In Fear Street Part 2: 1978, the thrill-seeking teenagers of Camp Nightwing attempt to get high on the enigmatic substance “L484” but are unsuccessful. Is this ordinary analgesic really a false herring, or is there perhaps another reason why Nurse Lane kept it in her desk drawer before attempting to break Sarah Fier’s curse?
The second instalment of the Netflix horror trilogy, Fear Street Part 2: 1978, is based on the well-known R.L. Stine book series. In this prequel/sequel, the victims’ survivors from Fear Street Part 1: 1994 consult C. Berman, a survivor of the Camp Nightwing massacre 16 years earlier, for guidance. Two Berman sisters are presented as the film flashes back in time: the irate rebel Ziggy Berman and her conservative older sister Cindy Berman, who is urgently attempting to leave her Shadyside roots. When Nurse Lane, the mother of the possessed killer Ruby Lane, tries to stab Cindy’s boyfriend Tommy Slater, the town’s curse finally catches up with her.
Cindy and Tommy explore Nurse Lane’s office for information after the authorities remove her, and they discover an unlabeled medication bottle in her desk. Cindy is convinced that the mysterious substance in this conflict—a round, white tablet marked “L484″—is what causes Nurse Lane’s apparent psychotic episode. Before she can report it to the police, however, Alice, a former friend of Sarah Fier, snatches it and takes the pills with her boyfriend Arnie in an effort to get high as they look for Sarah Fier’s body. Alice eventually discovers why L484 doesn’t work because it is simply acetaminophen, a typical over-the-counter analgesic used to treat fever and minor pain. Acetaminophen has no noticeable impact, though. L484 is frequently offered for sale in the US under the Tylenol brand name.
While Tylenol may not frequently lead to nurses attacking minors, it does have a gruesome past. Seven persons in the Chicago metropolitan area died after ingesting Tylenol that had been spiked with potassium cyanide in 1982, a few years after the events of Fear Street Part 2: 1978. A police investigation revealed that poisoned Tylenol bottles had been hidden in local pharmacies and grocery stores, randomly killing unsuspecting victims. The perpetrator of the Chicago Tylenol killings was never identified, and they are still a mystery to this day.
Fear Street Part 2: 1978’s peculiar attention to the medication and its label, “L484” (which is sung by Arnie), may just be a wink to the actual fear of the Tylenol killings and a red herring in the investigation into Nurse Lane’s attack. It wouldn’t surprise anyone in the slightest if Nurse Lane suffered from headaches on a regular basis given how badly she was tormented by her daughter’s murdering spree and suicide. The significance of L484 might, however, be revealed in the story’s last chapter, Fear Street Part 3: 1666, if there is more to the tablets than meets the eye.
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