Original Content podcast: ‘Stranger Things 3’ has more monsters and more nostalgia

While “Stranger Things” is one of Netflix’s biggest hits, we’ve remained immune to some of its charms.

On the latest episode of the Original Content podcast, we review the third season of the series — a.k.a. “Stranger Things 3” — giving us an opportunity to hash out our general feelings about the show.

Darrell, in particular, embraced the first season’s mix of ’80s horror and nostalgia, only to feel that season two was little more than a repeat. (There was an episode that branched out, but we’ve all kind of forgotten about the hour devoted to gang of telekinetic teens.) In many ways, “Stranger Things 3” continues that trend, with the residents of Hawkins  forced once again to confront a malevolent being from another dimension.

To be fair, the villain known as the Mind Flayer isn’t just doing the same stuff this time. He has a whole new evil plan. But “Strange Things 3” feels freshest when it’s less focused on the sci-fi plot, and more when it’s dealing with the rapidly maturing cast, as many of the younger characters find themselves becoming angsty teenagers.

And yes, we enjoyed all those scenes in the town’s new mall. It seems like an obvious ploy for nostalgia, but the nostalgia works.

In addition to our review, we also discussed Netflix’s plans for a big-budget “Sandman” show, and Jordan shared some of her latest TV recommendations.

You can listen in the player below, subscribe using Apple Podcasts or find us in your podcast player of choice. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review on Apple. You can also send us feedback directly. (Or suggest shows and movies for us to review!)

If you’d like to skip ahead, here’s how the episode breaks down:
0:00 Intro
0:35 Sandman on Netflix
13:28 Are You The One
22:35 Years and Years
26:29 Stranger Things review
54:19 Stranger Things spoilers