Yeah, that part I get, it’s the tattooing “001” on him that makes no sense. If anything, he is 000 … you would think the experiment on how to deliberately produce individuals with telekinetic powers begins with research they conduct AFTER they find this kid.
In my experience, only a computer programmer would label his first test subject as #0. 
Well remember it was the late 50’s. FORTRAN arrays start with 1.
Why Fortran, why not COBOL?
That’s kind of what I’m driving at - Vecna was a found object. The first child that Brenner manipulated is test subject #1.
But I’m being silly in any number of ways. I’m humming MST3K to myself as a corrective: “If you wonder how he eats and breathes, and other science facts, think to yourself, it’s just a show, you really should relax.”
Found yes but surely Brenner experimented on him, manipulated him to attempt to control his powers and to understand how to create them. The first experimental subject was a wild rat and others purpose bred but they are all experimental subjects.
Was that first year of experiments on Vecna year 0 or year 1? Was there a year 0 AV, or did it start with 1 AV?
Because they’re scientists, not bankers.
Because Fortran rocks and COBOL is… well, it’s COBOL.
To be honest Fortran is older than I realized. They both got going in 1959. I was thinking Fortran was uncommon until a bit later and COBOL was a little older. I was wrong. Sad as I use to code in both languages once upon a time, but that was in the 90s.
But COBOL probably was better for record keeping. Fortran was more scientific/mathematical and kind of filled a different niche.
In the end, it depended on what computer they had available. The Pentagon did like COBOL and effectively helped to develop it. Not sure what other departments of the government were likely to use.
okay grandpa, I think its time for your nap now - you can have a nice cup of java when you wake up.
I’m pretty sure the DoE would use Fortran. Though in 1985-86, they might have been migrating towards C or C++.
He obviously put a Soteria chip into himself.
Mid 80’s? They would have been pushing Ada all the way.
found out in the 80s I worked with the dad of the Duffer brothers. He was mainly into golf. Don’t think I met their mom unless it was at a party.
One thing I have felt this season is the parallels to Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Especially, since seeing the trailers for Vol. 2.
In the first episode, Dustin says “never tell me the odds.” A Han Solo reference. Brenner in the trailer says that he knows Eleven’s friends are in danger, help them she could but she is not ready and all they’ve worked for would be lost: a la Yoda in Empire when Luke sees a vision of the others in Bespin. In Episode 7, 001 asks 011 to “join him” so they can rule the galaxy… this is perhaps a hint that some online have suggested that he’s really El’s father. “Dr. Brenner never told you what happened to your father…”
Vecna in the trailer for Vol. 2 says that they’ve lost and invites whomever he’s speaking to to watch their ultimate defeat, a la the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.
All in all, I am getting serious Star Wars vibes this season and wouldn’t be surprised if it ends in a cliffhanger with someone declaring their love and winding up in suspended animation somehow.
Maybe instead of dying, Mike will end up encased in carbonite.
I had kind of assumed that Vecna was completely computer-generated, but I guess it was really hours of make-up (at least in some scenes).
I was just rewatching the first episode, and there is a scene that I didn’t really think much of, where Joyce mentions the kids bullying Will and calling him a “queer” and a “faggot” (or something very similar), to which a character replies “well, is he?” Didn’t think much about that line years ago when I first saw it, but now I wonder if it does end up that way. There sure seems to be more than a usual “best buddies broken up by a girl” type of tension in Will’s annoyance with Mike, but it can certainly go either way. Rewatching the first season after getting through Season 4 (minus tomorrow’s episodes) is an interesting experience.
While waiting for the last two episodes of Season 4, I’ve worked almost the whole way through Season 1 (just last two episodes to go.) I would definitely recommend rewatching with all the new information from the later seasons in place. It’s also been many years since I watched the first season, so it’s a nice refresher on the lore. And, yes, there are many more references to Will being a “queer” throughout the season that I didn’t notice before, just writing it off as 80s-era insult talk. If Will does end up being gay (and I think it’s likely), it’s been there since Season One.