Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things through Season 4.Stranger Things first introduces us to Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) lounging across her bedspread in her pajamas, twirling her dial-up phone as she gossips with her best friend Barb Holland (Shannon Purser). Nancy immediately seems to be the archetypal 1980s teenage girl, from the way she rolls her eyes at Dustin Henderson’s (Gaten Matarazzo) precocious crush on her, to the way she bickers with her younger brother, Mike (Finn Wolfhard), over the dining table, and to her all-star athlete boyfriend, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), who she steals a quick makeout session with in-between school periods. Nancy is the wealthy, intelligent, good girl whose foray into the popular crowd puts her into direct conflict with her more reserved best friend.
In the first season of Stranger Things, the three main storylines each embody a different 1980s genre, and for Nancy and the other Hawkins High teenagers, it was slashers. One might be forgiven for thinking that Nancy would be the first target for an escaped serial killer, especially as she has sex in that very episode, never a good sign for a female character in a horror series. But like her A Nightmare on Elm Street namesake, Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), Nancy does survive, and like Scream’s Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) she becomes the series’ Final Girl even after losing her virginity. In fact, her first sexual encounter is what saves her, Steve, and his friends, while poor Barb is gruesomely murdered.
The rest of the first season sees Nancy evolve into a self-described "monster-hunter" after she and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) discover that the Demogorgon has kidnapped her best friend and his brother respectively. Nancy tangibly matures in a short space of time, reconnecting with her younger brother and forgoing less important dreams like fitting in with the popular crowd. In the second season, her development continues as she firmly breaks up with Steve for good, leaving behind her prescribed pathway in life, and embracing her strengths as an investigator to get #JusticeForBarb. The storyline is partly fan service, but it does allow Nancy to come to terms with her buried grief and finally move on from her year-long stasis. Unfortunately, she receives less focus in Season 3 as the show struggled to balance its ever-growing cast and multiple storylines, but Nancy’s brief stint at the Hawkins Post did highlight the sexism faced by women in workplaces during the 1980s.
In Stranger Things’ newest season, Nancy receives a surprisingly (but welcomed) renewed focus, as her investigative skills are at the forefront of the season’s primary mystery. Nancy, now the editor of her school newspaper, is shown firmly in charge of her coworkers, greatly contrasting her constant mistreatment at the "Post." However, her relationship with Jonathan is on the rocks as diverging pathways loom ahead despite their best efforts, and their separation actually allows Nancy the space for further character growth. Changing up established pairings has elevated characters in Stranger Things before (à la Steven and Dustin), and three seasons of an often isolated storyline with Jonathan constrained both characters. Season 4 sees Nancy briefly pair up with newcomer Fred Benson (Logan Riley Bruner) before her storyline quickly converges with the main "Party" after Fred disappears in an eerily quick fashion.
As in Season 1, Nancy deals with the grief and death of losing a friend, but Stranger Things illustrates how far she’s come as she immediately kicks into gear and follows the trail set out for her by Wayne Munson (Joel Stoffer). As Hawkins grapples with a series of graphic murders against highly vulnerable teenagers, Nancy follows her “shot in the dark” to uncover the meaning and perpetrator behind the crimes. After having spent three seasons firmly in a supporting role, Nancy is now a central figure in the story while the rest of the Party (sans perhaps Dustin) merely follows her lead. She finds herself paired up with the infectious Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) and the two contrast each other wonderfully, Nancy occupying the serious/focused role while Robin is the impulsive/theatrical half of the duo. The two finesse their way into Pennhurst Asylum under the guise of psychology students, befuddling Warden Hatch (Ed Amatrudo), and manage to score private time with the infamous killer Victor Creel (Robert Englund/ Kevin L. Johnson).
As always, Stranger Things plays into and subverts common horror movie tropes, exaggerating the setting of a decrypt asylum dungeon and instilling anxiety via the picturesque horror movie mansion. Creel, once the patriarch of a picture-perfect 1950s family, is now an imprisoned, traumatized elderly man who tearfully explains his family history to Nancy and Robin. Nancy shines in her ability to clinch stories out of otherwise unwilling people by simply being honest in her intent, rather than by manipulating her interviewees. She and Robin continue to mesh well together as they piece together the clues left by Creel and observe the Aslyum’s patients’ response to music, figuring out how to temporarily keep Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) safe from the season’s overarching villain Vecna.
While it isn't the season’s best decision to insinuate that Nancy either still has or rekindled her feelings for Steve, her often unrecognized bravery is spotlighted as she immediately dives head fast to his rescue. Having emerged through "Watergate" into the "Upside Down," Nancy returns to her roots as a monster hunter as she, Robin, and Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) fend off Steve’s attackers: a flock of demonic bats. Once the group has retreated, Nancy becomes their uncontested leader as she plans for their protection and future battles. Over and over again, Nancy is the one to figure things out, being the first to realize that time is in stasis in the Upside Down and that she can communicate with Dustin via electricity. The series’ creators, The Duffer Brothers, seemed to reward Nancy for her tenacity as she is the only character other than Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to be let into the season’s expertly crafted, final reveal.
Nancy, having long been haunted by grief and trauma, undergoes the same symptoms as Vecna’s other victims, just as she is on the verge of triumphantly escaping from the Upside Down. Nancy finds herself a party to Vecna’s explanation of his past as she and Eleven form parallel points of view, each piecing together Vecna's, or rather, Henry Creel’s (Jamie Campbell Bower/Raphael Luce) true identity. By allowing Nancy of all characters to be a part of such an important plot development, Stranger Things highlights her importance to the series’ overarching narrative. Indeed, such a swift change in focus has resulted in Nancy steadily growing from a nicely-developed supporting character to the season’s true standout. The final episode of the first part of Season 4 leaves Nancy’s fate in doubt. One can’t help but wonder what her favorite song might be, perhaps "Edge of Seventeen" or the aptly fitting "Gloria." With Jonathan and Mike on the other side of the country and Fred and Barb gone for good, it’s a good thing for Nancy that Robin had a look through her room and found her tapes after all.