It sucks that my favorite versions El, Steve, Robin, and Will and possibly my favorite supernatural plot line are all in season 3 because I honestly can’t stand a lot of season three especially as far as characterizations go (seriously what the fuck is up with Hop and Mike and can we kill Murray already pls) AND the secondary antagonist is SO STUPID like I cannot stand them going from “yeah the government is very powerful and abuses that power and they especially abused that power during the Cold War in the name of “fighting the Russians”” to “oh yeah actually the Russians are in Hawkins and they are evil”
Also the idea of the Russians being in Hawkins where there is a very established government presence (or even just government surveillance because obviously the gov didn’t just pull out entirely they def just pulled out their public troops) and the Russians owning the largest establishment in all of town and running supernatural experiments that cause town wide blackouts and demagnetization underneath said establishment and not being discovered by the government but they are accidentally stumbled upon by a like 14 or 15 year old boy and foiled by said teenager, a 19 year old himbo who already has at least one concussion, his 18 year old best friend who is learning Russian on the fly for this, the sheriff who spent half the season being angry about his daughters boyfriend and then his not girlfriend and then was being chased around by the fucking terminator for the other half, said not girlfriend, the local conspiracy theorist, and a literal actual 10 year old
It’s so dumb I can’t stand the stuff with the Russians in season 3
Also Stranger Things have consistent characterization for more than one season challenge (impossible)
It’s just annoying because seriously the supernatural plot is so good the implications of the flayed and the giant mind flayer monster is so chilling Billy is such a good secondary antagonist there are some really good character dynamics Nancy kicks ass as always and Jonathan hasn’t had his character assassination yet (stoner Jonathan my BELOATHED) so he’s a good supporting role for Nancy even if they don’t delve into his specific issues in this season like I wish they would’ve seeing Will clashing with trying to be a normal teen and being stuck trying to recreate being a kid and also dealing with his queerness for the first time as the people around him start to date and all of that just clashing with the rest of his friend group THE ONLY SEASON WHERE STEVE ISNT LIKE SOLELY FOCUSED ON DATING NANCY season 3 Steve COME BACK and it’s like peak Dustin and Steve friendship with Dustin still being a little shit but not being l condescending like from seasons 4 and 5 and Steve LIKES hanging out with him (their dorky little handshake and the hype when Dustin returns from summer camp) and isn’t constantly complaining about being the babysitter (mom Steve THRIVES in season 3 even Robin calls them his children) WE GET ROBIN FOR THE FIRST TIME like so many things to make this such a good season
But like the way Mike and Hop are characterized and all of the Russian stuff stick out to me so much that it lowkey makes it hard for me to fully love the season because I cannot stand that stuff so much
Sorry I’m ranting I just have a lot more thoughts about season 3 than I thought i did
okay yeah that's so so fair 😭 i dont know if ive seen it in a really really long time but its so nostalgic for me & i loved the summer setting. i think mostly i miss watching it for the first time
hopper is way mischaracterized true😔 but as a 13? 14? (no idea) year old i was so crazy about jopper i was livingg for their banter.
DUSTIN AND STEVEEE OHHHG I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP SO SO MUCH. i had to pause the episode when dustin was saying you can't die because i was SOBBING. the scoops troop is so fun i have robin and steve funkos somewhere
