Stanger Things Season 3 Chapter 6: E Pluribus Unum will be remembered for many things, but I will remember it for three scenes.
First, Alexei (Alec Utgoff) likes cherry Slurpee rather than the strawberry-flavored one. Although he is cute as a button, TR and I have to respectfully disagree with him on his choice of sugar on ice flavor. Strawberry always tastes better than cherry, in any form. Cherry reminds me of the cough (or cure-all) syrup that I had to take as a child.
Next, Dustin Henderson’s (Gaten Matarazzo) induction of Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson) into nerdom is like passing on the baton from the Ghostbusters to My Little Pony. Erica and her pink bag are in good company.
Lastly, the conversation between Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) and Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) is very relatable. There would always that one moment in high school when a nerd (sort of) had a certain degree of feelings – admiration, hatred, infatuation, envy – for the school jock or the head cheerleader. The nerd thought that the cool kid had it all without knowing that the cool kid was also suffering in silence. He was just doing it in the midst of his other cool friends.
If it is not yet obvious from my previous posts this season, I have to make it clear that I am utterly fond of the Scoops Ahoy quadruplet. Acerbic tongues all around with a side of politics, math, and pop culture. It is a sundae with everything on it.
Here are some quotes from Stranger Things – Season 3 Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum:
“Uhm, Steve, where’s your Russian friend?” – Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson)
“I won’t forget you!” – Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo)
“He’s here.” – Will Byers (Noah Schnapp)
“Jesus!” – Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard)
What the f….” – Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink)
“It’s time.” – Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery)
“This man is your fault, your problem. You’re lucky you still breathe.” – Grigori (Andrey Ivchenko)
“Sorry. I have a bad temper. I’m going to therapy.” – Larry Kline (Cary Elwes)
“Burger King is nowhere near the 7-Eleven, by the way.” – Jim Hopper (David Harbour)
“This tastes like shit strawberry.” – Alexei (Alec Utgoff)
“It is sugar on ice.” – Hopper on Slurpee
“Tell that stupid man, it is not the same in the slightest, and I would like the cherry I requested.” – Alexei
“No cherry. No deal.” – Alexei
“I’m not gonna hurt him.” – Hopper
“I get him his cherry Slurpee, then what? He wants a helicopter to charter him to his own private island. I have dealt with assholes like this my entire life.” – Hopper
He’s scared. Not of us, of them. He’s scared of that seven-foot-tall Russian freak who could have killed him just as easily as us. Smirnoff knows that if he runs back to his comrades without a scratch on him, they’re gonna think that he spilled his guts. So, whether he likes it or not, we are the best chance he’s got.” – Hopper
I give him 30 seconds before he comes knocking on that door, right back into our arms, with a new sense of humility.” – Hopper
“You know, he’s testing us. He is calling my bluff.” – Hopper
“He says he likes strawberry, too.” – Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman)
“Wait, so you believe everything about El and the gate and the Demidogs and the Mind Flayer, but you question your brother’s involvement?” – Dustin
“I’m good with numbers.” – Erica
“Holy shit. You’re a nerd.” – Dustin
“You … are … a … nerd.” – Dustin
“Can’t put the truth back in the box.” – Dustin
Dustin: Let’s examine the facts, shall we? Fact one: you’re a math whiz, apparently.
Erica: That was a pretty straightforward equation.
Dustin: Fact number two: you’re a political junkie.
Erica: Just because I don’t agree with Communism as an ideology …
Dustin: Fact number three: you love My Little Pony.
Erica: And what does My Little Pony have to do with this?
Dustin: Ah, let’s recall the ponies’ latest adventure, shall we? The evil centaur team and Tirek turns Applejack into a dragon at Midnight Castle, and then Megan and the other ponies have to use Moochick’s magic, to defeat his rainbow with darkness, saving them from a lifetime of enslavement. All the pink in the world can’t disguise the irrefutable fact that centaurs and castles and dragons and magic are all standard nerd tropes. Ergo, My Little Pony is nerdy. Ergo, you, Erica, are a nerd.
Erica: And how do you know so much about My Little Pony?
Dustin: Because I’m a nerd.
“For the millionth time, I work for Scoops Ahoy!” – Steve Harrington (Joe Keery)
“Look ay my outfit! Look at my outfit! You think I just wear this?! Think I’m a spy in a sailor’s uniform?” – Steve
“Shit happens, life goes on.” – Steve
“Don’t touch him!” – Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke)
“Bastards! Let us out! Let us out!” – Robin
“The fact is, she’s not yours. She’s her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions.” – Max
“She’s risking her life for no reason.” – Mike
“El has saved the world twice, and still Mike does not trust her.” – Max
“Your girlfriend used El’s power to spy on us.” – Mike
“I guess girlfriends don’t lie, they spy.” – Mike
“I’m just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven’s powers. In fact, how careless all of you are. You treating her some kind of machines when she’s not a machine, and I don’t want her to die looking for the flayed when they’ve obviously vanished off the face of the Earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan ‘because I love her and I can’t lose her again.” – Mike
“Uh, I’m sorry. Are my free translation services not good enough for you because you can just go ahead and file your complaint right up my ass!” – Murray
“The straw represents the key, which emits a great energy. They’re using this energy to break through a barrier, to open a doorway. A doorway between worlds. But it seems that this key is only half the equation. Location – Location was the other half. In Hawkins, this door has been opened once. It was still healing.” – Murray translating what Alexei was saying.
“He says, it is … opening.” – Murray
“Can we watch Looney Tunes now?” – Alexei after dropping a bomb of truth and doom
“He says he likes your courage. You remind him of a fat Rambo. But he says even if thin Rambo could get there. This key, it is in an underground fortress designed by the greatest Russian minds, guarded by their greatest warriors. Breaking in is impossible.” – Murray translating Alexei’s words
“My ears are ringing, and I can’t really breathe, my eyes feel like it’s about to pop out of my skull, but you know, apart from that, I’m doing pretty good.” – Steve
“Those morons. They have scissors in here?” – Steve
“I can’t believe I’m gonna die in a secret Russian base with Steve “The Hair” Harrington. It’s just so trippy, man.” – Robin
Robin: Do you remember Mrs, Click’s sophomore history class?
Steve: What?
Robin: Mrs. Clickity-Clackity. That’s what us band dweebs called her. It was first period, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so you were always late. And you always had the same breakfast. Bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel. I sat behind you two days a week for a year. Mister Funny. Mister Cool. The King of Hawkins High himself. Do you even remember me from that class? Of course you don’t. You were a real asshole, you know that?
Steve: Yeah, I know.
Robin: But it didn’t even matter. It didn’t matter that you were an ass. I was still obsessed with you. Even though all of us losers pretend to be above it all, we still just wanna be popular, accepted, normal.
Steve: If it makes you feel any better, having those things isn’t all that great. Seriously. It just baffles me. Everything that people tell you is important, everything that people say you should care about, it’s all just bullshit. But I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out, right?
Robin: I hope so. I feel like my whole life has been one big error.
Steve: Yup.
Robin: At least it can’t get any more messed up than this.
Steve: You know, I wish I’d known you in Click’s class.
Robin: Yeah?
Steve: Really, I do. Maybe you could’ve helped me pass the class. Maybe instead of being here, I’d be on my way to college right now.
Robin: And I would have no idea that there were evil Russians beneath our feet, and I would be happily slinging ice cream with some other schmuck.
Steve: I gotta say though, I liked being your schmuck. It was fun while it lasted.
Robin: It was.
“He can’t hurt me. Not in there.” – Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown)
“Mike, I need you to trust me.” – Eleven
“I think I see it. The source.” – Eleven
“You wrote is down and kept it in your wallet?” – Murray
“Our kids are in danger!” – Joyce
“Don’t you dare patronize me!” – Joyce
“There was a code. There was a code! We heard a code!” – Robin
“They’re gonna come in here, commando-style, guns a-blazin’, and kick your sorry asses back to Russia. You’re gonna be two pieces of toast.” – Steve
“You shouldn’t have looked for me. Because now I see you. Now we can all see you. You let us in. And now you are going to have to let us stay. Don’t you see, all this time, we’ve been building it. We’ve been building it for you. All that work, all that pain, all of it … for you. And now it’s time. Time to end it. And we’re going to end you. And when you are gone, we are going to end your friends. And then we are going to end everyone.” – Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery)
For related entries, please read The Flayed, The Bite, and The Battle of Starcourt.