Stranger Things season 3 rewatch: is the 1980s nostalgia harming Netflix show? Episode 5 & 6 re-review
Our Stranger Things rewatch continues with season three episode 5 and 6 📺🚨
- The Cold War is here in Hawkins, Indiana.
- Russian spies and scientists are hidden in town.
- But does the Red Dawn plot drag the show down?
It would not be a love letter to the 1980s without a reference to the Cold War. Stranger Things had nodded at the bubbling tension previously but in season 3 it reaches the surface.
Hawkins, Indiana, has started to become the centre of a Red Dawn-esque plotline. But is this trouble plotline a sign the nostalgia is wearing thin?
Find out my verdict in my latest Stranger Things rewatch reviews. This week it is season three episode three and four.
Chapter Five: The Flayed
Synopsis: Strange surprises lurk inside an old farmhouse and deep beneath the Starcourt Mall. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer is gathering strength.
They say you can’t have too much of a good thing and well this episode certainly tests that old adage.
Since the show started it has always juggled multiple plot lines - usually prettty successfully. But in seasons two and three it has really started to balloon.
For the first time, this episode felt like it was struggling to contain the bloat. We have three main plots and they are all separate.
Our characters are splintered off into three groups, each in different locations and with different goals. It just feels all too much.
For the first time in a while I found myself checking the time on a ST episode. It was like that feeling you get after greedily gorging yourself on an extra portion at dinner - overstuffed and regretful.
We’ve got plenty of great stuff, including the introduction of Alexei - our sweet Russian prince. But there is no time for any beats to breathe - it’s all go, go, go in a way the show usually isn't.
Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum
Synopsis: Dr. Alexei reveals what the Russians have been building, and Eleven sees where Billy has been. Dustin and Erica stage a daring escape.
The 1980s setting is one of the biggest selling point for Stranger Things. It conjures nostalgia for those Gen Xers who grew in the decade and a faux-nostalgia for those one us who have been washed over by the films and shows and books of that time.
Even if you weren’t old enough or even born when the he-man cartoon aired - you can get the reference. If you are watching ST you’ve probably read a Stephen King.
But at what point does the 80s nostalgia start to become an albatross around the shows neck? Parts of this season are starting to feel strained by it.
The Cold War Russian spy, Red Dawn inspired, plot just strains the bounds of possibility in a way that is jarring. It feels shoehorned in because it’s the 80s and just doesn’t work for me.
Although Alexei is innocent. All my homies love Alexei.
It’s a shame because the invasion of the body snatcher, town taker by the mind flayer is some really effective horror. The bits where people dissolve are genuinely skin crawling.
Unfortunately between the multiple branching plotlines, it doesn’t feel like the creepy plotline doesn’t get the full spotlight it deserves.
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