STRANGER THINGS - KAREN CEESAY - Personally Signed Autograph Card - Topps 2019

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Seller: jamesmacintyre51 ✉️ (6,500) 100%, Location: Hexham, GB, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 325900912069 STRANGER THINGS - KAREN CEESAY - Personally Signed Autograph Card - Topps 2019. STRANGER THINGS - Personally Signed Autograph Card - KAREN CEESAY AS MRS. SINCLAIR - from the "WELCOME TO THE UPSIDE DOWN" series issued by TOPPS in 2019.

Karen Ceesay was born as Karen Renee Mauldin. She is an actress, known for Rings (2017), Last Vegas (2013), The Internship (2013) and The Walking Dead. In Stranger Things she plays the part of Mrs Sinclair, the mother of Will Byers' friend Lucas Sinclair.

Stranger Things is an American science fiction, drama-horror web television series created by the Duffer Brothers and released on Netflix. The twins also serve as executive producers with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. The series premiered on Netflix on July 15, 2016. Set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, the first season focuses on the investigation into the disappearance of a young boy amid supernatural events occurring around the town, including the appearance of a girl with psychokinetic abilities. The series stars an ensemble cast including Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery and Cara Buono.

The Duffer Brothers developed the series as a mix of investigative drama alongside supernatural elements portrayed with horror, science fiction and childlike sensibilities. Setting the series in the 1980s, the Duffer Brothers infused references to the pop culture of that decade while several themes and directorial aspects were inspired primarily by the works of Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, and Stephen King, as well as anime and video games. They also took inspiration from strange experiments that took place during the Cold War and real world conspiracy theories involving secret government experiments.

Stranger Things has attracted record viewership on Netflix and has a broad, active, and international fan base. The series has received critical acclaim for its characterization, pacing, atmosphere, acting, soundtrack, directing, writing, and homages to 1980s films. The series has received multiple awards and nominations including 31 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, four Golden Globe Award nominations, a British Academy Television Award nomination, two Directors Guild of America Award nominations, three Writers Guild of America Award nominations, and three Grammy Award nominations. It has won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, two American Film Institute awards, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and three People's Choice Awards, among others. In September 2019, the series was renewed for a fourth season. The Duffer Brothers have said that Stranger Things is likely to end after its fourth or fifth season.

Series overview

Stranger Things is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana, during the early 1980s. The nearby Hawkins National Laboratory ostensibly performs scientific research for the United States Department of Energy, but secretly does experiments into the paranormal and supernatural, including those that involve human test subjects. Inadvertently, they have created a portal to an alternate dimension, "the Upside Down". The influence of the Upside Down starts to affect the unknowing residents of Hawkins in calamitous ways.

The first season begins in November 1983, when Will Byers is abducted by a creature from the Upside Down. His mother, Joyce, and the town's police chief, Jim Hopper, search for Will. At the same time, a young psychokinetic girl called Eleven escapes from the laboratory and assists Will's friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, in their own efforts to find Will.

The second season is set a year later, starting in October 1984. Will has been rescued, but few know of the details of the events. When it is discovered that Will is still being influenced by entities from the Upside Down, his friends and family learn there is a larger threat to their universe from the Upside Down.

The third season is set several months later, in the days leading up to the Fourth of July celebration in 1985. The new Starcourt Mall has become the center of attention for Hawkins' residents, putting most other stores out of business. Hopper becomes increasingly concerned about Eleven and Mike's relationship while still trying to care for Joyce. Unbeknownst to the town, a secret Soviet laboratory under Starcourt seeks to open the gateway to the Upside Down, allowing the entities from the Upside Down to possess people in Hawkins and creating a new horror to deal with.

Cast and characters

The series features an ensemble cast including Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono and Matthew Modine. Noah Schnapp and Joe Keery had recurring roles in the first season before being promoted to the main cast for the second, with Sadie Sink, Dacre Montgomery, Sean Astin, and Paul Reiser also joining. Maya Hawke joined the cast in the third season, and Priah Ferguson was promoted to the main cast.

This list includes the series' main cast, all guest stars deemed to have had recurring roles throughout the series, and any other guest who is otherwise notable.

Main characters

Joyce Byers

Joyce Byers (portrayed by Winona Ryder) is the mother of Will and Jonathan Byers and is divorced from Lonnie Byers, the father of her two children. Joyce is a very caring and strong-willed woman who works as a retail clerk at Melvald's General Store in downtown Hawkins. She was born and raised in Hawkins and she attended Hawkins High School with the future chief of police, Jim Hopper, and her Season Two love interest, Bob Newby (who is later unfortunately killed by a demogorgon). In Season Three, she is planning to sell her house and move out of Hawkins, much to the dismay of Hopper who tries to convince her to go on a date with him. Even though she does have feelings for him, Joyce tries to avoid getting in another relationship. She is mainly more interested in figuring out why the magnets in her house keep falling off her fridge (to the extent that she does not show up to the date that they had planned together) and while investigating the reason behind this, she and Hopper uncover a Russian conspiracy. After infiltrating a Russian lab beneath the new Starcourt Mall, where the Russians have opened another portal into the Upside Down, Joyce is forced to close the portal by turning off the Russian machine used to open it with Hopper in the room, and Hopper ends up being “killed”. Joyce becomes a mother figure to Eleven after taking her in when Hopper died. The Byers Family and Eleven move out of Hawkins three months after Hopper's death.

Jim Hopper

Jim Hopper (portrayed by David Harbour), nicknamed "Hop", is the Hawkins chief of police. Hopper has lived in Hawkins nearly all his life, having attended high school with Joyce and Bob. Hopper divorced after his young daughter Sarah died of cancer, which caused him to lapse into alcoholism. Eventually, he grows to be more responsible, saving Will from the Demogorgon as well as taking Eleven in as his adopted daughter. In Season 3, he tries to break up El and Mike since their relationship is moving too fast for him, while trying to win over Joyce romantically. Through Joyce, he once again gets involved in an investigation regarding the supernatural, which leads them to uncover a Russian conspiracy. He is "killed" by an explosion caused by a Russian machine used to open a portal to the Upside Down. In a trailer for the fourth season, he is shown alive in Russia.

Mike Wheeler

Michael "Mike" Wheeler (portrayed by Finn Wolfhard) is the son of Karen and Ted, younger brother of Nancy and older brother of Hollee, and one of three friends of Will Byers. Mike is an intelligent and conscientious student who is committed to his friends. In their Dungeons and Dragons party, Mike is their paladin and usually plays the role of Dungeon Master. He develops romantic feelings for Eleven (or El, as Mike and his friends prefer to call her). In Season Two, it is revealed that he has developed a more rebellious streak, likely stemming from missing Eleven. He is the first one Will reveals his apparent flashbacks to the Upside Down to and he accompanies Will, Joyce, and Bob to the lab when Will's health deteriorates. When Eleven reappears, he is joyous, but angry at Hopper for keeping her hidden for the past year. A month later, the two attend the Snow Ball together and share a kiss. The next summer, the two are dating, but Hopper manages to separate them as he thinks they are spending too much time together. With additional meddling from Max, Eleven eventually breaks up with Mike, but the two later get back together. Mike has openly said that he loves Eleven, and nearly confesses to her but struggles to find the right words. When Eleven moves away with the Byers, Mike promises her to keep in contact and schedules visits at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Eleven then tells Mike that she loves him, too.

Eleven

Eleven (portrayed by Millie Bobby Brown) was born as Jane Ives, daughter of Terry Ives and Andrew Rich (who died in Vietnam), and grew up in Hawkins Lab where she was experimented on by scientists until the beginning of season one. Eleven has telekinetic and telepathic powers, which allow her to control things with her mind. She escaped the lab and befriended Dustin, Will, Mike, and Lucas. In the Dungeons and Dragons party, she is the mage. In season two, Jim Hopper became a father figure to Eleven while searching for her biological mother, culminating in her adoption by Hopper at the end of the season and was named Jane Hopper. In season three, she is dating Mike, to Hopper's chagrin, and is pursued by the Mind Flayer that had been let loose by the Russians opening a gateway to the Upside Down. After Hopper disappears when the portal is closed, she reads a speech that Hopper wrote to control things between El and Mike but never actually talked to them both about. At the end of season three, she confesses to Mike that she loves him. Joyce takes Eleven in after Hopper “dies” and Eleven leaves Hawkins with the Byers family.

Dustin Henderson

Dustin Henderson (portrayed by Gaten Matarazzo), a friend of Mike, Will and Lucas, is a highly intelligent and studious boy whose cleidocranial dysplasia causes him to lisp. In their Dungeons and Dragons party, Dustin is the bard and has arguably the most extensive knowledge of the game, particularly the monsters. He had a crush on Nancy Wheeler, while both he and Lucas had feelings for Max in the second season, but Lucas and Max ultimately end up together. He befriends Steve Harrington in the second season, who gives him advice on how to make girls like him. Prior to Season Three, Dustin spends a month at a science camp and, thanks to Steve's advice, he is able to get a girlfriend, Suzie, that he claims is a genius and is "hotter than Phoebe Cates." Dustin's friends are skeptical whether she actually exists as he is unable to get in contact with her over his makeshift radio tower. Dustin instead discovers the coded Russian transmission and goes to Steve with the information instead of his friends due to their skepticism over Suzie. He later proves Suzie's existence when he contacts her for Planck's constant.

Lucas Sinclair

Lucas Charles Sinclair (portrayed by Caleb McLaughlin) is a friend of Mike, Will and Dustin, and older brother to Erica. Lucas is initially wary of Eleven, yet befriends her later on. In Season Two, he becomes a love interest for Max. In their Dungeons and Dragons party, Lucas is the ranger. He is very skilled with the use of a slingshot, which the party calls "The Wrist Rocket"; in the first two seasons, the slingshot is used for comedic effect as a hopeless last-minute defense, but in the third season, is used to actually save the team from danger.

Nancy Wheeler

Nancy Wheeler (portrayed by Natalia Dyer) is the teenage daughter of Karen and Ted, older sister of Mike Wheeler and Holly Wheeler. Nancy is initially something of an outcast at school until popular student Steve Harrington takes an interest in her. Their relationship lasts until the beginning of season two when she starts dating Jonathan Byers after a little help from conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman. She is very proficient with firearms, despite a noticeable lack of training or practice. She has been seen using pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns. In the third season, Nancy and Jonathan work as interns at the Hawkins Post , where Nancy is subject to sexist harassment from her male superiors. She and Jonathan are eventually fired for pursuing a story against their editor's wishes, but Nancy continues to investigate the case, which leads her to multiple encounters with the Flayed being controlled by the Mind Flayer from the Upside Down.

Jonathan Byers

Jonathan Byers (portrayed by Charlie Heaton), the older brother of Will Byers and the son of Joyce Byers, is quiet and considered an outsider at school. He is an aspiring photographer, and very close with his mother and brother. He starts dating Nancy at the end of Season 2. They both become interns at the Hawkins Post in Season 3, but are eventually fired by their editor. He moves out of Hawkins with Joyce, Will, and Eleven at the end of Season 3.

Karen Wheeler

Karen Wheeler (portrayed by Cara Buono) is the mother of Nancy, Mike, and toddler Holly, and wife of Ted. She is a loving mother who remains largely clueless about her children's activities. At the end of the second season and beginning of the third, she develops a sexual attraction towards Billy Hargrove, partly out of boredom with her family life, but ultimately decides against acting on these feelings. She encourages Nancy to continue pursuing a story she was fired for working on against her editor's orders.

Martin Brenner

Martin Brenner (portrayed by Matthew Modine) is the head scientist of Hawkins Laboratory and the experiments performed there. He is a callous and manipulative scientist, having abducted Eleven from her mother, whom he later subjected to electroshock therapy to destroy the woman's mind. Brenner then put Eleven through numerous before (project INDIGO) before she escapes after using her abilities to establish a link to the Upside Down. He and his team hunt for her throughout Hawkins while covering up the actions of the Demogorgon they unknowingly let loose. Brenner is apparently killed by the Demogorgon in the first-season finale, though a former worker named Ray assumed Brenner is still alive during his attempt to plea for his life to Eleven and Kali (eight).

Will Byers

Will Byers (portrayed by Noah Schnapp), the younger brother of Jonathan Byers and the son of Joyce Byers, is a shy, kind, and often timid boy. In the group's Dungeons and Dragons party, Will is the cleric, but later occasionally plays the role of Dungeon Master. In November 1983, he vanishes after encountering the monster that escaped through a rift to the "Upside Down", an alternate dimension discovered by the Hawkins Laboratory scientists. Schnapp was promoted to series regular for the second season, after recurring in the first. He is possessed by the Mind Flayer from the Upside Down in season two. In season three, his friends' preoccupations with their girlfriends leads to Will feeling like the odd-man-out; although it has been suggested multiple times in the show, in season 3 Mike heavily implies that Will could be gay. His link to the Mind Flayer helps the group detect when it, or one of the Flayed, are active. At the end of the season he moves out of Hawkins with his mother, brother and Eleven.

Max Mayfield

Maxine "Max" Mayfield (portrayed by Sadie Sink) is Billy's younger stepsister, an avid skateboarder, and the tomboy of the group who catches the attention of both Lucas and Dustin. She also has the highest score in Dig Dug. While she never played Dungeons and Dragons , she calls herself the "zoomer" of the party, despite Mike's persistence that the term is made-up. She claims that the role of the "zoomer" is to transport the group from place to place. In the second season, while she is driving a car very proficiently, she says to Mike, "See? Zoomer." In season three, she and Lucas are dating, and she and Eleven become close friends. She is also shown to be a fan of Wonder Woman comics.

Steve Harrington

Steve Harrington (portrayed by Joe Keery) is a popular student at the high school. He initially tries to develop a relationship with Nancy Wheeler and ostracize Jonathan Byers, though he comes to regret that later. Keery was promoted to series regular beginning with the second season, after recurring in the first. Steve then played a more prominent role, developing a friendship with Dustin, and becoming the "mom" of the main group of kids due to his protective behavior. Steve is the owner of what the friends call "the bat", a baseball bat with multiple large nails driven into the head of it, made by Jonathan to fight the Demogorgon. While it did not have any lasting effect against the Demogorgon, it was able to kill some Demo-Dogs. In season three, he works at Starcourt Mall at Scoops Ahoy with former classmate Robin Buckley. Steve, Dustin, Erica and Robin then discover the secret Russian base under Starcourt Mall.

Billy Hargrove

Billy Hargrove (portrayed by Dacre Montgomery) was careless, rash, and verbally abusive to his stepsister Max – a consequence of the physical abuse he himself suffers from his very abusive father. He is rather promiscuous, often sleeping with bored housewives. In Season 3, he becomes the unwilling catalyst for the Mind Flayer. Flashbacks reveal that Billy had a close and loving relationship with his mother but she left when he was young due to his father's abuse, explaining his comfort around older women. Eleven later reminds Billy of his mother, allowing him to break free from the possession, and sacrifice himself to save Eleven from the Mind Flayer.

Bob Newby

Bob Newby (portrayed by Sean Astin) is a former classmate of Joyce and Hopper, who runs the Hawkins Radio Shack, and becomes Joyce's boyfriend in Season 2, putting him at odds with Hopper. While he, Hopper, an unconscious Will, Mike, Joyce, and Owens were trapped in Hawkins Lab with the power out, he volunteered to reset the breakers and unlock the doors. After succeeding, he was attacked, killed, and eaten by Demo-Dogs in front of Joyce. He is included in flashback scenes in Season 3.

Sam Owens

Dr. Sam Owens (portrayed by Paul Reiser) is a United States Department of Energy executive who replaces Brenner at Hawkins Laboratory. Owens is as committed to science research and stubborn as his predecessor, but much more empathetic to the residents of Hawkins Lab. Owens is in charge of studying and treating Will's lingering traumatic episodes from the Upside Down. He leaves his post at Hawkins Lab at the end of Season 2 after it is attacked by monsters at the Upside Down, and provides Hopper with a birth certificate for Eleven naming her as Hopper's adopted daughter. In Season 3, Hopper tries to contact him to send back up and he briefly appears in the finale where he discovers the Russian lab used to open the gate to the Upside Down.

Robin Buckley

Robin Buckley (portrayed by Maya Hawke) is an "alternative" girl who works alongside Steve at Scoops Ahoy, the Starcourt Mall ice cream parlor, and introduced in the third season. Robin is sarcastic and bored with her job and teases Steve about his inability to flirt with girls, but she is able to decode the Russian radio message and finds the base along with Steve, Dustin, and Erica. She is also fluent in 4 languages, them being Spanish, French and German. She also speaks Pig Latin. Robin has been in a band for 12 years, and is part of the Scoops Troop. While initially stating that she was obsessed with Steve in high school, the influence of truth serum reveals that she actually pined for the attention of one of Steve's many admirers, revealing she is a lesbian.

Erica Sinclair

Erica Sinclair (portrayed by Priah Ferguson) is Lucas' 10-year-old sister. Introduced in the second season as a recurring character, she was promoted to series regular in the third season. She aids Dustin, Steve, and Robin in infiltrating the Russian base beneath Starcourt Mall. During these events, Dustin convinces Erica that, like himself and his friends, she is a nerd and that she should embrace that. At the end of the third season, she is given Will's Dungeons & Dragons manuals.

Murray Bauman

Murray Bauman (portrayed by Brett Gelman) is a private investigator and conspiracy theorist hired to investigate Barbara Holland's disappearance. First introduced in season 2, he assists Nancy and Jonathan in their mission to shut down Hawkins National Laboratory. In season 3, he helps Joyce and Hopper infiltrate the secret underground base in Starcourt Mall, where the Russians had been building a machine capable of opening a gate to the Upside Down.

Mind Flayer

Introduced in the second season as a malevolent non-corporeal entity that resides in the parallel dimension known as the Upside Down, where every living thing on that reality serves as an extension of the Mind Flayer's hive mind and act on the entity's desire to spread itself to Earth. The events of the first season allowed the Mind Flayer to secretly terraform Hawkins through Will Byers, who was infected during his time in the Upside Down and had unknowingly brought incubated Demogorgons with him.

In the second season, the Mind Flayer's existence is revealed as it implanted a piece of itself into Will while using the Demodogs to eliminate anyone who interferes in the terraforming. While the others manage to close the gate to sever the Mind Flayer's foothold, its ethereal fragment took refuge at Brimborn Steel Works after being "exorcised" from Will. During the events of season three, a new Gate opened by Russians allowed the Mind Flayer to have its isolated fragment create a vessel by infecting living beings and absorbing their biomass. The Mind Flayer nearly succeeded in killing Eleven, only to lose its foothold when Joyce and Hopper snuck into the secret Russian laboratory and closed the new gate.

  • Demogorgons: Predatory creatures from the Upside Down that serve as the Mind Flayer's initial invasion force, murderous and violent with limited intelligence. Demogorgons start off as slug-like creatures that are incubated in a victim's body, growing into a tadpole-like creature and gradually molting into an adolescent form called a "Demodog" before fully maturing. An adult Demogorgon, played by Mark Steger, who appears after a gateway to the Upside Down was accidentally opened in Hawkins. Though that Demogorgon was eventually destroyed, its abduction of Will Byers allowed the Mind Flayer to unleash a swarm of adolescent Demogorgons upon Hawkins before they were all killed when their connection to the Mind Flayer was severed.

  • The Flayed: A term for Earth-based beings that are possessed by the Mind Flayer, Will being the first case during the second season until an ethereal fragment of the Mind Flayer was purged from his body. The isolated fragment later began possessing rats and eventually humans during the events of season three, having most of its hosts ingest toxic chemicals so they could gradually be melted down into materials for the Mind Flayer to create an proxy body to act through in its attempt to kill Eleven.

Recurring characters

The following is a list of guest characters that have recurring roles throughout the series. The characters are listed by the order in which they first appeared.

Introduced in season one
  • Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler, husband of Karen, father of teenager Nancy, middle-schooler Mike, and toddler Holly. He is often out of sync with his children and the emotional needs of his wife and frequently found asleep in a recliner chair.

  • Rob Morgan as Calvin Powell, one of Hopper's officers.

  • Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland, an introvert and best friend of Nancy Wheeler. She is concerned that her friendship with Nancy may be threatened by Nancy's relationship with Steve. Barb is one of the first victims of the Demogorgon.

  • John Paul Reynolds as Phil Callahan, another of Hopper's officers. Not nearly as serious as his partner, he still works hard in the search for Will Byers.

  • Catherine Dyer as Connie Frazier, Brenner's FBI enforcer who has no qualms about murdering those who have come into contact with Eleven. She is eventually killed by Eleven at the end of Season 1.

  • Randy Havens as Scott Clarke, the boys' teacher. He encourages their interest in science and technology and helps them whenever asked.

  • Hugh Holub as the lead scientist at Hawkins Laboratory.

  • Tobias Jelinek as the lead agent at Hawkins National Laboratory, who assists Brenner.

  • Cade Jones as James, a school bully who hangs around with Troy.

  • Anniston and Tinsley Price as Holly Wheeler, daughter of Karen and Ted, younger sister of Nancy and Mike.

  • Susan Shalhoub Larkin as Florence ("Flo"), the secretary at the Hawkins Police Station. She shows concern about Hopper's health.

  • Tony Vaughn as Russell Coleman, the principal at Hawkins Middle School.

  • Peyton Wich as Troy, a school bully of Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Will. After being publicly humiliated by Eleven and an attempted retaliation on Mike, Troy disappears at the end of Season 1.

  • Charles Lawlor as Donald Melvald, the owner of a convenience store where Joyce Byers works.

  • Chester Rushing as Tommy H., former friend of Steve, and boyfriend of Carol. Tommy is a bully who revels in his popularity. He returns in Season 2 as a lackey for the new top dog in school, Billy Hargrove. Although unseen in Season 3, he is briefly mentioned by Steve.

  • Chelsea Talmadge as Carol, former friend of Steve, and girlfriend of Tommy. Like her boyfriend, Carol will do anything to ensure her popularity.

  • Robert Walker-Branchaud as an agent of Hawkins Laboratory who disguises himself as a repairman.

  • Cynthia Barrett as Marsha Holland, Barb's mother.

  • Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives, a woman whose daughter, Jane (Eleven), was stolen from her shortly after she gave birth. She has since gone into a mental state where she is unaware of her surroundings, as the men who stole Jane gave her electroshock therapy to try and cover up her existence.

Introduced in season two
  • Linnea Berthelsen as Kali Prasad / Eight, a young woman with illusion manipulation abilities, who, along with Eleven, was experimented on at the Hawkins Laboratory, but later managed to escape.

    • Vanathi Kalai Parthiban as younger Kali in the Rainbow Room at Hawkins Laboratory

  • Catherine Curtin as Claudia Henderson, Dustin's often clueless mother.

Introduced in season three
  • Alec Utgoff as Dr. Alexei, a Russian scientist who was working with the regiment to open a portal to the Upside Down. He is later abducted by Hopper (who nicknames him "Smirnoff") and Joyce Byers for information on his fellow Russians. Whilst with them, he develops an affinity for cherry Slurpees, Burger King, Woody Woodpecker and Looney Tunes . He also develops a close friendship with Murray. He is killed by Grigori at the end of season 3, leaving Murray and Joyce devastated.

  • Francesca Reale as Heather Holloway, a popular lifeguard at the Hawkins Community Pool who becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer.

  • Cary Elwes as Mayor Larry Kline, a corrupt politician being blackmailed into working for the Russians.

  • Michael Park as Tom Holloway, the editor of the Hawkins Post and Heather Holloway's father. He becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer. He is killed in self-defense by Jonathan, and his corpse merges with Bruce to become a gruesome arthropod-like monster.

  • Jake Busey as Bruce Lowe, a journalist for the Hawkins Post who routinely harasses Nancy. He becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer. Bruce is beaten to death by Nancy with a fire extinguisher after he attacks her, and his corpse merges with Tom to become a gruesome arthropod-like monster.

  • Peggy Miley as Doris Driscoll, an elderly resident of Hawkins who is visited by Jonathan and Nancy while investigating a story. She becomes possessed by the Mind Flayer.

  • Andrey Ivchenko as Grigori, a Russian hitman and enforcer for the scientists working under Hawkins. He is killed by Hopper at the end of season 3.

  • Misha Kuznetsov as Colonel Ozerov, an authoritative and brutal Soviet military officer.

  • John Vodka as General Stepanov, a KGB General

Guest characters

The following is a supplementary list of guest stars that appear in lesser roles, make significant cameo appearances or who receive co-starring credit over multiple appearances. The characters are listed in the order in which they first appeared.

Introduced in season one
  • Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers, the ex-husband of Joyce Byers and biological father of Jonathan and Will. He has a much younger girlfriend named Cynthia.

  • Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond, owner and chef of Benny's Burgers, and friend of Hopper. He takes care of Eleven shortly after her escape, but is killed shortly afterwards.

  • Andrew Benator as a scientist at Hawkins Laboratory.

  • Glennellen Anderson as Nicole, a classmate of Nancy, Steve and Jonathan.

  • Pete Burris as the head of security at Hawkins Laboratory.

  • Jerri Tubbs as Diane Hopper, Jim's ex-wife.

  • Amy Seimetz as Becky Ives, Terry's sister who takes care of her.

  • Elle Graham as Sara Hopper, Jim and Diane's daughter, who died of cancer.

Executive producer Shawn Levy makes a cameo appearance as a morgue worker.

Introduced in season two
  • Abigail Cowen as Vicki, a student in Hawkins High School and friend of Carol and Tina.

  • Kai L. Green as Funshine, a member of Kali's crew.

  • James Landry Hébert as Axel, a member of Kali's crew.

  • Anna Jacoby-Heron as Dottie, a member of Kali's crew.

  • Gabrielle Maiden as Mick, a member of Kali's crew.

  • Aaron Muñoz as Mr. Holland, Barbara's father.

  • Karen Ceesay as Mrs. Sinclair, Lucas and Erica's mother.

  • Drew Scheid as a classmate of Nancy, Steve and Jonathan.

  • Pruitt Taylor Vince as Ray, a technician at Hawkins Laboratory who electrocuted Terry Ives, contributing to her deteriorated mental state.

  • Arnell Powell as Mr. Sinclair, Lucas and Erica's father.

  • Will Chase as Neil Hargrove, Billy's father, Max's stepfather, and Susan's husband.

  • Jennifer Marshall as Susan Hargrove, Max's mother, Billy's stepmother, and Neil's wife.

  • Joe Davison as a technician at Hawkins Laboratory.

Introduced in season three
  • Gabriella Pizzolo as Dustin's girlfriend, Suzie. They met at summer camp. Living in Salt Lake City, Dustin communicates with her via radio.

Stranger Things was created by Matt and Ross Duffer, known professionally as the Duffer Brothers. The two had completed writing and producing their 2015 film Hidden , in which they had tried to emulate the style of M. Night Shyamalan. However, due to changes at Warner Bros., its distributor, the film did not see a wide release and the Duffer Brothers were unsure of their future. To their surprise, television producer Donald De Line approached them, impressed with Hidden 's script, and offered them the opportunity to work on episodes of Wayward Pines alongside Shyamalan. The brothers were mentored by Shyamalan during the episode's production, so that when they finished, they felt they were ready to produce their own television series.

The Duffer Brothers prepared a script[when? ] that would essentially be similar to the series' actual pilot episode, along with a 20-page pitch book to help shop the series around for a network. They pitched the story to about fifteen cable networks, all of which rejected the script on the basis that they felt a plot centered around children as leading characters would not work, asking them to make it a children's series or to drop the children and focus on Hopper's investigation in the paranormal. In early 2015, Dan Cohen, the VP of 21 Laps Entertainment, brought the script to his colleague Shawn Levy. They subsequently invited the Duffer Brothers to their office and purchased the rights for the series, giving full authorship of it to the brothers. After reading the pilot, the streaming service Netflix purchased the whole season for an undisclosed amount; the series was subsequently announced for a planned 2016 release by Netflix in early April 2015. The Duffer Brothers stated that at the time they had pitched to Netflix, the service had already gotten recognized for its original programming, such as House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black , with well-recognized producers behind them, and were ready to start giving upcoming producers like them a chance. The brothers started to write out the series and brought Levy and Cohen in as executive producers to start casting and filming.

The series was originally known as Montauk . The setting was then Montauk, New York and nearby Long Island locations. Montauk figured into a number of real world conspiracy theories involving secret government experiments. The brothers had chosen Montauk as it had further Spielberg ties with the film Jaws , where Montauk was used for the fictional setting of Amity Island. After deciding to change the narrative of the series to take place in the fictional town of Hawkins instead, the brothers felt they could now do things to the town, such as placing it under quarantine, that they really could not envision with a real location. With the change in location, they had to come up with a new title for the series under direction from Netflix's Ted Sarandos so that they could start marketing it to the public. The brothers started by using a copy of Stephen King's Firestarter novel to consider the title's font and appearance, and came up with a long list of potential alternatives. Stranger Things came about as it sounded similar to another King novel, Needful Things , though Matt noted they still had a "lot of heated arguments" over this final title.

To pitch the series, the Duffer Brothers showcased images, footage and music from classic 1970s and 1980s films such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Poltergeist , Hellraiser , Stand by Me , Firestarter , A Nightmare on Elm Street and Jaws , in order to establish the tone of the series.

Writing

The idea of Stranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 film Prisoners , detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped, and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach. As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story, they wanted to introduce the idea of "childlike sensibilities" they could offer, and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans. The brothers thought the combination of these things "was the best thing ever". To introduce this monster into the narrative, they considered "bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War" such as Project MKUltra, which gave a way to ground the monster's existence in science rather than something spiritual. This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period, as it was a year before the film Red Dawn came out, which focused on Cold War paranoia. Subsequently, they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s, the decade they were born, as elements of the series, crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror. Other influences cited by the Duffer Brothers include: Stephen King novels; films produced by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and Guillermo del Toro; films such as Star Wars , Alien , and Stand by Me ; Japanese anime such as Akira and Elfen Lied ; and several video games including Silent Hill , Dark Souls and The Last of Us . The Duffer Brothers also believe that they may have brought influences from other works unintentionally, including Beyond the Black Rainbow and D.A.R.Y.L. , discovered by reviewing fan feedback on the series. Several websites and publications have found other pop culture references in the series, particularly references to 1980s pop culture.

With Netflix as the platform, the Duffer Brothers were not limited to a typical 22-episode format, opting for the eight-episode approach. They had been concerned that a 22-episode season on broadcast television would be difficult to "tell a cinematic story" with that many episodes. Eight episodes allowed them to give time to characterization in addition to narrative development; if they had less time available, they would have had to remain committed to telling a horror film as soon as the monster was introduced and abandon the characterization. Within the eight episodes, the brothers aimed to make the first season "feel like a big movie" with all the major plot lines completed so that "the audience feels satisfied", but left enough unresolved to indicate "there's a bigger mythology, and there's a lot of dangling threads at the end", something that could be explored in further seasons if Netflix opted to create more.

Regarding writing for the children characters of the series, the Duffer Brothers considered themselves as outcasts from other students while in high school and thus found it easy to write for Mike and his friends, and particularly for Barb. Joyce was fashioned after Richard Dreyfuss' character Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind , as she appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she tries to find Will.

In June 2015, it was announced that Winona Ryder and David Harbour had joined the series as Joyce and as the unnamed chief of police, respectively. The brothers' casting director Carmen Cuba had suggested Ryder for the role of Joyce, which the two were immediately drawn to because of her predominance in the films of the 1980s. Levy believed Ryder could "wretch up the emotional urgency and yet find layers and nuance and different sides of [Joyce]". Ryder praised that the show's multiple storylines required her to act for Joyce as "she's out of her mind, but she's actually kind of onto something", and that the producers had faith she could pull off the difficult role. The Duffer Brothers had been interested in Harbour before, who until Stranger Things primarily had smaller roles as villainous characters, and they felt that he had been "waiting too long for this opportunity" to play a lead, while Harbour himself was thrilled by the script and the chance to play "a broken, flawed, anti-hero character".

Additional casting followed two months later with Finn Wolfhard as Mike, Millie Bobby Brown in an undisclosed role, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas, Natalia Dyer as Nancy, and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan. In September 2015, Cara Buono joined the cast as Karen, followed by Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner a month later. Additional cast who recur include Noah Schnapp as Will, Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, and Ross Partridge as Lonnie, among others.

Actors auditioning for the children roles read lines from Stand by Me . The Duffer Brothers estimated they went through about a thousand different child actors for the roles. They noted that Wolfhard was already "a movie buff" of the films from the 1980s period and easily filled the role, while they found Matarazzo's audition to be much more authentic than most of the other audition tapes, and selected him after a single viewing of his audition tape. As casting was started immediately after Netflix greenlit the show, and prior to the scripts being fully completed, this allowed some of the actor's takes on the roles to reflect into the script. The casting of the young actors for Will and his friends had been done just after the first script was completed, and subsequent scripts incorporated aspects from these actors. The brothers said Modine provided significant input on the character of Dr. Brenner, whom they had not really fleshed out before as they considered him the hardest character to write for given his limited appearances within the narrative.

Filming

The brothers had desired to film the series around the Long Island area to match the initial Montauk concept. However, with filming scheduled to take place in November 2015, it was difficult to shoot in Long Island in the cold weather, and the production started scouting locations in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area. The brothers, who grew up in North Carolina, found many places that reminded them of their own childhoods in that area, and felt the area would work well with the narrative shift to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.

The filming of the first season began in November 2015 and was extensively done in Atlanta, Georgia, with the Duffer Brothers and Levy handling the direction of individual episodes. Jackson served as the basis of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. Other shooting locations included the Georgia Mental Health Institute as the Hawkins National Laboratory site, Bellwood Quarry, Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge, Georgia, for the middle and high school scenes, Emory University's Continuing Education Department, the former city hall in Douglasville, Georgia, the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia, the probate court in Butts County, Georgia, Old East Point Library and East Point First Baptist Church in East Point, Georgia, Fayetteville, Georgia, Stone Mountain Park, Palmetto, Georgia, and Winston, Georgia. Set work was done at Screen Gem Studios in Atlanta and the series was filmed with a Red Digital Dragon camera. Filming for the first season concluded in early 2016.

After the third season finished filming, producers considered the idea of keeping the Starcourt Mall set as a permanent attraction for fans to visit, but ultimately decided against it.

The fourth season of Stranger Things was expected to consist of eight episodes, with the first episode titled "Chapter One: The Hellfire Club". Filming for the season was slated to begin in January 2020 and to last through August. With release of a February 2020 teaser for the fourth season, the Duffers confirmed that production had started. Some filming for the fourth season took place at Lukiškės Prison and nearby in Vilnius, Lithuania. In March 2020, production was stopped due to the 2019–20 pandemic.

Visual effects

To create the aged effect for the series, a film grain was added over the footage, which was captured by scanning in film stock from the 1980s. The Duffer Brothers wanted to scare the audience, but not to necessarily make the series violent or gory, following in line with how the 1980s Amblin Entertainment films drove the creation of the PG-13 movie rating. It was "much more about mood and atmosphere and suspense and dread than they are about gore", though they were not afraid to push into more scary elements, particularly towards the end of the first season. The brothers had wanted to avoid any computer-generated effects for the monster and other parts of the series and stay with practical effects, so they created an animatronic to play the part of the demogorgon. However, the six-month filming time left them little time to plan out and test practical effects rigs for some of the shots. They went with a middle ground of using constructed props including one for the monster whenever they could, but for other shots, such as when the monster bursts through a wall, they opted to use digital effects. Post-production on the first season was completed the week before it was released to Netflix.

The title sequence uses closeups of the letters in the Stranger Things title with a red tint against a black background as they slide into place within the title. The sequence was created by the studio Imaginary Forces, formerly part of R/GA, led by creative director Michelle Doughtey. Levy introduced the studio to the Duffer Brothers, who explained their vision of the 1980s-inspired series, which helped the studio to fix the concept the producers wanted. Later, but prior to filming, the producers sent Imaginary Forces the pilot script, the synth-heavy background music for the titles, as well as the various book covers from King and other authors that they had used to establish the title and imagery, and were looking for a similar approach for the series' titles, primarily using a typographical sequence. They took inspiration from several title sequences of works from the 1980s that were previously designed by Richard Greenberg under R/GA, such as Altered States and The Dead Zone . They also got input from Dan Perri, who worked on the title credits of several 1980s films. Various iterations included having letters vanish, to reflect the "missing" theme of the series, and having letters cast shadows on others, alluding to the mysteries, before settling into the sliding letters. The studio began working on the title sequence before filming, and took about a month off during the filming process to let the producers get immersed in the series and come back with more input. Initially they had been working with various fonts for the title and used close-ups of the best features of these fonts, but near the end the producers wanted to work with ITC Benguiat, requiring them to rework those shots. The final sequence is fully computer generated, but they took inspiration from testing some practical effects, such as using Kodalith masks as would have been done in the 1980s, to develop the appropriate filters for the rendering software. The individual episode title cards used a "fly through" approach, similar to the film Bullitt , which the producers had suggested to the studio.

Music

The Stranger Things original soundtrack was composed by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of the electronic band Survive. It makes extensive use of synthesizers in homage to 1980s artists and film composers including Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Goblin, John Carpenter, Giorgio Moroder, and Fabio Frizzi.

According to Stein and Dixon, the Duffer Brothers had been fans of Survive's music, and used their song "Dirge" for the mock trailer that was used to sell the series to Netflix. The Duffer Brothers discovered the band through the 2014 film The Guest , where Survive features on the soundtrack. Once the series was green-lit, the Duffer Brothers contacted Survive around July 2015 to ask if they were still doing music; the two provided the production team with dozens of songs from their band's past to gain their interest, helping to land them the role. Once aboard, the two worked with producers to select some of their older music to rework for the series, while developing new music, principally with character motifs. The two had been hired before the casting process, so their motif demos were used and played over the actors' audition tapes, aiding in the casting selection. The series' theme is based on an unused work Stein composed much earlier that ended up in the library of work they shared with the production staff, who thought that with some reworking would be good for the opening credits.

In addition to original music, Stranger Things features period music from artists including The Clash, Joy Division, Toto, New Order, The Bangles, Foreigner, Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Gabriel, and Corey Hart, as well as excerpts from Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter, and Vangelis. In particular, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was specifically picked to play at pivotal moments of the story, such as when Will is trying to communicate with Joyce from the Upside Down.

Release

The first season consisted of eight one-hour-long episodes which were released worldwide on Netflix on July 15, 2016, in Ultra HD 4K. The second season, consisting of nine episodes, was released on October 27, 2017 in HDR. The third season once again consists of eight episodes, and was released on July 4, 2019. Netflix announced on September 30, 2019 that they had renewed the show for a fourth season.

Home media

The first season of Stranger Things was released on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack exclusively to Target retailers on October 17, 2017, and the same for the 4K/Blu-ray combo pack on November 15, 2017, both of which includes vintage CBS-FOX VHS-inspired packaging. The second season received a similar release on November 6, 2018.

Reception

Audience viewership

Netflix did not initially reveal subscriber viewership numbers for their original series, and Symphony Technology Group compiled data for the season based on people using software on their phones that measures television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, within the first 35 days of release, Stranger Things averaged ratings around 14.07 million adults between the ages 18–49 in the United States. This made it the third most-watched season of Netflix original content in the U.S. at the time behind the first season of Fuller House and fourth season of Orange Is the New Black . In a September 2016 analysis, Netflix found that Stranger Things "hooked" viewers by the second episode of the first season, indicating that the second episode was "the first installment that led at least 70 percent of viewers who watched that episode to complete the entire first season of a show."

For the third season, Netflix revealed that the show had broken viewing records for Netflix, with 40.7 million households having watched the show in its first four days, and 18.2 million already watched the entire series within that timeframe. Within its first month, the third season was watched by 64 million households, setting a new record for the most-watched original Netflix series.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season an approval rating of 97% based on 87 reviews, and a weighted average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Exciting, heartbreaking, and sometimes scary, Stranger Things acts as an addictive homage to Spielberg films and vintage 1980s television." The New York Times has compared the show to Rob Reiner's Stand by Me , relating their nostalgic feel by "...finding that timeless moment where everything seemed tantalizingly, scarily new." Review aggregator Metacritic gave the first season a normalized score of 76 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 94% based on 147 reviews and an average rating of 7.86/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Stranger Things ' slow-building sophomore season balances moments of humor and a nostalgic sweetness against a growing horror that's all the more effective thanks to the show's full-bodied characters and evocative tone." On Metacritic, the second season has a normalized score of 78 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 89% based on 132 reviews, and an average rating of 7.87/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Vibrant and charming, Stranger Things transforms itself into a riveting—if familiar—summer ride that basks in its neon-laden nostalgia without losing sight of the rich relationships that make the series so endearing." On Metacritic, the third season has a normalized score of 72 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The show was ranked 3rd best TV show of the year (2016) by The Guardian and Empire . It was also included on The Atlantic 's best TV show of 2017 list.

Commentary

Stranger Things gained a dedicated fan base soon after its release. One area of focus was the character of Barb, Nancy's nerdy friend and classmate who is taken and killed by the monster early in the season. According to actress Shannon Purser, Barb "wasn't supposed to be a big deal", and the Duffer Brothers had not gone into great detail about the character since the focus was on finding Will. However, many fans sympathized with the character; Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair suggested that Barb would be a similar misfit in society, and "looks more like someone you might actually meet in real life" compared to the other characters, particularly Nancy. Hashtags grew in popularity after the series' release, such as "#ImWithBarb" and "#JusticeforBarb", and several fan sites and forums were created to support her. Purser did not return for the second season, but the Duffer Brothers used the real-life "Justice for Barb" movement as inspiration for narrative at the start of the second season: Nancy addresses the fact "that no one ever cares about" Barb. Purser and several media outlets took her nomination as Barb for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in the Primetime Emmy Awards as achieving "Justice for Barb", highlighting how well her character was received.

Another impact of the series has been an increased demand for Eggo waffles, as they are shown to be Eleven's favorite food in several episodes and are seen as a representation of the series. The Kellogg Company manufactures Eggo and had not been part of the production prior to the first season's release, but they recognized the market impact of the series. They provided a vintage 1980s Eggo television advertisement for Netflix to use in its Super Bowl LI commercial, and they intend to become more involved with cross-promotion. Coca-Cola released a limited run of New Coke (introduced in 1985) to coincide with the third season of the show, which takes place in 1985.

Legal matters

In April 2018, filmmaker Charlie Kessler filed a lawsuit against the Duffer brothers, claiming that they stole his idea behind his short film Montauk , which featured a similar premise of a missing boy, a nearby military base doing otherworldy experiments, and a monster from another dimension. Kessler directed the film and debuted it at the 2012 Hamptons International Film Festival. During the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, he pitched his film to the Duffer brothers and later gave them "the script, ideas, story and film" for a larger film idea which he called The Montauk Project . Kessler contended that the Duffer brothers used his ideas to devise the premise for Stranger Things and sought a third of the income that they had made from the series. The Duffer brothers' lawyer stated that they never saw Kessler's film nor spoke to him regarding it, and that Kessler had no input into their concepts for Stranger Things . The judge denied summary judgment for the Duffer brothers in April 2019, allowing Kessler's suit to proceed to trial. Just before the trial was due to start in May 2019, Kessler withdrew his lawsuit after hearing the depositions and seeing documents from as early as 2010 which showed him that the Duffers had independently come up with the concept of Stranger Things .

Journalists have noted that the idea of supernatural events around Montauk had originated due to urban legend of the Montauk Project, which came to light from the 1992 book The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time .

In September 2017, multiple media outlets published articles about a cease-and-desist letter sent by a Netflix in-house attorney to the operator of a Stranger-Things -themed bar in Chicago. The letter included humorous references to the series: "unless I'm living in the Upside Down"; "we're not going to go full Dr. Brenner on you"; "the demogorgon is not always as forgiving". The letter also won praise from lawyers for its even-handedness in not demanding immediate closure of the bar, only demanding that the bar not remain open without Netflix's permission past its initial scheduled run.

Awards and nominations

Stranger Things has received numerous awards and nominations across the entertainment industry, including ten Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations through the second season. The series' cast has received several of these: the series' first-season cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, while series leads Ryder, Brown, and Harbour have earned individual awards and nominations.

  • Condition: Ungraded
  • Subject Type: TV & Movies
  • Card Size: Standard
  • Autographed: Yes
  • Set: Stranger Things: Welcome To The Upside Down
  • Autograph Format: Hard Signed
  • Signed By: Karen Ceesay
  • Character: Mrs. Sinclair
  • Custom Bundle: No
  • Year Manufactured: 2019
  • Material: Card Stock
  • Approximate Size of Card: 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches
  • Franchise: Stranger Things
  • Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
  • TV Show: Stranger Things
  • Modified Item: No
  • Type: Non-Sport Trading Card
  • Language: English
  • Manufacturer: Topps
  • Features: Personally Signed Autograph Card
  • Genre: Drama, Cult Netflix Show, Action, Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi
  • Featured Person/Artist: Karen Ceesay
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States

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