Responding to my old comment with a very important update on the cordless phone: this evening I rewatched the finale of season 1, and I had forgotten that we do indeed witness the phone’s fate. After the demogorgon first attacks the teens in the Byers home, Nancy and Jonathan try to get Steve to leave before it comes…

I can’t disagree enough with this. One of the things that bothers me the most about modern media is that it whitewashes the past. Billy’s dad calling him a faggot is 100% what that character would have done. When Billy told Max not to hang out with Lucas, he 100% would have said something about his race. Kids today…

You’re the second comment I’ve seen asserting that Dustin was calling Mr. Wheeler a “son of a bitch.” He wasn’t. Using “son of a bitch” in that context is as an exclamation, made by someone obviously completely exhausted by his inability to get the most basic information out of Mike’s father. He’s son-of-a-bitching…

It was part of the writers’ original concept for the character; Will is described in the original pitch packet for the pilot as “a sweet, sensitive kid with sexual identity issues.” And the first season certainly raises the possibility that he may be gay, with Joyce telling Hopper that Lonnie derided Will as “queer”…

 Not a fan, but this was early-’80s bullshit vs. ‘teens bullshit re: hetero-normative homophobia. Don’t believe AIDS hadn’t changed from GRID yet and over-posturing Reagan-era masculinity/clap back on free-lovin’ ‘60s was brutal, particularly given the hair-band/tight pants/androgyny of the early ‘80s cool. Anything…

The dropped storyline makes a lot of sense. I’m not so sure I see your “Will is probably gay” hypothesis, however.

We don’t know in this episode, we do know by the end of the season.

I think there’s also another element of their dynamic in episode 3 that explains Mike’s reaction here: he doesn’t actually dislike her. If he really did just think she was annoying, he wouldn’t be as bothered as he is, because what does a random annoying girl have to do with his feelings for Eleven? The only way she…

In those days, so so so very long ago (man, I’m old), there was no such thing as not having a phone. It would have been like not having a refrigerator.

Nice touch about his character that he started Hawkins A.V. as well. What with that and his love of games and puzzles, you could easily see him being friends with Will, Dustin & Luvas in his younger days

It kind of reflects how Lucas was with Eleven in season 1 before the last couple episodes.

Such a great episode. So much that I loved about it, especially that last scene! One thing I really appreciated though, was that Bob was exactly what he seemed - a nice, stable (if boring) guy that genuinely cared about Joyce. It was so refreshing to find out that he wasn’t secretly evil. Great work by Sean Astin.

Sounds like the guy you’re responding to just dropped a spoiler for the rest of the season. Dick.

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who also really enjoys Nancy and Jonathan’s dynamic. Jonathan’s probably my favorite character on ST, which is a bit ironic, since he’s one of those characters that people don’t really talk about, with the exception of comparisons to Steve. (Aside from all the shippers constantly…

I’m an episode ahead of this one as I’m trying not to burn through it and savor this somewhat, but I’ll say it now, Will is hands down the MVP of the season and Noah Schnapp is every bit as good as his counterparts. With his limited run last season it was hard to tell but this kid is hitting it on all cylinders.

Bullshit dude. I was born in 1973, which I believe means I experienced 1983 and 1984 at exactly the same age as the 4 boys and this is the most accurate, most true to life depiction of the era I grew up in I’ve ever seen. Yes, I am talking a lot about the art direction, music cues etc. but it goes deeper than that. It…

I don’t think it’s hard to be 100% faithful to someone who has psychokinetic powers when you’re like 13 with slim options and obsessed with fantasy and sci-fi. Plus he probably has survivor’s guilt. But...my husband and I were like “come ooon” when she turns right down the hall instead of left and OF COURSE looks…

As Dustin says when he shows Dart to an adult he wants to be acknowledged for his discovery. I think he feels like he is taking a back seat to Will and Mike, he is the inventive one but they are starting to treat him like he is just the help desk. A nerd’s nerd. If there is ever a version of Stranger Things set 35…

I’m wondering if he’s a spy for Hawkins.

At the risk of disagreeing with the reviewer again, I thought that sequence worked fine. It goes directly to Eleven’s whole situation, that she’s been unable to see Mike in-person for almost a year, whereas this other girl can just hang around him as much as she wants.