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Stranger Things 3 (2019) KILL COUNT is the three hundred and thirtieth video of The Kill Count.
Overview[]
In June 1984, Soviet scientists attempt to force open a new gate to the Upside Down. One year later in Hawkins, the popularity of the new Starcourt Mall has forced many local businesses to close, angering townspeople. Mike and Eleven have begun a romantic relationship, much to Hopper's chagrin; he later threatens Mike into agreeing not to see her. Dustin returns from summer camp and sets up a radio tower to contact his new girlfriend, Suzie, where his friends ditch him, and he instead intercepts a Russian transmission. Will privately senses that the Mind Flayer may still be alive. Rats congregate in a mill and explode into an organic mass. On his way to a sexual encounter with Mrs. Wheeler, Billy is run off the road by an unseen creature and dragged inside the mill.
Billy escapes the mill after the creature induces a vision of the Upside Down, where he meets a doppelgänger. Tormented by further visions and voices, Billy is guided by the creature into kidnapping his fellow lifeguard Heather Holloway and bringing her to the creature. Nancy and Jonathan, working as interns at the Hawkins Post, investigate the home of Mrs. Driscoll, an elderly woman concerned about rabid rats eating her fertilizer, and they overlook one of the rats exploding. Max and Eleven bond to distract themselves from Mike and Lucas while shopping at Starcourt; Eleven breaks up with Mike after he lies to her to avoid seeing her after Hopper threatens him. Joyce investigates a strange loss of magnetism among objects at her home and workplace, accidentally standing Hopper up for a date. Dustin reunites with Steve, who works at the mall's ice cream parlor with Robin, a former classmate; the three translate the Russian radio message and determine that it must be a code.
Eleven uses her powers to spy on Mike, and later Billy, who senses her presence. She and Max discover that Billy has gone missing. Nancy and Jonathan find reports of missing fertilizer and strange behavior among rats across town, and they discover Mrs. Driscoll herself eating fertilizer in her home. Will fights with Lucas and Mike while they are upset over Eleven and Max. Robin decodes the Russian communication, pointing to a shipment arriving at Starcourt that night; she, Steve, and Dustin spot armed Russian soldiers making the delivery. Joyce convinces Hopper that the demagnetization stems from an electromagnetic device at the abandoned Hawkins Lab; when they investigate, Hopper is attacked by Grigori, a Russian soldier. Max and Eleven track down Billy and Heather at the home of Heather's parents; after they leave, Billy and Heather subdue her parents, which Will senses, making him realize the Mind Flayer is alive.
Billy and Heather bring her parents to the mill, where they are possessed by the Mind Flayer (now a physical creature composed of flesh from the rats). Hopper recalls Grigori meeting with town mayor Larry Kline; he and Joyce force Kline to reveal that Starcourt Mall is a Russian front buying abandoned properties across Hawkins. At Starcourt, Dustin, Steve, and Robin, alongside Lucas' sister Erica discover that the mall's loading dock is an elevator, which traps them beneath the mall. Nancy and Jonathan are fired by their boss (Heather's father) for harassing Mrs. Driscoll; Nancy visits Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital out of suspicion and watches her become possessed by the Mind Flayer. Will reveals his connection with the Mind Flayer to Mike, Lucas, Eleven, and Max, speculating that it has possessed Billy. They devise a plan to trap Billy in the pool's sauna to confirm he is possessed, but Billy escapes and nearly kills them until Eleven subdues him. Billy returns to the mill, where dozens of townspeople have since been possessed by the Mind Flayer.
Hopper and Joyce search one of the abandoned properties, discovering a hidden laboratory. Grigori arrives to kill them, and they narrowly escape with a hostage – a Russian scientist named Alexei – in tow. Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica arrive in a Russian lab underneath Starcourt and hide from Russian soldiers unloading crates from the elevator. Attempting to find a communications room, the group discovers a large testing area where scientists try to force open a portal to the Upside Down. As Alexei does not speak English, Hopper and Joyce take him to Murray – the only Russian speaker they know – to translate. Grigori tries to follow them but loses the trail. Nancy and Jonathan regroup with Will, Mike, Lucas, Eleven, and Max and then theorize that Billy and Driscoll are both possessed by the Mind Flayer, who uses them to "flay" (possess) people to create an army. The group decides to visit Driscoll at the hospital to learn more but finds her gone. They are attacked by Tom and Bruce, who are now of the Flayed that dissolve into a single organic mass resembling the Mind Flayer after Nancy and Jonathan kill them.
Eleven, who had just then reconciled with Mike, uses her powers to incapacitate the Mind Flayer, forcing it to flee to the mill. In the Russian lab beneath Starcourt, Steve and Robin are captured, drugged, and interrogated, but Dustin and Erica manage to rescue them. With Murray translating, Hopper and Joyce hold Alexei hostage, forcing him to reveal that the Russians are attempting to access the Upside Down and that they are opening a portal beneath Starcourt. Hopper calls Owens to warn the U.S. Government of the threat, but Joyce insists they return to Hawkins immediately, fearing that their kids may be involved. Grigori corners Kline at Hawkins' Independence Day fair, demanding he step up efforts to find Hopper. Mike inadvertently admits his love for Eleven. To find the Mind Flayer, Eleven uses her powers in an attempt to psychically communicate with Billy, learning of his troubled childhood and finding the Flayer at the mill. Billy senses Eleven's presence, giving the Mind Flayer access to her location, and reveals that the Mind Flayer plans to kill her in revenge for her closing the gate. The Flayed converge on the mill, dissolving into an organic mass and merging with the Mind Flayer.
Eleven and the others determine the Mind Flayer is coming for her since she was the one who previously closed the gate. Will senses the Mind Flayer approaching, and it attacks them before they flee, wounding Eleven. Dustin and Erica drag a drugged Steve and Robin to the movie theater in Starcourt. Eleven's group breaks into a supermarket to help treat her wounds and gather more supplies. Dustin contacts them over a walkie-talkie to try and explain their situation before he loses battery power. Eleven uses her powers to find Dustin, and the group takes off for the mall. Steve admits that he has feelings for Robin, but she comes out to him as a lesbian. Hopper's group makes their way to the fairgrounds in Hawkins to find the children where they are spotted by Kline, who alerts the Russians. Grigori fatally shoots Alexei in front of Murray. Murray, Hopper, and Joyce evade several Soviet agents and learn the agents are looking for the children at the mall. Eleven's group arrives at the mall in time to stop the Russians from shooting Dustin's group. Eleven collapses in front of the children, her wound pulsing.
Eleven rids herself of the piece of the Mind Flayer embedded in her wound, rendering her powerless. Hopper's group arrives, and plans are made to take Eleven's group to safety. At the same time, Hopper, Joyce, and Murray destroy the machine, with Dustin and Erica navigating them from his radio tower. Billy and the Mind Flayer trap Eleven's group at the mall. The others attack the Mind Flayer with fireworks as Eleven frees Billy from its control. Billy sacrifices himself to protect Eleven, Mike, and Max. Hopper fights and kills Grigori, getting trapped with the machine in the process. Out of time, Joyce is forced to trigger an explosion, closing the gate, with Hopper seemingly being disintegrated in the process. The Mind Flayer dies as Dr. Owens arrives with military forces. Three months later, the deaths are covered up, Starcourt is destroyed, and a disgraced Kline is arrested. The Byers family and a still-powerless Eleven prepare to move out of Hawkins. Mike and Eleven confess their love for each other and make plans to meet at Thanksgiving. In Kamchatka, Russian guards are instructed to feed a prisoner, but "not the American", to a captive Demogorgon.
Deaths[]
Counted Deaths:[]
- 8 Russians In Masks - Disintegrated by laser explosion - Ep 301 - 3 mins in
- Russian Scientist - Strangled to death by Grigori - Ep 301 - 4 mins in
- 3 Hospital Victims - Seen dead in hallways - Ep 305 - 42 mins in
- Tom Holloway - Stabbed in chest (by Johnathan Byers) - Ep 305 - 46 mins in
- Bruce Lowe - Face broken w/ fire extinguisher - 46 mins in
- Heather Holloway - Melted down into goop - Ep 306 - 55 mins in
- Janet Holloway - Melted down into goop - Ep 306 - 55 mins in
- Doris Driscoll - Melted down into goop - Ep 306 - 55 mins in
- 24 Other Flayed Hawkinsians - Melted down into goop - Ep 306 - 55 mins in
- Alexei - Shot by Grigori - Ep 307 - 44 mins in
- 4 Russian Mall Guards - Crushed by American manufacturing - Ep 307 - 49 mins in
- 4 Russian Elevator Guards - Gunned down by Hopper - Ep 308 - 13 mins in
- Grigori - Tossed into laser by Hopper - Ep 308 - 47 mins in
- 5 Russians Near Laser - Disintegrated in explosion - Ep 308 - 50 mins in
- Billy Hargrove - Tentacled by the Mind Flayer's spider monster - Ep 308 - 51 mins in
- Russian Prisoner - Killed by Demogorgon - Ep 308 - 1 hr 14 mins in
Non-Counted Deaths:[]
- Rats - Turned into mind flayers
- Mind Flayer - Tentacles torn apart by Eleven
- Russian Spy - Beaten by Hopper
- Mind Flayer Slug - Stomped by Hopper
- Mind Flayer's Spider Monster - Killed after machine is blown up
- Dr. Zharkov - Electrocuted by Dustin (Confirmed dead in the show's wiki)
Trivia[]
- This Kill Count shows James returning as host for the first time since The Forever Purge.
- This is the first TV series Kill Count to be a single video.
- This is the first episode to be filmed on the new set made by GoButton.
- This is the first time the Kill infographics are presented in boxes.
- This is the first time that additional statistics are incorporated into the Numbers (e.g. Deadliest Season, Victim Count per Character).
- This is the first Kill Count to have a tally of the number of kills caused by specific characters, specifically The Mind Flayer (33 kills), Grigori (2 kills), Eleven (4 kills), and Hopper (5 kills).
- This is the first Kill Count without a pie chart.
- In the Numbers section, James lists Season 1 as having 16 deaths, although he counted 17 initially. The missing death may be due to him no longer counting the Demogorgon (as it does not qualify as humanoid).
- This is the first and HOPEFULLY only Kill Count with the host having COVID. (That is why he seems less energetic.)
- This is so far the only TV Show Kill Count to get a trailer.
- The "The Kill Count" logo on the thumbnail gets smaller but it's not the first time.
- This was the longest Kill Count (at 59:58) until CHUCKY Season 1 (2021) KILL COUNT got that award (with 1:07:04).