Stranger Things is an American television series created bythe Duffer Brothers forNetflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and21 Laps Entertainment, thefirst season was released on Netflix on July 15, 2016. Thesecond andthird seasons followed in October 2017 and July 2019, respectively, and thefourth season was released in two parts in May and July 2022. Thefifth and final season was released in three volumes, including the finale, in November and December 2025. The show combines elements of horror, science fiction,mystery,coming-of-age, anddrama.
The Duffer Brothers developedStranger Things as a blend of investigative drama and supernatural horror, infused with childlike wonder and references to the popular culture of the 1980s. Several thematic and directorial elements were inspired by the works ofSteven Spielberg,John Carpenter,David Lynch,Stephen King,Wes Craven,H. P. Lovecraft, andFromSoftware. The show also drew inspiration fromCold War–era experiments andconspiracy theories involving secret government programs.
Stranger Things is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins,Indiana, in the 1980s. Hawkins is described as "the town where nothing ever happens" in the second season. The nearby Hawkins National Laboratory ostensibly performs scientific research for theUnited States Department of Energy, but also secretly experiments with theparanormal and supernatural, sometimes with human test subjects. They inadvertently create a portal to an alternate dimension referred to as theUpside Down, whose presence begins to affect the residents of Hawkins in unusual ways.[17][18]
Thefirst season begins on November 6, 1983, whenWill Byers is abducted by a creature from the Upside Down, dubbed the "Demogorgon". His motherJoyce, police chiefJim Hopper, and a group of volunteers search for him. A youngpsychokinetic girl namedEleven escapes from Hawkins Lab and is found by Will's friends,Mike Wheeler,Dustin Henderson, andLucas Sinclair. Eleven befriends and assists them in their efforts to find Will. Mike's older sisterNancy and Will's older brotherJonathan learn about the Demogorgon and the existence of the Upside Down. Will is eventually found alive, while Eleven disappears after killing the Demogorgon.[19]
Thesecond season is set 11 months later, between October and November 1984. Joyce is dating her former classmateBob Newby, but they discover that Will is still affected by a shadowy entity from the Upside Down. Will's friends and family learn that anything connected to the Upside Down is part of ahive mind known as theMind Flayer. Lucas earns the affection of a new classmate,Max Mayfield, while Dustin teams up with Nancy's ex-boyfriendSteve Harrington to fend off a horde of adolescent Demogorgons—dubbed "Demodogs"—which kill Bob and threaten the rest of their friends. Eleven reappears and closes the gate to the Upside Down underneath Hawkins Laboratory.[20]
Thethird season is set nine months later, in the days leading up to theFourth of July celebrations in 1985. The new Starcourt Mall becomes the center of attention for Hawkins residents. Hopper adopts Eleven and becomes increasingly concerned about her relationship with Mike. Dustin, Steve and his coworkerRobin Buckley, and Lucas's younger sisterErica discover that a secretSoviet laboratory beneath Starcourt is attempting to reopen the gateway to the Upside Down. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer possesses Max's stepbrother,Billy Hargrove, and begins creating physical vessels made of melted flesh to carry out its will. Eleven loses her powers, Billy dies, and Hopper seemingly dies when the Soviets' gate is closed.[21][22]
Thefourth season is set eight months later, in March 1986. The Byers family and Eleven have moved to Lenora, California for a fresh start. In Hawkins, multiple teenagers are murdered by the Mind Flayer's partner and Hawkins Laboratory's first test subject—later dubbedVecna—to open gates between Hawkins and the Upside Down. Vecna frames Dustin's friendEddie Munson for the murders and targets Max as his fourth victim. To help Eleven regain her powers, Dr.Sam Owens takes her to a secure facility. Joyce andMurray Bauman learn that Hopper survived but was captured by Soviets, so they rescue him from agulag in theKamchatka Peninsula. Eleven regains her powers, but Vecna's forces kill Eddie, renders Max comatose, and open rifts throughout Hawkins.
Thefifth and final season is primarily set in November 1987. The military puts Hawkins under quarantine and hunts for Eleven, while the group tracks down Vecna until he kidnaps Nancy and Mike's younger sister,Holly, alongside 11 other children. The Upside Down is discovered to be awormhole between Hawkins and another dimension known as the Abyss; Vecna plans to use the children to merge the Abyss with Hawkins. The group ultimately rescues the captured children, kills Vecna and the Mind Flayer, and destroys the Upside Down. To prevent the military from creating new psychic test subjects with her blood, Eleven seemingly stays behind in the collapsing Upside Down. 18 months later, in May 1989, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max graduate from high school, and Hopper proposes to Joyce. Mike reveals to the group his theory and belief that Eleven faked her death in the Upside Down, and the rest of the group resolves to believe along with him.
Winona Ryder asJoyce Byers,[23] the mother of Will and Jonathan Byers. She is divorced from their father, Lonnie Byers. Protective and strong-willed, she becomes determined to find Will after he goes missing, convinced that his disappearance is paranormal in nature.
David Harbour asJim Hopper,[23] the chief of Hawkins Police Department. After his young daughter Sara died of cancer, Hopper divorced and lapsed into alcoholism. He becomes more responsible, helping Joyce investigate the truth behind Will's disappearance, and adopting Eleven as his daughter. He and Joyce have feelings for each other.
Finn Wolfhard asMike Wheeler,[24] middle child and the only son of Karen andTed Wheeler, brother of Nancy and Holly, and one of Will Byers's three close friends. He is an intelligent and conscientious student and is committed to his friends. He develops romantic feelings for Eleven and later dates her.
Millie Bobby Brown asJane "El" Hopper (née Ives) / Eleven,[24] a girl withtelepathic andpsychokinetic abilities as a result of being one of Dr. Brenner's subjects from Hawkins National Laboratory. She escapes the lab and eventually becomes an adoptive daughter to Jim Hopper and takes his surname, and adjusts to living a normal life with the help of Mike (whom she later dates) and his friends.
Gaten Matarazzo asDustin Henderson,[24] one of Will Byers's friends. Hiscleidocranial dysplasia causes him tolisp. In the second season, he is proud of his new front teeth and is attracted to Max. In season three, he gets a girlfriend, Suzie, who he met at summer camp.
Caleb McLaughlin asLucas Sinclair,[24] one of Will's friends. He is wary of Eleven but later befriends her. In season two, he is one of Max's love interests and eventually becomes her boyfriend. In season four, he becomes more popular at school after joining the Hawkins High basketball team, which briefly puts him at odds with his regular friend group.
Natalia Dyer asNancy Wheeler,[24] daughter of Karen and Ted and older sister of Mike and Holly. Studious and rule-abiding, Nancy finds another side of herself while investigating Hawkins Lab and the death of her friend Barbara. In the first two seasons, she is the girlfriend of Steve Harrington, but breaks up with him and then dates Jonathan Byers. She is an aspiring journalist.
Charlie Heaton asJonathan Byers,[24] the older brother of Will Byers and the son of Joyce Byers. He is a quiet and kind-hearted teenager, an outsider at school, and an aspiring photographer. He is close with his mother and brother, and he becomes the boyfriend of Nancy Wheeler.
Cara Buono asKaren Wheeler (seasons 1–3 and 5; recurring: season 4),[25] mother of Nancy, Mike, and Holly, who is mostly unaware of her children's activities for much of the series.
Matthew Modine as Dr.Martin Brenner (seasons 1 and 4; recurring: season 2),[26] the scientist in charge of Hawkins Laboratory and training Eleven. Manipulative and remote, he and his team search for Eleven in season one after she escapes. He is referred to as "Papa" by Eleven. In season four, he returns to help Eleven regain her powers and protect her from the government agents hunting her down.[27]
Noah Schnapp asWill Byers (seasons 2–5; recurring: season 1),[24] the son of Joyce Byers and younger brother of Jonathan Byers. He is captured by a monster from the Upside Down in season one. He later develops a connection to the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer due to his capture. He struggles with his sexuality and unrequited feelings for Mike, and comes out as gay in season five.[28][29]
Sadie Sink asMax Mayfield (seasons 2–5), Billy's younger stepsister and atomboy who catches the attention of both Lucas and Dustin, eventually dating Lucas. In season four, she becomes one of the teens targeted by Vecna.[29]
Joe Keery asSteve Harrington (seasons 2–5; recurring: season 1), a popular high school student and the boyfriend of Nancy Wheeler. He ostracizes Jonathan Byers but later befriends him. He and Nancy break up in season two but remain friends. He is known as the "babysitter" of the group, often left to look after the kids, particularly Dustin, with whom he forms a strong rapport.[30][29]
Dacre Montgomery asBilly Hargrove (seasons 2–3; guest: season 4), Max's violent, unpredictable, and abusive older stepbrother. He challenges Steve's popularity. In season three, he is controlled by the Mind Flayer and dies in the process.[29]
Sean Astin asBob Newby (season 2), a former schoolmate of Joyce and Hopper who runs the HawkinsRadioShack.[31] He is Joyce's boyfriend, putting him at odds with Hopper. He dies after being attacked by creatures from the Upside Down.[32]
Paul Reiser as Dr.Sam Owens (seasons 2 and 4; guest: season 3), a Department of Energy executive who replaces Brenner as director of Hawkins Laboratory. He is committed to scientific research yet empathetic to the residents of Hawkins, and he helps Hopper adopt Eleven as his legal daughter. He returns with Brenner in season four to help Eleven regain her powers and to protect her from government agents hunting her.[31]
Maya Hawke asRobin Buckley (seasons 3–5), a girl who works alongside Steve at the mall ice cream shop. She later comes out as a lesbian to him. She and Steve become close friends, working together at Scoops Ahoy and later at the video store.[33] In season five, she begins dating her classmate Vickie, a volunteer nurse.
Priah Ferguson asErica Sinclair (seasons 3–5; co-star: season 2), Lucas's younger sister who helps the group. She is very smart and has an avid interest inD&D.[33]
Brett Gelman asMurray Bauman (seasons 4–5; recurring: seasons 2–3), a conspiracy theorist, private investigator, and old acquaintance of Hopper who assists Nancy and Jonathan, and later Hopper and Joyce.
Linda Hamilton asDr. Kay (season 5), the sinister leader of the military unit dispatched to Hawkins after the opening of rifts to the Upside Down. She oversees a research base installed within the Upside Down itself.
Jamie Campbell Bower asHenry Creel / One / Vecna / Mr. Whatsit (season 5; recurring: season 4), a murderous psychic being from the Upside Down. Having attained supernatural abilities as a child, he murdered his family and was subsequently placed under Brenner's care. Flashbacks in season four reveal that Eleven banished him to another dimension, when she was eight years old, where he was disfigured and joined the Mind Flayer's hive-mind.
Ross (left) and Matt Duffer, the creators and showrunners of the series
Stranger Things was created by Matt and Ross Duffer, known professionally asthe Duffer Brothers,[34] who also serve asshowrunners andhead writers and direct many of the episodes. They wrote and produced their 2015 filmHidden, in which they emulated the style ofM. Night Shyamalan. However, due to changes atWarner Bros., its distributor, it did not see wide release and the Duffers were unsure of their future.[35] To their surprise, television producerDonald De Line approached them, impressed withHidden's script, and offered them the opportunity to work on episodes ofWayward Pines with Shyamalan. The brothers were mentored by Shyamalan during the episode's production so that when they finished, they felt they were ready to produce their own television series.[36]
The Duffers prepared a script[when?] similar to the series' eventual pilot episode, along with a 20-pagepitch book to help shop the series to networks.[37] They pitched the story to about 15 cable networks,[38] all of whom felt a plot with children as leading characters would not work and asked the brothers to either make it a children's series or drop the children and focus on Hopper's investigation into the paranormal.[36]
In early 2015, Dan Cohen, the VP of21 Laps Entertainment, brought the script to his colleagueShawn Levy. They subsequently invited the Duffer Brothers to their office and purchased the rights for the series, giving the brothers full authorship. After reading the pilot, the streaming serviceNetflix purchased the whole season for an undisclosed sum,[39] and in April of the same year, the series was announced for a 2016 release.[40]
The Duffer Brothers stated that at the time they pitched to Netflix, the company had already been recognized for its original programming in shows such asHouse of Cards andOrange Is the New Black, with well-recognized producers behind them, and were ready to start giving upcoming producers like them a chance.[37] The brothers started casting and brought Levy and Cohen in as the other executive producers to discuss storylines, with Levy also directing for the show.[41]
Montauk is an eight-hour sci-fi horror epic. Set in Long Island in 1980 and inspired by the supernatural classics of that era, we explore the crossroads where the ordinary meet the extraordinary...emotional, cinematic, and rooted in character,Montauk is a love letter to the golden age of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King – a marriage of human drama and supernatural fear.
— The Duffer Brothers' original pitch forMontauk[42]
The book cover the Duffer Brothers created to pitchMontauk. For this, they took inspiration fromStephen King book covers such asFirestarter.
The series was originally known asMontauk. The setting was thenMontauk, New York, and nearbyLong Island locations. Montauk figured into several real-worldconspiracy theories involvingsecret government experiments.[40][43] The brothers had chosen Montauk as it had further Spielberg ties with the filmJaws, where Montauk was used for the fictional setting of Amity Island.[44] After deciding to change the narrative of the series to take place in the fictional town of Hawkins instead, the brothers felt they could now do things to the town, such as placing it under quarantine, that they really could not envision with a real location.[44]
With the location change, they had to come up with a new title for the series under direction from Netflix's Ted Sarandos, so that they could start marketing it to the public. The brothers started by using a copy of Stephen King'sFirestarter novel to consider the title's font and appearance, and came up with a long list of potential alternatives.Stranger Things came about as it sounded similar to another King novel,Needful Things, though Matt noted they still had a "lot of heated arguments" over this final title.[45]
The idea ofStranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 filmPrisoners, detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped, and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach. As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story, they wanted to introduce the idea of "childlike sensibilities" they could offer, and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans. The brothers thought the combination of these things "was the best thing ever".[36]
To introduce this monster into the narrative, they considered "bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War" such asMKUltra, which gave a way to ground the monster's existence in science rather than something spiritual. This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period, as it was a year before the filmRed Dawn came out, which focused on Cold War paranoia.[36] Subsequently, they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s, the decade in which they were born, as elements of the series,[36][46] crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror.[47]
With Netflix as the platform, the Duffers were not limited to a typical 22-episode format, opting for the eight-episode approach. They had been concerned that a 22-episode season on broadcast television would make it difficult to "tell a cinematic story". Eight episodes allowed them to give time to characterization in addition to narrative development; if they had less time available, they would have had to remain committed to telling a horror film as soon as the monster was introduced and abandon the characterization.[37] Within the eight episodes, the brothers aimed to make the first season "feel like a big movie" with all the major plot lines completed so that "the audience feels satisfied", but left enough unresolved to indicate "there's a bigger mythology, and there's a lot of dangling threads at the end", something that could be explored in further seasons if Netflix chose to greenlight more.[60]
Regarding writing for the children characters of the series, the Duffers considered themselves outcasts from other students while in high school and thus found it easy to write for Mike and his friends, and particularly for Barb.[45] Joyce was fashioned afterRichard Dreyfuss' character Roy Neary in the 1977 filmClose Encounters of the Third Kind, as she appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she tries to find Will.[61]
Casting
The Duffer Brothers castDavid Harbour as Chief Hopper, believing this was his opportunity to portray a lead character.
In June 2015, it was announced thatWinona Ryder andDavid Harbour had joined the series as Joyce and the unnamed chief of police, respectively.[23] Ryder's sole condition to the Duffers in accepting the part was that, if a sequel toBeetlejuice (1988) ever materialized as she andTim Burton had been discussing since 2000, they had to let her take a break to shoot it, a condition the Duffers agreed and ultimately proved to work out whenBeetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) was greenlit.[62] The brothers' casting director Carmen Cuba had suggested Ryder for the role of Joyce, which the two were immediately drawn to because of her predominance in 1980s films.[36]
Levy believed Ryder could "wretch up the emotional urgency and yet find layers and nuance and different sides of [Joyce]". Ryder praised that the show's multiple storylines required her to act for Joyce as if "she's out of her mind, but she's actually kind of onto something", and that the producers had faith she could pull off the difficult role.[63] The Duffer Brothers had been interested in Harbour before, who untilStranger Things primarily had smaller roles as villainous characters, and they felt that he had been "waiting too long for this opportunity" to play a lead, while Harbour himself was thrilled by the script and the chance to play "a broken, flawed, anti-hero character".[45][64]
Actors auditioning for the children's roles read lines from the 1986 filmStand by Me.[36] The Duffers estimated they went through about a thousand different child actors for the roles. They noted that Wolfhard was already "a movie buff" of the films from the 1980s period and easily filled the role, while they found Matarazzo's audition to be much more authentic than most of the other audition tapes, and selected him after a single viewing of his audition tape.[37]
As casting had begun immediately after Netflix greenlit the series, and prior to the scripts being fully completed, this allowed some of the actors' takes on the roles to reflect on the script. The casting of the young actors for Will and his friends had been done just after the first script was completed, and subsequent scripts incorporated aspects from these actors.[60] The brothers said Modine provided significant input on the character of Dr. Brenner, whom they had not really fleshed out before, as they considered him the hardest character to write for given his limited appearances within the narrative.[61]
The brothers had desired to film the series around theLong Island area to match the initial Montauk concept. However, with filming scheduled to take place in November 2015, it was difficult to shoot in Long Island in the cold weather, and the production started scouting locations in and around theAtlanta, Georgia, area. The brothers, who grew up in North Carolina, found many places that reminded them of their own childhoods in that area, and felt the area would work well with the narrative shift to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[44]
Filming for the first season began in November 2015 and was extensively done in Atlanta, Georgia, with the Duffer Brothers and Levy handling the direction of individual episodes.[67]Jackson served as the basis of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[68][69] Other shooting locations included theGeorgia Mental Health Institute as the Hawkins National Laboratory site,Bellwood Quarry, andPatrick Henry High School inStockbridge, Georgia, for the middle and high school scenes.[70]
After the third season finished filming, producers considered the idea of keeping the Starcourt Mall set as a permanent attraction for fans to visit, but ultimately decided against it.[73]
Filming for the fourth season was slated to begin in January 2020 and to last through August.[74] With the release of a February 2020 teaser for the season, the Duffers confirmed that production had started.[75] Some filming for the fourth season took place atLukiškės Prison and nearby inVilnius, Lithuania.[76] In March 2020, production was stopped due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,[77] and resumed that September.[78]
Filming for the fifth and final season was expected to start in June 2023,[79] before the2023 Writers Guild of America strike delayed it to January 8, 2024.[80] Production began on that day and wrapped on December 20.[81]
Visual effects
To create the aged effect for the series, afilm grain was added over the footage, which was captured by scanning in film stock from the 1980s.[61] The Duffer Brothers wanted to scare the audience, but not to necessarily make the series violent or gory, following in line with how the 1980sAmblin Entertainment films drove the creation of thePG-13 movie rating. They said such films were "much more about mood and atmosphere and suspense and dread than they are about gore", though they were not afraid to push into more scary elements, particularly towards the end of the first season.[61]
The brothers had wanted to avoid anycomputer-generated effects for the monster and other parts of the series and stay withpractical effects, so they created an animatronic to play the part of the Demogorgon.[82][83] However, the six-month filming time left them little time to plan out and test practical effects rigs for some of the shots. They went with a middle ground of using constructed props, including one for the monster whenever they could, but for other shots, such as when the monster bursts through a wall, they opted to use digital effects. Post-production on the first season was completed the week before it was released to Netflix.[36]
The title sequence uses close-ups of the letters in theStranger Things title with a red tint against a black background as they slide into place within the title. The sequence was created by the studio Imaginary Forces, formerly part ofR/GA, led by creative director Michelle Doughtey.[84] Levy introduced the studio to the Duffer Brothers, who explained their vision of the 1980s-inspired series, which helped the studio to fix the concept the producers wanted. Later, but before filming, the producers sent Imaginary Forces the pilot script, the synth-heavy background music for the titles, as well as the various book covers from King and other authors that they had used to establish the title and imagery, and were looking for a similar approach for the series' titles, primarily using a typographical sequence.[85]
They took inspiration from several title sequences of works from the 1980s that were previously designed by Richard Greenberg under R/GA, such asAltered States andThe Dead Zone. They also got input from Dan Perri, who worked on the title credits of several 1980s films. Various iterations included having letters vanish, to reflect the "missing" theme of the series, and having letters cast shadows on others, alluding to the mysteries, before settling into the sliding letters. The studio began working on the title sequence before filming, and took about a month off during the filming process to let the producers get immersed in the series and come back with more input.[85]
Initially, they had been working with various fonts for the title and used close-ups of the best features of these fonts, but near the end, the producers wanted to work withITC Benguiat, requiring them to rework those shots. The final sequence is fully computer-generated, but they took inspiration from testing some practical effects, such as using Kodalith masks as would have been done in the 1980s, to develop the appropriate filters for the rendering software. The individual episode title cards used a "fly through" approach, similar to the filmBullitt, which the producers had suggested to the studio.[85]
Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of the electronic bandSurvive have composed the original soundtrack for the show, including the show's theme song.[86] It makes extensive use of synthesizers in homage to 1980s artists and film composers includingJean-Michel Jarre,Tangerine Dream,Vangelis,Goblin,John Carpenter,Giorgio Moroder, andFabio Frizzi.[87] According to Stein and Dixon, the Duffer Brothers had been fans of Survive's music since the 2014 filmThe Guest.[86][88][89] Once the series was green-lit, the Duffer Brothers contacted Survive around July 2015 to ask if they were still doing music; the two provided the production team with dozens of songs from their band's past to gain their interest, helping to land them the role.[86]
Soundtracks containing the original compositions and the licensed music for each season have been released byLakeshore Records.
Release
The first season consisted of eight episodes which were released worldwide on Netflix on July 15, 2016,[96] inUltra HD4K. The second season, consisting of nine episodes, was released on October 27, 2017, in HDR.[97][98] The third season once again consists of eight episodes,[99] and was released on July 4, 2019.[100] The fourth season, consisting of nine episodes, was released in two volumes on May 27 and July 1, 2022, respectively.[101] In February 2022, Netflix renewed the series for a fifth and final season.[102] The fifth season, consisting of eight episodes, premiered its first volume on November 26, 2025, the second on December 25, 2025, and theseries finale on December 31.[103]
Shortly after the fourth season's release, viewers reported that Will's friends did not acknowledge his birthday in an episode of the season that took place on that day. The Duffers said in an interview that they could rectify the matter by changing its month, which they called "George Lucas-ing the situation", in reference to thecanon changes thatGeorge Lucas had made to the originalStar Wars trilogy to match what the prequel trilogy had added.[104] Some viewers took this to imply that scenes from earlier seasons were also being edited, including one scene where Jonathan takes discreet pictures of a pool party that Steve, Nancy, and Barbara are holding. The writers stated that "no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited", including this scene.[104]
Home media
The first season was released on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack exclusively toTarget retailers on October 17, 2017, and the same for the 4K/Blu-ray combo pack on November 15, 2017, both of which includes vintageCBS-FOX VHS-inspired packaging.[105][106] The second season received a similar release on November 6, 2018.[107][108]
Netflix did not initially reveal subscriber viewership numbers for their original series, andSymphony Technology Group compiled data for the season based on people using software on their phones that measures television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, within the first 35 days of release,Stranger Things averaged ratings of around 14.07million adults between the ages of 18 and 49 in the United States. This made it the third most-watched season of Netflix original content in the U.S. at the time behind the first season ofFuller House andfourth season ofOrange Is the New Black.[109] In a September 2016 analysis, Netflix found thatStranger Things "hooked" viewers by the second episode of the first season, indicating that the second episode was "the first installment that led at least 70 percent of viewers who watched that episode to complete the entire first season of the show".[110]
For the third season, Netflix revealed that the show had broken viewing records for Netflix, with 40.7million households having watched the show in its first four days, and 18.2million already watched the entire series within that timeframe.[111] Within its first month, the third season was watched by 64million households, setting a new record for the most-watched original Netflix series.[112][113]
The series is the most followed TV show on social media appTV Time's history, with over 5 million followers.[114]
For the first season, Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 97% based on 92 reviews and an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Exciting, heartbreaking, and sometimes scary,Stranger Things acts as an addictive homage toSpielberg films and vintage1980s television."[115] Metacritic gave the season anormalized score of 74 out of 100 based on 142 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[116]The New York Times has compared the show to Rob Reiner'sStand by Me, relating their nostalgic feel by "...finding that timeless moment where everything seemed tantalizingly, scarily new".[127]
The second season has an approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 94% based on 150 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "Stranger Things' slow-building sophomore season balances moments of humor and a nostalgic sweetness against a growing horror that's all the more effective thanks to the show's full-bodied characters and evocative tone."[117] On Metacritic, the season has a normalized score of 78 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[118]
Rotten Tomatoes gave the third season an approval rating of 89% based on 141 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "Vibrant and charming,Stranger Things transforms itself into a riveting—if familiar—summer ride that basks in its neon-laden nostalgia without losing sight of the rich relationships that make the series so endearing."[119] On Metacritic, it has a normalized score of 72 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[120]
Rotten Tomatoes gave the fourth season an approval rating of 90% based on 200 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Darker and denser than its predecessors,Stranger Things' fourth chapter sets the stage for the show's final season in typically binge-worthy fashion."[121] Metacritic gave a score of 69 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[122]
Rotten Tomatoes gave the fifth and final season an approval rating of 83% based on 168 reviews. The site's critics consensus states, "Stranger Things plays its cards just right in Season 5, solidifying its pop culture classic status with genuinely captivating genre fare."[123] Metacritic gave a score of 71 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[124]
Stranger Things gained a dedicated fan base soon after its release. One area of focus was the character of Barb, Nancy's friend and classmate who is killed off early into the first season.[132] According to actressShannon Purser, Barb "wasn't supposed to be a big deal", and the Duffer Brothers had not gone into great detail about the character since the focus was on finding Will. However, many fans sympathized with the character; Laura Bradley ofVanity Fair suggested that Barb would be a similar misfit in society, and "looks more like someone you might actually meet in real life" compared to the other characters, particularly Nancy. Hashtags grew in popularity after the series' release, such as "#ImWithBarb" and "#JusticeforBarb", and several fan sites and forums were created to support her.[133] Purser did not return for the second season, but the Duffers used the real-life "Justice for Barb" movement as inspiration for a storyline at the start of the season, in which Nancy addresses the fact "that no one ever cares about" Barb.[32] Purser and several media outlets took her nomination for aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series as achieving "Justice for Barb", highlighting how well her character was received.[134][135][136]
Another impact of the series has been an increased demand forEggo waffles, as they are shown to be Eleven's favorite food in several episodes and are seen as a representation of the series.[137] TheKellogg Company manufactures Eggo and had not been part of the production prior to the first season's release, but they recognized the market impact of the series. They provided a vintage 1980s Eggo television advertisement for Netflix to use in itsSuper Bowl LI commercial, and they intend to become more involved with cross-promotion.[138]Coca-Cola released a limited run ofNew Coke (introduced in 1985) to coincide with the third season, which takes place in 1985.[139]
Controversies
In April 2018, filmmaker Charlie Kessler filed a lawsuit against the Duffer Brothers, claiming that they stole his idea behind his short filmMontauk, which featured a similar premise of a missing boy, a nearby military base doing otherworldly experiments, and a monster from another dimension. Kessler directed the film and debuted it at the 2012Hamptons International Film Festival. During theTribeca Film Festival in April 2014, he pitched his film to the Duffer brothers and later gave them "the script, ideas, story and film" for a larger film idea which he calledThe Montauk Project. Kessler contended that the Duffer brothers used his ideas to devise the premise forStranger Things and sought a third of the income that they had made from the series.[140][141]
The Duffer brothers' lawyer stated that they never saw Kessler's film nor spoke to him regarding it, and that Kessler had no input into their concepts forStranger Things.[142] The judge denied summary judgment for the Duffer brothers in April 2019, allowing Kessler's suit to proceed to trial.[143] Just before the trial was due to start in May 2019, Kessler withdrew his lawsuit after hearing the depositions and seeing documents from as early as 2010 which showed him that the Duffers had independently come up with the concept ofStranger Things.[144]
In September 2017, multiple media outlets published articles about a cease-and-desist letter sent by a Netflix in-house attorney to the operator of aStranger-Things-themed bar in Chicago.[148][149] The letter included humorous references to the series: "unless I'm living in the Upside Down"; "we're not going to go full Dr. Brenner on you"; "the demogorgon is not always as forgiving". The letter also won praise from lawyers for its even-handedness in not demanding immediate closure of the bar, only demanding that the bar not remain open without Netflix's permission past its initial scheduled run.[148]
In July 2022, six Jewish and Roma groups condemned the use ofLukiškės Prison as a filming location for the fourth season. Protesters pointed out the prison's involvement inthe Holocaust and its role in thePonary massacre; denounced Netflix's partnering with local tourism board Go Vilnius to rent out a refurbishedStranger Things-themed prison cell onAirbnb; and criticized Netflix's decision to repost images of fans' Eleven-inspirednumerical tattoos on their Instagram, saying it "desecrates the living memories of Holocaust survivors". A petition calling on Netflix to close the rental and apologize garnered more than 60,000 signatures, leading Go Vilnius to shut down the Airbnb listing indefinitely. Multiple news outlets contacted Netflix for comment, but received no response.[150][151][152]
The success of the series has led to a widermultimedia franchise, which includes various television spin-offs, astage play, a line of novels and comics, several video games, and extensive licensed merchandise.
^Fisher is credited as part of the recurring cast in all episodes of season five except for the final episode, where she is credited with the main cast.
^Dyer, John Nugent, Emma Thrower, James White, Owen Williams, James (December 2, 2016)."The Best TV Shows Of 2016".Empire.Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. RetrievedMarch 18, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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