Stranger Things Season 2 Easter Eggs, References, Callbacks

Here we go again for the seventh episode of our nine-part Stranger Things 2 article series, in which we’ll do our very best to catch all the visual easter eggs, references, homages and callback from the fabulous 80s that the author put on-screen. If you’re looking for the soundtrack and music references for this episode, click here.

In case you missed the previous parts, dedicated to the easter eggs in the first three episodes, check out the links in the Episode List below to make amend! There are two links to the right of each episode: the first one is dedicated to the visual homages, while the second lists the soundtrack & music references.

Let’s now start our journey through all the Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 7: The Lost Sister easter eggs from the 80s (and not) that we found: feel free to tell us if we missed anything… there’s a huge chance we did!

Stranger Things – Season 2 Episode List

Episode 2.1 – Chapter One: MADMAX [easter egg list] [OST & music reference list]
Episode 2.2 – Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak [easter egg list] [OST & music reference list]
Episode 2.3 – Chapter Three: The Pollywog [easter egg list] [OST & music reference list]
Episode 2.4 – Chapter Four: Will the Wise [easter egg list] [OST & music reference list]
Episode 2.5 – Chapter Five: Dig Dug [easter egg list] [OST & music reference list]
Episode 2.6 – Chapter Six: The Spy [easter egg list] [OST & music reference list]
Episode 2.7 – Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister [easter egg list] [OST & music reference list]
Episode 2.8 – Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer
Episode 2.9 – Chapter Nine: The Gate

Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister

The Invisibles: a dirty window in Kali’s crew hideout contains not one, but three graffiti that clearly reference the amazing Grant Morrison‘s comic book series The Invisibles, published by Vertigo Comics between 1994 and 2000. The series was about some really weird characters grouped into forming a single cell of The Invisible College, a secret organization battling against physical and psychic oppression using time travel, magic, meditation, and physical violence. Barbelith, O’Bedlam and King Mob are three direct reference to some of the comic’s notable characters: more specifically, Tom O’Bedlam is an elderly homeless man who is secretly a member of the Invisibles, King Mob is the charismatic group leader and Barbelith is a sentient being that travels the universe helping the various species – including humans – to realize their true potential. These names are written in multiple places and are shown throughout the whole episode. Additionally, the whole Kali’s gang features some resemblances, both mentally and aesthetically, to most Invisible College members.

Stranger Things Season 2 - All the Easter Eggs, References, Homages and Callbacks - Episode 7: The Lost Sister — Stranger Things – Season 02 Episode 07 – Grant Morrison – The Invisibles [08:45]

Life Is Strange: another seemlingly direct homage to the great 2015 Square-Enix videogame, already (supposedly) references in the first episode, happens when Kali opens his hand, revealing a bright blue butterfly which is identical to the one shown at the beginning of the game: although the butterfly changes its color quickly, the easter egg still seems blatant, at least to us.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Grant Morrison’s Invisibles isn’t the only cool reference that can be seen among the tremendous amount signs and graffiti depicted through this episode’s walls. The phrase “So Long and Thanks” can also be spotted to the side of a shelf, which is a direct quote of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the 1978 cult-radio series (and then a book in 1979) by Douglas Adams, which was further adapted into a TV series in 1981 and also into a Videogame in 1984 – just before Stranger Things 2!

Supermarket Sweep: when Axel, one of the members of Kali’s crew, does his show by saying “OK contestants, you’ve a minute and a half, let’s begin your Supermarket Sweep!”, he’s actually quoting the popular starting phrase (and almost an equivalent of a meme for that period) of a popular American Television Game Show firstly aired in 1965 and then rebooted in 1990 by Johnny Gilbert. As the title suggests, the show featured a live, timed race through a supermarket. In the timed race, cameras followed the teams with shopping carts through a large vacated supermarket with several aisles; the value of items thrown into the cart determined the winning team. That’s definitely a good joke when you’re about to rob a grocery store!

Punky Brewster: Ray, the man that Eleven tracks down thanks to her super powers, is assaulted by Kali’s crew while watching an episode of Punky Brewster, an American sitcom about a young girl (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes) which ran on the NBC network from September 16, 1984 to March 9, 1986. The fun fact here is that the TV show was about a young, abandoned girl (Punky) who is eventually adopted by a grouchy, older man: that’s basically what happens to Eleven, isn’t it? However, the authors managed to push the analogy even further by picking up an episode where Punky talks about going to the doctor and being tormented by a giant needle. Does it ring a bell, Ray? And you still don’t know the best thing about that: that episod aired on november 1984, just in time for this episode… or maybe a bit later? But who dares caring about these senseless details, the callback is pitch perfect anyway.