Stranger Things’ Scott Clarke is the epitome of lovable science teachers – cool, approachable, and constantly saving the day. Donning his signature mustache and sweater vest combo, Scott is a recurring character in all 3 seasons of the show, always available at the right moment with answers to the kids’ most complex questions.
Working as a teacher at Hawkins Middle School, Scott quickly became fond of Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will due to their interest in science. Eager to support them in any way he could, he frequently acquired special equipment for their use while running the school science fair, which the boys regularly won. Despite the adults of the show often being portrayed as an antagonistic force (apart from Joyce Byers), Scott is more a friend than he is an authoritative figure. Rather than conforming to the stereotypical, condescending teacher many viewers may have had growing up – the kind that clearly doesn’t even like children – Mr. Clarke listens, ensuring his students never feel their questions are inadequate.
Despite his heartwarming presence as the show’s most admirable educator, Scott is also an integral component of the show’s plot. Without him, Stranger Things would’ve had an exponentially higher death toll – one that likely would’ve included Will Byers. Though he may appear unassuming, Scott was the common denominator in each major breakthrough that ultimately allowed Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will to save the day.
Giving Mike, Dustin & Lucas Access to the Heathkit Ham Shack
After Mr. Clarke’s class ended in Stranger Things season 1 (shortly after Will’s disappearance), he led Mike, Dustin, and Lucas to the AV club room where he showed them the recently delivered Heathkit. The Heathkit was a long-distance radio, which Mr. Clarke explained was powerful enough to reach Australia. The boys enthusiastically took turns testing the device before being called to the principal’s office for questioning. Unbeknownst to him, Mr. Clarke turned out to be just the hero the kids needed.
While searching for a stronger radio for Eleven so that she could contact Will, the boys decided the Heathkit was their most viable option. As they tried to break into the AV room in order to use the device, they ran into Mr. Clarke, who sympathized with their plea for some “alone time.” Eleven managed to successfully find Will and broadcast his voice over the radio’s speakers – this is when they learn that Will is in the Upside Down, a place Will describes as being “like home, but dark and cold.” Shortly after, however, the radio suddenly burst into flames, only to be inspected by an undercover agent working for Hawkins Laboratory. This information is used to track down the boys and Eleven, who in turn were still attempting to find Will.
Teaching The Stranger Things Kids About Alt-Dimensions
Truthfully, if Mr. Clarke’s character didn’t exist in Stranger Things, the boys (and Eleven) wouldn’t have known nearly as much as they did about the Upside Down – or, at the very least, there would’ve been some lengthy montages of the kids doing some good old-fashioned research at their local library. Shortly after Will’s funeral, the boys (quite bluntly) asked Mr. Clarke about alternate dimensions and how one could go about traveling to one. Quickly inking a drawing on a paper plate, Mr. Clarke presents a metaphor of a flea and an acrobat standing on a tightrope. The tightrope represents the Earthly dimension viewers are familiar with, which has rules. While both the flea and the acrobat can travel back and forth, inter-dimensional travel would be impossible due to the massive amounts of energy necessary (which humans are incapable of creating). However, he explains that if the energy requirements were met, it would create a tear in time and space, opening a doorway – or gate – to another dimension. When Mike questions if such a gate may already exist, Mr. Clarke responds by stating that they would know if it did due disruptions to “gravity, the magnetic field, and the environment.”
With this information, Dustin comes to the realization that if the Gate was created it would disrupt the electromagnetic field, throwing off compasses. Thus, if they followed their compasses, they would be able to find the Gate. Ultimately, the Gate turns out to be at Hawkins National Laboratory, though the kids experience other obstacles before they come to this conclusion – obstacles that Mr. Clarke also helps solve.
Mr. Clarke Helps Build The "Tank" To Contact Characters In The Upside Down
In arguably one of the best moments of Stranger Things season 1, Dustin calls Mr. Clarke’s home phone at 10 o’clock on a Saturday while he's watching a movie to ask how to build a sensory deprivation tank “for fun.” Mr. Clarke suggests they pick up the conversation the following Monday, to which Dustin replies, “You always say we should never stop being curious. To always open any curiosity door we find. Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?” Since he serves as the show’s all-knowing source of scientific information, Mr. Clarke eventually concedes, and the group is able to build a makeshift “tank” consisting of a paddling pool filled with de-icing salt from the Hawkins Middle School reserve.
During Eleven’s time with the laboratory, she was able to create a tear in reality between the two dimensions after making brief contact with a monster while in the tank. Eleven, knowing the tank would allow her to concentrate enough to heighten her powers and make further contact with Will and Barb in the Upside Down, is the one to suggest they use it despite her own discomfort. With the help of the tank, she eventually finds Will in the Upside Down version of “Castle Byers.” Without Mr. Clarke, however, they wouldn’t have been able to build the tank at all, especially considering he covered everything down to the exact amount of salt necessary so Eleven would float (1,500 pounds).
Mr. Clarke Helps Mike Realize What's Wrong With Will
Though viewers aren’t graced with Scott Clarke’s presence in Stranger Things season 2 nearly as often as they were during season 1, he still manages to save the day on at least one occasion. During the show’s Halloween episode (“Trick or Treat, Freak”), Will has another episode experiencing himself back in the Upside Down as a shadowy monster in the sky attempts to catch him. While Will reveals that he’s been having these “visions” to Mike, it’s Mr. Clarke’s lesson a few days later that leads him to believe they may be more serious than Will suggests. The lesson focused on defense mechanisms and the concept of fear, which is what suggested to Mike that something was wrong with Will, as he was also absent that same day.
Mr. Clarke Teaches Joyce About Magnets
In Stranger Things season 3, episode 2 “The Mall Rats,” Joyce visits Scott at home while he makes toy soldiers and rocks out to Weird Al’s “My Bologna.” After recounting how her magnets keep falling off her fridge, the two create an electromagnetic field with an AC transformer as Scott tutors Joyce on the inner-workings of magnets. Learning that an unstable field can stop magnets from functioning, Joyce questions how this could be happening at her house and Melvald’s General Store. To this, Scott can only offer the term “apophenia,” suggesting it could be a coincidence, but that theoretically it would take a massively powerful, high-voltage, and expensive machine to create a similar force large enough to spread throughout the area.
Though Scott doubts this theory, this is what catapults Joyce’s paranoia surrounding the mysterious magnet phenomenon and later another conspiracy involving the Hawkins Laboratory once again. Like the rest of Joyce’s seemingly crazy obsessions, her intuition is right on the money – with the help of Scott, who of course only encourages her desire to find out the truth. Without Joyce’s strange fixations and Scott’s endless well of knowledge, the world as the characters of Stranger Things know it might’ve very well ended.
While Scott Clarke, a lovable, nerdy science teacher, isn’t Stranger Things’ most celebrated hero, he is certainly the most reliable one. Despite never figuring out that El wasn’t really Mike’s second cousin from Sweden, his habit of unknowingly saving the day when the kids needed it most certainly made up for it.