Turn around,
look at what you see
In her face
the mirror of your dreams
Make believe I'm everywhere
Hidden in the lines,
written on the pages
is the answer to a neverending story
Every seasons are always about the same, which makes them quite boring. But the writers find things or plots to keep you constantly looking at the screen, something amazing if you think about it. The ending was pretty cool, and gives you time to think about many theories with that end in Russia, when the soldier says "Not the american guy". Of course it has to be Hopper, as there is the only posible chance, and a quite different plot for the next season in case it exists. Definitely one of the best series I have ever watched in terms of season finales. But I Will never forgive the writers for killing Bill. I don't think that sacrifice was necessary at all, it only made Max suffer in the end.
An amazing season finale for an amazing series!!
I couldn't stop crying when El read Jim's letter...
I loved that one shot of them sitting in the car, chased by the monster, listening to Dusty sing, and just looking at each other and thinking "WTF?!?".
"The american"
"keep the door open 3 inches"
The portal didn't close all the way... LISTEN LISTEN
Listen jim is alive okay
Okay
I started crying at Billy's scene, and I haven't stopped since jfc
Definitely one of the best season finales I've ever seen. The montage at the end was heartbreaking but so beautifully made. Also the post-credit scene was very interesting. Can't wait for the final season.
What an amazing season, it felt awesome since the very beginning. Billy, you will be missed.
The ending was a hard pill to swallow but this season has definitely make ST become a fav. I can’t wait A YEAR come onnnnn!
Oh man, the last few episodes have been intense and action-packed. I was giggling because the Terminator figure dude tracking the kids down, and the blob monster (The Blob, Back to the Future references run amok) running through the city. My sister and I were cracking up when Dustin and the other kids started singing one of the best 80s karaoke songs ever LOL totally the best season by far! :exploding_head::fireworks:
I was about to write how nice it was for once that a show didn't end with a cliffhanger and then came that post credits scene -_-
The series could end here and it would be a perfect end (but boy do i hope its not) because this season was phenomenal and by far the best one yet.
When Jim died by heart broke but the post credit scene has given me some hope, because there's no way they can take the only real parent she's ever had away right??!
Damn. That was the best episode of the season, nay, THE SERIES. As it should be. I laughed, I cried, and every emotion in between. I absolutely love how every single person involved has a role to play and something to contribute. There are no damsels in distress amongst these badass people. I love you all. AND I NEVER DOUBTED YOU DUSTIN, I KNEW SUZIE WAS REAL.
But why did they have to break our hearts like that with what happened to Billy? It was so sad. I really was rooting for him to come out of this alright. I'll miss his gorgeous eyes. However, I'm almost positive that was not the end of Jim. So we'll see. Please god don't let me be wrong.
So this is the season finale, I gotta say the overall season was fine, yeah just fine.. I won't say it was amazing or awful, for me it was below average and season 2 was way better
I personally hate how they make the hardest things sooo stupidly easy like infiltrating the super secret Russian facility and how they make the hardest things mean nothing with their plot armor where they face these deadly situations over and over again yet no one dies, at least no one important
Also I'm getting sick of the same story over and over again.. There's a monster, there's a secret project and we must beat it.. Now in season 3 it's basically the same story as the previous seasons but with bigger scale.. Honestly it's getting boring now especially with the ending scene where we now know it's not over yet.. Ohhh surprise!! I bet no one saw that coming LOL
Also when Hopper was fighting that Russian Arnold Schwarzenegger.. I immediately knew that they were going to pretend to kill Hopper off but in reality he's not dead.. And we're still not sure but when that Russian soldier said not the American at the end.. I bet it was Hopper and season 4 going to be the same story but trying to rescue Hopper or maybe Hopper went through the gate and now he's trapped in the other side
Regarding El.. I personally think something off with her.. Like I feel I'm watching Millie Bobby Brown not El if that makes any sense.. I felt like her personally and the way she talks and act are extremely different than what we're used to from her.. But overall the acting was perfect and on point.. Basically the whole cast was acting amazing except Finn, he honestly doesn't know how to act, there's zero emotions on his face and when a scene with him comes up I feel like it strips me away from the show.. But anyway everyone else was amazing
Anyway, the last thing I want to say is that the writing in this show really lacks.. I hope they do better in season 4 and makes us actually scared and worried in a new and logical way
That's it I give this season 6/10
Emotional
This episode the final will blow your mind so emotional lets bring on Season 4 Of Stranger Things
Joyce Byers is a bitch to uproot her family. Okay, all her previous partners from the town either left or died in front of her but she's breaking up two couples of recently traumatized teens. It's not like she has a big opportunity elsewhere and the mall has closed, her shop will rise again.
Of course they gotta make Billy good just before killing him off. He even apologized to Max, her reaction to him dying (+ the scene in the sauna previously, and her trying to talk him back when he charged before them earlier in this episode), goes to show she really must have cared, and he must’ve too. Guess him surviving and them getting a better/ healthier sibling bond was nothing but a fantasy.
Hopper too, like damn, why you making me cry like this.
I laughed, I cried... Fantastic episode. Really hope "The American" is Hopper.
Just when I already loved Billy :( I was so sad the entire time. Dacre blew my socks off. I love his eyes forever.
So.. I REALLY THINK HOPPER IS ALIVE. Still I will feel that it would be a cheap twist if he's alive and the rest of the people with radiation suits and shit were melted like butter and he didn't.
This was too emotional and in my opinion the best episode of all seasons.
P.S Can't wait for Season 4.
What a well constructed plot. I really liked how they were all split up into different groups and had adventures of their own, but in the end everything came together and everybody played an important role. Just imagine how different this must be to achieve plot-wise for over a dozen characters!
The only thing I didn't like were the clichée evil Russians. I know this show is an hommage to 80s movies of that kind, but even by those standards a secret Russian base under an American shopping mall seems far fetched.
Hopper can’t be dead. He’s chilling in Russia as “the American”. But that scene at the end where he reads the letter seems like a farewell
Am I the only one who thought Robin's "We're just friends" was super suspicious?
I'm totally cool with her liking girls, but c'mon. It was heavily implied in that scene that she might, maybe, possibly like Steve a tiny little bit (as more than a friend). And anyway, the fact that she likes girls doesn't exclude the possibility that she likes guys too! Maybe she's into both :shrug:
[8.5/10] This is both the saddest and most epic finale that Stranger Things has offered us so far. It is epic because there is more going on, with more character, with more literal fireworks, than in any prior season. It is sad not just because Hopper dies (maybe? probably?) but because this feels like the closing of a chapter, with half the cast having to say goodbye to the other half as folks move away.
Who knows how much any of this will stick. I don’t imagine there’s a show without Eleven, the Byerses, or the rest of the Hawkins gang next year. I suspect any divide will be matched with a Thanksgiving and/or Xmas reunion. What’s more, we never saw Hopper’s body, and he could very easily be “the American” mentioned in the post-credit scene from a Russian gulag.
But taking “The Battle of Starcourt” at face value, it works for what we get here. There’s enough spectacle and tension to let the finale hum and sizzle, and there’s enough quieter or more emotional moments to give it ballast. But let’s focus on the most important development here first.
Dustin and his Salt Lake City girlfriend, Susie, singing the theme song to The NeverEnding Story to one another via ham radio! I feel like this is going to be controversial. It’s a little weird. It’s a little Ready Player One in just directly referencing a piece of 1980s pop culture ephemera. And it comes right in the middle of the raging climax. But that’s what I love about it. It’s the part of this episode that, ironically, feels the most distinctive and unique, a little blot of joy and goofiness amid the otherwise world-threatening stakes of the whole thing. I gotta imagine it’s an acquired taste, but god bless ‘em, I acquired it.
Those stakes involve the giant Mindflayer monster going after Eleven at the mall, while the rest of the team works to either protect her or work toward blowing up the Russian portal generator. The most interesting wrinkle to all of this is the Eleven is rendered powerless by the Mindflayer slug left in her leg. (Not for nothing, the extraction scene was gross and harrowing, in a good way.) The show’s big solution the past couple of years has been to fight the supernatural with more supernatural using Eleven’s abilities. It’s a good move, but you can only go back to that well so many times, and this shows our heroes having to find more creative solutions to the problem.
In truth, it becomes a little too much in places. The show does its best to keep it clear who’s doing what and where through all of this, but there’s a lot of moving pieces and a number of team members jumping between different squads or moving through different locales. Even if everyone’s exact whereabouts or goals aren’t clear at every single moment, the general thrust of the threat and vibe of any given scene is communicated well enough, and the climax of the story here can work on atmosphere and energy alone.
Part of that is just the visuals. Again, I’m impressed with the step up in special effects we’ve seen this year. The giant Mindflayer monster bursting through the mall and terrorizing our heroes within it makes for some striking, Jurassic Park-esque imagery. The same goes for it chasing Jonathan and the kids down the road (even if it reaching, leaving, and returning to the mall feels a little weird). Most of all, Chekov’s fireworks make an appearance at the end, not only providing a means for the good guys to hold off the beast until the portal can be closed and its mental link can be severed, but creating the cool imagery of an indoor fireworks display, earning the show its Fourth of July bona fides.
Hell, they even wring some pathos out of Billy, and I hated Billy! It’s rushed, but I like Eleven breaking him free of the Mindflayer’s hold by connecting to him through his pain and his good memories, finding that innocent little boy and bringing him back to the surface. He’s terrifying as hell until that moment. He’s quite heroic when he defends her from the monster. And he’s sad and sympathetic when he apologizes to Max, presumably for the abuse he perpetuated, dying a better man than he ever was in life.
Were that the same could be said for Hopper. The weird thing about this episode is that I mourn Eleven’s loss of her father more than I mourn Hopper himself. Part of that may be the fact that I’m somewhat skeptical he’s truly gone. But a large part of it is that he dies in a really cheesy way. Him turning into Rambo and going out with a generator-adjacent fight with Russian Terminator is just so cornball, that it’s hard to take the “You have to kill me to save the kids” routine with Joyce seriously.
There’s some emotional impact when he looks at Joyce and nods with a resigned smile (albeit one that’s mitigated by some awkward compositing/green screen effects). But the Hopper we’ve seen this season has been so much more cartoony and over the top than the hardscrabble guy we first met in the show.
And yet, ironically, for a moment he lives. Far from the cliché “We’ll have that date someday” conversation Hopper has with Joyce, the letter that she finds and gives to his daughter is moving. It shouldn’t be. It’s the oldest TV trick in the book -- voiceover from a dead character played over a montage of emotional moments.
But it does, because the story of Hopper having fallen into a cave of emotional deadening after the death of his first daughter, having those feelings reawakened by Eleven’s arrival and the joyful time they’ve shared together, and his paean to the value of hurt in letting you know you’re still alive and not numb, is moving. The story of a man still laboring under an unfathomable loss who finds a way to heal through adopting and raising a young woman with unfathomable family issues of her own was always far more compelling than “Discount Magnum P.I. fights Russian action movie goons.” I’m glad Stranger Things remembered that in the end.
Still, half the credit owes to Millie Bobby Brown for another stellar performance beyond her years. She sells the fear of her near-death experience at the hands of the monster, the desperate relief when it’s over, the painful realization of why Hopper isn’t there to greet her like Joyce is for Will, the love she has for Mike, and the grief she’s grappling with as she both says goodbye to both her father and the community that lifted her up at once. Most of this is nonverbal, and Brown reacts to all of these events in such a visceral, believable way that it pierced me when I wasn’t expecting it.
Otherwise, “The Battle of Starcourt” offers texture and tidbits that are good to great. A greater role for Murray (with his reactions to the code name “Bald Eagle”) was a boon to the finale like it was for the whole season. Mayor Kline going down is a nice coda to his story. Nancy and Jonathan having to say goodbye didn’t do much for me, but I guess they had to. Will donating his D&D game to Erica is a nice grace note for his “growing up” story this year and Erica’s induction into nerdom. Steve having found a true friend in Robin (and a potential job at the video store) is a lovely beat to go out on for him. Max and Lucas poking fun at Dustin’s song is delightful. Paul Reiser’s return at the last minute is just enough to pay that off. And Dustin’s welcome back to the group and reunion of the original party makes for a very nice moment as well.
The truth is that at an hour and fifteen minutes, with scads of storylines and fights and characters and goodbyes, “The Battle of Starcourt” feels like a lot in places. In an ideal world, they might have found a way to split this into two episodes, or spaced things out differently to begin with.
The scope and reach of this thing is one of its merits, though. This is as big as Stranger Things has ever gone. You wouldn’t want that from the show every season, otherwise it spins out of control. But to have such a massive confrontation, paired with such a heartfelt set of farewells, makes for one of the show’s major highpoints, dripping with breadth and ambition, and pushing the right buttons when it needs to, in so many ways.
“No, not the American“
I cried twice when I watch this episode
1st: when Billy apologize to Max before his death
2nd: when El read the speech in the end of the episode.. -and it was beautiful speech by the way-
It made me cry like a child.
Great season but this with hopper and billy was sad :(
The part when Eleven reads Hopper's letter to her is really moving.
Honestly, the best season so far. I seems like every season they step it up a notch. This was a great conclusion to this season.
I was left heartbroken but I am hopeful that Hopper isn't dead due to the end credit scene .
I really enjoyed this season and all the newcomers to the show. I am sad that we lost both Alexei and Billy, too soon, I hoped for more on both these characters. .
cried my little eyes out didn’t i
Am I the only one who thinks this season is a bit weak?! At least the finale is a bit weak...
Great end to an incredible season. The show got truly back on form and delivered above and beyond my expectations. There was love, laughter and tears. What a great ride.
P.S. The American is totally Hop. We live in hope!
WhaAat wtf did I just watched no no you can't do this, I'm gonna be crying for like two months!! Please.,.,. Whyyy
i am very NOT okay!!!!
End of season 3 and I’m like:
Overall it was a great season with lots of positives and I enjoyed the journey... However, I have to say that I’m not the biggest fan of the destination.
I just wanted two things.
I wanted Steve and Robin to end up together.
I wanted Hopper and Joyce to end up together.
...
+ as a bonus, my favourite character died
The best season finale in television history.
BULLSHIT.
Absolutely bullshit.
I can't believe this?? I simply REFUSE to believe he died. He will come back in season 4. He better come back.
I don't even get it. Like he clearly had time to come back?? Like okay, we know they were running out of time but he could have come back? And what the hell is wrong with Joyce hugging Will and just showing that face to El? HUG HER DAMMIT. That was just so disappointing :sob:
I swear if season 4 is about Hopper being alive.
why would closing the portal kills the monster? can someone explain it to me? thanks.
Never ending stooohory... Oooohooooweewoooo..... Hilarious.
The cast was truly great and charming. This season was supposed to be very interesting, but the whole development e conclusion are kind lame as the mythology makes less sense every new season. Great acting stucked between lazy writing.
I'm calling it, the Russains end up training that thing and it ends up becoming Slenderman lol.
I think it's easy to say that this episode was the most they could get closer to PERFECTION. Everyone shines. There's no one single mistake and man..that's how you do a incredible season finale. claps and claps! Season 3 is probably now the best ST season so far..I mean, season 1 was amazing, but this one really put them in a new level of greatness. It will be hard to top this one, but I'm sure the duffer brothers can do it. And be sure: Hooper is alive! Stranger Things is easily the BEST Netflix show! wow what a great ride!
Shit. I cried. This episode made me cry! Top game!
Best episode of the series and what a great season closing. In this eighth episode we have everything, humr, emotion, action, and valuable lessons that make this a wonderful episode. I was very moved by the fate of some characters and the growth of others. A beautiful story told with interesting characters that have evolved sensationally. Wonderful episode! First of all I would like to talk about the script. Signed by Brother Duffer, the script of this episode has everything. Emotion, drama, humor and joy. The story thrills you to the end, with the last scenes being a life lesson. And still had one of the best redemptions of the series, I was saddened by the death of the character. The characters have their bows tightly closed and the story has a good closing, but I hope it has a fourth season. Excellent steering. Direction is done by the Duffers, who are also excellent. They conduct the scenes with a lot of emotion and tension, making each scene be extremely impotent. And they still direct the story to inscrutable twists. I tensed wondering what would happen during the whole episode. A spectacular direction that captures the viewer from start to finish, where you cry, laugh and rejoice to a spectacular end. Already the photograph of this episode is the best already presented in the series. From Russian base settings, the mall and Radio Tower Hill show that the directors spared no effort to deliver a beautiful series visually. They use very well the lighting and the colors to give the right tone the scenes and still gives a feeling of tension at all times. Incredibly visually. But the special effects are sensational that do not even seem to be from a TV series. The effects of the machine and the Mind Flayer are spectacular and show how there has been a significant evolution from that time to the first. It was amazing to use the visual effects and they provided the viewer with a visual spectacle. Already soundtrack was phrenic and very well used throughout the episode. They managed through the banners to dictate the tone of the scenes, giving a different tmosphere for which each scene needed. It was great to see Justin and Suzie sing and hilarious at the same time. Great use of 80's music too. After the technical parts, I would like to talk about the performances of the characters. For me the big highlights of this episode were Winona Ryder, David Harbor and especially Dacre Montgomery. Dacre made you hate Billy as the jerk he was, but in that last episode, his redemption was beautiful and his evolution as a character was a fantastic work of the actor who managed to give an acting show. It was the death I felt the most and I was moved. Winona and Harbor were sublime as Joyce and Hopper, making an excellent pair and thrilling in their performances. The scenes in which Joyce turns the keys and looks at Hopper is of a sensitivity and delicacy that only gives good tors as they could bring. Fantastic performances. Already the rest of the cast was very well, with highlights for Millie and Gaten. Millie thrilled in the epilogue of the episode with a vicarious performance that showed the amuderecimendo her as actress and the character. Eleven has grown and is now ready to follow other paths. Already Gaten had one of the funniest scene I have ever seen, singing with his girlfriend to relieve a little attention from a very somber and tense episode. He is very karimimático and showed it during this episode. Already the rest of the cast was very well, fulfilling well their respective roles. Finally, I'd like to talk about the epilogue and the post-credit scene. The epilogue of the season may have been the closing of the series, but I hope it has a few more seasons because this epilogue has paved the way for new horizons for characters. And the post-credit scene made me very intrigued if Hopper died or not. No matter what happens to character in the future, he had a perfect arc closure. So I'd like to say that this was the best episode of the entire series with a lot of emotion and tension, which really touched me. May the fourth season come! 10/10.
"I miss you more, multiplied by all the stars in our galaxy." :D:purple_heart:
This season was way better than S2, almost as good as S1 if not better in some ways.
The ending is sad, but the post-credits scene indicates that there will be a 4th season and that Hop is probably still alive (I'm guessing he was blown into the upside-down and retrieved by the Russians).. Also, the fact that 11 loses her powers by the end and keeps trying is also a nod in that direction.
a quite average season when comparing to the other 2 but its totally made up by the "neverending story" awesome moment :D
Well, other than Will's Spidey-senses at least he got a bit of a break this season...10/10 for this season. Hooper ain't dead! You dont kill a main character off that easy.
Brilliant, so many emotions! I feel like they could leave it there and it would be satisfying (though naturally I still want more).
I think in Season 4 we'll learn that Hop passed into the upside-down before the machine thing exploded and the gate closed because it was his only way to stay alive. And Season 4 will be about the gang trying to open the gate one last time and getting him out. There will be one final standoff and Eleven will have a tough choice and she'll eventually sacrifice herself by closing the gate permanently from the nether side after all his friends passed on the other side, leaving herself inside the upside-down. Damn, Netflix should hire me to the writers' room, a little weed and my imagination can run wild :smiley:
I thought this season was not as good as the others. Last episode was too long. Same old same old.
Susie and Dustin’s singing scene was so good. This episode makes me EMOTIONAL
Another hint Hopper is alive. Is that the depressing version of David Bowie’s Heroes. Is played again.
Like it was when Will’s fake body was found.
The third season is very good in general, I love the fact that the kids are growing up a little bit. But the end broke my heart!!
I can't believe Hopper is gone. Right when I thought he and Joyce were getting together.
After rewatching this again I still think this is my favourite episode of the show, it's so good. I always cry for the last 20 or so minutes, without fail. But I honestly think Hopper should've actually died here. Yes, it would've been sad, but him magically being alive when we've all cried for half an episode about him feels like such a shitty move. I love this show but the way it has no stakes for the main characters is the worst thing about it. We all know they'll survive no matter what. Basically, Hopper is my fav character, but that should've been the end of his run.
I didn't sign up for this pain and suffering
I barely have any words to describe this epic, suspenseful & emotional roller coaster of a finale. I mean it has a LOT of things going on and yet it's all so engaging. A few things:
-My wife still cries over Billy sacrificing himself, but all I felt was satisfaction. I don't care if Billy was abused by his father most of his young life, a shitty person is still a shitty person. You're a free girl now Max.
-I don't care what anyone says. The Neverending Story song scene with Dustin & Susie was absolutely adorable, and Season 4 needs to let Dustin sing more.
-Big props to the visual effects team for their amazing work on rendering the goopy mind flayer and all those fireworks.
-Ooooh, that shot of Mayor Kline getting arrested felt so GEWD!
-And finally, HOPPER NOOOOO!!!!!! T_T
I LOVE these characters so much, and I don't give a shit if their emotional goodbye scenes are cliched, they still made me cry.
a very boring predictable ending , idk why it's receiving so much hype .
Best episode of the show
Very predictable ending to a bad season. I kept skipping parts because it was so cliché and skippable.
If I didn't see Hopper's body exploding, there was no death. u.u I LOVED DUSTIN AND SUZIE SINGING. :heart:
How does this show make the night sky look so good?
Great ending to season 3. Is Hopper really dead, will El get her powers back?
Watch past the credits for a taste of what's to come!
hell'a'yeah ! this is how a season should end. Also wouldn't have minded if this was the last season from how well it was made !
This was the best season of the show. I could never really get into it like everyone else and found it somewhat “just okay”, but man. This season had me hooked to my seat.
This episode was the best of the entire series. Now I can not wait for the next season.
Simply amazing season! I really hope that Hopper survived somehow. And they better bring back Robin and Erica in s4. :)
Season finale. It has been fine, it could work as finale series. That post-credit scene. "A never ending stoooooooryyyy AAAAAAHHHH"
Cette série est génial. La saison 3 nous a tenu sous pression du début à la fin.
Sure hope Jim's not dead!!!!
Ok... Fine if this is it then ok. Haha but we need more. PLEASE.
Shout by osgarmoBlockedParent2019-07-06T21:45:38Z
This season his intense and its more like a movie based in the sequence of events, music and scenery, are all very meticulous well done. The new characters add a new meaning to the story and create some very comic moments.