Strangest

It's 1985, the year of Miami Vice, Back To The Future and new Coke.  And now, the year where Stranger Things 3 is set.  I just finished watching this season and I must say it's good to have it back.  Apparently, millions agree--it seems to be the most popular show on Netflix.  I'll try not to be too spoilerish in what follows, but I can't guarantee anything.

Since all the characters--the kids, the young adults and the adults--start in different places, I didn't always remember who was related to whom, but it didn't matter.  The show picks up not long after season 2 and is fun from the start. In fact, though this is sci-fi horror, the first couple hours play more like 1980s teen comedy, as the kids hang out and explore the new mall in town (a great set which is put to good use).

El and Mike are together, as are Lucas and Max.  Dustin is out of town and poor Will just wants things to be the way they were.  Meanwhile, Nancy and Jonathan work as interns at the local paper (remember when small towns had papers?) and Steve works at the mall's ice cream parlor, Scoops Ahoy, with newby Robin.  On top of which, Joyce and Hopper have their love-hate connection going full steam.

If that paragraph made you nostalgic, the show is for you.  If it confused you, maybe you should start with season 1.

This time around, we don't spend too much time in the Upside Down.  Instead, the portal has been reopened--thanks to Russian collusion--and there's a new plan to take over Hawkins, Indiana and get at El.  At only 8 episodes, the Duffer Brothers have created a season that moves quickly.  With so many characters, each doing their own thing, it makes for constant action--there aren't too many blind alleys, so when character check something out, it tends to pay off.

Among the kids, the central couple are Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard as El and Mike, learning that friends don't lie, but boyfriends do.  The adult leads are Winona Ryder and David Harbour (doughier than most action heroes, which is fun) as Joyce and Hopper in a complicated relationship.  And the main young adult couple are Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton as Nancy and Jonathan, who, to be honest, don't register as strongly as the others.

But that's how it goes.  Part of it's the writing, part of it's the personalities of the actors.  For instance, of the four boys who started in season 1 playing D&D, Mike and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin are the most memorable, while Noah Schnapp as Will is the least involving.  I guess it didn't help that through most of ST1 he was MIA--it's like being the member of the wolf pack who's stuck on the roof in The Hangover.

And though Nancy and Jonathan may have been intended as the heartthrobs, it's Steve who really scores.  As played by Joe Keery, he's changed a lot since ST1 where he was BMOC.  Now he's almost a figure of fun, scooping ice cream in a sailor suit and hanging out with younger kids.  But as both clown and hero, he's one of the most intriguing characters on the show.

As noted, there's constant action, and a solid finale where all the separate configurations of plot and character come together.  And for such a fun show, it's not all sweetness and light.  Bad things happen. (In fact, along the way, the tone can get tricky, since certain scenes are played for comedy but involve the characters, including kids, in deathly serious situations).

Some may not be happy at where everyone ultimately end up.  But Stranger Things 3 definitely scores.  While I don't think there's any need for another season, I suspect the show's popularity guarantees it.