Stranger Things Creators Have Some Regrets About Killing a Certain Character

Over the course of four seasons, Stranger Things has managed to keep the majority of its characters alive and included in the story. The exceptions, of course, are supporting characters that enter and make an immediate impact with fans, only to be killed shortly after appearing. Both Barb and Bob saw their runs on the show end early, resulting in plenty of heartache from the show’s fans. The recently released fourth season saw another character become a fan-favorite and immediately meet a dark fate, and the show’s creators actually regret taking them off the board so soon.

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Stranger Things 4! Continue reading at your own risk…

Chrissy the cheerleader, the de facto queen of Hawkins High, died at the very end of “Chapter 1” of Stranger Things 4, acting as the first victim for the terrifying Vecna. That was always the plan, but creators Matt and Ross Duffer noticed the chemistry actress Grace Van Dien had with Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munson and realized they made a great pairing, but it was already too late. The scene that featured Chrissy’s death was filmed before Chrissy and Eddie’s drug deal in the woods.

“We always have those moments [of ‘What have we done?’],” Matt Duffer told TVLine. “We shot the quote-unquote drug-deal scene in the woods pretty late, actually, into shooting.” Ross Duffer went on to add, “we had already killed Chrissy when we shot that.”

The Duffer Brothers never expected the bond between Chrissy and Eddie to resonate so deeply with fans, but they saw the chemistry between Quinn and Van Dien during the scene in the woods.

“The scene came alive in a way that was just so beautiful. And so much of that was Joe and Grace,” Matt Duffer said. “It was just one of those fortunate scenes where we were able to have two cameras rolling capturing them simultaneously. Joe was doing a lot of stuff kinda spontaneously, and we were getting these amazing reactions from Grace.”

What did you think of Chrissy and Eddie’s chemistry? Would you have liked to see them continue their story throughout the season? Let us know in the comments!