Steve-related
spoilers ahead.
This is
something I never would’ve thought I’d say back when I watched season 1, but
Steve Harrington is kind of great. To me, he’s a prime example of how to redeem
a jerkish character in a way that 1) doesn’t feel disingenuous and 2) keeps the
character interesting.
When we
meet Steve, he’s a quintessential Bad Cool Guy From an ‘80s Movie, the popular
boy with glorious hair who turns the head of sweet, studious Nancy. The guy who
pushes her toward those things that Good Girls aren’t supposed to do in ‘80s
movies, like drink beer and get hot ‘n’ heavy. He’s there in contrast to Weirdo
Loner Nice Guy Jonathan, who cares
about Nancy and tries to look out for her from afar (creepily – you can’t fool
me with that.) And while season 1 takes time to show that Steve isn’t a
100%-irredeemable douchebag, having at least the basic human decency to not
want his friends to write graffiti around town calling Nancy a whore, he
doesn’t pass anything more than an incredibly-low bar.
Fastforward
to season 2, wherein the rehabilitation of Steve Harrington begins. We get a gotcha
moment with the reveal that Nancy is dating Steve instead of Jonathan, but it’s
short-lived, and when Nancy breaks up with Steve, he has to reevaluate the
High-School King image he’s cultivated for himself.
It’s
here, when Steve is at his lowest, that the show makes one of its best
decisions and brings Steve into Dustin’s orbit. Obviously, we get the most out
of Stranger Things characters when
they’re involved in the eerie goings-on with Upside Down monsters, and while
Steve mostly operates on the ordinary-life side of things in season 1, only
brushing up against the supernatural stuff a little, season 2 pulls him into
the thick of it. Unexpectedly roped into the most high-intensity babysitting
gig ever, Steve perhaps only proves himself quasi-capable but extremely brave
and loyal. He’s still getting his feet wet with all this monster business and
he doesn’t always know what to do, but he’ll be damned if he lets anything
happen to Dustin or the other kids. We see him stick his neck out to protect
the kids, and what’s more, we see him taking Dustin under his wing, listening
to Dustin about his problems and giving what advice he can.
By the
time season 3 rolled around, I was firmly on the “Steve is a good guy now”
train, and it doesn’t disappoint. While I still think the groupings in this
season are a little too fragmented for my taste, I love everything about Steve,
Dustin, Robin, and Erica searching for Russian spies at the mall. It’s an
absolute delight, and Steve once again demonstrates bravery and determination
if not always a high level of effectiveness.
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