Max Mayfield is at the very center of "Stranger Things" season 4,
from her iconic episode 4 scene to the explosive finale. Here's everything you need
to know about that final confrontation, and what it might mean for season 5.
Since the beginning, "Stranger Things" has kept a consistent record of turning
things up to Eleven for its drama and compelling emotional beats in
between decimating whatever dares to step out from the Upside Down.
Season 4, Volume 1 of Netflix's award-winning series accomplished that before a five-week break
that felt like a year on its own. From there, though, alarms were raised thanks to threats
from the Duffer Brothers promising a mad symphony of chaos for Volume 2.
"I think we're mad fools, the lot of us."
It turns out they weren't kidding — the Mind Flayer-sized
double dose of final episodes hit us with plenty of emotional gut punches,
with one devastating wallop involving fan-favorite Max Mayfield.
It's fair to say that for most of this season, Sadie Sink's performance as Max has been at the
core of some of its most heart-wrenching scenes. Besides putting Kate Bush back on the charts,
it elevated the character into one of the show's biggest draws.
"Now, when I lie in bed at night, I pray that something will happen to me."
The hope was that she would help save the day and be rewarded for her troubles. Instead,
Volume 2 ended in a bittersweet victory against
Vecna, in what was easily one of the show's most powerful scenes to date.
Seeing any of the "Stranger Things" characters hurt like this would be a lot to take in,
but Max's condition at the end of Episode 9 is especially heart-breaking,
simply due to the time spent getting to know her this season.
Between Eleven trekking through Max's memories and Max finally being honest
about her feelings regarding her brother's death, these emotional beats allowed us to
really connect with her and see that she had a clear path ahead — that is,
until the Duffer Brothers pulled the rug out from under us and got Max right where Vecna wanted.
Max's plan to use herself as bait quickly turned south, despite Eleven piggybacking her way in to
defend her. Although Eleven was only briefly out of the fight, it was long enough for Max
to endure a similar fate as Vecna's previous victims, making for an excruciating watch.
Lucas looking on helplessly as an invisible force snaps his former flame's limbs was horrifying,
but it also played a small part in rectifying a significant issue in Volume 1.
After watching him question his alliances in Volume 1, seeing him battle his former team
captain, Jason, and accepting being outside the norm felt long overdue. This also allows him to
be at Max's side during her darkest hour, setting up Caleb McLaughlin to flex his acting muscles
and provide some of the best work we've ever seen from him, culminating in one of the most
visually stunning moments, not just of this season but of the entire series.
Lucas pleading for Max to come back would've turned on the waterworks regardless,
but having both of them be joined by Eleven in her barren and empty realm,
which we've seen so many times before, amplifies just how huge the loss is.
Watching Max's friends cry for her together while still apart is a beautifully bleak sight, one that
is revisited when Eleven visits Max in hospital. It's like what Papa said about Vecna's tactics:
"He takes everything from his victims. Everything they are and everything they
ever will be. Their memories, their abilities."
The evidence of this is clear when Eleven makes
one last attempt to psychically link to Max but finds nothing.
Vecna certainly went by the book — but it's the one we see Lucas reading we should focus on.
Before her friends walk into Max's hospital room,
Lucas is reading Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 book "The Talisman," a dark fantasy novel
about a boy who uses the titular item in an attempt to save his mother from cancer.
"The Talisman" — later adapted into a comic book series — takes place
in a world of alternate dimensions inhabited by parallel individuals,
or "twinners," to those living in ours. These twinners can possess their other
selves and jump between worlds, but should one of them die, their doppelgänger becomes
"single-natured." This allows them to jump between realities without needing a duplicate to inhabit.
With this page-turner in mind, could this hint at what's in store
next season? How is Vecna still alive after being shot several times and all burned up,
and where is he now? Might he still have what remains of Max,
as Dr. Brennan suggested? Could Max be lost in another reality herself beyond the Upside Down?
If so, a rematch and the fate of the world could be in the cards for the final season
of "Stranger Things." Our only hope is that it can top the most metal
moment in history that was Eddie's rooftop guitar solo. Better get practicing, Eleven.
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