Something raw has deeply resonated withStranger Thingsfans this season, namely the uphill struggle of its young cast dealing with the implications of trauma, isolation, and growing up. There’s an emotional aspect to the show’s fourth season that hasKate Bush’s ’80s track “Running Up That Hill” topping the Global Spotify in 2022, and it’sthanks toStranger Thing’s character Max.In an interview withVariety, actressSadie Sinkdiscussed her role as Max and the connection she has to the character. Sink talks through how she was able to find the proper headspace for a character arc as afflicted as hers, and what Max and her vulnerability mean to her.
While Netflix’s ’80s nostalgia seriesStranger Thingshas seen no shortage of hype since its premiere in 2016, Season 4 has taken fans beyond the charming D&D-campaign-come-to-life Upside Down. As The Party grows, so too does the plot and the emotional wreckage experienced by them. But what about Bush’s song has itgenerating such success decades later? A song that touches on dealing with internal pain, how helpless others can be watching their loved ones go through something traumatic, and the strength it takes to keep running uphill eerily mirrors the experiences of Max.
From her introduction in Season 3 Max has had a split storyline, dealing with her upended home life she kept secret from the others while joining forces against the Mind Flayer. When discussing the Season 3 death of Max’s brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery), Sink says, “It’s tricky, because he caused the most pain in her life for a really long time… I think what’s really haunting her is the fact that she thinks that it was somehow her fault.” On top of the survivor’s guilt, in Season 4, Max is grappling with the guilt of watching her brother die and being helpless to stop it. All of this culminates tothe epic fourth season’s fourth episodeand the haunting image of Max’s body hovering over her brother’s grave. In a race against time, Max’s life is ultimately in her own hands, and with the driving synth-backed melody guiding her, she races through Vecna’s lair and back into the arms of her friends.
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Isolation is a recurring theme in Season 4, from Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Will (Noah Schnapp) in California and Hopper (David Harbour) in a Russian prison camp, to Max’s self-isolation in Hawkins.This season’s infamous villain Vecnaeven targets and feeds off of the loneliness and trauma of his victims, making Max a prime victim. During the pandemic and filming, Sink went into lockdown and said, “I was living on my own. It was a new experience, and I was alone for a lot of the time. I think it helped me. In a weird way, there was a connection between me and Max this year with me living on my own and Max living in this intense isolation.” Audiences can sympathize, certainly, but nothing connects someone to a situation better than the heartbeat of music. Cue “Running Up That Hill” on Max’s Walkman and suddenly fans understand the heart-clenching emotions that Max is attempting to process as she loses interest in her friends, her boyfriend Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and school.
In Max, audiences have found someone to sympathize with. She understands that Vecna is coming for her, and she’s essentially “looking death right in the eye,” and still Max struggles to vocalize her vulnerabilities to the ones closest to her. Sink, who says “I’ve been with this character for the most formative years of my life… I really know her very well at this point,” points out that even under these dire circumstances Max would rather write her feelings down in letters meant to be read when she isn’t around than “have a sincere conversation with someone.”
It’s fitting that music is the antidote to the hopelessness that Vecna utilizes to trap his victims inStranger Things. Just the same way Max found solace and salvation in Bush’s song, audiences have tapped into that inspiration, too. “Running Up That Hill” has become an anthem of fighting demons and Max is the heroine sprinting away from Death itself in her Vans.
