If you love the 80’s, and I know you do, then you are equally obsessed with Netflix’s runaway hit Stranger Things. If you took the “kids on bikes solving mysteries” from Stephen King’s IT and added in a dash of finding a strange creature like in ET: The Extra Terrestrial, and finished it off with a sprinkle of Ghostbusters and Flight of The Navigator then you’d get Stranger Things. For any good 80’s nostalgia addict, Stranger Things is like Disneyland. We have been sitting in suspense for over a year and a half waiting to find out if the Upside Down is really sealed, what is going on with Eleven, and whether or not Hopper and Joyce will finally end up together. 

Are you ready for season three? If you’ve been following season one and two you know season three is going to knock it out of the park when it hits Netflix on July 4th.  If you haven’t watched this show yet, no worries just start binge-watching within the next week or so and you’ll quickly get up to speed on the cast of characters and what’s going on. 

Okay, so, you might be wondering what does the show Stranger Things have to do with the 80’s?  Well, my friends, the entire show takes place in the mid 80’s and season three is set in the summer of 1985, specifically. Here are a few highlights that should excite you about bingeing the first two seasons (don’t worry, they’re only about 8 episodes each).

Imagine its the summer of 1985, there’s a new mall in town and the Hawkins crew is on the brink of adulthood. Like any good 80’s show, this series is going to have elements of romance that will ultimately complicate the group’s dynamic. Then they’ll have to figure out how to navigate the problems without growing apart. Danger looms when enemies old and new threaten the town. Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown) and friends will be reminded that evil never ends, it only evolves. The cast of characters will be forced together in order to survive and in the end, they will learn that friendships triumphs over fear. 

Aside from the award-winning cast from the first two seasons, there are some exciting new cast members in season 3, including Robin (Maya Hawke), Hawkins Mayor Kline (Cary Elwes), Bruce (Jake Busey), and Heather (Francesca Reale). The season’s theme will focus on change as the cast finds themselves experiencing their last summer before high school starts. As you can imagine it will be an awkward and messy time for these kids as they mature throughout the summer into young adults. 

Also, this season will incorporate darker elements which will be different from past seasons. The show’s producers, the Duffer brothers, have said that their pop culture influences for the 1985 set Season 3 include: John Carpenter’s The Thing, the zombie movies of George Romero, and David Cronenberg who’s famous for The Fly. The Duffer brothers mentioned, regarding their influences for season 3, “There are horror movies and horror masters that we haven’t really paid tribute to as much in previous seasons that we are definitely going to get into this season.” This gives us a lot to look forward to and to see how exactly they were able to pay homage to the great pop culture film masters of the past.  

This will be the summer that changes everything, and the show producers know just how to balance this series with the right combination of fun and scary. While you are anxiously awaiting what’s to come consider checking out the Season 3 trailer or check out this totally bodacious Stranger Things themed ice cream from Baskin Robbins. Cancel any BBQ plans you have when Season 3 rolls out so you don’t miss a minute of Stranger Things. It will be a summer to remember!