Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s most popular original shows. With season 2 coming out later this year, I figured I better see why everyone loves it so much.

I’ve seen a lot of Netflix Originals, but I never got around to watching Stranger Things. I heard it was pretty creepy and that’s usually not my kind of TV show. Even though it’s been nearly a year since the show came out, I keep hearing everyone talk about it.

With season 2 coming out in October, the fandom’s only getting louder. It might be time I give this show a try. Before I watch it, I took to Tumblr to investigate. What is this show all about? Here’s what I learned:

Barb

The first thing I ever heard about Stranger Things was that it had a character name Barb. The fandom still can’t stop talking about her, which based on my knowledge of fandom means one of three things. She’s either the main character, involved in a love triangle, or has three lines in the series.

She seems to have the most fan art dedicated to her, but she’s always depicted alone. I think that rules out a love triangle.

I’m not sure what happened to her, but lots of people are saying that she deserved better. Maybe something bad happened to her. Maybe she just didn’t get the screen time fans thinks she deserved. She does seem really great, so I hope nothing bad happened to her.

Eleven

Prior to my Tumblr investigation, I knew that Millie Bobby Brown played a character named Eleven. Millie took Hollywood by storm last year, and she killed it on every red carpet. Eleven seems to be a bit different from that. From what I gather, she’s the most mysterious character on the show.

The character obviously gets a hair makeover in the middle of the series. There are pictures of her with long, blonde hair and ones of her with short, brown hair.

It’s not a total makeover because she keeps the same blue dress on after her hair transformation. In fact, she seems to wear that blue dress for most of the show.

The other outfit she wears is a hospital gown. Between that and the nose bleeds I’ve seen her have, it seems like she’s really sick. I also got the vibe that these nose bleeds were a part of her mysterious character.

Maybe they’re magical nose bleeds? If so, is she really sick? What’s the hospital gown for? It can’t be for a good reason.

Also, she likes Eggo waffles. A lot.

Nancy (and Jonathan)

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of shipping on this show. The only ship that kept coming up was Nancy and Jonathan. They don’t seem to be in many pictures or gifs that aren’t about their romance, so I’m not sure how they’re involved in the overall plot.

There is one picture of Nancy with a gun that keeps coming up and a gif of her saying “I want to kill it.” She’s not the bad guy, right? This makes it seem like she’s the bad guy. She also seems to be someone’s sister, though, so I don’t know. What are Nancy’s motivations?

There are also some boys

There are tons of pictures and gifs with a bunch of young boys together. They’re obviously a huge part of the show, but everything about them on Tumblr is pretty nondescript. I’m not even sure what any of their names are. The one with the curly hair is the group leader, right? Is he the one who is Nancy’s brother?

I do know there is a character named Mike. I don’t know which character he is, but there are several gifs of other characters saying his name. Maybe he’s a part of the mystery they have to solve? Maybe he’s one of the nondescript boys?

A few more observations

Are there any adults on Stranger Things? I did not see one single picture, gif, or mention of an adult. Surely these children have parents somewhere.

There are pictures of the characters on bikes that remind me of The Goonies. I know a lot of people have talked about how the show is very nostalgic, so I think that picture might have been an intentional call-back to ’80s movies.

Does that mean the show is set in the ’80s? People get more nostalgic about the ’80s than anything else so that makes sense.

There is a place called the Upside Down. At least on Tumblr, it’s only mentioned a few times. That is a great name for an Alice in Wonderland themed bar. But since this show is about children, I’m guessing it’s something else. Ooo, the mystery!

Also, telekinesis

Just when I was about done looking through the Stranger Things tags on Tumblr, I saw this gif set:

You mean to tell me Eleven can move things with her mind and that’s not the selling point of the show? I guess I’ll have to watch and see what else these kids can do.

How did I do? Is this what Stranger Things is about?