This is a Code Red! The Russians have infiltrated Hawkins, bringing The Cold War with them. In this episode, you’ll explore the underground lab with the Scoops Troop and experience the final brawl between Grigori and Hopper.
This is a Code Red! The Russians have infiltrated Hawkins, bringing The Cold War with them. In this episode, you’ll explore the underground lab with the Scoops Troop and experience the final brawl between Grigori and Hopper.
Dan: THIS IS A CODE RED! I REPEAT, THIS IS A CODE RED. THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD, SO MAKE SURE TO WATCH ALL OF STRANGER THINGS 3 ON NETFLIX BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER.
Clip: Who do you work for? SCOOPS, SCOOPS Ahoy. How did you find us? Totally by accident.
Dan: DEEP UNDERNEATH THE SHINY NEW STARCOURT MALL, STEVE HARRINGTON AND HIS COWORKER ROBIN ARE TIED UP, BACK TO BACK, ALL DOPED UP ON SOME RUSSIAN TRUTH SERUM. THEY’RE BEING INTERROGATED BY A SOVIET OFFICER.
Clip: How did you find us? Totally by accident
Shawn: What was exciting for me, on one level, was just if you're doing a story set in the mid '80s, The Cold War would be a part of that.
Dan: THIS IS SHAWN LEVY, HE’S AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND ONE OF THE DIRECTORS OF STRANGER THINGS. HE’S THE GUY THE DUFFER BROTHERS ORIGINALLY BROUGHT THE IDEA TO, HE HELPED THEM PITCH IT TO NETFLIX. AND ONCE THE DUFFERS STARTED OUTLINING SEASON THREE, THEY LET SHAWN KNOW THAT THERE WERE GONNA BRING IN A RUSSIAN PLOTLINE.
Matt: Back when I thought it was still a really outdated idea and a throwback idea, now, oddly topical
Dan: THIS IS MATT, ONE HALF OF THE DUFFER BROTHERS.
Matt: But at the time it seemed almost borderline cheesy. But we always loved the idea of Russians. Then it became, "How do we interweave them? How do we connect them to this mall?" It just grew from there and it just starts to grow.
Dan: IT ENDED UP GROWING INTO AN EPIC PLOT. THE RUSSIANS WOULD BUY UP A BUNCH OF LAND AROUND HAWKINS, USING DEVELOPMENT AS A FRONT. THEY’D BUILD STARCOURT MALL TO DISGUISE AND SUPPLY THEIR SECRET LAB. IN THAT LAB, THEY WERE GONNA TRY TO OPEN THE GATE ELEVEN CLOSED LAST SEASON.
Shawn: We’ve seen the americans and now the soviets try to harness the power that seems to reside in the upside down through that gate.
Dan: IN STRANGER THINGS ONE, WE WATCHED THE AMERICANS USE ELEVEN’S POWERS TO SPY ON THE SOVIETS. BUT THAT WAS PRETTY THE ONLY TIME THEY MENTIONED THE COLD WAR. WE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THE SOVIETS WERE TRYING TO DO WITH THE UPSIDE DOWN, IF ANYTHING. IN SEASON TWO, THERE WERE NO RUSSIANS IN SIGHT. BUT NOW, IN STRANGER THINGS THREE, THE COLD WAR IS HEATING UP.
Shawn: We’ve seen both sides of the cold war now try to tap into it and control it in order to weaponize it. It just felt like a really compelling way to take a real world fear, an actual, authentic, historical, paranoia and to mix it with a very specific kind of Sci-Fi genre plot that is unique to Stranger Things.
Dan: SO WE’RE GONNA TAKE APART THE RUSSIAN PLOTLINE AND SHOW YOU HOW THE WRITERS AND THE CREW PUT IT ALL TOGETHER. WE’RE GONNA MEET THE GREATEST RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE UNIT KNOWN TO MAN, THE SCOOPS TROOP.
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Dan: WE’RE GOING DEEP INSIDE THE UNDERGROUND LAIR.
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Dan: AND WE’RE TAKING A CLOSE LOOK AT THE FINAL FIGHT SCENES BETWEEN HOPPER AND GRE-GOREE.
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Dan: I’M DAN TABERSKI AND THIS IS BEHIND THE SCENES OF STRANGER THINGS 3. EPISODE TWO: THE RED SCARE.
Clip: Suzie is that you?
Dan: IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF STRANGER THINGS THREE, DUSTIN COMES HOME FROM CAMP WITH A COOL NEW HAT, AND ACCORDING TO DUSTIN, AN EVEN COOLER NEW GIRLFRIEND.
THEY WERE GOING HOT AND HEAVY AT CAMP, BUT SHE’S MORMON AND HER PARENTS WOULDN’T APPROVE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP, SO OBVIOUSLY THEY CAN’T USE A STANDARD PHONE LINE TO COO AND SING HARMONIES TOGETHER. INSTEAD, DUSTIN MAKES A CEREBRO RADIO ANTENNA. WHICH IS WAY MORE ROMANTIC THAN SLIDING INTO SOMEONE’S DM, IN MY OPINION. AND WHILE HE’S TURNING THE DIAL, TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT FREQUENCY, HE HEARS THIS PECULIAR MESSAGE.
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Dan: FOR THE GANG FROM STRANGER THINGS GANG, IT’S THE FIRST INKLING THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE UP TO SOMETHING IN HAWKINS.
Curtis: I don’t know about invading, but I was totally scared of nuclear war.
CURTIS GWINN, A CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND WRITER ON STRANGER THINGS, HE REMEMBERS THE COLD WAR. THE THREAT OF A GLOBAL-THERMO NUCLEAR WAR WIPING OUT HIS HOMETOWN... THAT FELT REAL. .
Curtis: I'm the old guy in the room, so I was basically Erica's age. I just knew all that stuff. I know it because I was there.
Dan: I’M ALSO A 70S BABY. SO I REMEMBER IT TOO. BUT FOR CURTIS, THE COLD WAR WAS EVEN CLOSER TO HOME.
Curtis: My father was a Navy guy who was in the Cuban Blockade. He was a naval officer that blocked Russian missiles, Russian boats coming into Cuba. He was part of that. I was raised like, "Right. We're going to go to war. There could be war."
Dan: PLUS, IN THE 1980S, ALL OF US WERE WATCHING COLD WAR DOOMSDAY MOVIES LIKE MY FAVORITE, THE DAY AFTER. WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SO SCARY, MY PARENTS WOULDN’T EVEN LET ME WATCH IT. SO I HAD TO SNEAK WATCH IT ON MY KITCHEN TV.
Curtis: And you would see these nuclear strikes on these all American or all suburban cities in England and in America, and then the horrific aftermath. I was terrified of that stuff. So, for us, it was like, "You can't ignore that aspect of that era." It just sort of fits perfectly in with the vibe of the '80s.
Dan: WHEN THE WRITERS MADE THAT POP CULTURE CALENDAR WE TALKED ABOUT LAST TIME. THE ONE WITH ALL THE TOP SONGS AND HIT MOVIES. THE WRITERS WERE ALSO ADDING POLICIAL EVENTS AND LOOKING INTO THE GENERAL ZEITGEIST OF THE TIME. AND IN JULY 1985, THAT MEANT REAGAN, GORBACHEV AND A HEAVILY PARANOID AMERICA. THE COLD WAR WAS CERTAINLY AS ICONIC TO THE 80’S AS NEW COKE WAS.
PLUS, MATT DUFFER POINTS OUT THAT BRINGING A BUNCH OF RUSSIANS TO HAWKINS WAS ACTUALLY CONVENIENT.
Matt: We always struggled a little bit with the US government as the bad guys because there's only so many times you can punch and/or kill US government or military personnel before you're just going to get locked away in America. So in that sense they were an easier human villain and we could do a lot more with them.
Dan: IN OTHER WORDS, AND I KNOW THIS SOUNDS COUNTERINTUITIVE, HAVING RUSSIANS SECRETLY INVADE AMERICA MADE THE SEASON MORE BELIEVABLE.
THE RUSSIANS OFFER THE SAME LOGIC AS THE MALL BEING A CONTAINED SPACE FOR ALL THE MONSTER SHIT TO GO DOWN WITHOUT THE TOWN BEING THE WISER. IF HOPPER WERE TO GUN DOWN DOZENS OF US GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, PEOPLE WOULD KNOW. THE PRESIDENT WOULD GET INVOLVED. BUT HOPPER CAN GET AWAY WITH A LOT MORE WHEN HE’S DEALING WITH SECRET RUSSIAN LABS.
CLIP OF HOPPER “EVERYBODY OUT” *GUN FIRE*
Dan: OBVIOUSLY, THE RUSSIAN PLOTLINE IS BASED LESS ON THE HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THE TIME AND MORE ON THE MOVIES THAT THE DUFFER BROTHERS WERE OBSESSED WITH GROWING UP, MOVIES LIKE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, RED DAWN, OR WAR GAMES.
BUT WHAT IS HISTORICALLY ACCURATE IS THE OMNIPRESENT, LOOMING FEAR AND PARANOIA THAT PEOPLE LIKE CURTIS EXPERIENCED. THE DUFFERS WANTED TO DO SOMETHING WITH THAT LONG BEFORE STRANGER THINGS EXISTED.
Ross: One of the early films we made was actually set in one of our friends bomb shelters. So it was always part of our ... Ever since then we became obsessed with this idea of what it would be like to live in a world where this impending, this threat that's always there.
Dan: THAT WAS ROSS, BY THE WAY. I WILL PERSONALLY GIVE YOU A USS BUTTERSCOTCH SUNDAE ON THE HOUSE IF YOU’RE ABLE TO TELL THE DUFFER BROTHERS APART BY JUST THEIR VOICES. GOOD LUCK. ANYWAY, THEY DIDN’T FILM IN THEIR FRIEND’S BOMB SHELTER FOR STRANGER THINGS THREE. THEY BUILT AN ENTIRE RUSSIAN UNDERGROUND LAIR.
BUT IN ORDER FOR US TO GET TO THAT LAIR, WE FIRST NEED TO GET TO KNOW THE CHARACTERS WHO FIND IT AND TAKE ON THE RUSSIANS. SO WE NEED TO SAY AHOY TO THE SCOOPS TROOP.
CLIP
Dan: THE CODE CRACKING, COMMI BUTT KICKING TEAM IS MADE UP OF DUSTIN, COWORKERS STEVE AND ROBIN, AND ERICA SINCLAIR.
Shawn: Putting Steve Harrington with Erica Sinclair, on paper that doesn't make any sense. But neither did Dustin and Steve. And so, one of the great skills of the Duffers and of our show, I think, is trying pairings that we've never done before, and often bottling magic by the new dynamics that come up in these new pairings.
Dan: BACK IN THE WRITERS ROOM, THE DUFFERS AND THE WRITERS HAD TO DO THE MESSY BUSINESS OF CONNECTING THEIR CHARACTERS WITH THE RUSSIAN PLOTLINE. THEY HAD TO FOLLOW THIS LOGIC: “OKAY THERE ARE GONNA BE RUSSIANS, WE KNOW THEY’RE GONNA BE CONNECTED TO STARCOURT MALL. AND SOMEONE’S GONNA HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THEY’RE THERE. AND THEN THEY’RE GONNA HAVE TO WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.”
Curtis: Because it's part of story, it wasn't just random, right?
Dan: CURTIS GWINN, HE KNOWS THAT THE KEY TO STRANGER THINGS IS ABOUT GROUNDING THE PLOT IN OUR CHARACTERS. FOR THE SCOOPS TROOP, IT STARTS BY HAVING DUSTIN HEAR THAT MESSAGE WHILE TRYING TO REACH SUZIE.
AND THEY KNEW STEVE WAS GOING TO BE WORKING AT THE MALL.
Curtis: We knew that Steve, his arc was taking him on a humility journey.
Dan: IN STRANGER THINGS ONE, STEVE WAS THE PREPPY JERK WE LOVED TO HATE. THEN, AS NANCY BREAKS HIS HEART AND HE BONDS WITH DUSTIN, HE BECAME THE SLIGHTLY MORE HUMBLE, BABYSITTING GOOFBALL WE LOVED TO LOVE.
AND NOW, RATHER THAN RULING A COLLEGE CAMPUS FROM THE FRATERNITY BALCONIES, HE’S IN A SAILORS CAP SLINGIN ICE CREAM AT SCOOPS AHOY.
SO WITH THE LAB SITTING JUST BELOW WHERE STEVE WORKS, THE WRITERS KNEW HE’D BE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE RUSSIANS. AND THE WRITERS KNEW THAT THEY WANTED TO PAIR STEVE AND DUSTIN AGAIN. BECAUSE JOE KEERY AND GATEN MATARAZZO, THE ACTORS WHO PLAY THEM, THEY HAVE SUCH GREAT COMEDIC CHEMISTRY TOGETHER.
Clip: So you get to eat all this? Not good idea. She seems cool she’s not
Dan: BUT THE WRITERS ALSO WANTED TO KEEP TAKING STEVE DOWN A FEW PEGS.
Curtis: So, we wanted to put him there and with a classmate that he barely even remembers or knows, but certainly remembers him who was part of the outsider group
Dan: AND THAT’S HOW WE GOT ROBIN.
Clip: Robin, smart, speak for languages
Dan: LET’S BE REAL, DUSTIN AND STEVE WERE HELPLESS BEFORE ROBIN STEPPED IN TO TRANSLATE.
Clip: Robin, i’m bored...
Dan: THE WRITERS JOKE ABOUT HOW THERE ARE ALREADY TOO MANY CHARACTERS. IT’S HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THEM! BUT THERE ARE STILL VOIDS IN THE STRANGER THINGS UNIVERSE THAT NEED TO BE FILLED.
BRINGING IN ROBIN WOULD HELP MOVE STEVE AND DUSTIN’S STORY FORWARD. SHE WOULD OFFER A NEW DYNAMIC FOR STEVE, WHO WE HAVEN’T REALLY SEEN INTERACT WITH PEOPLE HIS OWN AGE IN A WHILE. AND IT WOULD EXPAND OUR UNIVERSE OF NERDOM, BECAUSE ROBIN’S UNLIKE ANY NERD WE’VE SEEN IN HAWKINS. SHE’S A BAND GEEK.
Maya: I definitely had an experience filming it where in the beginning I was really trying to figure out who Robin was. I was trying to be her and be as cool as she is.
Dan: ROBIN IS PLAYED BY MAYA HAWKE. AS IN THE THURMAN HAWKES. AS IN UMA THURMAN AND ETHAN HAWKE ARE HER PARENTS. ROBIN IS PLAYED BY MAYA HAWKE.
Maya: Then as filming went on I realized that she could be as lame as I am and that she had the room within the story to really be a full human being with the potential to be vulnerable, and to cry, and to make mistakes, and to have her jokes not land. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. I think that as I loosened up and got more comfortable on set, she loosens up and gets more comfortable with Steve, and this whole Scoops Troop.
Kate: I was really interested in having a voice of a teenage outsider who's kind of okay with being an outsider.
Dan: KATE TREFRY IS ONE OF THE FOUR WRITERS ON STRANGER THINGS.
Kate: It's all a joke and you and your girls, these girls that come by, and your hair and all of this stuff is hilarious and more than a little bit sad to her. I thought that I would be... I was very much that person in high school and I thought it would be good to depict that defiant ghost world, intentionally outsider vibe.
Dan: GHOST WORLD IS THIS AMAZING COMIC BOOK SERIES FROM THE EARLY 90’S. IT FOLLOWS TWO CYNICAL, WITTY GIRLS WHO ARE BEST FRIENDS AND JUST GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL.
IT WAS LATER TURNED INTO A MOVIE STARRING THORA BIRCH AND SCARLETT JOHANSSON. IT WAS HER BREAKOUT ROLE.
KATE REREAD GHOST WORLD WHEN SHE WAS WRITING THIS SEASON TO HELP EMULATE THAT ALT WEIRDO COOL GIRL FEEL.
AND THE COSTUME DESIGNER AMY PARRIS WAS ABLE TO SPRINKLE THAT COOL GIRL VIBE INTO ROBI N’S LOOK. SHE PAIRS ROBIN’S SCOOPSS UNIFORM WITH A MADONNA STYLE, ONE CROSS EARRING, AND SHE’S GOT SOME PUNK BRACELETS ON TOO.
WHEN IT CAME TO HER SHOES, AMY PUT STEVE AND ROBIN IN A CLASSIC 80’S SNEAKER.
Amy: You know, Steve's in blue shoes. I thought it would be nice to put her in red. We tried a few different options and we settled on the converse.
Dan: TO MAKE THE SHOES LOOK AND FEEL MORE WORN IN, AMY SUGGESTED THAT MAYA TAKE THEM HOME FOR A BIT.
Amy: She was like yeah, can I draw on them? I was like, "Will you please draw on them?" She took them home and drew on them, and when she came back to work she had written the word boobs and drew breasts, and had a lot of squiggles. I just thought, "Okay, that's clever and fun. Cool." Then later on when we find out about her character it made a little bit more sense. But I didn't know the development of her as a character, so I like that she infused that in quietly. And it's there subtly.
Dan: SO THAT’S ROBIN, BUT WE’RE STILL MISSING THE FOURTH AND FINAL MEMBER OF THE SCOOPS TROOP: LUCAS’S LITTLE SISTER, ERICA SINCLAIR.
Clip: Can’t spell america without Erica
Dan: ERICA IS NOT A NEW CHARACTER, BUT SHE CERTAINLY IS WAY MORE INVOLVED THIS SEASON. THANK GOD.
Clip: Explains capitalism
Kate: I loved the idea that she's this little almost sociopathic capitalist, brilliant mind.
Clip continues
Kate: She’s like a veep character
Dan: THE DUFFERS NEVER EXPECTED ERICA TO HAVE A BIG ROLE. BUT LAST SEASON, WHEN PRIAH FERGUSON GOT TO SET AS ERICA AND STARTED CALLING HER BIG BROTHER LUCAS A NERD, THEY KNEW THAT WOULD HAVE TO CHANGE.
SO THEN THE WRITERS HAD TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH HER. IT WOULD MAKE SENSE TO HAVE HER BE A MALL RAT, AND ONE WHO TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE UNLIMITED SAMPLE POLICY AT SCOOPS AHOY. WHICH, GETS HER CLOSER TO DUSTIN, STEVE, AND ROBIN. AND AS SHAWN LEVY EXPLAINS, IT GETS HER CLOSE TO THE RUSSIAN PLOTLINE.
Shawn: The idea of placing her in the middle of the narrative and of literally putting a young child with incredible attitude in the midst of a world-saving plot line, that is just such an inappropriate mashup, but it's such a perfect formula for comedy, and I think, for fun.
Clip: What’s that? A deadly weapon, could be useful
Dan: ANOTHER BENEFIT OF BRINGING ERICA INTO THE GROUP IS THAT SHE WOULD BE ABLE TO FIT INTO THE VENTS.
AFTER ROBIN BREAKS THAT SECRET RUSSIAN CODE… INTO THAT ROOM.
Clip: Air ducts…
Dan: THE WRITERS KNEW THAT GOING THROUGH THE AIR DUCTS WAS A THING FROM DIE HARD, BUT KATE ACTUALLY LOOKED UP REAL MALL BLUEPRINTS TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WASN’T TOO FAR FETCHED OF A PLAN. AND IT WASN’T! IT’S TOTALLY POSSIBLE. BUT NO DON’T TRY IT AT YOUR OWN MALL.
IN FACT, THEY DIDN’T EVEN REALLY DO IT ON STRANGER THINGS. THERE’S A LOT OF MOVIE MAGIC THAT GOES INTO FILMING IN AIR DUCTS. LIKE THEY DON’T EVEN FILM IN AIR DUCTS. THE ART DEPARTMENT HAS TO BUILD THEM FIRST.
Shawn: I was just going through some old videos on my phone that I'm now allowed to post and I have these videos from our vent test day.
SHAWN LEVY DIRECTED CHAPTER FOUR, WHICH IS WHEN DUSTIN TRIES TO GET INTO THE AIR DUCTS.
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Dan: AND SHAWN HAD TO HAVE THAT VENT TEST DAY BECAUSE, HERE’S THE THING, GATEN, WHO PLAYS DUSTIN, HE REALLY DOESN’T HAVE COLLAR BONES IN REAL LIFE. HE HAS A CONDITION CALLED CLEIDOCRANIAL DYSPLASIA. SO WITH THAT VENT THEY BUILT FOR HIM, HE WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO GET INTO IT TOO EASILY.
SO THE ART DIRECTOR SEAN BRENNAN, HE HAD TO TRY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN TO MAKE SURE IT’D BE A NICE, SNUG COMEDY FIT.
Sean: To make it look like a struggle, we actually had to decrease the vent size to where it was crazy that anybody could fit through it. We had to do three or four different sizes. We did a test inside Jazzercise of him crawling through all these different sizes.
Dan: THEY FINALLY GOT THE RIGHT SIZE FOR GATEN, AND THEN, AFTER THEY WERE DONE FILMING THAT SCENE, THEY SWITCHED TO A BIGGER AIR DUCT SIZE FOR PRIAH TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE ERICA, WHO’S MUCH SMALLER, HAD MORE ROOM IN THERE.
Clip: Okay, I’m there
Shawn: Then it was a lot of me just encouragingly screaming at Priah in a nice supportive way like, "Let's go Priah, hustle, move, move, move, move." Like I was putting her through one of those marine crawling on your belly drills. There was a lot of that on set as well.
Dan: THANKS TO ERICA, THE SCOOPS TROOP IS ABLE TO MAKE IT INTO THE DELIVERY ROOM AND FINALLY SEE WHATEVER THE RUSSIANS WERE TRANSPORTING IN THOSE IMPERIAL PANDA AND KAUFMANN’S SHOES BOXES.
Clip: definitely not chinese food
Curtis: It’s almost fun at first.
Dan: THIS IS CURTIS, AGAIN. ONE OF THE WRITERS.
Curtis: The logic of it is kind of kid logic and teen logic, which I love, which is, "We're going to figure this out, man." I remember being a teenager and a kid thinking along those lines if something weird happened. We would try to figure it out ourselves. It was like your curiosity would get peaked. It's almost like the just keep pushing it a little too far, a little too far, to the point where, "Uh-oh, we're in an adventure now. Shit."
Dan: THAT ADVENTURE SENDS THEM PLUMMETING DOWN A SURPRISE ELEVATOR.
AND RIGHT INTO A RUSSIAN UNDERGROUND LAB.
Clip: holy mother of god…
Dan: THE DELIVERY ROOM ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN TO REVEAL A DAUNTING UNDERGROUND TUNNEL SYSTEM.
Denise: You can't not be a little bit intimidated walking through the set and feeling like scary crap is about to go down.
Dan: DENISE GODOY IS THE UNIT PUBLICIST ON STRANGER THINGS. SHE GATHERS ALL THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO CONTENT. SO SHE SPENDS A LOT OF TIME ON SET. DENISE ALSO WAS AN 80’S KID WHO WAS VERY AWARE, AND VERY SCARED OF THE COLD WAR. SO HER FIRST TIME ON THE RUSSIAN LAB SET WAS INTENSE FOR HER.
Denise: It literally is underground when you walk in from the parking garage. You just walk through all these crazy huge warehouse hallways. Then you part this door and it's Russia. It was dark and there was these guys walking around in costume, '80s, Cold War era, Russian costumes. There was a little bit of moment of fear that I felt right away. I thought, "You know, the art department really nailed it”
Dan: WHEN THE DUFFERS AND THE WRITERS WERE BREAKING THE PLOT, THEY WANTED TO CONVEY TO THE ART DEPARTMENT HOW MENACING THIS PLACE SHOULD FEEL. SO THEY GAVE HOMAGE TO ONE OF THEIR FAVORITE MOVIES AND STARTED CALLING IT THE DEATH STAR. THEIR PRODUCTION DESIGNER CHRIS TRU-HEE-OH TOOK THAT IDEA AND RAN WITH IT.
Chris: To honor our pet name for it we did, in a few places, specifically refer to some of the architecture in the Death Star, just some funky wall panel stuff we did. I think any fan of Star Wars watching it would see in the background in a couple places some very specific but, I'd like to think, subtle references to those sets, which are unbelievable.
Jess: I'm not a nerd. I've never really seen Star Wars all the way though.
Dan: THIS IS JESS ROYAL, THE SET DECORATOR. REMEMBER, SHE WORKS WITH CHRIS AND THE ART DIRECTORS, SEAN AND JOHN.
Jess: I would go watch little, on YouTube, just enough to be like, "Okay, I got it. I know what that is." But even then, I was like, "I don't care about Star Wars at all. Sorry." Oh, it's so bad. I shouldn't say this while we're recording this. But, yeah.
Dan: THE GOOD NEWS FOR JESS IS THAT WHAT THEY WERE CALLING THE DEATH STAR WASN’T A COMPLETE DEATH STAR FABRICATION. CHRIS LIKES TO BALANCE SCI FI WITH REAL LIFE INSPIRATION. THAT COMBINATION LEADS TO A MORE BELIEVABLE SETTING FOR THE SHOW. HE LOOKED INTO SOVIET ERA BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE AND HE RESEARCHED ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF UNDERGROUND BUNKERS AND TUNNEL SYSTEMS. THEN BROUGHT THOSE IDEAS TO JESS AND THE ART DIRECTOR, SEAN.
Sean: When we poured over the references and looked, and then there was one particular one that stood out. I think it was a picture of a hydro-electric dam or some sort of a tunnel system within that. Just that one little photo was the launching pad to designing that whole world.
Dan: THE SET ITSELF WAS MASSIVE AND REALLY FELT LIKE A MAZE TO WALK AROUND. CHRIS AND HIS TEAM TRIED TO DESIGN IT IN A WAY WHERE THESE TUNNELS WOULD ACTUALLY CONNECT TO THE DIFFERENT ROOMS TO ALLOW FOR CONTINUOUS CAMERA WORK. AND EVEN THOUGH THE SET LOOKS SPARSE, THAT STILL TAKES A LOT OF WORK TO PULL OFF.
TAKE THAT ONE, SMALLER ROOM WHERE THE SCOOPS TROOP COMES FACE TO FACE WITH A RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
CLIP: Robin tries to speak russian
Dan: THE ART DEPARTMENT PAID CLOSE ATTENTION TO ALL THE DETAILS IN THAT COMMUNICATION ROOM. FROM THE SPECIFIC RED LIGHT THAT POURS OUT OF THE COLUMN, TO THE BUTTONS ON THE CONTROL PANEL.
Jess: If you ever see a control panel in a movie or TV show, have sympathy for those people because that is a ton of work.
I hired a buyer that was my button buyer. He just went to old airplane graveyards and stuff around Atlanta. We did a lot of ordering from McMaster-Carr and Granger, and got cool looking buttons and lights. Then we lay them all out and we draw them in a plan. They make the panels for all that stuff to go in, then we just give it all to our fixtures guy who would control all of that from a control board off camera.
Dan: I KNOW WE’RE DEALING WITH A FANTASTICAL VERSION OF THE COLD WAR, BUT WHEN THE ART DEPARTMENT TAKES THIS KIND OF CARE TO BRING AUTHENTIC 1980’S MOTIFS INTO THE SET, IT MAKES THE SHOW SEEM THAT MUCH MORE REAL. FOR DENISE, WHO YOU HEARD EARLIER, THE TEAM DID SUCH A GREAT JOB, IT TRIGGERED SOME STUFF.
Denise: I personally had a fear of Russians, of the Cold War Russian era and that scariness of these men walking around with their uniforms with all the insignia and their boots, and just the ominous feeling of this scary Russian soldier. And, of course, we had all the fake guns that they were carrying around just patrolling the underground.
Dan: AMY PARRIS AND HER TEAM PUT THOSE SOLDIERS IN AUTHENTIC 1980’S SOVIET MILITARY UNIFORMS THAT THEY WOULD EITHER BUY FROM OVERSEAS OR RENT FROM AN LA COSTUME HOUSE. AND THOSE INSIGNIA? HER TEAM RESEARCHED WHAT SOVIET MILITARY SHOULDER STRAPS LOOKED LIKE BACK THEN, AND WHICH PINS SIGNIFIED AN OFFICER’S RANKINGS.
WHICH IS WHY THE RUSSIAN GUY WHO ENDS UP INTERROGATING STEVE HAS MORE BLING ON HIS UNIFORM THAN THE GUY WHO’S BEATING STEVE UP.
Clip: who do you work for, SCOOPSs ahoy, SCOOPSs ahoy
Dan: THIS IS THE POINT IN THE RUSSIAN PLOTLINE WHERE THE SCOOPS TROOP STOPS HAVING A FUN GOONIES ADVENTURE AND STARTS HAVING A RED DAWN PLOT WITH REAL LIFE OR DEATH CONSEQUENCES.
AND THEY DO END UP SURVIVING THE DEATH STAR, BUT THEY WEREN’T THE ONLY AMERICANS TO VENTURE INTO ITS VAST TUNNELS AND COME FACE TO FACE WITH THE ENEMY.
Clip: HOPPER!
Dan: I’M GONNA TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, WE CAN’T CONFIRM OR DENY HOPPER’S FATE. BUT NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED TO HOPPER’S BODY OR SOUL, HE MADE A SACRIFICE. AND WE’RE GONNA DIG INTO WHY.
Kate: One of the greater themes of the show is that you have to grow or you'll die.
Dan: THIS IS KATE TREFRY AGAIN, ONE OF THE WRITERS. SHE SAYS HOPPER’S ARC WAS SOMETHING ALL THE WRITERS WERE ABSOLUTELY SURE OF THIS SEASON.
Kate: Hopper is always somebody who's trying to contend with his own past, and his own demons, and his own worst habits. The question is always, is he going to be able to survive that, or not?
Dan: IN THE BEGINNING OF STRANGER THINGS THREE, IT DOESN’T SEEM LIKE HOPPER WILL EVEN SURVIVE ELEVEN AND MIKE BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP.
CLIP: Magnum PI
David: I guess the real inciting event is almost that opening scene when he hears them. And it starts him on this journey to, "How do I get these kids apart? How do I not have this happen? How do I stem the tide of puberty?"
Dan: THAT DEEP VOICE THAT REVERBERATES THROUGH YOUR HEADPHONES IS OF COURSE, DAVID HARBOUR. WHO WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE AS JIM HOPPER. HAVING A TEENAGE DAUGHTER IS NEW TERRITORY FOR HOPPER. HIS DAUGHTER DIED WHEN SHE WAS ONLY FIVE YEARS OLD. HER DEATH WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS CONTROL, WHICH HAUNTS HIM. AND NOW IT FEELS LIKE ELEVEN IS SLIPPING FURTHER AND FURTHER FROM HIS CONTROL. IT’S MADDENING.
David: It's the reason why he goes on the journey that he goes on, is because he loves her, doesn't understand how to be a good parent to her, has all these conflicted feelings about resenting her growing up. Not resenting her growing up, but ... Well, maybe. But more like he wants to stem the tide and I think that... The real issue that Hopper's grappling with, which you don't really get to see ... you see funny moments of it. You see him chew out Mike. And you see him lose his mind and lie about things, and yell at Joyce. Then you get to see the real thing that he's grappling with which is change, which is time itself. Right? Which is the ultimate villain.
Dan: FOR A GUY WHO DOESN’T LIKE BEING IN TOUCH WITH HIS EMOTIONS, HOPPER HAS TO FACE A LOT THIS SEASON. JOYCE, WHO HE CAN BARELY ASK OUT, IS CONSIDERING MOVING AWAY. THERE’S A NEW MALL THAT’S CHANGING THE FABRIC OF THE TOWN, WHICH DIRECTLY AFFECTS HIS JOB AS SHERIFF. AND HIS DAUGHTER IS GROWING UP FASTER THAN HE ANTICIPATED.
HE’S FILLED WITH CONFUSION AND RAGE. HE DESPERATELY WANTS TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE HE LOVES, EVEN IF HE CAN’T BRING HIMSELF TO TELL THEM HE LOVES THEM. AND THEN, AMIDST ALL THIS INTERNAL CHAOS, HE KEEPS GETTING PUMMELED BY GREGORY, THE RUSSIAN TERMINATOR.
CLIP: you understand me big guy? Or what...
Dan: HOPPER IS BEING TORMENTED BY THIS 1980’S RUSSIAN SUPERVIALLAN AT EVERY TURN, AND IT’S ALL LEADING UP TO THE MAGNUM OPUS OF FIGHTS– THEIR FINAL BRAWL IN THE DEATH STAR.
Matt: I don't really know how to fight anybody. It's not my strength. We know the story beats. I know the emotion I want to feel, but I don't know anything besides a punch and a kick.
Dan: EVEN THOUGH MATT DUFFER DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO FIGHT, HE AND HIS BROTHER ROSS USUALLY SCRIPT OUT ALL THE ACTION SEQUENCES. BUT THEY TRIED SOMETHING DIFFERENT WITH THIS FINAL FIGHT SCENE.
Matt: It basically in the script as, "They fight," and we turn it over to Hiro. He took the reigns on that and he's incredible at telling stories through action.
Hiro: Being able to walk in the set, the first time when it was built, to look at it was like, "It's a stunt man's playground." It was going to be fun.
Dan: HIRO KODA IS THE NEW STUNT COORDINATOR AND SECOND UNIT DIRECTOR ON STRANGER THINGS 3.
Hiro: The Duffer brothers really were open to letting me do what I needed to do. The only think I asked of them is, "What path do you want? Where do we start? Where do we end?
Dan: THE DUFFERS TOLD HIRO THAT THEY WANTED THIS FIGHT TO FEEL LIKE THE AIRPLANE SEQUENCE IN RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, WHERE ALL THE CHAOS HAPPENS AROUND THEM AS THEY’RE FIGHTING.
THE FIGHT STARTS IN THE CONTROL ROOM. GREGORY COMES UP BEHIND HOPPER, SURPRISING HIM RIGHT AS HE AND JOYCE WERE ABOUT TO TURN THE KEY AND SHUT DOWN THE GIANT GUN.
Clip: One… two…
Hiro: At the beginning of the fight when Grigori does show up and there's a moment there that he deals with Joyce.
Dan: THIS HAPPENS REALLY QUICKLY IN THE SCENE. IN THE SCRIPT, THE DUFFERS WROTE THAT JOYCE GETS TOSSED TO THE SIDE. THE THOUGHT BEING THAT SHE CAN’T BE APART OF THE FIGHT AND ALSO SHE CAN’T TRY TO TURN THE KEYS HERSELF JUST YET. BUT IT’S UP TO HIRO TO DECIDE HOW JOYCE GETS TOSSED ASIDE.
Hiro: I tossed an idea to the Duffer brothers and I was like, "Hey, can we do this?" I wanted to throw her into the console. It made it really violent. I was going to throw her, I said, "I'll throw her head first into it and that knocks her out." Because she had to be out cold for a little while while these guys fight. It was a moment of the Duffer brothers trying to figure it out. They're like, "Can we do that? We've never really hurt Joyce before. Yes, let's do it. We're going to do it. Let's do it."
Dan: THIS IS WHAT MATT MEANT WHEN HE SAID HIRO TELLS STORY THROUGH ACTION. THERE’S MOTIVATION AND REASON BEHIND EACH PUNCH, KICK, AND TOSS. HIRO ALSO HAS TO CONSIDER THE EMOTIONAL ARC OF THE FIGHT. IT HAD TO HAVE UPS AND DOWNS. AND HIRO KNEW IT WOULD MOVE FROM THE CONTROL ROOM TO THE BIG GUN.
Matt: And we knew, obviously, the end of the fight we wanted him throwing him into this machine. Then you gotta design a part of the machine that can chew him up and [inaudible 00:23:04] him up.
CLIP: See you in hell
David: There were so many takes that we had fun with where it was like, "Happy Fourth of July, you son of a ... "
Dan: AS GREGORY’S SPINNING AND SHREDDING INTO NOTHINGNESS, IT DAWNS ON JOYCE AND HOPPER THAT HOPPER’S NOT GETTING OUT OF THERE. AND THEY NEED TO CLOSE THE GATE RIGHT NOW.
Clip: close the gate
Matt: We always talk about Empire Strikes Back. We always wanted a darker ending. We wanted to give him a Han Solo sacrifice moment.
Dan: THE DUFFER BROS HAVE BEEN WANTING HOPPER TO MAKE SOME SORT OF SELF SACRIFICE SINCE SEASON ONE. THEY WOULD TALK ABOUT IT IN THE WRITERS ROOM AND WITH DAVID HARBOUR. BUT DOING IT IN THE FIRST TWO SEASONS, IT DIDN’T FEEL EARNED.
Matt: And finally, I remember calling David and saying, "I think, you know, I think this is a great moment for it."
Dan: THAT MOMENT COMES RIGHT AFTER HOPPER THROWS GREGORY ONTO THE GUN.
Matt: It was emotional to shoot, but it was really, really quick. David never asked for music, but I think we did play some emotional music when we shot David's final look.
Ross: Yeah.
Matt: Final look at Winona. Again, you do, especially for the highly charged emotional moments you do a couple takes and then you're done. Especially that one. There's so much going around. You don't know totally how it's going to work until you get in post production. But we did know both of their looks. We had both of their looks and that both Winona and David were great.
Ross: The look that David gives where it's like there's a tragedy there but there's also a little bit of, "It's okay," to Joyce. There's so much going on in his eyes and you can only script that so much. What he did to get all that across in a single look, and it's maybe five seconds. That is pretty amazing stuff.
Dan: HOPPER, HE’S ALMOST SMILING. THERE’S A SENSE OF CALM THAT COMES OVER HIM. WHETHER THAT’S BECAUSE HE’S GOT A PLAN TO SAVE HIMSELF OR BECAUSE HE’S ABOUT TO SAVE THE WORLD, WE’RE NOT GONNA KNOW FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
Shawn: I think you know I can't say much about the after credit scene.
Dan: THIS IS SHAWN LEVY AGAIN, ONE OF THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS OF THE SERIES.
Shawn: Already we're seeing such a flurry of theories, and questions, and hypotheses about what happened, what might happen next, and we're pretty thrilled to keep people guessing.
Dan: WHILE JOYCE AND HOPPER WERE FIGHTING THE HUMAN VILLAINS OF THE SEASON, THE REST OF THE KIDS WERE BATTLING THE SUPERNATURAL AND FACING THE BIGGEST, GROSSEST MONSTER WE’VE SEEN YET. THAT’S NEXT TIME ON BEHIND THE SCENES OF STRANGER THINGS 3.
NEXT TIME CLIPS
Dan: BEHIND THE SCENES OF STRANGER THINGS 3 IS PRODUCED BY NETFLIX AND PINEAPPLE STREET MEDIA. YOU CAN LISTEN TO THIS SHOW ON STITCHER, POCKETCASTS, SPOTIFY, GOOGLE PLAY, IHEARTRADIO, AND WHEREVER ELSE YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS. MAKE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE, RATE AND REVIEW IT TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE FIND IT. THIS IS YOUR HOST, DAN TABERSKI.