Here’s what we found!
This article is filled withStranger Things2 spoilers.
Do not go further if you havent viewed the episodes to which each section refers.
Instead, we would recommend ourspoiler-free reviewuntil youre all caught up.
To help you avoid spoilers, weve separated this guide by episode.
They were introduced in 1971, but the packaging shown inStranger Thingsis vintage 1980s.
An expensive prospect, since the game required two quarters instead of the standard one other arcade games charged.
you might see a complete playthrough of the game here,and its really something incredible to watch.
Its just playing it thats a nightmare.
Dustins record onDig DugandCentipedewas broken by MadMax, which gives this episode its title.
For the record, it is possible to get 750,000 points onDig Dug.
Other plainly visible and era-appropriate arcade machines include the originalPac-Man, as well as pizza parlor perennialsGalagaandMs.
The pinball machines in the background areTwin Win(Bally, 1974) andOXO(Williams, 1973).
We get a glimpse of a theater marquis for a showing of James CameronsThe Terminator.
This was opening weekend for the film!
It premiered on Oct. 26, 1984.
Dont read too much into the fact that Mikes parents are Reagan/Bush voters.
The conspiracy theorist/investigative reporter pestering Hopper offers a shot of paraonia that is straight out of Reagan America hype.
One where the Russians invade a small American town and bring about a…Red Dawn.
When Will visits Dr. Owens, hes asked what his favorite Halloween candy is.
Its no surprise that Will answers Reeses Pieces.
The candy became popular after 1982s Spielberg hit,E.T.
This was one of many Spielberg references inStranger Thingsseasons 1 and 2.
Ben Cooper was the company that made countless,unspeakably awful Halloween costumesthroughout the 70s and 80s.
Instead, they watchMr.
Mom, the 1983 comedy starring Michael Keaton, arguably launching the comic actors career.
Who the hell watches comedies on the night beroe Halloween?
Good lord, Bob is a square.
In true 1980s movie fashion, the product placements inStranger Things 2are almost out of control.
Aside from being an apparently mediocre human being, Maxs brother Billy apparently has mediocre taste in music.
You come cruising into the parking lot cranking The Scorpions Rock You Like a Hurricane dude?
you might hearThe Romantics brilliant and surprisingly eerie Talking in Your Sleepat one point in the background, too.
Keep going for future episodes!
The title or the lyrics often seem directly related to the plot going on.
Some lame kid who scares Will is dressed as the far less cool Jason Voorhees.
We also see a Pac-Man costume walking behind the kids as they trick r treat.
When El is left in the cabin alone, she tries to learn more English from watching television.
By 1984, Lucci had already been playing the character for 14 years.
Lucas is right, though: Venkman is way cooler than Winston.
Just in case you needed any further indications of where Billys teenage moral compass is.
Theres also someone doing the robot in a Ronald Reagan mask, too, which kind of rules.
Hopper is late in returning to the shack on Halloween night, so El occupies herself by watching 1931sFrankenstein.
Its a great illustration of Els ongoing struggle to determine if shes the innocent child or the monster herself.
Keep going for more episodes!
Dustins room is a treasure trove of 80s pop culture references.
One thing you’re free to see on the wall is a Ghostbusters certificate of some kind.
The turtle Dustin evicts to house Dart is named Yertle.
Yertle the Turtle was a Dr. Seuss creation, from the appropriately titledYertl the Turtle and Other Stories.
Dustin has a lot of 80s toys on his shelf.
Among them are a large toy of E.T.
Now, can anyone help us identify that spaceship poster on his wall?
They areIndirana semipalmataandAdenomera andreae.
Presumably his science and literary skills are more developed than his vocabulary.
With the pumpkin fiasco, that obviously didnt work out so well.
Also, shes carrying a pretty amazing Trapper Keeper.
George Sarton is considered the father of the field of science history.
The accomplishments at Hawkins Lab would probably have made it onto Sartons timeline of notable moments in science.
Hopper and Eleven obviously regret their outbursts, and the chief clearly wants to apologize or say something conciliatory.
That bracelet is the blue hairband Sara wore that Hop keeps as a reminder of his daughter.
His hesitation takes on all kinds of new meaning in that context.
Eleven opening the door to the basement (or is that a fruit cellar?)
is so out ofThe Evil Dead, that we were disappointed there wasnt even a Necronomicon in it.
But why didnt any of the lab guards search Nancys purse?
That tape recorder wasnt exactly miniature!
Like the eponymous alien, a creature hatched from an egg and attached to Wills face.
It led to a smaller creature that (much more slowly) has grown into a carniverous monster.
It also one-ups the xenomorph by getting the one creature that eluded that monster… the cat.
He even says the words pirate treasure.
If it was anymore on the nose, you wouldnt be able to breathe.
Nancy and Jonathan have matching scars, as shippers everywhere had hoped.
We also received yet another nod toPoltergeistandThe Karate Kidwhen Eleven communed with mama.
This visualization of her origin story also touches again upon herFirestarterinfluences.
Thank you, Stephen King.
Thats the same newspaper we saw in the first episode ofStranger Things2!
Is Mr. Sinclair only just now getting around to reading about Merrills Pumpkin Patch and Baby Faes Baboon Heart?
Thats where Wills body was supposedly found in season 1.
He put it together in the aforementioned season 1 episode 8.
Murray, the investigative journalist, pours vodkas for Nancy and Jonathan while playing Billie HollidaysThe Lady Singsalbum.
Sing it, Murray.
She even paraphrases the grim scene as her son goes closer and closer to Linda Blair territory.
The next time they see it, it will be near full grown in size.
This is a subtle echoing ofIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Thank you to Chad Pittman for pointing this one out!
There are a couple of interesting song choices.
Also note that Steve has better taste in music than that jackass, Billy.
The other appropriate song choice comes when Billy is lifting waits and generally looking bad ass.
You know who else has better taste in music than Billy?
Murray Bauman, who has a clearly visible MC5 poster in his paranoid bunker/living quarters.
Also the radar and the beeping is straight out ofAliens.
So yeah, El ran away.
Kali and her gang resemble Grant MorrisonsInvisiblesquite a bit.
you’re able to also spot (more than once) King Mob graffiti.
King Mob was the leader of The Invisibles and the stand-in for Morrison himself.
OBedlam is another piece of graffiti, referencing Tom OBedlam, another member of the team.
That puts her rescue by Hopper at Dec. 10, 1983.
So theres that for what its worth.
Very portentous for an episode that features a visit by Matthew Modines Dr. Brenner.
Not really an easter egg, just cool casting.
But it more specificially borrows from the 1990s Steven Spielberg classic,Jurassic Park.
Speaking of Demodogs, the critters get rebranded just that by Dustin.
Like the Demodogs, Zuul was a canine servant of a greater evil named Gozer in that 1984 classic.
This is not unlike Wills current predicament.
Will also takes a step closer to William Friedkins classicThe Exorcist.
Will likewise communicated by tapping Morse code while a voice of pure evil lied through his own teeth.
Bob has to reboot the security system at Hawkins Lab using a manual override written in BASIC.
The boys (especially Dustin) are great at coming up with names.
The Mind Flayer was known for enslaving intelligent beings with their psionic powers.
The castle, of course, was the structure in which Will took shelter during most of season 1.
Alas, she could not make it due to getting sucked into the Upside-Down and whatnot.
But 1984 proved to be a very good year for the pair, indeed.
The blue bracelet El is wearing as she dances with Mike may look familiar.
Its the one Hopper has been wearing since his daughter Sara died.
It was her hairband that he started wearing when she lost her golden tresses to chemotherapy.
A very touching visual!
Youd be hard pressed to find an anachronism inStranger Things.
