Editor’s note: The below article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1.
TheStranger Thingsreturn for Season 4was marked with needle drops, more gore, and some intriguing new faces alongside the already beloved cast. One of the additions to the latest installment of the series was none other than Eddie Munson, played byGame of ThronesactorJoseph Quinn. A freak with a good heart, the character has already garnered the fan-favorite stamp of approval following the new season’s release. The reason Eddie is so appealing to the Netflix original is that he starts off as somewhat of a high school bad boy, but quickly subverts the title by showing his more toned-down side. As viewers get to see him join the group in the fight against Vecna, they realize that beneath the metalhead aesthetic and sarcastic remarks, the character can be funny and charming, too.
At the beginning of Season 4, we are introduced to Eddie in the cafeteria scene, where Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) sit with the Dungeons and Dragons clique, properly known as The Hellfire Club. A few words into the new character’s dialogue about the demonization of D&D, we can already tell he is intimidating not only amongst his group, but to the rest of the student body. Throwing shade at each of the stereotypical activities in school, he says that conformation is the real cause of harm amongst the kids, not the game he likes to play with his friends. From that statement we can already tell that he is against societal norms, and isn’t afraid to embrace his point of view.
Despite the viewers having felt like the character was nothing but a typical weirdo, they couldn’t help but change their minds after witnessing Eddie’s second interaction portrayed on screen. When he meets with cheerleading captain Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) to sell drugs in the middle of the woods, she is evidently terrified, and he senses it. Instead of just being a jerk to her, he actually tries to make her feel at ease by sharing his appreciation for her cheering skills in his own mocking way. As a result, she starts to laugh and says to him, “You know, you are not what I thought you would be like.” Now that right there is a sign of a good guy underneath the bad boy coating. Being able to empathize with another person in a time of distress, despite them belonging to the popular crowd that you dislike, is a quality that Eddie clearly demonstrates throughout the season.
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Following the unusual connection between him and Chrissy, she goes to his place later that day to try to avoid the sinister encounters that she has had with Vecna. Yet, when things seemed to be going right for the two, Chrissy is suddenly killed by the monster and Eddie becomes the primary suspect in her murder. Obviously terrified, he runs away and tries to be as distant from everyone as he possibly can. After all, his classmates all believe that he is a psychopath because of the way he portrays himself at Hawkins High. If he is already a sinister figure, a drug dealer, and involved in the D&D team (which is often misunderstood for a cult), then why wouldn’t he be the perfect person to blame for such a horrendous attack?
The truth is that those who only know Eddie from a distance are unable to catch his redeemable characteristics. However, those who actually know him (like Dustin, Eddie’s uncle, and his bandmates) are convinced that he isn’t capable of inflicting the harm that people would assume. That is even expressed in the news article that Nancy writes for the paper about Eddie being unjustly villainized by the vicious murder. As the new character relies on Dustin and his friends to help him flee from the police radar, viewers can comprehend why he shouldn’t be charged as a serial killer or continue to be labeled in a negative light by those that don’t know him on a personal level.
Eddie might be a tough guy on the outside, but he actually can be unabashedly hilarious during tense moments (like the scene with Chrissy) and is upfront about helping those around him. Although he had never been close to Steve (Joe Keery) or Nancy (Natalia Dyer) before, he trusts that they will avenge Vecna and protect him from the authorities and the basketball team looking for payback following Chrissy’s death.
Not only does he trust them, but he even tries to give Steve a hand on multiple occasions. When the older teens get trapped in the Upside Down, he is the first to strike the monster when Vecna was about to kill Steve from strangulation. Besides being terrified by the supernatural creature, Eddie didn’t think twice about saving his peers, which only reinforces the fact that he isn’t the bad person he is usually deemed to be. Other than attacking Vecna, the character even tries to give Steve a hand in his efforts to get back together with Nancy. Even though Eddie has no knowledge about the ex-couple’s past, he is upfront in sharing his thoughts about noticing Steve and Nancy’s genuine feelings for one another. Having the character embody the fandom on screen and try to play a matchmaker is an additional reason for Eddie’s appeal toStranger Thingsviewers.
Yet, now that many people are rooting for the new addition to the ensemble after seeing the character evolve in the span of seven episodes, they can’t help but fear for his fate at the end of the season. Since there are two more episodes from Season 4 set to come out in early July, fans have a feeling that Eddie might not make it to Season 5. This concern for a recently introduced character in an already established series goes to show that Eddie has become more than just the D&D freak that the Hawkins community condemns. Through instances showing empathy and care for his peers, he has overcome the bad boy title by demonstrating his good heart and giving us the necessary comic relief in the midst of horrifying events.
