The Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things has been described as an instant classic but, with Stranger Things 4 on the horizon, even devoted viewers are questioning whether the show is becoming a victim of its own success. The 4th most popular Netflix series ever, Stranger Things 3 has been streamed over half a billion times, entrancing viewers with a combination of lovable characters, superb acting, and beautiful cinematography. It remains to be seen, however, if the new season will recapture the magic of the original.
A huge part of the show's appeal lies in its homage to 80s pop culture, with explicit visual references to Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, and Stephen King. The references in Stranger Things are almost impossible to miss, but are mostly not so overt as to be distracting. This almost guaranteed the show's popularity in the already nostalgia-soaked culture of the 2010s, with its emphasis on remakes, reboots, and homages like Super 8. Stranger Things offers a nostalgic thrill, while also telling a compelling and original story – combining familiar elements with exciting new characters and narratives. The show is known for avoiding cheap tricks and sudden surprises, and focusing instead on gradual development. Steve is a good example, starting out as a stereotypically obnoxious high school jock, before later growing into a complex, sympathetic character and an audience favorite.
Unfortunately, this approach has not always helped the show's storytelling, with central characters being seemingly sidelined in lieu of an expanding roster of new faces. The result is that, by the third season, central characters like Will are largely ignored where they should have been the emotional core of the story, with the focus falling on more popular characters like Steve and Dustin. Furthermore, with viewers becoming so invested in this cast, the writers are increasingly restricted in the directions they can take the story in. Characters who had complete story arcs in season 1 were brought back in later seasons with less to do. Some have even suggested that Stranger Things may have worked more effectively with an anthology format, where each season would have a new threat and different characters, but this would have likely been an unpopular choice among viewers. Either way, the implication is that the show is becoming a victim of its own huge success.
Originally, one of the most compelling aspects of Stranger Things was its mystery storytelling, working on the same impulse which J. J. Abrams uses so effectively — the viewers' desire to discover the secrets buried at the heart of the story. The writing played on this, never revealing any more than the characters knew. As a result, the gradual reveals were deeply memorable, filled with dread and horror. This is mostly gone by the third season, with the writing now playing by rules which viewers know and understand. The suspense is dropped, as the very first episode shows all the answers upfront, pulling the rug out from under the characters' individual stories. Nancy's story loses impact when the strange events she's investigating have already been explained. The Soviet scientist who Joyce and Hopper encounter is unsurprising when the Russians were shown in Hawkins during the opening scenes. Without that mystery, the story as a whole is much less compelling.
All of this is not to say that the show has lost its sparkle, however. Far from it, as the viewing figures show, Stranger Things still has a devoted fanbase who remain eager to see what happens next. Even at its worst, Stranger Things is still one of the best series available to stream, with phenomenal quality overall. It's very unlikely this will change anytime in the future, especially if the Duffer Brothers have been listening to audience criticisms and taking them into consideration while they were making Stranger Things 4, currently due to air in mid-2022. It's likely there are many more horrors and mysteries still to uncover, even if the show's status makes development increasingly difficult.