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Our Stranger Things Season 3 recap features the kids in Hawkins reveling in the summer of 1986. Malls were at their peak, and there’s nothing better than spending a sweltering day in the sun by splashing into the local neighborhood pool. Of course, this is Hawkins we’re talking about, and an alternate dimension exists with all sorts of monsters just waiting to ruin everyone’s fun. Let’s get to it.

Our 'Stranger Things' Season 3 recap features Eleven and the gang trapping Billy in a sauna as seen here in this production still from the series.
‘Stranger Things’ Season 3

‘Stranger Things’ Season 3 features the kids crossing their fingers for an uneventful summer

We start our Stranger Things Season 3 recap with evil scientists working on some sort of giant machine. They’re trying to open their own gate, but the machine malfunctions and vaporizes almost everyone in the lab. A Russian military man demands the scientists figure out the problem before we quickly change scenes.

It’s a pleasant surprise to see the kids in Hawkins enjoying the dog days of summer in Stranger Things Season 3. Dustin returns from summer camp, Mike and Eleven are in love (much to Hopper’s chagrin,) and the rest of the time, they’re enjoying hanging out at the new Starcourt Mall.

Of course, nothing stays calm for long, and as Will, Max, Lucas, and Mike sneak in to see George Romero’s Day of the Dead, the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, warning him something from the Upside Down lurks nearby. 

Just as Will gets the willies, the lights go out all through Hawkins. While almost everyone else brushes it off as no big deal, the kids worry about the implications.

The Mind Flayer chooses Billy as his host

Continuing our Stranger Things Season 3 recap, it’s not long before trouble shows up and ruins everyone’s summer in the form of a monster the kids call the Mind Flayer. The creature chooses Billy as his host this time around, and Billy immediately starts recruiting others. When Eleven gets a vision of a lifeguard named Heather, she and Max investigate. Max hopes it’s just Billy being weird, but alas, it’s not. It’s the Mind Flayer. Billy feeds his recruits to a giant jiggling blob of goo waiting in the abandoned Brimborn Steel Works mill.

Steve, Dustin, Erica, and new character Robin Buckley figure out a secret code broadcast from a Russian radio signal and determine the Russians set up camp under the mall. Their snooping around leads them to glowing containers of green liquid before the Russians capture Robin and Steve. Erica and Dustin use their smarts to rescue the two.

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The kids reunite for the Battle at Starcourt

Everyone finally reunites and engages in a final battle against the beast in Starcourt Mall, where Billy ultimately sacrifices himself to save his sister and her friends. During this time, Hopper apparently disintegrates into thin air in order to close the gate to the Upside Down and save the world. When the dust settles, the Byers and Eleven pack up and move as far away from Hawkins as possible. 

Stranger Things Season 4 begins 185 days after the events in the Stranger Things Season 3 finale. While Joyce, Jonathan, Will, and Eleven may think they’ve finally escaped the horrors of the Upside Down, it’s not long before monsters (supernatural and human) rear their ugly heads.

Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1 premieres on May 27, 2022, and we’re not sure we’ve ever been more excited.

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