It's the summer of 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana, and everyone is back for a new adventure. All the kids have grown up a little, but not too much. There are some new faces, who mesh with our regulars nicely. There are more creepy monsters to fight and conspiracies to uncover, but with some novel twists. There are also more nostalgic '80s references than ever, with a story that takes its cues from "Dawn of the Dead," "The Terminator," "Red Dawn," and "The Blob." It's all very pandering, but also so much fun. I binged the whole thing in two days.
As usual, the show is split into multiple POVs following different groups of characters. You have the kids mostly grouped together, with El and Mike going through teenage love spats, and Lucas and Max giving them terrible advice. They spend most of the season trying to find a missing lifeguard, Heather (Francesca Reale), who they suspect was attacked by Max's brother Billy. Nancy and Jonathan are now interns at the local paper, investigating strange behavior in the rodent population. Joyce and Hopper circle the possibility of dating while looking into a conspiracy involving the mayor, Larry Kline (Cary Elwes), and a suspicious Russian (Andrey Ivchenko). Finally, there's the Scoops Troop. Steve, who has gotten a job scooping ice cream, and his sarcastic co-worker Robin (Maya Hawke), are recruited by Dustin to help decode a secret message. This eventually leads to bribing Lucas's sister Erica (Priah Ferguson) to help them foil a secret Russian plot.
Season three of "Stranger Things" makes it clear that a lot of season two was best viewed as setting up this year's story, and there have been some significant course corrections. Characters like Billy and Max are fleshed out and made much more sympathetic. Max works way better as El's gal-pal than her rival, and her relationship with Lucas is adorkable. Billy becomes a different kind of villain, and his background is explored in a novel way. We also see the return of conspiracy nut Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman), though he's largely stuck with Hopper and Joyce. I also support the further nerfing of Steve Harrington, now fully in the role of reformed asshole who still has a lot to make up for. It's such a joy to watch him try to play badass while spending the entire season in the ridiculous Scoops Ahoy sailor suit uniform.
Unfortunately, not all of the changes work. The weakest storyline is Hopper and Joyce's. Both adults behave more immaturely than their children, and are frequently over the top and shouting their dialogue at each other. For all that Winona Ryder has improved since the first season, she still strikes me as one of the weaker members of the cast, especially when she's playing it broad. I wonder if Hopper was tweaked to try and match the level of her melodramatics, because he's an awful lot more hotheaded and reckless this year. Though David Harbor is clearly trying, this is not a good change for the character. Another sore spot I had was with Erica, who has simply aged too much to get away with the amount of sass she's slinging.
The rest, however, are still going strong. The boys and El are all realistically growing up and finding their dynamics changing. Though some of the kids get more to do than others, nobody's forgotten or mysteriously sidelined like Mike was last time. Nancy and Jonathan remain very solid and get the most complete, self-contained storyline this year. Steve and Dustin are perfect losers together, and Robin is a stellar addition. The monsters are still terrifying and disgusting. When the show wants to do horror, it's properly horrifying. However, there's more action and humor this year, which it's also pretty good at. "Stranger Things" really takes advantage of the old Cold War trope of nefarious Russian baddies, who replace the scary government goons.
One big difference is a notable upgrade in the show's production values, much of it put toward resurrecting '80s culture. A lot of the action takes place in a painstaking recreated '80s era mall, Starcourt, where Steve and Robin work. '80s fashions are on full display, with El finally adding some color into her wardrobe. The soundtrack is full of period appropriate earworms, including the greatest use of "The Neverending Story" theme ever. There's even a sequence where characters are hiding out in a movie theater playing "Back to the Future." The monster effects are especially impressive, and the action scenes are easily feature quality. I love the final showdown at the mall where all the kids get in on the action.
I liked this season a little more than last year's, and about on par with the first season of "Stranger Things." There are still some tonal problems to work out, and I'd be happier if the adults were sidelined, but the show has remained wonderfully entertaining and watchable. They do so much right, and get away with so much that shouldn't work. Even the copious amounts of product placement felt oddly quaint. Here's to hoping next season arrives sooner rather than later.
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