The Reel Rejects - STRANGER THINGS Season 2, Episodes 3 & 4 REVIEW!!!

Episode Date: June 14, 2025

DUSTIN FINDS A NEW PET!! Stranger Things Full Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   With Release Dates for Stranger Things 5 Freshly Announced, Tara & Andrew RETURN for their Stranger Thing...s Season 2 Episodes 3 & 4 Reaction, Recap, Commentary, Analysis, & Spoiler Review!! Visit https://huel.com/rejects to get 15% off your order Join Tara Erickson & Andrew Gordon as they dive deeper into Hawkins’ 1984 horrors in Netflix’s sci-fi thriller Stranger Things from the Duffer Brothers. In Episode 3: “The Pollywog,” Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo, Prank Encounters) befriends a mysterious creature he nicknames “D’Art,” hiding it in his trash can bunker—only to discover it’s more than a harmless pollywog. Meanwhile, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown, Enola Holmes) continues to test the limits of her telekinesis under Hopper’s watchful eye (David Harbour, Hellboy), and Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers (Heathers, Black Swan) and Sean Astin’s Bob Newby (The Goonies, Stranger Things season 2) make hopeful plans at her new repair shop, unaware of the Upside Down’s creeping reach. In Episode 4: “Will the Wise,” the stakes escalate: Eleven and Hopper’s cabin retreat reveals her growing sense of purpose, Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton, Locke & Key) and Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer, Yes, God, Yes) track a slug-like parasite to the school lab in a tense showdown, and Bob’s heroic science-fair demo turns life-saving when the creature strikes. Don’t miss the chilling lab corridor ambush and the heart-pounding slug attack on the school’s electrical grid—two of the season’s most talked-about, highly searched moments. Follow Andrew Gordon on Socials:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MovieSource Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/agor711/?hl=en Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Agor711 Follow Tara Erickson: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TaraErickson Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/taraerickson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/thetaraerickson Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash brown and a small iced coffee for five bucks plus tax. Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. Thank you to Hewell for sponsoring this video. More on them in just a bit. We love you guys. Shall we go? We shall do it. I think we should go. We should do it.
Starting point is 00:00:30 Wow. Okay, guys, if you're listening to us on Apple or Spotify, give us a five-star rating. Obviously, leave a comment. Thank you to prep or for helping edit down these highlights. Don't forget to subscribe, like, and... Right. Ring the bell. You know what to do. Okay. Tell us, Andrew. How do you feel now? Incredible two episodes. I... It's just incredible. Like, I really was... Oh, hand me the remote. I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:01:00 I got to make sure there's no Patreon. Oh, right, right. Now, I was just going to say, I think, like, the way they're able to subvert expectations, like for D'Artagnan, for instance, like, totally. So adorable and cute, but also there was that other suspicious side of me. I'm like, I don't trust anything in this show. You know what I mean? And the reveal, which I didn't want it to be Mew, Miu, or Miamio, whatever the cat's name is.
Starting point is 00:01:25 Yeah, it was Mium, though. Oh, no. I know. But, like, I was just hoping. I was kind of hoping that we're going to be able to go the route of because Dustin has been nourishing this thing and like since it's basically been kind of born that he's going to be able to not control it per se but have that that kind of like a trainer. Yeah, yeah, but have that foundation like from a mom to a child or a father to a child type of type of relationship and it wouldn't go into its natural instincts. and I thought maybe we would go that territory. But again, I like that subversion.
Starting point is 00:02:01 But we're going to go into the Patreon questions and then I'll display my feelings on these two great episodes. Yeah. I'll read the first one. Jessica Houser, at this point, besides 11, who's your favorite and least favorite character? Why? We kind of did answer those the other week,
Starting point is 00:02:18 but we'll go and do it again. You had a great one for Lease Favorite, the Dad. I thought that was great. Least favorite's definitely got to be that douchebag stepbrother. He is a piece. He's a great actor, by the way. He's a great performance. He's a piece of crap, though.
Starting point is 00:02:32 Like, the way he's controlling, he's just a dick all around. And I don't know if there's a lot of redeeming qualities, although I felt that way about Steve in season one. Although, this guy is just, he's fur, he's further than Stephen's season one. I'd probably do with you on, like, those favorite. Fur favorite. That's so are there so many. I love so many characters in the show. I think I said Hopper in season one.
Starting point is 00:02:57 You know what? I'm going to go with Jonathan because I know he loves Nancy but he doesn't have ulterior motives and like he's helping her out as a friend when he could like have those ulterior motives. So again, I could go with so many different characters. But for right now, I'm just going to go with Jonathan. Yeah. Maybe I'll go with Will at this point. I mean, that's sort of a weird poll because I mean, I'm always going to be a Dustin fan.
Starting point is 00:03:27 But Will is doing such a good job right now that I really like seeing him on screen. Leath favorite would probably be the same as Andrew, if not. It's weird because, like, Paul Reiser don't like him, but he told Nancy and Jonathan the truth. They actually showed him the monster. And I'm like, okay. Weird. I feel like he told them part of the truth, what they needed to hear, you know? Yeah, but I'm just still like.
Starting point is 00:03:57 yeah I don't know I don't really trust that guy I don't trust that guy so right now I I would go with him for sure um all right you want to take the next one yeah thank you for the question by the way Jessica appreciate you being a patreon AJ Rose AJ thank you for the question AJ asks how are you enjoying the Halloween elements sprinkled into this season for me it's what makes season two
Starting point is 00:04:21 my favorite thematically hmm Oh, yes. Sorry, I was like, anyway, yes, I am obviously a huge fan of Halloween. I have two black cats. They are my Halloween kitties. I flip my entire apartment. I mean, just go to my Instagram, go to October, because I don't post a lot.
Starting point is 00:04:46 In October, I'm a freak about it. So I do love everything that they've sprinkled in, especially like old school stuff, seeing the old school candy, old school snacks, old school, like pumpkin decorations. and the school is really fun. So I think it's added actually a lot. And especially when you get to see them dress up as like old school Ghostbusters, that's a lot of fun as well.
Starting point is 00:05:07 I think it's really just the nostalgia of the 80s that we get to see because of the Halloween was such a smart idea because then they could, they already do such a good job with set design for the 80 specifically. But to add Halloween into that,
Starting point is 00:05:21 they knew what they were doing and being like, oh, hell yeah, this is going to be fun. Absolutely. Halloween is also my favorite season of the year and holiday only because it jumpstarts my three favorite holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. So to see stuff like decorated all over and sprinkled in thematically, like makes me jump for joy because that's my favorite time a year just in general. So yeah, seeing them in the costumes and also seeing at a time that is my favorite time of my favorite decade when it comes to music, when it comes to visual, like I'm obsessed with this season so far. obviously the show as well but yes that's a great question and I like Tara we are loving
Starting point is 00:06:00 and also too John and myself we go to haunted houses throughout the year we try to get Tara to come but Tara gets scared enough as it is on the channel so she's like if you go past 10 1030 I'm all right but I'm not going yeah but like yeah seriously scary scary crap and Halloween they're like wanted me to said haunted house at 11 p.m I'm like bra I've been working all day I'm setting the schedule for you to work, already, I'm in bed. No, let's go at a reasonable hour. I'm like, all right, understandable.
Starting point is 00:06:30 All right, next question. Jules are the kids' actors in Stranger Things always impress me so much. I totally agree with you. What are your thoughts on them? Also, separate note for the RR reactors who've seen them all. Are you going to react to the teaser
Starting point is 00:06:43 that dropped at them last week? No, we are not. I do, I avoid all of the trailers. I do not want any spoils. um so we're going to steer clear of that um they have already react some of the already are our people have reacted to it so you'll see that up uh i think very soon like today Aaron and John there we there we go and obviously what I said even I think after episode one or two that the reason this show has succeeded in the way that it has is because the Duffer brothers and the producers did a perfect job on casting. Specifically in these last few episodes, it would be Will. Will's outstanding. I would be, I'm sad if he never, if he didn't get nominated for an Emmy. He has done such a wonderful job. He is very realistic at being emotional and also still feeling very, very grounded. But at
Starting point is 00:07:44 the same time, even when you look at Max, Lucas, Mike, they all throughout these episodes, they get in in fights they have to tell each other how they feel like you're not inviting me what the heck is wrong with you and you believe all of them right it's it's grounded it's not like okay and actually remember you got to be mad at him and it's like it feels you know when it feels fake we know that with any of these guys it doesn't they're all really grounded and i think that that is a real big strong factor for the duffer brothers they do a really good job at that even in bringing in new characters right like paul riser and bob great actors they know who like what they're doing if you're going to mess with the series that the public and audience already are obsessed with and love when you bring in
Starting point is 00:08:33 a new character they better be effing good just like the guy we hate i don't know his name he's got a cool car we hate him great actor max his stepbrother yeah i don't even remember his name either was let's just call him uh mullah douchebag but anyways yeah in regards to the kids i fully endorse everything you just said, Will and these last two episodes absolutely killed it with his performance, especially the emotional scenes. It's not, I don't care what age you are. That was impressive to watch. And I also think Millie Bobby Brown, when she was, you know, envisioning her mother and the emotion that she had to bring in the intensity in those scenes as well, really good. And also when she was lashing out, because again, she really is a fish out of water.
Starting point is 00:09:16 She didn't grow up in a normal circumstance. She was abused mentally, physically, and in the septic tank and all that stuff so uh and the sense of isolation she's had to go through in the scenes because she's not she's just really only interacting a lot of times either by herself or with j uh with hopper or obviously with her mom in that one scene but a lot of times she's acting by herself i think that's very hard to do so because you got to imagine you know someone either someone else out there or you know imagine a situation in your head and and react to that yeah so i'm just you are correct the casting is phenomenal and also I want to give credit to the director Sean Levy
Starting point is 00:09:54 and Duffer Brothers and all the other directors that are directing throughout the first two seasons at least they know how to they know what works well with these actors to get the best performances out of them as well it's that's why it's a collaboration yeah you want to take next one I will take it's Emma thank you for the question by the way the question from Emma is I haven't seen the show
Starting point is 00:10:16 in a while so I don't remember exactly what's happening at this point but if you guys were in the show and saw a glimpse of the things that are happening would you take it upon yourself to investigate more like the main cast has or would you leave it alone and pretend you never saw it would your answer be different depending if you were a kid teenager or adult that's an interesting question i would try i mean depending on i mean as a i mean as a kid i guess i don't know if i would go on about as an adult I would probably be active and try to figure out what the hell is going on. I doubt as a kid I would, especially in L.A.
Starting point is 00:10:54 It's not like a small little town where you can go out and about anywhere like this. But as an adult, I would probably investigate. I'd definitely be scared. Shadles for sure. But I definitely would investigate and try to find out like the mystery and weirdness about what is happening. But that's a great question. What about you, Tara? I think definitely as an adult, I would get into it and be like, what the F?
Starting point is 00:11:17 Only because if you're saying if we're in the show, I am directly associated with three to four people, my friends, who are now directly associated to the freaking monster, right? Will's like, he's spacing out. He's seeing the monster. We're like all real close to it. And there's some absolute shite that has gone down. So I think normally I would want to say like as a kid, I'm not sure that I was that would be investing. investigating it, but honestly, I think I would be if I was as close as those friends are, I would be, I would get into the juice for sure. Yeah. I would be in it for, for sure. All right, Morgan Quimby, what lingering questions or mysteries from season one are you most excited to see answered or developed further in season two? I'm really enjoying your reactions to the show. It's one of my favorites and I love reliving it, watching your reactions. We are having so much fun too. Morgan. that yeah lingering questions or mysteries from season one you're most excited as he answered or developed further in season two i don't know about lingering questions or mysteries from season one i think right as of right now the most i don't know why but the thing that keeps going on my head i want to know more about bob he was also totally absent from that last episode yeah i want to know if he's someone that is nefarious is he working for the government agency is he one of those slug things that can maybe turn human and is
Starting point is 00:12:47 evolved i don't know but i love that i don't know too but that's like the biggest mystery in my head right now honestly i want to see what is going on in will what is this monster and how can he control will to be like he likes it cold in here i want to know that for sure that's freaky diki also um i feel like hmm the mystery like questions i guess it's more a question about will it is it's not really a mystery since we're trying to solve it we realize hopper can now get to like underneath but i wonder why it chose will i'm i'm curious about the whole will thing i i just am like why him i just you know he's got a connection to the other world because he was there for so long maybe yeah i don't i don't i don't
Starting point is 00:13:44 no man um i would be my just natural guess but i guess we'll have to wait and see that is definitely a mystery i also i'm wondering what happened to max's parents because she now's with that doucheerama where he's like well we're family now like and he's such an a hole mola douche that i'm like what happened to your parents why do you have to stay with him he also grabbed her really hard and like for me i'm like oh i freaking kill you like that my i like i'm like, nope. So I'm intrigued to see what's going on there. Yeah. We'll have to see. It's already bad enough. He's a douchebag, but he's controlling. He's possessive and he's a dick. Yeah. Like those are three horrible combos. I hate him. Yeah. Thank you again, Morgan, for the question.
Starting point is 00:14:29 Much appreciated. Well, hello again, Hewel, today's video sponsor. Lately, I've been loving talking about Hewle because I've used him as an excuse to give you guys updates on my fitness journey. Back in January of this year, I was 218 pounds. Last time I weighed myself, I'm down to 179, but this time I decided to take a fancy picture. Close to the mirror. Good lighting. And I did have to flex, but I'm making progress. I'm almost at the six-pack.
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Starting point is 00:16:30 Try hughal today for a complete nutrition bottled. All right. Last one from Kev B. Thank you, Kev B for being a Patreon and the question. how did you feel about Dustin keeping dart as a pet even after things started getting weird? And if you were in his shoes, do you think you would have done the same or come clean sooner? At the end of the day, like, yeah, it's definitely a little frustrating that he did that, but he's also, he's a kid. He saw something that he perceived to be acute and he didn't want it.
Starting point is 00:16:59 Like, I think he's an empathetic person just in general. He didn't want to see it get hurt. And that's how he perceived it. He perceived it as something that was harmless at first. if he would have known it was going to chew off meow meow or whatever the cat's name was he wouldn't have done that of course he wouldn't have hit it from his friends and i think you know hopper said it best too well like there's consequences to our actions and he unfortunately learned that the hard way i'm i'm anxious to see how we're going to start the next episode because we saw it like scowling at him does it have this association with him like you are like my father or mom kind of thing because it fed him the three musketeers that he loves can he control it with the three musketeers but I'm sure he's very regretful. And again, while it probably is frustrating for terror myself and you, the eye, and he's a kid at the end of the day.
Starting point is 00:17:47 Like, we make mistakes as adults, so I can't, like, fault him like crazy for that. Right. I think that he should come clean. I agree. At the point when they're in the freaking trash, right, they have been looking for DART for like a full 24 hours and then the other half day. They're into the next day now. And they're like, we got to find art and we got to go to find Will, right?
Starting point is 00:18:14 And he tops out of the trash and I'm like, I thought at that point that Dustin would just go, all right, guys, like I kept him, but I didn't want him to get hurt or whatever. But here's the hard part. I think like when you're a kid, it's hard to come clean because then you also think I've been hiding this secret from them. And then I think you just double down and hide it even more because you're too embarrassed to bring it up as a kid. right versus as a as a possible like teenager 20s they'll probably a little hard but as an adult you might just be like guys listen like here's the juice right but for him
Starting point is 00:18:52 I feel like at this point because it's gone on so freaking long Lucas is in the trash that I feel like Dustin as a kid you're like I got to double down I can never tell them that I know where dark is so I feel bad for him and it's especially bad because he just ate his freaking cat and he might eat him i don't know he looks like the big ass monster that that 11 killed at the end of episode one i mean he's the he's one of the main characters so i i don't have a fear of him being eaten even though it like was perceived that way i think he possibly can control him with the job we'll see i'm we'll see we shall see but uh yeah anyways um those were all great questions yeah great job guys seriously do you have
Starting point is 00:19:37 any other thoughts on the show? Yeah, just I got to be brief because I have to get out of here extremely soon. So I will say great two episodes. There's so many times where my expectations are, I know I use the word subverted so many times, but that's good. I don't like personally, it's a pet peeve of mine to be predictable. And even if stuff is predictable, as long as I'm loving the characters in the story and I'm connecting with things or being scared in, in horror situations, like I can accept that.
Starting point is 00:20:04 But the fact that it's able to do all those things and, like, like have me on my toes in terms of I wasn't expecting that, but that was also done in a satisfying way that helped satisfy the in terms of the story, like moving the story forward and also giving the characters arcs and giving them development, developing the relationships. And I think this show just always excels at that. Specifically in these two episodes, I really love, one thing I do want to point out,
Starting point is 00:20:30 I really loved the nonlinear storytelling we got with seeing how Hopper and L met up because we saw that point obviously at the end of last season in the final episode where he left the ego for her and then again the way they chose to edit that with a nonlinear storytelling because that is you can if you do it wrong it's really an easy way to F up and I love how they did that but also we see how the relationship was blossoming at the beginning of that to kind of deteriorating and it's interesting too because I think I pointed it out in the first two episodes his daughter Sarah she passed away at such a young age so this is very new for him as well he's he has never had a teenage daughter and also again so it's kind of like they're
Starting point is 00:21:12 both fishes out of water in in that respect in that relationship and also too i like thematically how she was with even though there were times where she was isolated because you know the kids were at school and all but she was with the the crew most of the last season whereas now she's really dealing with a lot of isolation when jim is not around and even when he is around just the way like because he's treating her like a parent you know and I mean, and when he's lashing out of her or vice versa. So I just, to your point, I think that just it grounds the show. It's a sci-fi fantasy horror show, but these situations still feel so real. And I'm just, again, I'm so anxious for every time the show ends. I'm like, I can't
Starting point is 00:21:55 wait for the next episode. That's a sign of a great show when you want to watch immediately the next episode. Yeah, I think the main thing about this show is that when you're an audience member and you can predict something but it's a bad story or a bad script it's not as fun but in this um even if the when they give you the little clues you're like oh i think it might lead us here they write this so intelligently that when it leads you to that place there's still a bit of a twist even when you get there right it continues um to keep you on the edge of your seat and sort of um subvert your expectations which is a lot of fun and I think just overall I mean I there's zero issues with story who who did somebody grab a weapon in here who did the thing will he grabbed the mop or was that
Starting point is 00:22:49 Mike might have been my they know that when the kid is in danger even if it's an 11 year old I watch movies all the time where it's a 26 year old and she's going to to sneak on a serial murder and she doesn't grab a weapon. They do things smartly. They make their characters smart. They make them great actors. There's zero. There's nothing wrong with the story, the writing, or the direction, which means you got to hit
Starting point is 00:23:20 on your hands, which is why everybody loves it and you want to move on in the next episodes. We love you guys. Leave a comment. Leave a like. Do all the stuff. Go to Patreon. Get a ring the bell shirt. Get a real reject shirt.
Starting point is 00:23:31 the juice. We love you guys. See you on the next one. Later, guys. Kevin Meek. Look, look, look, look. I would say right now, we all know Millie Bobby Brown's an adult. That's right. So. He's out here snubbing people at conventions. Kevin Meek, I think it's time right now. You lock that shit down. It's appropriate now to do so. You go to a convention. You make sure. you're able to get an autograph. You charm her a little bit.
Starting point is 00:24:07 And then next thing you know, when she's walking to her hotel, you put her a bag over her head, you kidnap her, put her in the trunk of your car. Yes. You drive to Atlanta. And then she wakes up in a cabin where you're going to have a nice, pleasant dinner candles. Of course, she'll be tied down at the wrist there.
Starting point is 00:24:28 Very Texas chainsaw. but you know she's kind of a freak she grew up as a child actor they're weird this is what they want this is what they want and she's genuinely falling in love with you
Starting point is 00:24:42 which is making it really unattractive for you honestly yeah you gotta get some psych about on that you're a fan of the chase and uh next thing you know you're like i don't think this is gonna work out now she's obsessing over you oh no and planning your kidnap to woo you to her heart but it doesn't work that way
Starting point is 00:25:00 No, guys don't like to get kidnapped. That's true. I don't like it for the girl to make the first kidnap move. I don't like it. As an expert in psychology, primarily women, I can tell you right now, this is 100% going to work. So, yeah, you didn't do anything creepy. No. You just kidnap the girl.
Starting point is 00:25:17 Never, always. There's lines. That's all you did. Didn't cross the boundary. Millie Bobby Brown did, though. Frickin pervert. How could you? Boy, cutting your show now.
Starting point is 00:25:29 Freaking creep. Shame on you, Millie Bobby Brown. Shame on you. Justice for Kevin. Justice for Kevin. I'm sorry, buddy.

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