If you thought the Duffer brothers were taking inspiration from Sixteen Candles in Stranger Things season four, you guessed wrong.
Fans speculated that Matt and Ross Duffer purposefully let the characters forget Will Byers' (Noah Schnapp) birthday on March 22, which wouldn't be far off since the series makes reference to '80s films like the Molly Ringwald classic. But in a new interview, the creators behind the series admit that there's no rhyme or reason behind the plot hole.
"Clearly like the characters in the show, we also forgot about Will's birthday," Matt explained to Variety. "So the debate now is whether we adjust Will's birthday or we just let it be really sad."
Ross joked that they almost don't want fans to know about this mistake, joking, "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!"
But the slip-up is also a reminder to the brothers of the exponential growth of the Stranger Things universe. And now that they're heading into season five, the brothers think they may even need a Stranger Things fact-checker to keep all the details organized. As Matt said, "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. We don't have that."
The only other solution is pulling a George Lucas and doing some quick edits. "We're thinking his new birthday is going to be May 22nd, because May can fit in Winona's mouth [in the Season 2 scene where Joyce says the date of Will's birthday]," Matt said. "So that would be us George Lucas-ing the situation."
But they're also fine accepting responsibility for this mistake. As Ross said, "Of course that would mean his mom forgot his birthday! It's too mean. It was obviously a mistake, and we're sorry. We apologize to the fans."
If it's any consolation, Matt and Ross promised fans that there's less mystery and "more resolution" in Volume II. They suggested that the Upside Down's creation will be addressed, along with Will's sexuality—sort of. "It's going to be much easier to talk about for everyone—the actors and us—once those final two episodes have played," Matt said, before adding, "But certainly, his journey and arc is far from finished."
The first four seasons of Stranger Things are streaming now on Netflix. Volume II premieres July 1.