Summary
- Eleven’s character development has come a long way since season 1, with her timid and isolated personality contrasting sharply with her later spunky and beloved persona.
- Steve started off as a real jerk in season 1, fulfilling the role of a high school bully, but has since evolved into a lovable character and a good friend to the rest of the group.
- The show seemed to introduce some intriguing storylines, such as the Demogorgon eggs and the deepening mysteries of the Upside Down, but these plot points were never explored further in subsequent seasons.
There’s no better way to beat the hiatus blues while waiting for the upcoming season than to rewatch Stranger Things season 1, but there are a few harsh realities about watching the first season today. When it was released in 2016, season 1 was a massive success. The iconography of Joyce using the Christmas lights to talk to Will was everywhere, and people especially loved all the clever references and 80s nostalgia that permeated every episode of the first season.
When audiences first entered Hawkins, the show truly was full of mysteries that only began to unravel in the seasons to follow. In season one, especially in the beginning, no one knew where Will had ended up, or why Eleven had the telekinetic powers that she does. However, returning to the show’s earliest days does leave room for a few realizations that viewers may not have necessarily had the first time they watched. Now, though, it’s difficult not to think about how drastic some Stranger Things characters’ arcs have been or which details have never come up again.
10 Eleven Hasn’t Come Into Herself Yet
Over the years, the Duffer Brothers have dedicated many hours of screen time to Eleven’s identity, powers, and backstory. In season 1, though, Eleven has only the beginnings of the spunk and personality that audiences have come to love her for. When Mike and the boys find her, she speaks very little and has to spend most of her time hiding. It goes to show how far she’s come when she is so isolated and timid in the first season. She’s even become enough of a fan favorite that people are hoping Stranger Things will give Eleven a happy ending.
9 Steve Was A Real Dick
Stranger Things has always been an homage to 80s media and tropes. At the show’s inception, Steve fulfilled the archetypal high school bully role, the handsome heartbreaker that the heroine, Nancy, falls for. In later seasons, Steve becomes far more lovable, even having a good friendship with Dustin. In season one, though, he was a real dick. When he spots Jonathan in Nancy’s room, he confronts her by calling her a slut rather than asking for the real story. Lucky for the audience, the Duffer brothers decided to cut one problematic Steve scene from Stranger Things to make room for his current character evolution.
8 Everyone Forgot About The Guy Who Saved Eleven
Before Mike, Lucas, and Dustin found Eleven, she had wandered into a diner. The man who worked there, named Benny, saw Eleven by herself and gave her a burger, fries, and ice cream while trying to help her by calling Social Services. Unfortunately, Dr. Brenner and his agents arrived posing as Social Services, and shot Benny dead. When Hopper and the police find the body, Hopper expresses that having to investigate his death feels more personal because he knew Benny. Despite that, no one, not even Eleven or Hopper, ever brings him up again. R.I.P, Benny.
7 Hopper Was In A Bad Place
Hopper may have been in a literally bad place at the beginning of season 4, since he was trapped in a Russian prison, but he began Stranger Things season 1 in an emotionally bad place. The scene that introduces him to the audience shows him passed out on the couch, alone, before waking up and washing down his pills with a morning beer. His attitude toward Joyce is dismissive and sour. Even at the end of the season, he sells out Eleven’s location to Brenner for the chance to save Will – ironic considering the parental role he later steps into for Eleven.
6 That Egg Tease Went Nowhere
Stranger Things season 1 showed the Demogorgon feeding off some kind of yellow egg before Eleven was able to establish a telekinetic connection with it. When Joyce and Hopper finally make it into the Upside Down to save Will, Hopper finds an egg cracked open on the ground, seemingly as if it hatched. Between the first and second seasons, fans theorized about what kind of Upside Down nightmare could’ve hatched from these eggs, and if the audience would ever get to see it. But the show never called attention to the eggs again or showed anything that resembled them.
5 Yes, You’re Old
It may not feel like it, but Stranger Things is seven years old. The show was released in 2016 and became a pop culture phenomenon in the following years. Audiences have seen the child stars grow up before their eyes, especially when the pandemic delayed the release of more seasons. No amount of awkward haircuts in season 4 can hide the fact they’re all grown up now, which is likely the reason that season 5 will have some kind of time jump. Many fans have their own theories about Stranger Things season 5’s time jump, and how it can do more than just rectify how grown-up everyone is now.
4 Will Isn’t Really A Character
Though Will is a character in the literal sense of the word, and the entirety of Stranger Things season 1 revolves around finding him, he doesn’t get all that much screen time. That’s a necessary consequence of being trapped in the Upside Down for the majority of season 1, but he feels far more fleshed out as a character when the audience has time to bond with him and follow his conflicts in season 2. Hopefully, as the show is heading toward its conclusion, the Duffer Brothers will give his character more importance, like Will potentially saving Max in Stranger Things season 5.
3 Barb’s Death Is Still A Low Point
Returning to season 1, Barb’s death was dramatic irony in the cruelest sense. On the last night of her life, she tells Nancy before they go into Steve’s house that she should go home. The viewer can’t help but wonder if Barb would still be alive and well in season 4 and beyond if she had followed her instincts, or if Nancy had shown a little more regard for her friend’s feelings. She quickly became a fan favorite, so Barb’s death in Stranger Things season 1 was controversial at the time, and it still leaves a sour taste years later.
2 The Absence Of More Female Characters Like Max, Erica, and Robin Is Noticeable
Especially after Barb is gone, the lack of main female characters besides Nancy, Joyce, and Eleven becomes far more noticeable. Nancy is caught between Jonathan and Steve, Eleven spends all her time with Mike and his friends, and Joyce is largely isolated while consumed with the search for her son. The addition of characters like Max, Erica, and Robin in later seasons was a welcome change, particularly when Max and Eleven formed a friendship and Nancy and Robin went on a mission together. Giving Erica a larger role to play in season 4 was also a smart move, as she has become a fan favorite as she gets to show more of her personality.
1 The Kids Have No Idea How Deep This Goes
At times, it’s hard to watch Stranger Things season 1 and remember how innocent all the young characters were. The disappearance of Will and the arrival of Eleven in their lives marked the end of these kids’ childhoods, in a way, because it opened up the gates for so many, bigger scarier problems in their world. The kids have no idea yet about the Mind Flayer, Vecna, or even the scope of the Upside Down – those threats are so massive that Stranger Things season 5 may be a different show in terms of tone and scope. Upon a rewatch of Stranger Things season 1, it almost makes the audience wish that Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin could sit down for one more playful game of Dungeons & Dragons, but that’s not likely to happen for them anytime soon.
