Stranger Things Season 3

The strange thing about "Stranger Things" is that their season structure flip-flopped.  Season 1 played much more like a movie (as y'all can tell from my analysis of it here.), which led to easier binging as the episode breaks were not good stopping points. I didn't feel the need to mention Season 2 as a review since there was a much more episodic feel to it, which seemed to focus less on the narrative and more on the characters and their interactions. The story seemed to know what breaks to make in the story, just the right points to make you think, "Ok maybe later" as opposed to "MUST FINISH NOW!"
And that was the prevailing feeling going through this 8-episode (roughly 6 hr, 20 mins long) movie.
Just like last time, there are groups with their own distinct stories, and thanks to the shorter amount of episodes, they converge a lot quicker and more organically than previous seasons.

Story 1: them wacky teens
The aptly nicknamed Nancy "Drew" finds herself undervalued and constantly picked on by the pigs at her new job...but a hot tip leads her and Jonathan (basically her wheels and...backup muscle?) on the  story of strange and unusual goings on in their little Indiana town...again.
Story 2: those meddling kids preteens
Puberty has hit (most) of the kiddos who have had to deal with the brunt of these bizarre adventures, and with it, comes the rampaging hormone monsters...as well as real monsters. They discover not just how the evil mind-possessing demon from last season has managed to cross the divide thanks to a remnant left in the daytime and is amassing an army of former-humans-which-are-now-just-literal-flesh-puppets, but also what being in a relationship is all about. Not just boy-girl relationships either, as familial relationships still plays a major part in their character growth. Thankfully, their story intersects with the teens' story fairly quickly so they are combined in their shenanigans.
Story 3: the limited outfits team
Our favorite gap-toothed child managed to snag sketchy communiques from his Professor X invention and enlists the help of our favorite fluffy-haired teen, who now works a menial job scooping ice cream in a sailor suit. With the help of his coworker and a sassy lost child, they manage to get the biggest scoop of all: secret compound under the mall! What follows are amazing character depths discovered and evil plots revealed.
Story 4: the adults learning how to adult
What starts out with a goofy new dad to teenage girl trying to establish boundaries, whilst trying to figure out his feelings for the single mom who is still suffering a great loss, rendering her single again, becomes a tangled web of malfunctioning magnets, grand conspiracy of the sickle and hammer, avoiding the best bootleg Terminator since Ahnold himself, finding out how deep the corruption of their little town goes, and teaming up with more quirky nerds to save said little town and existence itself.
As all these stories culminate in a climatic battle against the forces of evil inside a shopping mall, almost each character has a chance to shine in their own unique way. Stellar production design and spine-tingling special effects complete this massive visual feast that are just part of this wondrous tale's appeal.

Despite all these disparate stories with an abundance of characters, that's exactly the show's strengths: amazing characters that grow & develop and stories that don't get old. While some have said that this season might be a little more pandering to the nostalgia crowd who love them some 80s-flavored media, it's the little attention to details that shows the passion and love the series creators have for the era and its pop culture influences. As cliche as it is, this is definitely a thrill ride from start to finish.

If anyone asks what the thesis of the whole of "Stranger Things" is, simply reply with 4 words:
Will. Byers. Must. Suffer.