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A creepy Jonathan moment has been edited out of 'Stranger Things,' and there could be more changes fans haven't found yet

Jul 23, 2022, 19:42 IST
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Charlie Heaton plays Jonathan Byers on "Stranger Things."Netflix
  • "Stranger Things" cocreators the Duffer Brothers have said that some old scenes have been re-edited.
  • Fans have already found one example in season one when Jonathan photographs Nancy from the woods.
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Last month, the Duffer Brothers, who cocreated Netflix's hit sci-fi series "Stranger Things," said they had gone back and re-edited some episodes of the show.

Now fans are starting to spot the changes, including a key moment where Jonathan Byers (played by Charlie Heaton) invades Nancy's privacy by photographing her as she undressed with her back to a second-story window.

This all started when the Duffer Brothers forgot that a season two scene included a reference to Will Byers' birthday being March 22. When the fourth season premiered, people noticed that the day Mike flew to California to visit Eleven and Will was March 22 — but every character in the episode failed to mention this celebratory day.

Fans were worried this meant Will was extra sad because of his forgotten birthday, but the Duffer Brothers admitted they had simply overlooked this detail.

"We were talking about it yesterday, and I think we're going to George Lucas that," Matt Duffer told Variety in June. "We have George Lucas'd things also that people don't know about."

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The phrase "George Lucas'd" refers to the act of going back and altering the edit of the movie (or in this case, TV show) that people can see online and in new physical copies. Lucas famously changed some continuity in "Star Wars," like having Han Solo shoot Greedo first and vice versa. Other changes were simply CGI effects or coloring for scenes.

Now the Duffers have altered at least one scene that makes Jonathan Byers a more sympathetic character in season one.

People are starting to compare their physical DVDs of 'Stranger Things' to the new streaming versions, and realized Jonathan's creepy photo moment was changed

Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers on "Stranger Things."Curtis Baker/Netflix

At the start of "Stranger Things" season one, Jonathan Byers is shown as an outcast high schooler who spends most of his time taking care of his younger brother, Will, and his mom, Joyce. He's working after school, making breakfast for the family, and generally taking on the role of a parent.

His peers, including Steve Harrington, bully and mock him.

But Nancy Wheeler shows a semblance of kindness towards him.

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So when he was out in the woods with his camera, trying to look for clues about Will's disappearance, Jonathan was startled to hear a scream. After running towards the noise, Jonathan realized it was Nancy and some friends partying at Steve's house.

From a hiding place in the trees, Jonathan started snapping photos of the group. And when Nancy and Steve went inside and up to a second-story bedroom, Jonathan kept the camera out and took pictures of Nancy looking out the window.

Then Nancy began undressing, removing her shirt with her back to the window.

In the original cut of the episode, Jonathan lowered his camera for a moment, clearly understanding that he would be violating her privacy even more if he documented this intimate moment.

But then he notably raised the camera once more, and we saw him deliberately take more pictures of Nancy while she was in this vulnerable position.

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The photo of Barb that Jonathan snapped on the night when he was spying on other teens.Netflix

In the new cut of the episode, we don't see Jonathan take additional pictures of Nancy once her shirt is off.

Instead, he raises his camera and the edit makes it look like he chose to photograph Barb (fully clothed and sitting by the pool) instead.

A fan on TikTok noticed the change, writing in the video's text overlap that the Duffers seemed to be trying to "make Jonathan look like less of a perv."

Not only does the new edit seem to give Jonathan a lot more leeway when it comes to the ethics of his behavior in this moment, but it has a butterfly effect on the next episode.

Jonathan's photos are a key plot point for both the Demogorgon hunt and Steve's character arc

The photo Jonathan took as seen in "Stranger Things" season one, episode three.Netflix

The pool and photo scene takes place in season one, episode two: "The Weirdo on Maple Street."

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In the next episode, "Holly Jolly," Steve is shown the photos that Jonathan took and confronts him in the school parking lot. Steve and his friends tell Jonathan that the pictures are "creepy" and show that he's been stalking them.

Jonathan doesn't have a defense for the photos, especially when Nancy is shown the one of her wearing just a bra.

But the previous episode didn't show that image. New viewers will just have to assume that he took that picture in a scene we weren't shown. It takes away the deliberate action that the previous version revealed — where Jonathan lowers the camera, knowing it's wrong, but then raises it once more and carries on violating Nancy's privacy.

So in the new edits, when Steve calls Jonathan a "pervert" and then smashes his camera, the audience might think Steve is overreacting and feel more sympathy for the outsider Byers teenager.

Nancy and Jonathan on Netflix's "Stranger Things 3."Netflix

All of this causes even more butterfly effects on the relationships between Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve. The three characters have been in a love triangle — with Nancy and Jonathan eventually winding up together but Steve left confessing his continued affection for Nancy in season four.

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Were the Duffers trying to set up a better continuity of the romance for Jonathan and Nancy by tweaking the "creepy" circumstances of their first meeting? Or did they simply think the extra footage of Jonathan's invasiveness was unnecessary? And what else has been changed?

Fans will have to keep carefully digging through the archived episodes to find out.

For more about "Stranger Things," here are 19 behind-the-scenes secrets you probably might not have known about season four.

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