Fresh off the release of "Stranger Things 2," there is plenty to talk about. How will our new heroes meld with the original group? Will next season see a return of familiar villains or will we get a fresh bad guy? Can Mike and Nancy Wheeler do anything to worry their parents? I believe that the answer to a lot of these questions can be found in the unsung hero of the show, Dungeons And Dragons (D&D). This tabletop role-playing game might be the key to better understanding the show. First things first though...

What is 'Dungeons and Dragons'?

Basically, this is a game where nerds (like me) sit around a table and use their collective imaginations to dictate a story.

Players campaign around a fantasy world encountering monsters, building friendships and working together to overcome difficult obstacles. Sound familiar? It's a brilliant backbone to the story structure of "Stranger Things". As shows like, "Rick and Morty," and video games like, "Resident Evil 2" turned their stories into board games, "Stranger Things'"went the opposite direction.

How does D&D fit into 'Stranger Things'?

While Sony turns the board game, "Catan," into a movie, "Stranger Things" uses a little more subtlety. Not only do the characters of the show play the game, they also manage to beautifully compare their real lives to their D&D campaign. We've got monsters taken from the D&D monster manual.

We've got Main Characters compared to D&D character. We've got dimensions similar to the worlds of D&D. Utilizing this game gives the Duffer brothers a seemingly infinite pool to pull from in future seasons.

What can we learn from Dungeons and Dragons?

The first and maybe most important lesson is that death is not permanent. In D&D a cleric character can sometimes use his/her abilities to revive fallen teammates. Who does Mike describe as the group's cleric? Will Byers, aka zombie boy. Do I expect Barb or Bob to return from the dead? No. But I suggest we keep this in mind when/if any other main characters are killed off. Second, could there be more planes of existence? We've seen the upside-down and the dark, empty space 11 goes into to find people.

What's to say that there aren't more dimensions that haven't been introduced yet? Dustin even tells us that the Mind Flayer has forgotten it's home dimension. Our shadow monster villain might not even be from the upside-down. This is all just speculation since there are so many directions that the show could go. I think we all look forward to the next season.
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