Stranger Things Season 3: Ranking Every Character From Worst To Best
11. Nancy Wheeler
It goes without saying that Nancy Wheeler is one of Hawkins’ best sleuths (perhaps second only to Joyce Byers). The first season saw her subvert a multitude of good-girl conventions to become a deliciously badass detective determined to figure out what happened to both Barb and Will, while the second saw her refine her goal as she transitioned into reporter territory.
She spent much of the third season in a similar position (this time solving the mystery of the fertiliser-stealing rats) and, for the most part, this was effective. Having said that, it all felt a little too self-aware of the fact that she needed obstacles to overcome, and thus created some predictable ones (the patriarchal male reporters who wouldn't believe her) which, in all honesty, weren't nearly as convincing an obstacle as the Demogorgon in Season 1.
Nonetheless, they served their purpose. Nancy's journey may be a predictable one, but it’s a character journey nonetheless – and that’s a lot more than some of the others got.