Stranger Things Season 3 Review

I slightly feel bad that I only started a review at the 3rd season, since this is my favorite show of all time. But then again, it's better late than never.

When the show first aired in 2016, I instantly knew it was MY show. Why, you ask, is it my favorite show and not Game of Thrones? First off, I enjoy the 80's premise a lot, the friendship of a group of children, and mostly..the aliens!!! YES. The aliens. The moment Will disappeared in the first few minutes of episode 1, I knew it was gonna be a great show. I'm a big fan of the Alien vs. Predator franchise and anything that showcases extraterrestrial entities or urban legends/monsters, in general. Before all of the high-quality shows on TV, I was an avid watcher of The X-files. However, due to the huge amount of episodes (201), I wasn't able to follow through. Both Stranger Things and X-files have the same elements of mystery and paranormal, but ST is far more lighthearted and less depressing.

Now for the review. (SPOILER ALERT)

I feel that this is going to be more of a long-as$ rant rather than praise for the 3rd season. As much as I love the show, one can't still help but feel disappointed if it doesn't feel at par with the rest of the previous seasons. I felt the same way about GOT's season 8, which is why I refrained from reviewing it, knowing that I will not be adding anything new to the onslaught of critique it was already receiving. As for ST, it wasn't such a glaring disappointment, but just slightly.

For the record, I personally thought that Season 2 was better and more intense than Season 1, which is, in itself, is a huge compliment since ST Season 1 was an incredible TV experience. Which is why, I normally thought that the 3rd one would follow suit. The trailers were damn impressive! However, comparing them to the actual show is quite a stretch.

The first 3 episodes started out quite slow. For episode 1 to focus on the lightheartedness of the show, the teenage angst, and funny banters--it is acceptable. But the actual action doesn't start until episode 4 or so. Given the number of episodes, that is NOT fine at all. I also felt that the scripts/writing took a downward spiral this season. A lot of the dialogues focused on the "comical" factor of the show rather than its mysterious elements. The mystery was a huge discussion opener for fans of the show for both the 2 previous seasons. I felt that this season lacked that. And also, it missed a lot of the horror aspects of the show, which made it really great.

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. Let me divulge my favorite and not-so favorite parts.

I really enjoyed the Hopper/father moments. He is effortlessly hilarious when it comes to being a father-figure and protecting El. I also really liked the Max and Eleven friendship, but felt it was too rushed. Hopper threatens Mike, and Mike lies to Eleven. Mike was unable to decide whether to see El the next day because of his fear, so El goes to find Max and asks her for opinion. They immediately become friends, and that is fine. And then they go shopping, had photo shoots and fun at the mall. (Where the heck did you even get the cash, El?)

But I seriously LOVE that dress.

After bumping to Mike at the mall, El "dumps his ass". This, my friends, happened all in a span of one day after Hop reprimands Mike. Did El honestly just forget everything she went through with Mike? I'm aware that they are children, but wow, that was still rushed writing. I think the Duffer brothers kinda forgot that most of their fan base consists of adults. And I feel like they really could have improved the relationship of the children in this season instead of inserting a lot of unnecessary scenes and "funny" dialogues. They had 8 episodes to work around that. Most of the earlier episodes revolved around Mike and Lucas strategizing about how to win El over. Will was not having any of it. And I'm honestly with him on that. By the middle of the season, it was getting tiring.

On a side note, I felt really bad for Will. His character development is one of the few which was really established. He was the only one in the group who was uninterested in girls and afraid of change. After seeing some seriously dark shit in the past 2 seasons, it was like he lost a huge chunk of his childhood and just wanted to everything to go back to the way it was with his friends--where he was happy and safe. And when he destroyed "Castle Byers", I felt it deeply. It was the end of his innocence. I really liked Will as a character, and the actor who plays him is equally sweet too. It's like he's just playing as himself.

Now for Nancy and Jonathan, similar to the first 2 seasons, they have their separate story lines where they investigate on their own. They work in The Hawkins Post, where misogynistic men just love to pick on coffee-maker Nancy, and crack unfunny jokes on her every time she proposes an idea for the newspaper. Any scene with her and her colleagues seriously got on my nerves. Such horrible dialogues. They could have been phrased better.

And the rabid rat infestation story was honestly not a good touch to the show. It felt like it was just put so Nancy could find something to work on. It didn't really have any relevance to the story. Sure, it led to Nancy and Jonathan going back to Will to ask for more details. And I wish they did much earlier, because S3 is just a bad repetition of the past 2 seasons. The whole mystery, as I said, is missing.

I do love her multiple brushes with death, though. I just wish that the intensity was kept throughout the whole season instead of only that particular scene and episode. Natalia is such a great actress.

Now moving on to the Steve, Robin, Dustin and Erica party.

They are the cutest bunch.

However, the whole Russian thing just seemed far fetched to me. They were operating under the mall, Starcourt. And yes, the group began to translate a code that Dustin intercepted and went to investigate. That's all cool. But then they get trapped in a Russian elevator that led to the underground secret lab. Sincerely, this was all fine. But they had such thick plot armors, I couldn't even believe it. I would have been more convinced if one of them died. But nah. The lab was packed with armed Russian soldiers and scientists, and the children went completely unnoticed. And as much as I'd love to brush it off as a children's show, this isn't exactly Disney, and the dark elements of the show really speak otherwise. If a show starts becoming this predictable and main characters come out unharmed, it really loses its charm and intensity.

Steve and Robin both got caught, but only Steve was beat up. Then they were drugged, and Dustin and Erica saves them just in time. I keep telling myself to just let it go, and subvert my expectations. However, this is a huge leap from Lucas sling-shooting a Demogorgon from Season 1.

I also liked the addition of Alexei aka Smirnoff. He's seen in the 1st episode as one of the 2 scientists who activates the machine to open the gate. His character was fun and a complete contrast to his genius role. But I have to emphasize that the scenes with Joyce, Hopper, Alexei, and Murray were mostly just unnecessary and added for the "comedic" value which failed at most parts. Except for the part in the car where Murray real-talks Joyce and Hopper on their sexual frustration, and compels them both to shut up. That was honestly the funniest part of the show.

“What did you tell them to do?”

“I told them to have sex”

“They haven’t had sex?”

“No”

(laughter)

That freaking face is priceless.

I was really sad to see Alexei go, though.

On the other hand, Eleven was really badass this season. And she always is. It's a testament to her great acting skills. She manages to pull out your emotions in any scene she is in-- whether it be fear, courage or sadness. In this season, they showcased a lot of her weak points, making her character not so OP anymore.

And don't get me started on Billy. I somehow fell in love with him this season. I really felt that the guy was a redeemable character after the horrible things that he was compelled to do. But at the end, he did redeem himself, just not in the way I expected.

To wrap it all up, the ending of the season was bittersweet. A lot of goodbyes were said and the children are at a stage where they have to face the harsh reality of growing up and moving on. I understand Joyce's perspective and her decision to move away. Both Bob and Hopper died in Hawkins, and both Will and Eleven's lives will always be at stake while being connected to the source of all the evil--the lab, the gate, and even their own house.

I know that there is a 4th season and it may be the final one. However, I'd really love for them to stretch it out longer. I also think that Hopper is still alive, after not seeing a corpse nor a trace of his blood. If anything, only the post-credits of the last episode had the slightest amount of mystery to it. I hope they will wrap the whole show properly this time.

And a big P.S: I am glad that Steve and Robin did not end up together in this season. I am also glad that Robin is a lesbian (or bi?) I genuinely felt really bad for Steve, but somehow slightly relieved that I can still ship myself with him. And even Robin ;)

And lastly, Erica is just the best character. She's one of the highlights of the season for me.

And yet, she's a math wiz too!

~Dawn