Netflix’s release of Stranger Things 3 was one of the most-anticipated parts of my summer. Did I binge all eight episodes in one sitting? You bet I did.
That being said, there were a handful of things I liked and disliked about this season that I’m dying to share with my fellow ST fans. So without further ado, here are eight pros and cons (in honor of eight episodes) of Stranger Things’ third season.
(FYI: If you haven’t watched this season yet, I’m about to spill some major tea. There’s a reason I wrote “Spoilers Galore” in the title above. Proceed at your own risk!)
Con: Hopper dies by electrocution when Joyce closes the gate in the Russian lab… or does he? You’ve likely theorized that he’s the American prisoner mentioned in the end credits, so maybe there’s hope! Fingers crossed he’ll return next season, even if it’s only by El’s supernatural powers. (P.S. Thanks for making me bawl my eyes out with your heart-to-heart letter at the very end. I’m still recovering from that.)
Pro: Billy is (finally) a smokin’ hot lifeguard! Call me Squints, because I need mouth-to-mouth… or a private swimming lesson. Either will do.
Con: Billy dies after becoming the Mind Flayer’s host. Granted, he sacrifices himself to save El and the rest of the gang, which isn’t Billy’s usual M.O. RIP, handsome.
Pro: Not only is Robin ST’s first gay character, but also she absolutely slays at cracking the Russians’ code. Screw Scoops Ahoy, sis—you should be a detective!
Con: We don’t find out that Robin is gay until the last episode. C’mon, people. Plus, she’s portrayed as Steve’s should-be love interest throughout the whole damn season. Kudos to the Duffer Brothers for incorporating the LGBT community into the cast, but it could’ve been executed better (and much earlier)!
Pro: I am living for El and Max’s girl bond. I loved how Max showed El there’s more to life than boys (so true!), including her on-and-off-again beau Mike. #GirlPower
Con: On the subject of girl power, maybe El could pick up a book and read one for once instead of throwing it across the room with her mind. She’s an already amazing character with her supernatural abilities, but I’m just saying that she should have a wider vocabulary by now. Give the girl more lines!
Pro: Nancy and Jonathan are officially a couple (ugh, they’re the cutest). They make a great team, especially as undercover spies for their newspaper internship. Remember this long-awaited scene last season in Murray’s hideaway? Talk about a throwback.
Con: It was so incredibly frustrating to watch the way Nancy is treated by her male coworkers at The Hawkins Post. Yes, it’s a different era, but those guys are such a**holes (especially the blond one who vaguely resembles our current president… coincidence? I think not). However, Nancy perseveres in the end by sticking to her gut, so it turns out to be a-okay.
Pro: Speaking of Murray (who seems to be the realist ST character when it comes to calling out peeps on their sexual-tension-denial BS), did anyone else love it when he got sassy with Joyce and Hopper about their totally obvious chemistry? I did, very much so. It needed to be said.
Con: Jopper (get it? Joyce + Hopper) never goes anywhere. A simple climactic kiss would’ve been sufficient—way to leave us hanging! They’re both single parents and they’re a power couple without even being a couple. Make it happen, Duffer Brothers, because we’re all rooting for them!
Pro: The flashback clips of the boys together are the freaking best. It’s heartwarming to see how much they’ve grown up as characters and as actors, too.
Con: We see these flashback clips when Will feels left out after a failed D&D campaign with Mike and Lucas. Why is it that Will’s the only one in the group who doesn’t have a significant other or someone to share chemistry with? Mike’s got El (on occasion). Lucas has Max (on occasion). Even Dustin has a girlfriend (whom we don’t meet until the last episode, making us question the whole time if Suzie exists), but he has definite platonic chemistry with Erica, Lucas’s feisty younger sister, in the meantime. What about Will?
Pro: I personally liked how the episodes are structured. By separating the characters into smaller groups, there are way more opps to jump around with storylines. This is especially great when building suspense.
Con: I’m gonna be honest, sometimes there’s just too much going on. Whether it be too much violence and gore (yes, the monster is bigger, but did it really need to be made of guts?)—or too many resemblances to other movies, such as Jordan Peele’s thriller Us (e.g. the carnival maze and underground tunnels) and the classic action flick The Terminator (e.g. the main Russian hitman after Joyce and Hopper); or even too much damn product placement, especially in the Starcourt Mall—it seems like this season of ST is trying to compensate for something, though I don’t know what.
