Tarman Origins Spotted in Strangers Things: Season 5

While record numbers of people have streamed the action packed finale to the 'Stranger Things' series, coming to completion with its 5th Season, some viewers pointed out a familiar sight in the 8th and final episode of the series. Did you see it? 

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD for STRANGER THINGS FINALE

At around the 31 minute mark in the 8th Episode of Season 5, titled 'The Rightside Up,' we find Hopper stationed in the upside down with Eleven and Kali, keeping watch. After setting up a number of explosives to cap off their plan to destroy the bridge after Vecna has been killed, he looks over at a handful of green army barrels containing Agent Orange, that even have the designation of being distributed in the 1960s.  

Of course 2-4-5 Trioxin doesn't exist in the Stranger Things Universe, it's still quite the coincidence how perfectly these storylines do match up. If you're following this page, you're surely fluent in the history of 2-4-5 Trioxin, the creation and addition to zombie lore that is the catalyst for Dan O'Bannon's zombie outbreak in 'The Return of the Living Dead' and its future installments. But is 2-4-5 Trioxin purely Hollywood horror magic? 

In the not so distant past, an herbicide called 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) was one of the active components in what famously became known as Agent Orange. Originally a commercially available plant killer, it then saw use by the U.S. military in Vietnam. An unavoidable by product of this was TCDD, a carcinogen and endocrine disruptor linked to serious health side effects and consequences. 

This explains the 1960s timeline for the barrels seen in Stranger Things, and the Trioxin Timeline in the Return of the Living Dead Franchise that establishes the classic Night of the Living Dead film was based on real events of a toxic gas from the army that contained unforeseen catastrophic circumstances. 

Now, we generally don't assume there's anything in those barrels seen in Episode 8 of the Stranger Things series finale, but since the show has wrapped up with a bang, we'll never know. What we can agree on that is the same in both Stranger Things and Return of the Living Dead, is when the military starts brewing secret stuff in labs in almost always results in a typical army fuck up. 

BONUS FUN FACT:

Eleven's badass program sister who make's a surprise reappearance in Season 5, Kali was played by actress Linnea Berthelsen. We tend to love characters living in the 80s played by actresses named Linnea. 

Season 5 of Stranger Things is streaming all episodes on Netflix. 

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