10 Plot Holes You Haven't Noticed In Stranger Things

3. The Starcourt Fire

Much like the previous two entries, the Starcourt Mall fire in the Season 3 finale was used as another attempt to cover up the existence of the Upside Down and shield the public from the knowledge that, yes, monsters really did exist. However, also like those two entries, there were plot issues here that just didn't make sense.

First of all, what actually started the fire? The fireworks that the kids threw at the Mind Flayer in the final battle did leave a few small fires burning, but considering the size of them and how isolated they were, they surely couldn't have erupted into the building-burning monstrosity in the short amount of time that it took the authorities to arrive.

You could then argue that Joyce and Hopper's successful mission to blow up the Russians' drill was responsible but, considering it took place miles below the surface and the kids remained in the mall for a good while after they did so (with no sign of any larger fires), it seems highly unlikely.

Then you have the fact that they framed the Starcourt fire as the cause of death for the 30 lost souls who fell victim to the Mind Flayer but, again, wouldn't someone related to one of those 30 people have come looking for them in the days beforehand? And, perhaps more obviously, how on earth would the government agents have shifted the remnants of the Mind Flayer's massive carcasse without being seen? At the very least, wouldn't the fire-fighters have seen it?