Review of the third season of "Stranger Things"
There may be a few spoilers in the text (and certainly one that reveals a certain thread), so if you haven't seen it, then you read at your own risk.
Every time I finish watching one of the three seasons of "Stranger Things", I feel both sadness and joy. I perceive these feelings differently than normal. I do not feel sad, as in a situation when, for example, I see harm to a child, death of a loved one, or something that is supposed to cause such a reaction. It is also not "ordinary" joy, satisfaction from finding something valuable, meeting an old friend after a long separation, doing a good deed, etc. Nor is it simply a sense of nostalgia, even though it is the largest percentage of it. It's something more personal that I can't name yet, even though I've known this feeling for 20 years. I feel like the Duffer brothers want to do emotional acupuncture to me, hitting rarely stimulated areas of the brain. There are short moments in my life in which I felt similar, but it lasts less and is usually less intense than the experience of "Stranger Things". I love this emotional mix - events that bring tears, sadness caused by the end of the season and the joy that I just saw something absolutely beautiful. Colorful, arousing a variety of memories and emotions. However, it is slightly different than in previous seasons.
Young heroes begin to grow up, and with this, they direct their attention in different directions, not always common. It was also decided to change priorities or push some topics into the background. Threads about conspiracy theories, i.e. gates to other dimensions, MK Ultra project etc. have gone to the background and are just one of the elements building the story's background. Instead, we got more references to older films, times of our childhood, and more emphasis was placed on relationships between the characters. Again, we observe the action from several perspectives, but this time the groups of heroes are more interesting. Not only because of the new characters, but also because of the great, unchanging work when it comes to the old ones. Admittedly, I missed the US Army's experiments on pregnant women a bit, as well as a more satisfactory development of the thread with transitions to another dimension, but instead I got some new elements. The rest has been improved only for the better.
Returning to the characters and their interaction, the creators probably made an even better impression on me than in the first season. During these 8 episodes, I went back in time to a similar period in my life. Today, with a smile, I remember direct chats between peasants and gossip in women's company, or conversations in the above groups after breaking up, etc. They came out very naturally and not one moment in one form or another happened in my life (or I heard about it from the other hand). A nice change after the previous season, which although in my opinion was not so bad, it was a bit too imitative. There was too little news and too much repetition. The characters and their personalities didn't change much, and the story didn't have much to offer, except for what we already know. It is difficult for me to disagree with these and other complaints of Internet users. Fortunately, despite the witchcraft of some, the Duffer brothers embraced themselves and did not repeat their mistakes. There is no trace of the filler from the previous season, and the threads that liked it were developed. My favorite example is already from the first episode - I am of course talking about the flaming flirt between Billy and Mrs. Wheeler. Mainly because both of them would like to go to bed with them and show it both with their eyes and, above all, with body language. Although this one-time romance was not finalized, I was as satisfied as if they showed at least foreplay. This is due to the fact that I like very much when the creators of series/movies take their viewers seriously and show such threads in the most real and natural way (which is rare, or at least I'm not lucky with them). Nancy's mother has a too fucking husband, which lacks some pepper and a man's hand in a relationship. You can see it in her eyes when he greedily "undresses" his Chad with his eyes and imagines various, naughty scenes with his participation.
As for new heroes, Alexei was a shot at 10. I immediately convinced him, and as the number of memes on the internet showed, it wasn't just his charm that affected me. Similarly, Robin, one of the best introduced homosexual characters - please do so more often! Her thread was unobtrusively guided, and her role is not an exaggeration in one of the sides (which deserves special praise at a time when such things are sometimes artificially forced). It's quite the opposite - he plays very naturally and has presented a nice, nice character. Russian Arnie played by Andrey Ivchenko is another gold. Although he is a typical place-holder of Villian, inspired by films from the '80s and' 90s, the scenes with his participation were simply watched sensational. Mainly because of the striking resemblance to the appearance and style of the young Arnold. He pissed me off at the final fight, but I don't blame him. That was the intention of the creators. Originally, I wanted to complain about it (as well as stupid Russians, a relic from the old days, but after thinking and talking with Col. Mariusz, I decided to change my mind. Maybe it will annoy me again with the re-watch, but it's difficult to blame the creators. Very they showed well the exaggerated Russians from "Red Alert" or 4 parts of "Rocky". Or probably in any other movie from that time. And since I like some of Westwood's and Ivan Drago's production for that too, the criticism of the Duffer brothers is less justified.
When it comes to other inspirations, apart from the ones mentioned above, I saw: "The Thing", "Alien", "Neverending Story", "Return to the Future" and series "Goose Skin". I will not dwell on them, for what? Everything is better on YT than it would be with me. On the other hand, when it comes to the emotional sphere, as in every season I went back to the past. I have written about it many times, but the Duffer brothers have a great hand and head to use nostalgia. Although all the episodes are filled with various references in various forms, I did not feel too much of this sweetness. In a few songs I have met with such good playing on the nostalgia of those years. If it was done well, then there is another advantage you can write about. The problem is, however, that hardly anyone can use it so well. This is even more impressive when we are bombarded with references at every turn, and we do not feel it at all. The third season crashed the bank in this respect. I watched him hypnotized, absorbing every episode. I will associate the song from "Neverending Story" for life with the performance of Dustin and Susie.
As part of the end, a few words about the effects. The first influences of Disney's activities in the field of streaming are already visible because Netflix has added some $$$ to special effects and more. It is true that there are not many (in total) effective scenes, but as there is already a demanding fragment, it looks according to the cinema standard. A good example is the very beginning when the Russians try to open the dimensional transition. The machine (which reminds me of the prismatic department of "Red Alert 2", although working on a slightly different principle), CGI, its painful effects, did not stand out much from the standard to which the cinema got used to us. There are not as many scenes as in recent GoT seasons (there is no difference in the issue of television series and cinema film there), but what is supposed to look nice is what it looks like. The effects are additionally enhanced by great handling of colors, lights, and a camera - it's nicer and neater than in previous seasons. The fight from the final episode was simply lovely and although it works on a small scale, I was bustling about "bigger" battles with shounen-tapeworms or Marvel films. I dreamed about this scene in the finals of previous seasons.
To sum up - the third season of "Stranger Things" is gold. On the one hand, I am very happy that 4 will be the last one, but on the other, I am already sad at this thought. Well, it's hard, the highest look at all again, it's better to finish at the right time than to blur the quality of the brand. Thank you for helping Mariusz, who helped me a bit when writing this text. I wouldn't have to spend more time researching without your help.