Steve can let his hair down.
Ever since “Stranger Things” first premiered in 2016, Steve “The Hair” Harrington has become a fan-favorite character.
He went from being a popular kid jerk who was dating Nancy (Natalia Dyer) in Season 1, to the beloved babysitter of the kids, Robin’s (Maya Hawke’s) best friend, and big-hearted goofball.
Fans have gotten behind the sentiment, “if Steve dies, we’ll riot.”
There’s even a Twitter account with that name.
Now that “Stranger Things” is over, as the Season 5 finale is now streaming, the most important question is, did Steve die?
Spoilers below for the “Stranger Things” series finale
Series creators the Duffer brothers are obviously aware that Steve is loved by fans, because they toyed with everyone in the supersized two-hour series finale. Called “Rightside Up,” it’s the eighth episode of Season 5 — and the final episode of the show.
During an expedition to the sinister Upside Down dimension, Steve ends up nearly falling off a tall tower and plummeting to his death. He dangles from one hand, with a huge drop below, and his hand slips as the scene cuts to black and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) yells, “Steve!”
But then, after the scene fades back in, it’s revealed that Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) grabbed Steve’s hand and pulled him back up.
A relieved Dustin hugs Steve and says, “S–t, I thought you were toast.”
Later, Steve says to Jonathan, “I thought I was a goner, back there, I owe you one.” Jonathan replies, “Just because I don’t like you, doesn’t mean I want you dead.”
Steve doesn’t end up with Nancy, as he acknowledges that he wants a family, while she is “independent.”
At the end of the series, Steve is a kids’ baseball coach/sex ed teacher. He and Dustin are still friends, as he’s shown visiting Dustin at college. Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan end up far-flung in different locations, but plan to meet up once a month in Philadelphia.
Steve is also dating around, as his friends tease him about which girl is “the one,” and throw out several names of his apparent recent girlfriends: Julie, Dawn, Margaret.
In November, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer told Entertainment Weekly that they nearly killed Steve back in Season 1.
“That was close,” Matt said. “We just fell in love with Joe Keery, but had we not liked Joe Keery, Steve would’ve been gone.”
The show has axed plenty of side characters, such as Bob (Sean Astin), Billy (Dacre Montgomery) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn), but it’s been conservative about killing members of the main group.
Matt noted that in the past, they’ve been held back from major character death because. “you have to talk about the repercussions.”
He added, “This is a total hypothetical: You kill Mike. It just makes the show rather depressing and bleak, and it becomes entirely about that. Even these more supporting characters like Eddie or Bob or Barb, of course, have really long-lasting repercussions on our characters.”
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