While Strange things Having introduced some great characters over the years, the Netflix hit has also wasted many promising supporting stars. Although the hit series has a large fan base thanks to its great cast, not all actors get the chance to shine. Strange things Season 1 created a memorable core group of characters as the show flitted between Dustin, Lucas, Mike, Will, and Eleven, their older counterparts Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve, and their adult guardians, Hopper and Joyce.
However, the series began to protect this core group too much as it progressed. As of season 2, Strange things It began introducing new, equally likable characters only to later eliminate them. without harming the main cast. The advantage of this approach is that it elevates the main characters and gives each of them a good number of strong moments. The disadvantage, however, is that many large Strange things Characters who aren’t crucial to the plot don’t stay in the spotlight for long.
9 Beto
Joyce’s love interest deserved better
Strange things Season 2 introduced Bob as a charming love interest for Joyce Byers, who couldn’t have been less like Hopper. While many viewers assumed Hopper and Joyce would eventually pair up romantically, Bob was a genuinely sweet character who was easy to root for despite this. This made it even more brutal when he was horribly torn apart by Demodogs while the rest of the cast escaped with their lives.
8 Tongue
Stranger Things Infamously Mistreated Nancy’s Friend
While Strange things addressed #Justice 4 Barb in the show’s second season, the show’s handling of this social media phenomenon only added salt to the wound. Barb was Nancy’s short-lived friend who fell victim to the Demogorgon when the show’s heroine left her alone during a house party. Barb’s kindness toward Nancy made her death seem like a betrayal. and the untapped depths of his character made this death feel like a rushed and unnecessarily mean-spirited twist. As such, when Jonathan and Nancy tried to get justice for her a season later, it was too little, too late.
7 jonathan
Will’s brother was forgotten in later seasons
Speaking of Jonathan, Nancy’s love interest was given a compelling character arc in the show’s first season as he went from creepy loner to brave and surprisingly resilient support for his missing brother. However, Strange things has wasted Jonathan ever since, unsure whether to make the character a comic figure or a brooding antihero. This issue reached its peak in Strange things season 4, in which Jonathan inexplicably reinvented himself as an apathetic smoker who could take on numerous interdimensional monsters, but resisted the idea of telling his girlfriend that he had changed his mind about college.
6 crissy
Vecna’s first victim did not need to die so soon
Chrissy was introduced in the first episode of Strange things Season 4 and her first interaction with local drug dealer Eddie Munson immediately made her a fan favorite. Chrissy turned to Eddie for drugs because she was tormented by horrible nightmares about a shadowy figure, but it was her attempted flirtation with Eddie that made her on-screen debut so memorable. She was memorable enough that fans even forgot about her nightmares until she paid tribute to her at the end of the Stranger Things episode. Nightmare on Elm Street while Chrissy suffered the most disgusting death ever seen on the show before her character could be fully developed.
5 Mayor Larry Kline
Cary Elwes was missing in season 3 of Stranger Things
After years of playing rogue antiheroes, Cary Elwes achieved an effective reinvention with his role in Strange things season 3. Elwes had a ton of fun as Mayor Larry Kline, a corrupt public official responsible for many of the shady goings-on in Hawkins, Indiana. However, while the character was consistently funny and a perfect human villain for the show, he was wasted in this overstuffed season. Elwes barely had a chance to make a good impression in his handful of scenes before the mayor was seemingly dismissed from the screen, an ignominious end for a truly loathsome villain who deserved a more memorable fate.
4 karen
Mike and Nancy’s mom deserved more attention
While Strange things Season 3 made Billy a bigger character, the show never really delved into the older woman he tried and failed to seduce. Karen Wheeler was surprisingly open to Billy’s flirtations and she even almost met up with him the night she was attacked by the Mind Flayer, but she lost her nerve and didn’t go through with this extramarital relationship at the last second. Strange things I never explored what led Karen to infidelity. or what stopped him from following through with the act, which was a disappointing disappointment after actress Cara Buono imbued the character with believable humanity.
3 eddy
Eddie’s Stranger Things Story Was Too Short
Eddie’s eventual death was a heartbreaking moment for the series, but the real tragedy was the fact that Strange things He didn’t get to introduce this character until season 4. Eddie was a great friend to Dustin, a figure who challenged Lucas to reconsider his identity, and a role model for the show’s young heroes as they tried to navigate high school without hiding their feelings. nerdy passions. While Eddie’s tragic death could technically be undone in Strange things season 5, this still wouldn’t fix the fact that the show hasn’t used this character beyond a single season.
2 Club
Stranger Things season 3 wasted a big villain
Dacre Montgomery’s Billy is possibly the best villain ever. Strange things has featured so far, but the show never gave its story the level of complexity it deserved. Billy’s racism and brutally violent bullying of him demonstrate that he was far from heroic, but abuse at the hands of his stepfather does explain his outbursts and mistreatment of his stepsister Max. While Montgomery’s performance hinted at the humanity behind Billy’s bravado, Strange things Season 3 dropped the ball by not revealing his tragic backstory until moments before his sacrifice.
1 Kali
Eleven’s Lost Sister Story Was a Stranger Things Misstep
Kali, Eleven’s long-lost sister, is the worst example of Strange things create an intriguing character only to completely waste it. While Strange things Season 5 could redeem Kali with a plot that properly integrates her character, her first appearance on the show was bogged down by an unnecessarily complicated plot that removed Eleven from Hawkins and introduced a series of new test subjects to the heroine of the series. program. If Kali and Eleven had worked together instead of Eleven briefly meeting her sister before leaving her again, this Strange things The subplot could have been successful, and this potentially great character might not have felt like a misguided afterthought.