Stranger Things Season 3

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Okay, guys. I need to get something off of my chest. It's a very minor spoiler about something that is only there to create that Eighties feel, but it makes me a little crazy. It's weird because Season Three was the best season of Stranger Things so far and this is making me this nutty, but there it is: In one of the episodes this season Lucas sings the praises of New Coke from the Eighties. YOU DO NOT SING THE PRAISES OF THAT CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY! IT'S JUST NOT DONE! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, I almost lost my lunch when I saw that. It was terrible. Horrible, even.

But despite all of that, Season Three of Stranger Things is the best so far. The kids are growing up a bit and experiencing some of the things that go along with that. That makes sense. Kids do that. I used to be a kid at one point. I'm an adult(ish type person) now. It's good to see. We saw Mike and Eleven get together at the end of Season 2 and now we get to see what comes next. That's awesome, except when it's not. Mike, bro...

Never mind. No spoilers. But um yeah. What happens makes sense and screams young kid with his first girlfriend but, but..

Yeah, I'll shut up.

Oh, and newsflash: Elle is a badass. I know that hasn't exactly been a secret but it's good to see her coming into an understanding of her powers that wasn't really there before. She's gaining confidence. I see shades of a young Luke Skywalker here: She's got tons of power. She wants to know how to use it. She has no real mentor. She has to puzzle it out herself and she's doing an amazing job. I'm proud of this girl.

I have to admit something else here too: As a father of a couple young girls and a dude named Jim, I share Jim's pain in watching his daughter getting her first beau. Seriously. I'm not sure how I'll deal with that when it comes, but it feels real to me. People talk about teen angst in stories and yeah, it's overdone. That doesn't change the fact that adults get a wee bit angsty sometimes themselves. Dude is stuck in a situation that he didn't ask for and he's not sure how to deal with it. Yeah. Sounds like he's a dad to me. I love it.

Of course, Jim is also a bit of a hothead and that comes out in full force as well. Jim does what he needs to do because he needs to do it and doesn't always worry about what the rules are. I like that about him. Of course, American fiction has a tradition of the outlaw lawman and Jim is one of the finest examples of that I've ever seen. He's the bad cop with no good cop. I want to have a drink with this character.

As a matter of fact, the subject of young love is a theme this season and that's good. The kids are at the right age for it. It would seem a bit awkward if it weren't. The fact that the kids don't always know how to relate to having a significant other is also logical. They're kids. They haven't been there before.

Of course, that's always been the strength of Stranger Things. The writers take a totally outlandish concept (IE the creatures of the Upside Down loose in the real world) and set it in a totally believable, realistic setting. Remember mall life from the Eighties? That's in there. Remember when bike riding wasn't a way to stay in shape, but a form of transportation? That's in there. Remember when none of your friends had cell phones and you had to try to catch them at home? Yep, that's in there too. It all fits. It's Eighties nostalgia to be sure, but it's not just that. It's a realistic look at how things used to be.

Of course, Stranger Things has always contained fantastical elements and they're here in bulk. It takes a bit longer for some of them to show up than I initially preferred, but I guess the writers were a bit too busy making an awesome story to throw random shots of monsters into the mix, so they did the right thing. It was really well done too, even if it may have been just the slightest bit gross in places. But then again, evil is supposed to be gross right? And these people eating monsters are most definitely evil. If you've played Dungeons and Dragons, then you automatically get a shiver up your spine when you hear the term "Mind Flayer." You instinctively remember the horror and evil of a Mind Flayer. If you're worldly enough, you recognize Mind Flayers as echoes of Lovecraft's Chthulu. Yeah, the Upside Down monster rise to that level of evil.

And the way all involved rise up to save their town and the world (again) is epic. I've always admired the characters in Stranger Things because they've never backed down. They've never shown cowardice. They've all been very visibly scared, but they continue on anyway. That's what courage is. Richard the Lionhearted said it best: "Only the dead are without fear." These kids are scared. They sacrifice their bodies along the way. No one knows how things will end, but they all have faith that they'll win out in the end if they just keep fighting.

Or course as kids get older, they sometimes drift apart. Sometimes that's because of external forces. Sometimes it's not. Anyone who has ever played a pen and paper role playing game knows the old adage: Never split the party. This is the first season where I remember things being this split up. The kids are doing things separately in some parts. That too is part of growing up. Establishing independence is a big thing. We see that here too. The writers of this season of Stranger Things have not forgotten what it was like to do that.

Oh, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing Season Four. I can't wait.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Demogorgons

Stranger Things, Season 3
Netflix, 2019

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