So I originally wanted to do an episode going through Stranger Things and calculating what level all the characters would be if they were a party in Dungeons and Dragons.

Considering all the monsters they've beaten, all the adventures they've gone on, all the Soviets they've outsmarted, they've gotta be getting up there in the levels, right?

Like, level 15 at least.

So I busted out some old rule books for the ancient first edition advanced D&. That was around back when the show takes place and did some calculations.

And then I learned that basically no one has gotten anywhere. Apparently leveling up in classic dn d and d was just really heckin hard.

The only character that's done enough to level up throughout the entire show is Hopper.

Turns out that beating up all those guards and Soviets, killing a

horde of demigorgans and looting a whole freaking snowmobile added up just over one

level's worth of XP. Just one level! But don't worry Hop, Vecna's only considered to be a

demigod of greater power, I have no doubt that a level two fighter can beat him.

Hello internet, welcome to film theory. Today we're journeying into the upside down with all our favorite kids from Hawkins, Indiana. Though, can we even call them kids at this point? With how much time there is between seasons of this thing, Dustin over here is looking like he's ready to put a down payment on his first mortgage. Honestly, though, it's not just the kids who've grown up either. It's wild to think just how much the Stranger Things franchise has grown since it first premiered. I mean, this thing started as a mid-budget homage to classic 80s movies.

And now it's got a budget that's larger than not only those cinematic classics, but also modern day blockbusters.

Seriously, Netflix spent $270 million on Stranger Things season four. Compare that to the biggest movie of

2022 so far, Top Gun Maverick, that thing had a budget of only 170 million. Now, in case you've

somehow missed one of the biggest streaming shows ever, Stranger Things is the story of four nerdy

friends. Five nerdy friends. Six, seven, eight? Netflix, slow down!

It's no wonder the budget for this thing is so huge. You're adding like three new ongoing

main characters every season. Anyway, every season this small football team's worth

nerds are tasked with trying to save themselves, their hometown, and the world from the

upside down, a dark mirror dimension full of spooky scary monsters

but despite having more than enough warm bodies to throw at the nearest threat every season ultimately boils down to one character

11 a young girl with incredible psychic powers and terrible arts and crafts powers the newest season introduced us to basically the final boss of the whole show,

...