AsStranger Thingshas go along to pull young spectator and take over watchers likewise , the lover focus has inescapably shifted from universal excitement to something much deep — and maybe a slight number convoluted . In other words : fan theories . One of the more interesting was first proposed in 2016 byJason Nawara of UPROXX , who expounded on the theory that the show exists in the same universe asParks and Recreation — another serial that ’s set in a fictional town outside of Indianapolis .
Nawara has three theories , two of which revolve aroundParks and Recreation ’s Jean - Ralphio Saperstein , and one that is a general hypothesis about how the towns connect . The first is thatStranger Things’sSteve Harringtonis actually Jean - Ralphio ’s father , which Nawara support with a coloured , made - up narrative that involves Steve and Nancy make a kid ( or kids ) before either being eaten by a devil or commit to psychiatric hospital :
Nawara also take to have the geographic aloofness between Pawnee and Hawkins — whereStranger Thingstakes situation — figured out . He uses details from theParks and RecWiki ( 90 mile from Indianapolis ) , and the fact that a character inStranger Thingswas able to ram to " the large city " and still make it home for dinner , to suggest that Steve could logistically father Jean - Ralphio ( and maybe Mona Lisa ) in 1985 , two year after the effect in Hawkins . Steve has a manse in the show , which mean that his parent have money — as did Jean - Ralphio ’s grandfather , which is how he got the money to start his media conglomerate . And , of form , the character totally look alike and have interchangeable hair .
Nawara ’s third possibility suggests that Pawnee is a " sunny version of the Upside Down , " and that Jean - Ralphio is Pawnee ’s teras , but the familial ties theory seems to have ( somewhat ) more evidence to defend it . Excuse us while we binge - take in both series to see what other cue may have been hide out there the whole time .
Shortly after the theory was posited , Joe Keery and Ben Schwartz — the actors who toy Steve and Jean - Ralphio , severally — got in on the playfulness and seemingly confirmed the news :
[ h / tUPROXX ]
