Stranger Things season 3, episode 3 recap: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard

Stranger Things 3 gets mysterious in “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard.” Everyone pairs up to investigate with some shocking results. We’ve got the recap!

“The Case of the Missing Lifeguard” is not about Billy (Dacre Montgomery). It’s about Heather (Francesca Reale), the lifeguard that Billy kidnapped and seemingly fed to the Mind Flayer in “The Mall Rats.” Whether or not they know it, all of our heroes investigate the missing lifeguard with some dangerous consequences. Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) returns to direct the episode, which was written by William Bridges (Black Mirror).

Max & Eleven

Max (Sadie Sink) and Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown) head to Max’s house to check on Billy. Eleven can’t shake the odd vibe she felt when he was able to see her in the astral plane in “The Mall Rats.” They take the risk and cross the threshold into Billy’s room. They find cigarette butts, light blocking quilts, and porn. Nothing unusual. The find the bathtub is full of empty bags of ice. Eleven remembers Will (Noah Schnapp) in season 2. If you’re under the influence of the Mind Flayer, you like it cold.

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Eleven sees blood on the doors of the bathroom sink cabinets. There’s a first aid kit and a whistle covered in blood. Max and Eleven go to the Hawkins pool. There’s a heavy thunderstorm. Max inquires about the first aid kit. They’re told it belongs to Heather, who called in sick. When Eleven visits her in the astral plane, Heather is buried in a tub of ice. She begs for Eleven’s help.

The pair track down Heather’s residence. They go to check on her whereabouts and find Billy sitting down to dinner with Heather’s mom and dad. Wait. What? Her dad happens to be the Editor of the Hawkins paper. As Max and Eleven are questioned by an unusually courteous and climate controlled Billy, Heather comes out of the kitchen. All seems well until Max and Eleven leave. That’s when Heather promptly knocks her dad out with a bottle of wine and kidnaps both her parents with Billy.

Hopper & Joyce

The same morning, Joyce (Winona Ryder) goes to see Hopper (David Harbour). For a guy who just broke up two kids, he’s sure acting like Karma’s not a thing. He’s hung up on the fact that Joyce stood him up the night before. Joyce is hung up on the fact that she thinks the government is back working on The Gate. It’s the only explanation for the loss of magnetism over such a large area of Hawkins.

Stranger Things — Credit: Netflix

Hopper gives his best Mike (Finn Wolfhard) impression while continuing to pout over Joyce. But, he agrees to check out the lab with her. Once there, they find everything is still cemented over as it was at the end of last season. But they’re being watched. Hopper hears something and checks it out. It’s the Russian Beefcake dude from “Suzie, Do You Copy?” He beats Hopper up pretty badly. Joyce finds him.

Nancy & Jonathan

The reporters at the paper all laugh at Nancy’s (Natalia Dyer) story of killer rats. She not phased. With Jonathan on board, Nancy decides to bring back the captive rat that Mrs. Driscoll (Peggy Miley) has. If only she would have been more patient in “The Mall Rats.” The rat is gone and Mrs. Driscoll has gone fertilizer crazy. It’s a creepy moment in the episode. Nancy and Jonathan turn the corner to see poor Mrs. Driscoll cheek deep in fertilizer like it was The Stuff. When she’s driven away in an ambulance, she reaches out for the steelworks. The Mind Flayer’s presence calls to her.

Team Scoops Ahoy

Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Steve (Joe Kerry) have sloppy tradecraft when it comes to spying. They spend more time fighting over who gets to look through the binoculars and following false jazzercise leads than coming up with anything real. Luckily, there’s Robin (Maya Hawke). She cracks the code of the Russian translation. It’s a time and delivery place for items in Star Court Mall!

Stranger Things — Credit: Netflix

Team Scoops Ahoy waits in the rain atop the mall roof. The deliveries are watched by armed guards. They’re getting good reconnaissance until Dustin and Steve once again fight over the binoculars. That alerts the guards, one of whom goes looking for them. They get away but know they’re on to something big.

Mike, Lucas, and Will

Will the Wise wakes up Mike and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) early the same morning. He forces the guys into playing D&D, but they’re more interested in their girl problems. Disheartened, Will storms out into the rain. Mike follows after him but makes things worse by basically calling him a child.

Mike tries to apologize, but Will retreats to Castle Byers, which he tries to destroy with a bat. Yes. Will is less girl crazy than the other guys. But he has a good reason. He’s gone through extremely traumatic events over the first two seasons of Stranger Things. People, especially kids, who go through events like that generally have a tendency to hold on to the people they have for dear life. New attachments are too much of a risk because you could lose them anyway. When cooler heads prevail, the three reunite in the rain by the partially destroyed Castle Byers. Will feels his Upside Down Tingle. He admits to the guys that the Mind Flayer is back.

That’s a Lot of Story

We see Billy and Heather have taken Heather’s parents to the steelworks. The Mind Flayer comes out of the shadows. He doesn’t eat the parents. Instead, he pulls kind of a mix between Starship Troopers and Alien. I think they’re infecting hosts to be be spies and procurers. Or he’s making copies of them. I’m not sure yet.

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What we do know is that the American government seems to have abandoned Hawkins and The Gate so completely that the Russians have swooped right in. Murray (Brett Gelman) was right all along. The Mind Flayer, conscious or not of the Russian effort, wants to recruit an army. Yikes.

Are you enjoying your binge of Stranger Things 3? Are things getting a little too complicated too soon? Let’s discuss in the comments!

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