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thegayhimbo · 5 days ago

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Stranger Things (1x04): “The Body” Review

A big reason why these reviews take a while to write (and are lengthy in nature) has to do with not just analyzing the characters and the overall story (both pertaining to how they unfold in each episode, and what elements might factor into season 5), but also looking into references and inspirations from various movies, other TV shows, and 80s media that can be found in the structure of Stranger Things. Some references are simply shout-outs with little to no plot relevance, but there are others where it's clear the Duffer Brothers intentionally wove them into the show. This was even was planned from the beginning when they pitched the Montauk Script (which carried over to Stranger Things):

Some of these references are given brief nods to in season 1, but play a bigger role in later seasons.

Take John Carpenter’s The Thing and The Fog for instance. Both have been cited as inspirations for season 1, and plot elements from those movies are present in subtle ways: The Fog's titular supernatural element was initial inspiration for pairing fog with the presence of the Demogorgon in the original Montauk script. Likewise, The Thing’s arc of MacReady and Childs being at each other’s throats during the crisis at the Antarctica base parallels the conflict between Mike and Lucas in this season (as mentioned in my review of the first episode).

However, both of these movies and their significance to Stranger Things arguably have better connections in future seasons. The element of ethereally fog is something seen in season 2, with it being present when the Demodogs attack military personnel in the tunnels at the Mind Flayer's direction, and later in season 3 with Billy’s vision of the Upside Down. Likewise, The Thing’s themes of body horror and people being assimilated by an abomination are interwoven into season 3’s Meat Flayer arc.

So when it comes to these reviews, it’s about striking a balance between acknowledging what references and inspirations are relevant for the given episode being analyzed, and which ones are going to be important to talk about later down the line.

Two such references get brief homages in this episode: The Shining and Videodrome.

The parallels between Joyce Byers and Jack Torrance from The Shining are obvious, and I’ll let the visuals speak for themselves.

Both Jack and Joyce are respectively in an inhospitable environment with malevolent beings trying to drive them insane, resulting in both their mental and physical health deteriorating. Both of them also use an axe as a weapon. This is where the similarities end though. Unlike Joyce, who actively resists the gaslighting the Upside Down inflicts on her, Jack succumbs to his madness and starts taking directions from the spirits at the Overlook Hotel who want him to murder his family. Even the context for the scenes above are different: Jack is breaking down the door to butcher his wife, whereas Joyce is breaking through the wall to try and rescue Will. In regards to the characters relationship with their families, Joyce arguably shares more similarities with Wendy Torrance in that both are loving and supportive mothers to their sons, but also resourceful and willing to fight back when in danger. Contrast that to Jack’s cold and resentful attitude towards his family, as well as his inability to take responsibility for his behavior, all of which eventually explodes into homicidal rage on his part. Joyce may have a dark side, but it’s one that’s directed at those who try to hurt her family and loved ones.

In fact, with the number of similarities I've seen between Jack Torrance and Billy Hargrove, and how Dacre Montgomery mentioned the Duffer Brothers based part of Billy’s character on Jack, I’ll be talking more about The Shining’s relevance to the show when I review seasons 2 and 3.

There’s also the Videodrome homage when Will and Joyce communicate through the wall with a flesh-like barrier preventing them from reaching one another.

This is in reference to a scene from Videodrome when the main character, Max Renn (played by James Woods), hallucinates a woman named Nicki Brand (whom Max briefly had an affair with before she went to work on the mysterious Videodrome project and never came back) appearing on his TV, with the TV itself taking on flesh-like qualities as it seduces Max:

Both scenes play with perception and reality for both Max and Joyce. In Joyce’s case, she has enough self-assurance to believe what she’s seeing when she communicates with Will, and it only drives her resolve to rescue him. In Max’s case……..it’s a lot more complicated, and involves a convoluted conspiracy he’s forced to unravel.

Just like with The Shining, Videodrome’s themes and story (particularly its connection to the body horror genre) play a bigger role in Season 3, and will be discussed more in-depth when that season is covered.

With that being said, let’s look at each of the stories present in this episode:

Part 1: Hopper and Joyce

There is a tenderness to the Joyce/Hopper scenes at the beginning that I appreciate. He’s careful not to entirely dismiss Joyce’s belief that Will is alive, he doesn’t belittle her by assuming she’s crazy like so many other characters are doing, and he assures Jonathan later that Joyce is tougher than people give her credit for. Which is true, and proves itself time and again in the later seasons. She may not understand what’s going on around her yet, but she’s secure enough in herself to know she was communicating with Will, that he isn’t dead, and there are things about the situation around her that don’t add up. It’s a similar feeling Hopper’s had since Episode 2 when he found Benny’s corpse, and it only gets confirmed in this episode when he discovers the truth about Will's fake body.

And this is where the parallel between their story and the movie that inspired it comes into play:

The Duffer Brothers have been specific in interviews about how a movie called Prisoners inspired the premise of the show, and by extension Hopper and Joyce’s characters.

For those who aren’t aware of this movie’s plot, Prisoners is a 2013 crime thriller, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Detective Loki and Hugh Jackman as Keller Dover, centering around the disappearance of two girls in Pennsylvania during Thanksgiving, and the desperate attempts of the police and the parents to find them. One of the girls is the daughter of Keller, who becomes convinced that a certain suspect named Alex Jones, who had been in the area where the girls disappeared and attempted to flee when police found him, is behind the kidnappings. This only gets reinforced when Keller confronts Alex in the parking lot of the police station, and the man cryptically says “They didn’t cry until I left them.” However, since Keller’s the only one who heard it whereas the police did not (with Alex later denying having said anything when questioned by Detective Loki), Alex is freed because of the lack of evidence against him. What follows are two interconnected stories: Detective Loki’s attempts to track down the girls and find the kidnappers, and Keller’s subsequent kidnapping and torture of Alex to get information about where his daughter is and how Alex is connected to her disappearance.

Unlike other references and inspirations, Stranger Things doesn’t pay direct homage to Prisoners, and yet this movie is entwined into the DNA of season 1. I know Clue (1985) has been cited for how the atmosphere and cinematography were structured for this season, and while I believe that’s true to some extent (the scenes with Mike and the Party at the school in this episode, and the quirky and campy way they’re filmed in spite of the horrific circumstances for these characters, comes to mind), the tone of Stranger Things derives itself from Prisoners, and there are certain shots in this movie (to say nothing about the lighting and cold overcast setting in a small town) that I wouldn’t be surprised factored into how the Duffer Brothers arranged for these episodes to be filmed. Prisoners is a DARK movie. I would even go as far as to compare it to crime thrillers like Seven and The Silence of the Lambs. The movie isn’t as explicitly gory as those two, but it is disturbing, and features a heinous villain with a nihilistic mindset similar to Vecna. And both this movie and season 1 of the show are based on a similar premise: A kid is kidnapped, and their parent and the police are desperately trying to find them before it’s too late. Take out the science fiction elements of Stranger Things, and the main story becomes grounded the same way Prisoners is.

Just like with how the Duffer Brothers made comparisons between Roy Neary from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Joyce, Keller’s character in Prisoners also has similarities to Joyce. Both are parents whose child is kidnapped, and both go to extreme means of getting them back, no matter what the cost. In Keller’s case, it leads to him making morally questionable (and outright illegal) decisions that cause the audience to feel conflicted about whether his actions are justified. In Joyce’s case, it’s less about moral ambiguity, and more about whether she is correct in her assertions about Will being alive, or if this is all in her mind. The closest we get to moral ambiguity is the argument Joyce and Jonathan have downtown after she storms out of the morgue.

Prisoners also had a similar scenario with Keller and his son, Ralph (who shares some similarities to Jonathan) where they get into an argument about how they’re both dealing with the situation. The difference is Keller shoulders Ralph with the responsibility of watching over his mother while he disappears to interrogate/torture Alex, whereas Joyce isn’t asking Jonathan to shoulder any responsibility on her behalf because she doesn’t truly believe Will is dead. Jonathan FEELS like he needs to take the reins for the family because of how unreasonable Joyce’s behavior appears on the surface (somewhat like Ralph’s dilemma where he believes his dad is going out to get drunk and is kept in the dark about what Keller is really doing), and in any other circumstances, he’d be right to do so. However, Jonathan doesn’t have the perspective the audience does (at least not yet) of knowing what Joyce knows. And unlike Keller, where there’s a serious question about whether his vigilantism is causing more harm than good to the investigation, we know that Joyce ignoring the insinuations of everyone around her about Will being dead is the only way she’s going to get him back.

Then there’s Detective Loki’s connection to Hopper: Both are cops who appear aloof, but are more perceptive and pick up clues and cues that others miss. Detective Loki, for instance, doesn’t disbelieve Keller’s claims about what Alex told him, but he also doesn’t have the jurisdiction to hold Alex, and has enough foresight to realize Keller will fixate on Alex once he's released, and demands that his Police Chief keep a watch over where Alex lives. Unfortunately, because they don’t have the resources and are already spending what they have trying to locate the missing girls, that doesn’t happen, and Keller takes advantage of the lack of police presence to kidnap Alex. Loki comes to suspect Keller is behind Alex’s disappearance when it’s brought to his attention, but he’s also dealing with the investigation into the missing girls, and also doesn’t have any evidence to charge Keller yet, so he’s forced to press forward with what his job allows him to do (at least until Keller inadvertently becomes a person of interest, and unintentionally leads him to where Alex is being kept).

In Hopper’s case, he’s in a similar situation to Loki where he’s pursuing the leads he’s given while also dealing with Joyce’s current behavior (though at least with Joyce, nothing she’s done up to this point has been illegal the way it was with Keller). There is more history between Hopper and Joyce that allows them to be open and vulnerable with each other, in stark contrast to Keller and Loki who barely knew one another and were constantly at odds despite having the same goal of finding the kids.

As for their methods, while Loki does make every attempt to follow procedures, the one time he engages in police brutality with a suspect (who was in possession of clothing from the missing girls), it ends badly and almost derails the case. That doesn’t happen with Hopper in this episode:

I almost find it comical how many fans got their knickers in a twist over Hopper’s use of police brutality and unethical behavior in season 3 when that’s EXACTLY the kind of behavior he was engaging in during season 1. Two state troopers beaten up, desecrating a corpse (which turned out to be fake), and ending this episode with breaking and entering into a government facility.

Fan opinions always seem to be a contradiction: People complain about moral ambiguity and shades of grey in characters (wait until I talk about Steve as we near the end of Season 1, or even Kali/Eight from season 2, and the way fans initially reacted towards those two) and will either whine about it being “bad writing” or “out-of-character” or “not realistic” or straight up dismissing any nuance or complexity presented in the character’s behavior. Then, when the show moves away from that because of fan complaints, you hear a whole barrage of new criticisms about ‘simplifying’ the story and characters. 🙄

Let’s get something out of the way right now: Stranger Things has ALWAYS had morally ambiguous characters who have acted in ways that are either criminal or make them unlikable. Moral Purity doesn’t exist on this show, and the fact is characters have said and done things that have been hurtful and mean-spirited. There will be always room for debate about whether lines have been crossed, and whether you can look past how characters have acted before. Lord knows I have my share of characters I despise (Billy, Angela, Brenner, etc) whom I will not let off the hook for their behavior under any circumstances (especially when these characters flat-out refuse to take responsibility for how their actions have hurt others). At the same time though, I have little patience for the pearl-clutching this fandom engages in when it comes to the main characters doing things that are wrong or morally questionable.

In Hopper’s case, this was a character written with heavy shades of grey who was always going to act in ways that would cause the audience to raise an eyebrow. Some people might have problems with this. I am not one of them. Hopper has never been my favorite character on the show, and I’ve had my own issues with how he’s been written (especially in season 3), but stuff like his beating of Steve O’Bannon (the state trooper who “found” Will’s body and turned out to be in the pocket of Hawkins Lab) or even his attack on Mayor Kline in season 3 doesn’t bother me. I could not care less about the injuries he inflicted on them.

Speaking of moral grayness, let’s talk about one of the inspirations for Hopper’s character and his costume design: Bernard Osterman from the Sam Peckinpah movie The Osterman Weekend:

The Osterman Weekend is an espionage thriller centered around a television journalist named John Tanner (played by Rutger Hauer) recruited into a CIA operation by Agent Laurence Fassett (played by John Hurt) who tells Tanner that his close friends are Russian agents from an organization called Omega. One of those friends is Bernard Osterman, a television producer. Believing they can get more information about Omega if they get one of Tanner’s friends to turn on the others, Fassett arranges for Tanner to host his traditional “Osterman Weekend” gathering at his house with his friends, all while creating a tense situation to inspire one of said friends to confide in Tanner and give the CIA the information they want.

Contrary to what the premise might suggest, this is a BAD MOVIE. The Eight Deadly Words (I don’t care what happens to these characters) are in full effect here, and the movie itself is a mess. The story is needlessly convoluted, there’s a plethora of plot-holes that don’t add up, certain shots in this movie come off like they were filmed for a sleazy 80s porno, and it features an incredibly stupid twist that causes the entire movie to fall apart in the last act. I had little patience for the film the first time I watched it, and even though I viewed it again to take notes on Osterman’s character, I would not recommend it (not even as a "So-Bad-It's-Good" kind of movie). Even having legendary actors like John Hurt and Rutger Hauer couldn’t save this turd.

In regards to Bernard Osterman’s character (who looks eerily like Hopper from season 3), while he isn’t likable, he’s probably one of the few characters in the movie I did NOT have as big of a problem with. I see his similarities to Hopper, both in how they observe their environment, the people around them, and the situations they find themselves in. Like Hopper, Osterman’s good at hand-to-hand combat, and is even shown training early in the movie in martial arts (which allows him to evade the CIA when they target him later in the movie). He’s also quick to see through Tanner’s deception, similar to how quickly Hopper catches on to the state trooper business and the suspicious circumstances with how Will’s body was found. Unlike Tanner’s other friends, who turn hostile towards Tanner and his family, Osterman keeps his cool and only reacts when Tanner attacks him. Even then, he doesn’t kill Tanner (as Tanner expected him to) and demands an explanation about what Tanner is doing. As it turns out in the twist, Osterman has nothing to do with the Soviets, and his biggest crime was tax evasion via a Swiss Bank Account. When he finds out the main villain set him and Tanner up, he aids Tanner in helping to take the villain down and rescue Tanner's family who are being held hostage.

Osterman is a grey character who engages in morally dubious actions, but just like Hopper, he is loyal to his friends, and is the kind of person you’d want in your corner when the going gets tough. Craig T. Nelson, who plays Osterman, manages to elevate the character in an otherwise terrible script. And unlike other characters, whose motivations and personalities are all over the place, Osterman is one of the few characters to remain consistent, which at least makes him bearable.

As for Hopper………..we’ll discuss more about the direction his character went in season 3 when I cover that. For this episode though, I didn’t have any problems with him.

Part 2: Nancy and Jonathan

I’ll start this off by saying I’m one of those rare breed of fans who has shipped Jancy since season 1 AND likes Steve (or at least I grew to like him past season 1). Contrary to what my reviews might suggest, I preferred it when Steve and Nancy separated in season 2 and both pursued their own respective arcs. I’ve also maintained that Jonathan and Nancy not only had more chemistry as a couple, but also could relate better to one another without worrying about social stigmas and have more common ground regarding their upbringings and the fact their younger siblings (Mike and Will) are close friends.

I am curious if season 1 is really the first time Nancy and Jonathan truly interacted. Given that Will and Mike were inseparable from a young age, and were frequently visiting each other’s houses (as well as how Karen and Joyce seem to have a close friendship), I’d have to image Nancy and Jonathan’s paths crossed more than a couple of times. The fact Nancy felt comfortable enough to talk with Jonathan two episodes ago to offer condolences over Will’s disappearance (despite the presence of Tommy, Carol, and Steve in the background) gives the impression they’ve at least made awkward small talk in the past, but it hasn’t been until now that they’ve really gotten to know one another.

I’ve seen people speculate Nancy had a crush on Jonathan before she ever met Steve, but it initially didn’t go anywhere because of Jonathan’s reluctance to talk to people, his closed-off personality (which he admits to having in the next episode), and being more focused on providing for the family. I can see that. I can also see how that likely factored into why it took a while (season 2) before these two really ended up in a romantic relationship, with Jonathan dealing with what he needed to deal with, and Nancy continuing to live her own life.

Last episode started the ball rolling, but this episode is where Jancy really took off. Even without Nancy’s fears that something horrible happened to Barbara, it was clear from the camera-breaking incident that Nancy wasn’t happy about what Steve did, and the conversation she has with Jonathan in the dark room implies she would have preferred to talk to Jonathan first about why he took the photos before she jumped to conclusions. Contrary to what some fans have said about the narration glossing over the ethical implications of what Jonathan did, I can understand why Nancy would give Jonathan the benefit of the doubt regarding the photos, especially with the close relationship the Wheeler and Byers families have because of Mike and Will. To his credit, Jonathan does apologize for it, and I think it’s clear to anyone with a brain who isn’t reading this situation in bad-faith that Jonathan’s intentions weren’t malicious.

It also helps that Jonathan is the only person who listens to Nancy in this episode. When Nancy brings up Barbara’s disappearance to Steve, his reaction is self-absorbed, being more concerned about getting in trouble for the pool party than about what happened to Barbara. Granted, Steve doesn’t know at this point about the Demogorgon or the Upside Down, and likely came to the same incorrect conclusion that Powell and Callahan did about Barbara running off, but it’s not surprising Nancy is unimpressed and frustrated with his reaction. Add in the later probing that the cops and her mom do into the circumstances regarding Barbara’s disappearance (with all the implied victim-blaming of Nancy sleeping with Steve to accompany it), and it’s small wonder that she storms off after calling it all “bullshit” (the exact word she would later use to describe her relationship with Steve in season 2).

Also, that alley where Steve and Nancy have the argument about Barbara in this episode is the same one where Steve breaks it off with Nancy in season 2 after the Halloween Party. Keep that in mind because I will specifically reference this location (and how both scenes are filmed) when I cover the circumstances of their breakup.

Poor Jonathan goes through the wringer in this episode, from believing his brother was dead, to dealing with his mom’s apparent irrational behavior, to preparing for Will's funeral all on his own. To be clear: I don’t blame Joyce or Jonathan for how either of them reacted during their fight downtown. The show does a great job demonstrating each person’s perspective. From Jonathan’s view, Joyce’s behavior DOES look unhinged, like she’s struggling to accept the idea that Will is dead despite the presence of a body, and it doesn’t help that he feels alone and unsupported in his grief while he's once again having to act as man of the family. However, because we the audience have been following Joyce’s story and seen the things she’s seen, we know she isn’t crazy, and she’s pushing back against being told to accept the lie regarding Will’s fate. Unfortunately, she can’t communicate that with Jonathan in a way he understands, and the result is he feels abandoned and is forced to cope on his own.

So it’s a relief when Nancy comes to him, even if she’s initially doing it to get clarification on what happened to Barbara. He finally has someone who’s listening to him, and Nancy throws him a lifeline by not only validating Joyce’s story about the figure she’s been seeing, but also giving him hope that Will was still alive. He even returns that by giving her hope that Barbara might be alive as well (even if we know that she isn’t).

Also, the entire time Nancy, Jonathan, and Joyce were describing what the Demogorgon looked like…………

…….was I the only one who was reminded of the creepypasta Slenderman?

I know the phenomenon of Slenderman was after the time period Stranger Things is set in (2009 is when the Slenderman mythos was first introduced), but I can’t help but notice similarities between Slenderman and the Demogorgon: Both monsters are described as tall thin humanoid figures with no faces who are responsible for the disappearance of people who cross their path. Both cause electronics to go haywire and become distorted whenever they’re nearby. Both have (so far) been glimpsed briefly by people, or even appear in blurred pictures (see the photos above) but manage to evade detection (at least for the moment). Difference is while Slenderman wore a suit and only seemed to target children and teenagers, the Demogorgon has no qualms about going after adults. And while the Demogorgon is a wild animal being controlled by a malevolent entity (The Mind Flayer), Slenderman was the malevolent entity who could drive other people into doing his bidding.

In addition to the chemistry Nancy and Jonathan share as a couple, Jancy in many ways can attribute its popularity not only to the idea of teens investigating paranormal occurrences, but also to how the relationship calls back to famous teen detectives novels like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. Even TV shows like Eerie Indiana, Archie’s Weird Mysteries, and Lockwood & Co. understood this, and feature premises center around kids and teens investigating horror-esque mysteries and constantly having to evade danger while also juggling relationships and friendships.

I know the Stranger Things spin-off will likely focus on different characters, but if they were going to subvert expectations and center it on characters from this show, I wouldn’t mind seeing a spin-off of Nancy and Jonathan leaving Hawkins to investigate other mysteries, urban legends, and horror-related phenomenon around the world. Imagine how they would have dealt with Slenderman if they had encountered it, or the kinds of stories you'd get from the pairing of an investigative journalist and her intrepid photographer. :)

Part 3: The Kids (Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and El)

For anyone curious about whether I’d ever bring up Stephen King’s Firestarter and its connection to this show, I am planning to talk more about it when I cover seasons 2 and 4 since there are plot points from that story that tie better into those seasons. I will say there are multiple nods to it in season 1, with the premise of a girl with dangerous powers being hunted by the government at the center of both the show and the Stephen King story, and even in the scene where the Heathkit Ham Shack radio catches fire when El uses it to channel Will and let the others know he’s still alive.

For the most part, the scenes featuring the kids are the lighter part of this episode. Contrary to what Mike initially thought, El didn’t technically lie about where Will was. He is at the Byers house, albeit in the Upside Down. Just like Nancy gives hope to Jonathan about Will being alive, El does the same thing for Mike. She isn’t prepared to lead them into the Upside Down, and for good reason: She knows about the monsters lurking there, that Mike and his friends will get eaten up and spat back out by the Demogorgon if they encounter it (which almost happens in the season finale), and she’s worried that she might not be able to properly deal with this monster, even with her powers.

I wonder how much of El’s powers are limited because of her age and the energy she uses (similar to how Henry/One/Vecna was drained after killing his mom and sister) and how much of those limitations are because of past trauma. She’s still blocking out everything about Henry/One/Vecna so far, but considering her frightened reaction to contacting the Demogorgon, how much of that is because of the Demogorgon itself, or because she could somehow sense Henry/One/Vecna presence within the Demogorgon (and he could sense her back)?

There is a recurring theme of El being cruelly put down by others for being perceived as weak (Angela, Two, etc) or for not doing what they want her to do (Brenner, Vecna, the military), but when she does exert power, it scares those people badly enough that they try to regain control by suppressing her further. In all those cases, it goes horribly wrong for those people. It reminds me of what happens in Firestarter to the government agents at The Shop who try to manipulate and control Charlie’s pyrokinetic abilities, only for her to cut loose at the very end and burn her captors. If El can overcome the mental blocks put on her mind, both by others around her and by herself, she could become unstoppable, like Jean Grey/Phoenix from X-Men. One specific example that comes to mind is what happens in X Men #134 (the comic mentioned in the first episode that Will races Dustin for) when Jean takes back control from Mastermind and fully embraces the Phoenix persona:

I did appreciate the subtle nods to Clue (1985) in this episode, both in the costume El wears to the school (similar to the over-the-top costumes worn by the characters in that movie), and the suspicious way the kids act at the school when they pretend to be sad for Mr. Clarke’s convenience and are very unconvincing about it. That’s also including Dustin and Lucas showing El how she’s supposed to cry:

Just…….the way the kids act here reminds me of how the guests from that movie behaved when the cop shows up and they’re all trying to cover up the 3 murders that have already taken place. It’s people trying to not make their behavior look suspect, and it’s hilarious:

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The mandated assembly for Will went about as well as anyone would expect it to. I don’t completely disagree with Lucas and Mike about most of the people there not giving a shit, but with the exceptions of Troy and James, some of the kids there looked indifferent at best but weren't being cruel about it, and I wonder how much of that is more based on being required to be there. There was Jennifer Hayes (i.e. the same girl from the Montauk Script whom Mike had a crush on before the Duffer Brothers changed that and cut her part out of the Pilot) crying at Will’s funeral in the next episode, so I’d have to imagine there were kids outside of the Party who didn’t hold any ill feelings towards Will and were sad over his death (even if they didn’t express it at the assembly).

Speaking of Troy and James, Mike’s confrontation with them was a long-time coming, and I’m not surprised Troy’s disgusting and homophobic comments about Will spurred Mike into finally fighting back (with help from El). The scene was reminiscent of Let Me In, and its Swedish predecessor Let The Right One In, where the main character in both movies, who’s spent most of the time getting targeted by bullies while he passively accepts the abuse, is finally inspired to hit back after encountering a vampire child named Eli/Abby who encourages him to stand up for himself. Even the bully from Let Me In has many similar physical and personality traits to Troy (though both characters are not portrayed by the same actor).

It's interesting rewatching this scene because of how much it parallels El’s confrontation with Angela at Rink-O-Mania in season 4. Unlike Angela, who seemed to have the full backing of everyone there to humiliate El, no one else aside from James is stepping in on Troy’s behalf. He and James are the only ones who are openly snickering about Will’s death during the assembly whereas everyone else is silent. The impression I get is, unlike Angela, Troy and James are low on the totem-pole of popularity (an impression that’s reinforced in the graphic novel The Bully), and they are just as much outcasts among their peers as Mike, Lucas, and Dustin are. Their way of dealing with this reality is to punch down at people like Mike, whom they assume will passively take the abuse, in order to give themselves the feeling of superiority in being “above” someone in the social hierarchy. However, just like when Angela was stupid enough to mock Hopper’s death to El’s face, and how that was the final straw that caused El to strike back hard, Mike finally reached his limit with their comments about Will, and the rest is history. Only difference is while everyone rushed to coddle Angela when the brat was bleeding and crying on the floor, no one is offering sympathy to Troy for his humiliation. Not that I feel bad for either of them. They both deserved it.

Part 4: (Brenner)

It was already obvious from the previous episode that Brenner's pursuit of science was more important than the lives of his employees (something that contrasts with Dr. Kurama from Elfen Lied), but given the revelation in season 4 that he’d been using El to try and locate Henry/One/Vecna in the dimension she sent him to, the scene of Brenner sending Shepard through the Gate makes his actions look even worse in hindsight. It’s already bad enough that a monster is on the loose (which Brenner undoubtedly knows about given the scientist who was killed by it in the first episode), but if he actually believed Henry/One/Vecna (someone who’s already demonstrated multiple ways to mutilate humans with his powers) was on the other side, and he’s sending an ordinary person with no ability to fight back if they encounter Henry/One/Vecna, that’s just despicable. The fact Brenner can do this while safely behind a control panel while Shepard has no guaranteed safety except for a cable (which does nothing to help him in the end) only demonstrates how much of a dirty coward he is.

It's ironic how the suits Brenner wears in season 1 were influenced by the suits Cary Grant’s character, Roger Thornhill, wears in the Alfred Hitchcock movie North by Northwest, considering the fundamental differences between Roger and Brenner. Roger is an everyman who, through a case of mistaken identity, is roped into a conspiracy where he’s targeted by those who believe he’s a secret agent for the United States Intelligence Agency. Brenner meanwhile is a government employee, one of the overarching villains of the show, and the one who set off the chain of events that has caused so much grief for the main characters. Roger spends the movie trying to evade being captured or killed, and gradually grows a spine in the process where he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Brenner meanwhile is the kind of person who directs others to get their hands dirty first, all while coldly manipulating them like a puppet on strings. And while Roger undergoes character development, Brenner never does, and later dies under the delusional belief that he did nothing wrong. In fact, there’s an argument to be had Brenner shares more in common with the antagonist of North by Northwest, Philip Vandamm, and the callous way he disposes of people in pursuit of his own agenda.

Final Thoughts: Song Choices

There is one prominent song featured at the beginning of this episode following Hopper and Joyce's talk, when Joyce gets the axe from the shed and Jonathan is mourning Will in his room: "Atmosphere" by Joy Division.

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Like "Hazy Shade of Winter" by The Bangles, "Atmosphere" has a very eerie quality to it that's intertwined with a melancholic feeling of life moving on. Whereas "Hazy Shade of Winter" was about time passing in general and the regrets that can come with it, "Atmosphere" focuses on grief and trying to move past it. Peter Hook, the bassist for Joy Division, even admitted this was the kind of song that got played at funerals often. Considering where this song is placed in the episode, its lyrics almost serve as an ominous warning ("Don't walk away, In silence. See the danger, Always danger") that Will's fate isn't sealed yet, and there's something darker looming on the horizon for the characters.

On a final note to lighten the mood, here’s a Funko Pop Demogorgon for your entertainment:

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thegayhimbo · 27 days ago

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Stranger Things (1x01): "The Vanishing of Will Byers" Review

NOTE: Two years ago, I announced plans for reviews for each of the Stranger Things episodes before S5 premiered. Because of multiple obligations that came up in those years, from work, to training for a marathon, to plans with family and friends, to dealing with other personal issues, this kept getting pushed back multiple times. Now that I have the opportunity this year, I'm aiming to do a full in-depth analysis of each episode, along with analysis of the characters and story arcs present in each season, while also speculating on how the Duffer Brothers plan to end the show.

I will admit that I did a semi-review of the first episode (split into two posts) back in November 2023 in honor of Stranger Things Day. However, at the time, that was me experimenting with a different review style rather than the in-depth analysis I want to aim for with these reviews (though I will be taking certain quotes from that particular semi-review for this specific episode as it does contain some interesting observations I took note of at the time). I have also done reviews for the tie-in materials Netflix, Random House Publishing, and Dark Horse Comics have put out, and given my thoughts on characters, arcs, and potential theories there (you can see my pinned page for links to those), but I also recognize not all fans will have read those materials, and the episodes hold more importance in terms of continuity and canon.

On top of that, another reason for the delay was researching multiple sources of media (books, movies, other TV shows, comics, etc) that the Duffer Brothers have cited as inspiration for how they wrote and structured Stranger Things, as well as how they crafted certain arcs and characters. These reviews will be citing those sources, and even doing a compare/contrast at times to understand why the Duffer Brothers went the direction they did, and whether (IMO) it made things better or worse. I also plan to do a deep dive into the themes the show presents, how those themes continue to be relevant to today's culture, and how the show acts as both a homage to the 80s as well as a deconstruction of it.

Before I begin though, there are a few points that need to be made:

1.) These will be long reviews because there's a lot to discuss. I will try my best NOT to split each episode into two or three posts and contain them to just one per episode. There will be no TL;DR however.

2.) I am writing these for my own interest and for the 4-5 mutuals who follow me (they know who they are). I'm okay if these get liked or reblogged by others, or if people want to leave comments, but I'm not writing these for a wider audience. This is my passion project for 2025, and I intend to enjoy it, regardless of others opinions. Which brings me to number 3.......

3.) I am fine with people disagreeing with my takes, or having dissenting opinions, but if you come on here being rude, condescending, belittling, or behave like an asshole, you're getting blocked. I will not indulge that behavior, and I won't even respond to you if you pull that.

With that out the way......let's get started:

In terms of a Pilot episode, not only do I think this is one of the best I've seen on TV, but it's one that's improved over time and has great rewatch value. There's a lot of subtext and foreshadowing planted in the first episode that not only comes to fruition later in S1, but also sets up aspects that are paid off in future seasons. I know the Duffer Brothers have said that season 1 was originally conceived as an anthology/miniseries (based on the original pitch and whether the show would get renewed), and given how nervous they were about whether Stranger Things would be a success, I can see why they would play it safe with Netflix at the time. However, there is evidence suggesting they had certain story elements and ideas ready to go if they were allowed to continue past season 1. At the time though, this season was "make it or break it" and if it hadn't gotten the audience and appeal that it did, it probably would have gone the way of Freaks and Geeks (a show also set in the 80s that the Duffer Brothers have cited as an inspiration for Stranger Things) in being cancelled before it could reach its potential.

Thankfully, that didn't happen, and not only did the show continue, but it also went forward with the same cast and crew that we would grow to love.

Part 1: Montauk vs. The Vanishing of Will Byers (and why changes aren't necessary a bad thing):

George R.R. Martin once said there are two types of writers: Architects and Gardeners. Architect writers are usually the ones who plan everything in advance to know what the structure is and how everything in a story is going to fit together. Gardeners are more spontaneous in that they will plant something and see whether it develops into anything. Obviously, they will tend to the seed (or in this case, the idea/story/character the writers has introduced), but it's more of a mystery how it will grow, or if it will blossom at all. Some plants/ideas grow into something beautiful. Others fall short. And some don't even make it out of the ground.

If I were to make an educated guess on which one the Duffer Brothers were, based on what their original script was (Montauk) vs what it evolved into (Stranger Things), I would argue they're the rare breed of writers/directors who fall in the middle of being both Architects AND Gardeners. Looking at the way they pitched Montauk in its original form, it's pretty clear they did have a general story planned out (like an architect), and even the original script contained planted ideas/seeds (like a gardener) that may or may not have panned out.

But just like any architect or gardener, that doesn't mean things are set in stone. If an architect discovers flaws in the blueprints (or realizes that the building plan isn't practical with how it's originally designed), they're going to go back and make changes. Same with a gardener: If a plant doesn't spring up or ripen, it doesn't mean they give up and abandon the project. Any good gardener will prune that which isn't working, or figure out why the plant didn't grow the first time and start again in a better environment.

And in the case of how Montauk evolved into this episode, and how they structured the rest of season 1, I would argue most of these changes were for the better.

Let's look at the original setting for instance: Montauk's premise is centered around the infamous mystery regarding The Montauk Project. These were a series of alleged experiments that took place at Camp Hero, a base owned and operated by the United States Air Force, in the town of Montauk, New York, between 1971 and 1983.

These experiments are chronicled in several books written by Preston B. Nichols, an alleged scientist who worked on the Montauk Project and claimed to have been witness to bizarre and inhumane experiments centered on mind control, time travel, alternate realities, psychics, and the apparent aid of aliens from the distant stars.

Having read the first book, Experiments in Time, and watched the documentary Montauk Chronicles (which is two hours of my life I'm never getting back), I can attest to this being a huge rabbit hole of conspiracy theories that have no solid evidence or concrete proof, other than the word of the author and the people in the documentary who claim they either worked at Camp Hero or were used as experiments in the Montauk Project. As a science fiction story, it's a mind-trip wrapped in a mystery, and I can understand why the Duffer Brothers would find it fascinating enough to write a show around. However, outside of that, the whole idea taken as fact (which is what Preston and the documentary aims for) is outlandish and even self-indulgent at times. Maybe this is just my cynicism talking, but after so many years of seeing people on both the Right and the Left fall into QAnon levels of thinking, or having moron politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene and organizations like Code Pink spewing garbage conspiracies, I find that my patience is pretty thin in regards to topics like this.

All of this factors into why I'm not bothered that the show changed the setting from Montauk, New York to Hawkins, Indiana, as well as creating an original mythology for Stranger Things centered around Hawkins Lab as opposed to basing the entire show on a real-life conspiracy that some people would have swallowed wholeheartedly and claim was actual truth. The Duffer Brothers have admitted that the change in location was based on practicality, weather (Long Island is freezing cold during winter and it would have been miserable trying to film there during the season), budget, and having more flexibility with what they could do with a fictional town vs setting the story in a real town to correlate with specific events in the past and NOT have that break suspension of disbelief.

In spite of moving away from the premise of the Montauk Project, there are certain elements the Duffer Brothers kept:

1.) The Philadelphia Experiment (Project Rainbow). A.K.A The fate of the USS Eldridge in 1943. This was the precursor for why and how The Montauk Project got off the ground. While "The Vanishing of Will Byers" doesn't specifically mention this particular incident, it is brought up in the play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, and anyone who's seen the play can tell you that it is a MAJOR PLOT POINT central to the show's mythology regarding the Upside Down, and the characters of Dr. Brenner, Vecna, and El. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the play, or even read my review if you're looking for a quick summary.

2.) The connection between someone with special powers and the monster that's unleashed as a result of their actions. In the book Experiments in Time, there was a psychic named Duncan Cameron who had worked on the project for years and, through the use of a transmitter connected to a chair that he sat in during sessions, was able to create physical objects with his mind. After Preston and several of his colleagues expressed misgivings about their work, due to how it was messing with the space-time continuum and the number of people they were callously sacrificing for the project, they formulated a plan with Duncan to have him use his subconscious to form a monster that would destroy Camp Hero. In 1983 (the same year the first season of Stranger Things takes place), Duncan unleashed the monster to cause chaos.

While the beast eventually dissolved into the Ether after power to the transmitter was cut, it resulted in the base being permanently shut down.

As evident by Stranger Things, there are parallels between Duncan and Eleven in that both have special powers and worked in a top-secret government facility. The difference is that Duncan was psychic whereas El is psychokinetic. Duncan willingly worked on this project whereas El was a prisoner for years manipulated into working on behalf of Dr. Brenner. Unlike Duncan, her release of the Demogorgon and opening the Gate to a different dimension was an accident and not premeditated, in contrast to Duncan knowingly opening a vortex in time for people to travel to different time periods. And while the monster unleashed on Camp Hero was a creation of Duncan, that turns out not to be the case with the Demogrogon, with El having nothing to do with its creation.

The Montauk script implies that the Duffer Brothers were originally planning to recreate the same story beats as Experiments In Time, even right down to the last scene:

I am curious is this was supposed to be the first appearance of the Mind Flayer before they moved it to season 2. If it was, 1.) I'm glad they waited for that reveal and didn't tip their hand too early (especially since they had planned for 4-5 seasons) and adhered to the rule of "Less is Better." And 2.) It gives the impression that characters like the Mind Flayer (and even Vecna) had been planned out from the beginning, and were eventually going to be introduced, regardless of whether they stuck to the Montauk mythology or not.

Alternatively, there is the possibility this may have been meant to reference the Radiosondes from The Montauk Project. Long story short, this was an alleged device created by the government that manipulated the amount of DOR (i.e. energy in a descending spiral) and orgone energy (i.e. orgasmic or life energy, similar to Isaac Newton's idea of Ether) in a weather-related storm. It's the idea that the government has a device that can control the weather.

Yeah.......it's easy to see why this didn't age well, and why I'm glad the Duffer Brothers went a different direction. Even this would have been too much, and sounds like something that belongs on a show like The X Files as opposed to Stranger Things.

Speaking of different directions, the original script was a lot gorier than this episode. We're talking about mutilated and burnt bodies once the monster is unleashed:

Even Will's encounter with the monster plays out differently:

It's interesting that the original idea behind the Demogorgon was that it acted as a disruptive metaphysical force that could cause a person to start bleeding profusely. As if its mere presence was something that mere mortals couldn't handle being around, or even looking at without suffering some sort of physical or mental breakdown. The Duffer Brothers have cited Lovecraftian horror as an inspiration for how the Upside Down and its inhabitants were structured, and that is shown in this episode with the slime, vines and rotting mold growing out of the Gate, as well as how the Gate itself breathes like it's a mouth sucking air:

In regards to the change with the Demogorgon, where they got rid of the "humans start bleeding if they're anywhere near it" aspect, it hearkens back to the principle of "Less is Better." One of the brilliant things the Duffer Brothers did was introduce the horror gradually, with season 1 paying homage heavily to Steven Spielberg and movies like Poltergeist, as opposed to immediately going for gory shock value the same way shows like Elfen Lied, True Blood, Game of Thrones, and The Boys did. It was inevitable this show would eventually introduce bloodier aspects, like the Flayed in S3 and Vecna's mutilation of his victims in S4, but those instances felt earned as the show progressed and moved away from lighter aspects in order to explore darker and more mature themes.

Part 2: Will getting dragged to the Upside Down

Parallels between Will's disappearance and Carol Anne's situation in Poltergeist (which is referenced in this very episode) have been drawn before, but there is another reference that often isn't brought up, which Poltergeist owes acknowledgment to for its story: The episode "Little Girl Lost" from The Twilight Zone.

Similar to Poltergeist, "Little Girl Lost" features a girl named Bettina Miller who disappears one night into another dimension. Unlike Carol Anne or even Will, this happens on accident when she falls through a portal at the wall of her bed. The main premise is still the same though: The parents of the disappeared kid desperately attempt to find where this portal leads and rescue them before it's too late. Like "Little Girl Lost," a dog is featured that's aware of the alternate dimension, but the big difference is that the dog in said episode (whose name is Mack) was able to follow Bettina into the other dimension and help lead her back to her parents whereas Chester, the dog in Stranger Things does clue Hopper into the area where Will disappeared, but isn't able to follow him into the Upside Down:

(Side Tangent: I think there was a story opportunity missed here with the dog. It's made ambiguous if its barking at the shed is because it was Will's last known location, or because it can sense Will's presence despite being in the Upside Down, or it's somehow aware of the Upside Down, but the idea of animals having some kind of sense regarding the Upside Down and the eldritch abominations that exist there and are hostile to it (similar to how living creatures flee the presence of the Nazgul in The Lord of the Rings) was ripe for potential. However, I am aware that the reason Chester disappears after season 1 is because David Harbour had problems working with the dog, so any potential for that story arc likely went out the window. Though if UD monsters start appearing frequently in the woods during season 5, maybe they might explore that arc again. Who knows?)

Carol Anne's disappearance in Poltergeist initially appears as a random accident, especially with the revelation at the end of the movie regarding where the Freeling family lives, but it's implied in the movie (and later confirmed by its sequels) that she was intentionally targeted by a monster called "The Beast" (who's later revealed to be a malevolent spirit named Henry Kane) for his own nefarious purposes. Interestingly (and something I'll discuss more when I review "Holly Jolly") the BTS photos of S5 that they've revealed of Holly and Vecna together (with Vecna even wearing an old-fashioned suit like Henry Kane did as a preacher) implies they might actually use aspects of the Poltergeist trilogy for what they do with Holly's story in season 5.

Getting back to Will, I've talked about this before in my review of The Other Side (which chronicled the events of season 1 from Will's perspective in the Upside Down, and is a comic I highly recommend reading), but given the revelations in season 4 regarding Vecna and the UD freezing in place on November 6th, 1983 (the same night Will disappeared), it changes the context regarding what happens to Will in this episode. Instead of it just being the Demogorgon randomly stumbling onto Will (the way season 1 initially frames it), it comes off like Will's disappearance was planned by either Vecna or The Mind Flayer (or both) for a yet unrevealed reason. I've held to the theory that Will somehow had to do with the Upside Down freezing in time. Or at the very least, there is something Vecna wants from Will. The fact that Jamie Campbell Bower has stated in interviews that Will is central to this whole conflict (something that was confirmed by the Duffer Brothers when Bower went to talk to them), as well as how both Noah Schnapp and Bower have talked about there's unfinished business between the two of them (Vecna and Will), only confirms that.

Part 3: Changes to Characters (and why it works better in the final product):

Just like the changes to location and story beats helped improve the show and allowed the Duffer Brothers more creativity in constructing the show's mythology, the same can be said for changes made to the characters that helped improve them and the story.

Take Dustin's arc for instance. In the Montauk screenplay, and the original outline the Duffer Brothers drafted before revising it, there was a great deal of emphasis placed on Dustin's weight and how would impact his character going forward:

I'm sure there are fans who have accused the Duffer Brothers of engaging in fat shaming, and while the original script is iffy on this (the line from the original script about how Dustin will be fat later as an adult doesn't help) the way the outline frames the fat shaming itself is in a negative light. It's portrayed as detrimental for Dustin, with him being made the target of bullying because of it, and having to work to gain self-confidence to overcome his insecurities surrounding it.

However, the way Dustin was originally written may have also been a callback to certain 80s characters who were the butt of jokes about their weight and eating habits, such as Vern Tessio from Stephen King's Stand By Me and Lawrence "Chunk" Cohen from The Goonies, and I can understand why fans would have a major problem with this, especially if the Duffer Brothers blurred the lines between calling out the fat shaming Dustin would've experienced vs indulging in it. Look at F.R.I.E.N.D.S for instance in its portrayal of Monica Geller and how the writers alternated between showing the negative impact fat shaming had on Monica vs the constant jokes made at her expense, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Or even Avengers Endgame and what they did to Thor's character in that movie.

So for me, I'm fine with the Duffer Brothers not going that direction because I'm wary about whether they would have stumbled into that pitfall. I also think the decision to write in Gaten Matarazzo's condition of cleidocranial dysostosis (CCD) works better and even helps raise awareness regarding genetic birth defects people have while also humanizing them, similar to the Eric Stoltz film Mask (1985) (another movie the Duffer Brothers cited as an inspiration for Stranger Things) and the way Rocky Dennis's condition was portrayed and how he dealt with it.

Likewise, the way they rewrote Lucas for the show, from an angry loudmouthed kid whose parents were getting a divorce (and was set to cause problems for the group later on), to a kid who's blunt about his opinions, undergoes positive character development, has a stable family and loving parents (Charles Sinclair is one of the few characters who doesn't fall into the "Deadbeat and/or Abusive Dads" club), and maintains his loyalty to the Party despite his disagreements with them works a helluva lot better. I also think the decision to reverse Lucas's crush on Nancy and giving it to Dustin was a good choice in hindsight since it freed Lucas for his future relationship with Max.

Mike also has some minor changes made to his character. The original screenplay talks about him having a birthmark on his cheek, making him a target for bullies, as well as a possible crush on another girl named Jennifer Hayes before he meets Eleven.

It's similar to the character of Sam Weir from Freaks and Geeks, who had a crush on another girl in school named Cindy Sanders (before Cindy revealed herself to be a jerk) and was also initially bullied for his physical appearance. I can see why they cut Jennifer from the script since she was superfluous as they intended for Mike to fall in love with El and have her be his first crush. As for removing the birthmark, that may have had to do with casting, the decision to write Gaten's CCD into Dustin's character and have that be the reason he's targeted by bullies like Troy and James, or they simply figured that having Mike get bullied for being a nerd was enough. In either case, one thing that they kept consistent with Mike in both the original script and the final product (which unfortunately carries over to season 4) is his passivity to bullies (though he certainly becomes a lot snarkier than he is here).

Interestingly, Will is the one character that remains consistent with both the original script and this episode. Aside from tweaking his encounter with the Demogorgon so he isn't pleading with the monster (and being horrified when it appears behind him despite having locked the shed door), his characterization remains the same. Just look at how he was described in the Montauk pitch:

This also carries over to the conversation in Joyce has with Hopper at the police station about Will's clothes and being referred to as 'queer.' The implication here is that, even if they had gone with the original screenplay, there was always the intention of eventually revealing that Will was gay. Maybe the revelation wouldn't have happened in the first season of Montauk, and they would have dropped subtle hints beforehand (just like the first 3 seasons did), but, contrary to the homophobic idiots out there who want to pretend LGBT+ people didn't exist in the 80s, this was the direction they intended to go with Will's character from the beginning.

There are other minor changes that work better:

Hopper's establishing character moment of waking up, smoking, and downing pills with beer is the same, but unlike in the original screenplay, this is the first image we see before we pan over to Hopper:

It's a small scene, but it makes a huge difference (especially on rewatch) in how the show quietly foreshadows WHY Hopper has become like this as opposed to in the Montauk Pilot (which doesn't mention this scene at all in the screenplay), helps make his initial apathetic behavior more understandable, and cues the audience in quicker to his depression.

Joyce's swearing and casual use of F-Bombs is absent in this episode, and the 1982 flashback of her entering Castle Byers to give Will tickets to Poltergeist is added in as a way of emphasizing her, caring, motherly side while toning down her impatient outbursts.

Jonathan's character also remains the same, albeit some minor changes, from how he was written in the original version: He still acts as both a loving brother and a parental figure to Will, as well as supportive of his mom. The difference is his reason for not catching that Will wasn't home the night before: In the Montauk script, it's because he was busy getting photographs developed and didn't come home until later. In this episode, it's because he picked up another shift to help his mom. It's a change that does a better job showing how Jonathan is forced to shoulder a lot of responsibilities for the family since Lonnie left. It also makes Joyce's frustration with Jonathan overworking himself more understandable, as opposed to the Montauk script where their exchange comes off like she's lashing out at him:

Mr. Clarke goes from a handsome teacher the girls fawn over to a more traditional science teacher with the same passion for his subject. The scene with him showing Mike, Lucas, and Dustin the Heathkit Hamshack Radio is also a new addition, which does a good job highlighting why the boys like him so much as a teacher, and also avoids them being publicly drawn out of their class to speak to the principal and Hopper over Will's disappearance. They also cut parts of the conversation with Mr. Clarke and Hopper in the woods that would have revealed when they both graduated. This was definitely for the best because the date of Hopper's graduation in the original script (1958) would have been a major continuity error when they wrote Hopper still being in high school for The First Shadow.

El's age is changed to 12 instead of 10, likely as a means of keeping El and Mike the same age for their relationship, and so they could later have El attend public school in S4 in the same grade as her friends, which the Duffer Brothers have admitted was an arc they'd wanted to explore with El for a while. There's also a reference to a Tommy that El calls her "little brother," which may have initially been a subtle nod to James Cameron's Aliens with the character of Newt and how she had a brother named Timmy who fell prey to the Xenomorphs. Considering that the Duffer Brothers have mentioned that all of the other special kids, with the exception of Eight, were dead when they initially conceived the story for Hawkins Lab, it's likely Tommy was meant to be Eight before they rewrote the character to be El's older sister Kali Prasad once season 2 was underway.

Dr. Brenner is noticeably not named in the Pilot script, and his dialogue is spoken by someone called "Agent One." The way he's described, along with the other two Agents, reminds me strongly Agent Smith from The Matrix. Furthermore, the script implies he has some kind of relationship with Eleven, and considering he's already calling the shots in regards to the investigation, it's clear Dr. Brenner evolved from Agent One, with the addition of having him be in charge of Hawkins Lab.

The biggest change in regards to characters (and one that the fanbase tends to fixate on) is how Steve's character is written here vs in the Montauk script, and by extension how that impacts the way Nancy and Barbara were written. I will go more in-depth about these three characters in the next episode, but there are important things to note here:

1.) Contrary to how the Montauk script killed Barbara off in the first episode, I prefer how they did it on the show where her role was expanded for two more episodes after this one, and we at least got the chance to know her better before her death. #JusticeForBarb wouldn't have the momentum it did after season 1 if it hadn't been for the Duffer Brothers keeping her around longer than intended and fleshing out her character.

2.) I hold that the conflict brought up between Nancy and Barbara about her interest in Steve, and how much of this is based on the two actually liking one another vs social status and how this relationship would be perceived by others, is a lot more nuanced than its been made out to be by the fandom. It also makes the motivations behind all three characters complex as opposed to shallow and simplistic. Had the show gone with the original Montauk script, it would have removed that complexity regarding Nancy's reasons for liking Steve, Steve's reasons for being interested in her, and Barb's ambivalence about the two of them getting together. That's not even getting into how "Popular Douchebag wanting to get into another girl's pants" is a trope that's been done to death way before Stranger Things was ever written, so it's nice to see this trope subverted instead of taking the cliche route of playing it straight.

3.) I will talk more about this in future episodes, but ironically enough, by rewriting Steve's character, they actually manage to improve Nancy's character. Rather than coming off as a shallow brat pining for the rich popular dude (while referring to Mike's friends as "losers" in the process) and ignoring all the warning signs that Montauk!Steve couldn't care less about her, she comes off as someone who is trying something new with her relationship with Steve, but also establishes boundaries and isn't shy about calling out Steve if she thinks Steve is behaving badly. We see this even before her make-out session in the bathroom when both she and Barbara express their disdain for becoming friends with Tommy and Carol (Tommy is still as shitty in the Montauk script as he is in the final product), indicating that while they might tolerate Tommy and Carol for the sake of Nancy's relationship with Steve, they do not like them (rightfully so), nor have any intention of becoming friends with them. Same thing goes for how she deals with preparing for Mrs. Kaminsky's test (whose named Mrs. Krietzberg in the Montauk script): In the original screenplay, she basically blows off studying, sneaks out of the house to go to a bonfire, and gets put in an extremely horrific situation as a result. In this episode: While she does flirt with Steve, she is pretty firm in telling him her priority is studying for the test, and even brings up the question of whether Steve actually cares about her, or if this is just "another notch under his belt." It makes Nancy look a lot more responsible and intelligent than she was in the Montauk script. Which brings me to Steve.........

4.) Again, I will discuss the difference between the sex scene between Nancy and Steve on the show vs how it was originally supposed to go in the next episode, but in regards to how they wrote Steve.......I will always maintain the direction they took his character was a better choice, not just because they cast Joe Keery in the role, but for the story as a whole. It's easy to write hateful characters who have no depth to them (looking at Troy, James, Tommy, Carol, Angela, and Jake to name a few 😒), but it's a whole different ballpark when you have to write characters who have unlikable qualities (or in Steve's case, start out with unlikable qualities), but also have hidden depths to them that show they have potential to be decent people and get the audience to invest in them. Steve is one such character, and a far more interesting one than the Montauk version.

Take for instance the difference between Montauk!Steve vs Stranger Things Steve: In the show, it's stated in dialogue to Barbara that Nancy and Steve made out a couple of times, establishing this relationship had been ongoing for a while, and leading to speculation about where they take things from here. Furthermore, the way Nancy and Steve's make-out session in the bathroom is filmed comes off as a lot more consensual (helped by the immediate jump-cut to Steve and Nancy in the bathroom following her conversation with Barbara) compared to the original draft where Nancy has NOT been in a relationship with Steve at this point, and Steve just comes out of nowhere and starts kissing her when she doesn't expect it. It doesn't help that the Montauk script already spells out what his motivations are:

The problem with this is it takes away any mystery regarding Steve's motivations. It also makes it hard to invest in Nancy's decision to sneak out of the house to meet up with Steve because we already know it's going to end badly for her.

By contrast, Nancy commitment in this episode to study for her test and Steve's volunteering to help her raises an intriguing question: Is he actually doing this because he cares about her, or is he doing this for selfish reasons? It's a question that drives part of the episode, and helps keep the drama fresh instead of one-note.

In regards to Steve climbing through Nancy's window (and making such a hash of it that even Mike is rolling his eyes while he leaves the house with his bike), I always took this as a homage to A Nightmare on Elm Street (and even watched the movie three months before bingeing the first season of Stranger Things) where the main character (who's also named Nancy) had a consenting arrangement with her boyfriend Glen where he would show up at her bedroom window to avoid her parents and she would let him in and later help him sneak out once they were done talking. Considering that Steve informed her about coming to her house around 8:00pm and Nancy let him stay to study, I'm not remotely interested in doing the hysterical pearl-clutching about the ethics of this like Steve-Antis on Reddit and Tumblr want to. 🙄

Finally, with the way the study session goes, it hearkens back to my previous points: Steve is being challenged by Nancy about his reasons for coming over, and unlike the original script that spells out Steve's sleazy motivation (and kills any interest in that version of the character as a result), this Steve shows a different side: He projects the cool, popular, IDGAF image that might have made other girls attracted to him, but when Nancy makes it clear she isn't really interested in doing anything sexual, he lays off and continues to help her prepare for her test, showing he DOES actually care about what she thinks. Add on the clumsy way he sneaks into Nancy's bedroom, combined with his "stealthy like a ninja line" (which wasn't in the original script), and the Duffer Brothers are already setting the groundwork of the image Steve projects to others vs who he actually is on the inside. I will happily take that kind of character study any day of the week.

Part 4: Subtext and Foreshadowing:

Like I said before, there's a lot that's set up in this episode, and it's fun going back and picking up on tibits that not only foreshadow what will happen in season 1, but also foreshadows later seasons and contains multiple 80s references.

The opening with the scientist attempting to escape the Demogorgon, only to be pulled through the roof of the elevator by it is not just a homage to Ridley Scott's Alien, but specifically to Brett's death scene in the movie:

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The main difference is, unlike with the Xenomorph, we don't see the Demogorgon yet since the Duffer Brothers are adhering to the principle established in Steven Spielberg's Jaws: Waiting for a certain amount of time (in this case, a few episodes) before revealing what the monster looks like, and build anticipation and dread in the audience as a result.

In regards to the D&D campaign that introduces Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas, one thing I failed to notice first time around was the poster of John Carpenter's The Thing in the background. It can be assumed the movie is one of Mike's favorites since I seriously doubt anyone else in his family would have been fans of it. Even though it's likely meant as just a reference (and the whole idea of body horror and assimilation from a monster will play a bigger role in S3 with the Flayed), it does foreshadow the conflict that will erupt between Mike and Lucas in future episodes.

For those who haven't seen the movie, John Carpenter's The Thing centers around an alien threat being brought unintentionally into a research facility on Antarctica that has the ability to assimilate and imitate creatures and people, which it uses to kill off the human crew in gory detail. The two main characters are R.J. MacReady (played by Kurt Russell) and Childs (played by Keith David), and the main drama of the movie centers on their conflict over how to deal with this "Thing" as tensions grow and hostiles threaten to turn everyone against each other. Both characters have parallels to Mike and Lucas in that they both have the Party's best interests in mind, but disagree over how to handle it, and it eventually comes to a boiling point where trust is shattered. Childs is (rightfully) suspicious of everyone around him in the movie, similar to how Lucas is suspicious of Eleven when she's first introduced, and even clashes with Mike over his leadership and decision-making in regards over how this helps Will, similar to Childs's antagonism towards MacReady's leadership and how his actions are impacting the research crew. Likewise, MacReady and Mike act as the unofficial leaders of the Party, make decisions with the consent of everyone, but also take stances that put them at odds with the people around them. Both Mike and MacReady also share stubbornness as a trait, which becomes a problem later on when they're trying to rally their respective groups.

As for everything else in this scene (including both Will and Dustin), the semi-review I did over a year ago which talked about that scene in detail sums it up best, and I'm going to quote it here:

"They do a good job with the establishing character moments for both Dustin and Lucas in Mike’s D&D campaign: Dustin telling Will to use caution and cast a protective spell while Lucas insists Will fireballs the Demogorgon while he has the chance. Lucas’s strategy is to go on the offense while Dustin’s is to go on the defense. Specifically with Lucas, he uses that strategy in other situations he’s in: Like when Lucas kicks Billy in the groin in S2 after being pinned to the wall by him, or gets an axe to chop at the Meat Flayer’s tendril to save El in S3, or even how Lucas is the one who later convinces everyone to take the fireworks from the store to use as ammunition (which helps turn the tide at the Battle of Starcourt). By contrast, Dustin prioritizes the safety of the Party, from pointing out to Mike and Lucas that they might be walking into the same danger Will encountered when they later look for him in the woods, to telling Mike NOT to jump off a cliff when Troy threatens Dustin, to enlisting Steve’s help in S2 because he knows Steve will be able to protect them due to his size and skill with the bat, to rescuing Steve and Robin from the Russians in S3. This isn’t to say that Lucas is wrong and Dustin is right, or even that Dustin is wrong and Lucas is right. It’s merely noting they have opposite approaches. Each situation they encounter is different, and sometimes (just like with Will’s dice role) it’s really up to chance. Also (as noted later in the episode by Mike), Will took Lucas’s advice and used fireball as a means of protecting the Party instead of trying to save himself. He puts other people’s safety before his own. The comic book “The Other Side” (which focuses on Will’s perspective during the events of S1 while trapped in the UD) expands on this aspect of his personality by including several moments of him coming to the aid of others (including Nancy) while in the UD, despite knowing it would put him in danger. Also, regardless of Lucas insisting the role doesn’t count because Mike didn’t see it, Will still chooses to be honest with Mike. He knows there are situations you can’t cheat your way out of, or pretend didn’t happen (as he’s about to find out with the real Demogorgon)."

In regards to mythology related to the Upside Down, there are some references that could come into play in season 5:

First is the mention of monsters like the Troglodytes in this episode. While they may be a simple D&D monster reference, considering the final season is implying there will be an invasion of monsters from the Upside Down, the Duffer Brothers could choose to introduce new creatures that the Party could give these names to. Troglodytes in D&D are a reptilian-humanoid species that's known for their stench, their bloodthirst, their desire to prey on innocent travelers, their short-sited stupidity, and their inability to plan in the long run.

Their characteristics have similarities to the goblins in the Artemis Fowl series, especially in their ability to be manipulated by the antagonists in those books to creating general chaos and kill as many people as they can get their hands on. Since Vecna and the Mind Flayer have long since abandoned the stealth approach they used in the first two seasons, if they're looking for a direct brutal attack that will rake up a high body count and happen to have creatures in the UD similar to troglodytes, they will inevitably be throwing these at the military stationed in Hawkins.

Same goes for the Thessalhydra that's mentioned in the S1 finale:

Considering that the vision Vecna showed Nancy in S4 involved a creature with a "big gaping mouth," we will likely be seeing a version of the Thessalhydra appear in the final season.

Adding on to this, there's a reference made to Mirkwood from The Lord of the Rings, which is one of the places inhabited by giant malicious spiders. Originally, they had planned to introduce a new creature on top of the Demobats in S4 called the Demospiders:

Even though those plans got scrapped in favor of the Demobats, there's nothing stopping the Duffer Brothers from formally introducing them in S5. And considering that the BTS photos for S5 have emphasized Castle Byers and Mirkwood, I wouldn't be surprised if Demospiders made their appearance there. Just like with D&D, references and even parallels to LOTR have been dropped, and it wouldn't be remiss to use Tolkien's books as a blueprint for the direction they could go in S5.

Speaking of references, comics like X-Men and Fantastic Four are brought up in this episode. When Will races Dustin for instance, the prize is the X-Men #134 comic, which features the X-Men against the Hellfire Club (Wonder if that's where the Duffer Brothers got the name for Eddie's D&D club? 🤔) and contains foreshadowing for the S1 finale regarding the Demogorgon's eventual fate, as well as a direct parallel between how Jean Grey/Phoenix deals with Mastermind:

BTW, I actually bought the comic and now own it! 😁

Additionally, after Troy and James get done with making fun of Dustin for his CCD, Mike tries to make Dustin feel better by comparing him to Mr. Fantastic and trying to get Dustin to see his CCD as a cool superpower. This is a general theme that will persist on this show: That being an outsider or a nerd isn't a bad thing, and can even be a "superpower" if the characters choose to see it as such and use it. The fact these characters also go to the lengths to support and uplift each other in spite of the world putting them down (similar to the constant discrimination the X-Men face, which forces them to rely on one another for support) also strengthens this theme.

Speaking of uplifting others, let's talk about Benny and his encounter with El.

I didn't appreciate the significance of this interaction the first time I saw this scene, but given what's revealed in El's flashbacks to the Lab, the way she was bullied and abused by the other kids (with the possible exception of Kali/Eight who later escaped), and how she was groomed and manipulated by both Dr. Brenner and Vecna........El's interaction with Benny is probably the first time she's experienced any type of kindness and human decency with no malicious motivations behind it. I mentioned in my previous semi-review that I wouldn't be surprised if Dr. Brenner deprived her of food either as a means of getting results (which was the same reason he allowed the kids at the lab to repeatedly bully El) or as a means of punishment. That man was a monster, and one thing y'all are about to find out real fast is I don't have a lot of patience for him, or for the fans out there who make abuse apologies on his behalf.

In any case, Benny is an example not just of a decent person, but a perfect example of how to write a character for such a small role and still have them leave enough of an impact that the audience will miss them and be upset when they're gone. For all the flaws the Duffer Brothers have, they excel at this. Benny was one of them. Chrissy and Barbara were also great examples. All of them deserved better than the fates they were subjected to.

Speaking of which, there's nothing like human cruelty and stupidity to quickly snuff out compassion and decency, is there? 😒

I still hold the same opinion about Connie Frazier as I did before: Not only was her murder of Benny evil, it was downright moronic and caused so many unnecessary problems for Brenner and the government. Granted, I don't feel sympathy for Brenner or his goons, and I'm hard pressed to care they all suffered horrific consequences down the line, but damn! I pretty much summed it up best once before:

"I’ve questioned the logic of Connie killing Benny, especially because of how it drew unwanted attention (especially from Hopper of all people) when that’s likely the last thing Brenner and Hawkins Lab wanted. At this point, Benny was fully cooperating with Connie, and was about to give El to her since he believed Connie was from social services. There’s nothing in his conversation with Connie prior to his death that would’ve made her suspicious that Benny saw something he shouldn’t have, or that he believed there was something abnormal about El. It’s also notable that El doesn’t run when she first sees Connie at the door with Benny. She runs AFTER Connie shoots Benny. That implies that Connie was someone El hadn’t seen before, meaning Connie could have gotten El to come with her without fuss (and without arousing Benny’s suspicions) and then later hand her over to Brenner before El realized what was happening. If Connie had been ordered to kill Benny just for seeing El and wanting to keep her existence a secret, then at the very least, she should have waited until after they had El in their custody so that she wouldn’t be able to run away. Connie really screwed up here."

There seems to be an uneven ratio between decent people vs vile human beings. For every Benny, there's a Connie Frazier or Dr. Brenner or Colonel Sullivan in the wings. For every Chrissy, there are multiple Angelas. And for every Steve, there are multiple Billys and Jasons. 😒 I'm not just talking about on the show, but in real life as well. This past year alone has been eye-opening in that regard.

Part 5: Song Choices

It goes without saying I'm a big fan of 80s songs, and part of the anticipation I've had with the release of each season was based on what 80s songs would be featured in a given episode, and what context they'd be used in. Because of the sheer variety though, my aim will be focusing on songs that either are plot-relevant, are used to foreshadow certain story or character elements, or are connected to a character and what that says about them.

Two specific songs in this episode stand out: "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, and "Africa" by Toto. The first song plays when Benny is murdered by Connie, and El is forced to escape Brenner and his cronies. The second is played when Steve is helping Nancy study for her science test.

Like I've said, with the semi-reviews, in spite of their experimental nature, I did aim for analysis, especially in regards to the songs, and it's for that reason I'll let my quotes speak for themselves:

I love the song choice of “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane for the scene where El escapes Benny’s restaurant. The lyrics to the song were inspired by the book Alice in Wonderland, and the natural curiosity Alice has when she explores Wonderland (similar to El’s curiosity about the world outside of the lab). However, it was also about the type of drug-induced “trips” you take when you get high on psychedelics. Grace Slick, front-woman for Jefferson Airplane, argued Alice in Wonderland contained metaphorical drug references, like the caterpillar on a psychedelic mushroom smoking opium, or Alice eating something that causes her to become “too big for the room.” The song itself was written and released in the 60s when psychedelics like LSD were being used, and those same psychedelics were taken by El’s mom, Terry Ives, during the experiments she did at Hawkins Lab while pregnant with El.

I would like to take this time to amend and add on to a comment I made in that previous semi-review about the way El was created: While she was conceived during the time Terry was being experimented on with psychedelics, we know from S4, as well as the events of The First Shadow, that Vecna's blood was an important factor in Brenner replicating these kids, and that said blood was transfused into Terry while she was pregnant, resulting in El having her powers.

Finally, there's "Africa" by Toto:

Another song choice I liked was “Africa” by Toto for the Steve and Nancy scene. There’s always been a debate about what the lyrics mean (and from what I’ve heard, the band meant for the song to actually be about the continent of Africa rather than just a metaphor), but when I first heard the song years ago, I interpreted it as about a man being enamored by a woman, anticipating the moment when they get together, and wanting it to be a special moment. Given Steve’s interest (and flirtation) with Nancy in this scene, as well as his insistence to her that he doesn’t just see her as another notch under his belt and is truly invested in her, both he (and Nancy) want it to be a special moment as well.

All I'll add to this is the choice of song acts as a paradox in that it's oddly comforting, but also highlights the conflicting feelings in both Steve and Nancy about where their relationship goes from here.

Final Thoughts:

I know this review has ballooned, but there is (and always will be) a lot to talk about, not just in terms of characters and story arcs, or even homages to 80s trivia and media, but also in regards to real-life themes and how the issues that are brought up in Stranger Things continue to be relevant to today's culture. It's a big reason I'm passionate about this show, and why I want to discuss it.

On top of that, one thing I'm grateful that the Duffer Brothers carried over from the original Montauk pitch is this:

This, more than anything, is why I value this show, why I defend it against accusations that it's just "popcorn entertainment," why I argue there's more depth and intelligence to this show than people (especially on Reddit and Tumblr) give it credit for, and why I'm willing to go to bat for it (even in regards to writing choices I disagree with).

1 episode down. 33 more to go! 👍

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