Stranger Things 3
On the whole, it was fun, but maybe not quite as good as season one and, to a lesser extent, season two. I think it's because the show's schtick is 80s nostalgia, and there's only so far that's going to carry a story. Overall, I agree with these two posts on failmeme as far as why I didn't like it as much.
Some disjointed minor thoughts:
I was hoping for Hopper to die in a fire all season, and HE DID! totally didn't, just got captured by Russians (presumably). Bummer. He was never my favorite character, but jeez, he was such a jerk this year. (This is a place where airing like a regular TV show would've helped, I think; when the internet started saying they hated Hopper the writers could've course-corrected.) I figured there was no way he actually died, but I was hoping next season we'd see him trapped in/escaping the Upside Down in some kind of semi-inventive way rather than Fat Rambo-ing his way out of Russia.
I suppose "the American" could be someone else, but genius twists are not exactly this show's forte, so of course it's Hopper.
The Evil Russians plot stretched believability more than usual. It was okay, but didn't quite fit with the supernatural evil of the rest of the show. (See linked posts above as well.)
That said, the Scoops Troop was by far the best collection of characters. Steve Harrington is the MVP of this show, amazingly enough. First season, he turns from popular asshole to halfway decent monster-fighting person. Second season, he proves to be an awesome babysitter. Third season, he gains more self-awareness (cf. the loser working at an ice cream shop speech), gets over his high school aversion to Robin, and then is supportive when she comes out as a lesbian. WOW.
Robin herself was for sure the best addition to the show. I admit, I was shipping her and Steve a little to begin with, but lesbian!Robin works too, and is certainly more original. Her snark and her codebreaking and just everything about her was gold.
Sassy, secretly nerdy Erica was also excellent! Awww, she gets Will's D&D books because now they know she's nerdy. That was a great touch. My Little Pony was a massive part of my childhood (MASS. IVE.), so she gets points for that too.
And Dustin, with his excessive enthusiasm and his science geekery and his girlfriend who actually turned out to be real! Awww. (Admittedly, I could've lived without the radio duet.)
Will, I SO FEEL YOU with the annoyance with your friends moaning about their love lives and making it impossible to just do something fun like play D&D. I have been there. For a moment, I was hoping Will was going be ace, because that would be so nice to see, but I guess they're setting him up to be gay, given their reactions to Mike's "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" That's fine too.
Mike and El were fine. Max and El becoming friends and doing friend/kid stuff? YES I AM HERE FOR THIS. I wasn't Max's biggest fan last season, but she was great this time around. Max and Lucas are also cute together.
Nancy and Jonathan's storyline was kind of meh. I did appreciate Nancy's conversation with her mother about the inherent misogyny of the 80s workplace/world.
Although she was saddled with asshole!Hopper much of the time, Joyce was wonderful as always. Fuck you, MAGNETS! She brings the determination to get to the bottom of weird shit in Hawkins. Loved her going to Mr. Clark's house with a stack of library books to demand lessons in electromagnetism.
There was a lot more violence this season, as well as gore. I liked the creepy style of horror from previous seasons.
I think that's it. It was more enjoyable than not; I like these characters even when they're stuck in dumb plots, so I like spending time with them. Looking forward to season four.
This entry was originally posted at https://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/1041139.html. It has
comments over there.
Some disjointed minor thoughts:
I was hoping for Hopper to die in a fire all season, and HE DID! totally didn't, just got captured by Russians (presumably). Bummer. He was never my favorite character, but jeez, he was such a jerk this year. (This is a place where airing like a regular TV show would've helped, I think; when the internet started saying they hated Hopper the writers could've course-corrected.) I figured there was no way he actually died, but I was hoping next season we'd see him trapped in/escaping the Upside Down in some kind of semi-inventive way rather than Fat Rambo-ing his way out of Russia.
I suppose "the American" could be someone else, but genius twists are not exactly this show's forte, so of course it's Hopper.
The Evil Russians plot stretched believability more than usual. It was okay, but didn't quite fit with the supernatural evil of the rest of the show. (See linked posts above as well.)
That said, the Scoops Troop was by far the best collection of characters. Steve Harrington is the MVP of this show, amazingly enough. First season, he turns from popular asshole to halfway decent monster-fighting person. Second season, he proves to be an awesome babysitter. Third season, he gains more self-awareness (cf. the loser working at an ice cream shop speech), gets over his high school aversion to Robin, and then is supportive when she comes out as a lesbian. WOW.
Robin herself was for sure the best addition to the show. I admit, I was shipping her and Steve a little to begin with, but lesbian!Robin works too, and is certainly more original. Her snark and her codebreaking and just everything about her was gold.
Sassy, secretly nerdy Erica was also excellent! Awww, she gets Will's D&D books because now they know she's nerdy. That was a great touch. My Little Pony was a massive part of my childhood (MASS. IVE.), so she gets points for that too.
And Dustin, with his excessive enthusiasm and his science geekery and his girlfriend who actually turned out to be real! Awww. (Admittedly, I could've lived without the radio duet.)
Will, I SO FEEL YOU with the annoyance with your friends moaning about their love lives and making it impossible to just do something fun like play D&D. I have been there. For a moment, I was hoping Will was going be ace, because that would be so nice to see, but I guess they're setting him up to be gay, given their reactions to Mike's "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" That's fine too.
Mike and El were fine. Max and El becoming friends and doing friend/kid stuff? YES I AM HERE FOR THIS. I wasn't Max's biggest fan last season, but she was great this time around. Max and Lucas are also cute together.
Nancy and Jonathan's storyline was kind of meh. I did appreciate Nancy's conversation with her mother about the inherent misogyny of the 80s workplace/world.
Although she was saddled with asshole!Hopper much of the time, Joyce was wonderful as always. Fuck you, MAGNETS! She brings the determination to get to the bottom of weird shit in Hawkins. Loved her going to Mr. Clark's house with a stack of library books to demand lessons in electromagnetism.
There was a lot more violence this season, as well as gore. I liked the creepy style of horror from previous seasons.
I think that's it. It was more enjoyable than not; I like these characters even when they're stuck in dumb plots, so I like spending time with them. Looking forward to season four.
This entry was originally posted at https://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/1041139.html. It has
comments over there.