10 Things We Need In Stranger Things 3

One of the most egregious things about season two was the show's tendency to show footage audiences had already seen in flashback form, and do so in the most flashy way possible.

A great example of this is in the first episode of season two when Will goes to Hawkins National Laboratory and tells them about his experience being sucked into the Upside Down when he was at the arcade. The episode cuts back to footage from literally ten minutes earlier, cranking the sound effects and music up to 11, and making jarring cuts between the present and past footage.

This isn't an inherently bad thing. In fact, like the rest of the show, it's exceedingly well done. It's just that rather than letting the performances or the visuals speak for themselves, the show was opting to hit viewers over the head with exposition or footage from a previous scene to make sure they understood the connection.

Season two pulled this trick over a dozen times in nine episodes, and it wore thin very quickly. Hopefully, season three will not feel the need to repeat this trope and can deliver a more streamlined narrative that doesn't feel the need to hold the viewer's hand through the story beats.