Upon Further Review, Stranger Things 3 Is Clearly The Worst Season Of Stranger Things

So Bob Fox and I have been rewatching then recapping Stranger Things as we prepare for the final season, which starts Thanksgiving Eve. While college kids are hitting up bars to make bad decisions with kids they went to high school with (kids still do that, right?), I'll be binging Stranger Things until my eyes bleed like Eleven.

The biggest take away I've had after rewatching the first three seasons is how season three stands out as clearly the worst in my very right opinion that nobody could possibly disagree with. One is clearly a classic that helped set the stage for a franchise that has somehow made it to a fifth season almost a decade later. Two was a great follow up that only gets dragged down by one very shitty episode that is not only as bad as I remember but also completely takes the wind out of the sails of the season since it leaves Hawkins for the entire runtime as shit is really ramping up only two episodes before the finale.

Despite the GIGANTIC swing and a miss, Season 2 is saved by Bob The Brain, the halloween stuff, and of course the introduction of everyone's favorite bad boy Billy, who also becomes everyone's least favorite bad boy when you are reminded he is an even bigger piece of shit that tried to run over kids with his fucking car.

Season three was burned into my brain as a good time because of how much I loved the nostalgia that came with Starcourt Mall, which is an A++++++ 80s mall name, and all the screen time with my sweet angel Alexei. However, I didn't love the gross out monster, the Russian stuff was a little absurd even for a show about demons from another dimension, and the show seemed to get too cute steering into the clear 80s tropes it was always built on.

So with all that said, Season 3 is my least favorite of all the Stranger Things seasons, even though it is by no means a bad season. I loved the sauna scene, Back To The Future callbacks, and the tearjerking scene when Eleven read Hopper's note.

We'll see where everything stands after I finish Season 4 next week. But I remembered loving how much they built out the world of Stranger Things in Season 4, which caused it to be right behind Season 1 after I first watched it. There's also a chance I completely misremember everything considering how many things I thought happened earlier or later in the series but was proven wrong during the rewatch.

For much more Stranger Things talk, check out our rewatches of the first three seasons in the video above or podcasts below and make sure to subscribe for when we recap Season 4 next week followed by a Season 5 preview, death pool draft, and much more.