6 unsung heroes of Stranger Things 3

Karen

I wasn’t too sure how to feel about Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) this season, but I really loved her development and seeing her really show up for her kids.

In the past, she’s always tried to talk to her kids the best she could but never quite got to them. It was great to see her share a special moment with Nancy this season. Actually, she probably gave us some of the best life advice to come out of the show so far.

In “Chapter Four: The Sauna Test” Nancy and Jonathan were fired from their internships at the Hawkins Post for pursuing the story about the rats without approval from the bosses. Nancy had believed so much in the story and knew in her heart that it was the right thing to do, so losing the job was clearly hard on her and definitely crushed her spirit.

This led to a heartwarming scene with Nancy and her mom, Karen Wheeler, where they discussed how tough the world can be on you and how “most people just stop trying”. She encouraged Nancy, telling her that she was a fighter and that she was strong for standing up to the bosses back at the Hawkins Post. She even told Nancy that she should pursue the story on her own and go sell it to a bigger paper to prove that she was right all along. It was a nice moment of coming-of-age, staying true to yourself, and standing up for what is right moment.

I always get a little teary-eyed at this scene because it’s so nice to see this mother-daughter moment with Nancy and Karen. I can only imagine that getting shut down so many times was disheartening to Nancy and she really needed this kind of empowerment from her mom. Nancy even encouraged her mom too by saying that she got her strength from her.

It was also nice to see some more of the “female power” on the show and that’s something season 3 really excelled in. I hope to see their bond grow even stronger moving forward. Shout out to Karen Wheeler, MVP mom of the year!