Stanger Things Season 3 Chapter 4: The Sauna Test is a heart-pounding episode that features one, Operation Child Endangerment and the showdown between Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) as possessed by the Mind Flayer.
Operation Child Endangerment stars Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson) as last piece of the puzzle that the trip of Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Steve Harrington (Joey Keery), and Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) need to solve their “evil Russian” theory. As the child who fits in the air vents, Erica holds all the power as she negotiates her reward for a very dangerous mission aka Operation Child Endangerment. Although no one can spell America without Erica, it does not stop her from being a patriot and a capitalist at the same time. Operation Child Endangerment starts with Robin’s scoring of the Starcourt Mall blueprints and ends with the group being stuck underground with what looks like some radioactive material. From the get-go, the four of them use their collective wits and humor, from cracking the code to being imprisoned in some quadrilateral metallic room. Watching them is enjoyable; the back-and-forth is neither boring nor predictable.
With Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) confirming that the Mind Flayer is back, Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) make peace with El and Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink). The group follows Billy around to verify their suspicions that he is the new host of the Mind Flayer. After a pretty neat sequence in the sauna, the gang authenticates that Billy has been indeed taken over by the Mind Flayer. Pleading and trash talking ensue before the Mind Flayer try to annihilate the teenagers, but El uses every ounce of her power to overcome him.
It ends with Billy creeping back to his dugout to meet with Heather Holloway (Francesca Reale) and a part of the army of the (un)dead they are building.
I just want to mention that the conversation between Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and her mother (Cara Buono) is touching. It is delightful to see a mother so supportive of her daughter and arming her words of wisdom and hugs to face the cruel reality of life.
And, gangster Jim Hopper a wearing colorful shirt is a sight to behold.
Here are some quotes from Stranger Things – Season 3 Chapter Four: The Sauna Test:
“Wrong is kind of his default. But it’s nice to know he’s not a murderer, because that would’ve totally sucked.” – Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink)
“Where are my clothes?” – Jim Hopper (David Harbour)
“This is a code red.” – Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin)
“This is Mike. Do not hang up. Something happened, something bad. Our very lives can be at stake.” – Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard)
“Have you ever won a fight?” – Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo)
“Oh, dude! Come on, man, not my scooper.” – Steve Harrington (Joe Keery)
“it’s like everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but this is worse. Your body, it goes cold and — you can’t breathe. I’ve felt it before, whenever he was close.” – Will Byers (Noah Schnapp)
“I closed the gate.” – Eleven or Jane Hopper (Millie Bobby Brown)
“What if we locked him out here with us?” – Will
“We can’t take any chances. We have to the worst. The Mind Flayer’s back.” – Mike
“My nose! You broke my goddamn nose!” – Larry Kline (Cary Elwes)
“Who you calling? The police?” – Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder)
“That rat is just a rat?” – Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer)
“It’s a summer job. Your life is hardly over.” – Nancy
“God, here comes the Oliver Twist routine.” – Nancy
“Yeah, the real world sucks. Deal with it like the rest of us.” – Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton)
“It is fascinating what 20 bucks will get you at the County Recorder’s Office. Starcourt Mall. The complete blueprints.” – Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke)
“I’ll fit. Trust me. No collarbones, remember?” – Dustin
“He’s missing bones and stuff. He can bend like Gumbo.” – Steve
“Not my feet! Push my ass. Touch my butt! I don’t care!” – Dustin
“Get over here and serve me some samples.” – Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson)
“Normal? How many times have you seen him with a shirt on?” – Lucas
“The Mind Flayer likes to hide. He only used me when he needed me. It’s like… like you’re dormant. And then, when he needs you, you’re activated.” – Will
“I have an idea. Boys only.” – Mike
“I think I just threw up in my mouth.” – Lucas
Erica: Yeah, I don’t know.
Steve: You don’t know if you can fit?
Erica: Oh, I can fit. I just don’t know if I want to.
Robin: Are you claustrophobic?
Erica: I don’t have phobias.
Steve: Okay, well, what’s the problem?
Erica: The problem is, I still haven’t heard what’s in this for Erica.
After a tableful of ice cream for her.
Erica: More fudge please. Go on.
“You know what this half-baked plan of yours sound to me? Child endangerment.” – Erica
“You can’t spell ‘America’ without ‘Erica’”. – Erica
“Oh, I just go the chills, not from the speech, from this float.” – Erica
“Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism.” – Erica
“So, you want my help? This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I’m talking free ice cream for life.” – Erica
“I just wanted to be right. I wanted to be right so badly.” – Nancy
“People are always saying you can’t. That you shouldn’t. That you’re not smart enough, not good enough. This world, it beats you up again and again until eventually, I. Most people, they just, they just stop trying. But you’re not like that. You’re a fighter. You always have been. I honestly don’t know where you get if from.” – Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono)
“He’s just some angry old man who hates joy.” – Mike on Hopper
“I make my own rules.” – Eleven
“God, I hope it’s not you. I really hope it’s not you.” – Max
“Commence Operation Child Endangerment.” – Erica
“Free ice cream for life.” – Erica
“I find you, it is your funeral.” – Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery)
“That’s definitely not Chinese food.” – Steve
“If you die, I die.” – Dustin
“Was that just me, or did the room move?” – Dustin
“You little shits think this is funny?” – Billy
“He made me do it.” – Billy
“I feel him. He’s activated.” – Will
“I’ll fucking gut you.” - Billy
“She knows now. She knows about me. She could’ve killed me.” – Billy
For related entries, please read Suzie, Do You Copy, The Mall Rats, and The Case of the Missing Lifeguard.