Only Die-Hard Fans Will Find These 15 Mistakes In "Stranger Things"

Stranger Things has been out long enough that die-hard fans can spot a wrong color scheme from across the room. But this show is also packed with continuity traps, and some of them are so specific they feel like the writers accidentally left the 2020s on the editing floor.

Take the season 1 bus shelter moment, where the vehicle is identified as a Blue Bird TC 2000, a model built after the show’s 1983 timeline. Or Barbara’s car, one of the first Demogorgon victims, which would not have existed until 1988. Then there’s the chaos in season 4, where March 22 hits like a missed birthday beat, and Will’s birthday is basically waving from the background.

So if you’re the type who pauses, rewinds, and stares at pocket placements like it’s a crime scene, these 15 mistakes are going to ruin your rewatch in the best way.

1. The bus where the characters took shelter in season 1 is a Blue Bird TC 2000.

This model was manufactured from 1998 to 2003, many years after the time in which the events took place.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

2. Barbara’s car, one of the first victims of the Demogorgon in the first season, wasn’t made until 1988. The series is set in 1983, which means the particular model did not exist back then.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

3. In season 4, the main characters spent a day full of mixed feelings, but Will suffered the most.

The scene occurred on March 22; if you recall from season 2, that was Will’s birthday. The producers said they missed it.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

4. At the beginning of episode 5 of the second season, Will had an image of the “other side” waking him from his slumber, all agitated. In the same scene, you see his shirt turning from completely wet to dry several times.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

5. When Will found a creature in the bathroom, he ran out and dropped his walkie-talkie, but the device was gone when the others went in to retrieve it.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

6. In season 3, when Alexei was on the run from Hopper, you can see how the image was reversed; when he was running, the shirt pockets were on the right, but when you see them from the front, the shirt pockets moved to the left.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

7. When Steve was eating a banana in season 3, he threw the peel on the table, but seconds later, he somehow had the banana back in his hand.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

8. The walkie-talkies used by the characters to communicate were unavailable until 1985, two years after the series’ first season was supposed to begin.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

And for real-life tragedy, Todd Meadows’ mother is asking producers for answers after his death during filming on Deadliest Catch.

9. As they were sitting in the hospital waiting in season 3, Eleven tried to ignore Will, stopped reading her magazine, and turned to the left. But in the next shot, she was rereading the magazine and turned away from Will again.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

10. In a scene from season 3, set in 1985, Will offers to make peace with Eleven by sharing some of his M&Ms.

You can see at a glance that some of them are red. This is a historical error because Mars, the candy company, stopped making red in 1976 due to a dispute with the dye used, and it was only in 1987 that it returned to production.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

11. In season 3, Bruce Natalie’s hamburger changed from one second to the next.

At first, the meat was on top of the different ingredients, and an instant later, it was on the bottom.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

12. In the scene where Natalie argues with her mother and locks herself in her room, you can see how the bag she carries changes position from second to second.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

13. During the scene where Eleven and Hopper had breakfast in the second season, the position of the actress and the items on the table change repeatedly.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

14. As the kids prepared to face the monster in season 1, you can see the school’s basketball court marked with three-pointers. However, this line was officially used in 1987, not 1983.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

15. In season 3, when Robin and Erica were locked in a warehouse, they found a container with a mysterious substance.

Robin got it from Erica, and we can see how the position of her hand changes.

Stranger Things / Netflix and co-producers

That Blue Bird TC 2000 detail in season 1 is the kind of slip that makes you go, wait, the timeline is already off before the Upside Down even shows up.

And once you clock Barbara’s car not existing in 1983, the Demogorgon attack stops feeling like pure horror and starts feeling like a props department mystery.

Then season 4 piles on with the March 22 scene, where Will’s birthday should be the emotional gut punch, but the show somehow misses it.

Finally, all those Will, Eleven, and Steve moments, from walkie-talkie weirdness to the banana teleport, make you realize the real villain might be continuity.

There have been many mistakes made in popular works like Pulp Fiction and Star Wars, as well as shows like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, and these are some of the most ridiculous. The show is still wonderful, though, and viewers would love to see it again and again.

Nobody wants to rewatch Stranger Things and suddenly notice the universe breaking in the background.

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