Stranger Things Season 3 Review

August 7, 2019 Jeffrey Lyles Caleb McLaughlin, Charlie Heaton, Dacre Montgomery, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Millie Bobby Brown, Natalia Dyer, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Stranger Things, Winonna Ryder

I initially did my Stranger Things Season 3 review back in August 2018. As I’m rewatching before checking out the final season minus the years-long breaks between seasons, I’ve got some new insight and deeper appreciation for this one.

Here’s my 2026 thoughts on Stranger Things Season 3. Most of what I originally thought held true — the final two episodes of Stranger Things Season 3 are some of the best in the series (so far) — but some aspects of the season definitely changed. In most cases, for the better.

Time for an updated look at Stranger Things Season 3 with what worked and what didn’t.

Worked: Scoops Troops crew

C’mon, was there any doubt this wasn’t the most obvious choice? The clear MVPs of the season were 1,000% Stranger Things Season 3’s unlikeliest BFF duo of Dustin and Steve joined by newcomer Robin (Maya Hawke) and Erica (Priah Ferguson), Lucas’ bratty little sister. Without them carrying some episodes through rough patches this season would have been a lot less fun if not outright a chore.

Only Steve could pull off that ridiculous costume as he embraces his role as big brother to the Hawkins AV club. Dustin’s insistence that he’s got a Utah-based girlfriend had one of the series’ best payoffs. Initially it seemed like separating Dustin from Mike, Lucas, Will, Elle and Max was a mistake, but Dustin and Steve proved capable of establishing their own, equally fun party with former band geek Robin, taking some solace at putting high school jerk Steve in his place, and the closet nerd, Erica.

Robin’s understated coming out to Steve made for a surprisingly tender moment that was allowed to play out with a sweet resolution. Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers crafted it so well that it didn’t need a joke to relieve tension. Much like Max in Season 2, bringing in characters completely unfamiliar with the bizarre events playing out in Hawkins led to some great bits especially as they had a vital subplot of their own in deciphering the Russian code. Steve has always gone against type as the dumb jock and to one of my three favorite characters.

Didn’t: Lovestruck Hopper

Hopper was a terrific character in the first two seasons, but he took some hits in Stranger Things Season 3. Not due to David Harbour suddenly forgetting how to act, but the shift in making him an overbearing father figure to Elle and his awkward crush on Joyce was jarring.

Kudos to the Duffer Brothers for having Joyce still mourning the loss of Bob, including some sweet flashbacks, and not immediately wanting to jump into a new relationship a year later.

It also felt like Hopper and Joyce’s more sibling-like dynamic was infinitely better since the teens do awkward romance so much better. Hopper getting in Mike’s face after one too many times of popping off and being disrespectful was pretty tremendous, however.

Worked: The creepy factor of the Mind Flayer

Smoke clouds can be eerie, but seeing the Mind Flayer in action instead of his demodogs was impressive. Bad guys with no real discernible shape can be tricky in actually making them look good, but the tentacles and a mouth full of teeth that would make Pennywise envious helped make The Mind Flayer look incredibly menacing and scary.

Incorporating all of the flayed townspeople into itself was a top tier creep out scene and gave Stranger Things Season 3 a little Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe.

Didn’t: Rats and newspaper crew

As always, not a fan at all of any scenes involving rats and the early stages of this season had way too many. A bigger offense was the boorish newspaper crew headlined by Jake Busey and their constant belittling of Nancy. Those clowns kept shutting down the story of the century simply because they kept dismissing Nancy’s instincts. The paper crew getting corrupted by The Mind Flayer was ok, but their fate was seriously underwhelming as they were more annoying characters and warranted a more satisfying death.

Worked: Making Billy a real monster

Billy was beyond annoying in Season 2 and was just mad for the sake of being mad. Was he racist or simply not a fan of Max dating anyone? The Duffer Brothers were frustratingly vague in that instance, but they were fine making him out to be a willing homewrecker as he tried to lure Mrs. Wheeler to a hotel rendezvous.

In Stranger Things Season 3, he was the main engine of the Mind Flayer and was an effective puppet as he led a lot of Hawkins residents to their deaths. But an even stranger thing happened as the season played out, and Elle dug deeper into his mind — Billy actually became somewhat sympathetic. When he sacrificed himself to save Elle it was a fitting conclusion for one of the series’ most complicated characters.

Didn’t: Favorite Star Wars?

Nerd gripe here. No child of the 80s EVER referred to Star Wars as “A New Hope.” Maybe that branding works on late-arriving fans who started watching around Force Awakens, but the first Star Wars film to the generation established in Stranger Things would never call it A New Hope.

That was a total “wait, this is just a show set in the 80s not actually written in the 80s moment.” Also, the correct answer is always Empire Strikes Back, Steve.

Didn’t: Puberty

Good grief. The two-year break from Season 2 to Stranger Things Season 3 showed the challenge of shooting a series with children. On one hand it allowed the series to take a more mature approach with the now teens. On the other, some of the charm of watching these precocious kids battling monsters was lost. In a lot of ways, Stranger Things Season 3 felt like a standard teen horror film when it focused on Mike, Elle and crew. Monsters chasing teenagers isn’t as effective as it is when they’re chasing little kids (see It: Chapter One).

Worked: Independent Elle

Max was the best thing that could have happened to Elle and the show graduated to having the girls talk instead of being the only one surrounded by boys. The result? Some fun scenes including Max and Elle’s nerve-wracking encounter with Billy, Max dropping essential comic book knowledge and a little montage at the mall.

Didn’t: Reliance on Elle

The Duffer Brothers probably didn’t realize how much they’d back themselves in a corner making The Mind Flayer so powerful that only Elle could stop him. With so many supporting characters that left them helpless way too often. There’s a delicate line in having a formidable villain and one that’s so invulnerable the heroes have to fluke their way to a victory.

Worked: Saving Elle

No hero has had to do as much as Elle this season. From going on surveillance basically every episode for basic intel to holding off the Mind Flayer on her own, the gang used her as a crutch too often, so it was nice to see the crew rally around her in the home stretch of the season. From holding off the Mind Flayer at Hopper’s cabin thanks largely to Nancy and Lucas to actually having to save Elle in the finale, this was a welcome shift in the power dynamic.

The fireworks attack didn’t just look visually impressive — and was a testament to the much bigger budget of Stranger Things Season 3 — it showed the rest of the gang could actually have their pal’s back for once.

Didn’t: Terminator Russian

At first it was pretty funny that the 80s theme season had a bad guy clearly inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the dude really wasn’t a cyborg y’all. Of course, Hopper should have gone for the head as Thor would have told him. And there’s absolutely no love for a guy who killed poor fun-loving Alexi. Jerk

Overall Stranger Things Season 3 Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Netflix

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