The ‘Stranger Things’ Directors Have Been Editing Old Episodes Without Telling You
Fans have even begun experiencing the Mandela effect over a scene where Jonathan takes unsolicited photos of Nancy.
I’m sure there’s at least one moment in your life you wish you could turn back the hands of time and correct. Maybe it’s that bad Paramore-inspired haircut from Year 9, or that poo you accidentally left in a non-functioning display toilet during a house inspection.
This kind of benign time travel is exactly what the directors of Stranger Things have managed to pull off, with the Duffer brothers confessing to journalists that they’ve secretly been travelling to the past to make teeny-tiny changes to old episodes.
Admitting to reporters that they’d pulled a “George Lucas”, Ross Duffer told Variety that the production team realised that there was nothing stopping them from making changes to scenes of the show series on streaming services like Netflix.
“I don’t think they’ve ever allowed people to patch on opening week and even weekend,” Duffer said, recalling a conversation with the streaming giant. “And we said, ‘Well, why not?’ And he said, ‘Well, it makes us nervous.’ And we’re like, ‘Well, maybe we try it this time.’ And it turned out fine.”
she’s a 10 but she can move things with her mind. she’s an 11. pic.twitter.com/04A6feLAZW
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) July 23, 2022
Thus started the Duffer brothers’ romp through the annals of time, making an unspecified amount of edits to the show’s visual effects. They even plugged a very minor plothole surrounding Will Byers’ birthday — established in season two to be March 22, but diehard fans noticed that Byers sadly doesn’t receive any recognition when the date arrives in season four.
But, if Dr Who taught me anything, it’s that meddling with time has severe consequences — which inevitably arose when news broke of the Duffer brother’s excursions in the past earlier this month. Paranoia quickly gripped the Stranger Things fanbase as fans began to acutely question their memories of what they remembered watching versus what was taking place in front of their eyes.
Rumours quickly began to spread that the directors had made another serious incursion into the Stranger Things timeline, this time going back to the show’s first season to edit out that scene where Jonathan takes creepy stalker pictures of Nancy in order to make it more PC.
Is it me? Or have they edited the episode “The Weirdo on Maple Street” ?
The episode shows Jonathan taking pictures of Nancy when she’s in Steve’s room and originally it shows him taking this picture but it seems cut out? Am I going crazy? #StrangerThings4 #StrangerThings pic.twitter.com/EUsyhjcOTR
— Kaitlyn Murphy (@Katie_Murphy776) May 3, 2022
The perceived edits (supposedly comprising of a shot lingering on Steve’s face, replacing a shot of Nancy’s naked body) left fans outraged, with media outlets publishing articles outraged about the new changes.
I absolutely furious. They re edited ep 2 of stranger things so it looks like Jonathan doesn’t take the photos of Nancy and Steve. I… I hate you differ brothers I really do I
— ??? Casey ??? (@caseydoingart) July 22, 2022
However, the directors actually hadn’t changed anything at all — taking to social media to confirm that “no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited”. It was all a trick of the mind — through their previous changes, the directors had eroded the audience’s trust in the show’s temporal rhythm — in essence, accidentally causing thousands of people to experience the Mandela Effect.
The lesson here appears to be simple. If you’re going to turn back the creaking wheels of time, at least make sure you have a noble purpose.