Every state’s Stranger Things fun fact

Illinois: Murray Bauman and more

Illinois has quite a few links with Stranger Things. First, Brett Gelman, aka Murray Bauman, is from Highland Park, Illinois. Because sometimes art mimics life and vice versa, Murray also happens to be from Chicago in the series.

Murray first appears in the second season and has a more substantial role in season 3. He’s a former investigative journalist who is hired by Barb’s family to find out what happened to her. He then assists Nancy and Jonathan to take down the Hawkins lab and then becomes part of the Russian takedown with Hopper, Joyce, and Alexei.

Besides Murray and the actor that plays him, Illinois also has a link to the show through Eleven. In season 2, we see her run to Chicago where she meets Kali or Eight who Eleven thinks of as a sister because of them growing up in the lab together.

With Kali’s gang, Eleven is able to use her powers in a way she hadn’t before. But she’s not able to stay as she feels her friends are in trouble and returns back to Hawkins to save the day.

Since Illinois is so close to Indiana where the show is set, it’s easy to see why the writers brought it into the storyline in different ways.