Spoilers for most of Stranger Things, especially season four.
Minor trigger warning for mentions of character death/injury. Read mindfully and take time for yourself to relax if need be! :]
October of 2017 saw the release of Stranger Things Season two, arguably the best season of the entire series (and this is coming from someone who’s favorite character is Eddie Munson). Season two expanded on the character growth that began in the first season, tackled strong emotions around family trauma, abuse, and mental health, and presented a boat-load of new characters. One of the most notable being Sadie Sink’s character Max Mayfeild. Max is presented as a tomboy-ish new student, straight from sunny California with her mom, step-dad, and older (step) brother. The main cast of characters, all teen/preteen boys, are immediately intrigued by her boy-ish personality and video game skills. Her introductory season reveals Max to be someone comfortable in her identity; she prefers masculine clothing, stays away from makeup and dresses, and enjoys hobbies that (especially in the 80s) were categorized as ‘for boys’. She is even noted in her first ever on-screen scene to prefer the name ‘Max’ to her birth name, ‘Maxine’. Most of this is unimportant to this specific blog post, but I mention it to point out that she was a perfect representation for possible transgender or gender non-conforming representation. Given the show’s history with queerbaiting, I’m not surprised they deciding against giving her a queer plot line.
Season three completely overrides all of Max’s previously stated character development. To be fair, season three did this with many characters, not just Max, but Max’s is easily the most noticeable. Season three portrays Max as much more feminine, something that feels much more uncomfortable given that this is the season where she officially has a boyfriend. Her relationship with Lucas is another thing that season three does extremely dirty. They are shown arguing and ‘breaking up’, only to get back together days later. This joke-y and gimmick-y relationship completely undermines the intense emotional bonding that they two characters shared in the first season. In season three, there is no relationship tension between Lucas, one of the few black characters, and Max’s extremely racist brother Billy. Lucas and Max no longer share any heart-to-heart bonding moments like they did throughout season two. Their relationship is turned into a sit-com adjacent plot device in a matter of minutes.
Another fatal flaw in season three is the almost satirical ‘feminism’ that Max’s new personality displays. She and El become close, specifically bonding over their shared hatred for annoying teenage boys. This would possibly make sense with any other two characters, but given their previous motives, this is senseless. Max had been categorized as a loner who found community within the main friend groud of the show. She enjoyed their company and wanted to spend time with them. She didn’t mind their ‘teen boy’ humor- in fact, she acted the same as they did. Similarly, El saw the main friend group as some of the only real family she had. She was arguably emotionally attached to them to an unhealthy point, which only further skews the season three plot. In season three, both El and Max suddenly want nothing to do with the main friend group who they had previously devoted most of their lives to. On top of all of this, Max and El are continuously objectified throughout this season as simply presenting as ‘nagging girlfriends’, foils to the main male characters.
The ending of season three is one I still cannot fully comprehend myself. The way it is so easily swept under the rug come season four is baffling, but I could care less about season three as a whole. The only important thing to note is that Max’s abusive step-brother Billy is killed by the end of season three. Season four Max is extremely disturbed by this, and her mental health takes a clear nosedive. She is once again portrayed through the more masculine and standoff-ish loner personality which she was presented with in season two. She is clearly affected by Billy’s death, as well as some vague nightmares and visual hallucinations which seem to be plaguing her and other characters throughout this season. Season four redeems a lot of the qualities that were lost in season three. Max and Lucas’ relationship is still messy, but now the reason for that is clear. Max is isolating herself from everyone she cares about because of her mental health struggles and clear depressive episodes. Lucas is devoting most of his freshmen year towards the school’s basketball team and is thus missing out on a lot of important events. As season four progresses, Max and Lucas have more of those familiar heart-to-heart moments that they shared in season two. They continue to bring out the best in each other and support one and other through even the most gut-wrenching parts of the season.
Most of season four was spent reworking all of the character development that Max had lost in season three. Because of this, a lot of her mannerisms and plot points felt repetitive. Despite being the main focus of season four, it seemed like the plot was happening to and around her, rather than Max herself affecting the plot in any major ways. This is just another disappointing example of Stranger Things’ weak writing post-season two. While it’s not clear what was causing these notable writing shifts, one can find it easy to assume it had something to do with the wide spread interest in the show and their excessive budget growth.
While the end of season four is unclear, is easy to assume Max’s fate. After her unfortunate battle with Vecna, nearly all of her bones are broken and she is left blind and possibly deaf. According to El in the end of the season, Max’s soul is also seemingly absent from her body as well. While I wouldn’t be surprised if season five pulled out some insane plot devise where Max is magically cured, I wouldn’t be happy about it. As much as I love Max’s character and everything about her, I feel that with the trajectory of the show, she has unfortunately served her purpose. With the creators clearly unsure of how to properly wrap up her character arcs, she is instead completely immobilized and reduced to a catatonic state. Not only is this a sad ending, it’s also disappointing. I like to rewatch season two and imagine a world where the creators furthered her character with important plot devices centered around her mental health, her abusive step-family, and her relationship with her mom. I imagine they pursue a queer-focused plot with Max’s character and show how Lucas helps her through the confusing questions she has about her identity and her gender. I imagine her and El forming an actual friendship that passes the bechdel test each time they interact. Unfortunately, I am not the one writing Stranger Things.
