Stranger Things Season 3: Ending Explained Review

With Season 3 of Stranger Things now on Netflix, it’s time to breakdown everything that you need to know about the show as well as what happens in it’s ending.

There will be heavy spoilers here so if you haven’t had a chance to watch Stranger Things Season 3 yet and don’t want anything ruined then I highly recommend that you turn off now.

With that out the way, Thanks for clicking the video, you’re the best, now sit back and let’s get into our Stranger Things 3 Breakdown.

Stranger Things Season 3 Recap

Stranger Things 3 Picks up in 1985, two years after the events of season two and centres around our cast of characters prepping for the fourth of July Celebrations in Hawkins, Indiana. From the off it’s very clear that though the show is set over thirty years ago, the events that take place in it are a comment on modern society with Russia trying to bring down America from within by unleashing a monster on the country.

In case you hadn’t guessed it, this is one big Trump Metaphor and these strong metaphors laced throughout showcase that Season 3 has a far more political side to it than it’s predecessors.

Nancy and Jonathan now work at the local newspaper and this too becomes a comment on the Me Too movement and rise of feminism due to the fact that Nancy’s ideas are always dismissed and sexisim runs rampant throughout the office. She’s pretty much the girl who gets the coffee and throughout Season 3 she has to battle the close-mindedness of her apparent male superiors in order to unearth the truth of the new inhabitants that seem to be popping up.

It’s not all bad though and and Mike and Eleven are deep in their relationship much to Jim Hopper’s dismay. He puts up a couple of barriers in the way and it’s kinda hilarious how much he relishes breaking them up. The rest of the friendship group all really finding partners and growing up as characters bar Will who seems to want things to just stay the way they are.

The Rise Of The Mindflayer

He senses that things are changing in the area and as the characters grow, so does the dark presence in the area.

This carries over to the entire plot of the season and this coming of age story fully fleshes out the characters far beyond what we’ve seen so far. It definitely does more work for character building than the prior two seasons in my opinion and for me this was the most relatable I’ve ever seen the group.

However, the shadow in the sky still looms and no amount of Ice Cream from Scoops Ahoy is gonna stop it, Billy is pulled to the Upside Down and during this he comes face to face with a shadow version of himself he comes back with a dark side and a need to feed the beast that has begun to inhabit the town.

In addition to this, Dustin intercepts a Russian transmission and with help from Steve and Robin they discover the truth behind the Invasion.

Perfect Pacing

All of the plots beautifully interweave with one another and though each character discovers certain things on their own, it comes together perfectly to create a cohesive narrative that’s arguably the tightest in the Netflix show so far.

Eventually the group come face to face with the Mindflayer and Dark Presence that has been growing in the town. Dr. Alexi reveals that the Russians have been building a doorway between worlds and that they need to operate their machine in Hawkins as the door has already been opened there and is still accessible.

Eleven learns through visiting Billy through a vision that there is a source to the entire invasion that is tied to the emotional trauma he has over his parent’s divorce and half-sister Maxine. This leads the group to learn about the Steelworks where Billy has been bringing people but the plan backfires and alerts those infected to Eleven and the other’s presence.

Monsters At The Mall

She discovers that those from the upside down have been building everything to take down Eleven and the rest of the world. Now that the Mindflayer knows where Eleven is he heads there faster than I clicked on Stranger Things when I saw there were new episodes and we finally see the big face-off we’ve been waiting for.

It leads to an awesome last couple of episodes that gave me Resident Evil 2 flashbacks and my heart was really racing as we got into the finale.

At Starcourt Mall all of the characters join together its at this point that the season really comes into it’s own with some of the group facing down against Billy and the Mind Flayer. Some head to Dustins Aerial and others descend into the basement to stop the Russian Weapon from going all Chernobyl on the city.

In this Never Ending Story though they manage to close the doorway and the kids show that fireworks against the Mindflayer by using well…fireworks against the mind Flayer, that doesn’t mean it’s a happy ending. Billy sacrifices himself and Jim dies in order to shut down the Seal.

Season 3 Ends with Eleven reading an old letter written by Jim. She joins Joyce, Will and Jonathan as they move out of Hawkins and go onto a new life.

Post Credit’s Scene Breakdown

However, it’s not over yet and we then cut to a post credits scene which takes place in Kamchatka where prisoners are being fed to a returning evil that comes in the form of the Demogorgon. Prison Guards linger in front of a door before one of them says ‘No, Not The American’ before they drag another to his death.

So to me there’s two big returns here, not just the Demogorgon but also Jim Hopper who I believe was found when the Russians inspected the weapon at the end. Hopper is now being held hostage and this will be revealed in Season 4. Jim will bring the Demogorgon back into the limelight and the return of Stranger Things will centre around the characters trying to not only rescue Jim but also stop the new evil that is rising in Russia.

Whether this happens or not we will see but I definitely think that this is the way the season will be heading with the group getting back together with one another to take him back.

My Review

So, what did I think of the Season? Well, I dunno if I’m gonna catch some flack for this but I actually thought that this is the best one so far. It beautifully balances the 80s nostalgia and references that tie into the story in a way that doesn’t feel too heavy-handed and far more natural than the prior two seasons.

The drama is heightened expertly and the political aspect of the show doesn’t feel too forced and it allows the show to just be enjoyed on a surface level. Each character really gets a moment to shine here and it ends with stakes that feel impactful. I loved all the new characters and they feel like incredible additions to the narrative that makes the cast some of the best television cohorts we currently have.

Overall Season 3 was incredible and it gets a…