17 Stranger Things quotes die-hard fans should know by heart

15. “If anyone asks where I am, I’ve left the country!”

Episode: 7

Context: From the road, Lucas calls Mike and Dustin to warn them that the “bad men” are coming. “They know about Eleven!” he yells through labored breaths.

The boys immediately spring into action, running upstairs to peek out at the front of the house. Of course, they see men from the lab rolling up in the van after massive repair van to come collect their science experiment.

Mike quickly checks in with his mom to make sure they aren’t actual repair guys out front (cute), but she’s more preoccupied with making a phone call to figure out what Nancy is up to. When he starts to run out, she finally pays attention to him: “Michael!” He turns around quickly. “If anyone asks where I am, I’ve left the country!”

Commentary: It’s easy to forget that Mike is just a kid. This innocent moment really shows us a younger side to him though, the kind of side that might come out when he’s just playing Dungeons and Dragons or chilling in the arcade with friends. As I’ve said before, it takes us back to what we care most about in this show: this is a young man enjoying his relationships with his friends, even in the face of great adversity.

Whether the line was meant to be serious or not doesn’t really matter. It reads as something we say when we’re playing make-believe: no 12-year-old is really going to be leaving the country. It draws us back into Mike’s sci-fi world where he’s plugged into a game with his very best friends.