The Comatose Woman Plot Device and the Myth of Having It All (As Long As You Want Nothing) | by Beatrix Kondo
Long Reads | Part 3 | Upside Down Feminism
Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) spent eighteen months in a coma. She fought through Vecna's mindscape, navigated his memories, found refuge in caves he feared to enter, guided Holly Wheeler (Nancy’s younger sister) to safety, and clawed her way back to consciousness through sheer determination. When she finally woke up in Lucas Sinclair's arms, the show gave her one line that collapsed all that agency into nothing.
The Duffers took Max's survival—her willpower, her strategic thinking, her fierce refusal to give up—and credited it to a boy. Never mind that Season 4 ended with Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" saving Max, giving the song a viral resurgence nearly 40 years after its release, positioning the music itself as Max's lifeline and agency. Apparently whoever wrote Season 5 forgot that happened, because now it turns out the song didn't matter at all—only Lucas did. The show spent an entire season making Max's connection to that song iconic, then retconned it into irrelevance so a boy could be her real savior.
Nancy Wheeler wanted to be an investigative journalist. She got into Emerson College. She worked harder than anyone, and proved herself sharper than everyone. The series finale revealed she dropped out of Emerson to take a trainee position at The Boston Herald. The Duffers' explanation: "We never want her to take the obvious path. She's still trying to find herself and what she wants from the world."
The ambitious girl who knew exactly what she wanted became a woman still searching, still confused, still figuring it out. Meanwhile, Jonathan got into NYU film school—his stated dream since Season 1. Steve got to stay in Hawkins coaching little league. Will got magical powers tied to his sexuality and a flirt. Every boy's ambition was destiny. Nancy's ambition became the obstacle she had to move past to find herself. Oh, also, alone—no significant other either.
Max Mayfield: Eighteen Months of Sheer Will Credited to a Boy
Max died. Vecna snapped her limbs, crushed her bones, blinded her eyes, stopped her heart. Eleven brought her body back to life, but Max's consciousness remained trapped in Vecna's mind for eighteen months. She navigated his memories like a maze, refusing to give up on escape.
She heard "Running Up That Hill" playing from Lucas's bedside vigil. The music opened a portal to the hospital room where her comatose body lay. She ran toward it, got close enough to feel Lucas touching her hand, but the tape ran out. The portal closed and Vecna found her. She ran until she reached a cave he was afraid to enter—childhood trauma spaces he couldn't breach—where she hid for months.
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