‘Stranger Things’: Recap all the wild plot holes before the new season

Despite Netflix having lost subscribers for the first time in its history this spring, the platform may have just been saved by the new season of Stranger Things. The series, created by the Duffer Brothers, still has immense cultural power over six years since it premiered in 2016. Even Kate Bush is trending again thanks to the new season of Stranger Things.

However, many people haven’t jumped into season four quite yet, as there’s been a significant gap in time since season three dropped in July 2019. The cast is much older, Netflix is souring on people, and we live in an incredibly different world than three years ago. Yet maybe a new season of Stranger Things is exactly what people need right now. 

Even though Stranger Things is in vogue once again, fans are still quick to find plot holes in the new season. But plot holes are something that the show is no stranger to (see what we did there?). Let’s look back at some of the craziest plot holes in seasons one through three before those of you who haven’t started season four dive in.

Let’s start from the very beginning

The plot holes in Stranger Things begin as early as the pilot episode. One early plot hole to remember is the reason the narrative gets kicked off: Will Byers’ (Noah Schnapp) disappearance. One is left to wonder why the Demogorgon took Will, as it’s established in the show that the creature is attracted to blood. This is why it took Barb & why it appeared to Jonathan & Nancy. 

Despite this rule the Duffer Brothers form, Will Byers wasn’t bleeding at the time of his disappearance. The Demogorgon stalked him from the Hawkins lab all the way home. Perhaps Will was just more susceptible to the upside down because his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) describes him as a “sensitive kid.” Maybe it will always remain a mystery.

For Stranger Things plot holes that are still a bit mysterious, we have to jump ahead to season three. Towards the end of the season, we see Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) use a ham radio to get in contact with his old camp pal who lives in Utah. As romantic as this may be, it’s unclear whether his radio tower would transmit all the way from Indiana. 

Also in season three, the children seem to be incredibly adept at learning a new language through limited means. This occurs when they’re trying to foil the Soviet plot & they teach themselves to make out the letters of the Russian alphabet through a sound clip. This is one of the many improbable plot points that don’t really add up but we let it slide.

A Swiss cheese plot

Season three of Stranger Things is chock full of plot holes that the creators bypassed in order to get to the thrilling conclusion. One question that is still bothering people involves the Scoops Ahoy ice cream shop at the mall, where Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin (Maya Hawke) work at. However, they don’t seem to get a lot of work done.

Many fans of the show are still wondering if this ice cream outlet has a manager to check in on the employees. It would be helpful to know if your workers were investigating a secret Russian base instead of serving ice cream. Perhaps the entire shop was a cover-up by the mall in order to keep anyone from finding out about the conspiracy.

Speaking of the Russian operation, it does seem a little odd that one of the world’s superpowers would go to the trouble of using a suburban mall as a front. Maybe it would’ve been easier & less suspicious to use an abandoned industrial area as the site for their experiments. But then we wouldn’t have gotten all of the joyous product placement in season three.

One last glaring plot hole that seems poignant is the fact that in Stranger Things, the U.S. government manages to cover up a Russian attack on American soil as just a fire. Keep in mind that this is set in the thick of the Cold War, so a Soviet strike against the U.S. would certainly have started World War III. Forget about that, waffles are more important.

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While the new season of Stranger Things has got everyone hooked again, there are still many obvious plot holes in the episodes leading up to it. What’s your favorite Stranger Things moment? Let us know in the comments!