Warning - MAJOR SPOILERS for Stranger Things season 2 ahead!
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Strangers Things season 2 is now on Netflix, bringing back Eleven and the rest of the gang as they continue to fight off the invading monsters from the Upside Down. Heavily inspired by the films of Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter, as well as the work of Stephen King, Stranger Things wears its homages on its sleeve, using them to capture the atmosphere of the era.
Set in 1984, the series includes a copious amount of references to the pop culture of the day. Some of these references are overt, others more subtle, but they all come together to create the heavy vibe of nostalgia that permeates throughout Stranger Things.
Here is Every Pop Culture Reference (That We Found) in Stranger Things Season 2:
Chapter One - MADMAX
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - The opening scene of Stranger Things season 2 takes place not in Hawkins, Indiana, but rather the city of Pittsburgh. This city was home to director George Romero when he filmed Night of the Living Dead in 1968, giving birth to the modern zombie genre. Throughout this season, Will is also referred to as “Zombie Boy.”
Mad Max - The title of the episode as well as the new character, Max’s name on the Dig Dug leader boards. George Miller’s film, Mad Max, had its U.S. release in 1980, just four years prior to the setting for Stranger Things season 2.
Reagan/Bush ‘84 - A campaign sign for Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election campaign is seen in The Wheeler’s front yard. He would go on to win the election in a landslide.
Dragon’s Lair - The game that Dustin is playing at the arcade is 1983’s Dragon Lair, a laserdisc video game in which player takes control of the knight, Dirk the Daring in his quest to rescue Princess Daphne. The game is best remembered for utilizing cell animation by famed animator Don Bluth (The Secret of N.I.M.H., All Dogs Go To Heaven) as opposed to the more widely used 16-bit animation style.
Dig Dug - While playing Dragon’s Lair, Dustin learns he’s lost his spot at the top of the leader boards for Dig Dug to the mysterious gamer, MADMAX. This game, first created for arcades in 1982 before being ported to the NES in 1985, has gameplay which features characters fighting monsters underground. (Hmm…)
The Terminator - As seen on the marquee, this 1984 film is showing at the local cineplex in Hawkins, having released on October 26th, just a week prior to the events in Stranger Things season 2. The film was rated ‘R’ so it’s unlikely that any of the kids went and saw it (unless, like with Poltergeist in season 1, a cool parent agreed to take them).
“Date with Bo Derek” - Sheriff Hopper wishes for a “date with Bo Derek”, an actress who made her first major film appearance in 1979’s 10 and went on to become one of the biggest sex symbols of the 1980s.
Red Dawn - A known conspiracy theorist comes to Hopper insisting the Russians are attacking, explaining that they’re deploying children with psychic powers to attack the U.S. This fear of the Russians invading crops up throughout season 2 of Stranger Things, stoking the same fears as are seen in the 1984 film Red Dawn starring Patrick Swayze and Lea Thompson in where the Russians invade Colorado and a group of teens, nicknamed The Wolverines, must fight them off.
The Shining - Stranger Things pulls much of its inspiration from the works of Stephen King, but these shots of Joyce driving along winding roads to Will’s appointment at Hawkins Lab are reminiscent of the opening shots of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining.
Reese’s Pieces - When asked by Dr. Owens what his favorite candy is, Will responds with Reese’s Pieces, the very same candy which prominently features in Steven Spielberg’s E.T.
The Goonies - Like this 1985 classic, Stranger Things centers on a group of kids involved in a wild adventure, so it’s perfect casting that original Goonie, Sean Astin plays Joyce’s new boyfriend, Bob Newby.
Family Video - At one point, the neon sign of a Family Video is visible in the background, and with home videos became a booming industry in the 1980s, these video rental stores popped up all over the country. Family Video, shockingly, remains in operation today, managing to outlast other video rental chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video.
Mr. Mom - Speaking of home video, of the movies Jonathan rents for their movie night, Bob chooses the Michael Keaton comedy, Mr. Mom. Having released in the theaters the year prior, it would certainly be available on home video at the time of this episode.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - The influence of directors like Stephen Spielberg are weaved throughout both seasons of Strangers Things, and in this first episode of season 2, when Will opens his front door and sees the Upside Down, the shot is almost identical to one from Spielberg’s 1977’ sci-fi film, Close Encounter of the Third Kind.
Music From This Episode: Devo's "Whip It"; Oingo Boingo's "Just Another Day"; The Romantics' "Talking In Your Sleep"; Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane"; Gary Paxton's "Spooky Movies"; Prehistoric Wolves' "Every Other Girl"
Chapter Two - Trick or Treat, Freak
E.T. - Wishing to go trick or treating, Eleven wears a sheet with a couple of eyeholes cut out, pretending to be a ghost and explaining that in this costume no one would recognize her. In the film, E.T., this is exactly what’s done to keep E.T. hidden, obscuring his very obvious alien-ness with a simple ghost costume.
Ghostbusters - Even though El can’t go trick or treating, the boys do, dressing up as the characters from that summer’s biggest hit, Ghostbusters: Spengler, Stantz, Venkman and Venkman. Yes, two Venkmans, with both Mike and Lucas dressing as Bill Murray's character. Their costumes are really top notch, with proton packs and everything. Dustin even has a replica of the trap the Ghostbusters use to trap ghosts, using it to contain another creepy creature later on.
The Evil Dead - Back to El for the moment, the second episode reveals that she has been living with Sheriff Hopper in his family’s old cabin. It is literally a cabin in the woods, but it’s bears some resemblance to the cabin from Sam Raimi’s horror film, The Evil Dead starring Bruce Campbell.
The Terminator - The T-800 makes an appearance while El is watching television, showing up in an commercial for the film, which as we saw in episode one, is now playing.
All My Children - After channel surfing, El lands on an episode of the daytime soap opera, All My Children, quoting the dialogue of Susan Lucci’s character, Erica and David Canary’s Adam.
“Very Own Chinatown” - While at the precinct, Hopper’s fellow officers refer to the situation of farmers accusing each other of poisoning their crops as Hopper’s “very own Chinatown.” What they’re most likely referring to is the 1974 film starring Jack Nicholson in where a P.I. becomes involved with a dispute over water reservoirs in southern California, somewhat mirroring the dispute Hopper is overseeing between the farmers.
The Karate Kid - At the Halloween party that Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan attend, one of Billy's friends is dressed as Daniel LaRusso's nemesis, Johnny Lawrence from 1984's The Karate Kid. You can even hear someone utter the line the film, "Leave him alone, man - he's had enough!"
Madonna - Another girl at the party is dressed as Madonna from her infamous 1984 MTV Music Awards performance of "Like A Virgin", which would have only aired in September.
Risky Business - Steve and Nancy's costumes are of Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay's characters from this 1983 romantic comedy.
Animal House - There's yet another boy at the part dressed similarly, though not exactly, to John Belushi's toga-wearing character from Animal House. He's the one calling the punch, "Pure fuel!"
Radio Shack - It’s revealed in this episode that Joyce’s boyfriend, Bob works at Radio Shack, even suggesting if they were to move he could likely be relocated to another Radioshack in another city. Like Family Video, Radio Shacks and their stock of electronics are a relic of their time, but in 1984 they would have been all over the country.
Halloween - Max eventually joins the boys for trick or treating, at first scaring them with her Mike Myer’s mask from the 1978 film, Halloween. In fact, there would have been three Halloween films by the year this season of Stranger Things is taking place.
Frankenstein - El watches a lot of TV throughout this episode, including the 1933 Universal original, Frankenstein. The scene playing has the monster meeting a little girl, joining her in throwing flower petals into a lake, and once he’s run out of petals, tossing in the girl. It’s a scene illustrating how naive the monster is but also how dangerous, possibly intended as a little commentary on El herself.
Friday the 13th - While trick or treating, Will is harassed by some older teens wearing masks - one of which is the hockey mask made famous by Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th franchise. Earlier in the year, the fourth film in the series - Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter - would have released. (It was by no means the final chapter.)
Poltergeist - When El is sitting in front of the television and it turns to static, she uses its white noise to recreate the sensory deprivation tanks from her time at Hawkins Lab. What it’s visually reminiscent of is the scene in 1982’s Poltergeist where the young girl in that film, Carol Anne is sitting in front of static television; the infamous “They’re here,” scene.
Music From This Episode: Ray Park Jr.'s "Ghostbusters"; Ted Nugent's "Wango Tango"; Mötley Crüe's "Shout At The Devil"; Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers' "Islands In The Stream"; Bobby Picket's "Monster Mash"; Duran Duran's "Girls On Film"
Chapter Three - The Pollywog
Gremlins - At the start of the episode, it’s revealed that what Dustin discovered in his trash can is a small, slimy lizard creature. He names it D’artagnan after the Three Musketeers bar he feeds it, deciding to keep it as pet. This isn’t all that different from the premise of the 1984 film, Gremlins, in which a teen has a strange creature of his own, a mogwai named Gizmo, and winds up with quite the handful when it spawns more mogwai and they run amok all over town.
E.T. - The lost alien from Spielberg's film make a cameo as a figure (or possible stuffed toy) on Dustin’s dresser next to the aquarium he puts D’artagnan in. There’s also another toy next to it, which is either a He-Man figure or a wrestler action figure. Your guess is as good as ours.
1984 Election - With Stranger Things season 2 taking place right at the end of October, the upcoming election is only weeks away. In addition to the lawn signs, a “Vote Here Sign” can be seen outside of the Hawkins public library. There’s also a photo of President Reagan seen in the school later on, another reminder of the impending election.
Nightmare on Elm Street - When comforting Will and offering him advice, Bob shares his own childhood nightmare involving a character he calls, Mr. Baldo. Though not exactly the same, the idea of a scary man frightening kids while they dream bears at least a little similarity to Freddy Krueger, the monster from the Nightmare on Elm Street film series who torments teens and children in their dreams.
Star Wars - Once the boys have their suspicion that D'art is from the Upside Down, Dustin still doesn't want to believe his new discovery is evil, to which Mike makes the analogy, "That's like saying, 'Just because someone's from the Death Star, doesn't make them bad.'"
Music From This Episode: Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim"; The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You";
Chapter Four - Will The Wise
Cheers - Right before Hopper disconnects the television, punishing El by getting rid of her TV privileges, the sitcom Cheers can be seen playing. The series would run from 1982-1993.
The Shining - After being attacked by the shadow monster, Will begins speaking for another entity that’s residing within him. This strikes at least some similarity with the young boy from The Shining, Danny, and his “imaginary friend” Tony who lives in his mouth.
Music From This Episode: The Clash's "This Is Radio Clash"; Paul Engemann's "Scarface (Push It To The Limit)"
Chapter Five - Dig Dug
Mondale/Ferraro ‘84 - In the lawn of The Henderson home, there’s a campaign sign for Walter Mondale, who with Geraldine Ferrero as his running mate, would lose - and lose badly - to President Reagan in the 1984 campaign.
Family Feud - Playing on the television when El meets her mother for the first time is the game show, Family Feud, hosted by Richard Dawson. This ABC version of the show where two families would compete in a test of common knowledge would end in 1985, before being picked by CBS in 1988.
“Sorry About That Road Warrior” - When Max arrives as the arcade and sees the “Out of Order” sign on the Dig Dug game, she’s distraught, to which the arcade employee responds, “sorry about that Road Warrior,” making another allusion to the film on which her leader board name is based. The sequel to 1979’s Mad Max was originally titled The Road Warrior (as opposed to Mad Max 2) when it released in the U.S. in 1981.
Hi-Q - Bob arrives at The Wheeler house with a stack of games, brain teasers really, that he used to play with as a child that he intends to give to Will. This includes the game, Hi-Q, which was a brand name version of the common peg board solitaire game
He-Man - Though it’s unclear if it was a He-Man toy sitting next to E.T. in Dustin’s room, at Lucas’ house, his sister is definitely playing with a pair of action figures - He-Man and Man-At-Arms - from the popular 1980s cartoon series.
Three Mile Island - In 1979, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania experienced a malfunction which led to a partial meltdown. The incident only fueled the growing nuclear fears in the country, resulting in stricter regulations on nuclear power. When trying to figure out how they can convince the public that Hawkins Lab is responsible for Barb's death, Nancy and the Murray Bauman (the conspiracy theorists they seek out) decide it'd be best to water down the facts to make it more plausible for the public to believe. Using the Three Mile Island incident as inspiration, they decide on using the story that chemical leaks from the lab were the cause of Barb's death and the reason for the cover-up.
Indiana Jones - The Duffer Brothers haven’t made it a secret that the Indiana Jones films influenced their work, specifically citing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. So when Hopper is rescued from the tunnels in Upside Down, it isn’t at all surprising that he make a point of reaching back and grabbing his wide-brimmed hat - just like Indy.
Music From This Episode: Carol Lloyd's "Try My Love"; Bobby Bare's "Green, Green Grass of Home"; Billy Holiday's "No More"
Chapter Six - The Spy
The Endless Summer - Hanging on the wall of Max’s bedroom is a poster for the 1966 documentary, The Endless Summer, which follows a pair of surfers as they travel the world catching waves. Being that Max is a transplant from California, the poster is likely a nod to her home and its well-known surfer culture. Not too mention, she’s such a proficient skateboarder, it’s likely she’s not such a bad surfer, either.
MTV - The television in Billy’s room is playing MTV, specifically the music video for Ratt’s song “Round and Round”. The music video station launched in 1981.
Stand By Me - In the first season of Stranger Things, the kids are shown walking along the train tracks in a shot that’s reminiscent of the film Stand By Me. In this episode, those train tracks resurface when Steve and Dustin are laying out bait to capture D’art.
Farrah Fawcett Hair Spray - While monster hunting, Steve offers Dustin some advice on dating and girls, but his best piece of advice is the secret to his fantastic head of hair - Farrah Fawcett’s Hair Spray. Rising to fame in the 1970s, Farrah’s feathered hair style was all the rage through the 1980s, so of course the actress had her own line of hair spray.
Jurassic Park - With the trap laid for D’art, Steve and the kids hide in the school bus at the junk yard, but when D’art refuses to take the bait, Steve goes outside to help lure him in. As he approaches D’art, another demodog comes at him from the side mimicking the raptor attack on Muldoon in Jurassic Park; the infamous “Clever girl” scene.
Music From This Episode: Queen's "Hammer To Fall"; Artie Shaw's "There's Frost On The Moon"; Billie Holiday's "You Better Go Now": Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou"; Ratt's "Round And Round"
Chapter Seven - The Lost Sister
Shirley Temple - When El arrives in Chicago and finds her lost sister, she’s hanging out with a gang on misfits, one of whom refers to El as Shirley Temple, an obvious nod to the likeness El’s curly mop of hair has to the iconic child actress.
X-Men - The sequence of Kali, El’s sister, instructing her to harness her anger and use it to power her abilities reads very similarly to the dozens of scenes across the X-Men comics in where a mutant is trained to use their abilities. In fact, it’s almost the polar opposite of the scene between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr from 2011's X-Men: First Class.
Care Bears - The gang that El falls in with in Chicago has been hunting down and murdering those who worked at Hawkin’s Lab. When they do so, they hide their identities with plastic Halloween masks - one of which is clearly a Care Bear, most likely Cheer Bear due to its pink color.
Supermarket Sweep - On their way to murder one of the men from Hawkins Lab, Kali, El, and the gang stop at a gas station and go into the convenience store to stock up on supplies. Once the man behind the counter is tricked into thinking the bathroom is overflowing (thanks to Kali’s ability to make others see what she wants them to see), the mohawked man announces it’s time to play Supermarket Sweep. This is the name of a long-running game show that sees contestants racing through a supermarket, trying to grab as much as they can as fast as they can; making it a perfectly apt analogy for what's about to go down.
Punky Brewster - Another sitcom seen playing on television (this time in the home of the former Hawkins Lab employee) is Punky Brewster, a show about a young girl being raised by her foster father and it clearly mirrors the situation between El and Hopper; the series debuted in 1984.
Music From This Episode: Bon Jovi's "Runaway"; The Runaways' "Dead End Justice"; Icicle Works' "Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)"
Chapter Eight - The Mind Flayer
Aquanet - Though Steve’s choice of hair spray is that of Farrah Fawcett, Billy can be seen using Aquanet to secure his do.
Jurassic Park - This Spielberg classic is referenced again when Hawkins Lab loses power and immediately goes into lock down. Similarly to the events of Jurassic Park, someone must manually reset the breakers to restore power, risking their lives as they navigate hallways overrun with demadogs. The task falls to Bob who, in another slight allusion to Jurassic Park, is the only one among them who understands basic - the computer code required to unlock the doors once the power is restored.
The Mind Flayer - Like season 1, the boys turn to Dungeons & Dragons in order to help understand the dangerous monsters they face. And where before it was the Demogorgon, this season it’s the Mind Flayer - a creature from another dimension who can control its slaves with a hive mind, interested only in destroying all other inferior lifeforms. Of course, the shadow monster from the Upside Down doesn’t actually look anything like a Mind Flayer, but its demodog slaves and hive mind make it an appropriate analogy.
The Exorcist - Will wasn’t only attacked by the Mind Flayer, he’s infected by it, joining its hive mind and serving as a link between the real world and the Upside Down. The severity of that link and what it means for Will becomes apparent when it proves difficult to communicate with Will and not the Mind Flayer. Like the 1973 film, The Exorcist, Will is possessed by another creature and no longer in charge of his own body.
Star Wars Toys - While trying to break through the Mind Flayer’s control and reach Will, his mother, Joyce shares a story of how for one of his birthdays all his friends bought Will Star Wars toys, while she bought him a huge box of crayons. And while Star Wars toys would have been all the rage in the 1980s, Will used those crayons the most, coloring constantly with each and every one.
Tonka Truck - Another story Joyce shares about Will, illustrating his selfless nature, involves him giving away a Tonka Truck to another child in order to make them happy. Since Tonka Trucks (which at this time would have likely been made of metal, not plastic) were expensive, he did so knowing it was unlikely his mother could buy him a new one.
Music From This Episode: Metallica's "The Four Horsemen"; The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"
Chapter Nine - The Gate
Johanna Lindsey's Heart of Thunder - At the start of the episode, we see Mrs. Wheeler relaxing in a bath and reading this 1983 romance novel, completely oblivious to the danger her children are in.
The Exorcist - Already, Will's possession by the Mind Flayer is reminiscent of Regan's demonic possession in The Exorcist. Well, in this episode, Joyce performs what is basically an exorcism on Will in an attempt to drive the creature from his body, cranking up the heat and roasting it. When Will's body becomes too hot for the Mind Flayer's possession to remain, he bursts forth from Will's mouth in an unmistakable allusion to that 1973 film.
Aliens - To be fair, much of the action from these final episode is evocative of the alien-killing action in James Cameron’s Aliens, but once Eleven and Hopper come face to (kind of) face with the Mind Flayer, it becomes very clear how much its design was influenced by the Xenomorph; especially its elongated head.
The Phoenix - Having already had a bit of mutant training while in Chicago with her big sister, when El unleashes her full power and closes the gate to the Upside Down, it’s hard not to relate that moment with that of the X-Men's Jean Grey unleashing the full power of the Phoenix Force.
Music From This Episode: Barbara Streisand's "The Way We Were"; Donna Summers' "I Do Believe (I Fell In Love)"; Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock"; Olivia Newton John's "Twist of Fate"; Pat Benetar's "Love Is A Battlefield"; Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time"; The Police's "Every Breath You Take"
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Whew! So those are all the pop culture references, both of the 1980s and elsewhere, that we caught in Stranger Things season 2. Are there any we missed? Feel free to share the pop culture references you spot in the comments!
Strangers Things seasons 1 and 2 are now available to stream on Netflix.