With the current season of Netflix's Stranger Things having been split into two volumes which was done in the interest of getting content onto our screens as quickly as possible, fans have been left hanging on a number of points which have required series creators Matt and Ross Duffer to step up and clarify.

Warning if you haven't watched the first volume of season four yet - this contains spoilers.

In season four flashbacks to Eleven's time in the laboratory she is much more articulate than she was in season one.

Explain the brothers:

Ross: The trauma [of the massacre] definitely affected Eleven. Ideally, when we were writing the flashbacks, the goal was to mimic her speech, with the breaks, with the limited words…But what happens is that she’s surrounded by other kids at the lab. She’s socialized. Then she goes into a coma for a period of time, reawakens and then is isolated completely by Dr. Brenner. That’s the story of Eleven.

Matt: When you meet her, she’s 9, right? And then she blacks out. She doesn’t have a memory of all this, which is why she has to re-experience it [via Nina]. The Season 1 flashbacks that take place post-massacre, she’s locked up in a cell just by herself, with no other children

Will's sexuality is another question on the lips of many fans but in this instance rather than offering immediate clarity they promise that clarity is coming.

Matt: I just want people to watch the final two episodes.

Then there's the case of a forgotten birthday.

So fans have noticed that in Episode 2 of Season 4, a rolling camera has the date of March 22, which is supposed to be Will’s birthday. Did everyone forget Will’s birthday in universe or was this unintentional?

Ross: How do you want to respond to this?

Matt: The honest response is, clearly like the characters in the show, we also forgot about Will’s birthday. So the debate now is whether we adjust Will’s birthday or we just let it be really sad.

Ross: Oh, my God, Jenny, I almost don’t want you to write this, because you’re going to get us in trouble with the fans for forgetting his birthday. It was six years ago that I wrote that date!

Matt: You know how George R.R. Martin has somebody — I mean, his story is more vast — and Stephen King has someone who just keeps track of this stuff? We need that. We don’t have that. So Ross and I, and my memory’s not great, but we love Will, and I don’t want people to think we don’t love Will because we forgot — we do! But now we mentioned Dustin’s birthday this season, so we’re being very careful for people not to forget, in case the timelines…

Wanted - one Stranger Things fan with a perfect memory to keep on top of the small but potentially embarassing when forgotten details.

The first volume of season 4 of Stranger Things is streaming now on Netflix with the second volume arriving on July 1.

[ Main Image: Stranger Things - Noah Schnapp as Will Byers. Credit: Netflix via IMDb.com. ]

Maas, Jennifer (June 2, 2022). ‘Stranger Things’ Creators Answer Burning Questions About Eleven’s Origins, Will’s Sexuality (and Birthday!) and More Ahead of Volume 2. Variety.

Mason, Charlie (June 2, 2022). Stranger Things Bosses: Will's Sexuality Is Addressed in Season 4, Part 2. TV Line.

Mason, Charlie (June 3, 2022). Stranger Things EPs Plug the Season 4 Plot Hole That Left Fans Crying Foul. TV Line.