Here’s Why Enzo in ‘Stranger Things’ Looks So Familiar

The following contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Stranger Things 4.

The package is signed “Enzo,” the name of the restaurant where Joyce and Hopper had their “date” last season on Stranger Things. Joyce receives the package in Episode 1 of Stranger Things 4, taking the message as a sign—that Hopper is still alive, in Russia, and reaching out for help. “Enzo” turns out to be Soviet prison guard, Dmitri Antonov (Tom Wlaschiha), a somewhat disgruntled employee of the Red Army, hoping to supplement his measly Moscow paycheck with a long-distance hostage negotiation: $40,000 in exchange for Hopper’s transport back to America. Joyce decides why the heck not, and this season's most unnecessary storyline begins.

The storyline sees Joyce and Murray traveling to Alaska to find Yuri—Enzo’s middleman. The plan: fly with Yuri from Alaska to Russia, hand over $40,000 in a duffle bag, and then fly with Hopper back to Alaska. But that would only take a couple episodes. And so of course everything goes Demogorgon belly up.

In the meantime, we witness a blossoming bromance between Hopper and Enzo, just two dad bros living that imprisoned Siberian life.

Here’s what to know about the character and the actor that brought him to mock-Soviet life.

Who Is Enzo in Stranger Things 4?

Dmitri Antonov (“Enzo”) is a prison guard serving in Kamchatka, Russia, where the Soviets have built a large prison camp. The prison houses two notable captives—“the American” (Hopper, an apparent political prisoner after his sabotage of the Soviet lab in Hawkins) and a Demogorgon. The camp’s prisoners aid in the construction of a trans-Siberian railroad and occasionally act as food for the growing Demogorgon.

Enzo mostly works as guard on the railroad, and so doesn’t have access to the Soviet’s Demogorgon experiments. (Though, one imagines the soviets are training the creature as a weapon against the United States.)

Aside from his relationship with Yuri—a pilot who smuggles the Soviet soldiers peanut butter—we know little about Enzo’s life. At one point he mentions being a father.

Perhaps Enzo’s backstory will become more important in Season 4’s final two episodes.

Enzo Is Played by Actor Tom Wlaschiha

Many viewers will recognize the actor from another massive TV franchise. Wlaschiha played Jaqen H'ghar, one of the faceless assassins, in Game of Thrones.

Wlaschiha himself is neither from the Westeros land of Bravos, nor Soviet Russia. He is, however, from the former Soviet Union. Wlaschiha was born in Dresden, East Germany, in 1973. He came to the U.S. in 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In an interview with Metro.style, Wlaschiha said that despite Game of Thrones coming later in his career, it didn't feel like a massive change, at least at first.

He has since appeared in dozens of German and English film productions, as well as stage performances.

Wlaschiha says he's drawn to a particular type of character on the page. "When it comes to characters, I more prefer broken characters that encounter problems, going on a journey that is not easy. So most of the time, I find antagonists more interesting than the heroes."

We have a feeling his Enzo journey is only just beginning. Look out for more Wlaschiha when Stranger Things 4 comes back in July.

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