Netflix's Sex Education has delighted fans with its blend of bawdy comedy and poignant drama - but even more awesome is a newly uncovered Stranger Things Easter egg. Created by Laurie Nunn, Sex Education debuted in 2019 to overwhelming success and unveiled a sophomore outing in early 2020. The series largely follows Otis Milburn and Maeve Wiley - as they operate an underground sex therapy clinic at their school while also navigating their own life and relationship issues. However, across the episodes, Sex Education has increasingly focused on a vast ensemble of nuanced and emotionally complex characters. One of the most successful (and popular) of such arcs has been that of Adam Groff.
Played by Connor Swindells, Adam began life on the show as a stereotypical bully. The main target of his viciousness was Otis' openly gay best friend, Eric, with it established that Adam had made his life miserable for years. Across Sex Education season 1, however, it was revealed that much of Adam's behavior stemmed from a strained relationship with his father - provoking misplaced anger. Towards the end of the first season, Adam's passion manifested differently when it was revealed that harbored a long-buried sexual attraction to Eric. Sex Education season 2 picked up with Adam having been exiled to a military academy. Fortunately, the experience proved surprisingly beneficial - with Adam learning a measure of discipline and acceptance. Though he was soon forced to return home, Adam continued to work on improving himself and atone for past mistakes. As such, he ultimately accepted himself as bisexual and pursued an actual relationship with Eric.
An early sign of Adam's softer side emerged towards the end of Sex Education season 1. While attempting a career as a dog-walker, Eric encountered Adam, who was out walking his mother's dog, Madam. Though the conversation eventually soured, Adam initially revealed not only an affinity but also an aptitude for training them - impressing Eric and offering a rare smile of his own. That ability was revisited in Sex Education season 2 - subtly setting up a possible career for Adam. Things went wrong, however, when a distracted Adam failed to see Madam run away. In the wake of that, Adam was tasked with tracking down the wayward pet. Part of his efforts to accomplish that was to put up flyers around town. As an eagle-eyed Reddit user noticed, however, Adam's posters shared more than a passing similarity to those made to aid the search for Will Byers in Stranger Things season 1.
A cool reference to Stranger Things in Sex Education that I noticed is that the missing poster made for Madam Groff is in the exact same format as the missing poster for Will Byers from StrangerThings
Created by the Duffer Brothers, a large part of Stranger Things season 1 revolved around Will being dragged into the realm known as The Upside Down. Before such knowledge came to light, however, and despite the attempted cover-up by the staff of Hawkins Lab, Will's brother, Jonathan, made posters of his own. As is apparent from the above images, the formatting is almost identical. Both posters use block lettering for the "Have You Seen Me?" headline and use dual images of the one being sought out. Even the order of the various descriptors are the same - prioritizing name, age, height, hair color, eye color, and then so on.
Amusingly, at first glance, even the weight of Madam the dog and Will Byers appear to be the same. Though Will is wildly considered to be a slim child, such a case would be emphatically impossible. As such, a closer inspection reveals a decimal between the seven and the three on Madam's poster - making her 7.3 lbs to Will's 73. Regardless, the use of specific numbers emphasizes that the direct correlation was certainly intentional. It's an extremely fun detail that adds even more (and a wholly different kind of) depth to the comedy-drama. Equally, given the fact that both Sex Education and Stranger Things are Netflix Originals, it's also subtle cross-promotion at its finest.