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Stranger Things 5: Caleb McLaughlin on Lucas/Max, Sadie Sink & More

Stranger Things 5 star Caleb McLaughlin reflects on his journey as Lucas Sinclair, his relationship with Sadie Sink's Max Mayfield, and more.

As our heroes in Hawkins try to stand toe-to-toe with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), it's easy to get lost in how many close calls we've had these last two seasons, with season four and the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. In perhaps what was the most visceral blow in the series, Vecna nearly claimed one of them in the season four finale, leaving them in a coma, facing uncertainty. As we prepare for that final episode on New Year's Day, the gang is finally reunited, and Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Lucas Sinclair, spoke to Deadline about having his emotional moment, but the fight is far from over, as the crew is ready to take down Vecna. The following contains major spoilers.

Stranger Things Star Caleb McLaughlin on Shining in His Emotional Moment and His Part in the Rescue

Unless you've been living under a rock, that victim is Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), as we discover at the start of season five that she was trapped in a coma for over two years. What we come to discover is that Max is stuck in Vecna's mind, but finds salvation in a canyon that he dares not visit while trying to plan her next move, study him, and escape in the process. As we discover in season five, part one, she was really close to escaping thanks to Lucas's efforts to keep playing Kate Bush's Running Up the Hill from a boombox next to her hospital bed in hopes a window would come when she regained consciousness.

That opportunity came in the form of Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher), who Vecna recently captured as part of his devious plan to tap into multiple children to enact his plan to "remake the world" from his sanctuary, known as The Abyss, a separate plane from the Upside Down. Holly offers that fresh perspective that Max didn't have in her two years trapped there. As the two find their portals to escape, Max jumps into hers as Lucas redoubles his efforts to reach her and reaffirms his devotion to her.

Before that, Vecna catches up to Max and Holly as he has Max in a familiar chokehold, reminding her he can hurt her in other ways, which means sending three Demodogs after her real body, but not before Lucas flees with Max's unconscious body. After getting reunited with Robin (Maya Hawke) and her girlfriend and nurse, Vickie (Amybeth McNulty), the four are trapped in the hospital's laundry room being stalked by the Demodogs when they're saved by a roused Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono), who ran a dryer with an oxygen tank, exploding it to take them out. Max comes to shortly afterward as she and Lucas share tender words in their reunion.

As far as McLaughlin's scenes with Sink, "I mean, even [Max] being in the coma in Episode 2, I guess she was still there, but last year, we rarely saw her. That moment, it almost felt real, because I wasn't around her for so long. You miss your friend when you're on set. You miss the camaraderie you both have," he said. "So I think with that, seeing that emotion that I had [access], to the state of mind that I had to be in, was a different emotion from Season 4, when he was losing her. In this moment, it was more of an emotion of relief and joy…it wasn't sadness, it was happiness. But then also, at the same time, that feeling of loss, because now everything that he was feeling, he can now have this release."

When Max comes to, "Yeah, he was able to be there for her when that happened. Like, 'I never gave up. I never doubted a moment,'" McLaughlin said. "And also, like, even I felt that he was still trying to hold it in [when she woke up], because he didn't want to be the one crying. He had to be strong for her." For more on having the cast finally together before their plan for the finale, how he feels about the show's ending, filming Noah Schnapp's coming out scene as Will, his future, and more, you can check out the entire interview. The Stranger Things finale will be released simultaneously in theaters and on Netflix on New Year's Eve.

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