Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things to follow.
A show like Stranger Things makes tension seem effortless at this point; with the life-threatening straits the Hawkins gang constantly find themselves in, to say nothing of the attachments that audiences have formed with so many newcomers and mainstays alike, the fear surrounding potential character deaths is almost self-sufficient.
And that fear is perhaps still spiking in the case of Max, arguably the standout star of season four by way of a mesmerizing performance by Sadie Sink. When we last left our heroes, Max was barely clinging back onto life in a coma in a hospital bed, having clinically died for around 10 minutes before Eleven managed to breathe a speck of life back into her. The mystery surrounding her ultimate fate is about as cloudy as it can get for Stranger Things.
According to Sink herself, the destiny of her character being shrouded in suspense isn’t exactly a new development, not even for herself. In an interview with Deadline, Sink revealed that Max’s game of chicken with death wasn’t made apparent to her until she actually got her hands on the season’s script.
“They kind of alluded to some of the plot lines that Max would be involved with and what she was going through in season four, but I didn’t really know until I read the scripts.”
She also revealed that she only learned about her character’s plight when she did due to the filming complications brought on by the pandemic.
“We got the first four episodes and we started filming and then got shut down for COVID. Then we received the last episodes while we were in lockdown. So I did know where it was going. But it was only because we had that break that we got the scripts a little bit sooner than we would’ve in the filming process. Once I found out where it was going, I was very shocked.”
Now, Max is toying with fate more than ever before, and however she ends up getting involved with the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, fans will surely be watching her story with particularly deep breaths.