"Chapter Three: The Pollywog" is the eleventh episode of Stranger Things and the third episode of the second season. It premiered on October 27, 2017.
Synopsis
Dustin adopts a strange new pet, and Eleven grows increasingly impatient. A well-meaning Bob urges Will to stand up to his fears.
Plot
Dustin finds an unusual creature in his garbage and decides to look after it after sneaking it into the house in his homemade Ghostbusters trap. He names the creature "D'Artagnan" or "Dart".
Eleven is angry with Hopper for continuing to promise that she could leave the cabin "soon", even though she has been stuck there for 326 days.
In flashbacks, Eleven finds out that Hopper has been leaving food for her, and reveals her presence to him. He takes her to his grandfather's old cabin to live in secret.
Bob drives Will to school, advising him to face up to his fears. He recounts how he managed to beat a series of reoccurring nightmares by facing the frightening aspect of his dream and telling it to go away.
Nancy and Jonathan resolve to tell Barb's parents the truth about her disappearance.
Dustin tries to discover what kind of creature he has found, and takes Dart to school to show his friends. Will remembers his experiences and concludes that Dart is from the Upside Down. He tells this to his friends, and they start arguing. Dart escapes into the school, and the boys and Max go looking for it.
Defying Hopper's "Don't Be Stupid" rules, Eleven leaves the cabin to look for Mike. She ends up at the school, sees Mike and Max together, and becoming jealous, uses her powers to knock Max off balance and then leaves. Mike, believing the cause to be Eleven, runs out into the hallway only to find she is not there.
Joyce watches a tape from Halloween night, when Will had an episode about the Upside Down. She pauses the tape, and traces the image she sees on the screen. She compares it to a drawing of a creature from Will's vision, and finds an exact match.
Meanwhile, Nancy and Jonathan decide it's finally time to tell Barb's mother the truth about her daughter. Nancy calls Barb's mother to arrange a meeting in the park the next morning, telling her it's not safe to talk over the phone.
While searching for Dart, Will finds the creature in one of the school bathrooms. He has another episode where he is in the Upside Down facing the shadow monster. Taking Bob's advice to stand up to his fears, Will confronts the shadow monster, but it uses one of its appendages to surround and possess him.
Cast
- Joyce Byers - Winona Ryder
- Jim Hopper - David Harbour
- Mike Wheeler - Finn Wolfhard
- Eleven - Millie Bobby Brown
- Dustin Henderson - Gaten Matarazzo
- Lucas Sinclair - Caleb McLaughlin
- Will Byers - Noah Schnapp
- Max Mayfield - Sadie Sink
- Nancy Wheeler - Natalia Dyer
- Jonathan Byers - Charlie Heaton
- Steve Harrington - Joe Keery
- Billy Hargrove - Dacre Montgomery
- Karen Wheeler - Cara Buono
- Bob Newby - Sean Astin
- Dr. Sam Owens - Paul Reiser
- Claudia Henderson - Catherine Curtin
- Scott Clarke - Randy Havens
- Officer Powell - Rob Morgan
- Officer Callahan - John Reynolds
- Tommy H. - Chester Rushing
- Werewolf - Sam Ashby
- Happy Homeowner - Lynne Ashe
- Mrs. Holland - Cynthia Barrett
- Young Girl (Swingset) - Harper Cavanaugh
- Vicki - Abigail F. Cowen
- Mother (Swingset) - Bethany DeZelle
- Jason Vorhees - Cameron Newton
- Doris (MS Receptionist) - Suzanne Jordan Roush
- Sweaty Teen Boy - Drew Scheid
- Florence - Susan Shalhoub Larkin
- Marissa - Christi Waldon
- Scary Clown - Andrew Wilson Williams
- Elderly Math Teacher - Donna Wright
Uncredited
- Middle School Student - Sage Mayer
- Hawkins PD - Trey McGriff
- Basketball Player - Blake Sewell
- Middle School Child - Anna Swiney
Music
Soundtrack
- "Whistle On the River" by The Mercy Brothers - Dustin grab his pile of library books and makes a run for it; as Bob drives Will to school, he tells him about a nightmare he had as a kid.
- "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" by Jim Croce - Flashback to Hopper playing a record for Eleven; montage of Eleven and Hopper cleaning up the cabin and him teaching to use the radio for Morse code messages.
- "Go!" by Tones On Tail - Eleven leaves the cabin; Steve and Billy wrestle on the basketball court; Nancy shows up at the court to confront Steve.
- "The Ghost in You" by The Psychedelic Furs - Jonathan tells Nancy how he ended up taking her home from the party, then they talk about how things have changed since Will disappeared.
- "Clean Cut American Kid" by III Repute - While Nancy and Jonathan talk, a classmate starts listening to music on his walkman.
- "Cookin'" by Al Casey Combo - Joyce phones Bob at Radioshack for help with playing his video camera.
- "How I Feel About You" by Jumpstreet - As Nancy and Jonathan head to her room, Karen Wheeler stops them to say hi.
Original Score
- "She Wants Me to Find Her"
- "Home"
- "In the Woods"
- "Dispatch"
Gallery
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For this subject's gallery, see The Pollywog/Gallery. |
Notes
- On August 31, 2016, the second season was announced through a trailer published across social media, listing the titles of the nine episodes. Along with "MADMAX," "The Pollywog" is one of two known season two chapter titles that did not change as of October 9, 2017.
- In an interview, Gaten Matarazzo revealed that Dustin will bond with a polliwog-like creature that's "not from this planet or this dimension."[1] The creature that he was referencing was later revealed to be Dart.
- In the Beyond Stranger Things after-show, the Duffers revealed that in an early outline of the episode, Will would have been evil by this point and would have killed Bob.
- In another interview, Noah Schnapp explained that the confrontation between Will and The Mind Flayer was filmed in a green screen at night, making the scene very hard for the actor "cause I was just yelling at absolutely nothing."[2]
References
- ↑ "Stranger Things season 2: Who's in danger? Who's new? The plot revealed!" Entertainment Weekly. February 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Noah Schnapp Breaks Down His Hardest, Scariest Stranger Things 2 Scenes" Vulture. June 12, 2018.
| Episodes of Stranger Things | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
| Season 2 | MADMAX • Trick or Treat, Freak • The Pollywog • Will the Wise • Dig Dug • The Spy • The Lost Sister • The Mind Flayer • The Gate |
| Season 3 | |
| Season 4 | |
| Season 5 | |