Spoilers Stranger Things - Season 3

For me, him surviving at all is pushing it (not to mention totally undermining his incredible exit). But if he's going to survive, spending a year bush camping in the Upside Down is the worst possible option. Him being the guy in the russian cell is the second worst, unless the Russian military has teleporters or some weird connection between their systems created a second portal in Russia for just a second and he was blown straight through the Upside Down to Russia (which would still be terrible).

The best possible option is probably that someone (Russian or unscrupulous Fed) dragged him out unnoticed and held him prisoner somewhere in the US.

The upside down is only an option for me if you reveal something totally game changing. Like, say, the upside down really is the future or has totally screwed up time in different areas, so that he finds a way back after a week or so but only arrives months later. Or maybe the Mind Flayer has a use for him and a way to keep him in some sort of suspended animation.

 

I still think my initial theory works best: He's zapped to the Upside Down because of Reasons and he's there for a short period of time (a week at most) and then finds a way back to our world (not unlike El in season 2, although she was only there for a very short period of time), where he's immediately captured by the Russians.

 

When it comes to a reason for all of the cast to be involved in whatever Upside Down shenanigans go down next season, I think at this point the whole cast has played enough of a role in thwarting The Mind Flayer's plans that I could see him going after any, or all of them.

 

As much as I enjoyed the first 2, and especially season 1, so of course I was all hyped for the third one... until, of course, I started watching it. Not that it's total garbage, I'm not saying that at all; I am saying that, thematically, it is so different from the previous ones, I can't even believe it. So here's the breakdown (BTW do not read any further if you don't want spoilers, I'm required to say that):




The good: Well, they definitely nailed all the 80s pop culture references yet again. That mall looked exactly like I remember malls of the era: the Burger King logo, Wicks and Sticks, Walden, all perfect. And yes I remember the new Coke. What's sometimes been called the biggest marketing blunder ever... but I remember it, and of course I also remember how they couldn't bring the original Coke back fast enough. And also the captured the fear of Russia so many Americans had at the time. I mean, it's a little difficult to appreciate now, as it's been so long since the Soviet Union as a political entity existed; but at the time, fear of Soviet infiltration was very real, even if the threat itself wasn't.

The bad: However, the first 2 seasons, especially the first, were sublime in a way this one definitely is not. This one doesn't have any of the sense of mystery or intrigue or subtlety or innocence of the first 2. What it does have in its place is basically nonstop guns blazing. Not that I have a problem with hardcore action; indeed, a lot of my favorite movies are action flicks. It's just that, it's just so different from what came before, and it just doesn't seem to fit the tone of the show. While the first 2 had kind of a haunted house feel, this one's more like Rambo or Predator.

And the ugly: in a word: gore. Not that I can't handle cinematic gore. I can. It's just that, yet again, it doesn't fit the tone that was there before. The gore factor has gone up exponentially, and, as any film student will tell you, gore is far more likely to create revulsion than fear.

Any hoo, fans of the show, would I recommend you to watch it.... yes, but just be prepared: it's a very different show now.

 

First: Nothing went wrong. I loved the season.

Second: There's already a thread about the third season.

 

Oh and a lot more arguing!

 

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know that. I also didn't know there's a law against having more than one thread on the same subject. Of course, this must be the first time in history that's ever happened.

 

Season 3 has 89% on RT and not a single episode under 8 on IMDB - so what went wrong? Nothing, people loved it.

 

Nothing went wrong. For me it's tied with season 1 as my favorite, with season 2 below. Just because they did something different doesn't make it bad. I LOVE when shows try new things.

 

Actually, if you had bothered to read the pinned threads at the top of the page, you would see that it has long been the preference of the mods that there not be multiple threads on the same topic, so don't be surprised if this thread gets merged into the big thread.

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/please-start-consolidating-threads.130984/

 

It was awesome. Hopper is da sh!t! Don't mess with him (unless you're a Russian who acts like the Terminator -- then you can beat the living crap out of him).

 

Actually the "Game Changing" idea is my thought as well. Frankly, we're reached a point where all of the above, easiest options, will be a let down to at least some of the fan base, unless they reveal something monumental. The least palatable to me would be Hopper somehow getting whisked off to Russia, amid all of what went down in the finale. It's very absurd to me, even more so than some fantastical upside down alternative. Even having him transported from the upside down to Russia is a little too convenient. I'd prefer "the American" be someone else entirely, like Brenner, & I'd rather Hopper be gone entirely, than for it to play so weakly

However, surviving in the upside down need not be an entirely bush camping experience, but it probably would be survivalist, & to be believable, it would also require a drastic change in the character & actor... hairy, haggard looking, dramatic weight loss, maybe medically/physically compromised etc... I honestly think if they could pull that off, it would be cool as shit, but I admit it's highly unlikely, especially since much of the show dynamic is about being fun

I think if the 3rd season hadn't been so much fun, it already would've let the fanbase down. I mean... Russians? Really? The charm of the show made it pass, but I think that's a limited currency, & things might be getting too big now for that to keep carrying it.

I think all of these threads they've got, have painted them into some corners. The only way out is something fantastical in the mythos to free them up, bring the cast into focus yet again, & keep the audience's respect. I can't be sure that's what we'll get, but I can hope. I do think a big piece of the charm goes missing without David Harbour though

 

Of course Hopper's the "American" in cell #2. He was likely in the Upside Down for a bit, the Russians tunnelled in to capture the creature, and grabbed him along the way.

 

I don't mind the Russians because they felt like a reference to Red Dawn. Besides, I'm always a sucker for a giant secret underground base hidden underneath a mall in a small Midwestern town.

 

I loved the season, so I would say nothing at all went wrong. It's been a while since I watched the first two seasons, but I thought it was a fairly steady evolution from where we started to where we are now. Yeah, it is pretty different from the early episodes of Season 1, but all shows evolve and change as they go on. Just look how different shows like Arrow, or Lost, or Agent are at the end compared to where they started.

 

I enjoyed it. That being said, I feel they need to give the premise a bit of a shake up. We need to know more about the Upside Down. What exactly do they want from us? Plus, what else is there beside the mind flayer? I like the idea of the Mindflayer being a mere emissary of something far more powerful.

 

That's what I assumed happened. He was on the other side of the energy barrier on the... whatever the hell you want to call it. Portal gun? Everybody on the control booth side got incinerated when the thing went kablooey, everybody on his side (read: him) got pulled into the Upside Down. Obviously, the Ruskies have been experimenting on the Upside Down for a while, so Hopper wasn't in there the whole three months before emerging in Russia and getting immediately captured.

The question is, what will they do with him now? Brainwash him? Turn him into a sleeper agent and send him back to Hawkins?

 

See, barring the 'got accidentally spit out of a portal in Russia' idea I already mentioned (which is still way too convenient), I really don't see how this isn't just straight up the end of the world. If the Russians can tunnel into the Upside Down at will (which season 3 directly contradicts, by the way), then the Mind Flayer is loose on the other side of the world and there's no way to stop it without potentially causing WWIII. Because the Russians in this show are utterly incompetent and have no concept of the danger they're facing and they certainly wouldn't turn to American expertise, let alone a little girl, to pull their fat out of the fire.

Brenner is the only believable choice for 'the American' in the credits scene.

 

I think Hopper might show up in Hawkins with his memory erased or supressed. They can then slowly reveal what happened to him over the course of the season. Which beats them doing something absurd like all of them heading off to Russia to rescue them. With his return it gives everyone who left a reason to return. Jason

 

All the Russians disappear instantly at the end. Where was everybody? They point this out with the all the America soldiers running into shot...no one is captured.

Teleportation? All in the upside down? One minute there’s a small army, next minute no one. I think they already set up something there.

And before anyone poo poos teleportation etc...remember, The Philadelphia Experiment is a part of the whole set of cultural things ST is mining and playing with.