That hair. Unf. Those eyes. Hello. That baseball bat with the nails. Oh yes.
Everyone loves a good bad boy. It’s an oxymoron, perhaps, but in this case, Steve actually is a good bad boy. Or, at least, a “bad” boy turned good. If you’ve seen both seasons of the Netflix hit, “Stranger Things,” you understand Steve’s transformation.
At the beginning of the show, Steve Harrington was your typical 80s high school f*ck boy. He ran around with the wrong crowd, he convinced sweet, innocent Nancy to act not-so-sweet-and-innocent and he smashed Jonathan Byers’ (aka the most beautiful introvert to walk the Earth) camera. Quite honestly, his only redeemable quality was his hair, his face and his smile. You get the point.
Basically, Steve was playing out to be the villain of the sci-fi drama. But then! Oh, but then!
Then, our boy redeemed himself. Baseball bat swinging, Steve risked his life to save Nancy and Jonathan from the Demogorgon, and our ovaries exploded.
THANK GOD. Because we were all secretly (but, obviously at the same time) crushing on the guy, despite his less-than-admirable qualities. From that point on, though, he openly had our hearts, and he just kept getting better from there.
In season two, Steve Harrington, for the most part, shed his former jerk-like qualities. Although he did abandon drunk Nancy at their friend’s Halloween party, and potentially leave her in a dangerous situation. His anger (because he found out that she didn’t really love him) was understandable, even if his actions weren’t. Sensitive Steve is swoon-worthy, poor judgment Steve is not. Although, he is forgiven this time — let’s pretend he knew that Jonathan would end up taking Nancy home safely, yeah?
Overall, though, season two Steve turned a complete 180 from his first-season self. As the self-proclaimed “babysitter” of Mike, Dustin and the rest of the party, he unveils a new level of maturity not yet seen. Additionally, his ultimate bromance with Dustin is perfect – some fans have even gone so far as to call him “Dad Steve” because he becomes quite protective of the kids, often jumping in front of them whenever danger (or a demodog) strikes, and it’s sexy.
So, Steve, why do we love you? At its broadest, it’s because you are the most relatable character on the show. If any one of us were to be unknowingly thrown into a supernatural, horrifying nightmare-like situation, we would have reacted much like you did; freaked out, but begrudgingly willing to assist for the adventure. Then, turning into a total badass.
Of course, credit to the amazingness that is Steve Harrington needs to be given to the Duffer Brothers for creating such a dynamic character, and actor Joe Keery for both giving life to the d-bag turned dad and providing him with that glorious mane of his. “Stranger Things” fans everywhere thank you.
Photo credits: Cover image, 1, 2, 3