Stranger Things season 3: Decoding the cryptic new episode titles

The official titles of eight brand new – and very cryptic – Stranger Things episodes have been revealed.

The names of each installment were unveiled in the first teaser for the Netflix show’s third season, which confirmed that events will take place in the summer of 1985 – just over half a year on from the season two finale.

Out of context, the titles are wildly mysterious, so attempting to analyse what could occur in each one is a somewhat benign task. But, considering Stranger Things fever is officially in gear, why the hell not?

Below is our interpretation of each episode title. Be sure to bookmark this page to check back once season three has aired to see how far off we actually were (our guess: a lot).

Chapter One: “Suzie, Do You Copy?”

First off, we’re going to assume that Suzie is a new character who, much like Max (Sadie Sink) last year, will be introduced as a new ally to our central heroes in the season premiere. The giveaway is “...Do You Copy,” which no doubt alludes to their preferred method of communication: walkie talkies. Saying that, Max’s mum is named Susan, so perhaps she somehow finds herself embroiled in the strange goings on of Hawkins, Indiana? Or we be completely wrong and "Suzie" is just the secret name for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).

Chapter Two: “The Mall Rats”

These “Mall Rats” are most likely the main crew – Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Will (Noah Schnapp) – who will no doubt be hanging out in what has already been confirmed to be a key location in the forthcoming season: the Starcourt Mall. One character who’ll most definitely be seen in here is fan favourite Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) who works there on an ice cream stand.

Chapter Three: “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard”

On its own, this title is a hard one to pin down, apart from the obvious: a lifeguard will be the latest person to go missing in Hawkins. However, fans will recall that Francesca Reale was confirmed to be playing a new character named Heather whose bio described her as a “popular lifeguard at the Hawkins Community Pool”. In fact, it’s Heather who’ll be in the middle of season three’s ”dark" mystery so, considering she goes missing, don’t get used to having her around.

Chapter Four: “The Sauna Test”

We don’t know why, but this title has a hint of the Hawkins Lab about it. Remember when Eleven recalled being tested in that water tank? Maybe Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine) survived the season two finale and has a similar test set up somewhere else – like, the basement of Starcourt Mall. A sauna’s infrared properties certainly alludes to something related to science-fiction.

Chapter Five: “The Source”

This is a stretch, but we’re going to say this has something to do with Will Byers. While the Duffer brothers have stated he’ll be getting an easier ride this time around, Will is undoubtedly going to remain important to the plot – and, if the aforementioned lifeguard goes missing, it’s Will who’ll be first port of call in helping Hopper (David Harbour) with his investigation, due to being a direct link to the town’s darker side. Maybe he’ll be required to summon whatever it is that’s taken Heather? Or perhaps it’s referring to the mall which could be the titular source of whatever’s going wrong in Hawkins.

Chapter Six: “The Birthday”

It’s obviously going to be a main character’s birthday (it could be anyone, but because guessing is fun, let’s say it’s Lucas’s) and the party is most likely going to be gatecrashed by the new season’s big villain. We can’t escape the feeling that this is going to be a huge episode which, much like last year’s divisive “The Lost Sister”, could focus on Eleven.

Chapter Seven: “The Bite”

Whatever next season's threat is, let’s hazard a guess and say it’s going to have teeth. Remember season two’s penultimate episode which saw the death of Bob (Sean Astin) after getting chased round that lab? We predict another main character will die here, or indeed could reanimate into a threat in time for the huge showdown in the final episode.

Chapter Eight: “The Battle of Starcourt”

The events of Stranger Things can usually be tracked to a specific location (see: Hawkins Lab) and as previously mentioned, this season’s will be Starcourt Mall. Expect all characters to congregate in this location for what is sure to be an explosive finale that may or may not involve Demogorgons.

Stranger Things season 3 will be available to stream on Netflix in 2019