【Hostess in Heat】

Warning: Mild spoilers for Stranger Things 3 lie ahead.

Stranger Things is on Hostess in Heata tight schedule.

Not only are fans already begging for a fourth installment less than two weeks after the release of the third — but between seasons, producers and writers are contending with the ever-increasing ages of their kid actors, the waffling staying power of '80s nostalgia, and the many quirks that come with maintaining a historically accurate timeline within a real-world timeframe.

"It's a tough one because I'd love to [make episodes] faster than we do, but the reality is that our show is singular because we are unusually small as a creative team," Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy tells Mashable of the show's race against the clock.

"We want to control every detail of every episode ourselves and that level of micromanagement, that level of authorship, and detail-oriented creativity, it simply takes more time."

Of course, Levy and company's strict attention to every last '80s-loving detail is a large part of what makes their work so enjoyable, and as such forces us all to be more patient than we'd like.

But Stranger Things has no time to spare as they march into all-but-confirmed Season 4 — an installment that is sure to bring Hawkins closer and closer to the world-breaking, plot hole-making phenomenon that is [insert dramatic pause] The Winona Collision.

Chronologically pegged to the theatrical release of Back to the Future, Stranger Things 3takes place during the first week of July in 1985. Around that time, a 14-year-old Winona Ryder, better known to 2019 Stranger fans as badass mom Joyce Byers, would have been nearby the fictitious Hawkins, Indiana in the real-life Glen Ellyn, Illinois — shooting her film debut in the 1986 romantic comedy Lucas.

By 1988, Ryder would become a household name, known for portraying darkly comedic material in now classics like Beetlejuice (1988), Heathers (1988), and Edward Scissorhands (1990) — all outlandish and strange tales that, presumably, would appeal to the kids of Hawkins, including Joyce's son Will and his friends.

See where we're going with this?

On the one hand, Ryder's Stranger Things casting is a perfect allusion to the decade the show holds so dear. Just one glimpse at the Academy Award-nominee reminds many of '80s Hollywood, and seeing her incomparable acting chops applied to Joyce can feel like a magically transported blast from the past.

But on the other hand, the appearance of the real Winona Ryder within the reference-heavy Stranger Things world (and in theaters nationwide no less) presents one hell of a plot wrinkle.

We can already picture it: Steve and Robin, possibly with Dustin and an in-from-out-of-town Suzie in tow, catching a flick at the remodeled Starcourt Mall — only to see a young girl who looks disturbinglylike their friend Will's mom dancing to the "Banana Boat Song" alongside Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis.

Yes, the Stranger Thingswriters could dismiss such an occurrence with a one-liner — or ignore the overlapping timelines altogether. But for a show with such a fondness for accurate specificity, that wouldn't be fair to Ryder's extraordinary career, or the events of Stranger Things 3.

Although we're not entirely sure what the body doubles of the Upside Down mean for the universe overall, we do know that doppelgängers are bad business in Hawkins. With the Byers moving away at the end of Season 3, those left behind would likely be seriously alarmed by a mysterious Joyce look-a-like appearing on magazine covers.

At the very least, it would merit a panicked phone call. At worst, it opens a flood gate of conspiracy theories.

Could this "Winona Ryder" be here on behalf of the Mind Flayer? Does she know what happened to Upside Down Billy? Can she help restore Eleven's powers? Does she knows where Hopper is? And wait, why does Westley from The Princess Bride (1987) look somuch like the former mayor?!

With our many concerns at the ready, we asked Levy where the potential double Winonas would take Stranger Things 4. He was amused by the specificity of our inquiry, but confirmed that catching up to the dawn of Ryder's career in 1988 could pose a potential problem for the series.

"That's really funny, and I suppose it's possible?" Levy tells Mashable. "We're definitely trying to make the show as quickly as we can. We're not in control of those things, but we don't want to bullshit about those things."

Emphasizing that this particular paradox hadn't yet been discussed in the writers room, Levy noted that the ticking time bomb that is Stranger Things' dueling timelines is something creators will have to address moving forward.

"Eventually, there will be an interesting new relationship between [the Stranger Things production timeline] and what's going on in the time period we are watching the show in," Levy added. "But as far as how those two timelines will sync up, I can't predict."

Oh, we can predict it, Shawn. It's [insert the same dramatic pause as before] The Winona Collision.

Stranger Things 3is now streaming on Netflix.