Having grown up at that exact time, class of '83, I can say for certain there were more than a few Nancy's and Barb's running around. In fact, I had 2 close friends with those names. Carol, not so much. That one goes back farther in time to me.

Also, yes to all your other thoughts. All in all, this was a great show, one I could hardly wait to get to at the end of the day. I hope they make another. I'd be interested in entirely new plots with entirely new actors for every season.

I think the monster is a part of Eleven, it escaped the lab when she did. She knew she had to reintegrate to keep it from killing the whole town. I've been scrolling here to see if this is discussed anywhere, but it seems not to be. Hmm, my husband thought I was nuts too.

Am I the only one who thinks the monster is a part of Eleven, like her id? She tore that hole through the dimension, she broke out of the facility, and the creature broke out too. She knew exactly what she had to do, and that was reintegrate with it to keep it from killing and eating the townies. Just my theory…