McDonald's¶

The McDonald's in Marblehead is the task force's recurring refuge and its only trusted source of food, where the Happy Meal toys are Halloween-themed in June and where Esteban works.


Type	Location (fast-food restaurant)
Region	Marblehead, Massachusetts
First appearance	Summer Service 01

Description¶

The team treats the chain as the one safe food in a town that serves fish at every opportunity and drinks worm-filled wine. Briggs tells them to "stick to good old Mickey D's" (Summer Service 01); in Summer Service 05 Ezra calls it "the safe food that we can actually eat in this town", and in Summer Service 03 Andre announces, "For the sake of immersion, I have just eaten some McDonald's" (Summer Service 05, Summer Service 03).

History of events there¶

Summer Service 01¶

After visiting the Scott family, the team waits out several hours at the restaurant before the evening church service. Andre first says they spend four hours there, then that about three have passed when Diane pages them. The Happy Meal toys are Halloween-themed in June 1992, when May's were Cabbage Patch Kids, and the team wonders whether the theme is local or whether Radford had it too. Two surly teenagers hold an intense booth conversation. Diane pages with news that McManley is on the way (Summer Service 01).

Summer Service 03¶

Restless after two days awake, Huell walks to McDonald's at about 10:30 p.m. and finds Amos Shaw's open house on the way. He is standing on the curb with fries when the team and McManley arrive (Summer Service 03).

Summer Service 04¶

Before the selectmen's meeting the team dines at the restaurant in formal wear while storefronts are boarded. Esteban is working: his mother is in the hospital, his girlfriend says he smells like beans, and he cannot smell it himself. An investigation roll confirms that he smells strongly of beans, and so does a shirt from his home. Esteban works out that his uncle, who volunteers to take the laundry to the laundromat and is a church member, has been adding bean juice to the wash, apparently "to keep me a virgin". The team's advice is absurd (Andrew: borrow the girlfriend's shower and come out in a towel; Huell: "Take the biggest knife in your kitchen"), and Esteban thanks them with a basket of fries with extra salt. Kurt eats his own tuna and noodles instead. Huell orders a Quarter Pounder with no ketchup and a Diet Coke (Summer Service 04).

Summer Service 05¶

Overnight, Huell goes to McDonald's twice. A teenage girl covering the shift says Esteban "figured it out", and that it was his uncle. The RV later picks Huell up there. When Andre quips that the players should have negotiated a sponsorship deal, Dante answers, "We just really want you to associate the taste of McDonald's with worm parasites." (Summer Service 05).

Inhabitants¶

Esteban and his co-workers.

Trivia¶

Dante's Innsmouth joke in Summer Service 01: "Even got McDonald's in Innsmouth."