A Fan-Favorite Stranger Things Character Nearly Died In The First Season

This article contains spoilers for the first four seasons of "Stranger Things."

"Stranger Things" conjures nostalgic images of summertime fun and breezy autumn days, but it seems oddly fitting that the first batch of episodes for season 5 are dropping on Thanksgiving. It's the final season of the Netflix sci-fi phenomenon, after all, which means having to say goodbye to the cast of characters that audiences have grown attached to over the past nine years. Fan favorite Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) was taken off the D&D board last season almost as quickly as he dug his way into people's hearts. But now, everybody's fair game when it comes to getting knocked off. Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) looks like he's ready to bring a whole lot of hurt upon Hawkins, and it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up being responsible for multiple deaths. Some of the main ensemble had even spent time as potential slabs on the chopping block in previous seasons.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer talked about how Sheriff Hopper (David Harbour) came close to being permanently wiped off the board in season 3. His return in the following season came about because they felt there was still more to explore. "It's important to us to be able to finish the stories we want to finish and not just be offing people for shock value," as Ross Duffer put it.

Would you believe, however, that another beloved character could have bitten the dust as early as season 1? Indeed, Steve Harrington got to live another day not because of plot reasons, but because Joe Keery's too darn likable. "We just fell in love with Joe Keery, but had we not liked Joe Keery, Steve would've been gone," Matt Duffer admitted.

Steve is a fascinating example of how a character can really come alive when an actor really brings themself to the role. Had there only ever been a single season of "Stranger Things," it might've made sense for the Duffers to consider killing him off. After starting out as a stereotypical high school boyfriend for Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Steve turns sour once he sees her spending time with the photography-obsessed Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton). Who could forget when he spray painted that derogatory attack toward Nancy on a movie theater marquee? By the end of season 1, however, he'd distanced himself from his toxic friends and even lent a helping hand toward fighting one of the Demogorgons.

Still, there would've been room for Steve to die in season 1, either before or after he made up for his bad behavior. By the time season 3 rolled around, though, the character had become one of the show's crucial (and charming) fixtures, along the way evolving into an irreplaceable partner for Robin (Maya Hawke). And even before that, Steve had already settled effortlessly into the role of an adopted big brother figure for the Hawkins Gang thanks to Keery's delightful presence. Really, come season 4, the character had more than put the work into becoming a better person who wouldn't dare repeat the same careless mistakes he made back in season 1. In that respect, killing him would've been a mistake on the level with getting rid of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in the first season of "Breaking Bad." The show would be completely different without him. We love our Scoops Ahoy boy!

The first four seasons of "Stranger Things" are currently streaming on Netflix.