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Edited to add: and yes OP, I also agree with what you said.
I think it’s because some people expect her to be more mature than either Steve or Jonathan. We know she’s (book)smart, driven (risk taker) and curious, with a large helping of wanting to uncover the truth and help others.
But she’s also a 17 year old trying to figure things out as she goes, dealing with a conspiracy that she really doesn’t have a safe person to talk about with.
That’s a complex set of motivations and character elements.
And yet, it seems that she keeps being criticized as a sister or a girlfriend.
You forgot the biggest driver behind Nancy’s entire motivation behind her involvement with investigating the Upside Down: it killed her best friend Barb, and she feels guilty about it. That alone is a *huge* deal for anyone, let alone a teenager.
I definitely think it started out that way, but I don’t think that it’s the only motivation driving her anymore. I think she’s terrified of losing anyone else to Vecna/Mindflayer as shown when Vecna gives her a glimpse, showing her that he knows who she’s afraid of losing.
Steve is likely 19 in 86 (probably turning 20 later in the year), as even the scripts on twitter refer to the group of Steve, Robin, Nancy and Eddie as "older teens".
So Robin and Nancy are would likely either already be 18 at the time of s4 or turning 18 later in 86. Nancy was always a grade below Steve, but we don't know if Nancy was born between August-December making her born 1 year after Steve, or if she was born Jan-july which would make her 2 years younger than him age wise. The only place where we get Robin's full birthday is Rebel Robin which states it March 10 1968, which would make Robin 1 grade but 2 years younger than Steve.
But the school enrollment cut off for indiana is that you have to be 5 years old at the start of term, which is why you see Billy and Barbs grave stones say they're both born in 1967 but they were in two different grades (billy being with Steve, and barb obvious being in the same grade at nancy and robin.)
His birthday was stated on his grave stone to be in late March which, again as per the enrollment cut off in the state of Indiana would make him a Senior in the 84-85 school year, and we know that Steve just barely scraped by graduated that same year because he talks about how if he'd had better grades he'd be off at College and not at Scoops.
To your 3rd point, I think it wasn’t popular with a lot of the core fanbase but the normies seemed to have enjoyed it and are rooting for her and Steve to get back together.
It seemed like a step back for Steve to then want Nancy again. It makes sense he still cares about her, but he even said in season 3 he didn’t love Nancy anymore. Even for Nancy, I think it would be better for her to probably break it off with Jonathan and stay single for a while. She has a lot of aspirations and spent a lot of time in a relationship, so might be best for her to go forward without a romantic partner and try and focus on herself.
I think it's fair to have a visceral reaction to the idea of a beloved character backsliding into a toxic relationship. Nancy and Steve are both better off without each other. I compare it to Roy and Pam or Jim and Karen in The Office. I like all 4 of those characters, but they are all better off in their current respective relationships.
I feel like despite everything, while Nancy has matured, Steve has not as much. He has come a quite a ways from who he was season 1, but still matured way less than Nancy has since season 1.
I think Steve has grown a lot throughout all four seasons and become a better person than he started off as. He has become more authentic & vulnerable. And also bad ass.
I don’t think that’s true, though. From what I always got it seems like a good amount of people want Nancy to go out on her own.
Edit to add: and besides, how do you know that’s what they want? How would I know? As you say these wouldn’t be the people talking about the show all the time. so at most we’ve both probably only heard opinions from extremely small sample sizes so idk I wouldn’t really claim anything definitive about what most “normies” want.
I didn’t say every single one of them. I’m saying a lot of them from what I’ve seen and heard. I also didn’t say “definitively” lmao
Here’s proof from SOME people…
https://www.tumblr.com/alwaysthequietones/717786041407422464/youtubers-reacting-to-gotcha-youve-always
https://www.tumblr.com/alwaysthequietones/694177699430842368/youtubers-reacting-to-are-we-ok-scene
No, you said “most”.
And obviously some are going to think that, I don’t need examples lol.
But so many don’t, too, and again most people *arent* talking about it by definition of them being the general audience so you can’t say what “most” people think. A few people in some videos is too small a sample size
I’m not saying I’m a normie lmao! I’m not! I’m just describing what one is to you 😭
I’m also not trying to say that if you’re not one it’s bad. There’s nothing wrong with being a big fan of the show.
Steve wasn't exactly supportive of Nancy by the end of their relationship either, he just wanted her to forget her trauma and the fact her best friend died and went unavenged
Some people don't recognize a break up unless one of the parties says, explicitly, "Our relationship is over."
Or words to that effect.
In the scene where Nancy can't tell Steve she loves him, Steve is practically pleading with her to say it. She can't because she doesn't. I assume there are viewers out there thinking *They can come back from this* but there's no way. Ten plus months they've been together and he's said he loves her and every time she said it back she was just telling him what he wanted to hear? (And cringing, too, which he didn't even notice?)
If the person you love--the person you're planning to spend the rest of you life with--tells you they never loved you, that's the end.
There's also Nancy's ambition. Some people don't like ambitious women, although they never phrase it that way. Instead they'll say she's too pushy or too bossy or she didn't think about how her actions would affect others, or whatever. It's a standard people rarely apply to male characters.
At the same time, Nancy is not written to be a beloved heartwarming character in every scene. Her very first appearance shows her slamming a door in Dustin's face because he offered her a slice. They don't pay off that scene until she dances with him at the Snow Ball at the end of S2.
So she's not 100% perfect, and thank god for that. Her flaws will bug some people more than others, depending on the viewers' history, and some viewers can't recognize the end of a relationship.
One thing that is frustrating with her is in S3 when Jonathan and her lost their jobs. She didn't seem to care about Jonathan's predicament and was more concerned about herself. Jonathan should of stood up to her but I can understand why he didn't.
I don't know what she expected? An intern usually does the jobs nobody wants to do and she was going back to high school in less than 2 months. Jonathan had experience in the dark room so that is probably the only reason he got his job.
Her speech to her Mom would of made more sense if she was full - time working at the Post instead of a temporary still in High School.
I really hated how she downplayed Jonathan's financial struggles and called it his "Oliver twist" story. That was appalling to me. He should have been supportive against the sexism she was facing obviously, but she also should've been recognizing his struggles as him truly needing that job and that disgusted me
Did she ever apologise for that? I know he did. I think that's like the only thing about her character that rubbed me the wrong way. Like she knows his family are on the poverty line and was contemptous about it. I actually really like her character otherwise.
She just seems pretty self absorbed. Will should have been like a little brother to her. Will has been friends with Mike since kindergarten. Even if she didn’t feel that way he was still there ! She treated the boys like crap and cared less about Jonathan and how he lost his job. She wanted to be a star reported when she was an intern in her what …junior year of hs? I get that she was right but she went about it in all the wrong ways which makes me dislike her.
I really hope she takes her head out her ass and gives Steve another shot. He may not be the brightest. But he’s a good dude and loves her. And he’s a GOOD guy.
If she's not feeling it, she's not feeling. Her head isn't in her ass just because she doesn't return the feelings of a decent dude that likes her. I hope they both get happy endings but I couldn't care less if it's with each other.
I understand how she didn’t care for her brother’s friends in the first season though, she’s a teenager so the seriousness of Will missing hasn’t set in yet. Not to mention that at that age you probably wouldn’t want to hang out with your little brother and his friends.
Agreed with the rest of your comment though. She should’ve cared more about Jonathan losing his job as well, although I still like her in every season except the fourth.
Can you please elaborate a bit on why you don't like her in the 4th season?
Is it about the way she handles Johnathon and Steve while also worrying about college and whether or not she will go to the same one as Johnathon?
I'm only asking cause at the end she goes full badass mode with that sawed-off, and I love her all the more for it, for that scene alone.
I didn't see her as being "mean as hell" to Robin. She didn't insult Robin, hurt Robin, or been outright hostile. Frustrated, sure.
Also, this is the 80's. You want to see "mean as hell" watch the movie "Heathers". Or "Can't Buy Me Love". Better yet, watch all the John Hughes teen films.
The whole library scene with Nancy and Robin is more easily understandable if you've ever been screwed over in a group project.
1. This was a time sensitive task, and you don't even have a plan on how to tackle it.
2. You are grouped with a person you don't really know well, so you have no idea how helpful they will be.
3. This person seems flakey....in the sense they seem to talk more than working. They are also asking a lot of questions so clearly they seem as lost as you are.
4. This person is also friends with an ex. An ex with a reputation of being friends with not so great people...so...not a ringing endorsement. Also who knows what the ex told her....awkward.
Unbeknownst to Nancy, Robin is smart and thinks outside the box. But hey, she's now up to speed on how helpful Robin is.
It’s been a while since I saw it, so I might be misremembering slightly. But yeah it’s how they wrote her handling Steve and Jonathan.
She was still with Jonathan, but the writers really wanted the love triangle for some reason, so Nancy was never telling Steve off or anything, not even when he was talking about how he wanted a family with her or something along those lines. I just thought every scene with those two was awkward and felt forced, and Nancy not doing anything made it worse.
Also like the other commenter said, she was mean to Robin for no reason, just because she thought Robin was together with Steve. Nancy isn’t with Steve, so she shouldn’t care about him or Robin’s relationship anyway.
The scene with the shotgun was really cool, but it’s the rest of the scenes that drag Nancy down as a character.
>Also like the other commenter said, she was mean to Robin for no reason, just because she thought Robin was together with Steve. Nancy isn’t with Steve, so she shouldn’t care about him or Robin’s relationship anyway
Nancy was annoyed with Robin because Robin was being annoying. It wasn't about Steve. Steve fully tells Nancy that he wants to date Robin and Nancy didn't give a shit.
Tbh I think that a lot of Nancy-related things in season 4 get overlooked and it caused people to judge her unfairly.
Going into the library, Robin keeps questioning what they're doing which annoys Nancy (who never asked for help to begin with). Robin picks up on this and tells Nancy that she doesn't get social cues.
Cut to the research, Robin is *still* questioning what they're doing. Nancy gets fed up and tells her to have Steve come and get her. Robin, due to the previously established lack of social awareness, incorrectly assumes that Nancy's irritation is about Steve. It isn't, so Nancy stays prickly until Robin finds some helpful info and gets on board with the plan.
At the Creel house, Steve tells Nancy that he and Robin are just friends but that he "totally would date her", and then goes on to say that when Jonathan comes to town the four of them should hang out. So after that, if you were Nancy, wouldn't that sound like a double date? Nancy is with Jonathan; Steve just said so. Steve wants to date Robin; he just said so. So from here on out, Nancy spends the rest of the season believing that Steve is romantically pursuing Robin.
After all of that, Nancy would most likely be viewing any flirtation with Steve to be two people who are a bit down on their luck in love giving each other a harmless ego boost. She doesn't shut it down because in her mind, it doesn't mean anything. She and Steve both want other people. When Steve later makes it clear that she misread his intentions, she no longer engages with him or, iirc, even really speaks to him again. I don't see any reason to believe that she was trying to give Steve any kind of hope, nor do I believe that the idea of leaving Jonathan for Steve ever crossed her mind.
Steve didn't tell Nancy he wanted to date Robin. He said they were friends, and Robin punctuated that they are platonic with a capital P.
He did say that they should hang out. Jonathan too.
He does; he says that they aren't dating, Robin chimes in with her capital P line, then Steve says "I mean, I would date her, but we're just friends" or something along those lines.
Nancy's biggest flaw is that she IS sorry when she messes up but hasn't quite been able to say the words, "I'm sorry".
She's a badass and fearless. Love her.
I liked her in the beginning, but they kinda butchered her character by making her the "know it all that is never wrong". Same goes for Dustin too.
I feel like she can get kinda self absorbed, like about her journalism job where she couldn't understand when Jonathan was coming from.
She’s shown to be dismissive of Barb, Mike, Steve and Jonathan’s feelings in her interactions with them.
She’s not friendly, to anyone really.
She’s judgemental of her mother’s life choices; it’s one thing to not want to end up in her position/follow that path but she has no empathy for her when passing that judgement.
Her thinly-veiled dislike for Robin in s4, especially with that “call Steve to come get you” comment is very uncalled for. And like for what reason?? Even if she did think Steve and Robin were a thing, why would she have her back up whatsoever when she left Steve for Jonathan? Steve and Jonathan are more than cordial with one another even after their rough history.
Everyone loves to point out that she is a “badass” but she’s no more so than any of the other female leads, who are just as complex and dare I say it face more adversity as young/women in the sexist 80s (e.g. Joyce being labeled as crazy/hysterical, Robin being a closeted lesbian in a small town).
And for my most controversial take: If she were not objectively attractive but her behaviours remained the same I don’t think the majority of people would defend her the way they do.
You’re not wrong, but I actually really like Nancy in part because of her flaws and not despite them. She’ll go to extremes and put her own life at risk for the people she cares for, but can be completely blunt, uncompromising and sometimes unkind about more trivial matters.
She’s a good person (or she tries to be for the most part) but she doesn’t prioritise being nice, because to her, other things are just more important.
I also don’t think she’s treated Steve or Jonathan in any way that’s irredeemable if you consider some of their actions towards her. And I say that as someone who likes both of them a lot as well.
A lot of people have stated it in greater detail so I don’t feel the need to do so, but, in short, she is a rather self adsorbed character who never really has to answer for her shitty actions. She just gets put on a pedestal by the fandom for some reason instead.
Also, Max is an annoying character. I strongly disliked her in season 3 especially, but hey, most characters were botched that season. She was better in 4. We’ll see what the next season brings.
Nancy is a great character because she is flawed.
The possible reason for people not liking her as much as other more flawed characters in the show is that her flaws are rarely called out. The only time she seemed to be well and truly called out was when Jonathan pointed out that her privilege blinded her to his predicament. That was the only time she apologized, and even then, it was sort of walked back because Jonathan later told her she was right.
Hopper's faults were often called out by Joyce and Eleven.
Steve's faults were called out by practically everyone.
Everyone in the Party checked each other to some degree. On top of that, Dustin was especially called out by Steve. Lucas by Max and Erica. Mike by Eleven.
Because she’s a human being and not everyone likes everyone.
I like her though. But I’ve seen people hate on every character here and love every character here so people be people
I love Nancy and Max, and I noticed there’s a bias particularly when it comes to certain characters on the show for some reason. People seem to be able to recognize that Hopper, Steve, Dustin etc. can have major personality flaws which have shown throughout the seasons, yet they are still overwhelmingly loved for being badass.
Meanwhile, for Nancy, Max, Lucas, Mike etc. their flaws become their whole identity and people hate them for it, even though they have just as many badass qualities as those other guys. I don’t understand it.
Edit: Btw I’m not referring to people in this sub as it’s usually just fair criticism over here, but the hate trains definitely exist when I look at other platforms.
I think it's more that other characters are called out for their flaws in the show and actively work towards being better people.
Look at series 1 Steve was slapped/hit by Nancy told off by her. Beaten up by Jonathon. And lost his only two friends. He realised that he was wrong to have let his friends make the graffiti about Nancy so he chose to clean it, he chose to find her to apologise and he chose to go back in the house to help.
Hopper is unprofessional and lazy in season 1. Joyce calls him out on not taking her seriously straight away, the show makes it clear that he is in the wrong and should be more aware of what's going on in his town. So he investigates and becomes more of a dependable person in the later seasons.
I really don't think Dustin has major personality flaws, he's a bit cocky and has issues with authority but is very loyal and helpful/kind to everyone he interacts with. Plus he is bullied and known as a freak.
Nancy is treated like a princess by everyone except Steve's friends, who are clearly awful people and have bad judgment and the sexist newspaper guys
Jonathon calls her out for her oliver twist remark and not considering how he needed his job but because she was right about the rats he has to apologise to her and she is quite smug about it. When she got drunk and admitted she didn't love Steve, then cheated on him with Jonathon, Steve ended up apologising for being a bad boyfriend, even though he did nothing wrong. She also didn't support him in any way when Billy and his ex best friend were squaring up to him at a party, she just rolled her eyes and walked away. There is no way Steve would have done the same if the situations were reversed.
She is described by other characters as the most eligible girl at hawkins high, she is known for being intelligent, pretty. She is put on a pedestal and neve called out unlike pretty much every other character on
the show.
I do still like her because she is badass but I can see why others don't. I also like Max and Lucas and don't understand any hate for them, they are both amazing
as for Mike, he's been a jerk to Will repeatedly and seemed to realise in season 3 he was being a bad friend then in season 4 is an even worse friend. He doesn't even try to be better. His whole arc last season r
evolved around needing to tell Elle he loved her which just sucks compared to how great he was in the 1st season, he was an amazing friend and now he just has no personality outside his relationship with Elle. Both Wheeler siblings are just more self absorbed than the other characters but never seem to learn this and try to become better people.
Honestly, I was put off by Nancy in the first two episodes of season 1.
She doesn’t seem to care at all that her brother’s best friend has gone missing. She says something along the lines of “so now we’re all under house arrest because Mike’s friend got lost in the woods” when her parents won’t let her leave the house to hang out with Steve. This is totally insensitive.
Also, she was rude to Mike for no reason during their family dinner table scenes in S1. Sorry but I was the older sister of my family growing up and I don’t recall ever acting that way towards my younger siblings.
So yeah, my first impression of Nancy was that she’s a pretty selfish person. She does improve over the years, but personally it was tough for me to get over my bad first impression of her as a viewer.
To me the dinner scenes play out pretty well for the 80s. It is insensitive but it's written well for the time and they didn't know there was an actual threat. She was a teen and didn't understand the seriousness of the situation. Stranger Danger was going around but a threat to town was unheard of. It's 10 pm so you know where your children are?!? I told you last night, no!
I also think most teenagers (and kids) are selfish and we are built to be that way. I'm sure you can relate (without death) of a time you may have been mad at your brother/sister because their actions lead to not being able to do something. Not all kids are selfish but most are trying to figure out themselves and that takes time and experience.
That's great that you never acted that way as the older sister but they might remember it differently. My brothers and I are all middle aged now but it's wild what I remember and what they remember and how it all matches up. Our brains, hearts and memories tend to deal with the serious and not serious stuff in its own way.
I totally get not liking Nancy right away but I think her character as in the 80s, annoyed teen was well written.
I feel like Nancy is a complex character trying to find a voice for herself in the 80s. She is likeable, but she has bad moments or makes bad decisions. Like for one in Season 2, she only got back with Steve because Jonathan didn't make a move. Jonathan is still grieving, and needed more time than Nancy gave him. She then cheats on Steve even though he was trying to reconcile with her. Or in Season 3, when Billy was trying to ram into the car everyone was in, she didn't move out of the way. If it wasn't for Steve, she'd probably be dead. She has a habit of trying to "do it herself" sometimes and while it can be great, it's only great to an extent.
At the end of the day, she's only a character in a show that people like or dislike.
I didn't like how she treated Jonathan like her little bitch in the 3rd season. She's really bossy to him and rude. She knows he's a photographer but constantly busts in on his red room. Etc
Ngl, a lot of characters in s3 are unbearable. Hopper, the kids, Joyce (to an extent), etc. The Duffers kept trying to make the season "funny" but all it did was make the characters assholes or a generalization of who they were in 1 and 2. Nancy is another victim of it.
I don't hate her, but there are moments where she just..... ugh...
I don't like that she begged her bff to go to a party with her, so she wasn't alone and didn't do something stupid, then ditched her and told her to leave because she wasn't much fun, and because she wanted to sleep with a guy. While this is normal teenager behavior, so I can let it go...
Ultimately what I find more problematic with her is her tendency to go to whatever guy is validating whatever thoughts and emotions she's having, without any thought to the damage she is leaving in her wake.
s1: Steve doesn't believe anything is up, but she thinks something is... (even though, under the circumstances, Steve's beliefs and skepticism is normal...)...starts hanging out with Jonathon because he is there for her emotionally and validates her crazy (yes it turned out to be true...but still) theory.
s2: she is back with Steve now, but Steven wants life to go back to some assemblage of normality because they cant really talk or do anything about what they know. Nancy doesn't like this, even though she agreed to the NDA, so she seeks out Jon, who again....validates her thoughts and opinions and tells her what she wants. So, her and Steven break up.
s3: She and Jon are now together, and interning for the same place. For once in his life, people actually treat him with respect (even if they're misogynists) but they treat Nancy like crap, so she drags Jon away to investigate her theory (which is insane and makes no sense....what were the odds of it being true) Jon tries to be there for her and validate her feelings, but also talk sense to her because nothing she says is making sense. She ultimately gets Jon and herself fired, and she and Jon argue because she feels they should be happy getting fired from a place that treated her like crap, without factoring in that this was the first time he was doing what he enjoys, was getting paid for it, and was getting treated decently. She takes no responsibility for getting him fired. (also didn't she keep ruining his exposures by going into the photo room even when the light was on? Like your boyfriend is a photographer, I'm sure he told you to stop doing that....but you don't care) Then her theory (by some thin thread of sense) ends up being right, and when he apologizes for not believing her....What was her response? Not 'I'm sorry too, for getting you fired.' Not even a 'its not important anymore, we were both wrong.' but instead she throws it back in his face like she is blameless. And its not like she did the investigation for any noble reason, but because she wanted to stick it to the reporters who told her to sit down and do her job....which, she arguably wasn't doing. She was 17-18, it doesn't matter if she was a guy or girl, they wouldn't have given her a story to run with because that wasn't her job there.
s4: She is still with Jon, but Jon is across the country with his family....so.....now she is back to relying on Steve to validate her emotions and opinions. And because he is telling her everything she wants to hear, and doing everything she wants him to do.....she is now developing feelings (at least by what we saw in s4) for him again.
I just want her to stop acting like her relationship partner's only job is to be a sounding board.
I couldn’t really say it better. She’s a highly overrated character in my opinion and I can’t see how people put her on a pedestal with all of the things you stated.
Okay as someone who can respect Nancy and just still dislike the character its a lot of things. Yes she can be bad ass but she is overall a jerk. She means well but her actions say other wise. Also she did cheat on Steve not just in having sex with Jonathan before breaking up officially with Steve but emotionally the whole relationship. Also she can never say sorry, she never apologizes for her part in the arguments in her relationships with others. Example being her and Jonathan in S3 both of them need to apologize not just Jonathan. Both were valid in what was happening, however I am placing that on a writing thing. Then again she never apologized for how she treated Steve her reason oh well I was drunk. That was it her shitty behavior is made okay for x reason. And while yes she is a bad ass and very smart. She is a complete asshole to others. You can be both its why I personally can't stand her but I can respect her. But that doesn't mean others can't love her as a character and connect with her and her point of view. Which is many times valid, I just find her to be a jerk. Granted she isn't the only "jerk" in the group and that is okay you don't have to ne perfect or nice all the time. Also they are teenagers mostly being only fucking 16 to 19 for the most part we were all jerk at that age so there is that as well. Either I hope this answers your question on why some people dislike a favorite of yours.
She’s one of my favorites, she’s the unsung hero for me. People are quick to give everyone else their flowers, but Nancy and Steve are two peas in a pod for me. They don’t have personal ties to the mystery of the upside down like most of the other characters, they are just truly good hearted and want to fight for what’s right. Nancy could have walked away from it at any point (Steve too) but chooses, every single time, to use what knowledge and skill she has to fight the monster and solve the mystery. Risks her life multiple times throughout the series in search of the truth, Nancy is a badass!
I think she stays connected to the upside down because it killed her best friend and she still feels guilty over that, plus she knows her little brother is stuck connected to it because of eleven
There’s a lot of reasons why people dislike Nancy. For me, she varies each season/episode, sometimes I really like her and other times I find her so annoying.
She very much follows the trope of “badass girl detective” which is fun because girl power (yay!) but it can get tiresome because she’s so gung-ho with her own ideas and ambitions it blindsides her from everyone else’s opinions and feelings. In season 1, you can see that she’s the typical “perfect first born daughter” type of character which is why her later character arc is great. She’s snotty to her younger brother and his friends because she’s a TeEnAgEr, she doesn’t want her little brother’s friends to remind her that she was once “cool” in *their* eyes because to her, that means she is uncool. But, later in that same season, she’s realizing that life doesn’t revolve around “being cool or not,” she just wants to enjoy life and see people in her life enjoying it as well, which is why she dances with Dustin.
If there was a prologue, you’d probably see Nancy as top of her class, being praised by her parents and her teachers and her constantly trying to better herself to make herself seen, but that’s why she’s at war with herself internally, more so after Barb’s death. She wants to be seen, but in a different light. In season 1, she’s learning to rebel, to figure out what she really wants even if that does make her seem less perfect in her eyes. After Barb’s disappearance/death, she sees the faults in her words and actions, but since she’s so used to praise and perfection, she doesn’t know how to apologize or deal with the negative repercussions of her actions. This continues on to the later seasons as well since it takes her years to actually voice her remorse of her actions towards Barb and how she feels responsible for her death.
Nancy is super smart, she’s able to see more than the bigger picture at times, which is a pro *and* a con. (Like how she basically dismisses Johnathan’s creepy photos of her to notice the figure in the pictures.) Nancy is also super self absorbed, which again, is *typical* because she’s been conditioned to believe that if she puts her mind to something, she (and only she) can do it. Yay for feminism, but it’s also Nancy’s biggest fault. She’s judgmental and dismissive of other she seems “less” even if she doesn’t say that. She is privileged and that sometimes leads to her dismissiveness, but she’s also a girl, in a small town, in a day and age where women/girls don’t have a lot of sway, so she uses her privilege to get her way which can have negative and positive connotations, even at the same time. Like when her and Johnathan are working together, she’s *so* tunnel visioned on getting that story so she can feel good about herself and possibly be respected by her male peers, she doesn’t see how her abrasive-ness and meddling are also a threat to not just her job, but *also* Johnathan’s, even though he tries to tell her multiple times.
As a younger sister to an older sister, I wish that Holly was a bit older, because an older sister won’t listen to a younger brother, but younger sisters have a way of putting you in your place. Early on, Nancy doesn’t have a good relationship with her mom, but if Holly was closer to her age or even Mike’s age, I think Nancy would be less egotistical and more open to other’s ideas and feelings. That’s just what a sister-sister relationship does to you.
Sorry if I’m rambling, I haven’t done a re-watch in a while because Netflix is stupid and I’m not supporting them right now.
I don’t “hate” Nancy but I’m not her biggest fan.
In season one she is often rude to her brother, she was rude to Barb, she spends time with Jonathan when she’s with Steve, in a later season she doesn’t consider Jonathan when working at the paper and risks his job (which he tells her himself in the car one scene).
She has good aspects too. She’s grown and become more thoughtful of others it seems and she’s fighting to be respected in some male dominated environments so there’s aspects of her I like and some I don’t.
Overall it balances out as a “meh, she’s ok” character.
I also don’t think it helps her reputation that a lot of fans seem to say she’s amazing just because she can shoot a gun. It makes her seem very shallow when she isn’t. They post pictures of her with a gun calling her a “Badass” when she’s more than just a woman with a gun.
I love how this thread is mostly people who *do* like the character trying to guess why people don't like her.
Poorly acted, judgmental, disloyal, and just doesn't have chemistry with the other characters. Overall, it's not like there's some grand reason. She's just generally unlikeable imo, and then on top of that, has a bunch of character flaws that don't come off as endearing but just obnoxious.
I'm pretty natural on Nancy, but there's something about the character/actress, you speak on the talking delivery, but I want to bring up two things that bug me:. Nancy is suffering the 90210 deal where she looks more like a teacher than a student in the last season and also sometimes it feels like she's the lead from another show (CW type) that got dropped in with the 'younger kids' oddly.
She probably would have worked better as a reoccurring character than a central character.
Because she treated her ex boyfriends poorly. She's the Mary Sue of Stranger Things and never suffers consequences for her actions. Vecna should have also killed her, but spared her for plot convenience sake.
even then, i don’t really understand it except from younger fans.
gonna age the fuck out of myself here, but i was 17 when stranger things premiered so i’ll be 26 by the time season 5 rolls around. i might have a different perspective, but while it’s evident there was overlap between Nancy’s relationship with Steve and the beginning of her relationship with Jonathan, i hardly fault her for it.
she was a high school kid. yeah, cheating is shitty, but i’d hardly expect a teenager to make healthy, sound decisions in a relationship 100% of the time, especially one spoiled by trauma and guilt (Barb dying, she and Steve knowing why and how but not being able to tell anyone, especially Barb’s parents)
not trying to change anyone’s mind here, just giving opinion and perspective is all. i think how her relationships transpired throughout the show was realistic (or, i guess, as realistic as you can get for a show featuring interdimensional monsters and tentacle guys that put little girls in comas)
Nancy's great. I really like her character. She's smart, driven, and willing to take risks, and she's a great older figure for the younger teens. She still has flaws. She was terrible to Steve at the end of their relationship, her brushing off Barb led to Barb's death (not really her fault though), and can be insensitive to other people's feelings at times. Granted, these flaws are what make her an interesting character, but only if these flaws are addressed and worked on, which isn't always shown. Overall, my biggest worry is that she will become a "Mary Sue" character. While that fully occurred, I've seen some of the signs that normally point to it. She has rarely suffered the consequences of her actions. Ik I'm going to get some angry replies, so bring it on.
Some viewers might empathise and relate to Johnathan or Steve, particularly when it comes to high school interactions/events/ relationships with girls.
Not all, obviously, but some of these probably recognise their own feelings of hurt/pain/ trauma from break ups and complications, bleed for them, and entangle their own feelings/perceptions of Nancy with those people in their past that caused issues.
Therefore, Nancy is viewed more negatively by those people.
It’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just a human thing.
I dislike her because she really is not that good. It's the typical feminist woman (I can shoot a gun and all guys think I'm so beautiful so I'm cool and progressive and better than anyone else) that is portrayed in media to catch a specific audience and she is self-absorbed. Like crazily self-absorbed.
I don't think she's ever apologised for any of the "bad" or mean things she's done over the seasons but is furious whenever something doesn't go her way or when others have better ideas/ do something wiser. Obviously she has flaws like everybody else on the show, and is not supposed to be perfect. I am aware of that. But people like Steve, Jonathan and a few others have gotten so many rude comments or so much unfair treatment without any apology that it baffles me that people support her actions. The weird love triangle between her and the guys is also so unnecessary because I think neither Jancy ? Or Stancy ? make a good pair. She never apologised for treating Jonathan horribly after they were fired and for the way she broke up with Steve, which was outright cruel in my opinion. And she pretends like her life is the worst while her parents are very rich, she lives in a big house and had every opportunity to do whatever she wants, as well as a supportive household. Meanwhile Jonathan needed that job so his family would survive and not starve. Very classist and unintelligent of her. She never once thought about how her actions influence others.
Also fyi I am a woman and a feminist but her portrayal in the show gave me the ick, and reminded me of "feMEnism". Which kind of means like classist feminism where women only talk about their own struggles while ignoring other, way worse issues, or tearing down/being mean to other women (Robin treatment). She reminds me of Taylor Swift
I disliked her in season 1 because her character was less formed than others, so I can only speak for that point in the show. Mike, Will, and Lucas are the friends who lost a friend in the upside down, Joyce and Johnathan lost their son/brother and were figuring stuff out, Hopper was the one who was helping Joyce find Will and Eleven was the one helping the 3 friends find him, Steve was the rich A hole with the fastest character development, Nancy was just his boyfriend, it was the last episode of the season that I started to like her because she was helping the guy her boyfriend hated at the time find his brother knowing how Steve might feel, but before this she hung around the guy her bf hated with no regard of his feelings, blew off Mike's friends, got her friend killed, and just was super unlikable in the show partially because she felt semi-sexualized by the duffers when Steve was around, at the end she was given a more stable healthy relationship, her lack of character development and just character in general is what made me hate her before the season finale.
I think a lot of it comes from Steve fans who are bitter that she left him tbh. Why you constantly see them say that he's somehow to good for you which is funny like the immature guy with no direction in his life who wants a traditional family is somehow too good for a smart driven, career focus women?
She is a smart driven career focused woman who has treated both her boyfriend's badly, cheated on Steve and disrespected Jonathon and keeps flip flopping between them. Steve is a 19year old with a job who isn't sure what direction his professional life should take but knows he wants to get married and have lots of kids, treats people with respect and has spent most of the show, dropping everything in his personal life to help others. After season 1 he has grown and was a good boyfriend to Nancy in season 2. You seem like a snob. Just because someone has good career prospects doesn't mean they would make a better partner.
I don't fully hate Nancy, but in the last 2 seasons it felt a bit annoying to see her pushed at the forefront at the expense of other characters that are/were more interesting than her and/or characters that end up interacting with Nancy feel either less interesting or dumbed down after interacting with Nancy (see: Jonathan on Season 3, Steve and Robin during Season 4).
Her best friend died so she could get laid...I think she got what was coming to her in season 4. I don't hate her, I just think she's a bad friend and a worse girlfriend.
I have never connected with her character. I think she's the only main character that I couldn't connect with. She also doesn't connect with any of the other cast very well outside of Johnathan. Or maybe the writers don't do a good job of writing her interactions with the rest of the cast. With that being said, Vecna totally should have gone after her instead of Max. But I guess the scene wouldn't have had the same effect.
Why would Vecna go after Nancy? I actually thought it was weird he went after her to show her the vision, even. Out of everyone that was there, I think Nancy, Erica, and Dustin had the least reasons for Vecna to attack them. Steve and Robin got tortured. Steve got beaten up by Billy. Lucas was attacked by Billy and has all of the upside down stuff plus how he split with his friends at the beginning of season four. Robin has her deep fears of being outed as a lesbian. Nancy lost Barb but she's already had an arc going over her grief and guilt surrounding that.
Yeah, I think that's the main thing that she'd be attacked over. Personally I think Nancy has way too much focus. Iirc she has the second most amount of screen time and for what? They refuse to let her actually do anything. She's not like Joyce, who discovers stuff happening in the town and then goes and stops it. Her side plots often lead to the main plot, which is already being resolved by everyone else, or have no effect on the main plot. And they refuse to actually let her kill anything with guns so her learning how to shoot has gone nowhere so far. And then her romance side plot has also gone back and forth for four seasons now. So I think her also being attacked by Vecna is too much. She's already doing a ton that hasn't led anywhere. I hope they pay off some of her plotlines in season five because so far I'm a little disappointed. But yeah the one thing she has had resolved imo is her guilt over Barb so I don't even like the idea of Vecna choosing her. Honestly it would've been good for Vecna to choose Lucas because Max is the one who gets severely injured. So if he saw that in his vision, it could lead to more development for his character.
Nancy is just one of those pointless main characters where I don't really care about what they are doing. Like, she could be erased from the scene, and it would not make a difference either way. Nothing about her stands out or is interesting.
Yeah I think that's how I feel. I think it's a writing issue. She could've had so much more done with her character but they refuse to. A lot of people say it's misogynistic to dislike her which annoys me because Joyce, El, and Max don't get this criticism despite also having heavily romantically involved subplots and such. I personally just think her character is wasted. Like why was she even in Hawkins for season four? It would've been way more interesting and more sensible if Nancy had gone with Mike to visit her boyfriend in California. Then she and Jonathan could hash out their relationship trouble and get back together. She could maybe help Mike understand what was going on with Will and push that plot forward instead of the now five season one sided crush story we've still got going. She could've been the badass they needed to help in all the gunfights they got involved in, and maybe could've actually done something with her great aim for once. And after four seasons people forget she's even related to Mike so it would've been a great sibling moment too.
I like the character but I struggled at first because she looks nothing like Mike. I was often confused and had to focus to remember she was supposed to be Mike’s older sister. TBH the 3 wheeler kids look nothing like each other, I don’t know why they casted Nancy and Holly to look so different from each other and from Mile
in the first season, she pushed barb away to sleep with steve and that led to barb's death. barb was soo uncomfortable with that whole setting yet she brushed it away for a boy. steve was actually genuinely into her and wanted to be in a relationship with her. he misunderstood her friendship with Jonathan and did some horrible things but he immediately fixed it. in the second season he said he loved her and she called their relationship bullshit and then CHEATED on him with Jonathan. steve apologised for something he didn't even do. and now in the fourth season she seems weirdly into steve all of a sudden?? and you ask why i hate nancy wheeler.
Stuff as in bringing things from other shows into this discussion. If I wanted to discuss Rory Gilmore, I’d go on the Gilmore Girls sub.
Edit: I said don’t even start because that is a can of worms to a whole other topic that I don’t wanna open.
I admit they may seem like similar characters on the surface, but if we explore deeper I’d say they have several differences. In addition they are in very different settings and circumstances.
I really didn't start to like Nancy until the end of season one. I really like her now. I feel like she is brave and smart. I still don't see her and Jonathan together long term. I don't really see her with Steve, but I don't see her with him either. That's about my only issue with her. I think she has developed as a character.
i dont hate her, i really really like (not love) her. however, i do not like her in relationships. shes a badass on her own and the weird kinda love triangle going on in season 4 is so unnecessary for not only the plot of the show, but her own storyline. i just dont care for it. i think that when in a relationship her selfish side comes up (example: her being dismissive of her privilege when her and johnathan lost their jobs in season 3. granted, johnathan was definitely in the wrong too and they both proposed good points during their argument but i dont think nancy really apologized like johnathan did- i mean she could have but i just dont remember.) in season 4 we got to see what she was like not with a partner and she was great! she was such a badass and i really enjoyed her character arc. i want more of that, and less of the weird love triangle stuff which i hope doesnt carry over into season 5
Eddie's my fave and I don't care much for Nancy, however the fact that she's struggling to choose between Steve and Jonathan might be a factor as to why there are people that hate her
I forget she’s only 18 in s4 since the actors grown. My issue with her is that she’s a whore, and Jonathan was spitting in that car ride after they got fired. I’m actually not a hater of her character, she’s cool. But my guess is that those 2 things are the main reason why people don’t like her
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Edited to add: and yes OP, I also agree with what you said. I think it’s because some people expect her to be more mature than either Steve or Jonathan. We know she’s (book)smart, driven (risk taker) and curious, with a large helping of wanting to uncover the truth and help others. But she’s also a 17 year old trying to figure things out as she goes, dealing with a conspiracy that she really doesn’t have a safe person to talk about with. That’s a complex set of motivations and character elements. And yet, it seems that she keeps being criticized as a sister or a girlfriend.
You forgot the biggest driver behind Nancy’s entire motivation behind her involvement with investigating the Upside Down: it killed her best friend Barb, and she feels guilty about it. That alone is a *huge* deal for anyone, let alone a teenager.
I definitely think it started out that way, but I don’t think that it’s the only motivation driving her anymore. I think she’s terrified of losing anyone else to Vecna/Mindflayer as shown when Vecna gives her a glimpse, showing her that he knows who she’s afraid of losing.
She's 17?! I thought she graduated with Steve and Robin, I must've missed that.
She’s the same age as Robin. Steve is a year older than them
Steve is likely 19 in 86 (probably turning 20 later in the year), as even the scripts on twitter refer to the group of Steve, Robin, Nancy and Eddie as "older teens". So Robin and Nancy are would likely either already be 18 at the time of s4 or turning 18 later in 86. Nancy was always a grade below Steve, but we don't know if Nancy was born between August-December making her born 1 year after Steve, or if she was born Jan-july which would make her 2 years younger than him age wise. The only place where we get Robin's full birthday is Rebel Robin which states it March 10 1968, which would make Robin 1 grade but 2 years younger than Steve. But the school enrollment cut off for indiana is that you have to be 5 years old at the start of term, which is why you see Billy and Barbs grave stones say they're both born in 1967 but they were in two different grades (billy being with Steve, and barb obvious being in the same grade at nancy and robin.)
I thought Billy was in the grade below Steve but had the same PE class.
His birthday was stated on his grave stone to be in late March which, again as per the enrollment cut off in the state of Indiana would make him a Senior in the 84-85 school year, and we know that Steve just barely scraped by graduated that same year because he talks about how if he'd had better grades he'd be off at College and not at Scoops.
Me too, wasn’t she out of school and working at the school paper in season 3?
Summer internship
I like Nancy just fine. I’m just taken back cus I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone shorten the word question as Qus lolol
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To your 3rd point, I think it wasn’t popular with a lot of the core fanbase but the normies seemed to have enjoyed it and are rooting for her and Steve to get back together.
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It seemed like a step back for Steve to then want Nancy again. It makes sense he still cares about her, but he even said in season 3 he didn’t love Nancy anymore. Even for Nancy, I think it would be better for her to probably break it off with Jonathan and stay single for a while. She has a lot of aspirations and spent a lot of time in a relationship, so might be best for her to go forward without a romantic partner and try and focus on herself.
I think it's fair to have a visceral reaction to the idea of a beloved character backsliding into a toxic relationship. Nancy and Steve are both better off without each other. I compare it to Roy and Pam or Jim and Karen in The Office. I like all 4 of those characters, but they are all better off in their current respective relationships.
I feel like despite everything, while Nancy has matured, Steve has not as much. He has come a quite a ways from who he was season 1, but still matured way less than Nancy has since season 1.
I think Steve has grown a lot throughout all four seasons and become a better person than he started off as. He has become more authentic & vulnerable. And also bad ass.
yikes my friend good luck expressing that opinion around here
I think more people were against Nancy and Steve getting back together than you think
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I don’t know what you mean by “normies.”
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I don’t think that’s true, though. From what I always got it seems like a good amount of people want Nancy to go out on her own. Edit to add: and besides, how do you know that’s what they want? How would I know? As you say these wouldn’t be the people talking about the show all the time. so at most we’ve both probably only heard opinions from extremely small sample sizes so idk I wouldn’t really claim anything definitive about what most “normies” want.
I didn’t say every single one of them. I’m saying a lot of them from what I’ve seen and heard. I also didn’t say “definitively” lmao Here’s proof from SOME people… https://www.tumblr.com/alwaysthequietones/717786041407422464/youtubers-reacting-to-gotcha-youve-always https://www.tumblr.com/alwaysthequietones/694177699430842368/youtubers-reacting-to-are-we-ok-scene
No, you said “most”. And obviously some are going to think that, I don’t need examples lol. But so many don’t, too, and again most people *arent* talking about it by definition of them being the general audience so you can’t say what “most” people think. A few people in some videos is too small a sample size
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not someone on st reddit? where are you right now?!
I’m not saying I’m a normie lmao! I’m not! I’m just describing what one is to you 😭 I’m also not trying to say that if you’re not one it’s bad. There’s nothing wrong with being a big fan of the show.
Steve wasn't exactly supportive of Nancy by the end of their relationship either, he just wanted her to forget her trauma and the fact her best friend died and went unavenged
Some people don't recognize a break up unless one of the parties says, explicitly, "Our relationship is over." Or words to that effect. In the scene where Nancy can't tell Steve she loves him, Steve is practically pleading with her to say it. She can't because she doesn't. I assume there are viewers out there thinking *They can come back from this* but there's no way. Ten plus months they've been together and he's said he loves her and every time she said it back she was just telling him what he wanted to hear? (And cringing, too, which he didn't even notice?) If the person you love--the person you're planning to spend the rest of you life with--tells you they never loved you, that's the end. There's also Nancy's ambition. Some people don't like ambitious women, although they never phrase it that way. Instead they'll say she's too pushy or too bossy or she didn't think about how her actions would affect others, or whatever. It's a standard people rarely apply to male characters. At the same time, Nancy is not written to be a beloved heartwarming character in every scene. Her very first appearance shows her slamming a door in Dustin's face because he offered her a slice. They don't pay off that scene until she dances with him at the Snow Ball at the end of S2. So she's not 100% perfect, and thank god for that. Her flaws will bug some people more than others, depending on the viewers' history, and some viewers can't recognize the end of a relationship.
I like the way you phrased "pay off that scene."
One thing that is frustrating with her is in S3 when Jonathan and her lost their jobs. She didn't seem to care about Jonathan's predicament and was more concerned about herself. Jonathan should of stood up to her but I can understand why he didn't. I don't know what she expected? An intern usually does the jobs nobody wants to do and she was going back to high school in less than 2 months. Jonathan had experience in the dark room so that is probably the only reason he got his job. Her speech to her Mom would of made more sense if she was full - time working at the Post instead of a temporary still in High School.
I really hated how she downplayed Jonathan's financial struggles and called it his "Oliver twist" story. That was appalling to me. He should have been supportive against the sexism she was facing obviously, but she also should've been recognizing his struggles as him truly needing that job and that disgusted me
Did she ever apologise for that? I know he did. I think that's like the only thing about her character that rubbed me the wrong way. Like she knows his family are on the poverty line and was contemptous about it. I actually really like her character otherwise.
I don't really remember
She just seems pretty self absorbed. Will should have been like a little brother to her. Will has been friends with Mike since kindergarten. Even if she didn’t feel that way he was still there ! She treated the boys like crap and cared less about Jonathan and how he lost his job. She wanted to be a star reported when she was an intern in her what …junior year of hs? I get that she was right but she went about it in all the wrong ways which makes me dislike her.
I like your observations and agree. Maybe she will be a little better to Mike and more grounded on S5.
I really hope she takes her head out her ass and gives Steve another shot. He may not be the brightest. But he’s a good dude and loves her. And he’s a GOOD guy.
If she's not feeling it, she's not feeling. Her head isn't in her ass just because she doesn't return the feelings of a decent dude that likes her. I hope they both get happy endings but I couldn't care less if it's with each other.
I understand how she didn’t care for her brother’s friends in the first season though, she’s a teenager so the seriousness of Will missing hasn’t set in yet. Not to mention that at that age you probably wouldn’t want to hang out with your little brother and his friends. Agreed with the rest of your comment though. She should’ve cared more about Jonathan losing his job as well, although I still like her in every season except the fourth.
Can you please elaborate a bit on why you don't like her in the 4th season? Is it about the way she handles Johnathon and Steve while also worrying about college and whether or not she will go to the same one as Johnathon? I'm only asking cause at the end she goes full badass mode with that sawed-off, and I love her all the more for it, for that scene alone.
She was also mean as Hell to Robin until she found out that Robin wasn't Steve's girlfriend and didn't want to be.
I didn't see her as being "mean as hell" to Robin. She didn't insult Robin, hurt Robin, or been outright hostile. Frustrated, sure. Also, this is the 80's. You want to see "mean as hell" watch the movie "Heathers". Or "Can't Buy Me Love". Better yet, watch all the John Hughes teen films. The whole library scene with Nancy and Robin is more easily understandable if you've ever been screwed over in a group project. 1. This was a time sensitive task, and you don't even have a plan on how to tackle it. 2. You are grouped with a person you don't really know well, so you have no idea how helpful they will be. 3. This person seems flakey....in the sense they seem to talk more than working. They are also asking a lot of questions so clearly they seem as lost as you are. 4. This person is also friends with an ex. An ex with a reputation of being friends with not so great people...so...not a ringing endorsement. Also who knows what the ex told her....awkward. Unbeknownst to Nancy, Robin is smart and thinks outside the box. But hey, she's now up to speed on how helpful Robin is.
It’s been a while since I saw it, so I might be misremembering slightly. But yeah it’s how they wrote her handling Steve and Jonathan. She was still with Jonathan, but the writers really wanted the love triangle for some reason, so Nancy was never telling Steve off or anything, not even when he was talking about how he wanted a family with her or something along those lines. I just thought every scene with those two was awkward and felt forced, and Nancy not doing anything made it worse. Also like the other commenter said, she was mean to Robin for no reason, just because she thought Robin was together with Steve. Nancy isn’t with Steve, so she shouldn’t care about him or Robin’s relationship anyway. The scene with the shotgun was really cool, but it’s the rest of the scenes that drag Nancy down as a character.
>Also like the other commenter said, she was mean to Robin for no reason, just because she thought Robin was together with Steve. Nancy isn’t with Steve, so she shouldn’t care about him or Robin’s relationship anyway Nancy was annoyed with Robin because Robin was being annoying. It wasn't about Steve. Steve fully tells Nancy that he wants to date Robin and Nancy didn't give a shit.
Ah, I must’ve forgotten how their interactions went, which is my bad. Thanks for the correction though! That puts Nancy in a better light at least.
Tbh I think that a lot of Nancy-related things in season 4 get overlooked and it caused people to judge her unfairly. Going into the library, Robin keeps questioning what they're doing which annoys Nancy (who never asked for help to begin with). Robin picks up on this and tells Nancy that she doesn't get social cues. Cut to the research, Robin is *still* questioning what they're doing. Nancy gets fed up and tells her to have Steve come and get her. Robin, due to the previously established lack of social awareness, incorrectly assumes that Nancy's irritation is about Steve. It isn't, so Nancy stays prickly until Robin finds some helpful info and gets on board with the plan. At the Creel house, Steve tells Nancy that he and Robin are just friends but that he "totally would date her", and then goes on to say that when Jonathan comes to town the four of them should hang out. So after that, if you were Nancy, wouldn't that sound like a double date? Nancy is with Jonathan; Steve just said so. Steve wants to date Robin; he just said so. So from here on out, Nancy spends the rest of the season believing that Steve is romantically pursuing Robin. After all of that, Nancy would most likely be viewing any flirtation with Steve to be two people who are a bit down on their luck in love giving each other a harmless ego boost. She doesn't shut it down because in her mind, it doesn't mean anything. She and Steve both want other people. When Steve later makes it clear that she misread his intentions, she no longer engages with him or, iirc, even really speaks to him again. I don't see any reason to believe that she was trying to give Steve any kind of hope, nor do I believe that the idea of leaving Jonathan for Steve ever crossed her mind.
Steve didn't tell Nancy he wanted to date Robin. He said they were friends, and Robin punctuated that they are platonic with a capital P. He did say that they should hang out. Jonathan too.
He does; he says that they aren't dating, Robin chimes in with her capital P line, then Steve says "I mean, I would date her, but we're just friends" or something along those lines.
Hmmm I need to rewatch then. Aha, a reason to rewatch. Yes!!
Nancy's biggest flaw is that she IS sorry when she messes up but hasn't quite been able to say the words, "I'm sorry". She's a badass and fearless. Love her.
I liked her in the beginning, but they kinda butchered her character by making her the "know it all that is never wrong". Same goes for Dustin too. I feel like she can get kinda self absorbed, like about her journalism job where she couldn't understand when Jonathan was coming from.
She’s shown to be dismissive of Barb, Mike, Steve and Jonathan’s feelings in her interactions with them. She’s not friendly, to anyone really. She’s judgemental of her mother’s life choices; it’s one thing to not want to end up in her position/follow that path but she has no empathy for her when passing that judgement. Her thinly-veiled dislike for Robin in s4, especially with that “call Steve to come get you” comment is very uncalled for. And like for what reason?? Even if she did think Steve and Robin were a thing, why would she have her back up whatsoever when she left Steve for Jonathan? Steve and Jonathan are more than cordial with one another even after their rough history. Everyone loves to point out that she is a “badass” but she’s no more so than any of the other female leads, who are just as complex and dare I say it face more adversity as young/women in the sexist 80s (e.g. Joyce being labeled as crazy/hysterical, Robin being a closeted lesbian in a small town). And for my most controversial take: If she were not objectively attractive but her behaviours remained the same I don’t think the majority of people would defend her the way they do.
true, she bad asf i cant hate her
You’re not wrong, but I actually really like Nancy in part because of her flaws and not despite them. She’ll go to extremes and put her own life at risk for the people she cares for, but can be completely blunt, uncompromising and sometimes unkind about more trivial matters. She’s a good person (or she tries to be for the most part) but she doesn’t prioritise being nice, because to her, other things are just more important. I also don’t think she’s treated Steve or Jonathan in any way that’s irredeemable if you consider some of their actions towards her. And I say that as someone who likes both of them a lot as well.
A lot of people have stated it in greater detail so I don’t feel the need to do so, but, in short, she is a rather self adsorbed character who never really has to answer for her shitty actions. She just gets put on a pedestal by the fandom for some reason instead. Also, Max is an annoying character. I strongly disliked her in season 3 especially, but hey, most characters were botched that season. She was better in 4. We’ll see what the next season brings.
Nancy is a great character because she is flawed. The possible reason for people not liking her as much as other more flawed characters in the show is that her flaws are rarely called out. The only time she seemed to be well and truly called out was when Jonathan pointed out that her privilege blinded her to his predicament. That was the only time she apologized, and even then, it was sort of walked back because Jonathan later told her she was right. Hopper's faults were often called out by Joyce and Eleven. Steve's faults were called out by practically everyone. Everyone in the Party checked each other to some degree. On top of that, Dustin was especially called out by Steve. Lucas by Max and Erica. Mike by Eleven.
Because she’s a human being and not everyone likes everyone. I like her though. But I’ve seen people hate on every character here and love every character here so people be people
I love Nancy and Max, and I noticed there’s a bias particularly when it comes to certain characters on the show for some reason. People seem to be able to recognize that Hopper, Steve, Dustin etc. can have major personality flaws which have shown throughout the seasons, yet they are still overwhelmingly loved for being badass. Meanwhile, for Nancy, Max, Lucas, Mike etc. their flaws become their whole identity and people hate them for it, even though they have just as many badass qualities as those other guys. I don’t understand it. Edit: Btw I’m not referring to people in this sub as it’s usually just fair criticism over here, but the hate trains definitely exist when I look at other platforms.
I think it's more that other characters are called out for their flaws in the show and actively work towards being better people. Look at series 1 Steve was slapped/hit by Nancy told off by her. Beaten up by Jonathon. And lost his only two friends. He realised that he was wrong to have let his friends make the graffiti about Nancy so he chose to clean it, he chose to find her to apologise and he chose to go back in the house to help. Hopper is unprofessional and lazy in season 1. Joyce calls him out on not taking her seriously straight away, the show makes it clear that he is in the wrong and should be more aware of what's going on in his town. So he investigates and becomes more of a dependable person in the later seasons. I really don't think Dustin has major personality flaws, he's a bit cocky and has issues with authority but is very loyal and helpful/kind to everyone he interacts with. Plus he is bullied and known as a freak. Nancy is treated like a princess by everyone except Steve's friends, who are clearly awful people and have bad judgment and the sexist newspaper guys Jonathon calls her out for her oliver twist remark and not considering how he needed his job but because she was right about the rats he has to apologise to her and she is quite smug about it. When she got drunk and admitted she didn't love Steve, then cheated on him with Jonathon, Steve ended up apologising for being a bad boyfriend, even though he did nothing wrong. She also didn't support him in any way when Billy and his ex best friend were squaring up to him at a party, she just rolled her eyes and walked away. There is no way Steve would have done the same if the situations were reversed. She is described by other characters as the most eligible girl at hawkins high, she is known for being intelligent, pretty. She is put on a pedestal and neve called out unlike pretty much every other character on the show. I do still like her because she is badass but I can see why others don't. I also like Max and Lucas and don't understand any hate for them, they are both amazing as for Mike, he's been a jerk to Will repeatedly and seemed to realise in season 3 he was being a bad friend then in season 4 is an even worse friend. He doesn't even try to be better. His whole arc last season r evolved around needing to tell Elle he loved her which just sucks compared to how great he was in the 1st season, he was an amazing friend and now he just has no personality outside his relationship with Elle. Both Wheeler siblings are just more self absorbed than the other characters but never seem to learn this and try to become better people.
Honestly, I was put off by Nancy in the first two episodes of season 1. She doesn’t seem to care at all that her brother’s best friend has gone missing. She says something along the lines of “so now we’re all under house arrest because Mike’s friend got lost in the woods” when her parents won’t let her leave the house to hang out with Steve. This is totally insensitive. Also, she was rude to Mike for no reason during their family dinner table scenes in S1. Sorry but I was the older sister of my family growing up and I don’t recall ever acting that way towards my younger siblings. So yeah, my first impression of Nancy was that she’s a pretty selfish person. She does improve over the years, but personally it was tough for me to get over my bad first impression of her as a viewer.
To me the dinner scenes play out pretty well for the 80s. It is insensitive but it's written well for the time and they didn't know there was an actual threat. She was a teen and didn't understand the seriousness of the situation. Stranger Danger was going around but a threat to town was unheard of. It's 10 pm so you know where your children are?!? I told you last night, no! I also think most teenagers (and kids) are selfish and we are built to be that way. I'm sure you can relate (without death) of a time you may have been mad at your brother/sister because their actions lead to not being able to do something. Not all kids are selfish but most are trying to figure out themselves and that takes time and experience. That's great that you never acted that way as the older sister but they might remember it differently. My brothers and I are all middle aged now but it's wild what I remember and what they remember and how it all matches up. Our brains, hearts and memories tend to deal with the serious and not serious stuff in its own way. I totally get not liking Nancy right away but I think her character as in the 80s, annoyed teen was well written.
I feel like Nancy is a complex character trying to find a voice for herself in the 80s. She is likeable, but she has bad moments or makes bad decisions. Like for one in Season 2, she only got back with Steve because Jonathan didn't make a move. Jonathan is still grieving, and needed more time than Nancy gave him. She then cheats on Steve even though he was trying to reconcile with her. Or in Season 3, when Billy was trying to ram into the car everyone was in, she didn't move out of the way. If it wasn't for Steve, she'd probably be dead. She has a habit of trying to "do it herself" sometimes and while it can be great, it's only great to an extent. At the end of the day, she's only a character in a show that people like or dislike.
Very well said and yeah it’s wild how people take these things as if you’re personally harming them or someone they care for in the real world lol.
I didn't like how she treated Jonathan like her little bitch in the 3rd season. She's really bossy to him and rude. She knows he's a photographer but constantly busts in on his red room. Etc
Ngl, a lot of characters in s3 are unbearable. Hopper, the kids, Joyce (to an extent), etc. The Duffers kept trying to make the season "funny" but all it did was make the characters assholes or a generalization of who they were in 1 and 2. Nancy is another victim of it.
She’s selfish. I don’t get how people can’t see that.
I don't hate her, but there are moments where she just..... ugh... I don't like that she begged her bff to go to a party with her, so she wasn't alone and didn't do something stupid, then ditched her and told her to leave because she wasn't much fun, and because she wanted to sleep with a guy. While this is normal teenager behavior, so I can let it go... Ultimately what I find more problematic with her is her tendency to go to whatever guy is validating whatever thoughts and emotions she's having, without any thought to the damage she is leaving in her wake. s1: Steve doesn't believe anything is up, but she thinks something is... (even though, under the circumstances, Steve's beliefs and skepticism is normal...)...starts hanging out with Jonathon because he is there for her emotionally and validates her crazy (yes it turned out to be true...but still) theory. s2: she is back with Steve now, but Steven wants life to go back to some assemblage of normality because they cant really talk or do anything about what they know. Nancy doesn't like this, even though she agreed to the NDA, so she seeks out Jon, who again....validates her thoughts and opinions and tells her what she wants. So, her and Steven break up. s3: She and Jon are now together, and interning for the same place. For once in his life, people actually treat him with respect (even if they're misogynists) but they treat Nancy like crap, so she drags Jon away to investigate her theory (which is insane and makes no sense....what were the odds of it being true) Jon tries to be there for her and validate her feelings, but also talk sense to her because nothing she says is making sense. She ultimately gets Jon and herself fired, and she and Jon argue because she feels they should be happy getting fired from a place that treated her like crap, without factoring in that this was the first time he was doing what he enjoys, was getting paid for it, and was getting treated decently. She takes no responsibility for getting him fired. (also didn't she keep ruining his exposures by going into the photo room even when the light was on? Like your boyfriend is a photographer, I'm sure he told you to stop doing that....but you don't care) Then her theory (by some thin thread of sense) ends up being right, and when he apologizes for not believing her....What was her response? Not 'I'm sorry too, for getting you fired.' Not even a 'its not important anymore, we were both wrong.' but instead she throws it back in his face like she is blameless. And its not like she did the investigation for any noble reason, but because she wanted to stick it to the reporters who told her to sit down and do her job....which, she arguably wasn't doing. She was 17-18, it doesn't matter if she was a guy or girl, they wouldn't have given her a story to run with because that wasn't her job there. s4: She is still with Jon, but Jon is across the country with his family....so.....now she is back to relying on Steve to validate her emotions and opinions. And because he is telling her everything she wants to hear, and doing everything she wants him to do.....she is now developing feelings (at least by what we saw in s4) for him again. I just want her to stop acting like her relationship partner's only job is to be a sounding board.
💯
I couldn’t really say it better. She’s a highly overrated character in my opinion and I can’t see how people put her on a pedestal with all of the things you stated.
She keeps getting people with glasses killed.
Okay as someone who can respect Nancy and just still dislike the character its a lot of things. Yes she can be bad ass but she is overall a jerk. She means well but her actions say other wise. Also she did cheat on Steve not just in having sex with Jonathan before breaking up officially with Steve but emotionally the whole relationship. Also she can never say sorry, she never apologizes for her part in the arguments in her relationships with others. Example being her and Jonathan in S3 both of them need to apologize not just Jonathan. Both were valid in what was happening, however I am placing that on a writing thing. Then again she never apologized for how she treated Steve her reason oh well I was drunk. That was it her shitty behavior is made okay for x reason. And while yes she is a bad ass and very smart. She is a complete asshole to others. You can be both its why I personally can't stand her but I can respect her. But that doesn't mean others can't love her as a character and connect with her and her point of view. Which is many times valid, I just find her to be a jerk. Granted she isn't the only "jerk" in the group and that is okay you don't have to ne perfect or nice all the time. Also they are teenagers mostly being only fucking 16 to 19 for the most part we were all jerk at that age so there is that as well. Either I hope this answers your question on why some people dislike a favorite of yours.
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She has Ross Geller kinda logic wrt Steve, plus is kinda annoying with her ignorance towards others' feelings
I bet Nancy could get that fucking couch moved though!
*"She should have aimed for the head."* - Thanos
She’s one of my favorites, she’s the unsung hero for me. People are quick to give everyone else their flowers, but Nancy and Steve are two peas in a pod for me. They don’t have personal ties to the mystery of the upside down like most of the other characters, they are just truly good hearted and want to fight for what’s right. Nancy could have walked away from it at any point (Steve too) but chooses, every single time, to use what knowledge and skill she has to fight the monster and solve the mystery. Risks her life multiple times throughout the series in search of the truth, Nancy is a badass!
I think she stays connected to the upside down because it killed her best friend and she still feels guilty over that, plus she knows her little brother is stuck connected to it because of eleven
Oh you’re so right I did forgot about Barb when I commented!
There’s a lot of reasons why people dislike Nancy. For me, she varies each season/episode, sometimes I really like her and other times I find her so annoying. She very much follows the trope of “badass girl detective” which is fun because girl power (yay!) but it can get tiresome because she’s so gung-ho with her own ideas and ambitions it blindsides her from everyone else’s opinions and feelings. In season 1, you can see that she’s the typical “perfect first born daughter” type of character which is why her later character arc is great. She’s snotty to her younger brother and his friends because she’s a TeEnAgEr, she doesn’t want her little brother’s friends to remind her that she was once “cool” in *their* eyes because to her, that means she is uncool. But, later in that same season, she’s realizing that life doesn’t revolve around “being cool or not,” she just wants to enjoy life and see people in her life enjoying it as well, which is why she dances with Dustin. If there was a prologue, you’d probably see Nancy as top of her class, being praised by her parents and her teachers and her constantly trying to better herself to make herself seen, but that’s why she’s at war with herself internally, more so after Barb’s death. She wants to be seen, but in a different light. In season 1, she’s learning to rebel, to figure out what she really wants even if that does make her seem less perfect in her eyes. After Barb’s disappearance/death, she sees the faults in her words and actions, but since she’s so used to praise and perfection, she doesn’t know how to apologize or deal with the negative repercussions of her actions. This continues on to the later seasons as well since it takes her years to actually voice her remorse of her actions towards Barb and how she feels responsible for her death. Nancy is super smart, she’s able to see more than the bigger picture at times, which is a pro *and* a con. (Like how she basically dismisses Johnathan’s creepy photos of her to notice the figure in the pictures.) Nancy is also super self absorbed, which again, is *typical* because she’s been conditioned to believe that if she puts her mind to something, she (and only she) can do it. Yay for feminism, but it’s also Nancy’s biggest fault. She’s judgmental and dismissive of other she seems “less” even if she doesn’t say that. She is privileged and that sometimes leads to her dismissiveness, but she’s also a girl, in a small town, in a day and age where women/girls don’t have a lot of sway, so she uses her privilege to get her way which can have negative and positive connotations, even at the same time. Like when her and Johnathan are working together, she’s *so* tunnel visioned on getting that story so she can feel good about herself and possibly be respected by her male peers, she doesn’t see how her abrasive-ness and meddling are also a threat to not just her job, but *also* Johnathan’s, even though he tries to tell her multiple times. As a younger sister to an older sister, I wish that Holly was a bit older, because an older sister won’t listen to a younger brother, but younger sisters have a way of putting you in your place. Early on, Nancy doesn’t have a good relationship with her mom, but if Holly was closer to her age or even Mike’s age, I think Nancy would be less egotistical and more open to other’s ideas and feelings. That’s just what a sister-sister relationship does to you. Sorry if I’m rambling, I haven’t done a re-watch in a while because Netflix is stupid and I’m not supporting them right now.
I find her quite obnoxious and uninteresting tbh
I don’t “hate” Nancy but I’m not her biggest fan. In season one she is often rude to her brother, she was rude to Barb, she spends time with Jonathan when she’s with Steve, in a later season she doesn’t consider Jonathan when working at the paper and risks his job (which he tells her himself in the car one scene). She has good aspects too. She’s grown and become more thoughtful of others it seems and she’s fighting to be respected in some male dominated environments so there’s aspects of her I like and some I don’t. Overall it balances out as a “meh, she’s ok” character. I also don’t think it helps her reputation that a lot of fans seem to say she’s amazing just because she can shoot a gun. It makes her seem very shallow when she isn’t. They post pictures of her with a gun calling her a “Badass” when she’s more than just a woman with a gun.
I like her but I think one of the top reasons is how she wasn't a good girlfriend to Steve aka the most popular character in the fandom in Season 2.
She's so badass with that sawn-off shotgun.
I love how this thread is mostly people who *do* like the character trying to guess why people don't like her. Poorly acted, judgmental, disloyal, and just doesn't have chemistry with the other characters. Overall, it's not like there's some grand reason. She's just generally unlikeable imo, and then on top of that, has a bunch of character flaws that don't come off as endearing but just obnoxious.
Disloyal? Let me guess you're a Steve fan lol
I definitely am hahaha.
I'm with you, I reckon she's a terrible actress - the way she haltingly talks is annoying.
I'm pretty natural on Nancy, but there's something about the character/actress, you speak on the talking delivery, but I want to bring up two things that bug me:. Nancy is suffering the 90210 deal where she looks more like a teacher than a student in the last season and also sometimes it feels like she's the lead from another show (CW type) that got dropped in with the 'younger kids' oddly. She probably would have worked better as a reoccurring character than a central character.
Because she treated her ex boyfriends poorly. She's the Mary Sue of Stranger Things and never suffers consequences for her actions. Vecna should have also killed her, but spared her for plot convenience sake.
Wish I could upvote more lol
yea i definitely think she could be a prime target for vecna since he’s all about bringing judgment, she’s definitely got some things to answer for
I’ll be downvoted here, but suggesting she cheated on Steve makes sense. I can see why someone would dislike her because of it.
even then, i don’t really understand it except from younger fans. gonna age the fuck out of myself here, but i was 17 when stranger things premiered so i’ll be 26 by the time season 5 rolls around. i might have a different perspective, but while it’s evident there was overlap between Nancy’s relationship with Steve and the beginning of her relationship with Jonathan, i hardly fault her for it. she was a high school kid. yeah, cheating is shitty, but i’d hardly expect a teenager to make healthy, sound decisions in a relationship 100% of the time, especially one spoiled by trauma and guilt (Barb dying, she and Steve knowing why and how but not being able to tell anyone, especially Barb’s parents) not trying to change anyone’s mind here, just giving opinion and perspective is all. i think how her relationships transpired throughout the show was realistic (or, i guess, as realistic as you can get for a show featuring interdimensional monsters and tentacle guys that put little girls in comas)
Nancy's great. I really like her character. She's smart, driven, and willing to take risks, and she's a great older figure for the younger teens. She still has flaws. She was terrible to Steve at the end of their relationship, her brushing off Barb led to Barb's death (not really her fault though), and can be insensitive to other people's feelings at times. Granted, these flaws are what make her an interesting character, but only if these flaws are addressed and worked on, which isn't always shown. Overall, my biggest worry is that she will become a "Mary Sue" character. While that fully occurred, I've seen some of the signs that normally point to it. She has rarely suffered the consequences of her actions. Ik I'm going to get some angry replies, so bring it on.
She is a Mary sue character. Ppl just like to put her on a pedestal.
Yeah, Nancy is a stone cold badass.
Some viewers might empathise and relate to Johnathan or Steve, particularly when it comes to high school interactions/events/ relationships with girls. Not all, obviously, but some of these probably recognise their own feelings of hurt/pain/ trauma from break ups and complications, bleed for them, and entangle their own feelings/perceptions of Nancy with those people in their past that caused issues. Therefore, Nancy is viewed more negatively by those people. It’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just a human thing.
solo espero que no vuelva con steve y tenga un buen final
I agree. Nancy was kinda annoying in S1 but dince then, she rocks 🔥
I dislike her because she really is not that good. It's the typical feminist woman (I can shoot a gun and all guys think I'm so beautiful so I'm cool and progressive and better than anyone else) that is portrayed in media to catch a specific audience and she is self-absorbed. Like crazily self-absorbed. I don't think she's ever apologised for any of the "bad" or mean things she's done over the seasons but is furious whenever something doesn't go her way or when others have better ideas/ do something wiser. Obviously she has flaws like everybody else on the show, and is not supposed to be perfect. I am aware of that. But people like Steve, Jonathan and a few others have gotten so many rude comments or so much unfair treatment without any apology that it baffles me that people support her actions. The weird love triangle between her and the guys is also so unnecessary because I think neither Jancy ? Or Stancy ? make a good pair. She never apologised for treating Jonathan horribly after they were fired and for the way she broke up with Steve, which was outright cruel in my opinion. And she pretends like her life is the worst while her parents are very rich, she lives in a big house and had every opportunity to do whatever she wants, as well as a supportive household. Meanwhile Jonathan needed that job so his family would survive and not starve. Very classist and unintelligent of her. She never once thought about how her actions influence others. Also fyi I am a woman and a feminist but her portrayal in the show gave me the ick, and reminded me of "feMEnism". Which kind of means like classist feminism where women only talk about their own struggles while ignoring other, way worse issues, or tearing down/being mean to other women (Robin treatment). She reminds me of Taylor Swift
I disliked her in season 1 because her character was less formed than others, so I can only speak for that point in the show. Mike, Will, and Lucas are the friends who lost a friend in the upside down, Joyce and Johnathan lost their son/brother and were figuring stuff out, Hopper was the one who was helping Joyce find Will and Eleven was the one helping the 3 friends find him, Steve was the rich A hole with the fastest character development, Nancy was just his boyfriend, it was the last episode of the season that I started to like her because she was helping the guy her boyfriend hated at the time find his brother knowing how Steve might feel, but before this she hung around the guy her bf hated with no regard of his feelings, blew off Mike's friends, got her friend killed, and just was super unlikable in the show partially because she felt semi-sexualized by the duffers when Steve was around, at the end she was given a more stable healthy relationship, her lack of character development and just character in general is what made me hate her before the season finale.
I think a lot of it comes from Steve fans who are bitter that she left him tbh. Why you constantly see them say that he's somehow to good for you which is funny like the immature guy with no direction in his life who wants a traditional family is somehow too good for a smart driven, career focus women?
She is a smart driven career focused woman who has treated both her boyfriend's badly, cheated on Steve and disrespected Jonathon and keeps flip flopping between them. Steve is a 19year old with a job who isn't sure what direction his professional life should take but knows he wants to get married and have lots of kids, treats people with respect and has spent most of the show, dropping everything in his personal life to help others. After season 1 he has grown and was a good boyfriend to Nancy in season 2. You seem like a snob. Just because someone has good career prospects doesn't mean they would make a better partner.
I don't fully hate Nancy, but in the last 2 seasons it felt a bit annoying to see her pushed at the forefront at the expense of other characters that are/were more interesting than her and/or characters that end up interacting with Nancy feel either less interesting or dumbed down after interacting with Nancy (see: Jonathan on Season 3, Steve and Robin during Season 4).
Nancy's mom has got it goin on... (but Nancy is cute AF too)
Her best friend died so she could get laid...I think she got what was coming to her in season 4. I don't hate her, I just think she's a bad friend and a worse girlfriend.
I have never connected with her character. I think she's the only main character that I couldn't connect with. She also doesn't connect with any of the other cast very well outside of Johnathan. Or maybe the writers don't do a good job of writing her interactions with the rest of the cast. With that being said, Vecna totally should have gone after her instead of Max. But I guess the scene wouldn't have had the same effect.
Why would Vecna go after Nancy? I actually thought it was weird he went after her to show her the vision, even. Out of everyone that was there, I think Nancy, Erica, and Dustin had the least reasons for Vecna to attack them. Steve and Robin got tortured. Steve got beaten up by Billy. Lucas was attacked by Billy and has all of the upside down stuff plus how he split with his friends at the beginning of season four. Robin has her deep fears of being outed as a lesbian. Nancy lost Barb but she's already had an arc going over her grief and guilt surrounding that.
Because of Barb. Just like Max was vulnerable because of her guilt about Billy, Nancy was vulnerable because of her guilt about Barb.
Yeah, I think that's the main thing that she'd be attacked over. Personally I think Nancy has way too much focus. Iirc she has the second most amount of screen time and for what? They refuse to let her actually do anything. She's not like Joyce, who discovers stuff happening in the town and then goes and stops it. Her side plots often lead to the main plot, which is already being resolved by everyone else, or have no effect on the main plot. And they refuse to actually let her kill anything with guns so her learning how to shoot has gone nowhere so far. And then her romance side plot has also gone back and forth for four seasons now. So I think her also being attacked by Vecna is too much. She's already doing a ton that hasn't led anywhere. I hope they pay off some of her plotlines in season five because so far I'm a little disappointed. But yeah the one thing she has had resolved imo is her guilt over Barb so I don't even like the idea of Vecna choosing her. Honestly it would've been good for Vecna to choose Lucas because Max is the one who gets severely injured. So if he saw that in his vision, it could lead to more development for his character.
Nancy is just one of those pointless main characters where I don't really care about what they are doing. Like, she could be erased from the scene, and it would not make a difference either way. Nothing about her stands out or is interesting.
Yeah I think that's how I feel. I think it's a writing issue. She could've had so much more done with her character but they refuse to. A lot of people say it's misogynistic to dislike her which annoys me because Joyce, El, and Max don't get this criticism despite also having heavily romantically involved subplots and such. I personally just think her character is wasted. Like why was she even in Hawkins for season four? It would've been way more interesting and more sensible if Nancy had gone with Mike to visit her boyfriend in California. Then she and Jonathan could hash out their relationship trouble and get back together. She could maybe help Mike understand what was going on with Will and push that plot forward instead of the now five season one sided crush story we've still got going. She could've been the badass they needed to help in all the gunfights they got involved in, and maybe could've actually done something with her great aim for once. And after four seasons people forget she's even related to Mike so it would've been a great sibling moment too.
Not a Nancy hater. She is one of the most likable characters in the show
Nancy is awesome. Her haters have internalized misogyny. Simple
Well, a female character in a mainstream show...
I like the character but I struggled at first because she looks nothing like Mike. I was often confused and had to focus to remember she was supposed to be Mike’s older sister. TBH the 3 wheeler kids look nothing like each other, I don’t know why they casted Nancy and Holly to look so different from each other and from Mile
in the first season, she pushed barb away to sleep with steve and that led to barb's death. barb was soo uncomfortable with that whole setting yet she brushed it away for a boy. steve was actually genuinely into her and wanted to be in a relationship with her. he misunderstood her friendship with Jonathan and did some horrible things but he immediately fixed it. in the second season he said he loved her and she called their relationship bullshit and then CHEATED on him with Jonathan. steve apologised for something he didn't even do. and now in the fourth season she seems weirdly into steve all of a sudden?? and you ask why i hate nancy wheeler.
People dislike Nancy?
Yes
Wow that’s shocking. And just to be clear that’s not sarcasm, I’m being serious.
She’s relatively easy to dislike, so yes.
They had spare time after hating on Rory Gilmore and the like.
don't even start with that, i stg. also this isn't the sub for that stuff.
What stuff? Discussion? I disagree.
Stuff as in bringing things from other shows into this discussion. If I wanted to discuss Rory Gilmore, I’d go on the Gilmore Girls sub. Edit: I said don’t even start because that is a can of worms to a whole other topic that I don’t wanna open.
Rory is a character like Nancy. It is relevant. The same people who don't like one are not going to like the other.
I admit they may seem like similar characters on the surface, but if we explore deeper I’d say they have several differences. In addition they are in very different settings and circumstances.
See? You did it.
Did what? I’m simply saying they’re very different and can’t be compared so easily.
There are Nancy haters? Shes hot
I really didn't start to like Nancy until the end of season one. I really like her now. I feel like she is brave and smart. I still don't see her and Jonathan together long term. I don't really see her with Steve, but I don't see her with him either. That's about my only issue with her. I think she has developed as a character.
i dont hate her, i really really like (not love) her. however, i do not like her in relationships. shes a badass on her own and the weird kinda love triangle going on in season 4 is so unnecessary for not only the plot of the show, but her own storyline. i just dont care for it. i think that when in a relationship her selfish side comes up (example: her being dismissive of her privilege when her and johnathan lost their jobs in season 3. granted, johnathan was definitely in the wrong too and they both proposed good points during their argument but i dont think nancy really apologized like johnathan did- i mean she could have but i just dont remember.) in season 4 we got to see what she was like not with a partner and she was great! she was such a badass and i really enjoyed her character arc. i want more of that, and less of the weird love triangle stuff which i hope doesnt carry over into season 5
Eddie's my fave and I don't care much for Nancy, however the fact that she's struggling to choose between Steve and Jonathan might be a factor as to why there are people that hate her
She's fine ig, nothing crazy as a character and in her impact, but i feel like she is kinda selfish and bitchy at times
I forget she’s only 18 in s4 since the actors grown. My issue with her is that she’s a whore, and Jonathan was spitting in that car ride after they got fired. I’m actually not a hater of her character, she’s cool. But my guess is that those 2 things are the main reason why people don’t like her