Netflix’sStranger Thingshas some of the most engaging TV characters, including Sam Owens, who has a big role in season 5 of the popular series. It’s true that many people come and go in Hawkins, Indiana, as the young characters figure out more about The Upside Down and its scary inhabitants. Still, Sam Owens stands out as a mysterious character and there is more to him than meets the eye.
From who Sam Owens is to his character arc to what happens to him at the end of the gripping, sometimes scary, and always season 4, there are many things that fans should remember about Owens before season 5 is available to stream.
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Who Is Sam Owens On Stranger Things?
Paul Reiser’sStranger Thingscharacter, Sam Owens, works for the US Department of Energy. He is a fascinating character because it’s unclear whether he can be trusted or not. WhileStranger Thingsseason 4 has great musicand frightening creatures, the character development is particularly impressive here, and that includes Owens’s arc. Owens has a particularly compelling relationship with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and while there are manyquestions about Eleven, like who her real father is, her dynamic with Owens is just as mysterious and fascinating.
After Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine) leaves as the Hawkins National Laboratory Director Of Operations, Owens is hired. He is a fairly important character in seasons 2 and 4, although he is in season 3 briefly. In all of his scenes, Owens is as shocked and terrified of the creatures like The Demogorgon as his colleagues.
Paul Reiser’sStranger Thingsrole is so much fun because it’s an homage to his character inAliens. He played Carter Burke in the 1986 sci-fi horror film, which is one of thebest horror movies of the 1980s. Both characters are spending time in a lab dealing with creatures who they can hardly believe they are looking at.
In 2017, Paul Reiser was interviewed byEntertainment Weeklyand said he loved hearing that Duffers Brothers called Sam Owens “Paul Reiser.” Reiser said of his character, “They told me who I was playing and they told me what they had in mind. It was sort of nebulous — is he a good guy or a bad guy?”
What Happens To Sam Owens In Season 4?
In season 4 ofStranger Things, Sam Owens seems to be on Eleven’s side. They talk at a diner and he says that he can be there for her and help her get her powers back, which she has been concerned about. He says that she has to be strong and save Hawkins. However, there’s an air of darkness within this conversation, as Eleven isn’t sure that she can believe Owens.Eleven’s bestStranger Thingsquotesshow her wisdom and she never stops looking out for her best interests as she knows that she can’t trust just anyone.
In episode 3 of season 4 called “Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero,” Lt. Col. Jack Sullivan (Sherman Augustus) tells Owens that he thinks that Eleven killed Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien). This is an early hint that Owens might not be as kind as he appears and that he might not actually be helping Eleven. However, at this point, Owens says that Eleven is dead.
When Owens brings Eleven to a location that is seemingly in the middle of nowhere, it turns out that this is a place called Project Nina. She begins to remember when she was younger and being experimented on by Dr. Brenner/Papa, which makes her have a terrible memory of the Massacre at Hawkins Lab.
Owens has a terrible and violent scene in season 4, as he fights with Colonel Sullivan, and is tied to a pipe. He isn’t freed and when Eleven uses her powers to allow a helicopter to crash onto the building, Owens is in there.
Is Sam Owens Still Alive?
It’s unclear if Dr. Sam Owens is still alive and if he will appear inStranger Thingsseason 5. While Dr. Brenner was the mostdisappointingStranger Thingsseason 4 death, if Owens did die in that accident, it would have made sense given the way that he betrays Eleven.
It’s hard to sympathize with a character who doesn’t understand the harm that Brenner’s experiments have caused Eleven. But if Paul Reiser’sStranger Thingscharacter Dr. Sam Owens does come back in season 5, Eleven will have to enact her revenge.
Paul Reiser was interviewed byE! Newsand shared that he isn’t certain if Owens will return in season 5 ofStranger Things. He said, “I literally don’t know. TheStranger Thingswriters' room tweeted out, ‘Hey, everybody, send us your thoughts for next season. What would you like to see?’ And I wrote in, ‘Can Dr. Owens live? Would that be possible?'”
