However, Max was locked outside of the AV Club as the boys refused to let Max know anything about D'Artagnan as the strange creature was secretly connected to what they experienced last year. Max then watched Lucas warn Dustin of his basketball teammates, Jason Carver, Patrick McKinney, and Andy hunting for Eddie before she and the others tell Lucas about Vecna and how her life was now in danger. When Vecna's clock chimed four times, Nancy was visibly horrified to discover Max was gone. Max then paid attention to Robin began to note how serial killers usually stalk their prey before killing them and theorized Fred and Chrissy could have seen Vecna before they died. Dr. Brenner might be out there somewhere, conducting more experiments outside of Hawkins. When Dustin returns from Camp Know Where, Max welcomes him home and is surprised that Dustin got a girlfriend. Copyright 2023. Lucas explained he had decided to tell Max the real reason why he and his friends were being secretive with her, including what really happened to them in 1983, but wanted to tell Max in a private, safe place. When Max approached Billy's grave, Lucas leapt out of the car and begged for her to listen to him. The next morning, the two observe a herd of police cars arriving onto the Munson trailer's property. Later, Lucas goes to pick up Max at her house to show her that what he told her was real after hearing from Dustin about D'Artagnan being an adolescent Demogorgon. Victor told Nancy and Robin that "a voice of an angel" led him to safety. Did we ever find out why Billy and Max moved to Hawkins? RELATED:Stranger Things Prequel Comic Introduces Another Hawkins Lab Test Subject. She also displays a slight interest in horror films, having dressed as Michael Myers for Halloween. Woozy, Billy reluctantly agreed. Max watching Mike leave with Will after the latter has a strange "episode.". After discovering Vecna's plan to use the murders to open four gates, the group came up with a plan of attack; Max would act as bait to distract Vecna, while Nancy, Steve and Robin would attack his real body in the Upside Down. Even after witnessing the Upside Down and its monsters, Max still had some doubts about the supernatural, but she believed in them, suggesting that Max was slowly understanding and accepting the paranormal events. When Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie row to the gate at the bottom of Lover's Lake, Max observes through Dustin's binoculars Steve taking off his shirt. What is Billy's problem with Lucas? Steve, Robin, and Dustin start helping out, and Eddie's uncle comes in. However, they unintentionally scare him into believing there are intruders in his home and Dustin accidentally sprays Lucas in the face with hairspray. Billy is a bully. Max and Nancy reunited when they, Mike, Eleven, Lucas, Will, and Jonathan searched for the Flayed. Once Max frees herself, she falls to the floor and realizes that Susan was never even there. While Max helps Lucas clean out his eyes, he comments on a new zit on her forehead, causing her to shove his face back into the sink and get water in his face. And Steve would've gone down in history as the worst babysitter ever. Additionally, she had shut out her friends, including Lucas, whom she had broken up with after the summer of '85. However, she and El settle their differences and work together with Mike, Lucas, and Will to see if Billy has been Flayed. When Lucas found out that Max and El spied on him and Mike, Lucas was angry, but quickly forgave Max. At Chrissy's request, Max reluctantly left the bathroom. Though Max was not convinced of the story, Lucas assured her that it was true and told her to not ask Will about it as he is very sensitive about it, which Max agreed to. Once she revealed the ailments as the symptoms of Vecna's curse, Max cataloged Chrissy having hear headache a week ago and Fred having his six days ago before revealing she had been these headaches for five days now. He pleaded for Max to speak to him and their friends, and that they, especially him, were here for her. June 4 will also see the release of Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Townwhich detailsthe historyof David Harbour's Chief Hopper as a Vietnam War veteran before he too encountered the Upside Down. Nancy, Jonathan, and the remaining Party members would seek shelter at Murrays warehouse in Illinois. El then attempts to locate Max in the Void, screaming her name, but can't find her anywhere. A concerned Eleven arrived from Nevada; she asked Lucas if the doctors knew when she would wake up. Billy and Max moved to Hawkins in Stranger Things season 2, but it was never revealed why. Or will it stay with him forever? Max replies "you" referring to billy which set him off and lead to the derailing of bikes off the road. On the way home, Max tried to explain to Billy that the town of Hawkins was not that bad and they just stuck living there as she denied defending their new home. Max retreated from the cemetery, running towards a scarlet haze in the distance; suddenly, she found herself in the surreal expanses of Vecna's mind: a blood-red psychic terrain, with a fractured version of the Creel House at its center. In closing, let me remind you that the geek shall inherit the Earth. Lucas repeatedly told her she wasn't going to die and begged for her to stay with him, but Max unfortunately succumbed to her injuries, causing Lucas to sob in anguish. Billy explained that Heather had simply felt sick and Heather confirmed she felt better. Her mother, on the other hand, tended to be wary of her daughters uncharacteristic hobbies. Crazy question i know. That said, I'm on Twitter @RenaldoMatadeen. After Billy's death in 1985, Susan and Max's life is uprooted once Neil abandons them and causes them to lose their original home. Outside, the group witnessed the creature escape through a grate into the sewers. Robin later joined Max in the battle to kill Vecna, and was visibly horrified when Vecna's clock chimed four times, realizing Max was gone. As she talked, she revealed her deepest and darkest thoughts. She even worked with the rest of Will's friends into burning the tunnel system, inadvertently giving enough heat for the Mind Flayer to leave Will's body. There, he taunted Max about Billy's death and almost killed her before Eleven suddenly appeared and flung Vecna through wooden bleachers. 2023 Fashioncoached. So holler. When El comes to Max for advice on Mike's suspicious lie, Max says she guarantees Mike and Lucas are playing Atari, showing Max has caught Lucas in a lie before. After learning she was experiencing the same disturbing hallucinations and symptoms that Chrissy had, Max and her friends came to the conclusion that she had been 'cursed' by a mysterious Upside Down entity dubbed "Vecna", and that she didn't have much time to live. Knowing that the police would never believe someone if they saw a monster, but rather a counselor would, Max and her friends realized Ms. Kelley might have information on Chrissy encountering Vecna before her death. The song Running Up That Hill reignites memories of Max hanging out with her friends, including Dustin. However, when Max appears and joins in on trick-or-treating at Loch Nora, Lucas looked overjoyed. Dustin contacted Nancy and Robin over his Supercom, who shared their theory that music could save Max. As Billy beats up Steve, Max goes up to stand up to her brother as Lucas watches with worry, but he becomes shocked as she threatens and orders him to leave her and her friends alone. She also distanced herself from her friends, refusing to participate in activities with them and avoiding discussing her feelings with them and her school counselor, Ms. Kelly. Billy and Max moved to Hawkins in Stranger Things season 2, but it was never revealed why. She called out for Max in desperation, but ultimately failed, only finding emptiness; upon returning to her bedroom at Hopper's cabin, she broke into tears, fearing that she failed to save her friend. Bob sacrifices himself the the demodogs (or stupidly just stands there when he knew he was being hunted), but he knew about the Upside Down for at least a day, and was dating Joyce Byers, who knew about it. Months later, Max still struggled with Billy's loss, suffering from frequent nightmares in which she would relive the moment of his death. Does Dart do this on purpose, or does the 3 Musketeers bar really distract him that much? Returning to the Holloway residence, they found nobody home, the atmosphere of the house to be cold, and that the inhabitants had consumed several household chemicals. On June 30, Max, Lucas, Will, Mike, and El surprise Dustin, welcoming home from being a month away at camp. However, before Nancy and Steve could climb the rope themselves, Mike's older sister was possessed by Vecna, causing Steve to order them to find any type of music to save her. For the threat to feel believable, it will have to grow moving forward. (2023) Neil Hargrove was Max's stepfather before he left her and Susan in 1986. "Stranger Things" is at its best when the events and the characters are confined to the town of Hawkins, Indiana. Reddit, Inc. 2023. When Dustin's compass began going haywire, Max heard Dustin explain that strange electromagnetic activity was causing his compass to malfunction, which he revealed the possibility of a new gate being opened somewhere nearby as portals to the Upside Down have electromagnetic fields. Pretty much everyone except Dr. Owens is dead, and he's helping Hopper protect her. When she was eventually accepted into the Party, she was immensely loyal toward her new friends, self-identifying as a "zoomer" as her role in the group and going so far as standing up to Billy in order to protect them. And if he doesn't fix this, if he doesn't explain himself, dump his ass. Max's alias, MADMAX, is a reference to the post-apocalyptic films of the same name, Max's skateboard was produced by Madrid Skateboards, the same brand as Marty McFly's skateboard from the 1985 film. Please say yes. El holds Max's hand and confirms that she's real. When El found Billy, he was sitting on the ground as a person she was unable to perceive screamed desperately for help. When I first heard they Byers moved to California, I was a bit disappointed because it seemed so unrealistic that they would travel so far. However, unbeknownst to her, Will is secretly jealous and annoyed that she is spending so much time with Lucas, instead of playing D&D with him. That evening at the cabin, the girls decided to play a spin the bottle esque game on who to spy on with Els abilities, landing on Billy as their target. In 1986, when Max discovered she was cursed by Vecna, she instructs her mother to give her father a letter, if she could find him, showing that despite their once strong relationship, Max has had little contact with Sam. However, Max realized that this Billy was only an illusion; it was truly Vecna lurking beneath. Eleven believed Dr. Brenner was dead as Barb, but after visiting Eight in Chicago, she's not so sure. When her friends began to question whether he'd been possessed by the Mind Flayer, Max hoped that he wasn't, concerned for what might happen if he was. Max is able to get away from the villain through her memory of season 2's dance, but eventually he finds her, turning the glitzy high school gym upside down. Back at the cabin, while El searched for the Flayed in the Void, Max and Mike got into an argument over her wellbeing, resulting in Mike confessing his love for her. Why did Max and Billy move to Hawkins in the middle of October? She, Will, Lucas and Mike went The Day of the Dead at Starcourt together. Susan hugs her daughter tightly and tells her that nothing is going to happen to her. By 1986, Max had begun to suffer depression, cutting off her friends and breaking up with Lucas permanently, though Lucas never held a grudge against her. Fully under the entitys control, Billy escaped the sauna and attacked El. Ready at last, they drove to the Creel House in order to drop off Erica, Lucas, and Max, before the rest of them continued on to Eddie's trailer where they would enter the Upside Down. Once she's finished, Susan proclaims Max is pretty, but Max rolls her eyes and lays her head back in annoyance when Susan turns away. Even with Max's attempts to join the group and befriend Mike, he was very hostile and rude to her, repeatedly calling her annoying or looking irritated when she is present. Using her powers, El managed to remove the piece. Though they could not find anything, Vecna ultimately released Nancy after giving her a message to deliver to Eleven and the rest of her friends. A year after moving to Hawkins and meeting her new friends, Max appeared to be more social and trusting of her friends. When Max saw that Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were riding their bikes in the distance, she told Billy to slow down and denied being friends with the boys. Stranger Things season 4 part 2 concluded with 2 thrilling final episodes, that saw the. The last we see of Dr. Brenner in season one, the Demogorgon attacks him, implying that he doesn't survive. The franchise is diving deep into prequel territory prior to the launch of the new season with Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds out last Thursday and dealing withEleven's past and her mother's induction into the sinister MKUltra program. Eleven piggybacks into Max's trance . An arcade employee, Keith approaches her the game had a short circuit, but tells her he has a game she can play in the back room. When Dustins numerous attempts to contact Suzie were futile, Max concluded that she did not exist and left with Lucas. 24 ", "Mm-hm. Max is the first of Vecna's victims to survive (though Nancy was cursed by Vecna, she was used as a "messenger" for Eleven rather than a victim). Max also blamed Mike for wanting to control Eleven, put a strain on their relationship and became even more strained after Max and Eleven spied on him and Lucas. Though she had often wished death upon him, Max had felt guilty as soon as the Mind Flayer had killed him, and began praying that she would die, too. At the AV Club, Dustin revealed and showed Max and his friends a new creature he had found a pollywog-like creature Dustin had called D'Artagnan, or "Dart" for short. Max did not buy that and revealed she knew Lucas had tricked her into believing the Dig Dug game was out of order. As they walked towards Skull Rock to reunite with the Hellfire Club leader, Max noticed Lucas' despondent facial expression and he confessed that there was a day Patrick came to practice with a black eye, only for him to lie about it. While skateboarding outside her house, Max was suddenly approached by El seeking relationship advice. In the Starcourt parking lot, Nancy discovered that the car wouldnt start due to the car missing its ignition cable. Alive (comatose) Though Max is brought back to life and placed in a coma, it is unknown what Robin's reaction is to Max's state. They were instead met by Tom Holloway and Bruce Lowe, who brutally attacked them. However, Max's stepbrother Billy came and began to viciously beat Steve. Times Syndication Service. Seeing a grandfather clock at the end of the hallway, Max walked to get a closer look at it. Steve says he'll probably just stay in Hawkins and work for his dad, so he can be around for Nancy's senior year. Created by the Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalie Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Priah Ferguson, Cary Elwes, Jake Busey and Maya Thurman-Hawke. As Max watched Mike leave to take Will to his house, Max asked why Will was behaving so strangely. As they go to the pumpkin patch to burn the tunnels, Lucas helps Max on how to get there and they aid each other as they, along with their friends, burn the tunnels. [2], A six-year-old Max befriended a boy named Nate Walker, becoming best friends. While hiking to get into contact with Dustin's girlfriend, Suzie, Max scolds Lucas for drinking all of their water. This novel will provide more insight into Max's past, which will be appreciated by fans as the show's creators, the Duffer Brothers, plan on focusing on her morethis season as she embarks on a romance with Caleb McLaughlin's Lucas Sinclair. Why did Billy and Max move to Hawkins in Stranger Things? El asks if it's against the rules, but Max tells her that "[they] make [their] own rules". It was boring so I decided to write about things I love. When Will started experiencing strange 'episodes', Max took notice, and became even more curious after learning of Will's disappearance the previous year. In response, Max shrugged and said that she had forgotten. Despite this, Max preferred her life with him over staying with her mom, as evidenced when she attempted to escape to LA when she heard that they would be moving back to Hawkins, Indiana. Max and Billy were stepsiblings, sharing a complicated history and difficult relationship, which lead to complicated emotions and feelings by the time of his death. Steve is annoyed that he has to babysit Max, and even more annoyed when Max blackmails him to bring her to Billy's grave. The pair then went to the Starcourt Mall where they engaged in an extensive shopping spree. When Mike was contacted by Dustin, the group traveled to the mall where they arrived just in time to save the Scoops Troop from Russian soldiers. Warning! In only three seasons, the Duffer Brothers sci-fi series Stranger Things has left more questions than the ones it has answered, and while most of them have to do with the Upside Down, the Demogorgon, the Mind Flayer, and all the horrors that live in the other dimension, there are also many questions about the human characters. Hair color Hanging out with Max has influenced El incredibly, as she confronts Mike lying to her and eventually "dumping his ass", much to Mike and Max's shock. Upon entering Ms. Kelley's office, Max searched through the counselor's file cabinets was shocked to find not only Chrissy's file, but also one for Fred, meaning he had also been seeing Ms. Kelley as well. Max tried to intervene, but was brutally thrown across gym floor into the wall where she crumpled in a heap. But now that his relationship with Nancy is over, all he has to do is send a picture of his hair as his admissions essay and he will get in anywhere he wants. 'Stranger Things' Season 2: Biggest Questions - Business Insider When Will started to behave strangely due having an "episode," Max, Lucas, and Dustin saw he was founded and consoled by Mike. Her mother and Neil wanted to get away from her dad. After witnessing Billy's gruesome death, a grief-stricken Max sobs in El's arms as she comforts her. Sub for the Netflix Original series: Stranger Things. Following her mother's divorce and remarriage to Neil Hargrove in 1984, Max and her erratic stepbrother Billy moved to Hawkins, Indiana. This is an explanation of everything that happened to Hawkins in the Stranger Things season 4, volume 2 finale, in addition to what it means for season 5. Lucas cradled Max as he cried for Erica to call an ambulance. When Eleven revealed that she was alive to her friends, Max was shocked that was the boys told her was true. When Will contacted his friends that he found Dart in a bathroom through his supercom, Max joined Mike, Lucas, and Dustin in heading to Will's location. With everyone reunited, the group of teenagers conferred in Max's trailer to spend the night and take shelter. Stranger Things: Why The Byers Left Hawkins & Their Season 4 Locations As Max began expressing her confusion on being a member of the Party, Lucas tried to explain to her that there were reasons for their secretive behavior, saying it was for Max's safety, causing Max to believe it was because she was a girl, but Lucas denied that. 'Stranger Things 4' Ending Explained: Who Died in Vol 2 Finale However, all of the sudden, Max was thrown off her board by an unseen force, leading Mike to help her up. When the gang decided to split up in groups of two, Max partnered with Lucas to search the first floor of the house while Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Robin investigated upstairs. In what Lucas could only perceive as a 'miracle', Max's heart was restarted. Though her new friends were initially reluctant to explain what had happened to Will, Lucas eventually divulged the whole history of events involving Will, Eleven, the Demogorgon and the Upside Down. After Mike finally reunites with Eleven, he eventually gives up his hostility towards Max. Just then, Hopper arrived along with Joyce and Murray. Despite his early hostility, Mike still cared for her somewhat, as he appeared concerned when Eleven caused her to fall while skateboarding. While looking over Fred and Chrissy's files, Max read over how both Chrissy and Fred were suffering extremely bad headaches, sleep deprivation, nightmares, and night sweats, just like she had been for a while. Max and Will continued to work together in battling the Mind Flayer until his avatar was killed. When Steve goes out to investigate, Max and the others follow him outside the lobby, only to be startled and surprised when Lucas reveals himself. As Steve and Nancy removed the board covering the door, Max noticed the front door had a stained-glass window depicting a rose, which she recognized from Vecna's mindscape. In 1984, Max met Will Byers on her first day at Hawkins Middle School.