Stranger Things 3

We finished up season 3 of Stranger Things on Sunday night, about 3 days after the rest of Netflix watching America.

 

I’m not going to summarize the plot beyond “there’s evil shit coming up from the Upside Down and Russians are behind it all.”

 

I just want to touch on some key points.

 

Best new character: Robin, Steve’s co-worker at Scoops Ahoy, the ice cream shop in Hawkins’ new Starcourt Mall.  Maya Hawke’s mom is Uma Thurman and once you know that, you can’t stop seeing it. Robin is a fun and fascinating character who is usually the smartest person in the room but she has her flaws, foibles and insecurities.  Robin has perhaps the best line of the season when she asks Steve, “How many children are you friends with?” 

 

Best new character runner up: Suzie. She gets named dropped by Dustin in episode one as his new girlfriend he met at science camp and she lives in Utah and there is considerable doubt that she may actually exist. But exist she does and although she shows up for about 2 minutes of screen time in episode eight, she is immediately charming and you can see while Dustin is so smitten with her. The trans-radio musical duet between Dustin and Suzie as they sing the theme to “The Neverending Story” is a season highlight.  

 

New winner of the “Justice For Barb” award: Alexi. A Russian scientist who has the inside skinny on what the Soviets are doing in Hawkins fucking around with the gateway into the Upside Down, he doesn’t speak one word of English but endears himself to the audience with an almost childlike innocence at the wonders of America, wonders like a cherry Slurpee from the 7-11. But as sweet as Alexis turns out to be, alas, like Barb from season 1 and Bob from season 2, our favorite Soviet scientist is not long for this world.

 

“What about Bob?”. Would you believe Sean Astin came back to shoot a new flashback scene with Bob and Joyce snuggling on the couch watching Cheers? I can’t believe how bad Bob’s terrible demise at the end of season 2 still hurts. Joyce still misses Bob terribly despite Jim Hopper’s efforts to be the one to fill that void in Joyce’s heart.

 

Jim Hopper is angry. Hopper spends a lot of time in season 3 in a bad mood. Joyce can’t move on from Bob and then she gets distracted when magnets stop working. Then there’s the Soviet Schwarzenegger wannabe that keeps kicking his ass. And the smarmy mayor whose got shit to hide including some shady dealings with the Soviet Schwarzenegger wannabe. And that the big bad horror of the seasons 1 and 2 might be rearing its ugly head again after it was dealt with isn’t helping. But Hopper’s biggest source of irk is teenage hormones. It seems Eleven and Mike are spending way too much time in her room kissing all the time and Hopper thinks that needs to stop. Joyce helps Jim craft a calm, reasonable and respectful approach to talk to El and Mike. Hopper instead resorts to making threats to Mike which makes Mike act stupid which El does not care for so she dumps his ass so Hopper’s all “mission accomplished” but damn, son. Hopper was not a favorite with his “bull in a china shop” approach to human relationships really getting on my nerves.

 

Jim Hopper is a  big ol’ softie. The letter that Eleven reads at the end of the 8^th episode will just about break your heart as Hopper articulates what every parents feels watching their children grow up and change. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Shut up!

 

Will does not get tortured this season. After spending most of season 1 inside the Upside Down and spending most of season 2 going bug nuts as the evil of the Upside Down crawled around inside his head, it was a good change of pace to not add fresh trauma to Will’s psyche in season 3. But the trauma of the past two seasons have exacted an unexpected price. Mike and Lucas are all caught up in the intricacies of figuring out their girlfriends while Will just wants to head back to Mike’s basement and play some damn D&D. Will wants things the way they were before he got sucked into hell but he can’t go back. He and his friends are getting older and they are changing. There is also the nagging idea that Will may be different from his friends in other more fundamental ways. In an argument between Mike and Will, Mike shouts, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” Is this setting the stage that Will may be gay? 

 

Guess who is gay? Robin comes out to Steve in a touching scene. Steve, having just opened up that he liked Robin a lot, takes the news in stride and shows a remarkable level of understanding.

 

Remember when we hated Steve? In season 1, Steve was a complete and utter asshole bully. He beat up Jonathan and slut shamed Nancy. In season 2, Steve’s relationship with Dustin put him on a road to redemption. Now, in season 3, he’s humbled, slinging ice cream for kids at the mall in a sailor suit. Robin remembers the jerk Steve was in high school and so does Steve. It is a profound self-awareness on Steve’s part that he has come to the realization that whatever he thought was important then really wasn’t. 

 

“You can’t spell America without Erica.”  Lucas’ little sister really is so overly annoying, abusing the free samples at Scoops Ahoy. It’s a little bit contrived that Erica is so indispensably crucial to Steve, Robin and Dustin as they investigate the Russian drama going on at Starcourt. Still, there is no denying that Erica is very helpful in what she calls “Operation Child Endangerment”.   (Quite frankly, I think a very good alternate title to “Stranger Things” would be “Operation Child Endangerment”.)

 

Eleven lives a little. OK, Hopper was a total dick the way he busted up El and Mike but the bonus that came out of that was her new friendship with Max. The two made a fun pair to watch as El paired with Max’s free spirit overcomes a lifetime of hurt to discover new joys in life. Like, oh my God, shopping at the mall! El and Max on a mall shopping spree to the strains of Madonna’s Material Girl was perfect.  Sadly, the season ends with El leaving Mike and Max behind as she joins the Byers family on their move out of Hawkins. And it’s a journey El is making sans her powers which shorted out during the big epic demon showdown at Starcourt Mall. 

 

Season 3 ends Stranger Things with our principals in different places, both literally and metaphorically. The young boys we met at the start of episode 1 of season 1 are now heading to high school. Four of our cast (Joyce, Will, Jonathan and Eleven) have moved out of town. And Jim Hopper is dead. Or in Russia? 

 

Don’t make us wait two years for season 4.