Stranger Things – Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?

By starrymag | July 5, 2019

By: Nicole Rodenbaugh

 

 

June 28, 1984 –

Two military scientists each use one key to turn on a device aimed at a portal to the Upside Down. A laser seems to enter the Upside Down and open the portal. Out of the portal appears tendrils reaching out against the wall before the electrical equipment starts sparking and shutdown. A blue spark erupts from the machine incinerating all of the personnel in the room.

Comrade General places his hand on the now reclosed portal. He then orders the scientist to open the portal within a year. The camera pans out of the facility to show a frozen landscape and Russian Flag.

One Year Later…

Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard) are making out and having fun while Hopper (David Harbour) is watching TV. He yells after catching a glimpse of El and Mike that they need to keep the door 3-inches open. The door slams shut before he can look in. Hopper opens the door and El and Mike are reading magazines with no hint as to what was happening moments ago.

Mike rides his bike away while he talks to El via Walkie Talkie. They make plans for first thing in the morning. Mike rides up to the mall where the gang makes fun of Mike for spending time with El. The group is running through the crowd to Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream Parlor.

Steve (Joe Keery) comes from the back and lets the gang through the back employees entrance of the shop. The gang sneaks through the halls into a movie theater and enter The Day of the Dead showing. Right before the movie starts the electricity cuts to the theater. Steve is also in the dark in the Ice Cream Shop. Then, the entire town has lost power.

Dust and debris start to vibrate forming a whirling tornado of darkness. Then, the power returns to the town. The movie theater is overjoyed except Will (Noah Schnapp). His hair starts to rise on the back of his neck. Visions of his encounter with the Mind-Flayer come to him. Shaken, he continues to watch the movie.

At 9am Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) awake rushing since the power reset the clocks. Nancy jumps out the window and Jonathan runs out of the house. Joyce (Winona Ryder) is sitting for breakfast with Will when she finds a pile of papers and magnets that fell from the fridge.

Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) returns after being at camp for a month and is excited to talk to the gang. He sits on his bed feeling lonely when all his remote control toys turn on and start parading down the hall. He grabs hairspray and follows the toys to his living room. The gang is hiding in his hall and El is controlling the toys. They sneak behind Dustin as he inspects the toys that have now stopped moving. The gang give him a surprise welcome that terrifies him.

At the pool moms are decked out in 80’s swimsuits and sunglasses. Looking glamorous they pose for a new lifeguard coming on shift. Billy (Dacre Montgomery) struts out and all of the ladies notice. He greets the moms and continues to his post as lifeguard.

Hopper is at the General Store talking to Joyce. He is furious about El being Mike’s girlfriend. Joyce thinks Hopper should talk to El and Mike nicely in order to create boundaries. He begs Joyce to do it for him. She refuses yet agrees to assist in planning the conversation.

At The Hawkins Post Nancy rushes in to work. She starts by delivering lunch to her fellow employees. While handing out food to a group in a conference room Nancy overhears their conversation and suggests covering the opening of the mall and the small businesses that have closed as a result. They openly mock her suggestion.

Dustin shows the gang the inventions he made at camp, including Cerebro. It is a battery powered radio tower or per Dustin “The Cadillac of Ham Radios.” He reveals he will use it to speak to his girlfriend, Suzie, in Utah.

Steve is working at Scoops Ahoy and hitting on the customers without success. He reveals to Robin (Maya Hawke) he couldn’t get into Tech School before striking out with a new group of ladies.

Hopper practices his talk with Joyce at the Hardware Store. Joyce promises the talk will work with El and Mike. Hopper asks Joyce out for dinner and she refuses. Hopper looks lovingly at Joyce while she handles a customer.

The gang hikes up a hill to try Cerebro. Mike and El leave saying they have curfew. Dustin is mad since they are lying and he just got back from camp. Will senses darkness as rats run by his feet.

Packs of rats are running to the dark dust spiral-like creature housed in an old warehouse. The rats are exploding upon reaching the room the creature is located.

Back at the pool Billy flirts with Mrs. Wheeler (Cara Buono), making plans to meet at a motel this evening. The gang is at the hilltop assembling Cerebro. Dustin attempts to contact Suzie over the radio. She does not reply.

Joyce returns home from work to an empty house. She reheats dinner and pours wine for herself. She flashes back to memories of Bob and her enjoying an evening together. All of the magnets on the fridge begin shaking and fall off the fridge.

Nancy is working late alone at The Hawkins Post. She receives a phone call stating there are diseased rats.

El and Mike are making out while Hopper rehearses his speech for them. He knocks at the door to talk to them. They sit awkwardly with Hopper. He starts speaking slowly while El and Mike giggle. Hopper gets mad and tells Mike his mom called and there is an issue with his grandma. Hopper and Mike rush to the car where Hopper confides there is nothing wrong with Mike’s grandma. Hopper tells Mike that Mike will listen to him and, if he’s lucky, still allowed to continue dating El.

Dustin and the gang are still on the hill after the sun sets. Suzie still hasn’t replied and Max (Sadie Sink) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) say they don’t think the girl even exists and they run off.  Then, Will tells Dustin he is also leaving and asks to play D&D tomorrow. Will then runs off. Dustin alone hears Russian coming through the radio.

A Russian military man is seen on a radio speaking while scientists stare in awe at the blue glow of machine.

Mrs. Wheeler is getting ready to meet Billy. She takes off her wedding ring and walks by her sleeping husband and child. Billy is on his way to the motel when something crashes into his windshield knocking his car into a spin off the road. Billy’s head is bleeding as he stands over his smoking car hood. He touches residual goo left on his windshield. He hears something and calls out. Billy is torn to the ground and dragged into the warehouse. He holds on but cannot keep his grip and is dragged down further. The creature screeches.