Since the writers didn't let the characters delve any deeper into the convo, the audience can only speculate.Īnother example of Stranger Things' touch-and-go relationship with race and racism in season two was when Lucas faced violence from his girlfriend Max's brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery). It was also unclear why Lucas didn't want to be Winston or if Lucas' rejection of Winston was about not being pigeon-holed or if it was about dealing with the underlying anti-Blackness that often comes with being the only Black kid around. While Lucas stood his ground and was determined that he didn't have to be Winston just because he was Black, the story kept moving forward and the situation was never really addressed again or resolved it's possible that no one ended up being Winston since none of them wanted to be the Black Ghostbuster. Mike's unspoken reasoning was that Lucas and the Winston character are both the Black friend of their groups, a fact that Lucas insisted was insignificant to determine which of the Ghostbusters the four friends should dress up as for Halloween. In the Halloween episode in the second season, the show seemed to begin introducing its version of purposeful racial discourse when Lucas confronted his white friend Mike (Finn Wolfhard) about Mike's insistence that Lucas dress up as Winston for their Ghostbusters -themed costumes. But the way the show handles the race of its two Black kids in a lily-white town-and the way it handles racism-leaves much to be desired. After a fan-favorite guest-starring spot in season two, Lucas' little sister Erica (Priah Ferguson) got an expanded role in season three, making two Black characters significant to the Stranger Things plot. The one consistent Black lead in the group is Lucas, played by Caleb McLaughlin. Netflix's hit show Stranger Things is an '80s-set sci-fi thriller which features a group of kids in Hawkins, IN, battling government agents and otherworldly monsters from The Upside-Down dimension.