How Stranger Things season 4 sets the stage for Nancy and Steve to get back together
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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 4.
Don't give up hope, Nancy and Steve shippers — there might just be cause to celebrate yet!
Season 4 of Stranger Things debuted on Netflix Friday, and it brought lots of changes for our Hawkins crew, particularly in the love department. As the season begins, we learn that Max (Sadie Sink) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) have broken up, Steve (Joe Keery) is still single and really ready to mingle, Robin's (Maya Hawke) got a new crush on another girl in band, and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo) are still going steady long distance, as are Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton).
As the season progresses though, the show continuously hints at an opening for Nancy and Steve to get back together. (Remember, Nancy broke up with Steve way back in season 2, and has been with Jonathan pretty much since).
Although they both initially put on a brave face to their friends, it becomes clear that all is not well for Nancy and Jonathan, who have grown apart with the long distance and life changes. Jonathan doesn't want to go to the same college as Nancy as the two have talked about, and though at first she denies it, she's miffed that he didn't travel to Hawkins to see her over the school break.
To add insult to injury, while Jonathan, his friend Argyle (Eduardo Franco), Will (Noah Schnapp), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) are all the way across the country, Nancy and her former beau (and his glorious head of hair) are forced to work alongside each other all season in Hawkins.
Netflix Nancy (Natalie Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), Eddie (Joseph Quinn), and Robin (Maya Hawke) in Netflix's 'Stranger Things'
The hints that they might get back together are everywhere, from Robin strongly insisting to Nancy that she and Steve are platonic (with a capital P!) friends and hinting that they should maybe give their romance another shot, to series newcomer Eddie Munson (Joe Quinn) telling Steve in the Upside Down about how Nancy was the first to dive into the dark waters to save him. "Now, I don't know what happened between you two, but if I were you, I would get her back, because that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen," he bluntly tells Steve.
The two never actually kiss or confess any feelings to each other in the seven episodes of season 4 released so far, but the sparks are flying. First, when Steve declares he'll be the first to dive down and see if there's a gate to the Upside Down beneath the water, he hilariously chucks off his shirt before taking a dive. While Lucas and Dustin are grossed out watching from shore with binoculars ("When did Steve get so hairy?"), the girls — including Miss Wheeler! — certainly don't seem to mind.
Then, Nancy is the first to save Steve from the creepy bat creatures in the Upside Down. She's also the one to bandage him up, and the two share a decidedly meaningful look as she does. Furthermore, when she, Steve, Robin, and Eddie are discussing their plan for getting out of the Upside Down, and Nancy recalls she has two guns in her bedroom — "a Russian Makarov and a revolver" — Steve walks up, still shirtless, and reminds her that she almost shot him with one of those guns. "You almost deserved it," she flirts back. The fireworks are too much for Eddie, who throws a shirt at Steve: "For your modesty, dude."
Will all of this culminate in a rekindled romance, or is Steve's heart doomed to break again? Here's to hoping episodes 8 and 9 provide some clarity to this love triangle when they release on July 1.
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