'90s References You Missed In When The Street Lights Go On

This content was paid for by Quibi and created by Looper.

Remember the days when kids spent the summer playing outside until it got dark? Whether you lived through them or not, the new Quibi thriller When the Street Lights Go On aims to capture the feeling of what it was like to be a teenager in the mid-'90s. Thankfully for viewers seeking a nostalgia fix, it doesn't shy away from references and allusions to the decade of grunge and Beanie Babies.

The plot of the show involves the murders of Chrissy Monroe (Kristine Froseth) and Steve Carpenter (Mark Duplass), the popular girl at Calfax high school and everyone's favorite teacher. Their deaths cast a pall over the upcoming school year, and turn the small Illinois town upside down. Teenager Charlie (Chosen Jacobs) finds himself embroiled in the mystery of who killed Chrissy and Mr. Carpenter after discovering their bodies and taking it upon himself to write about the murders for the school paper. Meanwhile, Chrissy's sister, Becky (Sophie Thatcher) begins to learn that she may not have known her sibling as well as she thought.

While the mystery and pathos of the narrative takes center stage, the '90s references aren't forgotten. From Montell Jordan and Ace of Base on the soundtrack to comfy overalls on the extras, the show is steeped in the decade. And the references don't stop at the music and fashion choices, either. There are tons of '90s throwbacks everywhere in When the Street Lights Go On, some of which you might miss on a first watch.

Don't worry — we got our millennial eyes on the series and took note of some of the '90s references throughout When the Street Lights Go On that you might have missed.

A lot of the '90s allusions will be pretty obvious to most viewers, even if you didn't grow up in the decade itself. However, there are some very specific small details scattered throughout the show that might seem inconsequential to some, but are actually brilliant little Easter eggs for anyone who remembers life in the '90s.

The series' first few minutes alone contain several of these references. In the opening voiceover, Charlie talks about the 17-year cicadas that took over his town during the summer. He specifically mentions that the bugs were found on "mail boxes, parked cars, tree trunks, trampolines." The callout of trampolines is fitting for a show set in the '90s, as the decade saw a boom in popularity of the dangerous backyard equipment (via Trampolines Today).

A little later in the same episode, Chrissy admonishes her sister for stealing her bottle of CK One. The fragrance debuted in 1994, and as Sabrina Cooper notes in an essay at Dazed Digital, it had a huge moment of beauty industry dominance. Specifically, the fragrance was known for its popularity across gender and cultural divides, which is likely why Chrissy and Becky, who seem to only have their last name in common, are sharing a bottle.

Chrissy's boyfriend, Brad (Ben Ahlers), also brings some easy-to-miss '90s fashion fads in the form of his regularly changing necklaces. Keep your eyes peeled for one with a yin-yang symbol and one with a shark tooth, both accessories that were hot during the decade.

In addition to their fashions, decades can usually be easily identified by the hair styles they spawned. The '90s are no exception, and When the Street Lights Go On pays homage to the coifs that made the decade what it was. Now, the series doesn't just throw over-the-top stereotypes at viewers. You won't see any ridiculous crimp jobs here. Instead, the stylists seem to have taken the effort to draw from more realistic sources of inspiration for the characters' looks.

Take, for example, Detective Grasso (Queen Latifah), who is rocking a short 'do all around her head with the exception of one long, well-styled bang, reminiscent of a cut rocked by TLC's T-Boz, among other women of the era. Another character sporting a musician-influenced hairstyle is Kurt (Jared Ager-Foster), who fittingly has a shoulder-length style similar to that of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

Another '90s hair moment is Becky's blonde shag. The short bangs on the front, long in the back style is nearing full-on mullet territory, a look that was very popular in the '80s and '90s. Her specific take on this look seems to be hearkening back to inspiration like Rosanna Arquette in the movie Pulp Fiction — a particular style of chic, shaggy mullet that had a moment in alternative fashion at the time.

Whether it's on the character's heads or in the background of a scene, there are plenty of '90s throwbacks scattered all over When the Street Lights Go On. Just make sure you don't get so wrapped up in trying to find them that you lose track of the series' twisted plot.