Stranger Things 3 takes place in the summer of 1985 and the gang is starting to grow apart.
Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), newly back from summer camp, winds up bonding even more with his old pal Steve (Joe Keery). Steve, in turn, is working at the new Starcourt Mall; he’s serving ice cream in the food court’s Scoops Ahoy, where he’s regularly mocked by his deadpan coworker Robin (Maya Hawke) and strategically undermined by mall patron and ice cream connoisseur Erica (Priah Ferguson).
Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and his girlfriend Max (Sadie Sink) are mainly spending their time helping Mike and Eleven avoid breaking up due to pressure from Chief Hopper (David Harbour), who doesn’t seem to know how to handle his adopted daughter having a boyfriend. Hopper turns to Will’s mom Joyce (Winona Ryder) for help, but since he isn’t ready to listen to her, his efforts only serve to drive a wedge between El and Mike.
Will (Noah Schnapp) hates that his friends all seem way more interested in having girlfriends than in embarking on new D&D adventures. He’s also distracted by his constant sense that the Mind Flayer is still lurking around town.
Meanwhile, Mike’s older sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer) has started working as an intern at the local newspaper, alongside her boyfriend (and Will’s older brother) Jonathan (Charlie Heaton).
A group of evil Russians have built a covert underground lab beneath the Starcourt Mall food court and they’re working to secure access to the Upside Down.
The Russians are presumably why Will keeps sensing that the Mind Flayer is back to wreak havoc on Hawkins; it seems they’ve already opened the gate just enough to let the monster through.