Stranger Things: 10 Reasons Billy Hargrove Should Have Lived

Season three of Stranger Things was a continuation of the thrill ride that the show has taken its audience on for the two seasons prior, but one of their supporting characters and antagonists from season two really came to the front and center of the story for season three. The terrifying, occasionally borderline insane bully Billy Hargrove did a lot to terrorize his stepsister Max, Steve Harrington, and the rest of the party in season two, but he was unfortunate enough to run across the Mind Flayer in the season three opener and become his leading flayer for the rest of the season.

Billy unsurprisingly didn’t survive the season, but killing him off so quickly and in the way they did seems like a pretty major misstep. His character was still ripe with potential that will now go unused, and there were a lot of aspects of his characterization and storyline that needed a resolution that he’ll apparently never get. So here are 10 reasons why Billy Hargrove should have lived.

10 Because He Was Their Only Normal Antagonist

One of the most compelling and enjoyable aspects of Stranger Things as a TV show is that it pretty seamlessly blends the fantastical with the banal. The cast of characters is a ragtag group that we can all relate to on some level, even though they find themselves in utterly unbelievable situations all the time.

And while the gang spends most of their screen time fighting against evil government agents or inter-dimensional beings, in a weird way it was a nice reprieve to have a character like Billy. Sure he’s an antagonist, but he’s the kind of antagonist that will be familiar to the audience.

9 Because The Neverending Story Shouldn’t Be Responsible For Murder

A pretty large proportion of the Stranger Things fan base has picked up on something that is kind of equal parts sad and ridiculous. Not to disparage Dusty bun and Suzie (because they’re awesome and totally deserve each other), but Suzie’s insistence that Dustin give her a full-length heartfelt rendition of the theme song to The Neverending Story when things are finally coming to a head with the Mind Flayer indirectly resulted in both Billy and Chief Hopper dying.

Had they not wasted that extra time on a sudden interstate musical number then the entire crew would have likely been able to defeat the Mind Flayer and kept everyone alive.

8 Because Billy Was Dealt A Bad Hand

Billy’s introduction into the Stranger Things world made him out to be a kind of Steve Harrington from season one on steroids. He was the new popular guy who loved to terrorize the losers of the school, but he had a readily apparent dark streak that indicated something much deeper was going on. It wasn’t until the very end of season two that his deep dark secret was revealed.

Billy Hargrove, the new town stud/psycho, was just an abused kid taking out his rage and confusion on anyone and everyone who set him off. And unfortunately he never moved beyond that, because he died.

7 Because He Should Have Had To Deal With Being A Dick

Billy didn’t get a fair start in life to be sure, but that isn’t something that can excuse his actions either. The abuse that was inflicted on him was wrong, but the abuse that he inflicted on others was also undeniably wrong.

Throughout his journey on seasons two and three Billy didn’t seem like someone who had many moments of self-insight, and while there were subtle indications that he may have regretted his actions at certain points the only clear moment of change was the few moments before he died. But it would have been better character development to have him actually have to accept his behavior and make amends with everyone he’d hurt.

6 Because Of Dacre Montgomery

Dacre Montgomery did a good job of establishing Billy Hargrove as a confused teenager who could appear to be completely psychotic or totally charming depending on his mood at the moment in Billy’s debut season on the show. But Dacre Montgomery did an incredible job of portraying that character and the character of the Mind Flayer AND the character of Billy Hargrove possessed by the Mind Flayer in season three.

His possession storyline definitely gave Montgomery the chance to show off his considerable acting chops, and the kind of actor who can simultaneously play many characters at once is not the kind of actor you want to write off of your show.

5 Because He Was An Interesting Character

It would be unfair to say that the majority of the characters on Stranger Things have pretty idealized or awful lives, but they do tend to exist on two ends of the spectrum. Either their life experiences are completely extraordinary and insane (like El and Will) or their lives seem to be happy and ordinary (like the rest of the party).

What made Billy an interesting addition to the show is that he was somewhere in the middle. His life was far from idyllic, but his problems were also the kind of issues that many people can understand and relate to on some level.

4 Because It Would Have Been Cool To See Him In The Group

It’s a little too easy to compare Billy with Steve, but they really do seem to parallel one another in a lot of ways. Steve was an antagonist for most of the first season, but once he was pulled into the supernatural drama that everyone else was dealing with it kind of forced him to integrate with the rest of the group.

Billy was also unwittingly pulled into the El vs. Mind Flayer smackdown, and it would have been intriguing to see how he coped with the knowledge of what exists out there in the world and knowing that the only people he could really relate to about it were people he had tormented.

3 Because Hopper Stole His Thunder

It seems like the vast majority of Stranger Things viewers are rightfully skeptical about whether or not Jim Hopper actually died at the end of this season, but just the mystery of what happened to him and if he really was killed or not kind of stole the thunder from Billy’s death.

The fight between the Mind Flayer and everyone else was a high stakes battle so it made sense for the human contingent to take some losses, but it seemed like a bit of a waste of the narrative resources to off two of the major characters back to back, and losing a supporting antagonist will obviously be overlooked if the male lead dies immediately afterward.

2 Because We Saw Too Little Of His Backstory

El’s little journey through Billy’s mind was one of the more interesting parts of season three, and the whole fight with Neil and obviously dysfunctional dynamic of the entire Hargrove-Mayfield household laid a lot of groundwork for a rich and emotionally complex storyline.

But now that Billy’s dead it seems like that’s a storyline no one is ever going to see. Stranger Things has actually been shockingly light on the backstories of most of their characters, but when it comes to Billy it feels like they gave the audience just enough information to intrigue them without ever actually giving that intrigue some payoff.

1 Because Death Doesn’t Automatically Mean Redemption

This trope is actually astoundingly overused in television and film at this point, so it would have been nice to see Stranger Things take a different direction when it came to Billy. When writers introduce an antagonist to their narrative it’s exceptionally common that they’ll redeem that antagonist by letting them sacrifice their lives for the greater good in some way, but that’s really a bit of a cop-out.

Demonstrating the capacity for some kindness and compassion doesn’t automatically erase everything terrible someone’s done, and it would be a lot more interesting to see a villainous character who has to do more to earn their redemption than have one last moment that’s actually decent.