Posted in: Netflix, Stranger Things, TV | Tagged: stranger things, stranger things 5

Stranger Things 5: Cara Buono Discusses Karen Wheeler's Brave Stand

Stranger Things 5's Cara Buono discusses the Duffers giving Karen a chance to shine in a key moment during the final season's first volume.

Cara Buono has been there from the very beginning on Netflix's Stranger Things since 2016 as Karen Wheeler, mother of Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and Holly (Nell Fisher), but has mostly been unaffected by the greater supernatural elements led by the Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) until now. As our heroes in Hawkins are trying to defeat him once and for all, he ramps up his game and grows more brazen in his attacks in the small town. Among his targets was inside the Wheeler household, and it was there when the often-aloof drunken mother decided to take a stand, holding a broken bottle at hand in the second episode of Stranger Things 5. Buono spoke to Variety about what is easily Karen's most badass moment of the Matt & Ross Duffer's series. The following contains spoilers.

Stranger Things 5 Star Cara Buono on Karen Defending [SPOILER] at the Wheeler Home

To set the scene, the heroes were trying to stay ahead of Vecna as he planned his next major move, which typically involved kidnapping or killing the local youth in Hawkins. Mike and Nancy were among those at the forefront, with the latter, psychically linked to the Vecna, sharing his vision with her, spelling Armageddon for the small town. When his next target is revealed to be Holly in the episode "Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler," he sends a Demogorgon after her. As Holly barely eludes its capture, she frantically seeks out her mother, who is initially dismissively drunk before her bath, before the demonic presence becomes too big to ignore. Both parents have their own separate last stands at their home, with Ted (Joe Chrest) wielding a golf club and Karen defending Holly with a broken wine bottle. The latter gets in a lot more shots before the Demogorgon deals with both of them handily, successfully dragging Holly into the Upside Down in the process.

When it came to why Stranger Things was so appealing, "I love science fiction, and I love D&D. It's just an instinct for me. I have a feeling. And then when I finally met the Duffers, I said, 'OK, these are my people.,'" Buono said. "I think I was one of the few people they didn't have to convince, because I was really gunning for it, and championing them. I liked the characters; I loved the story. It was one of those things I just read so quickly."

After Karen was largely kept in the dark about the supernatural terror plaguing Hawkins, Buono finally got her opportunity to shine. "I was emotional to read it. Of course, I always wanted Karen to be part of the storyline, and get in there and fight and be part of the action. They really leaned into that mom ferocity — like, this quiet character that we sort of underestimated, and then just giving her this moment of courage. I think the audience is going to be excited, but I don't think they're going to be surprised, in the sense that Karen is capable of doing it. I think they'll say, 'Yeah, of course — she's going to definitely defend her family.'"

For more on Buono's history on the series from her audition, initial thoughts on season four, being kept out of most of the main narrative, episode two's bathtub hiding from the Demogorgon scene with Fisher, and the aftermath of the attack at the hospital, you can check out the complete interview. Stranger Things part two of season five, which also stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobbie Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Saide Sink, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Brett Gelman, Priah Ferguson, and Linda Hamilton, premieres on Christmas Day, December 25th, with the finale on New Year's Eve, December 31st on Netflix.

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