*Spoiler alert for "Stranger Things" season three*

"Stranger Things" season three was the perfect follow up to where season two left off, and if you're a fan, you won't be disappointed. Season two ended in a thrilling yet heartbreaking finale. El closed the gate, Joyce burned the Mind Flayer out of Will's body, and Bob sacrificed himself to protect Joyce and her family. The lab was shut down and sealed up, and it seemed that all was well again in Hawkins. We were left with a terrifying image of the Upside Down, promising us that like usual, the peace in Hawkins wouldn't last long.

Season three begins with El and Mike kissing in her room, a slightly jarring image if you remember how young they seemed in the first season. It's almost easy to sympathize with Hopper, who isn't too pleased about this new relationship and seeks parenting advice from Joyce. The season zeros in on the themes of growing up, painful transition, and young love that the other seasons hinted at, and although the eight episodes are fraught with monsters, evil Russians, and superpowers, we also see the dynamics of the characters' relationships more clearly, and as the kids get older they start to take on new personalities and maturity not as evident in the first two seasons.

Mike and El are exploring their first relationship, but as with all young love, trouble is always on the horizon. Max helps El figure out who she is without Mike, and it's both hilarious and heartwarming to see the two girls, previously frenemies, start up a new friendship that allows them to recognize the importance of life outside the boys. Lucas and Mike both make stupid mistakes in their relationships and struggle to see what they've done wrong in typical boy fashion, while Will is left behind in all this growing up.

Season three works so well partly because it's told through five, simultaneous storylines, and as a viewer, you're left at the edge of your seat as the episodes flash back and forth between each one. While the younger kids start to work out that the Mind Flayer has returned and possessed Max's brother, Billy, Nancy and Johnathon begin to realize that many of the townspeople have been possessed. Dustin, Steve and two new fantastic additions, Steve's coworker Robin and Lucas's little sister Erica, discover a secret Russian fortress under the town mall. Joyce and Hopper argue to avoid their sexual tension, and somehow end up capturing a Russian scientist, who Hopper dubs "Smirnoff."

Season three is about stopping the evil Russians from reopening the Upside Down, and about defeating the Mind Flayer who has returned in a grotesque, slime-like form, but it's also about navigating the experience of getting older. Nancy battles sexism at the office she interns at, El begins to figure out an identity for her self, Will is left with the realization that his friends have outgrown him, and in a shocking twist, us viewers are denied the relationship between Steve and Robin that the show has been hinting at when Robin confesses to Steve that she is gay.

The pieces of the plot come together slowly, but in-between we are offered the day-to-day dramatics and comedy of the lives of these characters that we've grown to love so much. The season culminates in an emotional, bittersweet, high action ending not unlike season two, and as viewers, although the tragedy makes it feel like we have lost something, we have actually learned a lot more. And of course, the show only ends after teasing us with a short scene set in what appears to be another Russian base, letting us know that this is not the end.