Afterthoughts on Stranger Things 3

Well, I didn't really binge watch the entire Season 3 of Stranger Things at one go but I finally made it through the final episode last week with my better half. Took me a while too to finally finish my thoughts on the new season but here I am finally. Anyway, it was quite a wait for Season 3 to air on Netflix so expectations were riding rather high and I must say that it was worth the wait. I've read that several fans were disappointed with some unnecessary long-winded scenes but I didn't think they were that draggy to say the least.

Season 3 picked up where we last saw our favorite characters at the end of Season 2 but not before we were presented with images of foreign (Russians, to be blunt) people trying to re-open the portal that were shut by Eleven and co during in Season 2. This pretty much set the tone for what's coming in Season 3.

Inevitably, we were bound to see the teenage romance blossoming between Eleven and Mike at the very beginning of Episode 1. Kinda distracting but I tried not to pay much attention to it anyway. I guess in a way it was necessary to allow Chief Hopper to go into his paranoid 'protective-daddy' mode (that 'three-inch minimum' rule was hilarious!). And is it just me or David Harbour looked a tad bigger than he was in Season 2? 

There's a great deal of thing going on within the new shopping mall called Starcourt and this seemed to be the focus for the new season. It was your normal everyday 80s mall until things got rather awry thanks to some uncovering by Steve, Dustin & Robin (Steve's co-worker at Scoops Ahoy!) about some Russians doing secret stuff from within the mall itself. I can understand the whole Russian being villains and all since the whole premise was set during the tail-end days of the cold war era. It's pretty funny to see Steve being all besties with the guys, Dustin especially.

Back during Season 2, Max and El weren't really an item but in Season 3 they seem to be the perfect embodiment of what 1980s BFFs are all about. They pretty much do everything together in Season 3. It's a far cry from being enemies at the end of Season 2 so I guess something must've happened in between the seasons that made them closer. Oh, did I mention that El used her powers mostly for mischief purposes to get even with some mean girls (man, this was starting to look like scenes from cliche chic flicks at first!). 

Naturally, Hopper and Joyce were gonna be an item eventually. So it wasn't a surprise to see them hitting it off almost immediately into the new season. It just felt kinda expected to see Joyce instantly blaming the incidents in Seasons 1 and 2 as the cause for the latest 'strange things' that had been happening in Hawkins. Alright, it was just a case of magnets not doing what they're supposed to be doing but that's pretty weird enough to warrant Joyce and Hopper to re-investigate the secret HQ of the evil scientists that were responsible for the happenings in the earlier seasons. 

In a twist of fate, the supposedly evil Russians in Season 3 who wanted to re-open the portal that our heroes closed much earlier also had an unsung hero who turned out to be a fan of the Americana way of living. Comrade Alexei turned out to be a valuable informer for our heroes be sadly he met an untimely death after he was branded a traitor. I think there's a lesson meant to be learnt here. I guess every darkness holds a light that eventually can help you get through it....or something. Pardon my fancy use of words. I'm just basically trying to say that for every bunch of evil-doers there must be at least one who has the tendency to be a turncoat later.


And what's with the Terminator/Arnold look-alike Russian? He was creepy as a Terminator for sure. I think this actor must've auditioned for the part of T-800 back in the early 90s but James Cameron opted to take Arnold for obvious marketing reasons. I think the Duffer Brothers played the Russian villain card well into Season 3 because 'Arnold' here really looked menacing and constantly chasing his prey. And by making him the bad guy who eventually killed fan favorite Alexei (a Russian himself) it just reiterates how unforgiving a man can be when it comes to achieve whatever objectives his motherland gave him.

And what's up with Murray Bauman? After successfully acting as Cupid between Jonathan and Nancy he's out for Round 2 with Hopper and Joyce. And I can tell you that he's pretty successful at it. Not only sparks flew between Hop and Joyce, Murray actually developed a bond with the kids which eventually led him to be rather instrumental in the climax of Season 3. It's quite funny to see Murray acknowledging Dustin's call-sign for him i.e. Bald Eagle. Expect to see him again in Season 4.

Perhaps the biggest 80s tribute to me was the use of the theme from The Neverending Story via the duet between Dustin and his new girlfriend Suzie. It definitely was one of the highlight of the 1985-heavy ambience setting of Season 3. That took me way back to the 80s. Back to the days when film-making relied more on prosthetic make-ups and scale models rather than CGIs. Good times.

So all is good with Season 3, right?

A couple of things bothered me the most after I was finished with Season 3. First of all, Eleven seemed to lost her powers when she used it all up to remove some nasty parasites that had somehow made their way inside her leg. It didn't really return to her afterwards so where does that leave El for Season 4? Would she just be a normal teenager next? 

Secondly, Chief Hopper's heroic death isn't really a closure for the character. Did anyone really see him disintegrate when Joyce pulled the levers to shut the portal down? I can understand how they wanted to end Season 3 at a cliffhanger, well, for Chief Hopper at least. It'll just pull you in for more Stranger Things episodes.

And what's with El following the Byers moving out of Hawkins? I can understand her being all devastated with Hopper's supposed death but can she just stay with Mike's family instead of hanging around with Joyce's?

.

.

Which brings me to to the next point.

.

.

That post credit scene 

When the Russians referred to 'the American', it wasn't necessarily referring to Chief Hopper since it was never confirmed whether he survived the climactic ending or otherwise. I mean, it's 50-50 for Jim, either he's dead or he's somehow been sucked into the Upside Down world at the exact same moment Joyce closed it down.

I really wanted 'the American' to be Hopper. I really do.

But my gut feeling is saying that this guy here COULD be the American the Russians were referring to in the post credit scene. Dr Jim Brenner's death was never really shown at the end of Season 1 so there's strong chance that it could be him. Now how would El react to the return of her daddy?

Before I sign off, I'd like to bring you some images off the Good Vibes Festival here in Malaysia about a week ago. There was a Netflix presence at the festival and of course they went for the jugular and promoted what's currently popular on the stream channel. Yup, you've guessed it.....it's Stranger Things time!

.

.

To be exact.....Season 3 galore!

There was a replica of Starcourt complete with proper lighting and all.

Complete with a Mind Flayer/Shadow Monster on top. There was also a Demogorgon on site for fans to take picture with (not-pictured).

Remember that van Eleven used her power on during Season 1? Well, this isn't it let alone an exact replica of it but it'll do.....

There was also a slew of arcade game machines for visitors to try....perfect 80s recreation!

.

.

.

Anyway, here's to Season 4. I read somewhere that filming's gonna start sometime later this year even though Netflix hasn't even renewed their contract with the Duffer Brothers. Fingers crossed!