It is finally over. Ten years of world-building, character growth and Noah dropping consistent spoilers has led to the much-anticipated finale of Stranger Things.
Now we finally know how the story ends, it is easy to tie it up with earlier seasons and see the easter eggs or plot hints we may have missed.
But I never expected to be able to do it with the pop culture references that the show was built around.
It’s pretty obvious, and well known, that the Duffer brothers use 1980s media and culture references as inspiration for the show. There are the really on the nose ones such as the Wrinkle in Time tie-in to season 5 but there are some that may not be as obvious if you weren’t already aware of them.
We already spent a whole post discussing how season 4 is basically just Labyrinth. You can check that out here!
But, continuing here — here’s a breakdown of some of them and why they have come full circle in the Stranger Things universe.
The Neverending Story
Dustin singing the theme tune is one of the most meme-worthy moments of a previous season.
“The world is on the edge while Dustin sings a theme-tune.”
But Fantasia has reared its head again this season for a different reason. When Will is communicating with Vecna in the Abyss, the shot is almost identical to the iconic scene of the Child Empress addressing Bastian and tearfully pleading with him to help. The inception manner of the discussions is almost very reminiscent of the moment, with on person in the real world and the other seemingly in their mind.
Linda Hamilton
Although she no longer plays a woman fighting a futuristic robot of doom, she is still a total badass as Dr Kay. But, was the arrival of Linda Hamilton foretold to us in a previous season?
In Season 4, we see a Russian operative tracking down Hopper and the gang. At multiple points that season Grigori, played by Andrey Ivchenko, imitates Arnold’s famous lines and mannerisms from the Terminator franchise that Hamilton is so famous for being a part of. Could it have been a tip of the hat to what was to come?
Mad Max
Look at Dustin’s battle outfits for two seconds, along with his homemade weaponry and tell me it doesn’t scream Mad Max to you — maybe even Waterworld. Any dystopian 80s movie would fit well here honestly!
We have seen the theme before in Season 4 when the team originally began hunting down Vecna, but Mad Max is also tied all the way back to season 2 when we first meet Max Mayfield. It’s a very fitting reference with the trams using whatever they have to hand to make weapons and outfits, much like the civilians in dystopian worlds do.
Honourable mention for Steve’s battle outfit which gives a very subtle nod to Top Gun vibes, in an aviator jacket.
G.I. Jane
Nancy went full-on G.I. Jane this season — with Mel Gibson hair. She is sick of people seeing her a certain way, trying to pigeon-hole her and baddies attacking her family. While we may not has seen any exact reference to Jane that I can pinpoint, we have seen it developing within Nany’s arc itself.
The men at the newspaper, for instance. Season 5 Nancy isn’t taking anyone’s s**t.
With her guns, guns and more guns approach she is ready to be a soldier in this anti-Vecna army and she will be doing it with full feminine energy
S0, season 5 is done!
There we many more references, such as the obvious Jurassic Park kitchen moment with the Dem0gorgons and Nancy and Jonathan seemingly recreating the Titanic door scene with a table in a melting room full of gunk. But since those films were made in the 1990s, I left those ones out of this list at least.
I’m still unsure how I feel about the ending of the show. The ‘plot twist’ ending with El and the speed of the final battle left me feeling a little underwhelmed honestly but maybe if I rewatch it altogether, I will feel the vibes a bit more.
And maybe I will see more references that come full circle and I will add to the list! Sign up to the newsletter for free updates and let me know below if you saw any that I didn’t catch yet!
