Stranger Things 3 hid an obscure Easter egg, but someone finally found it
The Stranger Things writers tucked something special into episode 2 of season 3, and it was hard to spot.
Stranger Things returned for its third season in July 2019.
Stranger Things is stuffed full of '80s pop culture references of everything from Magnum P.I. to Star Wars, but fans overlooked at least one major Easter egg.
The writers room for the supernatural Netflix hit has its own Twitter account, and it teased the heck out of us mere days after the show returned for season 3.
"It's Monday and we want to play a game," the writers said. "There's a particular Easter egg in episode 2 of S3 that you haven't found, first person to crack it gets a prize. Go!"
it’s monday and we want to play a game:
— Stranger Writers (@strangerwriters) July 8, 2019
there’s a particular easter egg in episode 2 of s3 that you haven’t found, first person to crack it gets a prize. go! pic.twitter.com/0wfQOmNmtV
The show's fans got busy playing the guessing game, but struck out over and over. "Y'all can get it without a hint. Come on, don't let me down," the writers tweeted, which just made the quest all the more maddening.
While the writers didn't want to give any hints, they at least told us what it wasn't. That list included Back to the Future, Jaws, Wonder Woman, posters, songs, Nancy Drew, shirts, Radio Shack, Mall Rats, Terminator, Evil Dead and Alien. They did confirm it was a pop culture movie reference.
You can continue the search on your own if you think you have what it takes, or you can check out the answer, which was finally delivered by Twitter user Hackyzach.
winner, winner, banana boat for dinner https://t.co/Thw55kfS1L
— Stranger Writers (@strangerwriters) July 8, 2019
Hackyzach correctly identified the Easter egg as Beetlejuice's tombstone, which was tucked into the town model created by science teacher Mr. Clarke.
"Winner, winner, banana boat for dinner," the writers declared. As for the prize, Hackyzach tweeted it would involve signed Stranger Things merch.
What makes this reference so special is that Stranger Things star Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers) also starred in the comedic Tim Burton ghost movie Beetlejuice.
There is a bit of a time discrepancy here. Stranger Things season 3 is set in 1985, but Beetlejuice came out in 1988. Does that mean Mr. Clarke is a time traveler? That would be quite a twist.
Originally published July 8, 11:38 a.m. PT.
Update, 12:41 p.m. PT: Adds correct answer and the tweet identifying it.