The Brief: Following the Independence Day premiere, fans wasted no time memeing their favorite moments from the third season of Stranger Things. 

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DEEP DIVE

*Stranger Things 3 Spoilers Ahead*

The latest installment in Netflix’s Stranger Things has left viewers in stitches, tears, and with plenty of questions for what comes next… and who survives?

According to a recent tweet from Netflix, over 40 million household accounts tuned in to watch Stranger Things 3 since its July 4th global launch. Even more impressive, thanks to the concept of “binge watching,” 18.2 million have already finished the entire season.

In typical Millennial and Gen Z fashion, Stranger Things stans have taken to social media, sharing their fave meme-able moments from the third season.

This is a final warning: expect major Season 3 spoilers ahead.

Teen Angst Memes

Season 3 of the series picks up during the summer of 1985, just as the “Core Four” – Dustin, Mike, Will, & Lucas – prepare to begin high school.

The first few episodes especially focus heavily on “coming of age” themes like love and friendship. Mike and Eleven have boo’d up…

Dustin has a long-distance GF whom he met at Science Camp…

And Will finds himself playing third wheel – more like seventh wheel – since his friends are much more interested in girls than playing Dungeons & Dragons. 

Will’s D & D memes have proved especially popular with the Twitter crowd.

Big mood, Will.

Scoops Ahoy, Steve Harrington!

And the award for biggest glow up goes to…

From obnoxious jerk in Season 1 to ice-cream scooping “protective mother” in Season 3, Steve Harrington’s character development has proved extremely popular amongst fans.

Steve spends the bulk of Season 3 getting beat-up by Russians while sporting his Scoops Ahoy sailor-uniform, which has made for some big LOL moments.

This altered Me Explaining meme pits Steve against the Russian General.

The LGBTQ community has been especially receptive of Steve’s character this season.

For most of Season 3, fans question whether or not Steve will admit his feelings for coworker, Robin. When he finally confides in Robin that he has a crush on her, she tells him that she also has a crush… on another woman. It’s a surprising and enlightening moment for the series, one that had the queer community cheering from behind their computers.

Stranger Things might have found it’s OTP.

Robin Sign Memes

It should go without saying that in 2019, if someone holds up a whiteboard on TV, it’s destined to become a meme. First there was Lisa Simpson, then Keanu Reeves, and now, Stranger Things’ Robin.

In this scene, Steve’s Scoops Ahoy co-worker and crush, Robin, uses a whiteboard to keep track of how many times Steve gets rejected when he asks Scoops Ahoy customers out on dates.

Literally what’s going on right now on this subreddit. from StrangerThings

Reddit meme-makers took to this image macro format immediately.

Facts from StrangerThings

Am I right or am I right? from StrangerThings

These posts keep coming from StrangerThings

This altered version paints (quite literally) Robin as a crying clown.

I’m sad now from StrangerThings

Several versions of this meme alter the image to include the faces of other Stranger Things 3 characters.

I think we all agree with Robin here from StrangerThings

marvel movies time from StrangerThings

PSA from Hop from StrangerThings

Jim Hopper’s Hawaiian Shirt:

The ugly, colorful AF, Magnum P.I. Hawaiian shirt is back and we all have Jim Hopper to thank for it.

The gruff police chief calls his shirt “cutting edge.” Twitter and Instagram call it meme-worthy.

Hopper’s style isn’t the only thing fans appreciated about him this season. There have also been numerous memes and tweets remarking positively on his “dad bod”.

There have also been ties between Jim Hopper and Hot Girl Summer.

“Three inches”

What began as a hilarious moment between Eleven and her adoptive father, Jim Hopper at the start of the season becomes one of the most low key heart-wrenching takeaways.

At the start of the season, Hopper begrudgingly allows El to spend time with her boyfriend, Mike on one condition– the door must be kept open three inches. Like any teen, El rebels and closes the door on more than one occasion which drives her pseudo-dad crazy.

Joyce assists Hopper in crafting a speech to “lay down the law” for El and Mike. At the end of the season, fans were surprised and delighted to find that in addition to his speech, Hopper had written a secret heartfelt letter to El, one that she reads following Hopper’s death.

The scene reduced fans to tears and inspired a viral meme trend featuring the phrase, “three inches”.

Many Avengers stans equated the emotional response to Hopper’s line with that of Tony Stark’s, “I love you 3000” from Avengers: Endgame. 

This Drake meme takes a more comedic approach.

Alexei Deserved Better… Memes

And the emotional Stranger Things 3 memes keep on coming.

While he may have met a tragic end on the show, Alexei firmly cemented his status as a favorite newcomer with fans. Many memes featuring the lovable Russian scientist roast the character for his love of Icees.

This Stranger Things and 13 Reasons Why crossover meme.

Name a more iconic duo. I’ll wait from StrangerThings

Much like Hopper, Alexei also meets a tragic ending, which disappointed the many fans hoping to see more of him in Season 4.

We don’t deserve him from StrangerThings

A tribute to the most wholesome character of all time. from StrangerThings

Alexei will be missed.

One’s thing for sure and that’s the fact that Stranger Things 3 proved to be emotionally draining for most fans.