'Fear Street Part Two: 1978' Mentions a Pill Labeled L484 — but What Does It Do? (SPOILERS)
Jul. 10 2021, Published 11:55 a.m. ET
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Fear Street Part Two: 1978.
The new Netflix trilogy Fear Street is based on R. L. Stine's series of the same name and centers around an ancient curse placed upon the residents of Shadyside, Ohio. The teens at the center of the curse must find a way to vanquish it, lest they risk being murdered by an ancient witch with a vengeance against the town's founders.
In the sequel, Fear Street Part Two: 1978, two of the more daring protagonists celebrate the spirit of the 1970s with sex, rock 'n' roll, and drugs. One of the drugs Alice (Ryan Simpkins) takes is labeled L484, but the characters don't recognize the origin. What is the L484 pill? Here's what we know.
So, what is L484? It's not the drug the characters think.
Protagonist Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd) is a do-gooder Shadyside camp counselor concerned about her ability to keep her job amidst a sea of troublemaking fellows. When she encounters Alice and her boyfriend Arnie (Sam Brooks) requesting drugs from the infirmary in exchange for their begrudging cooperation in camp upkeep, she refuses.
Instead, Alice and Arnie follow her to the infirmary after Nurse Lane is taken away for attempting to kill Cindy's boyfriend Tommy (McCabe Slye), where they discover a bottle of unmarked pills kept in one of the desk drawers. Without stopping to think what the pills could be, Alice and Arnie steal them from Cindy and race off into the woods with the mysterious journal Nurse Lane had been keeping about the witch Sarah Fier.
Before Alice and Arnie take the pills, Arnie notices that they are stamped with the label L484. He mistakenly thinks this means they are hallucinogens but later realizes that this assumption was incorrect.
In actuality, the pill is just Acetaminophen, an over-the-counter drug more commonly known by the brand name Tylenol.
The origins of Sarah Fier's curse will be revealed in the third film in the trilogy, 'Fear Street Part Three: 1666.'
The events of Fear Street Part Two: 1978 are told in flashback by the only survivor of the Camp Nightwing massacre, Christine "Ziggy" Berman (Gillian Jacobs). She recounts the tale for Fear Street Part One protagonists Deena Johnson (Kiana Madeira) and her brother Josh (Benjamin Flores, Jr.), who are desperate to stop the curse in 1994.
The events of Fear Street Part Three: 1666 take place as a flashback into the mind of Sarah Fier herself after Deena reunites her bones at the end of Fear Street Part Two.
Most actors of Fear Street Part One and Part Two will be doubling their roles as villagers of the 1666 settlement of Shadyside, known then as Union. It was revealed in Fear Street Part Two that Sarah Fiers had a secret cave to perform the ritual that cursed the town beneath Shadyside, but audiences haven't yet seen the reason she decided to create the curse in the first place.
Additionally, Director Leigh Janiak has expressed interest in a spin-off series of Fear Street set in the 1950s. The film would be centered around The Milkman, a killer mentioned by name in Fear Street Part One. Members of the cast have also expressed interest in returning, ComicBook.com reports. There could be more Fear Street on the way!
Fear Street Part One: 1994 and Fear Street Part Two: 1978 are now streaming on Netflix.
