The Lifeguard And The Rip Current: Our First BIG HINT That Billy Is Alive

IMPORTANT: If you haven’t read my post “The First Rule of Analyzing Stranger Things: The Upside Down Is Symbolized By Water,” please read it before you continue. Thanks!

Billy has just come fresh from the water, beaming with pride. “Did you see that?” he brags to his mom. “That wave was at least seven feet!” When she says they have to leave, he begs for ten more minutes. Reluctantly, she agrees.

As he grabs his surfboard and runs back to the water, his mom calls, “Billy?”

He pauses. Instinctively, we feel that whatever she says next is significant.

“Watch out for rip currents!” she finishes. 

“I know!” he answers cheerfully.

Then he hurries to the water, gets on his board, and swims away. 

Weird exchange, isn’t it? 

Everything in film has meaning. To tell a story using film, you can only use sight and sound. That means sets (especially location shoots, like a beach), costumes, dialogue, etc., are all chosen deliberately. If chosen well, they will clarify the story instead of muddying the waters. In other words, if Billy’s mom goes out of her way to mention rip currents, you better sit up and pay attention.

Okay, so what does it mean? Why did the writers include this moment?

To find the answer, we must define what a rip current is.

The graphic says, “Rip currents are powerful currents of water moving away from shore. They can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea.”

Interesting. So they’re currents of water with a violent pull. Dare I say it, they could even sweep your feet out from under you.

Now where have we seen that in Stranger Things? (Skip to 1:30 in the video below.)

Yep. I’m saying what you think I’m saying.

When Billy catches the railing, the floor in front of him even looks like water. Study the screenshot below carefully–

See what I mean? The floor is ocean blue, and the dust patterns look like ripples. This is a purposeful design choice with an undeniable meaning.

The Upside Down is the ocean. The Mind Flayer and His servants are the rip current.

This revelation puts a whole new spin on victims of the Upside Down. Not only can we describe them as drowning victims; we can also say they drowned because a rip current swept them out to sea. 

Alright then! Keep the metaphor going. Suppose a rip current swept you out to sea. What would increase your chances of survival?

A lifeguard.

A lifeguard.

Okay. Let’s take it slow… BREATHE… and unpack what this means.

If any victim of the Upside Down can escape it on his own, it’s Billy.  In fact, the Duffers have already foreshadowed that he will.

1) Billy knows how to deal with rip currents. What does he say when his mom warns him on the beach? “I know!” He doesn’t even sound worried. He sounds cheerful and confident, like escaping rip currents is second nature to him.

And that makes perfect sense. He grew up beside the ocean. He’s probably known about rip currents since he was old enough to swim.

We can’t say that for someone like Barb. She’s probably lived in Hawkins her entire life - as far away from the ocean as you can get. We don’t even see her swim in the Harringtons’ pool in S1. Does she know how? We never find out.

2) Like I mentioned above, Billy is a lifeguard. A lifeguard’s job is to save others from drowning. In the symbolic structure of Stranger Things, where ‘drowning’ means ‘dying in the Upside Down,’ that translates to: Billy will save others from the Upside Down.

3) Billy is so good at swimming that he teaches others how. When he’s flirting with Karen in S3, we find out he gives swimming lessons at the pool. It’s his side job in addition to being a lifeguard. In the symbolic structure of Stranger Things, that translates to: Billy will not only save others from the Upside Down; he will also teach them how to save themselves.

4) Billy is a surfer. He’s learned how to ride the waves… and symbolically tame them. Even when he falls in the water, it’s nothing to be afraid of. He just gets back on his surfboard and tries again.

No other character understands water like Billy. We could even say water is his element. It’s so central to his being that the Duffers chose to represent his mind as a beach.

The message is clear–

Billy will ultimately survive his encounter with the Upside Down. In future seasons, he will even tame it.

»»————-　✼　————-««

P.S. The strategy for escaping rip currents foreshadows how Billy will ‘return to shore’: “Swim out of the current in a direction parallel to the shoreline.”

More on that soon~~

its clown time...and im all eyes and ears for this masterpiece