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Courtesy of Netflix

Dustin Has Given His New Pet An Interesting Name On 'Stranger Things'

by Chrissy Bobic

Warning: Episode 3 spoilers ahead! For some shows, it's difficult to gain footing after a breakout first season, but for Stranger Things Season 2, it's definitely lived up to its high expectations. Even if you're still not sure what exactly a Demogorgon is, you can appreciate everything that makes up Hawkins, Indiana and what's still going on in the Upside Down. But there are are also a lot of new questions, like what is the creature Dustin found in his garbage can? And what does D'Artagnan mean exactly? Stranger Things has another mysterious creature in its midst and it also doubles as Dustin’s new pet, apparently.

It turns out that all of that talk about the 3 Musketeers being Dustin’s favorite Halloween candy wasn’t simply an off-the-cuff remark. I say this because the name he chose to give the alien-like slug creature has direct ties to the story from which the candy bar is based. I'm referring, of course, to the story of The Three Musketeers, which is kind of how the boys see themselves, even if there are four of them. In the original Three Musketeers novel, D’Artagnan is the name of the character who fought alongside the famed trio. And since Dustin clearly views this thing as an ally of his, the name seems somewhat fitting — though I'm not entirely convinced yet that D'Artagnan (Dart, for short) can be trusted.

The boys have also proven themselves to be young movie buffs, with their love of Ghostbusters and familiarity with the AV club at school. It shows just how meaningful the name D’Artagnan on Stranger Things is. When Dustin introduced him to the other boys in the AV room, he explained that he’d found the hissing, slimy creature in his trash while they all tried to figure out its origin and what it is exactly. Of course they couldn’t find anything in the many library books about what Dart is since it seems more alien than anything, though Will seemed to remember seeing the creature in his bathroom months earlier as the thing he coughed up. (Yeah, remember that gross scene?)

Dart is as much a mystery to viewers as he is to the boys of Stranger Things, but I highly doubt it’s as simple as discovering a new kind of frog species. Instead, it could be a potential adversary for the new monster, at least once it’s fully grown. Since Will said that he saw D’Artagnan last year, but smaller, the creature likely grew and now that it sprouted legs in the course of just a day or two, it could grow even larger.

Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the second installment of Netflix’s hit series and noted that the Season 2 of Stranger Things is more like a sequel to a movie. "It’s all connected to this singular threat, which is tied into this shape that Will sees in the sky," Ross said. Matt added that, in regards to the bigger threat of Season 2, "Each episode is building on the last one. It gets much crazier than it ever got in season 1."

Finn Wolfhard (Mike) revealed to the outlet that Stranger Things Season 2 is even more action-packed and heavy than the show’s first season, which means that Dart is likely to be a big part of it, especially since it’s growing at a pretty fast and steady rate. "It’s Stranger Things but just sorta hopped up a little," Wolfhard revealed. "It’s almost like Season 1 was drinking a Coke and Season 2 they drank a Red Bull."

The newest Stranger Things creature definitely doesn’t seem to have malicious intent so far, so something tells me that it’s going to be on the human side once it comes time to defeat the terrifying Shadow Monster of Will’s visions. Then again, with this show, you never know what to expect. Perhaps Dart will turn out to be more of a foe than a friend.

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