Stranger Things: Season 3
Showrunners: The Duffer Brothers
Well that was a quick two days! Netflix can be thanked for so many things, chiefly that the binge culture has made consuming an entire season in one’s downtime a whole lot easier. Stranger Things season three kicks off where we left our characters enjoying their summer just being regular kids. While this season doesn’t contain the inherently successful writing and concepts of season one, I believe it brings this show back from the brink of the far weaker season two.
Mike and El are officially dating (much to Hopper’s chagrin), Lucas and Max have a complicated relationship, and Dustin has returned from science camp with a new attitude and potentially fictional Mormon girlfriend. However, as things always do in the small town of Hawkins, shit gets turned upside down (pun intended). Our good friend the Mindflayer has returned and he is after Eleven, the only known entity who can destroy him. Bringing back the Mindflayer was not altogether an original writing choice, having just seen him in season two, but it does work for what the season requires by further demonstrating its capabilities and explaining its sinister motivations.
However, with the Mindflayer already fleshed out in season two, the Duffer Brothers evidently felt the need to add another layer of adversity beneath the Mindflayer and his plans. Enter the evil Russians. Now while this may sound old fashioned and a tad stereotypical, Stranger Things season three confidently walks this line by using the storyline to ground the characters in the real world and offer plenty of opportunities for Hopper to be a badass. Alexie, a captured Russian scientist, is incredibly likable in a short amount of time, and the terminator-style Russian guard (although sometimes cheesy) is a worthy adversary for Hopper.
Jim Hopper is by far the stand out character of the season. While he is displayed as an emotional wreck who doesn’t seem to be handling the responsibilities of a father, in a crisis he demonstrates that he is a competent law enforcer and a complete badass. Several times as I watched the screen, I was sure that Hopper must have a darker past that we haven’t seen considering all the badass fist fights and orchestrated plans he pulls off without a hitch. The addition of the Robin character and her relationship with Steve was refreshing—their bonding throughout the season doesn’t meet the cliché ending you might expect, and ultimately brings out a softer side of Steve. Everyone else in the cast is fairly consistent, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for most, though it does leave some characters without much of a role—namely Lucas, who becomes the token know-it-all romance guru without a clue.
With an influx of softer character moments, I did sometimes suffer whiplash when it would suddenly cut from Max and El talking about boys and relationships to someone’s face slowly felting off as they were absorbed into the Mindflayer. However, I think this use of cutting was not only appropriate to the horror genre, but aided the plot by joining the action and drama together seamlessly to create a more sustainable horror television show format that kept me engaged and reactive.
The only major grievances I had with this season was the lack of the Upside Down and Joyce’s character development. In season one, the bizarre dimension almost became a character itself, but season three seems to lack interest in the dimension and simply uses it as a gateway for the Mindflayer and other horrors. Meanwhile Joyce’s character suffers from the lack of any strong mystery behind the supernatural element of the season, diminishing the dramatic impact of her obsessive compulsion to uncover the truth.
Overall Stranger Things season 3 is definitely not the strongest season, nor does it have a particularly fresh storyline. However, the characters are still amazing, and I was once again excited to be thrilled and entertained by some good, honest horror television.
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