Let's Talk About Dustin's Camp Girlfriend From Stranger Things

There are a lot of really shocking things in Stranger Things Season 3, and one of them involves Dustin’s (Gaten Matarazzo) new girlfriend.

After returning home from camp, the whiz kid tells his friends that he now has a girlfriend. Yes, a girlfriend. Her name is Suzie and she’s "hotter than Phoebe Cates." It sounds far-fetched. It sounds crazy. It’s one of the most bonkers things to happen during the brand new episodes, and it leads everyone to wonder who this Suzie is and if she's even real in the first place. Come on, does Dustin really have a “girlfriend” that he met “at camp”?

Throughout the eight brand new episodes, Dustin is endlessly teased about Suzie because no one can figure out if he’s telling the truth or now has an imaginary girlfriend. So color everyone surprised when Suzie (played by Gabriella Pizzolo) turns out to be real, and also helps the kids save the world.

As Dustin is more than eager to tell everyone, he met Suzie at camp and the only way he can communicate with her is via a giant radio the two created, Cerebro (the explanation he gives is that she’s Mormon and her parents would disapprove of the two of them communicating). Dustin drags everyone up a hill, literally, to build Cerebro and while he isn’t able to contact Suzie, he does hear a mysterious Russian transmission that sets in motion the events of the season.

Some ice cream and secret underground facilities later, Dustin is finally able to reach Suzie and begs her to relay Planck’s constant code to them — she’s super smart and brilliant, so of course, she knows it off the top of her head. However, she refuses to tell it to Dustin unless he sings their song to her. And what, you ask, is the song Susie and Dustin sing? The Neverending Story theme song, "Never Ending Story" by Limahl.

In what is maybe the weirdest/most hilarious Stranger Things moment to date, Dustin and Suzie harmonize on “The Never Ending Story” song, while broadcasting it over the radio waves for everyone else to hear — including the likes of Mike, Will, Lucas, Max, Eleven, Steve, Robin, Hopper, and Joyce, the latter two who are trapped in an underground Russian facility forced to listen to Dusty-bun sing to his Suzie-poo.

Stranger Things season 3 takes place in 1985, and The Neverending Story came out in 1984, so this timely reference makes sense. Of course a pre-teen girl would be obsessed with the song from the fantasy hit. Also, the fact that The Neverending Story is about a warrior princess trying to rid her land of the darkness and “evil” that has invaded it is not lost on us. Susie is basically an instant hero.

While Suzie’s role in the season is small, it’s clearly important, and hints that maybe she’ll be back for more come season 4. We know she’s a genius kid that can rattle off complicated numbers off the top of her head, but how is she at outwitting and outsmarting monsters?