Warning! Full SPOILERS follow for our review of Stranger Things Season 3, episode 3, titled “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard.” For a refresher, check out our review of episode 2, “The Mall Rats.”
“The Case of the Missing Lifeguard” takes a thematically darker turn from the previous two chapters’ more playful tone. Joyce and Hopper’s somber trip back to Hawkins Laboratory gives us one more heartbreaking look at Bob Newby before he is torn to shreds by Demodogs. David Harbour and Winona Ryder are pitch-perfect in the scene where Hopper tells Joyce that all he wants for her is to feel safe in Hawkins. Even before their journey to the lab begins, it’s hilarious to watch Hopper’s jealousy towards Mr. Clarke outwardly erupt – especially when it’s clear that Joyce has no interest in poor nerdy Scott beyond finding out what’s up with her darn magnets.
Source: IGN.com Stranger Things Season 3, Episode 3 Review