I Need To Talk About How Badly Stranger Things’ Final Season Botched Linda Hamilton’s Role

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Now that Stranger Things has finished, while I enjoyed parts of the final season, I have some problems with how the story unfolded. Specifically, I was really excited when Linda Hamilton (from Terminator 2) was cast in June 2023, but I was ultimately disappointed with her character, Dr. Kay, and how little she was used. I’ve been thinking about it for the past two and a half years and want to share why.

Dr. Kay Is As One-Dimensional As It Gets

Okay, so Dr. Kay really feels like a mix of Dr. Brenner and Colonel Sullivan – you know, Brenner from the earlier seasons and Sullivan who got hurt fighting Vecna. He’s basically in charge of the military’s whole operation in Hawkins and in the Upside Down. It’s pretty messed up, but he was giving pregnant women Kali’s blood, hoping to create more kids with powers like Eleven. But that wasn’t working, so he got desperate and started trying to capture Eleven herself, thinking her blood might be the key to getting those powers into the new babies.

Dr. Kay’s role in Stranger Things Season 5 was pretty limited. Initially, there was some intrigue about her and the military’s prisoner in the Upside Down, but once Kali’s identity was revealed, Dr. Kay felt unnecessary. Despite continuing to pursue Eleven, her efforts didn’t really matter with the main characters focused on Vecna. We didn’t learn much about her beyond her desire to create more children with superpowers, and after the Upside Down was destroyed, she simply vanished without any explanation.

Dr. Kay Should Have Gotten A Personal Arc

Season 5 of Stranger Things introduced two main new characters: Dr. Kay and Derek. Some might argue Holly Wheeler also qualifies, considering her limited role in previous seasons, but that’s another discussion. While I didn’t particularly love Derek, he felt like a complete person. Dr. Kay, however, seemed to exist only to move the story along.

As a huge fan of the show, I felt like Dr. Kay deserved a little more development over those eight episodes – especially with some running as long as two hours! I think it would have been fascinating to see a personal side to her, maybe even a connection to Brenner that explained her dedication to his work. A flashback to something traumatic from her military past, something she hoped to prevent by creating people with powers, would have been incredible. Honestly, I was really hoping her story would tie into what happened to Dr. Owens – I was left wondering if there was a connection there.

Linda Hamilton’s character in Stranger Things deserved a better storyline. I’m hoping the upcoming live-action spinoff, if set after Season 5, will give Dr. Kay a chance to really shine. She had potential, but the original series didn’t fully develop her.

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2026-01-09 01:09