According to Rotten Tomatoes, the critics think that the third season of the show "transforms itself into a riveting -- if familiar -- summer ride that basks in its neon-laden nostalgia without losing sight of the rich relationships that make the series so endearing." However, not everyone thinks the popular TV show was that good. "Instead of reminding us of what we have lost, the show gets caught up in the kind of patriotic fantasies that adults love so much, things like romance and defeating communism in a mall with fireworks on the fourth of July," Aaron Bady wrote.

Shawn Levy, the exec producer of the show, sees each new set of episodes as "basically an eight-hour movie." According to Levy, season 3 is their most comedic and pop-y season yet, but it’s also their most cinematic and epic season. "It opens in the summer of ’85, filled with the idyllic nature of summer and adolescence in the ’80s, the fun of mall culture and young love, a world of innocence and promise. But as new threats are revealed — and there’s more than one in season 3, both supernatural and human — the season takes a turn toward darkness. And it is far creepier than anything we’ve done yet. It gets an epic scale in terms of action and emotion. By the end of Episode 8, it’s like a gut punch to the heart. I know I’m mixing metaphors with two body parts, but it’s a deeply emotional ending to the season," the filmmaker told Variety.