Like Sheriff Hopper in episode one, Stranger Things does a great job a relatable plot device of its time (e.g., smoking) to suggest stress as well as working class conditions in a time where good-hearted people (and not just shady characters and villains) smoked.Īn early scene at the governmental compound shows the pensive man-in-suit (a silver-haired Matthew Modine) as he reviews a recording of Joyce’s latest 911 call. Joyce drives to the nearby general store, her apparent job, and asks for a two-week advance as well as a new phone “and a pack of Camels” in lieu of her grief-stricken time off. Nancy shows high moral character by going over to console him emotionally, while the others stare and pass judgment. (It’s so pitch perfect that we can understand Steve’s psychology by not even seeing his parents…and classic Tommy, who we “get” without even knowing.) Warning flags abound just as the scene shifts to Jonathan Byers hanging a missing child poster for his brother Will. Steve’s annoying toady friend Tommy (Chester Rushing) follows up that his mom is accompanying him because his dad needs a chaperone. At school, Steve (Joe Keery) sets up the prototypical teen party when he tells Nancy (Natalia Dyer) his dad is going out of town to a conference.
This highlights another staple storytelling thread of childhood narratives in the ’80s, specifically the instinct that children know better than adults and adults never listen to or trust their own kids.Īcross town, the kids must resume normalcy despite Will’s disappearance. She tells him “bad” people are after her and mimics a gun to their head to signal the danger adult awareness brings. He tells Eleven (shortened “El”) that his mom “will know who to call”, but El offers a firm “no”. (Recall episode one where the boys dined on takeout pizza in the basement.) Mike proposes that she slip out of the house and come around to the front properly so that he won’t get in trouble. As the representative of rationality and law enforcement, Hopper can’t buy into conspiracy theory, at least not at this juncture.Ībsentee Parenthood as Visualized Through Food (Take Two)Īt Mike’s house, he scarfs down two Ego waffles fresh out of the toaster while he pockets a third to give to “Eleven” (or “011” as is tattooed on her forearm) who remains hidden in the basement. Hopper speculates the storm caused the phone burnout, and a prank caller was the source of the interrupted static noise Joyce now believes to be Will (Noah Schnapp). An electrical current chars the speaker and receiver and abruptly interrupts the call.Įpisode two picks up the next morning, when Sheriff Hopper (David Harbour) checks in on the Byers family. Answering their mustard yellow landline wall phone, Joyce hears several static hisses, almost like words. Home alone with Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), the lights flickered amidst another nighttime thunderstorm. The other cliffhanger resolve involves a mysterious phone call that Joyce (Winona Ryder) received at the end of episode one. The Duffer Brothers scatter these smaller intimate story beats to remind us of childhood innocence (and awkwardness), and just how young and naïve and funny kids can be. Like their occasional use of PG-13 salty language, this otherwise throwaway story beat is another tease reminiscent of the kind of adult-ish yet kiddy humor ’80s movies didn’t shy away from. Mike brings her some fresh clothes (androgynously bland sweats), and as a riff on her ambiguous alienated personality, when she goes to pull off her soaking hospital gown, all three boys freak out and scream, turning around or averting their eyes in unison. The trio (now minus Will) bickers over what to do with this strange mute girl. Cut to the group back in Mike’s basement, their de facto secret headquarters. The Weirdo on Maple Street immediately addresses the episode one cliffhanger, in which Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) find the runaway girl (Millie Bobby Brown) alone, wet, and scared in the woods.
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