The third season of Stranger Things is finally upon us and everyone has watched it. Seriously. As of writing this article, Netflix has claimed that over 40.7 million viewers watched the new season within its first week of release. That’s over twice as many times The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album has been purchased! Viewership doesn’t always mean quality, but there’s no denying Stranger Things is a phenomenon. However, just like the characters and cast of this show, growing pains are a harsh reality.
The Duffer Brothers may have created an interesting playset but after 3 seasons there are visible cracks in the armor.
It’s now 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana and the youngsters are experiencing a summer of indifference, tribulation, and raging hormones. Mike and Eleven spend most of their days breaking up and making out (much to Chief Hopper’s dismay), Dustin brags about his science camp girlfriend who may or may not be real, and relationships for Max and Lucas means bickering like a middle-aged couple. Nancy and Jonathon struggle in a toxic work environment, while Steve battles a teenage existential crisis working with the quirky/cool Robyn in the corniest ice cream establishment Hawkins has to offer.
Joyce and her son Will are the only characters still feeling the negative effects of the previous seasons. After the loss of her boyfriend Bob, Joyce constantly replays his death every night. Meanwhile, Will doesn’t have much time to struggle with puberty because the events of Season 1 and 2 have given him a sort of a post-traumatic stress disorder.
Being this is a show about supernatural occurrences, the proverbial strange things begin to shake things up a bit.
The first season of Stranger Things was a hybrid of Goonies and every VHS tape in the horror section. There were plenty of Stephen King vibes for fans of off-kilter horror but enough innocence to keep it from being too heavy. Stranger Things really didn’t know what it wanted to be and it was a better show for it. By the time Season 2 arrived the show was a pop culture darling and fan service was the top priority. Characters were shipped, catchphrases were tossed around, and there were times where it paid homage to season 1 as if it were its own influence. The Duffer brothers seem to have hit their stride.
Sadly, this was the worst possible thing to happen to the show. Season 3 kicks the shipping into overdrive and for most of the season, characters are divided into groups of 3. Not only are the relationship arcs painfully shallow and cheesy, but they’re forced down your throat from the beginning. In fact, the first episode is essentially a marathon of who’s now making out with who.
On the subject of course correction, Stranger Things 3 fixes the worst aspect of season 2: the pacing.
For only 8 episodes, this season moves quickly. After the first episode, absolutely no time is wasted. Every character arc is fully fleshed out by moving the story toward the season finale. We’re talking Breaking Bad levels of editing. I was shocked at how satisfying it was to get to the end of an episode and immediately wanting to watch the next. I may go as far as saying the last 4 episodes just might be better than Breaking Bad in terms of pacing.
Unfortunately, the break-neck pacing reveals just how shallow the season is. Things are brought up then resolved (or completely dropped) so fast, you wonder why they were brought up in the first place. There’s a mini-arc in the first 2 episodes about Mike’s mom contemplating having an affair with bully-turned-lifeguard Billy and nothing comes of it. The same goes for the toxic/sexist environment where Nancy and Jonathan work. You’re lead to believe these are going to be important but they’re resolved almost immediately or dropped altogether.
How could something so important and satisfying as pacing ruin a show?
The main issue is the show found it’s footing. For the first time, it knows exactly what it’s doing and where it’s going. Long gone are the days when the viewer couldn’t figure out who the main character was. Season 1 had a very child-like quality to it. Of course, that could’ve been the Duffer brothers ripping on E.T. and Poltergeist, but that’s not a bad appeal to lift. The references in Season 3 are strictly left to being visual because the show now has it’s own original vibe. For better or worse.
Where Season 1 had an antagonist that reminded the viewer of something like Phantasm, Season 3 has a menacing villain who looks and acts like The Terminator. As lame as that sounds, there’s even a scene where a character refers to him as Arnold Schwarzenegger. Being that on the nose contradicts the charm of subtle references. But let’s be real for a second; the kids who tuned in to Season 3 have probably never heard of Phantasm, much less watch it. The Terminator, on the other hand, is still part of our lexicon in 2019.
One of the biggest complaints I’ve always had with Stranger Things is how it’s unintentionally self-aware its set in the 1980s.
Throughout Season 1 and 2, the worst scenes featured characters talking about how rad living in the 80s is. I mean they didn’t say it exactly, but it was alluded to in the most eye-rolling way. This is another thing Season 3 fixes. There are no scenes with characters talking about how cool Rubix Cubes are or how cutting-edge an Atari 2600 is. Other than a certain cringe-worthy scene involving New Coke, the self-referencing 80s is kept to a reasonable minimum.
But again, that means this season goes for a more generic aesthetic. Every scene features an extremely recognizable pop song in the background. I didn’t grow up in the 80s but I’m willing to bet society listened to more music than what’s found in your local Walmart these days. Like the Terminator thing, the show carefully selects its music selection with 15-to-25-year-olds in mind.
It’s maddening how so many fixes bring up new issues with Stranger Things 3. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it.
Stranger Things 3 isn’t all bad. It’s interesting to watch characters grow up within a show about the paranormal. The horror and gore get progressively grosser with each season (Netflix clearly has a surplus of cash after canceling Daredevil and the rest of the Marvel shows). And despite being a show with so much drama, it can actually be pretty fun most of the time.
If you loved Season 1 and 2, you’re going to love Season 3. If you loved Season 1 but hated Season 2, the changes made to Season 3 are still worth exploring. The weirdness is all but gone and the story has become something I never would’ve expected, but the show has found its footing.
Sometimes even the cutest kids grow up to be obnoxious little snots, while some brats grow up to be intellectuals. I’m not sure if there’s a better analogy for Stranger Things 3 but the cast and characters are certainly growing up. If the ever-expanding viewership is any indication, I guess we’re all in for the long haul.
Stranger Things 3 is streaming now on Netflix.