Stranger Things

Season 2

Chapter One: MADMAX

1. When Mr. Wheeler (Joe Chrest) asks Mike (Finn Wolfhard) if he'd jump off of a cliff, Mike doesn't answer. In Season 1, Mike did jump off of a cliff for a friend.
2. Dustin refers to the arcade videogame, Dragon's Lair (1983) as "over priced". Dragon's Lair was the first arcade game to charge $0.50 (even $1.00 in some markets) per play, breaking the $0.25 norm.
3. In an interview, Joe Keery (Steve) said that someone actually wrote Steve Harrington's fake college essay to use while filming the scene in Steve's car. He and Natalia Dyer (Nancy) couldn't stop cracking up because it was a "horrible, horrible, horrible essay."
4. When we first see Mad Max (Sadie Sink) skateboarding, she flips up her board, revealing a design that closely resembles the design of the Hoverboard from Back to the Future Part II (1989).
5. Season 2, chapter 1 takes place a year later after Season 1, chapter 8 (Stranger Things: Chapter Eight: The Upside Down (2016))
6. The gameplay for Dragons Lair is much different than what you see. What you're seeing Dustin play is actually the animation used to promote the game when it was first announced for arcade and consoles.
7. When Dr. Owens (Paul Reiser) asks Will (Noah Schnapp) what his favorite Halloween candy, is, Will says 'Reese's Pieces'. Reese's Pieces was also the favorite candy of E.T. in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
8. Sean Astin is dressed as a Dracula type character when he dances with Winona Ryder. Winona Ryder previously played Dracula's love interest in Dracula (1992).
9. Sean Astin's involvement in this season reflects two other major points in his career. The four kids are reminiscent of the kids in The Goonies (1985), which was Astin's breakthrough role. He also appeared in the Lord of the Rings films. The books are referenced in the first season, with references to Mirkwood and Radagast.
10. In the scene where Bob (Sean Astin) & Joyce (Winona Ryder) use the store room at Melvard's General Store to make out, a box containing an Annie wig can be seen (likely an item of merchandise from the 1982 film version of Annie (1982)). Sadie Sink, who plays this episodes title character, also played the title character in the stage musical version of Annie on Broadway (in the 2012 revival) and in various regional productions of the show.
11. Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman) talks to Hopper (David Harbour) about Russians invading America. That same scenario is a key part of the film Red Dawn (1984), which was released earlier in the year (1984) that this episode is set.
12. Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink, Dacre Montgomery, Sean Astin and Paul Reiser are now part of the main cast.
13. Matthew Modine is no longer part of the main cast.
14. The movie they choose to watch is Mr. Mom (1983), starring Michael Keaton. Winona Ryder co-starred with Keaton in Beetlejuice (1988).
15. In an interview with the Duffer Brothers (Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer), they said they were never big fans of the arcade game, Dig Dug (1982), but chose to feature it in the arcade scene because it nicely foreshadowed the tunnels coming from the Upside Down.
16. At the arcade, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) compete in the arcade video game, Dragon's Lair (1983) to rescue Princess Daphne, where Lucas wins. This foreshadows events later in the season; Dustin and Lucas compete for the affection of Max (Sadie Sink), with Lucas and Max kissing in the finale.

Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak

1. Steve (Joe Keery) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) are dressed up as Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay from Risky Business (1983).
2. The video camera used by Bob (Sean Astin) and Will (Noah Schnapp) in the episode is the JVC GR-C1, the same model used by Marty in Back to the Future (1985).
3. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) wants to see Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and her other friends so badly, she inadvertently makes a Halloween costume that would make it easier for them to find her; she plans to be a ghost on Halloween, Mike, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) go as the Ghostbusters.
4. The knocking pattern the sheriff uses when he returns home late is "US" in Morse Code.
5. In an interview, Millie Bobby Brown said that she loved shooting scenes in the cabin with David Harbour, but like Eleven, she found the scenes of her alone incredibly boring.
6. When Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) wants to go trick or treating she puts on a ghost outfit so she won't be seen. This is the same outfit ET wears during Halloween in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
7. Although she doesn't correct him in the scene, the goth girl whose costume Jonathan guesses is supposed to be a member of Kiss at "Tina's stupid party" is actually dressed as Siouxie Sioux, front-woman of Siouxie and the Banshees.
8. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) watches television programs to learn social skills and vocabulary, much the same as Madison does in Splash (1984), which was released in the same year that this season is set.
9. Bob (Sean Astin) dresses up as Dracula for Halloween and dances with Joyce in his costume. Winona Ryder, who plays Joyce, also played Mina Murray in Dracula (1992) and danced with Dracula in that movie.
10. The Ghostbusters (1984) theme is played during the end credits, a nod to the group's costumes and the time period the show is set in.
11. The radio at the cabin that El (Millie Bobby Brown) and Hopper (David Harbour) use to communicate is set on broadcast channel 11.
12. Was originally the first episode in the Stranger Things series to be given a TV-MA rating
13. 353 days are how many days Mike (Finn Wolfhard) called Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to see if she was alive. If you add 3+5+3, it will equal 11.
14. Both Winona Ryder and Paul Reiser have been involved in the Aliens franchise. Paul (Aliens (1986)), Winona (Alien: Resurrection (1997)).
15. When the sheriff (David Harbour) transmits "late" to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), in Morse Code, the first word he is sending is "sorry".
16. Originally called "The Boy Who Came Back To Life"
17. On the final scenes of Season 1 finale (Episode 8, Stranger Things: Chapter Eight: The Upside Down (2016)), a clipping of an article about Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) finding titled "The Boy Who Came Back to Life" can be seen hanging on the police station's wall.

Chapter Three: The Pollywog

1. Hopper (David Harbour) reads Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables; he also is shown reading this to his daughter Sarah in the season 1 finale, Stranger Things: Chapter Eight: The Upside Down (2016).
2. During the scene when the kids have the pollywog in the a.v. room and it gets out of the trap and escapes, you can hear the score from the movie Gremlins (1984).
3. Bob gives a pep talk to Will and tells him about a scary clown 'Baldo' who offered him a balloon at a fair and would scare him every night when he was a kid. This is a reference to Stephen King's Novel and Movie 'IT' and 'Pennywise' the clown. Also he mentions he grew up in the city of Maine where the story of 'IT' took place, indicating that he had an encounter with Pennywise.
4. Along with the many other references to the Alien franchise, Dustin's cat, Mews, looks exactly like Ripley's cat, Jonesy. Even featuring a shot of it hissing in the presence of danger.
5. On Google Assistant, there is a game where you talk to Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and it's based on this episode. The only change between the game and this episode is that in the episode, Dustin doesn't talk to a stranger on his walkie, while in the game he does, with the stranger of course being the person playing the game.
6. When Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) are talking in the parking lot, another student places a cassette tape in a Walkman. He is listening to "Clean Cut American Kid", by punk band Ill Repute from Oxnard, CA. "Clean Cut American Kid" was a radio hit for KROQ, one of the nation's top alternative radio stations in the 1980's, based out of Pasadena, CA. The song was featured on "Rodney on the ROQ, Volume III", which included other top punk bands Vandals, JFA, Channel 3, and The Bangles.
7. Dustin names his creature d'Artagnan, after his Three Musketeers candy bar. This means he must be familiar with either the novel or one of its numerous film adaptations as well. D'Artagnan is not actually one of the title characters, as he does not become a Musketeer until late in the novel. The Musketeers in the title are Athos, Porthos and Aramis.
8. The name of the actor on Stranger Things 2 Ep 3 listening to "Clean Cut American kid " by: III Repute on the walkman is Matthew H Seal J.r.
9. Both Winona Ryder and Paul Reiser have been involved in the Aliens franchise. Paul (Aliens (1986)), Winona (Alien: Resurrection (1997)).

Chapter Four: Will the Wise

1. True Sight is a Dungeons and Dragons spell that allows the caster of the spell to see invisible, displaced, and astral objects. The subject could see into the Ethereal Plane and other coexistent planes, the Upside Down world in Will's (Noah Schnapp) case. The spell could tell a creature's alignment and intentions by looking at them which may be why the first views Will has of the creature show it in a dark cloud with red tones, denoting the evil intentions of the creature. The spell was first introduced for the Original Dungeons and Dragons as part of the Illusionist spell list in Dragon Magazine #1.
2. The moment when Billy grabs Max's wrist was not scripted; Sadie Sink and Dacre Montgomery worked that out on the day of shooting to increase the tension between the two characters.
3. The "Palace" could refer to the Dragon's Lair game the boys were playing in the trailer and possibly foreshadows future events.
4. In most of the episode, Nancy (Natalia Dyer is wearing an argyle stitched sweater. The argyle pattern was a very popular punk logo for hardcore punk rockers from Oxnard, NARDCORE. The argyle print depicted O-X for Oxnard. In episode 2.3, Stranger Things: Chapter Three: The Pollywog (2017), Nancy and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) overhear a fellow student listening to Ill Repute, a popular Nardcore punk rock band from the 1980's.
5. Sean Astin (Bob) does not appear in this episode. This is the first time one of the main cast is credited but does not appear.
6. Paul Reiser who plays Dr. Sam Owens, asks the kids if they know who George Sarton is. George Sarton married a woman named Mabel. Mabel was the name of Paul Reiser's daughter on the sit-com Mad About You (1992).

Chapter Five: Dig Dug

1. Many of the geographical locations around Hawkins mentioned by Bob Newby (Sean Astin) such as Jordan Lake and the Eno River are named after real locations in North Carolina, located near Durham where the show's creators The Duffer Brothers (Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer) grew up as children.
2. There is a drawing of the white rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on the wall in Jane's bedroom. Alice also travelled to an alternate reality like the Upside Down.
3. It's shown but not stated that Will's (Noah Schnapp) drawing is so large he actually uses up all the paper in the house; Bob (Sean Astin) has to do his calculations on an empty notepad and Joyce (Winona Ryder) marks Hopper's (David Harbour) location on the back of some wrapping paper.
4. After Will (Noah Schnapp) draws out all of his vines on pieces of paper, he draws the last one to signal Hopper's (David Harbour) location. Joyce (Winona Ryder) marks the area with a red X. Bob (Sean Astin) asks if the family is looking for a pirate's treasure. In fact, Sean Astin looked for a pirate's treasure in The Goonies (1985).
5. At Murray's (Brett Gelman) house, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) retreat to separate sleeping locations, where we see different scenes of each in their room muttering to themselves while trying to resist the heavy sexual tension between the two. This scene is cut like, and almost certainly a reference to, a similar scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), where Indy and Willie Scott are doing the same. Nancy's sleeping quarters even have double doors just like Willie's. They each come out of their room to find the other right there.
6. Bob makes a joke about Will's (Noah Schnapp) puzzle. He says, "What's at the X, pirate treasure?" This is an obvious reference to The Goonies (1985). Actor Sean Astin who plays Bob, also played Mikey in the 1985 film The Goonies; a movie about outcast children following a map to pirate treasure.
7. There is a close-up on the Peterbilt Logo on the truck Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) gets a ride in. This episode was directed by Pixar's Andrew Stanton, so the shot could be a tribute to the scene in the movie Cars (2006) where Lightning McQueen mistakes a a Peterbilt truck for his friend Mack.
8. Title of the episode is Dig Dug, an obvious nod to the 80's video game of the same name, Dig Dug (1982).
9. Bob (Sean Astin) has a line in this episode, "That's why they call me 'The Brain.'" This is a reference to Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (Bobby Heenan). Heenan was a popular pro-wrestling manager in the '80s and is regarded by many as the greatest personality in the history of pro wrestling.
10. At Murray Bauman's (Brett Gelman) home the vinyl "In the court of the Crimson King", first studio album from British progressive rock group King Crimson, is clearly visible. The cover art, painted by Barry Godber, represent the "21st century schizoid man" mentioned in the first track of the album.
11. Paul Reiser and Matthew Modine played opposite each other previously in Bye Bye Love (1995).
12. Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine have appeared together once before, in Roy Orbison's music video, Roy Orbison: A Love so Beautiful (1990).
13. Both Winona Ryder and Paul Reiser have been involved in the Aliens franchise. Paul (Aliens (1986)), Winona (Alien: Resurrection (1997)).
14. When Hopper (David Harbour) is rescued from the tunnels beneath the Pumpkin Field, he goes out of his way to pick up his hat, despite the soldiers ushering him away. This is a nod to Indiana Jones from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) who, even in life-threatening situations, never leaves his hat behind.

Chapter Six: The Spy

1. This is the first episode not to feature Eleven.
2. The motion detector beeping sound is the same as that in Aliens (1986).
3. The series is well known to draw influence from Stephen King's books and movies. The song playing over breakfast with Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Murray (Brett Gelman) is "Blue Bayou" by Roy Orbison. This song heavily features in the book/movie Dreamcatcher (2003) by Stephen King, a story about a group of kids who make friends with a supernatural, psychic boy ego helps them fight aliens and work against a government agency, trying to keep it under wraps.
4. The scene where Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Steve (Joe Keery) are throwing meat on to the railway line, is reminiscent of scenes in both Jaws (1975), and Stand by Me (1986).
5. The scene where Joyce yells at the doctors about not know what's wrong with Will shares a strong similarity to a scene in The Exorcist (1974) where Ellen Burstyn berates doctors for not knowing what's wrong with her daughter Reagan.
6. Both Winona Ryder and Paul Reiser have been involved in the Aliens franchise. Paul (Aliens (1986)), Winona (Alien: Resurrection (1997)).
7. When the leader of the assault team says, "Stay frosty, boys", it is an homage to Aliens (1986) where Michael Biehn's character Hicks says the same thing when entering the facility with his assault team. Another quote reminiscent from Aliens that can be heard is "I don't see sh#t, man". In both instances, the teams are ambushed and massacred in the end.
8. The scene where the research facility is monitoring their soldiers via radar tracking devices in the tunnels of the upside down is reminiscent of (and quite possibly an homage to) the scene in Aliens (1986) where the marines enter the alien nest. Both scenes featured actor Paul Reiser watching the process through a monitor.
9. When Steve (Joe Keery, Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Max (Madmax) (Sadie Sink) set a trap for Dart in the old junkyard, they use steel mesh and iron sheets to add protective armour to the bus, a reference to the armoured bus used in the second Mad Max film (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)) as a gate to the petrol refinery Mad Max is helping to defend.
10. When the fog moves in on the soldiers in the tunnel prior to the arrival of the "demodogs", a sinister laugh can be heard. It's heard again as Hopper (David Harbour) looks down at the tunnel opening.
11. The scene where Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) are in their separate rooms, hesitating about getting together, very clearly evokes a similar scene between Indy and Willie from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).
12. When Bob (Sean Astin) looks at the map he asks if X marks a treasure. Sean was in The Goonies (1985) looking for a treasure where X marked the spot.

Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister

1. The music used when Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) and her gang are preparing to leave to find Ray (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is from the deleted Bank Heist scene from Escape from New York (1981) - composed by John Carpenter.
2. The warehouse graffiti includes references to the Grant Morrison comic book series "The Invisibles."
3. The number 8 pops up several times in this episode. Most notably at the beginning when Eleven's (Millie Bobby Brown) mom is watching TV and Channel 8 flashes across the screen. Eleven takes a bus and as she gets off the numbers 422 are seen on the door. 4+2+2=8. When Eleven first enters the hideout an 8-ball graffiti from billiards pool can be visibly seen. 008 is tattooed on Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), the "Lost Sister" of the title. And, unfortunately, it is just the seventh episode of Season 2, not the eighth.
4. Both Winona Ryder and Paul Reiser have been involved in the Aliens franchise. Paul (Aliens (1986)), Winona (Alien: Resurrection (1997)).
5. Paul Reiser and Matthew Modine played opposite each other previously in Bye Bye Love (1995).
6. Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine have appeared together once before, in Roy Orbison's music video, Roy Orbison: A Love so Beautiful (1990).
7. This episode mirrors Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) in several ways. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) leaves Hawkins and all she knows to find her sister Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) with similar abilities, who seemingly has a grasp on her powers and how to control them. Luke leaves his friends to find the only other Jedi master, Yoda, in the Dagoba system to harness his powers. Eleven tries to move the train container, holding her hand out very much like Luke and Yoda trying to move the X-Wing out of the swamp. By the end of the episode, Eleven decides to leave her sister to go back to Hawkins to help her friends who are in trouble. Luke has to leave Yoda in order to go help his friends who have just fallen into the hands of the Empire in Cloud City.
8. When Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) enters her baby room in Mama's house, there's a picture of the White Rabbit in the wall. This is a reference to Lewis Carroll's book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", which tells the story of Alice, a girl who follows the White Rabbit into his burrow, falls into a bottomless hole, and enters in a fantastic, surreal world full of strange creatures. This is similar to what happens in Stranger Things.
9. This episode features Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) meeting her 'sister' in Chicago, with a group of Miscreants. When she helps them locate one of the 'bad men', they mention the town of Lilburn. There is no Lilburn in Illinois or Indiana. Lilburn is a town located in the metro Atlanta area, where Stranger Things is filmed. A similar mistake was made in season one, when the city of Cartersville is mentioned, along with the Etowah River, which are located in Northwest Georgia.
10. During one of the scenes where Jane (Millie Bobby Brown) is with Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) and her group of "misfits," Blue Bayou by Roy Orbison can be heard playing... This may also be another homage to Stephen King. In the movie Dreamcatchers (2010), the song is referenced several times and one of the main characters, Jonsey, can be seen handling a folder containing its lyrics when he's in his mind palace.

Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer

1. Dacre Montgomery lobbied the Duffer brothers (Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer) for the scene between Billy and his father, saying that "I can't just play bad, because nobody's just bad."
2. The title refers to a species of very powerful creatures in Dungeons and Dragons. Mindflayers come from the same mythos as Cthulu and are tentacled-faced beings who can "suck" the minds out of their victims as a form of sustenance.
3. Originally titled "The Brain"
4. The episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour).
5. Bob braves the creatures in order to get the power back on in the lab compound, not unlike Laura Dern's character in Jurassic Park.
6. The first time Mike, Dustin and Lucas have seen Eleven since "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down" (S1E8).
7. Both Winona Ryder and Paul Reiser have been involved in the Aliens franchise. Paul (Aliens (1986)), Winona (Alien: Resurrection (1997)).
8. Bob "the Brain" Newby (Sean Astin) was always going to die. The writers revealed that their initial plan was to have Bob killed somewhere around the third episode by 'evil Will', who has been possessed by the Mind Flayer/Shadow Monster. However, they kept delaying their plans because they loved working with Sean Astin so much. Astin insisted he didn't care when Bob was killed, as long as he was given a heroic death.
9. In the final scene, the group members find themselves trapped inside the Byers' house, threatened by Dema-dogs, until there is a strange noise outside that suggests that someone or something else has arrived. The door is suddenly opened from the outside, and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who was presumed dead by many, enters the doorway. This closely mirrors a scene from Alien: Resurrection (1997) which also featured Winona Ryder: a group of people are trapped inside a big elevator shaft, threatened by Aliens but unable to open the only exit door. Suddenly, an alarm goes off, signaling that the exit is being opened from the outside by someone or something. As the door opens, the mysterious person is revealed to be Winona Ryder's character (Call), who was at that point presumed dead as well.
10. Like in episode Stranger Things: Chapter Six: The Spy (2017), there is an homage to Aliens (1986) when Joyce (Winona Ryder) tries to help a dying Bob (Sean Astin) but is stopped by Hopper (David Harbour) who says "He's gone!" This closely parallels the scene in Aliens where Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) tries to go to a dying Drake (Mark Rolston) but is stopped by Hicks (Michael Biehn) who says "Forget him, he's gone!"
11. The scene with Bob dying has a very visually similar image to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) when Hopper pulls Joyce away. This bares a striking similarity to the scene where Gandalf dies and Aragorn pulls Frodo away. Sean Astin starred in the original LOTR trilogy.

Chapter Nine: The Gate

1. As noted in the trivia section for the last episode of season one, Jim Hopper (David Harbour) wears a braided blue bracelet throughout the series. A bracelet that once was a hairband worn by his daughter Sara, until she lost her hair. Jim is still seen wearing the bracelet throughout season 2, but in the very end, at the Snow Ball, it is suddenly worn by Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).
2. At the Snow Ball, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is wearing Hopper's blue bracelet.
3. When Steve (Joe Keery) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) are looking through items from the shed, one of the things Steve picks up are the now-infamous Christmas lights from season 1.
4. When Billy (Dacre Montgomery) gets the Byers address from Mrs. Wheeler (Cara Buono), he takes a cookie from the cookie jar on the kitchen counter. This was improvised by Dacre Montgomery, who said he thought it would be "cheeky."
5. The song playing when Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) enters the dance is "Twist of Fate" by Olivia Newton-John. It is from the soundtrack to the movie Two of a Kind (1983), which was a re-pairing of Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta after the success of Grease (1978). The song was meant to be an acknowledgment of a second time and indeed includes the lyrics "love is what we found the second time around"; making it a very apt song for season 2 of Stranger Things.
6. At the beginning of the episode, Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) comes calling at the door looking for Max. Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) finally answers, with husband Ted (Joe Chrest) asleep in front of the television. Billy and Karen then have a sexually-charged, flirtatious moment as Billy asks after Max (Sadie Sink). Moments before, Karen was in the bath, reading a steamy romance novel. On the cover of the book are a man and woman locked in passionate embrace - and who bear a striking resemblance to Billy and Karen.
7. 353 day are how many day Mike called Eleven to see if she was alive. If you add 3+5+3, it will equal 11.
8. Actors Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas) and Sadie Sink (Max) kiss in this episode. Due to the recurring inability to capture Sadie's reaction to being kissed, the scene had to be reshot many times.
9. On August 31, 2016, the second season was announced through a trailer published across social media, listing the titles of the nine episodes. The trailer shows that the ninth episode was originally titled "The Lost Brother". The new title of the episode will be revealed on October 27.
10. Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer were nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series category for Stranger Things: Chapter Nine: The Gate (2017), but lost to Stephen Daldry for The Crown: Paterfamilias (2017).
11. Matt Duffer & Ross Duffer were nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category for Stranger Things: Chapter Nine: The Gate (2017), but lost to Joel Fields & Joseph Weisberg for The Americans: START (2018).
12. During the newscast near the end of the episode, the anchorwoman mentions Hawkins residents believed they lived in a town "where nothing ever happens." When she says this line, the scene cuts to the inside of a bar. This could be a reference to the Talking Heads song "Heaven," which is about a bar "where nothing ever happens."
13. Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine have appeared together once before, in Roy Orbison's music video, Roy Orbison: A Love so Beautiful (1990).
14. Paul Reiser and Matthew Modine played opposite each other previously in Bye Bye Love (1995).
15. Both Winona Ryder and Paul Reiser have been involved in the Aliens franchise. Paul (Aliens (1986)), Winona (Alien: Resurrection (1997)).
16. During the scene where a dazed Steve (Joe Keery) wakes up in the car, he looks at Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and says 'Nancy?'. This was an improvisation by Joe Keery.
17. At the Snow Ball scene at the end of the episode, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) comes to the dance in a dress with puffed sleeves. This would likely be a gift from Hopper (David Harbour). In Season One in Stranger Things: Chapter Eight: The Upside Down (2016) Hopper is reading to his daughter from "Anne of Green Gables", in which in one chapter her adoptive father gives her a gift of a dress with puffed sleeves.
18. The plan that the boys make in order to aid Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to close the gate is taken from the climax of the Lord of the Rings series, which the boys are huge fans of. In the third novel of the Lord of the Rings, most of the characters from the original fellowship provoke a suicidal battle with the villain's army, with the only goal to draw attention away from the chosen one, who destroys the evil from inside the very heart of the villain's lair. In both cases this happens without the chosen one's knowledge.
19. Originally, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven were not scripted to kiss. However, Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) told the writers that they needed to include the kiss for the fans.
20. When Mike and Eleven) kiss you can subtly see Finn Wolfhard (Mike) mouth "I'm coming in" as a signal to Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) that he was about to kiss her. He did this in order to get the kiss timing right with the circling camera shot.
21. Billy (Dacre Montgomery) going to the Byers household at the moment when things are about to reach a climax parallels the way Steve (Joe Keery) went there in season 1.
22. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) takes Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to the Snow Ball, which he promised to take her to in the Season 1 Finale, Stranger Things: Chapter Eight: The Upside Down (2016).
23. The second time in the series where Eleven and Mike kiss.
24. In Stranger Things (2016), Mike and Eleven share a kiss. In interviews and Beyond Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown suggests the idea for the characters to kiss. Finn Wolfhard does something unique: he says, "I'm coming in" to Millie without moving his mouth before the action occurs. Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer look back at their work to see when it happens.
25. When Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) enters the Snow Ball dance, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) says to him "Holy shit, what happened to you?". In It (2017), this is the exact same line Richie (also Finn Wolfhard) says when he sees an injured Ben Hanscom.
26. Near the end, when Hopper (David Harbour) gets the certificate of birth from Dr. Owens (Paul Reiser), Owens offers Harbour one of his sandwiches to which Hopper replies, he is on diet. This maybe a hint to Harbours upcoming appearance as Hellboy, for which he had to do alot of work out. Anyways, Hopper finally eats the sandwich.
27. This is the last time Mike, Dustin and Lucas see Eleven until "Chapter Nine: The Gate" (S2E9), exactly one season later.