Stranger Things Season 3 Review: 6 Ups & 6 Downs

1. The Totally Underwhelming Ending

No spoilers here, of course, but season three doesn't wrap up in a particularly satisfying way. Neither closing the book on these characters with emotion nor making a compelling case for the guaranteed fourth season, it just...happens and that's pretty much it.

There are certainly moments in the season finale clearly intended to be epic and affecting, yet one can already sense how certain characters will be dug out of the holes they've been left in, so it's tough to get much invested.

It doesn't help that there's a painfully unimaginative mid-credits scene which seems to nod directly towards what's next, and suggests the show is taking the most obvious and thoughtless route possible in order to drag things out for (at least) one more go-around.

So, season three has many flaws, then, but it's also got plenty worth praising. Here's what it gets right...