# Stranger Things 3. No spoilers until post 54
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 5, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575 "2019-07-05T16:01:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/1 "2019-07-05T16:01:33Z")
Yes I binged the whole thing.
Still fun but a bit less fun than 2 which was a bit less fun than 1. Some good bits. I do wonder if the mayor’s comments about his July 4th celebration were added in context of Trump’s celebration.
I propose spoiler-free through end of the month and \*\*as of August 1 no more needed \*\*with an assumption that those who have wanted to see it would have by then. Open for debate of course. I don’t get to make the rules. This is a hard balance to hit.
[spoiler]Really, Day of the Dead as the main movie cultural touchpoint with a touch of the previous year’s Terminator? With evils of the mall and Cold War thrown in? Really?
None of the characters really grabbed me this time.
And I can’t be the only who thought Hopper should have muttered “I should have gone for the head” … 🙂
And with that as a reference, is being dusted necessarily dead?[/spoiler]
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/2 "2019-07-05T21:16:37Z")
Those kids need to stop aging. I haven’t changed one single iota since this series started and all those kids are all bigger and older and stuff. Even the teenaged kids!
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### Author:  [@Allecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allecher)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/3 "2019-07-06T15:42:35Z")
I enjoyed it but it did seem more gory than the previous seasons. I wonder if that will hurt its popularity with the pre-teen audience?
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/4 "2019-07-06T16:08:27Z")
> [@Biggirl](#):
>
> Those kids need to stop aging. I haven’t changed one single iota since this series started and all those kids are all bigger and older and stuff. Even the teenaged kids!
I believe they have aged in-show accordingly.
Season 1 - 1983
Season 2 - 1984
Season3 - Summer of 1985
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/5 "2019-07-07T03:17:58Z")
I liked it better than Season 2, where Eleven was separated from the rest of the gang for a good chunk of the season and the plot was kind of a rehash of Season 1.
Adding the Russians, especially the Terminator-guy added some freshness, I thought. It was a bit silly in places, but I liked the silly parts.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/6 "2019-07-07T03:33:59Z")
While waiting for enough people to catch up, what do you think will be the movie cultural reference points for next year (1986)? I did NOT guess the main reference point they’d use for 1985!
Some really strong contenders. From Aliens, to The Fly, to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Stand By Me, Short Circuit, to Labyrinth, to Howard the Duck :). Top Gun … Platoon, probably not. Which ping your nostalgia the most?
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### Author:  [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/7 "2019-07-07T06:00:54Z")
That Russian thug guy was pretty much the Terminator.
Honestly, I think nostalgia meter peaked in season 1 for me. The music probably hits me the most.
I am astonished that the Duffer bothers are young enough they probably have no real memories of the 80s. They do a good job capturing the feel.
I liked it, but I think it probably should have ended this season, and definitely should end next season.
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### Author:  [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/8 "2019-07-07T06:57:27Z")
This show just keeps getting better. For anyone hung up on the goofiness of it, the show it really a nostalgic comedy at its roots. I’m gonna order me some New Coke while I’m at it.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/9 "2019-07-07T10:43:58Z")
> [@Ashtura](#):
>
> I liked it, but I think it probably should have ended this season, and definitely should end next season.
The original plan was to only have one season with this cast, and future seasons to range out of Hawkins with only some of them returning but mainly all new characters based elsewhere, and then do that again for the subsequent seasons, etc. But these kids were all so popular they kept everything in Hawkins with the same cast. The part in season 2 where Eleven found more numbered powered kids seems to be a holdover from that idea. If they do get a season 4 or 5, they may now finally action that plan.
I’m only halfway through. So far I’ve seen a bit of _Explorers_, a bit of _Terminator_, a bit of _Fast Times_, possibly some _My Science Project_, and a bit of whatever the mall sequences are based on, maybe _Valley Girl_?
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### Author:  [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/10 "2019-07-07T11:57:57Z")
If they get to 1988 would they do a reference to Beetlejuice?
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### Author:  [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/11 "2019-07-07T12:39:04Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Some really strong contenders. From Aliens, to The Fly, to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Stand By Me, Short Circuit, to Labyrinth, to Howard the Duck :). Top Gun … Platoon, probably not. Which ping your nostalgia the most?
Police Academy 3: Back in Training?
OB
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### Author:  [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/12 "2019-07-07T13:13:44Z")
We thought it was great - laughed really hard in 7 and 8 - great effects, genuinely tense and alot of fun.
I’ll wait until open spoilers to get into details - and there has to be a season 4.
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### Author:  [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/13 "2019-07-07T14:35:15Z")
I don’t see how there can be a Season 4. Everyone has left Hawkins and Hopper is likely dead unless they can Days of Our Lives his ass and make him that American in the Russian prison. But he cannot go back to Hawkins as he has committed multiple serious felonies. Season 4 would have to be some cobbled together nonsense.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/14 "2019-07-07T16:02:37Z")
Re UltraVires[spoiler]No question there will be a season four. What with Mayor now jailed and United States government involved in covering up the Rooskies being infiltrated in the heartland and the supernatural menace, he won’t be charged at all. Not in that universe. And the missing staff of a newspaper? Will never be mentioned.
Either Hopper’s dusting was not a melting (and we never saw his melted remains) but a transport of some sort or it is an intentional feint with another major character not recently seen being in that cell. Some article came up in my feed that suggested that, and could be.
But yes the next season has to include some more out of Hawkins, possibly bringing back Kali from that bottle episode (which I was in a minority and liked) and making her a factor. Especially given the loss of El’s powers sets her as the one with the power to fight the Flayer, or to help El get hers back.[/spoiler]
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### Author:  [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/15 "2019-07-07T16:40:19Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Re UltraVires[spoiler]No question there will be a season four. What with Mayor now jailed and United States government involved in covering up the Rooskies being infiltrated in the heartland and the supernatural menace, he won’t be charged at all. Not in that universe. And the missing staff of a newspaper? Will never be mentioned.
>
> Either Hopper’s dusting was not a melting (and we never saw his melted remains) but a transport of some sort or it is an intentional feint with another major character not recently seen being in that cell. Some article came up in my feed that suggested that, and could be.
>
> But yes the next season has to include some more out of Hawkins, possibly bringing back Kali from that bottle episode (which I was in a minority and liked) and making her a factor. Especially given the loss of El’s powers sets her as the one with the power to fight the Flayer, or to help El get hers back.[/spoiler]
That is a neat idea. “Next year” would be 1986. It would be interesting if the Soviets understand the danger of the upside down world and there is a joint US-Soviet mission to destroy it, perhaps leading to the real-life thawing of relations between the two countries. Perhaps a giant nuclear explosion is needed to destroy the upside down on the Russian side and Chernobyl is the cover story for it.
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### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/16 "2019-07-07T19:28:25Z")
> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> That is a neat idea. “Next year” would be 1986. It would be interesting if the Soviets understand the danger of the upside down world and there is a joint US-Soviet mission to destroy it, perhaps leading to the real-life thawing of relations between the two countries. Perhaps a giant nuclear explosion is needed to destroy the upside down on the Russian side and Chernobyl is the cover story for it.
That’s an interesting idea. My understanding of the upside down is that it’s a whole world, once much like ours, that the Mind Flayer invaded. A nuclear event wouldn’t destroy the upside down, but that might be just what it takes to end the Mind Flayer.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/17 "2019-07-07T19:30:14Z")
My favorite of the three seasons. Our Neverending Story!!!
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### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/18 "2019-07-07T19:42:44Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#):
>
> That’s an interesting idea. My understanding of the upside down is that it’s a whole world, once much like ours, that the Mind Flayer invaded. A nuclear event wouldn’t destroy the upside down, but that might be just what it takes to end the Mind Flayer.
On the other hand, if the 4th season takes place in Spring of 86, there are a couple of other incidents that might be covered. In mid-February, the Soviets launched the _Mir_ space station, so we might get some _Aliens_ action.
In March, the _Challenger_ wreckage was recovered, but I don’t imagine the Duffers will tread on that ground.
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### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/19 "2019-07-07T19:55:13Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> I propose spoiler-free through end of the month and \*\*as of August 1 no more needed \*\*with an assumption that those who have wanted to see it would have by then. Open for debate of course.
I’d prefer that this thread be open spoilers (with an all-caps warning in the thread title). I just finished the show last night, and I want to talk freely about it NOW, dammit, NOW. 😉
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-things-3-no-spoilers-until-post-54/836575/20 "2019-07-07T21:08:18Z")
It was awesome, though it did take a while to build up to it.
[spoiler]The mall scenes were the main tribute to Fast Times along with all the Phoebe Cates mentions.
I loved the new editions, Robin, Maya Hawke is the daughter of Ethan Hawke & Uma Thurman. She was great. The greatly expanded role for Erica (Lucas’s little sister) was well done and felt like most of the little sisters in 80s TV. Cary Elwes, my favorite pirate was really solid as the scumbag mayor. His American Accent was impeccable. Bringing Murray (Brett Gelman) back was a stretch, but I am really glad they did. He really added a lot to the humor of the final episodes.
So everyone is now stuck in long-distance relationships except Max & Lucas. I think I saw Suzie on Broadway in Matilda as Matilda. I’m pretty sure she was the Matilda when we went. I wonder if she’ll get in on the fun next season?
I knew Back to the Future was the likeliest nerdlove movie for this season but couldn’t really figure out how they would get it in, glad they figured out a way to use it.
**As to 1986** , Stand By Me, Ferris Bueller, Aliens (which season 2 already did) and Star Trek IV (Whale movie) and maybe Little Shop of Horrors were the biggest appropriate movies. I not sure if any of these will be more then referenced.
I’m sure Hopper is not dead, but the American in Kamchatka[/spoiler]
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