Stranger Things Season 3 Review

In a quiet little town called Hawkins….

Things definitely got a little stranger in the third season of Stranger Things. The Duffer Brothers changed up the dynamic of our core group by having not only an evil being out to get them, but also having them tackle topics such as teen romance, infighting, bottom of the barrel jobs, and Russians…..yep, Russians.

Non-spoiler review ahead.

Lucas and Mike are in love with Max and El, respectively. The season fires up with Lucas and Max on the outs and eventually Mike and El end up in the same boat. Lucas, being the more experienced romantic, attempts to walk Mike through the highs and lows of a teenage breakup. You’ll have to watch to see how successful he is with Mike. Poor Will gets left in the dust by Lucas and Mike.

Max and El trek out on their own, embracing the sister-like bond forming between them. Their friendship strengthens via activities that include sleepovers, trips to the mall, using El’s powers for questionable purposes, and checking out comic books. There’s even a brief fashion montage thrown in for good measure.

Hopper and Joyce bond as well, as they set out to find why magnets won’t work anymore in certain parts of Hawkins. They team up with Murray Bauman, the conspiracy theorist that exposed the love that existed between Nancy and Jonathan in Season Two. Together they battle it out with a foreign power that has infiltrated Hawkins in an ingenious way.

Jonathan and Nancy find themselves working as a photographer and office runner for the local newspaper. Much like Hopper, Joyce, and Murray, they stumble upon something that brings back old memories for the group. Their relationship also runs into a few mild snags, but nothing too major.

Then there’s good ol’ Billy, the trashy stepbrother to Max. He finds himself in a very tight spot early in the season and we get to watch as his character develops into a major threat for the group. The flirtation that happened between him and Mike’s mom in Season Two progresses into something more this season as well, but I won’t spoil anything here.

Last but not least, the best bromance in all of streaming programs is revisited hen Dustin, fresh from summer camp, teams up with Steve, stuck in a dead end job at Scoops Ahoy in the new Starcourt Mall. Added to their group is Erica, Lucas’ younger sister, and Robin, Mike’s co-worker at Scoops Ahoy. I’ll get to them a little bit later.

So how is the season? In my opinion, it’s very good. It’s stronger content-wise when compared to Season Two and it doesn’t have any jarring episodes that throw off the rhythm of the series like Season Two did with that episode where El goes to Chicago. The relationships built in this season are powerful as well, especially the bond between El and Max, El and Hopper, and Robin and Steve.

This season also feels like an 80’s film more than either of the other two seasons. There are real threats present for all of the cast members as they are broken up into smaller groups. Each threat that they face eventually comes to a head at the climax of the series.

The special effects were very solid, especially considering the size of one of the creatures that the group has to face. There are also plenty of nods to classic 80’s films and television shows such as Evil Dead, Magnum P.I., and The Thing, and a few blatant tips of the hat to shows and films like Back to the Future, Cheers, and Day of the Dead. Much like the show did in previous seasons by adding popular 80’s stars to the cast such as Matthew Modine, Paul Reiser, and Sean Astin, this season brought us Cary Elwes as sleazy Mayor Kline.

New additions to the cast such as Elwes as Kline and Maya Hawke as Robin and an expansion of roles for returning characters such as Erica (Priah Ferguson) and Murray (Brett Gelman) also strengthened the show as a whole. Robin and Erica held their own while featuring in almost every scene with Dustin and Mike. While Erica did get a little mouthy at times, she still injected some much needed humor in an otherwise dark season.

The series wasn’t perfect, however. Product placement was terribly noticeable. Seeing old storefronts for extinct stores like Wicks N’ Sticks and Waldenbooks was cool, but the blatant New Coke moment and massive Burger King shot and references were annoying. The Seven-Eleven moments fit into the story quite well, however.

I also got annoyed by the use of 80’s music throughout the season. Don’t get me wrong, music is just as important as any other element in a film or television series, but the placement of 80’s hit tunes felt forced at times.

Overall, this season was better than Season Two and can hold its own against Season One. The kids have grown up a lot and the adults didn’t skip a beat. The character development was solid and the ending…..well, it was just brutal. Things are left wide open for Season Four and there is already a ton of speculation as to who or what might turn up next season.

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be posting again real soon.