New Delhi, Nov. 30 -- The build-up to the fifth and final season of Stranger Things has brought renewed attention to the puzzle of influences behind the Netflix series. The Duffers have always leaned on 1980s pop culture, but one name keeps resurfacing in conversations around the show's tone - Chevy Chase. Specifically, his 1985 comedy Fletch, a film many younger viewers may not link to Hawkins at all.

The connection surfaced years ago. In a 2018 interview with Variety, David Harbour (Hopper) said the Duffer brothers were "very specific each year with the movies" they use as tonal anchors. Fletch was one of the films they had pinned to the board. Harbour explained that the movie's looseness - a detective story played with a shrug - influ...