If ‘Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt’ is remembered for one thing, it’s that it’s a lot of things that provide perhaps the most memorable moments of season three. But it’s the ending that sticks out the most as Eleven reads through the “heart-to-heart” speech he ended up not telling her, a teary moment for fans. That’s where the chapter, as good as emotional ending as it may be, is also the crux of the episode’s problem itself: It doesn’t know how to say goodbye and move on.
Throughout the season, growing up and moving into new territory has been the main obstacle for a number of characters. Chief among them, Will (Noah Schnapp) has had to learn to move past the days his best friends pull all-nighters playing D&D. “Mr. Steal Your Kids” Steve Harrington had to let go of his high school self to find happiness. Eleven had to let go of a relationship to find herself. Virtually every main character went through some level of sacrifice or adjustment to a new world.
But the show and chapter itself have the hardest time going through those same motions and in turn, the season finale drags itself to the finish line by substituting all the substance built through the majority of the season for individual moments. They’re not without merit, but they’re better suited for a greatest hits list down the line, not the final word until the next season.
Some moments stick out for the best, like Hopper’s sacrifice to close the gate to the Upside Down. As much as Steve gets attention for being a great father figure, it’s really Hopper that has become the emotional core of the story and seeing him prove that even further in his final moments after staving off Russian forces to close the gate to the Upside Down is emotionally testing. The same can be said of his letter, yet, the ending comes off as contrived because everything else around the episode lacks the same gravity Hopper injected.
Of course, there are more standout moments for good and/or bad. The joke that Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) has a girlfriend from camp you wouldn’t know finally finds a punchline via an untimely call that turns into a wild musical number referencing The NeverEnding Story.
Speaking of never-ending, at 75 minutes, the episode starts falling into the same trap that the Marvel shows did. As the same length as some breezy feature films, ‘The Battle of Starcourt’ slogs its way to the finish and has a hard time letting go, tacking on an extra ending to send off all the characters with everything in order (emotional and distressed, yes, but largely resolved in a matter of minutes). That is, except for Hopper who like Dr. Brenner in season one, may not actually be dead and thanks to a post-credits scene, one of the two could be still alive and ready to return for the next season.
As an aside, the show has largely worked because of its nostalgia vibes and at this point, its authenticity goes without question. Placing direct references to movies like Back to the Future are obvious, but as someone that grew up in the midwest, I can tell you personally that the job Steve and Robin (Maya Hawke) apply for at Family Video is a great detail hidden in plain sight. The writers could have gone for an easy reference to Blockbuster and get Twitter all excited about seeing the video store that everyone says they miss so dearly, but staying true to form to ground the shows’ fantasies in reality, Family Video is by far the most popular video rental store in the midwest and is still opening new locations today (I worked my first job there growing up in Wisconsin).
I’m probably one of the few people that got more excited about seeing that than seeing the takedown of the Mind Flayer, a blatant ripoff of The Blob and its metaphor for the spread of communism that lost any gravitas by keeping a literal Russian network behind the scenes the whole time.
The most exciting part of the finale is what’s to come. After spending three seasons in Hawkins, it seems about time that things move into at least another county, if not another state. Maybe a season-long road trip is the in the works. Whatever the case, there’s enough to keep moving forward so long as it finds a new heart.
Stranger Things Season 3 Episode 8, ‘Battle of Starcourt’ is now streaming on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcnHOQ-cHa0&t=35s
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