Stranger Things: Every Season 3 Episode Ranked Worst To Best

Chapter 2., "The Mall Rats," picks up where the season opener left off, with Billy and The Mind Flayer getting better acquainted. He even gets an all-expenses paid vacation to The Upside Down, ever so briefly.

There's a real question as to whether having The Mind Flayer brought back as the "big bad" for season three was the right call. Sure, having it take physical form in our world was much different than the disembodied entity we got in season two, but it all felt a bit like a do-over.

That said, Billy as the creature's minion was the perfect character arc for the bully, and even set him up for redemption by the end of the season. Though it's worth noting that Billy Hargrove was an insufferable prick well before The Mind Flayer came to town.

"The Mall Rats" also finds Nancy and Jonathan as junior reporters (frankly just interns) at The Hawkins Post, a nod to a time when a local newspaper could actually thrive. Putting the duo, with Nancy in the lead, on the trail of a story so clearly linked to The Mind Flayer (involving dead rats) is a decent way to keep them involved in the plot, when kids their age might otherwise be leaving town for bigger and better things.

One last note about episode two: we're properly introduced to cliche, corrupt Mayor Larry Kline in this episode. Having such a one-note character is a down, but its hard to find fault with the casting of Cary Elwes.