Favorite Characters: Steve Harrington (Stranger Things)

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.

Shows redeeming “bad” characters is nothing new, both with outright villains (see Once Upon a Time and Buffy, among countless others) and more garden-variety jerks (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the first show that springs to mind, but it’s far from alone.) It’s not too often, though, that I see a show pull it off so convincingly. I could point to maybe two or three Steve moments from season 1 where I don’t actively dislike him, but now, I know I’m in for something good basically every time I see him onscreen. It’s an impressive feat, and kudos to the show and actor Joe Keery for making it work.