Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 3 Recap – The Pollywog

Dart

Dustin places the creature he found in the garbage can in his Ghostbusters trap. Her mother checks in on him and notices that he’s acting weird, but he manages to slip past her. He then puts the creature inside his tortoise’s tank and feeds it with candy. He calls the creature d’Artagnan after the 3 Musketeers candy bar. Once Dustin sleeps, d’Artagnan swells in size and screeches in the tank.

In a flashback, El sees Hopper fills the storage bin with Eggos and reveals herself to him.

Hopper wakes El up, but she still refuses to talk to him after coming late last night. He convinces her to come out for breakfast after preparing a triple-decker Eggo waffle filled with candy. He notices the TV and asks her if she revisited Mike last night. She says Mike needs her, but Hopper reminds her that it’s dangerous. He promises they will meet soon once he gets on good terms with the men at Hawkins. El complains that it’s taking too long, as she has been counting the days since he first said “soon.” Hopper shrugs, not knowing when it will be safe again, so El snaps at him. She says, “friends, don’t lie,” before going back to her room and slamming the door.

Bob volunteers to take Mike to school, calling his car the Bobmobile. On the way, Bob asks Will if he had a nightmare last night, which he denies. Bob tells him about a recurring nightmare he had as a child, which he suppressed by telling it to “go away.”

The Rules

Dustin goes to the library to check some books on amphibians, but the librarian says he’s on the limit. He distracts her and snatches the books anyway. Max asks Lucas about Will’s Zombie boy story, which she finds too weird to be true. Dustin barges in late to Mr. Clarke’s class and tells all of his friends to meet at the AV club later.

Hopper and his men plot the area where they find all the crops rotting. He notices that the affected zone encircles Hawkins Lab, so he checks it out.

Bored at being held captive, El eyes the many locks in Hopper’s shed. She remembers the first time she came to this place with Hopper, who says it was his Granddad’s house that he now uses for storage. Hopper welcomes her to her new home. Later, he takes out a Jim Croce record as the two clean the place and fixes it up. Hopper installs a Morse Code receiver and teaches El how to use it. He also installs trip wires outside that would alarm them with a gunshot if someone gets close. Hopper assures her he’ll keep her safe as long as she adheres to the rules: the curtains should never be opened, and she should only open the door after hearing Hopper’s secret knock. And she should never go out, especially during the daytime.

El breaks the third rule and walks over the tripwire.

The Spreading Rot

Steve plays basketball with Billy at the gym, and a rivalry forms between the two. Nancy asks Steve what happened and why he’s mad; Steve reminds her about everything she said. She says it was all drunk, but she can’t prove it’s a lie. Steve leaves, disappointed.

Dustin shows d’Artagnan to Max and the boys. Everyone else thinks the creature is weird and slimy except for Dustin, who thinks it’s cute. From his research, he learned that there are no Terrestrial pollywogs in this region, so they wonder where it could have come from. It squeals and runs as the light hits it, so Dustin swoops in to catch it. Dustin thinks he has found a new species because it can’t be a reptile. Will looks at it in shock and remembers the slug he vomited down the drain and the creatures in the Upside Down.

Dustin starts making plans on what he would call his discovery, leaving Will speechless as the others ridicule Dustin.

Bob visits Joyce during lunch and tells her he also likes her kids and feels a connection. He tells her about the bullies Will recorded through his camera, and Joyce says she’ll punch them. Bob says he was bullied like Will when he was young, but he’s now proud that he’s dating Joyce.

Hopper demands an explanation from Hawkins about the rotting crops around them now reaching a three-mile radius. Owens tells him it has nothing to do with them, but the Chief isn’t satisfied and asks them to check the area. Owens refuses, but Hopper tells them they made a deal.

Things aren’t the same.

Nancy asks Jonathan about the night before, worrying that she did mean what she said to Steve. There’s still a weight she’s carrying on her shoulders, which Jonathan also says he feels with Will not being the same. Perhaps things couldn’t go back to the way before. Nancy isn’t satisfied, so she asks to go to Bob’s Radioshack.

El wanders through the woods and finds a woman playing with her daughter in their backyard. She remembers Hopper telling her about his own family. She asks if she has a mother and where she is. Hopper says she’s gone. El asks the woman where the school is and disappears.

Joyce calls Bob so she can watch the footage on the JVC. She fast-forwarded it to when the bullies confronted Will. She sees Will panicking and calling out for Mike, and the outline of the spider-like creature appears on the TV. She pauses it and compares it to Will’s drawing, confirming it’s a match.

Search for the Pollywog

While Dustin, Lucas, and Max prepares to show d’Artagnan to Mr. Clarke, Will tells Mike what he knows. Before they can open the trap, Mike snatches it and apologizes to Clarke, saying they should go immediately.

The boys convene at the AV club, where Mike explains that Dart could be from the Upside Down. They open the trap and find that the creature has grown four feet, and it escapes from the room.

Nancy picks up a phone, calls Barb’s mother, and asks to meet her.

Dr. Owens and his men inspect the rotten pumpkins. Hopper gets a call saying someone found the Russian girl, which prompts him to rush away in panic.

The Shadows

El reaches Hawkins Middle and passes by Will in the hallways. The boys continue their search for Dart around campus. Mike goes to an unlit bathroom and finds Max. She asks him why she doesn’t like her, and he reasons that their party is full. Max asks who El is and asks if she can do magic. She volunteers to join, saying she’s a zoomer, and rides on her skateboard, but Mike is unimpressed.

Eleven sees Mike and Max talking in the gym, and she lets her slip and fall. Mike senses that El could have done it and checks the halls, but there’s no one.

Joyce calls Will’s school and learns that AV school has been canceled. She speeds off to get him. Meanwhile, Will checks another bathroom and finds Dart in one of the stalls. The creature screeches at him, causing him to flee and return to the Upside Down, where a shadow chases him through the halls. Will stands his ground against the massive beast and tells it to go away, but it drowns him in shadows.

Dustin finds Dart and hides him in his hat, not telling the others he found it.

Our Thoughts

The Upside down’s treats are stepping up. Rating: 4/5