The Netflix hit Stranger Things is not as famous for its funny moments as its thrills and scares, so it is no surprise that the second season's biggest laugh came about by accident. Debuting in summer 2016, Netflix's Stranger Things soon became a word-of-mouth phenomenon that grew into one of the biggest runaway hits in the streaming platform's history and a huge success for its creators, Hidden directors the Duffer Brothers.
Although Stranger Things features plenty of comic relief thanks to characters like Dustin and Steve, the Netflix series is not primarily known as a comedy. Its story of a ragtag group of nerdy kids uncovering a vast conspiracy in their unassuming hometown sees Stranger Things combine horror, sci-fi, and mystery elements, and comedy is one of the less central elements in the show's appeal. However, as proven by Murray Bauman, the unhinged conspiracy theorist played by Brett Gelman, the show isn't short on wit. Bauman was a season 2 addition to Stranger Things, and his boundary-crossing assistance of Jonathan and Nancy's quest to find #Justice4Barb provided many of the season's biggest laughs.
Bizarrely, one of the funniest moments to come from this subplot was entirely accidental, coming about due to Gelman flubbing a line and recovering creatively as his co-stars just about saved face. When Nancy and Jonathan finally hook up in Murray's basement after a season and a half of "will they, won't they" romantic tension, the next morning sees the pair share an awkward breakfast with the goofy character. The hilarious moment when he alludes to their secret affair was scripted as Murray asks "how was the pull-out?" and pauses before clarifying that he meant the sofa bed. But the following moment where, as Jonathan and Nancy breathe a sigh of relief, Murray misses his mouth as he eats eggs and leers at them after dropping his food on the floor was completely accidental.
During filming, Gelman improvised the flirtatious "oops” that follows his missed mouthful, and although Jonathan actor Charlie Heaton returns his gaze, Nancy actor Natalia Dyer can be spotted trying not to laugh in the episode’s finished cut. It is one of the most broadly comedic moments in season 2 of Stranger Things, which featured a distinctly lighter tone than the more somber first season but had not yet added in the outright comedic elements of season 3. The increased intentional comedy of season 3 left the tone of the show harder to pin down, with a return to smaller, character-focused stories being likely in Stranger Things season 4. However, while the third season's sillier elements did leave the show's tone uneven, season 2 proved that balancing moments of incidental comedy and a dark tone was possible for Stranger Things.
Jonathan and Nancy's romantic story since faltered, with the majority of season 3 turning the pair into a bickering couple as they struggled to unearth another conspiracy while working at the Hawkins Post. The intervention of Murray in season 2 kept their dynamic lighter and helped paper over the fact that the #Justice4Barb plot was not too impactful, but with the couple now being separated by the close of season 3, it looks unlikely that their season 4 adventures will be as light-hearted unless the Byers clan return to Hawkins, Indiana. Fortunately, regardless of the direction that the series takes Jonathan, Nancy, and even Murray's stories in, the incorporation of this funny onset blunder proves the future of Stranger Things is in capable hands that can make the most of even an onset mistake.