Every Spooky Detail You Might Have Missed In The ‘Stranger Things’ 3 Trailer
We just need Steve to be alright.
The trailer for Stranger Things season 3 is here! And it looks GREAT.
Last time we saw the kids — who are most definitely TEENS now — it was October 1984. Rather than picking up where it left off, the show is jumping forward to the summer of 1985 (so at least the gang got a little bit of a break from almost dying at the hands of creatures from the Upside Down).
Have a watch of the trailer, get excited about Steve in a sailor suit and then let’s dissect this bad boy.
Let’s take a closer look at what the trailer reveals…
It opens with Dustin having returned from summer camp — Camp Know Where — and looking bummed that no one seems to cares he’s home. Little does he know Eleven, Max, Lucas, Mike and Will have a surprise planned for him.
Eleven uses her powers to make Dustin’s toys come “alive” to lure him out of his room. It’s interesting that it’s his toys she uses, considering the trailer — and no doubt the season’s — focus on the idea of growing up and leaving kid stuff behind.
Dustin seems the most resistant to the idea.
He also hates his surprise — understandably, given all the ACTUAL MONSTERS usually roaming around — and poor Lucas ends up with much more than four puffs of Farrah Fawcett spray in his face (a nice little nod to Steve’s hair tips and Dustin’s bond with him, btw).
We then see the gang heading up a hill (which looks like the one featured in the posters) and erecting some kind of homemade aerial.
The first episode is called “Suzie, Do You Copy?” — so this aerial might have something to do with the gang trying to get in touch with someone (Suzie?). It’s interesting to note that while these shots evoke the nostalgic ‘80s Stephen King/Steven Spielberg ~childhood is magical~ vibes that the series is known for, there’s a sense that this is the last time they’ll do this kind of thing.
This is emphasised more later in the trailer, but even here Mike and Eleven are holding hands and hanging back together: an indication not only that their romance is going strong, but also that they’re growing up and not as interested in “playing” anymore.
At the Hawkins Post, Nancy and Jonathan are all dressed up and waiting nervously for…something. To be interviewed? About something? For something — like a job or internship perhaps? Or are they just up to their usual investigating? We’ll have to wait and see. It looks like they’re still together.
The beautiful but creepy Billy is working as a lifeguard at the public pool, and he seems to ~connect~ with another lifeguard — new character Heather (Francesca Reale). Episode 3 is called “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard” so, uh, one or both of these guys will probably go missing. Probably Heather, lbr.
Next we see Hopper seemingly waiting for someone to join him on a dinner date. The trailer then cuts to Joyce at home, eating dinner in front of the TV and looking worried. Has she stood him up?
Then there’s shots of Mike looking back at a house with a freaked out expression on his face, followed by Max and Eleven listening to music in a bedroom (it seems the two have become good friends!), and then Max and Lucas holding hands and running away from Dustin, who is looking dejected next to his aerial.
Over these scenes we hear Mike saying, “We’re not kids anymore. I mean what did you think? That we were just going to sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” It’s likely he’s saying this to Dustin, who is resisting growing up and probably frustrated watching his friends pair off.
We then see Will looking at old pictures of the core four. He’s drenched and he starts crying. Is he upset that the group has fractured — or has something worse happened?!??! Either way, it seems like a big part of the plot this season will be the group splitting apart — and then, no doubt, having to find a way to come back together again to defeat evil…and save their friendship.
One person who is embracing his inner child is Steve, who we see in his new job at the Starcourt Mall ice cream parlour excitedly greeting Dustin with a dorky lightsaber routine. It’s good to see their friendship/father-son bond is as strong as ever. Behind them, we see new character Robin, Steve’s co-worker, played by Maya Hawke.
Speaking of Starcourt Mall, the next shot is of Eleven and Max enthusiastically looking around the newly-opened location. It will play a central part in the season — Episode 2 is called “The Mall Rats”, while the finale is “The Battle of Starcourt”.
Not everyone is as happy about the mall as the kids, it seems. There’s a shot of a group of protestors seeking to save downtown Hawkins.
Then we head to a carnival, where, this being Stranger Things, it’s not all fun and games. We see an injured Hopper with Joyce standing behind him, both looking concerned. Hopper is wearing the shirt he had on for his “date” — so this could be the same night. Then there’s a shot of a mysterious guy with a silencer-enabled gun in a hall of mirrors-type ride. Yikes.
Next we see Hopper saying “It is important to me that you feel safe. I want you to feel like this could still be your home.” The trailer cuts to a shot of Joyce, but there’s a good chance Hopper is actually talking to Eleven in this scene.
Eleven, meanwhile, is alone on some beach with red lightning (like the kind we’ve seen with the freaking Mind Flayer) striking in the night sky. Not scary AT ALL. We also see Eleven in the blank dimension she enters through sensory deprivation.
Next we see Billy in the shower with what looks like a nasty infected bite courtesy of something from the Upside Down. Episode 7 is called “The Bite”, so this is sure to not end well.
There’s some quick shots of Mike, Lucas and Will banding together; Robin, Steve and Dustin sliding down the escalators at the mall; and then a bloody-nosed Eleven with Max, Will, Lucas and Mike running through a doorway.
There’s also someone being blasted in an electrical explosion; Erica, Lucas’ little sister, crawling through some vents like the hero she is; and then pretty much the whole gang — Eleven, Lucas, Will, Mike, Dustin, Nancy, Steve, Jonathan and Robin — in Starcourt Mall, surrounded by smashed glass and looking at something in shock. This is no doubt from the season finale. Eleven has two bloody nostrils, suggesting she’s used her powers A LOT. She’s also wearing the same outfit we saw her in for the beach scene. Meanwhile Jonathan and Steve both have bloody and bruised faces. Max is not there at all — uh oh.
There’s a shot of Mayor Kline, played by ‘80s icon Cary Elwes, opening Fourth of July celebrations. He’s definitely a bad guy.
Some more quick shots: rats running away from something; new character Bruce (Jake Busey), a newspaper journalist, walking down a corridor all bloody and creepy; Steve, Dustin, Robin and Erica gazing through glass doors at something; and then Eleven in front of an open freezer containing Eggos, blindfolded and bleeding from her nose.
This is probably when she enters the vision of the beach with the red lightning, judging by her outfit.
We then see Hopper with the gun that the hall of mirrors guy had earlier; Jonathan in some kind of corridor watching in horror as…something mutates; Lucas firing a slingshot; and Nancy looking disheveled and scared. She appears to be wearing the same dress we saw earlier in the shot of her at the newspaper office.
Seems like something goes down between her and Jonathan and Bruce.
There’s A LOT of shots cut together in this next bit, but here are the most important ones I could spot:
The hall of mirrors guy, this time with a bigger gun, screaming and shooting up at something.
Eleven and Max taking iconic ‘80s glamour shots together.
Steve, bruised and bloody, being INJECTED WITH SOMETHING. ARGH.
Hopper and Joyce running through the carnival holding hands (and not in a romantic way — more in a life-or-death way).
Eleven — in that beach/Eggo freezer outfit – falling through the black void.
Mike and Eleven kissing.
Will looking intense in the rain. Is this before the shot of him crying while holding the photos of his friends?!
Private Investigator Murray Bauman screaming and gesturing frantically at the carnival.
Eleven in her yellow beach shirt screaming and seemingly fighting something.
Nancy at the other end of that corridor Jonathan is in, with something mutating between them.
And then a good look at what that something is — a terrifying-looking Upside Down monster that was maybe, possibly a person before this. Probably Bruce???
The trailer ends on a lighter note, cutting back to Steve and Dustin’s dorky greeting, with Robin asking him, “how many children are you friends with?”. The answer is A LOT, OK Robin, and we wouldn’t have him any other way.
Bring on July!
Stranger Things Season 3 hits Netflix on July 4th.
Jenna Guillaume is a Sydney-based writer who loves all things TV and pop culture. She tweets @JennaGuillaume, and her new book, ‘What I Like About Me’ is available now.