All the Easter Eggs You Missed in STRANGER THINGS Season 3

One summer can change everything. However, it is not capable of changing our approach to favorite motifs from childhood. The Duffer brothers, standing behind the phenomenon of Stranger Things, consistently follow the principle that the best is always what we already know well. They therefore filled Season 3 of the Netflix series with a multitude of pop culture references, that is, so-called easter eggs, and also set their story against the backdrop of the Cold War conflict between the USSR and the USA.

On the one hand, these devices caused the third season of Stranger Things to gain an interesting subtext, while on the other hand they additionally heighten the viewer’s vigilance, who wants to collect as many Easter eggs as possible. Introducing references is not, however, an easy art. One cannot do it by force and without narrative justification, as it is easy to fall into undesirable exaggeration. In the case of Stranger Things, I have no doubt that its creators do it excellently. Below is a list of the most interesting film references in the third season of the Netflix series.

Where to start? Perhaps from the beginning? It is June 1984, plus a few scientists dressed in white lab coats, a military representative, and a strongman. Even the opening, before the appearance of the characteristic title card of the series, hides several interesting film references, introducing a group of Soviet eggheads and a military officer into the story, thus suggesting what, among other things, this season of Stranger Things will be about. In the summer of 1984, John Milius’s film Red Dawn had its worldwide premiere, in which a group of teenagers tries to reclaim a country occupied by communists.

Simple math, right? The first scenes of the third season also refer to a few other films: the scene of simultaneously inserting keys into consoles, which will trigger a laser opening a passage, refers for example to War Games (1983), where a similar motif occurs, except that there the keys are not turned to launch rockets; the strongman who grabs a scientist by the throat and lifts him off the floor resembles the Terminator.

Cameron’s famous film premiered in 1984, the same year in which the opening of the first episode of Stranger Things takes place; the very method of punishing the Soviet scientist closely resembles Darth Vader’s behavior from Star Wars.

Cult Horrors

References to Star Wars, Red Dawn, and Terminator run throughout the third season of the Netflix series. However, these are not what made Stranger Things darker and more disturbing than in previous seasons. The responsibility for this lies with the huge number of references to cult horror films. Without spoiling anyone’s fun of hunting for easter eggs, I will attempt only to mention some of the most interesting titles that ST3 refers to, either directly or indirectly.

There are numerous references to George Romero’s famous zombie trilogy, including an interesting device concerning the theatrical release of its last part, which took place on July 19, 1985. The action of the third season takes place at the beginning of July, so the series’ characters could not have watched Day of the Dead in the cinema—unless it was a pre-release screening, which was cleverly marked on the production’s poster at the cinema entrance.

Definitely smarter than Romero’s zombies, they become so after being plundered by the Mind Flayer, which refers to the creation of human duplicates from the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) directed by Philip Kaufman. The creature’s attack resembles the action of the facehugger from the Alien series, to which there are clearly more references.

These include: the green substance burning the floor, close-up scenes of the monster’s head near Nancy’s (Natalia Dyer) face, or removing a parasite from Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) leg. One of the monster encounters takes place in Hopper’s (David Harbour) forest cabin, which in turn refers viewers to Evil Dead (1981) by Sam Raimi.

When the Mind Flayer transforms from a liquid form (a reference to The Blob from 1988) into a beast, it more than the alien resembles the titular creature from Carpenter’s film. There are in fact more references to the works of the American author. Plundered Billy (Dacre Montgomery) behind the wheel of a Plymouth is an allusion to Christine (1983) based on Stephen King’s novel, and Billy’s outfit refers to Kurt Russell’s wardrobe in Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Since King was already mentioned, it is worth noting that Eleven’s abilities resemble those of Carrie (1976). Just as in King’s book and in Brian De Palma’s adaptation, Eleven’s powers increase as she grows older.

Exciting Thrillers

The 1980s were also a period when thriller productions enjoyed great popularity. Since the action of the third season of Stranger Things rushes without restraint, it is no wonder that we also find many references to this film genre here.

Thus, apart from references to the aforementioned Terminator, Hopper with his magnificent mustache and colorful shirt models himself on Tom Selleck from the series Magnum (1980–1988), and the frequent depiction of squeezing through narrow ventilation shafts may refer both to the first Alien and later to Die Hard (1988) in relation to the timeframe of the third season. Furthermore, the long corridors of the Soviet base under Starcourt Mall may be a reference to James Bond films.

Other Interesting References

A very simple yet effective method that made direct references to 1980s films feel so natural in ST3 was showing screenings in the Starcourt Mall cinema. The cinema repertoire included films that actually premiered in June 1984 in the USA. These included Cocoon, Fletch, The Stuff (posters or titles on the board), and the most popular among Hawkins residents, Back to the Future, after whose screening the drugged Steve (Joe Keery) wonders why the mother of Alex Keaton (Michael J. Fox’s role in the popular Family Ties series of that time) wanted to have sex with her own son.

In ST3, there is also quite frequent mention of the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) constantly reminds us of his new girlfriend Suzie, whom he compares to Phoebe Cates, the beautiful actress who played Linda Barrett in Amy Heckerling’s production. Additionally, Starcourt Mall resembles Ridgemont Mall from that film, and the sailor costume from the Scoops Ahoy ice cream parlor is a reference to Brad Hamilton’s outfit.

Stranger Things 3 could not forget Spielberg’s legendary Jaws (1975) either. Here too we encounter a greedy mayor (Cary Elwes) who does not want protests against Starcourt to affect his reelection. A nice gesture from the creators was also the mention of the teenage heartthrob at the time, Ralph Macchio, that is, the popular Daniel LaRusso from The Karate Kid (1984), as well as the charming use of the musical motif from The NeverEnding Story (1984) by Wolfgang Petersen.