Caution, spoilers ahead!
The Netflix drama Stranger Things, which recently released season two, has captured the hearts of viewers all around the world and so has the cast. The cast is made up of incredible actors and actresses, including big names in Hollywood such as David Harbour as Chief Hopper, and Winona Ryder, playing Will’s Mom, Joyce. But what truly makes the cast special are the children.
The kids range between 13 and 16 years old, and in light of the show’s wild success, they have all acquired millions of followers on social media. The newest addition to the ensemble of talented children is Sadie Sink, as Max.
Sadie Sink, 15, is introduced in the first episode of season two, as “Mad Max.” Max is a video-game playing tom-boy who catches the attention of both Dustin and Lucas on the show, but her role is much more complex than simply the third point of a tween love triangle.
The initial reason that the boys of Stranger Things take interest in Max is that she did what they believed to be impossible: 750,200 points on Dig Dug. It’s clear right away that “Mad Max” is no average ‘gamer.’ Max then continues to impress the boys by skateboarding at school. For young, nerdy guys like Lucas and Dustin, she is the dream girl.
Eventually, the boys befriend Max (with the exception of Mike who is still heart broken and bitter from losing Eleven). Max, who feels like an outsider after moving to Indiana from California is glad to be making friends because she, like all kids, wants to feel accepted by her peers. Despite this, when her new friends begin acting suspicious and secretive, she has no problem challenging them in search of the truth. This highlights both her longing for inclusion and 'take-no-shit' image.
While Max is a total bad ass, we're reminded throughout the season that she's also a young, emotional human being. Max is bullied by her much older stepbrother, Billy.
Max often tiptoes around Billy’s strict and harsh orders, out of fear of his explosive and reckless behavior. Although Billy and Max exchange words several times throughout the show, Max is visibly scared of what her stepbrother is capable of, so she often heeds to his demands. But Max doesn’t let her fear rule her.
When Billy begins pummeling Steve Harrington, Max stabs a needle with a strong sedative into Billy’s neck, then uses Steve’s iconic nail-spiked baseball bat to threaten him by swinging and hitting the weapon only inches from his crotch. Max standing up for herself and her friends against her own abusive step-brother illustrates her strength and bravery as a character.
After the epic standing-up-to-Billy scene, Max continues to impress by stealing his keys to aid the boys in executing their plan of distracting the hive-minded creatures, known as "demodogs."
Max, who is only 13 in the show and has only ever driven in a parking lot, manages to drive the group to the hole Chief Hopper dug earlier in the season. Without Max's quick thinking and daring nature, the boys probably wouldn't have made it in time to be of any help to Eleven in closing the gate to the Upside Down.
Max is a strong, multi-dimensional character, with a tough exterior. The inclusion of Max in season of two of Stranger Things excites me for future seasons, because so much of her story is yet to be uncovered, and it will be very interesting to see the group dynamic with all the kids together at last: a paladin, a ranger, a bard, a cleric, a mage, and the newly introduced "zoomer."
