Welcome back to Sound Off!, a semi-regular column where members of Speculative Chic gather together to chat about the latest BIG THING in entertainment. This time, grab your ice cream scoops and radios and discuss Stranger Things Season 3, which premiered on Netflix in the United States and Canada on Thursday, July 4, 2019.
Sound Off! is meant to be a reaction, but not necessarily a review. After all, while we are all individuals, even mutual love of something (or hate) can come from different places: you may find everything from critique to fangirling to maybe even hate-watching.
Now, join Shara White and Sherry Peters as they talk about season 3 of Stranger Things! [Note: Spoiler-free!]
Team Scoops Ahoy!
Shara: I have to say, each season of Stranger Things just keeps getting better and better. The nostalgia that was so prominent in the first season is fortunately nowhere as nearly as prominent, which allows the story and the characters to breathe and be their own thing.
One of my most favorite things this season was the friendship between Eleven and Max. I know some people took umbrage over Eleven’s jealousy of Max in the second season, and I’m glad that the writers didn’t keep the characters stuck in the same, tired loop. All of the characters have had a chance to grow since season two, so seeing who teamed up with who to solve different parts of the same mystery was a lot of fun. But I really, really enjoyed Eleven and Max’s friendship. I loved how protective Max was of Eleven and how she was the older and wiser of the two, even though they are roughly the same age.
But speaking of loving girl power, can we talk about some awesome additions? First up, Robin, who is absolutely amazing and made a great part of Steve and Dustin’s team. I love how her personal arc didn’t go in the obvious direction, and I love how she just took all of this crazy stuff in stride and kept being awesome.
Another AMAZING addition to the Robin/Steve/Dustin team was Erica. That’s right, Lucas’ little sister, who as of this season is officially a nerd, but she’s a nerd who gives no fucks, and that girl’s sass is quite possibly one of the best things about the season.
But in the minus column, can we talk about the Russians? With the exception of the Terminator shout-outs (which were deliberate and obvious) and Alexei (who was too adorable for words), the overall Russian scenes were just over-the-top and frustrating as a result. You can thank the absolutely stellar HBO mini-series Chernobyl and its accompanying podcast for that, and having just finished both, to see a Russian story line in Stranger Things was just… weird. A throw-away crack from season two made manifest in season three is kind of a shame, especially since I watch these episodes so quickly I don’t remember the specifics about what the Russian theory really was. Whatever the case, it wasn’t exactly a home run to see it here.
Yet, I think this is my favorite season yet. The Duffer Brothers are becoming more and more comfortable with their characters and their world, and there’s just so much fun to be had this season that it’s hard to stop watching. If you’re a fan of the show, you obviously don’t want to miss this latest season. It’s full of horror and heart, and there’s no shortage of consequences to be had, which sets up next season quite nicely. I definitely look forward to seeing what’s next.
Will just wants to play D&D.
Sherry: The thing I probably love most about Stranger Things is the nostalgia. I was about the same age as these kids. The clothes, the hair, the music… it helps me remember the good times I had back then. It’s more than that, though. I and my friends were these kids: nerds, into Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and Star Wars and Back to the Future. Wait. I need to add a caveat here. My friends were into D&D. I was not, so in some ways, I get a bit more insights into my friends lives than I would have otherwise had. I wasn’t allowed to play D&D. I grew up in a religious home, and at the time, we were being taught that playing D&D lead to demon possession. And, well, if Stranger Things had been written back then, it would probably have been used as a prime example of what happens. The kids are playing D&D and then Will gets taken to the Upside Down and unleashes the Hellmouth on Hawkins. So, total nostalgia!
I thoroughly enjoyed Stranger Things season 3. I loved that they included more girls, not just Eleven, but now they have Max, Nancy, Lucas’s little sister, Robin, and the most important of all, Suzie-poo. I loved that Steve Harrington, Mr. Cool himself, spent the show running around in that ridiculous Sailor outfit. And the Russian plot was SO 1980s. Again, that nostalgia.
Combine the Russian Cold War plot with the gross exploding and oozing rats and people into the Mind Flayer, and the Flayed, and you have a fantastic tribute to some of the biggest horror movies of the time: The Blob and Children of the Corn, not to mention Red Dawn, which was also a popular movie at the time, and mentioned throughout the season.
I will say, though, that it was difficult for me to watch the series. Netflix Canada did not have warnings about the flashing lights. For various reasons, I have not been online a lot prior to the run-up of the show — no, I wasn’t trying to avoid spoilers — so I did not see this mentioned. Episodes 5 and 6 were particularly bad for me, nearly giving me a migraine. I’ve had this difficulty before with other shows. There was an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise that was particularly bad and I had to stop watching it all together (I don’t remember which one). I had a decision to make: to finish Stranger Things, or to leave it. I chose to continue, well aware that it would be my fault going forward if I got a migraine.
There was a lot going on this season. There were a lot of villains. You had the Russians, the mayor, the Mind Flayer, and the Flayed. Then you had the romantic subplots of each of the kids, and Will just wanting to play some D&D, the assholes at the newspaper, and the Hopper and Joyce sub-plot. They were all great, and necessary. They wove together well to tell the story. This was an action-packed “figure out the problem and fight the bad guys” kind of season. It is an interesting contrast to the first season where it really was the boys, Eleven, Joyce, and the Upside Down, which had a very different kind of tension of the unknown.
If I’m totally honest, while I loved season three and its nostalgia, I think the tension of the first season is what made the show so special. Even so, I can’t wait to see what happens in season four!
Images via IMDB.
I wanted to like it, because I’d enjoyed the first and second seasons pretty well. But I ran afoul of Hopper’s bad parenting and bad attitude and just noped out. Poor Eleven. From one abusive father figure to another. I just couldn’t watch it.
Yeah, I can feel that. I felt like none of the parents in this show were well-served. Except maybe Nancy’s mom, but even then I wasn’t sure where or why that storyline was there. But Hopper and even Joyce (who, to be honest, I’ve never cared for) just really felt like caricatures.
If you can make yourself go back and watch it, do it for Steve, for Robin, for Dustin, for Erica, and a REALLY AWESOME MOMENT in the season finale that’s going to leave a song TOTALLY stuck in your head.
Honestly, I’d completely forgotten about The Blob in terms of horror movie throwbacks. I kept thinking of The Thing instead. Mostly in terms of how horrific some of those bits were.
I thought a lot of stuff with characters and plot and logistics made *zero sense* this season, and that’s enough to be its own post. I also didn’t like how a lot of Billy Hargrove’s backstory/arc was handled, either. BUT! There was soooo much fun to be had in season 3, and the further into the 80s they get, the more I start to remember the things I experienced growing up, so I enjoyed a lot of nostalgia this time around, moreso than the 1st & 2nd seasons. From that I can forgive a lot of the head-scratchers this time around, and I’ll still look forward to Season 4. The world needs more Erica.