Stranger Things 3 Episode 8 Review – “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt”

Stranger Things 3 Episode 8 “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt”
Written by The Duffer Brothers
Directed by The Duffer Brothers
Premiered July 4, 2019 on Netflix

The end of Stranger Things 3 feels less like a traditional season finale, and more like an intentional end of an era for the series. By the time “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” makes it to the end of its 75-minute finale, everything has changed: Starcourt is destroyed, Hopper is gone, middle school is truly over, and the home where it all began lies empty, the Joyce family packed into a U-Haul and headed out of Hawkins, presumably for good. But it’s not just the end of a narrative era; with its third season finale, Stranger Things marks a distinct in its style of storytelling – one that still allows for really strong individual moments, but one that ultimately reveals itself to be a bit thinner and smaller in some of the places that matter most.

On the surface, “The Battle of Starcourt” is by far the biggest swing by The Duffer Brothers in the show’s first 25 episodes, as Billy, the Meat Flayer, and the Russians all descend on our heroes scattered around (and under) the Hawkins Mall. It is easily the most special effects-heavy episode of the series, completing the show’s visual transition from Stranger Things and its reliance on practical effects – and it is also the loudest, pushing its characters to the brink with the increasingly-violent confrontations between the Mind Flayer’s minions (those flesh or… formerly flesh), culminating in a fireworks-laden fight between the Meat Flayer and the teens of Hawkins, coming to El’s rescue just as her powers have completely failed her (as Mike warned earlier this season, it turns out there is a limit to El’s powers, and after she removes the Meat Flayer Eel Worm from her leg, she’s completely out of El Juice).

Unfortunately, it’s more of an uneven crescendo than intended – though none of that is felt in the tense, driven second act, which smartly bounces back and forth between Starcourt’s food court and secret Russian facility in the basement, as Team Bald Eagle makes their way to the portal, and everyone above the surface fights to save El and Hawkins. In these scenes, Stranger Things 3 fulfills its promise as pure summer popcorn entertainment; Hopper in Russian uniform beating up the Not-Terminator and the gang throwing fireworks onto the Meat Flayer as it tries to kill(?) Eleven are all visions of Stranger Things embracing its maximalist form – which makes for a rather bombastic climactic fight between the group and the Meat Flayer, but comes at the cost of some of the show’s attempts to find pockets of calm for smaller, more meaningful moments between its characters.

Of course, it helps these stories ultimately frame their stories around the sacrifices made by Billy and Hopper to save everyone in Hawkins, tying itself to one of season three’s best performances (let’s not forget how great Dacre Montgomery is in “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy”) and giving Eleven at least a little bit of agency in the finale’s events. Her connecting back to Billy’s memories, which triggers his last-second stand against the Meat Flayer’s influence, is perhaps the most surprising element of what’s ultimately a predictable finale; Eleven finding a moment of empathy for someone who tried to kill her but a few episodes ago is a touching, unsuspecting moment to as a pivot for the climactic fight, a strong attempt at “The Battle of Starcourt” trying to reground itself in something more tangible and emotional than the resolutions of the show’s biggest plot points ultimately offer.

Along the way, however, one can’t help but feel like the magic of Stranger Things has dimmed a bit with Stranger Things 3, a season which began as a story of maturity, of diving into the complications of personal, professional, and societal evolution, before devolving back into a story of monsters and military intrigue with reckless abandon. In terms of delivering on those deeper themes, Stranger Things 3 is ultimately a bit of dud, ending with the majority of its characters in the same place they began the season, the states only slightly heightened or advanced by the moments of shared trauma between them all. It’s not until the season’s epilogue begins (some 60 minutes into the episode) that it feels like “The Battle of Starcourt” is trying to ground itself in its characters again – and by then, it’s too busy cleaning up plot threads and setting up things for season four that none of those attempts really land with any weight (except, of course, when El sits down to read Hopper’s laughter – is it an incredibly cliche moment? Sure, but it still works).

The thinning out of some character arcs (looking at you, Nancy and Jonathan) is mostly overshadowed by the sheer size and volume of the finale’s climactic moments, which sees Joyce shut the gate (with Hopper caught on the other side of an electric field), Billy offer a dying apology to his stepsister – and of course, the incredibly cringy The Never-Ending Story theme song we have to sit through Dustin and his girlfriends singing. Though “The Battle for Starcourt” drags at times, and underwhelms a bit when it comes to putting character before its spectacle, watching the series step fully into its summer blockbuster identity makes for a few really strong, tense sequences – which, once dissolved, only lay bare some of the season’s unfortunate approach to some of the strong core elements that brought us to this place.

But as Hopper says, things can never stay as they are; sometimes change is painful, and sad – and sometimes surprising, which the somber, muted ending of Stranger Things 3 certainly provides in some of its best moments (like the quiet image of a sad Max sitting alone in her bedroom as she looks out her window). And though it doesn’t end the season on its strongest note, it certainly concludes as an effective, if slightly more weightless, expansion of the series as it fully ascends to its status as a cultural icon.

Grade: B-

Other thoughts/observations:

• That’s a wrap on Stranger Things 3! Only 48 hours left until Stranger Things 5 premieres, so get ready for an incoming flurry of Stranger Things 4 reviews over the next couple days.
  
• The lack of Mr. Clarke in the back half of the season is palpable. Farewell, middle school!
  
• Let’s just not even talk about the whole Neverending Story song thing. It is the definition of unnecessary cringe.
  
• why can’t Dustin just tell Suzie that Erica is his best friend’s little sister?
  
• a little hint towards season four as the news video clip that opens the epilogue notes the “satanism” being attributed to Dungeons & Dragons.
  
• Is anyone invested in the date Joyce and Hopper don’t have? Their whole romantic arc feels like an example of a series really trying hard to convince us this is an important, emotional storyline – and honestly, it all worked better when they were just friends.
  
• Love that Robin, Steve, and Keith (last seen toiling away at the arcade in season two) end the season working together.
  
• Dr. Owens gets three seconds of screen time, appearing just as everything in Starcourt resolves itself.