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There are a lot of things to love about Stranger Things–monsters, alternate universes, whacky science, blood and gore–but let’s face it: the reason the show has staying power is thanks to the characters. It’s a series with so many iconic characters, it’s hard to name a favorite. There’s the fierce survivor Eleven, the sardonic police chief Hopper, the lovable goof Steve Harrington, and so many more. And though we love them as individuals, there’s also tremendous joy to be found in their relationships. Whether friends, lovers, or something else, we can’t get enough of their character interactions.

Stranger Things 3, the newest season, is loaded with so many excellent character team-ups that we knew we had to do a post celebrating them. And for a little bit of bonus fun, we decided to rank our favorite pairings. Here’s a (spoiler-filled) countdown of the best team-ups of the season and why we love them!

Stranger Things

One of the best character pairings in season two was that of Dustin Henderson and Steve Harrington, two people you’d never think of putting together, but who are honestly so perfect together it’s hard to imagine them apart. Their mutual silliness gave us some of the most hilarious scenes the last go-around, and that continues in season three. This time, the two are joined by Steve’s ice cream shop co-worker Robin and Lucas’s scene-stealing little sister Erica; together, the team cracks a Russian transmission and discover a secret facility under the Starcourt Mall, where a new door to the Upside Down is being opened. Not only do they save Hawkins from assured destruction, but they do it in arguably the most fun scenes of the season. We could watch Steve and Robin high on Russian laughing gas all day.

2. Hopper/Joyce/Murray/Alexei 

If you’re like us, you’ve been ‘shipping Hopper and Joyce since season one, and were delighted to see them share so much screentime in Stranger Things 3. After discovering the plot to reopen the Upside Down, the two go on a wild goose chase; they beat up the mayor, run from the Russians, and eventually trap one–a man named Dr. Alexei–who they take to Murray, aka “Bald Eagle.” The foursome forms a mini group, one that–like the Scoops Troop–play hilariously off one another. Robin may be the standout of the season, but Alexei is a close second. Unfortunately, this foursome is a twosome by season’s end, after both Alexei and Hopper are killed in their quest to do the right thing.

3. Eleven/Max

Another highlight of Stranger Things 3 is Eleven fully coming into her own and learning how to live beyond the expectations of Hopper and Mike. Her enlightenment comes from Max, who teaches her how to find herself through fashion and solidarity. Their blossoming friendship–from their trip through Starcourt Mall set to Madonna’s “Material Girl” to the heart-wrenching finale–gives the show its first central female friendship, and we couldn’t be happier about it.

4. Nancy/Jonathan 

Nancy and Jonathan’s will-they-won’t-they was a big focus in season two. Luckily, they’re fully together and stronger than ever in Stranger Things 3, which is good news for the subplot that finds Nancy fully in control of her future. She’s not one to settle, and uses her job as intern at the Hawkins Post to explore a series of strange goings-on in town. This leads to the discovery of the new monster, and a plot that puts her–and Jonathan–in near-constant danger. They’re able to come out on top together, even if they end the season apart as Jonathan moves with his mom, brother, and Eleven to a new town, escaping Hawkins’ demons forever–or at least until next season.

5. Billy/Heather

Billy’s journey this season is harrowing and so important to the goings-on of Stranger Things 3. From bully to host of the Upside Down’s terrifying new monster manifestation, he’s been a villain by choice and force. It’s hard to rank his team-up with Heather–who he possesses and who helps him carry out the Mind Flayer’s gory plan for Hawkins–all that high, since it’s more of a one-man show. But the two have some of the scariest scenes of the season, like a particularly harrowing episode-ending moment set to Don McLean’s “American Pie.”

6. Mike/Lucas/Will

In this case, last certainly isn’t least. The boys are still as great together as ever, although they rank last by pure circumstance. They just don’t get as much fun stuff to do this season as the rest of the gang. Will’s fear of growing up contrasted with Mike and Lucas’s romantic relationships makes for some tender, touching moments, and we always love seeing these guys interact. Unfortunately, they’re a little overshadowed by everyone else’s showier storylines. No worries, though; they all get to shine in the finale, which is action-packed and gives everyone a moment to stand out.

What did you think of Stranger Things 3? Join us for theories, breakdowns, and more in our spoiler discussion post!

Images: Netflix

The post Every Team Up in STRANGER THINGS 3, Ranked appeared first on Nerdist.

Staff of a fishing lodge in Alaska got the shock of their lives when they discovered that a young brown bear had walked into the kitchen searching for a meal.

Unfortunately, the bold bear met a sad ending when officials decided it had to be put down because it showed no fear of humans.

The staff at the Highliner Lodge in Pelican were prepping for a dinner service when the 400-pound bear walked in through the back of the restaurant, the lodge wrote in a Facebook post.

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Owner Steve Daniels thought it was a prank at first until he saw the bear “sniffing around” in the supplies. Daniels threw the first thing he could grab at the bear — a round of salami. Daniels then flung dinner plates toward the bear, hoping the noise would get it out of the door.

Daniels told the Juneau Empire that “pandemonium” ensued when the lodge’s 30 guests learned a bear had crashed their dinner.

Daniels shared photos on social media of the bear in the kitchen, among shelves of food. He reported the incident to authorities, who have been having issues with the same bear.

The bear had actually been spotted on residents’ properties in the past week, and had become very bold and unafraid of humans.

Pelican Public Safety Officer Robert Adams told the Juneau Empire that efforts to deter the bear had not been successful even with the use of non-lethal rounds and horns.

“The bear continued to hang around behind the lodge in the thick brush. It came back onto the porch twice after the dinner service and later was trampling through thick brush 10 feet from the door of one of our staff members who was afraid to enter her room,” the lodge said in its Facebook post. “The bear continued to move through he brush towards the armed village public safety officer, Steve, Highliner staff and several guests.”

Judging this to be a serious threat to the community, Adams decided to put the bear down.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers removed the carcass, which turned out to be female, Juneau Empire reported.

“This was not the outcome that anyone had hoped for… Bears that exhibit such behavior are extremely dangerous to humans,” the lodge said. “While we would much prefer that this story could have ended with the comical intrusion of a bear on our dinner service, scaring it back into the hills forever by use of dinner plates and salami, we are relieved that everyone is safe and understand that the decision was unavoidable.”

Last month, a black bear in Oregon was put down by wildlife officials after it became too used to humans illegally feeding it and taking selfies with it.

More on Geek.com:

• Watch: Photographer Captures ‘Best Bear Fight Ever’ in Wild Video
• Black Bear Put Down After People Illegally Take Selfies, Feed Him in Oregon
• Sleepy Black Bear Sneaks Into Montana Home to Take a Nap

The post Brown Bear Put Down After It Breaks Into Lodge in Alaska appeared first on Geek.com.

J. Jonah Jameson has been a thorn in Spider-Man’s side since almost the very beginning. The owner of The Daily Bugle has done more harm than most of the costumed villains of Peter Parker’s rogue’s gallery when it comes to actually damaging Spider-Man’s reputation. His labeling of him as a “menace” made the citizens of New York—and even other superheroes—view him as a potential threat.

SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Far From Home from here on out! You have been warned!

After skipping out the entire Amazing Spider-Man movies, the character of J. Jonah Jameson has returned to live-action in Spider-Man: Far from Home. And lucky for us, he is once again played by the amazing J.K. Simmons. He does some massive damage to Peter Parker, as he reveals to the world that he is really Spider-Man. While this might ruin Peter’s life, it might not qualify as outright villainy… yet. But there are plenty of times Jameson took that final step from just a mean old guy with an ax to grind into dangerous villain territory.

Does just using the power of the press to share his opinions make Jameson  an outright villain? Maybe not, but he’s done plenty of other things besides just talking smack about Spidey in his newspaper to earn the villain title. And we are going to explain just why J. Jonah Jameson isn’t just a loud-mouthed antagonist, but a full blown bad guy.

Strike One: Creating the Scorpion 

Jonah had found a way to connect Spider-Man to every new criminal who came to New York in some way from the word go. But in Amazing Spider-Man #20, Jameson used his wealth to actually sic supervillain on Spidey. Jameson funded a dangerous and untested experiment that would transform a low-rent thug named Mac Gargan into the super-powered Scorpion. And all of this so he could take down (and presumably kill?) Spider-Man. We’d say that crosses a huge line right there. Not only that, but Gargan became a career supervillain after that, which cost how many innocent lives, for which J. Jonah is directly responsible.

Strike Two: The Spider-Slayers

If all that weren’t enough to elevate Jameson from nuisance to outright villainy, it doesn’t end there. Not long after the Scorpion incident, Jameson took things up another notch. He bankrolled scientist Dr. Spencer Smythe’s creation of a series of sophisticated robots whose only purpose was to hunt down Spider-Man.

These “Spider-Slayers” even had a video monitors inside of them that functioned as makeshift “heads,” by which Jameson could appear as if he were the robot itself. By doing this, he took his hatred of Spider-Man to a whole new level. The Spider-Slayers would continually wreak havoc in Spider-Man’s life for decades, and they’re all Jonah’s fault. At the very least, there’s a lot of property damage you could bill Jameson for with these Spider-Slayers.

Strike Three: Bankrolling Mysterio #2

Years later, Jameson financed a man named Daniel Berkhart to take on the name and mantle of Mysterio to defeat Spider-Man, after the original Mysterio was presumed to be dead. He was defeated, of course, but that’s now three separate attempts to destroy the wall crawler by physically attacking him. For someone who attacked Spider-Man publicly for being a vigilante, Jonah seemingly had no problem taking the law into his own hands to defeat Spider-Man by any means necessary.

Strike Four: The Anti-Spider Squad

Oh, we’re not done yet. In more recent years, Jameson managed to use his fame and status as a blowhard celebrity to become the Mayor of New York City. And the first thing he did while in a position of power? You guessed it: he used government funds to create an Anti-Spider Squad to hunt down Spider-Man. During this time, Spidey remained an active hero while being hunted, which only further enraged Jonah. The Anti-Spider Squad cost the local government millions and was basically all illegal, but Jonah kept at it. Ultimately, public sentiment turned on him, and he resigned. But we believe all of these things qualify Jameson for pure villain status, and not just “antagonist.” Even if he can sometimes be an endearing villain.

Will J.K. Simmons’ “Jameson 2.0” be as bad as all that? (He does seem to be based on Alex Jones after all, so anything is possible.) The wait for Tom Holland’s  third solo outing as Spider-Man seems even longer now after that cliffhanger ending.

Images: Marvel / Sony

The post Could J. Jonah Jameson Become the Next SPIDER-MAN Villain? appeared first on Nerdist.

A one-year-old Arctic fox has left scientists “speechless” after it made an epic journey from Norway to Canada, covering 2,176 miles in a record-breaking 76 days. The female fox made the journey from […]

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