While cable companies are managing to stay in business, streaming services like Netflix have been able to dominate the small screen with unique TV shows like Stranger Things. This series began in 2016 and is one of Netflix’s many original TV shows that have been critically acclaimed. Taking place in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, Stranger Things focuses on the disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and the discovery of supernatural forces that are behind his disappearance. The series has introduced fans to Will’s friends Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), as well as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a girl with extraordinary powers.
So far, two seasons of Stranger Things have been released on Netflix, with the third expecting to arrive this July. The series has received mostly positive reviews for elements such as the characters and story, but also for being a love letter of sorts for the ‘80s. While most people can’t seem to get enough of the show, there are still certain aspects of the show that make people scratch their heads. These things could be explained in future seasons, but for now, they just come across as strange. Here are 20 Things About Stranger Things That Make No Sense.
20. The Timeline Is Super Messed Up
Most people are aware that Stranger Things takes place in the ‘80s. Not only does this add a nostalgic feel to the show, but it also sets up an interesting setting for the series. While there are continuity errors about characters driving cars or talking about movies that haven’t been released yet, the overall timeline is often strange.
Season two of the show allows the events of one day to fit into an episode, but the dialogue doesn’t always support this. On November 1st, Joyce talks about “Halloween Night” like it was days ago, when most people would have just said “Last night.” While this isn’t really that big of a deal, there is the fact that Eleven was able to get from Chicago to Hawkins in between an episode. If each episode really is one day, then Eleven made her trip in record time.
19. Dustin’s New Pet
As if the Demogorgon wasn’t spooky enough, season two of Stranger Things introduced audiences to the D’Artagnan, a.k.a. Dart, a.k.a. a Demo-dog. Dustin discovers Dart near the beginning of the season as Dart is digging around in his garbage. Thinking he discovered a new species, he takes it to school to show his friends with the hope of showing it to Mr. Clarke.
Before that happens, Will convinces the group that the tiny creature originated in the Upside Down and that it was dangerous. Instead of listening to Will, who clearly has knowledge with the Upside Down, Dustin keeps Dart as his pet. Sure, Dart may have been cute when he was little, but after Dustin learned of the creature’s origin, why wouldn’t he have listened to his friend?
18. Gateways To The Real World
While the first season of Stranger Things introduced the Upside Down and the Demogorgon, season two introduced the Mind Flayer, also known as the Shadow Monster. The exact origin of the creature is currently unknown, but was seen often in season two via Will’s visions. Throughout the first and second seasons, there are gateways from the real world and the Upside Down, only some of which the government had discovered.
The end of season two shows Eleven preventing the Mind Flayer from entering the plane of mankind, but what does that mean for all of the other gateways? This will likely be revealed in season three, but as for right now, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
17. The Buildings In The Upside Down
The Upside Down has been a key element of both season one and two of Stranger Things. The Upside Down is an alternate dimension that is parallel to the human world. Not a lot has been revealed about the Upside Down prior to 1983, but the mystery of the dimension is part of what keeps the show interesting. Since the Upside Down is a parallel dimension to our world, all of the buildings and architecture is exactly the same as the human world, just in a decaying form.
That being said, if new buildings are constructed in the real world, do new buildings also get built in the Upside Down? If that is the case, who is constructing these buildings? Fans haven’t gotten an answer to how the Upside Down works just yet, but they might not ever get an answer.
16. Will’s Alive Again
The first season of Stranger Things mainly revolved around the disappearance of Will Byers and the town’s search for the young boy. Not only did Will’s mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) have to deal with the heartache of losing her son, but she also had to deal with everyone telling her she was crazy to think that Will was still alive. Joyce of course turns out to be right in the end and is reunited with her son after she rescues him from the Upside Down with Hopper.
In season two, Will goes back to his normal life and even goes back to school, but when the police found his fake body in the quarry, it makes headlines. Will may get some weird looks from people in season two, but for the most part, the city just seems to accept that Will is alive again.
15. The Gang’s Parents Are Neglectful
Given Joyce’s busy life, nobody can really blame her for her son going missing in season one, but all of the other parents of Hawkins, Indiana are pretty bad. Especially after Will goes missing, it would make sense for the town’s parents to keep a better eye on their kids, but that doesn’t really happen in either season.
For example, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin’s parents let them go out alone without supervision, and Nancy and Jonathan went off together without their parents knowing. Eleven was even able to get all the way to Chicago without Hopper finding out. Things may have been a little different in the ‘80s, but it’s still a mystery as to why the parents don’t keep a closer eye on their children.
14. Eleven Escaped
One of the biggest mysteries of Stranger Things is how Eleven was able to escape an apparently “high security” facility. Eleven had been experimented on from a young age due to her incredible psychic powers. It’s fair to say that the workers at Hawkins Lab had no idea what they were getting themselves into with their supernatural investigations, but as important as Eleven was, it’s a mystery as to how she escaped in the first place.
Even if she escaped when the Demogorgon arrived in the human world and caused chaos in the lab, wouldn’t people have gone to Eleven to protect her? The facility was supposedly super secure, but not secure enough to prevent a small girl from escaping.
13. The Demogorgon Takes Will
Even though Will wasn’t seen for a lot of season one, his character was incredibly important. The search for Will took up the entire first season, but he wasn’t the only casualty of the Demogorgon. Various scientists and government agents experienced the same fate to the Demogorgon, as well as Nancy’s friend named Barbara Holland.
While Nancy theorized that the monster might be attracted to the scent of gore, that logic doesn’t correlate to the incident with Will as he wasn’t wounded when the Demogorgon took him. It also seemed like Will was specifically hunted down by the Demogorgon, while the others were snatched up rather quickly. It almost seems like there was something special about Will, but this has yet to be explained.
12. Hopper Gives Up Eleven’s Location To Brenner
Eleven’s parentage is one of the many mysteries in Stranger Things. Fans know that Terry Ives is her mother, but her biological father is still unknown. Jim Hopper became her adoptive father in season two, but Hopper wasn’t always that close with Eleven. In fact, in the first season, he even gave up her location to Brenner.
Granted Hopper told Dr. Brenner where Eleven was so that he could help Joyce save Will, but it doesn’t seem right that Hopper’s character would straight up sell out Eleven. Hopper more than makes up for it in season two, but it seems like this is something that shouldn’t have ever happened given Hopper’s character.
11. Brenner’s Fate
The Demogorgon was seen as a villain in Stranger Things season one, but Dr. Brenner, played by Matthew Modine, was the human bad guy. Dr. Brenner took Eleven when she was just a baby and was in charge of all the experiments that were done to her. The Demogorgon attacked Brenner in season one, but when Eleven and Eight go after the other men who experimented on them, one man seemed to indicate that Brenner was actually alive.
Brenner could certainly be alive since his fate was never solidified on screen, but surviving an attack from the Demogorgon seems unlikely. Season three could potentially make this clearer, but for now, the answer remains unknown.
10. Putting The Demo-dog In Joyce’s Freezer
Dart may have had a special place in Dustin’s heart, but he certainly wasn’t the only Demo-dog that came from the Upside Down. The Hawkins Lab was swarmed with Demo-dogs, and the gang even had to fight off one of the dogs inside Joyce’s house. After the creature is put down, Dustin insists on preserving the body so that they have proof of the Upside Down and the existence of a new creature.
Dustin makes room in Joyce’s fridge and Steve puts the creature inside, but what ever happened to it? By the time the Snow Ball took place in December, roughly a month had passed, yet there is no explanation as to what happened with the creature.
9. The Government Is Lousy At Covering Things Up
Even before the events of Stranger Things season two took place, it was apparent that the government stationed in Hawkins, Indiana were bad at covering things up. Given the nature of the supernatural forces that were being dealt with at Hawkins Lab, it seems like their security should have been a lot better than what it was.
Once the Demogorgon and Eleven escaped, the government makes finding Eleven one of their top priorities, since she can be used. When they find her at Benny’s Burgers, they just end Benny’s life and say that he tried to take his own life. Hopper immediately became suspicious, but if the government was actually trying to cover something up, an average police officer shouldn’t have been able to uncover all of their secrets as easily as he did.
8. Billy And Max Move To Hawkins
Everyone has their favorite character on Stranger Things, but Billy Hargrove is disliked by most people who watch the show. Billy is an instigator to pretty much everyone and seems to be abusive towards his younger sister Max. The siblings moved from California to Hawkins, Indiana, but the exact reasoning is never explained.
Billy blames Max for their family having to move, which is part of the reason why he always screams at her. Them moving from California ties directly to Billy’s character and his anger, but the reason why they moved remains a mystery. Given how crucial this storyline is to his character, it really should have been addressed in season two.
7. People Going Into The Upside Down
Many people who are taken into the Upside Down don’t live to tell the tale. In season one, it is established that the air in the Upside Down is toxic, but that doesn’t stop characters from going into the parallel universe. Will lasted about a week in the Upside Down and was shown to be very sick in season two. Nancy entered the Upside Down looking for Barb without any protective gear and Joyce and Hopper went in looking for Will.
Hopper and Joyce started their journey wearing Hazmat suits, but eventually took their helmets off when they found Will. Given the effect the Upside Down has on the human world, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense that Nancy, Hopper, and Joyce didn’t have any side effects of going into the Upside Down unprotected.
6. Nobody Visits Hopper’s Cabin
David Harbour’s character Jim Hopper was introduced in the first season of Stranger Things and quickly became a fan favorite. Originally, the character was living in a lakeside trailer in Hawkins, but upgraded to his grandfather’s cabin for season two. Officers were seen visiting Hopper at his trailer a few times during season one, but nobody ever visited him in season two.
Even if Hopper was trying to keep his cabin a secret to protect Eleven, he likely would have had to fill out some type of form at the precinct that mentions his change of residency. Staying with Eleven in a cabin rather than his trailer was likely a more comfortable situation, but it seems implausible that nobody discovered her there.
5. How Does Will Survive In The Upside Down?
It’s no secret that the Upside Down is a dangerous place for anyone to visit. Barb was consumed almost immediately by the Demogorgon, but Will managed to escape the creature and actually survived in the Upside Down. Will is an intelligent kid, so it makes sense that he possibly would have been able to evade the Demogorgon.
That being said, it doesn’t make sense that he was able to survive that long without food and water. Obviously, the human body needs food and water to survive. Humans can go a while without food, but water is a different story. There likely wasn’t any food that Will was able to eat and even if he found water, it likely would have been contaminated.
4. Eleven’s Origin
Like many elements of Stranger Things, the origin of Eleven’s powers have remained a mystery for the first two seasons. Eleven has incredible powers such as telekinesis, extrasensory perception, and telepathy. It has been established that Eleven inherited these powers from her mother, who was exposed to hallucinogenic substances.
With that in mind, it’s still never explained why this caused her to have powers, or even why Terry Ives had these powers. Sure, Stranger Things is fictional, so the writers can just say people have powers and call it a day, but it doesn’t really make sense since the only explanation for the powers are hallucinogenics. This might be expanded in season three, but for right now, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
3. The Upside Down Can Produce Electricity
Even though the Upside Down is seen as a parallel universe to the human world, it looks very different. The Upside Down basically looks like a decayed world, but it somehow still has electricity. The Upside Down has been shown to have a connection to electricity and even be able to manipulate lights in the real world, but how does the Upside Down itself have electricity?
Since everything else seems to be decaying in the Upside Down, it doesn’t make sense that the world would still have electricity. After all, what is powering it? Are they drawing power from the Hawkins Lab or some energy source in the real world? Viewers may never know.
2. Will’s Fake Body
Joyce Byers never lost hope when her son went missing, even when the police found his body in the local quarry. Joyce was convinced that it wasn’t Will and even thought that it was a fake body. Most people just thought she was bonkers, but what exactly was the point of the body? It clearly didn’t fool anybody as Joyce knew right away it wasn’t her son and Hopper knew just by touching the body that it was fake.
Even if the government got their own people to perform the autopsy to keep Will’s disappearance a secret, it’s hard to imagine that nobody would have come in contact with the fake body. It also seems unrealistic that they would put so much effort into making the body look real, but then just stuff it with cotton.
1. Whatever Happened To Chester?
Stranger Things season two left fans with a lot of questions like how the Mind Flayer will return in season three and how many other kids are like Eleven. More importantly, however, season two left people wondering, what happened to Chester? Chester was the Byers’ family dog who was present for season one, but was never seen in season two.
Sure, Chester might not exactly be crucial to the plot of the series, but fans still want to know what happened to the dog! Dustin’s cat named Mews was consumed by Dart, but hopefully, Chester didn’t meet a similar fate. Chester might pop back up in season three, but for now, the character just disappeared without an explanation.
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Is there anything else about Stranger Things that doesn’t make sense? Let us know in the comments!
