The following article contains spoilers for Season 4 of Stranger Things.
Season 4 of Stranger Things was packed with many twists and turns, some gruesome deaths, and big revelations about the Upside Down. It was expected that some of the main characters would lose their lives along the way, and the season offered a lot of foreshadowing to support fan theories, some of which was completely unnecessary. While several characters, some new and others old, faced death by the end of the season, there was one character whose demise was the most disappointing.
The second volume of Stranger Things’ Season 4 brought back Matthew Modine’s Dr. Martin Brenner, a.k.a Papa. Throughout the season, he seems to be helping Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven regain her power and save the world. What comes off as a redemption arc comes crashing down by the time the season ends, and Papa is back to his old ways of controlling El. He is the ultimate villain in her eyes, and while fans had to endure the loss of Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munson, Brenner’s death in Episode 8 was by far the most disappointing one, only because it was so anticlimactic.
Brenner was originally introduced in Season 1 of Stranger Things as the lead scientist of the top secret Hawkins National Laboratory. He is seen experimenting on young children, teaching them to master their psychokinetic abilities. From the get-go, his work was controversial in nature, as it seemed like the children were being held against their, and their parents’, will. Eleven was one of the test subjects, and Brenner constantly tested her limits. By the end of the season, Brenner was presumed dead after one of his experiments with Eleven unleashed the Demogorgon.
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As time went by, fans slowly forgot about Brenner, considering Eleven and her friends had much bigger problems to deal with. But, every time she used her powers, and was weakened by it, viewers were reminded of the multiple young children who lost out on their childhood due to the experimentation led by Brenner. Despite missing in action for two seasons, he remained one of the main antagonists of Stranger Things, mentioned in passing several times, and remembered by El as the father that ruined her life.
While the Upside Down was introduced in the first season itself, several questions about the parallel dimension were answered in the latest season of the extremely popular Netflix series. Brenner is seen pushing Eleven to use her abilities in glimpses from Season 1, and while at the time it seemed like he was trying to find the truth about the Upside Down, he was in fact using Eleven to look for 001 all along. It is revealed in the latest season that after witnessing a massacre in the facility, and learning of 001, a.k.a. Henry’s plans, Eleven banishes him to the Upside Down in a display of power that Brenner had never seen before.
It becomes obvious that 001 and Eleven are equally powerful, and a showdown between the two is imminent. But, when Brenner returned in Season 4, fans were surprised and angered at the same time. This was the same person who had made Eleven the way she was, and also caused a lot of trouble for the residents of Hawkins in the process. In 001’s words, “He was just a man... an ordinary, mediocre man.” But, in the process of seeking “greatness in others,” he created a monster. While he may not be directly involved in the many deaths throughout the series, it was his doing that ultimately led to them, thus making him equally responsible and one of the main villains.
All of his wrongdoings were enough for fans to theorize that he would be one of the characters to be killed in Season 4, and they weren’t wrong. When Project Nina, another top secret project led by Brenner, helps Eleven regain some of her powers, she wants to leave and help her friends who could potentially be in danger. Paul Reiser’s Dr. Samuel Owens is willing to help her, but they are both betrayed by Brenner, who handcuffs his colleague and drugs Eleven, forcing her to wear a collar that is supposed to inhibit her powers. However, he didn’t realize that the military was on his trail, and would arrive soon to ruin his plans.
After the military infiltrates the secret lab, Brenner tries to escape, carrying Eleven in his arms, a scene reminiscent of one in Season 1. The scene plays out in quite a clumsy fashion, as Brenner is seen trying to outrun a sniper on a helicopter through the vast desert. He loses the battle almost immediately, as the sniper shoots him in the chest. It seems like such an easy out for this antagonist who is responsible for several deaths, abduction and torture of several children, and the possible destruction of the world. Just when fans think it’s over, things get even more disappointing.
After Eleven manages to take down the helicopter, and her friends arrive to save her, Brenner unlocks the collar around her neck, as his one final act of redemption. The series almost tries to make his death an emotional one, with Eleven kneeling beside him and crying. Before he takes his last breath, he even asks Eleven for forgiveness. “You are my family. My child. I’ve only ever wanted to help you, to protect you. Everything I did, I did for you. I need you to understand,” he says in his final monologue. Simply asking for forgiveness does not make up for the heinous crimes he has committed over the course of the series, and yet somehow fans were moved by his words and almost felt sorry for him at that moment, which is truly a turning point for his character.
After everything that Brenner has done throughout Stranger Things, fans wanted to see the character pay for his crimes, and possibly even come face-to-face with 001. His death should have been a reflection of his crimes, not an emotional moment between father and daughter. The latest season of Stranger Things did not shy away from using violence and gore. As Vecna killed his victims, the young teens were literally broken apart limb by limb, and their eyes were punctured. Even fan-favorite character Eddie Munson was attacked by a swarm of monstrous bats. Then why did the creators choose to take the easy way out for Brenner? It doesn’t seem like there was a need to hold back. For an antagonist who has already evaded death once, it seemed like an easy cop-out to be shot in the chest by a random military personnel.
Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix.