Stranger Things 3 Episode 1 Review – “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?”

Stranger Things 3 Episode 1 “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?”
Written by The Duffer Brothers
Directed by The Duffer Brothers
Premiered July 4, 2019 on Netflix

Arriving some 20-plus months after the end of “Chapter Nine: The Gate”, Stranger Things 3‘s season premiere feels exponentially bigger than Stranger Things and Stranger Things 2 combined. Some of this is obviously because there’s a prologue that brings the Soviet Union into the fold, turning what was once a series about a small town and its secret government lab into a globe-spanning story of government conspiracies, the malevolent powers lingering in The Upside Down, and a never-ending pastiche of ’80s references and product placement; but it also comes from everything in “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy” feeling heightened, a little bigger, a little brighter, and a little louder than what came before.

With so much going on, it would be easy for the season premiere to feel cumbersome under the weight of its expansive efforts – and yet, “Suzie, Do You Copy?” is a remarkably nimble, focused episode, able to both effectively remix the tone of Stranger Things into its new form, but also reground itself in some of the core emotional journeys of the series, in a very rare example of a prestige television show enjoying the best of both worlds.

Set against the backdrop of summer 1985, Stranger Things 3 returns to a very different world for Hawkins; with the local mall, the Starcourt, quickly becoming the center of the town’s culture and identity, “Suzie, Do You Copy?” reintroduces us to its setting and characters, all of whom are growing and changing in awkward, unwieldy ways (though a few actors are starting to look too old for their age, it is befitting the quick, gangly expansionism of ’80s capitalism in a very visual way). At first glance, it can be hard to see beyond the pastiche of masturbatory (slash-sponsored) nostalgia and occasionally overwrought costuming of “Suzie, Do You Copy?” – but under the surface of the show’s now-familiar blueprint for season premieres lies one of the show’s more thematically rich hours, exploring the slow, awkward maturity of its main characters, and how it reflects the very changing fabric of American suburbia itself at the time.

Make no mistake,  “Suzie, Do You Copy?” is still very much an episode of Stranger Things – but there’s an unexpected undercurrent of mature storytelling (including its violence, perhaps the most surprising single change), laying a strong foundation for the show’s new (and hopefully) evolved identity to emerge as the season continues.

There are two major new elements introduced in “Suzie, Do You Copy?,” both pertaining to the continued evolution of Hawkins, Indiana, and its young constituents, and each with their own seismic impact on the setting, and tone, of Stranger Things. For the town, the introduction of a new shopping mall marks the end of capitalism’s golden age for small business; every business (including Bob’s Radio Shack) in town is closing, while the mall thrives both as a place of commerce, and the social center of every young teenager’s life. And though the men in power around town are too busy patting each other on the back or using Not Gary Busey as a mouthpiece for nonchalant ’80s misogyny, “Suzie, Do You Copy?” reflects that dichotomy in meaningful ways, large and small, through its characters and neon-tinged version of Hawkins.

Where “Suzie, Do You Copy?” captures this idea most effectively is in the evolving emotional tenor of our beloved Hawkins crew: as the town awkwardly fumbles its way to maturity, the same is happening to the team, whose relationships are growing more complicated as romantic relationships develop, marking the end of the group’s innocent early dynamics. Like the show itself, the party has grown bigger, more diverse, and has experienced an exponential increase in hormones – and this leads to any number of expected conflicts and compromises, none more entertaining than watching Jim Hopper try to figure out how to talk to his supernaturally-powered teenage daughter about her constant make-out sessions with Mike.

Though “Suzie, Do You Copy?” is ostensibly an hour of checking in and catching up (bookended by two ominous scenes, because – well, duh, it’s a Stranger Things premiere), there’s careful attention to the shifts forming in its characters and its town, and the two-sided coin each of them represent. And to its credit, Stranger Things is able to convey the wrinkles these complexities throw into the fabric of the town and its relationships: while the show’s 80’s references begin to feel a little pandering and self-serving by the time “Suzie, Do You Copy?” gets through the last of its 1,371 brand logos, it keeps from feeling cheap or stale with the careful attention it pays to its smaller character moments, a series of richly textured scenes pushing the crew forward to new and exciting places.

Smartly, the much-hyped premiere does slow down long enough to linger on a few meaningful moments – particularly with its older leads, from Steve’s disappointment in his new dead-end service career at Scoops Ahoy (where he strikes out with the town’s local cuties, much to the amusement of his sardonic co-worker Robin), to Joyce’s reluctance to engage with Jim romantically, after they bond over some good ol’ advice on how to parent a teenage girl. The longing and sadness in both scenes is palpable, giving the episode a much needed emotional undercurrent beyond “awww, look at the kids growing up in front of our eyes!” – and furthering the idea of the changing times as a double-edged sword, in different and interesting ways.

There is still some classically heavy-handed material, though: like its overindulgence in retro logos and needle drops, Stranger Things 3 wades into some more superficial material with Nancy and her new journalism career . While giving Nancy a job at the paper certainly makes an easier, more natural avenue to build out the underlying government conspiracies at play – and comes with the fun introduction of Nancy sneaking out of Jonathan’s bedroom and sprinting to her house to get picked up by him, since they both work at the paper – the introduction of the personalities and workplace of the Hawkins Post is a bit ham-fisted in its attempts to make its gender dynamics era-appropriate… or more importantly, compelling.

With some time and care, Nancy’s story could blossom into a strong subplot for Stranger Things 3; but between the Russians trying to get into the Upside Down (which leads to a huge, visually impressive accident in the season’s 1984-set prologue), and whatever the Mind Flayer is doing with all those rat guts, Stranger Things may have other, more dramatic priorities that will reduce her journalistic arc to a series of cliches. At least, her penchant for investigations and interest in the Starcourt Mall centers her within the heart of the season’s main stories, tethered closer to the main arc of the season in ways – ways that will hopefully be more impactful than the underwhelming “Sad for Barb” arc of season two.

Taken as a whole, “Suzie, Do You Copy?” is an in incredibly strong opening salvo for a series returning to a new level of cultural significance and dramatic potential – and the increased expectations and stakes that come along with it, something Stranger Things 3 appears ready to take head-on. Though a larger story could drown out the show’s well-developed relationship dynamics, the whirlwind of changes brought to the town and its people offers an engaging foundation for the series to build on, something more than the nostalgia porn it constantly falls back on in some of its thinner moments. Like the ham radio Dustin sets up to try and talk to his (maybe imaginary) girlfriend, the structure of Stranger Things 3‘s opening salvo is comfortably ramshackle, and surprisingly durable, constructed such that (again, like the long-range radio) it might just stumble across something mysteriously powerful along the way.

Grade: A-

Other thoughts/observations:

• Welcome to Stranger Things 3 reviews! We are only a week and change away from the premiere of Stranger Things 5, so we’ll be going through this season and Stranger Things 4 at a pretty rapid pace. And here are links to Stranger Things and Stranger Things 2 reviews if you’re still catching up!
  
• Well, it certainly looks to be a bad season for Billy, who begins on a high of being the domineering, hot lifeguard at the town pool (even the soundtrack stops when he blows his whistle, or flashes his pearly whites while flirting with Karen), and ends his day getting pulled into the basement presumably full of dead rats and the Mind Flayer.
  
• In the episode’s prologue, we see a Russian military officer kill a scientist, and threaten another with having one year to open a gate to the Upside Down. This job better have some good benefits.
  
• How the group greets Dustin (by hiding and using Eleven to control all his cool ’80s electronic toys) is adorable. Also, we can all agree Dustin’s ‘slammer’ invention is just a hammer-based vibrator, right?
  
• Can never go wrong with a Pasty Cline needle drop! Or a well-placed Foreigner one, if we’re being honest with ourselves.
  
• I find Joyce mourning Bob to be meaningful and convincing, but I also think the hand-drawn picture of SuperBob is incredibly corny and a cop-out for a character who doesn’t really get much of a character arc. Her reminiscing of them watching Cheers together is a great moment, though.
  
• Seeing the first scene of Dustin’s Ultimate Ham Radio only reminds me of the last one… those who know, know.
  
• A rather subdued introduction for Maya Hawke’s Robin, who will, of course, go on to become one of the show’s most beloved characters.
  
• Anyone hoping Karen Wheeler would fully embrace her role as Hot Mom of Hawkins will be happy with the developments of “Suzie, Do You Copy?”
  
• Jim Hopper smoking while hugging a pillow and trying to figure out how to tell Mike and Eleven to stop making out all the time is everything. So is him finally putting an end to Mike’s disrespect after he calls him a “lying piece of shit”.