team of Russian scientists are using a giant machine to open a gate to the Upside Down. We know that because we see the tentacles of the Upside Down spreading out of the hole once it was opened.

The machine breaks, and the head scientist in charge is killed. A new scientist is put in charge, and he has one year to open the portal to the Upside Down. And, that brings us to the summer of 1985, when Stranger Things 3 really begins…

The Russians will likely be a major factor in this season. But, don’t worry too much, Dustin is on the case. After his friends ditch him at the top of the hill trying to contact Suzie, Dustin intercepts some sort of message from the Russians.

5. Billy is in some serious trouble

Man, Billy is troubleeeee!

Stranger Things 3 starts out well for the bad boy of Hawkins. He’s loved all the ladies at the Hawkins Community Pool, and he even scores a “date” with Karen Wheeler, Mike and Nancy’s mom.

Karen is having second thoughts about meeting up with Billy and cheating on her husband. It doesn’t look like she is going to go through with it after seeing Ted and her other daughter (do we know her name?) sleeping in the chair.

We never get to see what would have happened, and that’s because Billy, while driving fast and feeling himself a little bit on the way to meet Mrs. Wheeler, is hit by something. It causes him to lose control and he crashes into the Brimborn Steelworks warehouse.

After getting out the car and taking a look around, Billy is dragged through the warehouse on his stomach by something that has to have something to do with the Mind Flayer. And, as he is dragged down the stairs, we hear a lot of something, and then the episode ends. That’s the last we see of Billy.

I don’t think Billy is dead after getting dragged down the stairs in the Brimborn warehouse. And, that’s because we’ve seen him in other scenes of the trailers and teasers that weren’t shown in the first episode. It could be a misdirection, though.

We’ll find out more in the second episode of the new season!