Billy

The Opening
The gratuitous CGI showing off of the laser apparatus was unnecessary and felt like something out of a modern movie set in modern times, complete with Zach Snyder slow-mo when the hazmat suited guys die. And we're really going with Russians as the bad guys? I get that's so 80s, but it's a little too typical. And they're stereotypical bad guy Russians too, who kill their own scientists for the slightest thing. Just like how the Empire does in Star Wars! And apparently they have a T-800 that does their bidding.

Teenager/Adult tropes
So Mike is now a disrespectful little asshole. Oh, but he's a teenager and that's how they all act, right? It felt a little odd that Mike and Eleven were passionately making out with Hopper right outside their room, with the door cracked open. Hopper comes across as a good guy but a hard ass, but meek and mild, nerdy Mike is gonna be that brazen around him?

And they're really playing up the dumb, macho man cliche. Hopper doesn't even know what a "heart-to-heart" is? Isn't that like a really old expression? But he's an 80s man who doesn't deal with sissy emotions, right? So much so that common idioms are foreign to him. And smiling at his own mischievous behavior at breaking up Elle and Mike.

When Mike's sister asks the old lady if she's sure about the bags being full, she responds "I'm may be old, but I'm not dumb." I feel like I've heard this a million times in movies and tv shows. It's bad dialogue writing to me because I've never heard people talk like that in real life, but maybe the writers did that on purpose, incorporating as much 80s cliches as possible. Ironically, a white kid like Dustin sometimes spits out dialogue that seems like it would be out-of-place in the early 80s, like when he refers to his girlfriend's religion as "super religious white people." The old, white, hetero, cisgender male caricatures at Nancy's job are also a nice touch.

80s References Everywhere
I love that the series is heaped in nostalgia, but I mostly appreciated how it felt accurate to the era and didn't hit you over the head with references. It was more The House of the Devil and not Hot Tub Time Machine.
Season 3 is definitely taking a different route and is like remember Madonna's "Material Girl"? Remember that song, "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight"? And of course we have to have Eleven go on a shopping spree so the audience can see all the funky 80s fashions, right? How was it that Mike had $3.50 but Max has money to buy Eleven complete outfits, ice cream, and studio photos?

We also got Magnum PI AND Cheers. Rudy and Winona are watching Cheers and he actually says, "They're so funny." I was waiting for him to say, "And we are laughing," ala Ron Burgundy.

Secret of the Ooze/Pink Slime
The rats exploding wasn't really gross. I'm guessing they couldn't show blood and actual guts because that would be too much, so exploding into pink slime was better. Kind of like how in Bumblebee the Decepticons shoot humans point blank but they just burst into pink goo.
I'm reading they're going for a John Carpenter The Thing monster-vibe, but it just looks lazy to me.

Robin
Maya Hawke is a solid actress, but her character seems like those sarcastic/ironic types from the 90s. And she's pretty cool and nonchalant about discovering secret Russian transmissions. Her and mostly everyone else in these two episodes come across as caricatures. The science teacher in S1 was a big ol' nerd caricature but he's even worse now.

Everything is back to normal
After all the things that Will has been through, I would expect him to have severe mental and emotional problems. But he's right back to normal, playing D&D and watching horror films. You have Stephen King/Lovecraftian shit happening to these characters, they bounce back a little too well.

I binged watched the first two seasons, but I think I'm good for Season 3. I'll finish the rest of Casablanca instead.

the whole Russian subplot. I watched these cliches back in the 80s and early 90s - I know this show lives for the nostalgia factor but this heavy plot point falls completely flat for me in 2019. I really really hated that whole part and was frankly bored through a lot of the season.

I really liked that Elle was with the group more this year and forged a friendship with Max. Drunken/drugged Steve and Maya could get a spinoff and I'd watch that all day long. I didn't mind the Russian subplot, even though the Assassin was clearly a Terminator ripoff. It'll be interesting to see how they got involved in the first place in the next season. The only thing I didn't like was the idea of a town sqaure completely shutting down due to a mall opening. That seemed over-the-top, but overall, I was satisfied with the season.

Wonder if Suzie will become one of the gang in season four.

Felt kind of weird to end it with Elle and the Byers family moving away. They're just going to have to reunite everyone again in season four, so I don't really see the point there.

Wonder if that death will stick. I can't really see a way around it, but it we didn't actually see it happen, either.

And, Holy Product Placement, Batman! Wonder how much Tampax paid them to feature those tampon boxes in every fucking scene set in a store. And, of course, you're getting ready for the fight of your lives, so let's have a two minute discussion about New Coke.