As messy and sad and convoluted as Stranger Things Season 5 is, Lucas and Max’s reunion in “The Bridge” is a work of art in its most captivating form. It’s raw and vulnerable—achingly poignant. A moment that’s not only earned, but so perfectly executed that there’s absolutely nothing about it that doesn’t work. Sadie Sink and Caleb McLaughlin are two of the most skillful actors on the show, so pairing them together was one of the best decisions for the sake of the characters and the plot because everything they deliver hits.
And it especially hits in this scene. Everything that Max goes through with Vecna in Season 4 works brilliantly as a climax, and how we watch Lucas’ love evolve and grow is breathtaking. It’s indescribable, really. These kids experience far more trauma than they ever should in the few years we spend with them, but Max’s pain is particularly unthinkable. And Lucas’ loyalty, as well as how he stays beside her through everything, is undefinable.
In many ways, every version of Lucas and Max’s reunion would be evocative because their bond has been special from the start. As a character, Max is too important to lose. She’s a top three for me, but even if she’s lower in rank for other viewers, her significance is still prodigious. She matters to the story, and she matters to these characters. She matters to the viewers. She especially matters to Lucas.
From a writing standpoint, the bones are all present, but my God, how Sink and McLaughlin bring their A-game elevates every word on the page in an inimitable manner. You can feel the intensity of how overwhelmed Lucas is. You can feel the magnitude of how thankful Max is. You can feel the blanket that their love represents wrap itself all over you. It’s the single most evocative moment in the entire season, and this is coming from the same person who wept like a baby when Dustin begged Steve not to get himself killed in “Escape from Camozotz.”
Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” might be Max’s song, but we start to lose her as “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” plays while they’re on their way to Creel House. And how the lyrics “Someday love will find you / Break those chains that bind you” become a reality for her is so profoundly satisfying to tie up this arc that I could write a whole article on these lyrical connections alone.
But before we continue, I want to bring up pieces of our article for “Dear Billy,” where I’d written, “I’m still here—three words, but perhaps the most powerful in the entire season. This fight against Vecna isn’t Max’s first combat against darkness; as a victim of verbal abuse (and maybe even physical), Max has fought through more hurdles than any kid should, and as a result, she’s chosen to love harder. She’s chosen to hold onto the people she loves, and she’s chosen to fight for them. She isn’t accepted in the group easily when she comes to Hawkins in Season 2, but Max still tries—she continues giving people the benefit of the doubt, and she continues to try. And the episode’s title is proof of the fact that she’s still here.”
Max’s strength is all her own in a gorgeously empowering way, but today, Lucas is here, too. Lucas stayed. He stays. His loyalty and love help break the curses she’s put under and help unshackle every chain that binds her, giving her a safe space to know that the man holding her would rather die than ever let go. He’ll always find her, stay beside her, squeeze her hand at every chance he gets, begging and begging for her to wake up. To be with him. To stay. Their love is the very definition of how strength isn’t all about fighting on our own, but it’s also about the people who stand steadfastly beside us.
And the way Sink delivers her realization that it was Lucas’ love all along floored me. The way his immediate thought is to tearfully ask her if she’s okay and if she’s hurting anywhere, wrecked me. Her tears. His tears. All of our tears. It’s the type of scene where years from now, every time I watch it, I’m sure I’ll cry even harder. (I keep crying while trying to write this, so send help.) It’s not one that’ll get easier with time—it’s the kind that’ll continue to hit because the belief of two people caring about each other this immensely is a beautiful, hopeful thing to hold onto.
When we talk about the importance of romance in a narrative, this is what we mean. The sheer level of heart present in Lucas and Max’s reunion makes for the type of moment that underscores how vital it is to be surrounded by people who’d give anything for you. What would’ve happened to her if she didn’t have her person? For those who’d like to argue that romantic love isn’t as significant, let’s put it aside for a second. But without a family, no one would show up for Max the way Lucas did.
As much as her friends love her, Lucas is her person. He’s her other half. She’s his whole heart, beating right out of his chest, metaphorically and physically chained in a world far from his reach. Of course, he’d sit beside her through it all. Of course, he’d make every deal with every god known to man and replay a song he’s a thousand percent sick of to get her back home. It adds layers and depth to the story in a manner that cements its humanity. Because sorcerers and mind flayers and everything else aside, Stranger Things was always about a show that started with a group of nerds, isolated in their basements. It began as a group of outcasts, finding their way home. And Lucas and Max’s love is home. It’s everything. It’s deliverance from all that they’ve been through, and it’s the song they’ll play over and over again when everything else is questionable.
It’s perfect. Indescribable. Over and out, tears and all.
Now streaming on Netflix: What are your thoughts on Lucas and Max’s reunion in Stranger Things‘ “Escape From Camozotz?” Let us know in the comments below.
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