‘Stranger Things’: Steve shirtless and the series’ strange relationship with sex

Spoilers for season 4 part 1 of ‘Stranger Things’ below

Get ready, you horny ‘Stranger Things’ fans, because our favorite golden bachelor, Steve Harrington, risks it all in season four when he takes off his shirt and dives into a lake to find the Watergate, also known as the entrance to Vecna’s personal Upside Down.

Just then, Nancy takes a quick look at Steve’s body and even the younger ones comment from the shore. his chest hair, which Steve apparently keeps because “the girls love it”. We imagine the producers were fully aware of this as well, which could explain why Joe Keery is also shirtless for a large part of the next episode.

However, the strange bats from the Upside Down become too aggressive and start chewing on his bare torso. In the end, Steve’s friends save him and Nancy bandages his wounds while she ogles him.

Based on all that, you would think that ‘Stranger Things’ must be a very horny series. But is not the case. Although the fandom enjoy drinking the winds by Steve, Robin and Papi Harbs (you know, David Harbour), the series itself is pretty tame when it comes to sex and nudity.

That is also true in the fourth season, despite this Chestgate. Because aside from sexy Steve, the only sexual thing that happens this time around is when a naked Murray slips into an ice bath while on the phone with Joyce. And Joyce doesn’t feel the sensuality, let’s say. Now this is not a criticism of the series, per se. Obviously, ‘Stranger Things’ doesn’t need to get kinky to become a hit.. And one could argue that these characters are too busy with the other things that come up in the night to think about this. But it seems strange that the series as a whole is so reluctant to explore sex while everything else becomes decidedly more adult.

Each season has gotten progressively darker and bloodier., to the point where Vecna’s signature kill, that stunt where she snaps off all the limbs and pokes her victims’ eyes out while they’re suspended in mid-air, would never have made the cut in the first season. And this time, the Demogorgon also seems quite angry, happily chewing on the heads of people who cross his path until they explode in his jaws like a ripe tomato.

So it’s not like we can argue that ‘Stranger Things’ is a kids’ show. And sure, you’d think the age of the actual kids on the show might explain its mainstream approach, at least in part. But there are plenty of older characters, including horny young adults and real adults, who could explore the more physical side of their on-screen relationships.. Not that sex is central to all the stories, but its general omission in what has become an adult series is odd. And that’s particularly true given how much ‘Stranger Things’ likes to draw inspiration from classic ’80s horror.

Sex and scares have long been intertwined on screen for a variety of enormously complex reasons. But in essence, the notion of sex in scary movies works so well because they are both designed to be subversive on screen. There is a primal power, and dare we say mischievous, in offending content like this.

And what’s strange is that ‘Stranger Things’ actually acknowledged this briefly in its early episodes (those more innocent days) with a brief and extremely tame sexual moment between Nancy and Steve as poor Barb was resigned in the garden outside. This subversion of a classic stereotype seemed to suggest that virgins don’t always end up being the last survivors in history after all..

But beyond that early scene and the Chestgate in season four, the only sexual thirst we’ve encountered in Hawkins came with Billy in season three. Yeah, those slow-motion shots of Dacre Montgomery in those shorts made everyone in the pool even wetter than they already were, but Billy is also a racist jerk. So It seems kind of strange that the biggest source of lust in this story is also one of the most troublesome characters in the series..

Even so, With one and a half more seasons to go, we wouldn’t be surprised if future episodes of ‘Stranger Things’ end up getting a little raunchier.. After all, Daddy Harbs he’s going to have a lot of pent up frustration after that stint in prison and as far as we know Steve still hasn’t found his shirt at the end of part one…