The first act of the final season of Stranger Things has me wrapped up in that tender glow of nostalgia — the kind that feels like cracking open an old toy chest and finding your childhood heart still beating inside.

One of the sweetest surprises comes from little Holly Wheeler, Mike and Nancy’s younger sister, who is also a massive Rainbow Brite fan! She’s got the bed sheets, the Peril in the Pits poster (that very first RB special that lit up network TV), and even a Canary Yellow doll.

Vulture caught a poetic thread I’d missed, tying Holly’s arc to the core story of Rainbow Brite herself. At its heart, Rainbow Brite is about a kind, hopeful girl flung into a world swallowed by chaos. Her mission? Find the missing color — the joy — and set it free. It’s a quest for light when the dark feels endless. And watching Holly, we feel that same emotional echo. That spark. Like Max, fighting her way back out of the shadows.

The episode layers its pop-culture love letters beautifully, too. Cue my forever Queen of the Pop Princesses: Tiffany. Her radiant 1987 cover of Tommy James and the Shondells’ ｢I Think We’re Alone Now｣ from her debut is featured – and the icon herself shared how delighted she was to have her song woven into her favorite show.

But, this season doesn’t stop there. Alongside the incomparable Winona Ryder, we get the legendary Linda Hamilton — the original on-screen badass — stepping into Hawkins to kick ass and take name.

Somehow, over nearly a decade, this series just keeps leveling up its magic. The writing. The acting. The constellation of references. You can feel the Duffer Brothers in every frame — storytellers who are not only fiercely committed but delightfully, unashamedly nerdy (and I say that with absolute reverence).

It’s fantastic.

There will be more reviews soon so…

Stay Tuned!