Stranger Things Season 3 9 Deuce Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our Stranger Things 9 Deuce blog for season 3. In this part, Will, Mike, and Joyce get some recognition. In case you are new to 9 Deuce blogs, I typically will ask 9 questions and 2 bonus questions.  So the first 3 parts will feature 3 questions apiece and then part 4 will feature the bonus questions. Every day this week I will post a new part of the blog. This thing is long, so it’s best to break it down anyway. If I get enough hits, I will post a part 5 on Friday with all of the notes that I took while watching the season. 

This year, we have one participant who speaks Spanish and I did the best I could to translate her responses. Some day I hope that we will have 5 different languages on this blog. That would be spectacular. Asia and Europe, accept the challenge! Any comments in bold are made by me, Kent.  Thank you for reading, and please share this with your friends, or leave a comment with your responses to the questions. 

Here are links to all 5 Parts for easier navigation.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

4.  Did any regular character have a down season for you?

Kristi: Will. He was such a downer this season. Everyone else has grown so much. He is still the little boy on the bike. You would think after everything that has happened, he would be more grown.   (Hold up.  I think Will had his priorities in line.  He didn’t want to deal with chasing tail, getting his heart broke, spending money on a girl.  He decided hanging out with what he had hoped to be rational dudes would be a better investment.  Can’t fault him for that. If anything, he’s growing up faster than his buddies and getting ready for the real world of disappointment.)

Johnny: I wanted to see more of Mike personally. 

I hear some think Will had a down season. But for me I think his character arc was touched upon quite well. I definitely would have loved to see more screen time of Will, him being one of my favorite characters. He definitely had a significant decrease in screen time that’s for sure.

That being said.. at the same time I know the Duffer Bros mentioned they wanted to give Will a break this season because the character has already been through so much. In S1 he was taken by a Demogorgon and was trapped in The Upside Down. Then when he was found, Hopper pulled a “Demogorgon tube?” out of him to find out later the tube turned out to be putting those slugs in him he was regurgitating that soon turned into Demodogs. So that’s pretty f*cked. Not to mention each time he uses the restroom he sees The Upside-Down. 

Oh ya and had his mind was flayed in practically all of S2. So for me personally I think it’s kind of fair he gets at least one season where he doesn’t have as much as a critical role. I think the character himself needed a real break if the writers wanted to give him some real sanity again. 

Mike, on the other hand, has had a lot of screen time but I didn’t really feel the character learned much besides advice from Lucas how relationships with a significant other work. I’m curious to see how the Duffers will choose to portray Mike dealing with El moving with the Byers out of Hawkins.  (I would agree that Mike had more of a down season than Will.  Will has had some shit to deal with, as you pointed out and I also believe that he has earned slack.  Mike was just that whiney adolescent boy that we all knew in high school, and I didn’t feel bad for him.  This was without a shadow of a doubt Mike’s worst season, from my perspective.)

Cece:  Will. I feel like he doesn’t get used enough in any season. I want to know him better by now.  (I’m betting that Will has a breakout season in season 4.  He seems primed to be a focus without being a victim.)

Chris T:  Hopper, Johnathon, Will (I don’t understand why you have Hopper listed here.  I’d love more elaboration on that. Johnathon is my choice as I articulate a few lines below. His stock has taken a huge hit since season 1.)

Raylene:  Dustin I felt we should’ve seen him more. (Hmmm, I felt that he had perhaps the biggest role of the 4 boys this season.)

Jim:  Will seemed to not understand kids growing up, then I read they are going to shoehorn him in as gay..  seems odd. I felt like Robin being gay seems natural, but Making Will just seems to forced. Since they had this long game for him, maybe that’s why he was used so weird this season?  (They already tried making this into Big Bang Theory by adding more and more girls, so why not make Will gay as well?  Honestly, I don’t see him as gay. He probably has zero confidence or game, is probably not viewed too well by the ladies, so he stays in his comfort lane.  I think they handled the Robin angle perfect. Will is going to feel forced by some viewers, myself included. Guess we’ll have to wait and see and hope that whatever direction they do go with, that they do it well.)

Melanie:  Not really. (You’re the most appeased person here.)

Kent:  I gotta say Johnathan is my choice.  He rarely did much on his own. He kinda felt like Nancy’s follower for far too much of the season.  I loved when he finally had enough of her nonsense and that was short-lived. I didn’t feel like they switched up the pairings enough and being with Nancy is a natural downer for me.  Ted is my second choice because I love Ted.

5.  Do you find it weird that in the finale when everybody comes together and then splits up like 3 minutes later, that the families didn’t stick together more?  Mike & Nancy, Lucas & Erica, Joyce with her sons, even Hopper and El.

Kristi:  I didn’t love that. I wanted them to end as a stronger friend/family unit. Separating was a little annoying.  (Thank you.  That is how I was feeling and I wasn’t sure if I was alone in that regard.)

Johnny: Ya I thought it was a little weird and disappointing. At the same time though I was happy to see them all together if it was even for 3 minutes rather than not at all.  (Mr. Brightside over here.  Giving Melanie competition for positivity.)

Cece:  Nah. Not too weird. Not all of them are close, plus, they’ve all been through this shit together enough times.  (And then you have the flip side of the coin that simply rationalizes it from this perspective and finds nothing odd about it.  I can always rely on you to be the flip side for me, haha.)

Chris T:  Yes. Especially Joyce and her kids considering how much of the previous episodes were her trying to get back to her kids.  (Thank you!  Especially Joyce!  Mike and Nancy, I get it.  Lucas and Erica, I get it because a sibling dynamic is different than a parent to child relationship.  It’s about time that we agree on something, Chris.)

Raylene:  It would’ve made more sense for them all to come together for like a dinner.  (Mmmm, like why isn’t Pizza Hut trying to get involved here?  Like, that is when Pizza Hut was at its best in the 80’s. Next season I demand that Erica gets lots of pizza from Book It!)

Jim:  I get the divide and inevitable re-connection.  Joyce was looking to peace out the family for some time and now was the time.  (I feel like my question wasn’t worded 100% correctly and Jim was considering the finale of the season vs the final battle, if you will.  Every year, I swear I do a poor job with my wording on a question.)

Melanie:  Very weird, But I like Joyce and El together. El needs a mom right now.  (I’m glad that you brought up Joyce and El.  I am really hoping to get more Joyce and El time next season.  Also, I kinda hope Will macks on El and makes Mike all jealous.  Get a little Zach Morris and AC Slater fighting over Kelly Kapowski stuff brewing.)

Ana:  Al final se entiende que Joyce busca paz para sus hijos y 11…por esta razón decide alejarse del pueblo. En cuanto a la despedida representa el cierre de una etapa en la serie. (Diría que con suerte mezcla los emparejamientos para la próxima temporada. ¡Eso es algo bueno!)

Translation: In the end it is understood that Joyce seeks peace for her children and 11 … for this reason she decides to move away from the town. As for the farewell it represents the closing of a stage in the series.  (I would say that it hopefully mixes up the pairings for next season.  That is a good thing!)

Kent:  So I have to point out that my question was more about the final showdown with the Mind Flayer and I did a horrible job with this.  So blame Jim, or myself, for this mess up. I would have liked to see more pairings or groupings, a bit more diversity in the season in that regard.  I love seeing El with Hopper and Joyce. It felt like Max and El were practically handcuffed all season. I really feel like the families would have perhaps had more impact here.  I know that most of them have a grasp on who they work best with, but it didn’t seem realistic. And yes, characters can still act realistic in a show with a girl who has crazy powers to fight off these evil entities.

6.  Is El infected like Will and Billy were?  Do you think that there is a chance that El could have a Billy type season in season 4?

Kristi:  I don’t see that happening. I have been wrong before though!  (You know I am all about getting things wrong on predictions!  Then I get one right a year and I celebrate that one moment of glory for the full year.  Talking about Gendry in GoT. I may still be celebrating that one.)

Johnny: Ooh that’d be cool. I personally don’t see that happening but anything is possible in the world of Stranger Things. (You know how with some shows or movies, you are happy with the outcome, but you would like to see how it would have worked out by changing one idea?  I think that this wouldn’t be the best decision for the show, but I would love to see the what if. Like a choose your own adventure type thing.)

Cece:  I don’t think there’s anything seriously wrong. At least in the way of things not being able to be recovered.  (Nothing is indicative of things being wrong, but you know how the internet is.  Theories are abundant!)

Chris T:  No, if anything see it more like sick with loss of her powers versus possessed.  (I’m inclined to say that El’s lack of powers could be a huge story arc in season 4 and may even give us a big cliffhanger.)

Raylene:  Maybe she’s pregnant and alien babies will burst through her stomach. (So she’s going to be a little Sigourney Weaver Achiever?)

Jim:  definitive maybe.  I think there is a possibility, and making her the next/last villain would be awesome, but I could also see her just losing her powers for a bit while healing.  (Let me tell you a story. I once bet on a horse named Oxymoron.  I hope someday to bet on a horse named Definitive Maybe.)

Melanie:  I think something will happen to Mike and that will set her over the edge and she will go all badass in a bad way. (I like where your head is at.  I think you could replace Mike with Joyce and that could also work really nicely.  As long as she goes badass, we all win, except for the Russians.)

Ana:  Hopper podria estar infectado, aunque parece estar retenido por los rusos contra su voluntad. (La infección de Hopper es algo de lo que he oído teorías y me encanta esa idea. Me encanta Hopper, así que mientras él esté cerca y haga cosas geniales, estoy feliz).

Translation: Hopper could be infected, although he seems to be held by the Russians against his will.  (Hopper being infected is something I have heard theories about and I love that idea.  I love Hopper, so as long as he’s around and doing cool stuff, I am happy.)

Kent:  I keep envisioning something similar to the Dark Phoenix stuff from X-Men.  I can’t comment on the film, as I haven’t seen it, but I remember how great the cartoon was when they did that story in the early 90’s on Fox.  The potential is there to have a short term heel turn. A handful of you are now humming the cartoon’s theme song in your head now. You’re welcome!