Returning to the Upside Down: A CAPC Stranger Things Retrospective

With its blend of nerdy references (e.g., Dungeons & Dragons), government conspiracies (e.g., MKUltra), the filmmaking of Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter, and good old ’80s nostalgia, Stranger Things has been one of Netflix’s most popular and beloved titles ever since its premier on July 15, 2016. As our own Jason Morehead wrote on his blog Opus, “[Stranger Things] exists at an intersection of so many things that have fascinated me ever since I was an awkward, nerdy kid like Mike or Will that at times, it’s almost like [series creators] Matt and Ross Duffer tapped directly into my subconscious when they were creating the show.”

But all good things must come to an end, and this week marks the beginning of the end for Eleven, Mike, Hopper, and the rest of the Hawkins gang as they take one final stand against the evils of Vecna and the Upside Down. Netflix is releasing the final season in three volumes. The first four episodes will begin streaming tomorrow, with the next batch arriving on Christmas Day and the series finale on New Year’s Eve.

Here at CAPC, we’ve written quite a bit about Stranger Things over the last nine years. To mark the series’ conclusion—though at least one spin-off has already been announced—here’s a collection of some of our favorite and most popular Stranger Things-related posts and features. They use the Netflix hit as a springboard for exploring a wide range of topics, from mental health and depression to motherhood and adoption. As you prepare yourself for one last trip into the Upside Down, we hope you enjoy them.

Does Evil Have a Sound? Reflections on Vecna’s Playlist, Black Metal & the Banality of Evil

Is Vecna’s evil really exemplified best by the tumultuous sounds of black metal artists like Darkthrone and Mayhem?

by Cameron McAllister

“I’m Still Here”: Stranger Things 4, “Running Up that Hill,” and Killing Monsters

Stranger Things has always been about recalling people to life—about fighting for your life and others’ lives.

by K. B. Hoyle

The Suffering Service of Jim Hopper

And, as inevitably as Hopper strives against the darkness of the Upside Down, he also struggles to choose the higher goods before him.

by Matt Civico

Walking in Joyce Byers’s Footsteps: Motherhood in a Stranger Things World

Joyce Byers—an axe-wielding woman who strings lights in the darkness to lead her son home and who knows when to let her son feel actual pain—is a paragon of motherhood.

by K. B. Hoyle

Stranger Things and the Heart’s Deepest Desire

The belonging Eleven finds in Hawkins mirrors the belonging we should find in the community of faith.

by Colin Fast

Stranger Things Reminds Us of the Lessons We Keep Forgetting

These truths seem obvious, but perhaps we need a reminder.

by Amanda Wortham

Stranger Longings: Belonging and Adoption in ST2

Eleven longs for somewhere to belong more than most, though almost every character in Stranger Things 2 mirrors this struggle in some way.

by Matt Civico

Stranger Things and Our Quest for the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

Stranger Things contrasts the ordinary with the extraordinary, the normal with the supernatural, and the mundane with the unexpected.

by Liz Wann