Who is the best character in Stranger Things season 3?

Last week, I spent two days binging the new season of Stranger Things and, in addition to debating with myself whether or not I thought the show should end there or make more seasons, felt an urge to write something about it. I had a few ideas, but settled on this: ranking every character in the season from worst to best.

Rankings are based on a combination of their importance to the plot, character traits, the writing for that character, and previous standing/expectation. I’m also limiting this to human characters.

I’m sure I left something out, and you’ll probably strongly disagree with a bunch of these, so feel free to let me know how I screwed up.

Off we go! (SPOILERS)

26. Bruce

As a character, he’s just a less interesting and intelligent version of his boss: an asshole who of course gets mobilized into a villain later. Bruce sucks, and as a viewer I had no sympathy for his demise.

25. Heather Holloway

It’s the 80’s and one of the settings this season is a pool, so of course the show needed a Phoebe Cates look-a-like as a lifeguard (although Fast Time actually came out in 1982, not 1985). Other than helping Billy knock out her dad, Heather doesn’t seem to do much other than encourage Billy (who’s being controlled by the Mind Flayer, so it seems unnecessary). Hot girl is the first victim of a horror villain, we have seen this before.

24. Mayor Kline

It feels like this is just a caricature of “Midwest rural mayor:” a man who thinks his title means he has immense power, when in reality he has very little. Also, we never find out how his connection with the Russians began (we can assume some sort of bribe that helped bring the mall to Hawkins), and I would have liked to get a better understanding of his motivations.

23. Mr. Wheeler

This man is lucky to still be married. At least he spent some time with his wife and younger daughter by the end? But he’s so oblivious to that his two elder children are constantly in life threatening danger. Step it up, dad.

22. Grigori

This guy was copied and pasted from literally every movie where the bad guys are just generally “Russian.” He’s also an example of a villain who should not be easily over-matched. Nothing on Hopper and Joyce, but Grigori should have made quick work of them. He’s a plot device to make it take longer for the couple-in-denial to do things. Also, what’s his background with the Mayor?

21. Mrs. Driscoll

Nothing against Mrs. Driscoll, she seemed like a very sweet old lady. She calls Nancy to kick-start the investigation, which is obviously important, but she’s here on the list because she’s a minor character. She’s also lucky (as is everyone) that Nancy was the one to pick up the phone.

20. Lucas Sinclair

Lucas just didn’t do very much this season. His highlight was the idea to buy a bunch of fireworks, which ended up being valuable as a way to buy time. However, he only did that after not being able to focus on helping Eleven and forgetting what Max asked him to do to help. He is also incredibly unhelpful to Mike’s relationship problems and is mean to Will in the beginning without a stake in the argument (he’s also mad at Mike for never being around, the only way he’s really tied to Mike is that he also has a girlfriend). Obviously all of the kids are fairly unhelpful in a fight in comparison to Eleven, but Lucas is a spectator for most of the season.

19. Jonathan Byers

Jonathan suffers from some similar problems as Lucas. First, he is also terrible at listening to his girlfriend. Plenty of couples go through trust issues, but after all they’ve been through you would think he would defer to Nancy on these things. Every Batman needs a Robin, and Jonathan will be best served if he understands that he is very much Robin in this combo. That all said, he’s consistently resourceful and incredibly selfless amidst danger.

17. Mike Wheeler

Mike is a teenage version of Ross Geller. He is initially positioned as the protagonist only for many of his friends to prove to be far more interesting, funny and generally nice people. He somehow gets the girl despite very little effort of his own, then losses said girl and gets her back with similarly minimal effort. That all said, his willingness to put his life on the line for Eleven is admirable, and he also has conceded his position as group leader to Eleven without resistance. Also, as a character his 1. Concocting a complex and easily provable lie to tell a girl what he thinks she wants to hear and 2. Monologue about his confusion with girls in general, were both incredibly relatable and I thought well written.

17. Mr. Clarke

Mr. Clarke is, unabashedly, his own man. The Weird Al in the background is perfect for him and that scene as well. He’s resourceful, and easily liked. He also serves as the push for Hopper and Joyce to reveal (though first through anger) their feelings for one another. He provides the basis for what Joyce and Hopper are looking for, though I think they may have figured it out without him. You do you, Mr. Clarke.

16. Tom Holloway

I don’t like Tom Holloway, but I think he’s one of the better villains in this season. He has the pure evil of Bruce but he’s much more cunning. He’s a bit like Mayor Kline but you feel like his evil comes from his core rather than some assumed persona because of his job. His treatment of Nancy, while sexist and degrading, triggers anger that Nancy uses as motivation to continue to pursue the story. We also have the opportunity to see Tom humanized when he’s captured by Billy, and we’re reminded he’s just a person like everyone else. I liked hating Tom, I didn’t feel that way about other ‘bad guys.’

15. Mrs. Wheeler

We get some actual growth out of Mrs. Wheeler this season. She begins where we left her: in an unhappy marriage, sleeping with a teenager, and completely disinterested in her endangered children (her obliviousness ridiculous from day 1). It may not be a high bar to clear, but she comes to realize that the relationship with Billy is inappropriate, gives a phenomenal confidence-boosting speech to Nancy (actual parenting!!!), and is tuned-in to Mike’s sadness over Eleven moving away. It all seems very normal, but Mrs. Wheeler has come a long way.

14. Will Byers

In general, Will is not a particularly interesting character. He’s always been the Ringo Starr of the boys and largely a walking plot device as a result of being “patient zero” of the Stranger Things universe. But he’s still key to alerting his oft-oblivious fellow Hawkins residents of looming danger. He also gives us perhaps the season’s most emotional moments, as he realizes his friends have socially matured quicker than him and he feels incredibly isolated, taking his anger out on his own childhood. We’ve all had that moment where some deeply-cherished possession seems meaningless in comparison to girls/boys, popularity, and “being an adult,” only to realize several years later than we shouldn’t have been in any hurry to grow up.

13. Alexei

Alexei is fun, if a bit stereotypical of “foreigner who doesn’t speak English in America for the first time.” But his conversations with Murray, though in Russian, are some of the best dialogue in the season. He isn’t depicted as inherently evil simply for being a Soviet, like most of his comrades, but rather is a man who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. His conquering of the “rigged” carnival games is a uplifting scene within the chaos, only for it all to come crashing down in the very next sequence. He was a character of such pure curiosity and joy in a season that lacked much of the humor that defined the show’s first two seasons. Of course, he was also vital to the exposure and thwarting of the Russian plot which earns him serious points as well.

12. Steve Harrington

Through the first two seasons, Steve was consistently one of the show’s best characters. His relationship with Dustin, being a sort of parent to this group of children whose parents are almost constantly MIA and his emergence as a hero were all great. This season he was funny, but largely just….there. He isn’t positioned as that same sort of mentor (maybe the kids don’t need him anymore?), and he is largely along for the ride through his, Dustin, Robin and Erica’s quest. Yes, he’s no longer the stereotypical high school douchebag , but he got to that point last season. Now he feels like a stereotype of a failed high school jock past his prime, which even if it’s accurate and realistic feels slightly unworthy of the character that was built up over the first two seasons. Steve was the best part of Season 2, and it felt as if the show just took that for granted and decided he didn’t need further development.

He does get points for swooping in to save Nancy from being crushed by Billy’s car.

11. Max Mayfield

The boys did all they could to help Eleven adjust to normal everyday life, but they can only do so much. Eleven, dealing with learning to be a teenager while still not understanding much of the world around her, gets some much-needed help from Max. She’s so important to Eleven having confidence in herself that doesn’t stem from her powers. Max’s calling out Mike and Lucas on their bullshit is always good (side note: Lucas and Max’s relationship felt like another plot line that didn’t get the same care as last season), and she tends to be the voice of reason the group needs. She also helps humanize Billy, and reminds us it’s possible to still love people, especially family, despite their faults.

10. Suzie

Plain and simple, everyone dies if not for Suzie. It would have been understandable if she didn’t answer Dustin’s call for help, thank God she did. Also, I thought this was one of the best plot points of the season. As the viewer, you’ve long forgotten about her or decided she wasn’t real only for her to swoop in and save the day.

9. Jim Hopper

Hopper does not get off to a good start this season. Him becoming Eleven’s father was such a heartwarming part of season two, only for him to completely lose his shit because her and Mike (a kid he knows well at this point) are spending so much time together. I think he was right to want to set some boundaries (seeing each other every day over the summer? They’re what, 14?) but it just didn’t feel consistent with his character. His shouting at Mike, and then lying to Joyce about it, really had me down on him. But it’s easy to forget that he already lost a daughter once, and thus is very defensive of losing Eleven (who he almost lost already). He is also redeemed by the second half of his speech, which is heartfelt and the sort of daughter/dad moment we got in Season 2. Hopper takes his role as protector of the kids incredibly seriously, and is heroic until the end. Our favorite characters can’t all make it to the end of the series, and Hopper went out the way he would have wanted (if he is in fact dead).

8. Dustin Henderson

Dustin doesn’t need Steve anymore. In Season 2 he was the student, by now in Season 3 he is his own man. He got a girlfriend on his own, he built a complex long-range radio without the help of his fellow nerd buddies, and though it kind of sucked that he spent so little time with his friends this season he may have been more productive without them. He feels abandoned by his friends for much of the season, but he doesn’t let that deter him. He forms a great team with Erica and is probably the smartest of the kids this season. He knows what his strengths are, and he uses them to the benefit of others. Also, he’s got the most personality of any of the kids and the Suzie storyline culminating in their long-distance duet of the NeverEnding Story theme was awesome.

7.  Murray Bauman

Thank goodness Season 2 wasn’t the last we saw of Murray, his speech to Nancy and Jonathan about their love for each other being maybe the high point of the entire season. He duplicates that performance by giving the equivalent shpiel to Hopper and Joyce, and though we’ve heard it before it’s just as good the second time. My favorite line of his this season, however, was the one-word “vodka” right after he and Hopper realize that they’re dealing with the Upside Down again. Despite all the romantic relationships in this show, his buddy-comedy dynamic with Alexei is my favorite relationship of Season 3. I really hope he’s back next season, although I’m not sure who’s reluctant love he’s going to proclaim next…maybe he can fix the Wheeler’s marriage? Or help Eleven see that she doesn’t need Mike?

6. Robin

A runaway winner for “best new character” this season, Robin proved to be the better half of her and Steve’s dynamic duo. Her dry sense of humor is the perfect counterpart and antidote to Steve’s over-the-top personality. She’s also incredibly important to the storyline, cracking the code that the Russians are operating beneath the mall. She’s also where the season goes for one of it’s plot twists. At this point, there is little doubt that the kids are going to win at the end of the season, so the surprises have to come from somewhere else. Season 3 gave us Suzie and Steve awkwardly stumbling into Robin coming out to him. This had been sold so well, that Steve’s confession that he likes her feels like the romantic pinnacle of the season only for us to all find ourselves reacting along with Steve.

I thought Maya Hawke’s acting was incredible (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree), and I really hope the writers find a way to bring her back next season.

5. Eleven

As usual, Eleven is the show’s most important character. Not only because she’s the only reason the town of Hawkins (and potentially the world) hasn’t been swallowed whole by the Upside Down, but because her evolution has always been such an important thread in the story. It’s crazy to go back now and watch clips from Season 1 and see how much the characters have grown physically, but no character has grown more emotionally than Eleven. She’s gone from being unable to put a sentence together to confidently dumping her boyfriend (yes, she was just parroting what Max said but the confidence is still important). To see Eleven’s powers become an almost trivial part of her everyday life (which is 100% how I would use them) is both funny and displays a desire to be normal. Which is why it’s so impactful that, at the end of the season, she loses them. We can only speculate as to the cause, but it’s felt since the beginning that Eleven just wants to be a normal teenager. Now she might be, and if that’s the case it not only has huge implications for her further character development but for the plot of the show as a whole without her being able to be the ‘get out of jail free card.’ Her ranking here is certainly heavily weighted by her importance, but she continued to be one of my favorite characters because of how deep she is compared to several who are often stereotypical.

4. Erica Sinclair

And the prize for “biggest rise in the rankings from last season” goes to Erica Sinclair. She was great as an occasional one-liner in Season 2 and as the counterpart to Lucas’ frequent blandness, but you just knew the Duffer brothers had to have a good reason for introducing her then as a character, and it paid off BIG TIME. Let’s get the obvious out the way first: she’s an absolutely indispensable character to the plot of this season thanks to being small enough to crawl through the vents. She is to the Stranger Things crew what Yen is in the Ocean’s movies. She’s an even better smart-ass, with jabs about how incompetent everyone else is, reminders of how screwed they’d be without her, and why capitalism dictates that she should get absolutely whatever she wants for her services. Yes, the one-liners start to feel a *little* forced but I’m 100% still here for it.

She’s also part of what may be my favorite seen in the season, where Dustin explains to her that she is most certainly a nerd through the lens of My Little Pony. Character growth is a constant theme of Stranger Things, and even though these people aren’t real it’s warming to see them accept themselves for who they are. I think we can all learn something from that.

3. Nancy Wheeler

This show is built on a strong female character, but Nancy is as much the show’s heroine as Eleven is. While Joyce and Hopper are arguing about what’s going on and what they should do, and while the kids are playing super hero/secret agent/conquering heroes/etc. Nancy is just getting to work and refusing to take no for an answer. She’s the backdrop for a discussion on the sexism that would have been typical in her situation, which she handles by doubling down on her convictions (with absolutely no support from her boyfriend). Nancy has become the show’s moral compass, confident in what’s right and restless in the pursuit of it. She’s also a certified bad-ass, her shotgun skills almost an afterthought at this point given how much use she’s gotten out of them in this show. She is also at times the “adult in the room.” It’s certainly not her parents, and neither Hopper nor Joyce is particularly attentive. She’s only supposed to be a few years older than her brother and his friends, but she might as well be twice their age. She began the show as the damsel, but she doesn’t need Prince Charming or anyone else; she’s got this under control.

2. Joyce Byers

Speaking of Nancy Wheeler, can we get a spin-off series where her and Joyce are a detective team? I’d watch that. And honestly the rest of Hawkins would do well to just let them go to work.

Joyce is great because not only is she the same loveable weirdo we met in Season 1, but she’s right behind Eleven in terms of progression. First she was yelling about the lights, now she’s yelling about magnets (place your bets now for what clue Joyce will be yelling about next season). But rather than driving herself insane inside her house scared to death by what she sees, her previous experience tells her this must be a sign of something and she immediately sets off to do some detective work and figure out what it is. So much so that she blows off a date with Hopper, who at that point fully seems to deserve it, in order to try and educate herself. She’s still the same obsessive and neurotic character, but she’s putting those traits to much better use. When Hopper eventually comes around and realizes all she’s been doing is trying to help, he pays her the biggest complement he’s (emotionally) capable of and suggests she should work for the Hawkins PD (for Hopper to suggest anyone could be as good at his job as he is is HUGE). Her calling Hopper out on his bullshit is always refreshing, and much like Nancy at this point everyone else in the show just needs to trust her even if what she’s saying sounds crazy.

But more than anything, Joyce gets credit for being the only sane person in Hawkins, the only person who has realized it might be smart to get the hell out of that town. It conveniently doubles for her as a way to cope with the loss of Hopper, and while it’s certainly difficult for her kids (+ Eleven) it is, given the circumstances, the most logical thing any character has ever done coming from a character whose logic is constantly questioned.

1. Billy Hargrove

Billy felt so under-utilized last season. Asshole older brother combined with womanizer, the reason for which end up boiling down to “his dad beats him.” It felt like that was it. The Mind Flayer becoming a person allows it to feel truly evil, rather than just being some monster from another dimension whose motivations we’re incapable of understanding. In being taken over by the Mind Flayer, Billy becomes the show’s best villain to date. Yes, he’s incredibly violent and becomes a literal harvester of souls, but we get the satisfactory backstory to Billy that we didn’t get last season. He isn’t just some guy with a father who hits him. His inner conflict makes him the perfect host for the Mind Flayer, as does the existing conflict of whether or not Billy is a good person deep down. Learning his backstory makes it even more remarkable that Max cares so much about him, but then again she’s the only person who really understands what he’s been through. He gets a sort of Darth Vader ending (“there’s good in him, I know it!”) except with the brutality that similarly befell Bob Newby last season. We can only hope that, in his final moments, Billy was at peace. It’s something he never had, but certainly deserved after what he was put through.

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