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Mar 24, 2020 · CAROLINE QUENTIN is an English actress and TV presenter who is known for her role as Maddy Magellan in the BBC series Jonathan Creek. But why did Caroline Quentin leave Jonathan Creek? By Katie...
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Jonathan Byers, portrayed by Charlie Heaton, is a main character in Stranger Things. He is the oldest son of Joyce Byers, the older brother of Will Byers, the eventual boyfriend of Nancy Wheeler, and the best friend of Argyle.
In the fall of 1983, Jonathan's younger brother, Will, vanished without a trace due to Jonathan working late. Will's disappearance made Jonathan guilt-ridden for not being there and would soon take a toll on his relationship with his mother, who insisted Will was trapped in the walls and taken by a monster with no face. Jonathan dismissed Joyce's claims as a sign of a mental breakdown and took it upon himself to take care of the funeral arrangements upon Will's "body" being recovered from the town quarry. However, he realizes his mother was telling the truth after his classmate, Nancy Wheeler, began claiming her best friend was also taken by said monster. After reconciling with his mother, Nancy and Jonathan turned the Byers home into a booby trap to lure and kill the monster. With the help of Jonathan's former bully and Nancy's boyfriend, Steve Harrington, the trio lit the monster on fire until is vanished. Soon after, Will was rescued from the dimension and was reunited with his brother and mother.
In the fall of 1984, Jonathan struggled to both see the appeal in his mother's boyfriend, Bob Newby, and comfort his traumatized brother. After seeing Nancy struggling to keep secret of the government agents responsible for Barbara's death, Jonathan bands together with her to expose Hawkins Lab alongside journalist Murray Bauman. In the process, the two slowly begin to embrace their romantic feelings for another. Returning home, Jonathan and Nancy assist Joyce in freeing a possessed Will from another entity from the Upside Down known as the Mind Flayer. A month later, Nancy and Jonathan have become an official couple.
In the summer of 1985, Jonathan and Nancy have gotten summer jobs as interns for The Hawkins Post. Jonathan tried his best to comfort Nancy, who was subjugated to sexism by their co-workers, but believed that pursuing a story about "diseased rats" wouldn't prove anything and would only get them in trouble. Despite this, he reluctantly joined his girlfriend in investigating Mrs. Driscoll's claims that sick rats are eating fertilizer, only to get fired by their boss, Tom Holloway. This puts a strain on Nancy and Jonathan's relationship, as Jonathan angrily tells her that she doesn't understand how important a job is to his family compared to Nancy, who is very privileged. The next day, however, Nancy calls Jonathan to tell him that the rats are connected to the Mind Flayer, causing him to join her, their siblings and friends to defeat the Mind Flayer once again. During this, Jonathan profusely apologizes to Nancy, and they reconcile. Three months after killing the Mind Flayer, Jonathan moves out of Hawkins with his family, and tearfully says goodbye to Nancy.
Background
Jonathan was born to Lonnie and Joyce Byers in Hawkins, Indiana, in 1967. Jonathan has mentioned that although "Joyce and Lonnie loved each other at some point, he wasn't around for it", meaning his parent's marriage was already a mess to begin with. On March 22, 1971, Jonathan's younger brother, William "Will" Byers, was born. By 1973, six-year-old Jonathan desired to go NYU to study photography. Although Jonathan and Will were close to both each other and their mother, Lonnie was extremely unsupportive of both of his sons' interests. On Jonathan's tenth birthday, around 1977, Lonnie made Jonathan go hunting with him, forcing his son to kill a rabbit and making him cry for a week, mentioning to Nancy that he was "a fan of Thumper" from the movie, Bambi. By 1982, Lonnie abandoned his family and moved to Indianapolis. The day he left, Jonathan and Will spent the day building Castle Byers in the woods, using Will's drawing as a blueprint. The fort took time to built due to Will struggling to use the hammer, and despite it beginning to rain, the boys managed to finish the fort, and the two eventually got sick for a week afterward. One day, after Lonnie skipped out taking Will to a baseball game, Jonathan played a mixtape he made for him, including the Clash single, "Should I Stay or Should I Go", a song Will loved. Hearing their mother arguing on the phone with Lonnie, Jonathan shuts the door. When Will asks if Lonnie is coming, Jonathan asks if he even likes baseball. Will says no, but explains that sometimes it's fun to go with his father. But Jonathan asks if he ever lets Will do what he wants to do, like the Arcade. Jonathan then tells him that he shouldn't be forced to do things because people want him to, especially not their father. But Jonathan asks if he likes the Clash, to which Will happily says yes. Jonathan cranks up the volume, and the two jam out together on his bed.
1984 - 1985
Sometime before the summer of 1985, Jonathan and Nancy got jobs as interns at The Hawkins Post, getting the position as the newspaper's photographer. However, despite this, Jonathan disapproved how his male colleagues coldly treated Nancy as they were all misogynists expect for Jonathan. Whenever Nancy was cruelly insulted or belittled, Jonathan always came to Nancy's aid and comforted her, but did not stand up to his co-workers as Jonathan feared of getting fired if he tried to stop his girlfriend's cruel treatment inflicted by his co-workers.
Jonathan is smart, introverted, asocial, kind, independent, and brave. Despite being a small-town boy, according to Joyce, he wants to go to college at New York University. He has a strong bond with his family and is implied to have a soft spot for animals, as he cried for a week after his tenth birthday when his father forced him to kill a rabbit on a hunting trip. He also has a keen interest in music, creating several mixtapes for himself and his brother, and is an aspiring photographer.
In 1984, Jonathan's personality managed to change a little bit. He became protective of Will, but not as much as his mother. He even encouraged Will to not let his differences bother him and that it's okay to be different not matter what. Jonathan tries to be by his brother's side despite it being difficult as Jonathan noted that Will has changed a lot since his time in the Upside Down. Jonathan was also not too happy with his mother's relationship with Bob Newby as both he and Joyce suffered from constant verbal abuse from his father than Will ever did. Jonathan also became friends with Steve Harrington and was on good terms with him. Jonathan also developed feelings for Nancy Wheeler who shared his trauma, but struggled to accept them until he was encouraged by Murray Bauman. And by a month later, Jonathan was happy to start a relationship with Nancy.
In 1985, Jonathan had become a devoted boyfriend to Nancy as he was willing to help and take care of her while they both worked at The Hawkins Post. Jonathan disapproved of how his co-workers treated Nancy and always comforted after she was insulted while trying to stay loyal to his job. Jonathan was even willing to assist Nancy in gaining respect from their co-workers, but when Nancy started to go through such lengths to earn the approval, she believed she deserved, Jonathan became reluctant and worried that Nancy was not making the right decisions. When Nancy's determination led to the both of them getting fired, Jonathan angrily blamed Nancy for costing him his job and means to support his family, thus putting a strain on his relationship with her. However, when informed that the Mind Flayer had returned to Hawkins and that both of their brothers could be danger, Jonathan did not hesitate to work with Nancy to protect their brothers and friends while stopping the Mind Flayer. This allowed Jonathan to make amends with Nancy for not fully supporting her and Nancy to apologize for criticizing him, as the two rekindled their relationship.
In 1986, Jonathan had grown to be more carefree and relaxed upon meeting his new best friend, Argyle, beginning to smoke weed with him daily and hiding it from his mother by wearing sunglasses. In turn, he became more goofy and unaware of his surroundings, much to his brother's frustration. His smoking of weed stemmed from his strained long-distance relationship with Nancy, as they both originally planned to attend Emerson College in Massachusetts. He eventually revealed to Argyle that he didn't even apply to Emerson, instead choosing to go to Lenora Community College locally in order to be closer with his family. He didn't want to chase a dream with Nancy that wasn't his, and further revealed that he was planning on ending things with Nancy, believing that if Nancy followed him, she would grow bitter and the pair's relationship would form into Joyce and Lonnie's poor marriage. As the search for Eleven progressed, however, Jonathan slowly grew out of his habit, getting easily annoyed by Argyle's antics. He also slowly started to notice how Will was struggling with his sexuality and revealing his feelings to his best friend, Mike. In turn, Jonathan apologized for not being there for Will, saying that he had been distant due to prioritizing his silly antics, and promises Will that he'll always be there for him and love him no matter what, causing Will to weep and embrace him. Upon traveling across the country to save Nancy and his friends, Jonathan displayed his love for his girlfriend when reuniting with Nancy, but still failed to admit the truth about his Emerson acceptance letter, and also becoming worried about their relationship after Nancy admits admiration of Steve's maturity.
•High-Level Intelligence: Jonathan is shown to have an above-average level of intellect in planning out strategies, options, and tactics in desperate situations. When his brother went missing, he went in the woods to find any clues by taking photos of everything unusual he found and when Nancy asked for his help about her friend Barbara going missing after he edited her picture and saw that the creature known as the Demogorgon took her and Will into the Upside Down and planned to go after it. He used a map to mark all known areas the monster travels and knew it’s next current location then on the day after, Both he and Nancy went to a hunter store for tools and supplies to as a trap to destroy the Demogorgon in his house and took his mother's advice that when the lights go off it would arrive, then when it got caught in the bear trap they set it on fire as their tactic which worked.
•Expert Photographer: As a hobby Jonathan is an excellent camera photographer as he prefers to observe people instead of talking to them for he said when he captures the right moments, he could read them better. He sneaks in the woods near Steve Harrington's and takes multiple photographs of everyone in the pool, Nancy and Steve were in his bedroom, including Barbara near the pool alone then edited all of them in perfect shape. He managed to get great pictures at a virus carrying rat before it exploded by the Mind Flayer.
•Skilled Investigator: Jonathan is very skilled, in doing detective work. He was capable to reconstruct a crime scene in Heather’s house by mind looking at the blood, chemicals, and materials around the scene of everywhere.
•Craftsmanship: When getting in preparation for setting up a trap for the Demogorgon, he took nails and hammered them to a baseball bat creating a spiked melee weapon to use against it with ease.
•Gunmanship: He has basic proficiency in wielding a firearm, as he used to go hunting with his father when he was 10 and shot a rabbit as his first kill.
•Hand-To-Hand Combatant: Jonathan is very skilled in using his bare fists in fighting against opponents in close combat. He demonstrated this ability when being provoked by Steve and punched him in his face, hits him harder after getting attacked a few times which caused him a concussion, and placed scars/bruises to his face. Jonathan defeats Steve in the process.
Familial
Lonnie Byers Jonathan had a complicated and spiteful relationship with his father, Lonnie. Like Will, Lonnie forced Jonathan to do "manly" activities, forcing him to hunt on his tenth birthday and making him kill a rabbit, causing Jonathan to cry for a week. It's implied that Lonnie and Jonathan have gotten in physical altercations, as when Jonathan pushed off Lonnie when searching his house for Will, Lonnie commented that he had "gotten stronger". Upon his parents' divorce, Jonathan took over Lonnie's role as a father figure in Will's life, actively encouraging Will to like what people deem "not normal" and telling him that Lonnie was the last person to tell Will what he should like. In the fall of 1983, Jonathan took it upon himself to investigate Lonnie's home in Indianapolis, frustrated over his father's lack of urgency that Will was missing and coldly gave him a missing flyer poster. When Lonnie returned to Hawkins for Will's funeral and tended to a seemingly mentally unwell Joyce, Lonnie sternly told Jonathan to stop encouraging Joyce's claims of a monster taking Will, while also telling him to take down his poster of The Evil Dead. When Joyce discovered that Lonnie only returned to Hawkins to get lawsuit money off of Will's death, Lonnie lied by saying they could use the money for Jonathan's college fund, only to reveal that he didn't even know that Jonathan wanted to go to NYU since he was six. In the fall of 1984, when Jonathan met with Murray Bauman with Nancy Wheeler to expose Hawkins National Laboratory, Jonathan confirmed that Lonnie was an asshole, showing his ill will towards his father. Murray also questioned if Jonathan's hesitance to admit his feelings for Nancy stemmed from his trust issues of his father, showing that Jonathan feared becoming like Lonnie. In the spring of 1986, as Jonathan dealt with the stress of college and continuing his long-distance relationship with Nancy, he revealed that breaking up with Nancy would be the best option since if things kept going further, he and Nancy would end up like Joyce and Lonnie, showing that he continued to fear becoming like his father. Joyce Byers Though Joyce deeply cared for her eldest son just as she did for Will, she felt guilty that she had been unable to support him more, due to her time-consuming job. Joyce admitted to Jonathan that "I hardly know what's going on with you". After Will vanished, Joyce's sanity was tested, and in turn so was the relationship between her and her remaining son. However, Jonathan does care for his mother greatly, going as far as fighting Steve for insulting her and Will. When Jonathan realized that his mother was telling the truth about Will being alive, he apologized and the two reconciled, where they managed to reunite with Will after his rescue from the Upside Down. In 1984, Jonathan continued to have a good relationship with his mother as they both became protective of Will (though Jonathan was less protective of Will than his mother). However, Jonathan did not support his mother's relationship with Bob Newby as he did not understand what she saw in him. After discovering Will's possession of the Mind Flayer, Jonathan worked with his mother to free Will from the Mind Flayer by burning it out of him. When putting Will under so much heat did not work, Jonathan begged his mother to stop the process and nearly freed Will until Nancy stopped him by showing the Mind Flayer developing black veins on Will's neck. When a possessed Will started to strangle Joyce, Jonathan tried to save his mother before she was saved when Nancy burnt Will. After Will was freed from the Mind Flayer, Jonathan embraced both his mother and brother. A month later, Jonathan playfully used a video camera to record his mother and Will practice dancing for the Snow Ball. In 1985, Joyce seemed happy for Jonathan when he has a girlfriend. She wiped the lipstick of his cheek and doesn’t seem to mind that Nancy spent the night with him. When she heard that her kids are in danger, she, Hopper, Murray and Alexei raced back to Hawkins to save them. Jonathan was put in charge by his mother to take care of Will. After the event, Jonathan moved out of Hawkins with his mother and brother. In 1986, though Jonathan continued to have a good relationship with his mother, he began to smoke weed to deal with his stress over college and his relationship with Nancy. Jonathan kept his use of drugs and stressed feelings a secret from his mother as she was busy with her new job and would not approve of him doing drugs. At the beginning of spring break, Jonathan was put in charge by his mother of watching over Will, Mike, and Eleven as she had to go to a "conference" in Alaska. Though Jonathan was high when Joyce told him this, he accepted this responsibility and managed to hide his high state as feeling tired. When returning to Hawkins, after temporarily defeating Vecna, Jonathan was reunited with his mother and shared an embrace with her. Will Byers Jonathan is Will's older brother by four years. Due to their father's absence, Jonathan became a role model and a substitute father for Will. After Lonnie failed to take Will to a baseball game, Jonathan gave Will a mixtape with what would become Will's favorite song, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go". When they heard Joyce arguing on the phone with Lonnie, Jonathan shut his bedroom door. Will asked if their father wasn't coming, and Jonathan asked if Will even liked baseball. Will said he didn't but tried to say it was fun to go with their father sometimes. Jonathan than asked if Lonnie did what Will wanted to do, such as the arcade. Jonathan said that Will shouldn't be forced to like things because people tell him to, especially not their father. Jonathan then asked if Will legitimately liked The Clash, and Will happily confirmed so. The brothers turned up the volume on Jonathan's stereo and began jamming together. In 1982, the day Lonnie left the Byers' home permanently, Jonathan and Will built Castle Byers together, using Will's drawings as blueprints. Jonathan found Will struggling to hammer funny, and the two continued to built the fort even after it began raining and got sick afterwards. In 1983, Jonathan had picked up an extra shift and failed to make sure Will got home safe, causing Will to be abducted by the Demogorgon. The day afterward, Jonathan and Joyce looked all through the woods for Will. That evening, Jonathan brought out photos of Will to make wanted posters. Joyce, noticing Jonathan sobbing quietly, asked him what was wrong. Jonathan, through his tears, said that he should have been there for his brother, but Joyce comforted him and told him it was not his fault. Jonathan is frazzled and emotional when Joyce believed she heard Will on the end of the phone, only for the phone to shock Joyce and become charred. The next day, Jonathan asked Hopper if he could personally go to Lonnie's home since Will was good at hiding, believing if he saw cops, he would get scared. Jonathan later hung posters of his brother at Hawkins High. Despite Hopper's warning not to, Jonathan ditched school to confront his father, searching his car. Finding nothing, Jonathan defended his brother when Lonnie said Will could never take care of himself, and gave him a missing poster. When a body resembling Will is recovered at the quarry, Jonathan is devastated, locking himself in his room and tearfully listened to music. The next morning, Joyce, Hopper, and Jonathan went to see Will's corpse at the morgue. Jonathan, nauseated, couldn't stay in the room, and left gagging. When he realized through Nancy that Will was alive, he became determined to find him. When Joyce and Hopper finally rescued Will from the Upside Down, Jonathan reunited with his brother at the hospital. When a weak Will finally awoke, Jonathan and Joyce tearfully greeted him. Will asked where he was, and Jonathan told him he was finally home. Will pointed to his bandaged hand and asked if was alright, and Jonathan told him it was just a small cut, laughing that Will was concerned over something so silly. A month later, Jonathan picked up Will from the Wheeler home, and allowed Will to open his present from Nancy and Steve, a new camera. At home, Jonathan used the camera to take pictures of Will looking at Christmas presents. The boys spent Christmas Eve with their mother by eating dinner. A year later, in 1984, Jonathan has become protective of Will, but not nearly as much as his mother. When talking to Will in his bedroom, he noticed Will drawing himself as "Zombie Boy". Concerned, Jonathan attempted to get Will to open up, but a frustrated Will said that he's grown sick of everyone becoming so attentive of him, saying it makes him feel more like a freak. Jonathan told him he wasn't, and Will reaffirmed that he was. After a moment, Jonathan agreed that Will was a freak, catching Will off guard. But Jonathan said that he shouldn't be like everyone else and being a freak is a best since Jonathan himself is a freak. Will asked if that was because he didn't have friends, causing Jonathan to chuckle awkwardly and say he had friends. Will asked then why does he always hang out with him, causing Jonathan to say that his brother is his best friend, and he'd rather hang out with "Zombie Boy" than some "boring nobody". He asked Will who he'd rather hang out with: Kenny Rogers or David Bowie. When Will reacted to Kenny Rogers in disgust, Jonathan reaffirmed his statement, saying that nobody normal ever accomplished anything meaningful in this world. Bob interrupted them and said that he loved Kenny Rogers, causing the brothers to laugh when Bob left the room. On Halloween, when driving Will to the Wheelers, Jonathan complained to Will that he didn't get what their mother saw in Bob. Will defended Bob, saying that he didn't treat him different than everyone else, noting how lame it was he couldn't go trick-or-treating alone. Jonathan jokingly asked if he was lame, and Will said that he wasn't, but it wasn't like Nancy was watching Mike. Arriving at the Wheelers, Jonathan stopped Will and told him that if he didn't get in any trouble and got back to Mike's by 9:00, Jonathan would allow him to go trick-or-treating alone. After leaving town to assist Nancy in taking down Hawkins Lab, Jonathan returned to find his house in disarray, and realized that Will and his mom was at Hawkins Lab. He would later reveal to Nancy that it was difficult to support Will due to the changes in his behavior after surviving in the Upside Down last year. After rescuing his brother and mother from vicious Demodogs and returning home, Jonathan tearfully rubbed his unconscious brother's hair, apologizing for not being there for him. In the Byers' shed, when interrogating Will, Jonathan attempted to regain his brother's memories by emotionally recollecting the time they built Castle Byers and the first time he showed him The Clash by playing it on his radio. At Hopper's cabin, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy attempted to get the Mind Flayer out of Will by overheating him and tying him down. Will's cries of pain proved to get to Jonathan, who hugged Nancy and turned away as tears streamed down his face. When the plan appeared to not be working, Jonathan began turning off the radiators, much to Joyce's protest. Jonathan yelled that she was killing him, but after Nancy pointed out that it was working since the Mind Flayer was beginning to exit Will's body through his throat. After the plan succeeded, Joyce and Jonathan hugged a disoriented yet once again normal Will. A month later, Jonathan video-recorded Will practicing to slow dance with his mother in their living room. Will asked if he always had to record everything, and Jonathan smugly said that he only recorded the "good stuff". Jonathan chaperoned Will at the Snow Ball while he took photos for students. In 1985, Jonathan left for work while Joyce rubbed a kiss mark from Nancy (who secretly spent the night and snuck out of Jonathan's bedroom window). Will expressed his disgust while Joyce said it would be different when he fell in love. When Nancy discovered Mrs. Driscoll's behavior in the hospital was near identical to Will's the year prior, she called Jonathan and asked if Will was safe, alarming Jonathan. The couple reunited with their siblings and friends at the Wheeler home. Will scolded Jonathan for not being with Nancy, but Jonathan bluntly said that he was here now and that's what was important. While the kids battle the Mind Flayer, Joyce told Will to listen to his brother. In October, Will and Jonathan silently drove together as they (and Joyce with Eleven) moved out of Hawkins, with Will crying in silence. By 1986, Will was starting to be inadvertently ignored by Jonathan due to him stressing about college and his relationship with Nancy, coping by smoking weed with Argyle. When dropping off the kids at the Rink-O-Mania, Jonathan called out to Will, smiling as he told him to have fun. Will flatly said he would as he trudged in, and Jonathan was shown to be somewhat concerned. Jonathan then revealed he planned to attend community college so he can remain close to Will and his family instead of attending college with Nancy as he did not want to abandon them. After he and Argyle smoked weed to de-stress, they returned to Rink-O-Mania to find an ambulance attending to Angela's broken nose, with Mike, Will, and El sitting glumly. After being picked up by Jonathan and Argyle, Will was annoyed as Jonathan and Argyle joked about the roller-skating incident as they had been smoking weed. The next morning, Jonathan attempted to coax Will and Mike to go see a showing of Police Academy 3 and not mope around, but Will said it would be better to stay home. Later, the brothers watched television when the doorbell rang with the brothers betting their mom had forgotten something. When Jonathan answered the door, two police officers had arrived to arrest El for attacking Angela. After El's arrest, the brothers attempted to contact their mother, who had flown to Alaska, but they were interrupted by Owen's agents who explained that they rescued El and took her away to help her regain her powers and defeat a new evil in Hawkins. The next morning, Jonathan decided to escape from the agents guarding him, Will, and Mike by hailing a ride from Argyle. Later on, when the army invaded the Byers home, Jonathan protected his brother and Mike by shielding them from the gunfire. Throughout the quartet's days of travel, Jonathan and Will worked together to find El's location. In Nevada, while Jonathan drove, he noticed from the mirror Will lying to Mike that Eleven had commissioned the painting he had worked on, and further noticed how emotional Will became when talking about how "El" felt like a mistake due to being different, but Mike never made "her" feel that way. Though Mike was cheered up, Will began to silently sob into his hand, causing Jonathan to be disheartened over his brother's pain. That night, as the brothers prepared the sensory deprivation tank inside the Surfer Boy Pizza freezer, Will was saddened when observing Mike, El, and Argyle having fun together, Jonathan, noticing, distracted Will by telling him the story of how when they were little, Will had a LEGO figurine named Larry stuck in his nose and Jonathan had to get tweezers to pull him out, causing Will to laugh. Jonathan commented how Will doesn't come to him for help as much as he used to, but doesn't blame him for it since he knows how distance he has grown. He then began to apologize to Will for not being there for him recently, admitting that his problems have affected their relationship, and told him that he missed how they use to talk more. As Will began to tear up, Jonathan told his brother that he loved him and that no matter what, nothing would change that. Will, through his tears, told him he would always be there for him, and Jonathan said he knew he would. The two embraced, and Jonathan told Will that things would be okay as Will wept and composed himself. Two days later, after temporarily defeating Vecna, Jonathan and Will returned to Hawkins where they reunited with their friends and worked to rebuild Hopper's cabin before they happily reunited with their mother. Jonathan was the first to notice a fearful Will looking at the sky and they both witnessed to the invasion of the Upside Down commencing. Eleven In the fall of 1983, Jonathan first met Eleven when she helped assist his family locate Will in the Upside Down using her telekinetic abilities. In the fall of 1984, Jonathan was shocked upon Eleven's return after saving him and the others from rampant Demodogs. In the summer of 1985, Jonathan and Eleven worked together alongside Mike, Lucas, Will, Max, and Nancy in taking down the Mind Flayer and Billy. El assisted Jonathan in saving Nancy from the melted form of Bruce Lowe and Tom Holloway. When El was bitten by the Mind Flayer, leaving her ankle punctured, Jonathan assisted in dressing her wound the best he could. When El fainted from exhaustion and began screaming in pain at the Starcourt Mall, Jonathan ran towards a Chinese restaurant and grabbed plastic wrap, a wooden spoon, and a knife heated by a stove. Giving her the spoon to bite down on, Jonathan was honest to El and told her what he was about to do would "hurt like hell", but El allowed him to continue onward with the removal of the infection. El began to scream as Jonathan opened a slit on her leg and riddled through the wound to get the Mind Flayer piece out, but El told him to stop and said she could do it, using the last of her telekinesis to remove the piece. Jonathan later assisted the others in ambushing the Mind Flayer with Lucas' fireworks to save El. Three months later, following Hopper's "death", El had begun living with the Byers, and moved out of Hawkins alongside them. In the spring of 1986, Jonathan and El have begun to address themselves as siblings or stepsiblings to the public, as they struggled to adjust to their new lives in Lenora Hills, California. El mentioned to Mike in her letter how she discovered Jonathan and his new best friend Argyle smoking "smelly plants" together, and Jonathan told her that they were safe since they came from the earth, but made her promise not to tell Joyce. She also expressed hope that Jonathan could go to Emerson College in Massachusetts with Nancy. When a high Jonathan and Argyle pick up El, Mike, and Will from the Rink-O-Mania after El assaulted Angela, Jonathan attempted to comfort a guilt-ridden El, but made things worse when he and Argyle turned it into a joke. At dinner, El glared at Jonathan when he unintentionally brought up the incident in front of Joyce and Murray. The next day, Jonathan answered the door to find two police officers looking for El. Jonthan addressed himself as El's brother/stepbrother, and was shocked that the police had a warrant for El's arrest after she assaulted Angela. He asked the officers if cuffing El was necessary, and ran back to the house to call Joyce, with no success. At the police station, Jonathan and Will's attempts to bail El out since they were her family proved to be unsuccessful since they weren't El's legal guardians. After a trio of Dr. Owens' agents arrive at the Byers' home to tell the boys that El has been taken away to reignite her powers in order to defeat a new evil lurking in Hawkins, Jonathan agreed with Mike and Will to sneak away from the agents so they could find El and return to Hawkins. After finding El in Nevada, Jonathan reunited with his foster sister and told her that they needed to get her out of Nevada before the government found her. In the Surfer Boy Pizza van, El said that they needed to get to Hawkins as soon as possible since their friends were in danger, but Jonathan informed her that it was impossible since the drive would be over 2,000 miles. At night, Jonathan helped assist making a sensory deprivation tank for El made from a pizza dough freezer at a local Surfer Boy Pizza in Nevada. When El began to choke as a result of Vecna strangling her in the Void, Jonathan helped lift El out of the freezer and placed her on a table, holding her arm as Mike comforted her. Two days later, El and Jonathan traveled back to Hawkins, finding their former home wrecked from Vecna. Jonathan would help assist El, Mike, Will, Nancy, and Argyle rebuilt the Hopper's family cabin.
Non-Familial
Nancy Wheeler Nancy and Jonathan spoke to each other when Will went missing, with Nancy reassuring him that Will's going to be fine. Jonathan took pictures of Nancy during a party at the Harrington House and when Nancy found out, she did not hold any resentment towards Jonathan. When Nancy asked for his help in looking for her friend Barbara Holland, Jonathan accepted. The two began to bond over their mutual goal of finding their brother and friend respectively and become close. After discovering Barbara had been killed, Jonathan comforted Nancy and the two worked together in trying to kill the Demogorgon. A month later, after Will's rescue, Jonathan was given a Christmas present from Nancy and was upset on getting Nancy nothing, but Nancy told him it didn't matter and gave him a kiss on the cheek. In 1984, Jonathan continues to have a bond with Nancy as she invited him to Tina's Halloween Party. Though Jonathan planned to go trick-or-treating with his brother, he decided to go the party. After Nancy got drunk and hurt Steve's feelings, Jonathan took Nancy home and told her what happened the next day. Jonathan helped Nancy in exposing Hawkins Lab to investigator Murray Bauman and the two give into the sexual tension after being pressured by Murray and ultimately kiss (and are hinted at doing more). They later work together in burning the Mind Flayer out of Will. And at the end, while at the Snow Ball, Nancy and Jonathan have started a relationship. In 1985, Jonathan and Nancy are shown to have become an official couple, sleeping together at Jonathan's house one day. The two also work together at the Hawkins Post. Whenever Nancy was abused or humiliated by her misogynistic co-workers, Jonathan did his best to support and comfort her. When Nancy picked up a story from Doris Driscoll, Jonathan went with her to investigate the story and present it to the Post. However, after the story was rejected which left Nancy cruelly insulted, she ignored Jonathan's attempts to comfort her. When Nancy decided to get more evidence for the story, Jonathan was reluctant to do so, but went along with her in order to support his girlfriend. When they discovered Mrs. Driscoll consuming fertilizer, this lead to them getting fired from the Post and straining their relationship, with Jonathan angry over losing his means to support his family and blaming Nancy for it, causing Nancy to accuse him of being like her tormentors. When Jonathan got a call from Nancy early the next day, he did not want to speak to Nancy at first, but Nancy informed him of the Mind Flayer's return due to Mrs. Driscoll being possessed and that Will could be in danger. This convinced Jonathan to work with Nancy and the kids on stopping the Mind Flayer. Later, while going to get Mrs. Driscoll at the Hawkins Memorial Hospital so she can lead them to the Mind Flayer's hideout, Jonathan reconciled with Nancy. When they were attacked by a Flayed Tom and Bruce, Jonathan and Nancy did their best to protect each other. Once the melted corpses of Tom and Bruce merged into a monster, Jonathan tried to save Nancy when it attacked her before the Party came to her rescue. Before joining the kids to catch up with the monster, Jonathan checked on Nancy and made sure she was not hurt. Once the Mind Flayer's plot was unraveled, Jonathan and Nancy worked together in protecting the children from the Mind Flayer's avatar until its defeat. Three months later, before moving out of Hawkins, Jonathan consoled a saddened Nancy and said good-bye to her before sharing a hug and a kiss with her. By 1986, Jonathan and Nancy's relationship has become somewhat strained. The two of them are now thousands of miles apart and Nancy would not be visiting the Byers' residence for spring break alongside Mike, which only causes further tension. Despite making plans to go to college together, Jonathan eventually changed his mind and chose to attend college where he remain close to his family and did not inform Nancy as he did not want her to give up her dreams just to be with him. In addition, Jonathan began to smoke weed as a way to cope with his stress over his relationship with Nancy and his plans for his his future. When learning of a new evil threatening Hawkins from Agents Ellen Stinson, Wallace, and Harmon, Jonathan grew concerned for Nancy's safety and decided to escape from the agents and return to Hawkins to save her. When they reunite, Johnathan and Nancy lovingly embrace and apologize to one another, both of them explaining valid reasons for their absence and silence. However while rebuilding Hopper’s cabin, Jonathan was worried for his relationship with Nancy due to her fondness with Steve and how he matured as a person. When asked by Nancy about receiving his college acceptance letter, Jonathan lied to her, saying he did not get it and seemed relieved when Nancy assured their relationship was still fine. Steve Harrington Jonathan and Steve initially had a strained relationship due to being polar opposites both in terms of popularity and personality. In 1983, Steve, Nancy, Barb, Tommy, and Carol watched Jonathan pin missing fliers for his brother, Will. Steve initially called him "depressing", but smacked Tommy on the chest and told him to shut up after he insinuated that Jonathan had killed Will. That night, Jonathan stumbled across Steve’s party at his house after investigating the woods, and began to take pictures of him, Nancy, Tommy, and Carol swimming in the pool, possibly insinuating that Jonathan longed to have the life Steve had. The next day, Steve was alerted by her friend, Nicole, about the photos after she saw Jonathan developing them in the photography room at Hawkins High. When school was over, Steve and his friends waited at Jonathan's car and snatched his book bag away, reviewing the photos. Jonathan attempted to explain that he was looking for his brother, but Steve corrected him by calling it "stalking", becoming angered when discovering a picture of Nancy in her bra. When Nancy arrived and was shown the lewd picture, Steve rolled up a photo and tapped Jonathan on the head, saying that his creepiness was "hardwired" into him, and they needed to get rid of his "toy", his camera. As Tommy pulled it away from Jonathan, Steve pretended to hand it back to him, only to purposefully drop it and cause it to shatter on the ground. Steve coldly left with his posse as Jonathan fell to the ground to scrap his camera up. When Steve climbed up to Nancy’s room and discovered Jonathan comforting Nancy, he took out his anger the next day by spray-painting slurs of Nancy and Jonathan on Hawkins’ movie theatre and walls. Jonathan attempted to pull Nancy away as she confronted Steve, but Steve began to egg him on by calling him a "queer", a "screw-up" like his parents, and told him he wasn’t surprised that his brother disappeared. This caused Jonathan to lose control of his rage and violently beat Steve repeatedly, bruising his face significantly, but he was stopped when the police arrived and arrested Jonathan while Steve and his friends ran away. After Steve realized the consequences of his actions, he drove to the Byers home. He profusely knocked on the door, calling Jonathan's name and swearing that he just wanted to talk to him, but was surprised to find Nancy answering the door. When Steve noticed Nancy's hand bandaged, he forced his way through the door, believing Jonathan had done something, but was caught off-guard to find a plethora of traps set with gasoline and weapons. As Steve began to panic and question what was going on, Jonathan attempted to force Steve out and yelling at him that he needed to leave. It soon became too late as the lights began to flicker and a monster ripped it's way through the wall, causing the trio to run to Will's bedroom. Steve frantically asked what the creature was, both Jonathan and Nancy told him to shut up. After it became quiet and the trio found the monster had disappeared, Steve began to panic and ran to call the police, only for Nancy to rip the phone out of the wall and told Steve that he needed to leave since the creature was coming back. Steve ran out and prepared to escape, but saw the lights of the house once again beginning to flicker and decided he needed to help his friends. Using a bat with nails hammered into it, Steve assisted in getting the creature inside a bear trap and letting Jonathan set the creature on fire. Once the creature disappeared again permanently, Steve joined in seeing a recovered Will at the hospital. One month later, as Jonathan arrived to pick up Will at the Wheelers, Nancy presented a Christmas gift from her and Steve; a new camera. One year later, in 1984, Jonathan was shown to keep his distance due to Steve and Nancy's growing relationship. When Jonathan arrived at a Halloween party, he observed a hurt Steve leaving a drunken Nancy behind after she revealed that he didn’t love him. The next day, when Nancy went to confront Steve, he coldly said he figured that her "new boyfriend" would take her home, realizing where Nancy’s feelings truly lied. During lunch, when Nancy asked Jonathan what had happened, he covered Steve by saying that he asked Jonathan to take her home, showing he respected Steve. After Nancy and Jonathan gave into their feelings while investigating Barb’s death, Steve later confirmed to Nancy that he was happy for her and didn’t hold a grudge, showing he supported Jonathan’s relationship with Nancy. Six months later, in 1985, Jonathan and Steve reunited, when El saved Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Erica from guards at the Starcourt Mall. As the two groups collided, Steve explained that Robin assisted him and the others in discovering Russians infiltrating Hawkins. When Jonathan asked what Russians he was referring to, Steve pointed out that the guards El killed were Russian. Steve later rescued Jonathan and the others by crashing into Billy’s car before he could collide into them. Jonathan then rescued him and Robin by having them get into Nancy's car as the Mind Flayer began to chase them. The group later returned to rescue El by using Lucas' fireworks to weaken the Mind Flayer. After the government arrived to raid the Russian base, Jonathan and Nancy were checked in on by Steve as they sat in an ambulance. Eight months later, in 1986, when learning of a new evil threatening Hawkins, Jonathan decided to return to Hawkins to save Steve and his other friends. Two days later, Jonathan and the others returned to Hawkins, with Jonathan embracing Nancy, leaving Steve visibly hurt as Robin comforted him. When repairing Hopper’s cabin, Jonathan jokingly questioned if Steve would’ve been in charge had Nancy had not been in Hawkins, but was visibly surprised when Nancy admitted that he had matured, leaving Jonathan a tad worried. Mike Wheeler Due to Mike being his brother's best friend, Jonathan was well-acquainted with him. When discovering Mike and his friends to be in danger, due to government agents tracking them down, Jonathan was able to figure out a way to contact Mike and ask for his location by using Will's walkie-talkie. When meeting up with Mike, the two worked together in building a sensory deprivation tank so Eleven could use her powers to locate Will in the Upside Down. In 1984, Jonathan and Mike met up again after escaping from Hawkins National Laboratory when a pack of Demodogs massacred nearly everyone in the lab. The two worked together, along with their friends, in communicating with the possessed Will in order to figure out a way to stop the Mind Flayer. In 1985, Jonathan and Mike met again and worked together investigating the Flayed and attempting to stop the Mind Flayer. When Mike and Max argued about Eleven's well-being and independence, Jonathan did not jump into the argument and in the end, he looked shocked when Mike blurted out his love for El. After discovering the Mind Flayer's true plan, Jonathan protected Mike and his friends when the Mind Flayer's avatar attacked them. The two continued to work together where they removed a piece of the Mind Flayer out of El's wounded leg and fought against its avatar at Starcourt Mall before it was killed when Joyce turned off the Key that was opening a gate. Three months later, Jonathan was assisted by Mike in packing up his house and said goodbye before moving out of Hawkins with his family. In 1986, Jonathan met with Mike again when he came to Lenora Hills, California to visit Eleven during spring break. Jonathan greeted Mike and introduced him to his new friend, Argyle. Later, El got arrested for assaulting Angela, Jonathan and Mike tried to get El out of prison before Agent Ellen Stinson informed them that she had been rescued from police custody and left with Dr. Sam Owens to regain her powers so she can help fight a new evil threatening Hawkins. The next day, Jonathan, Mike, and Will all agreed to escape from the watch of Agents Wallace and Harmon to find El and return to Hawkins to save their friends. When soldiers led by Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan ambushed and attacked them, Jonathan protected Mike and Will before they along, with a wounded Harmon, escaped with Argyle. After Agent Harmon died from his wounds, Jonathan and Mike buried him in a junkyard with Will and Argyle's help. When they found the number Harmon gave them that would help find El's location, Jonathan, Mike, and Will went to call the number, only to realize they were calling a computer. When Mike suggested they request Suzie Bingham's help in using the number to hack into the government system, Jonathan disagreed as he had listened to Suzie's duet with Dustin Henderson when fighting the Mind Flayer last year, but eventually relented. Upon arriving at Suzie's house, they asked for her help and were successful in finding the location of the Nina Project facility where El was. However, while traveling to find the Nina Project, Jonathan became frustrated, thinking they were lost, despite Mike's reassurance until Argyle pointed they were in the right direction by finding tire tracks belonging to military vehicles. As a result, they were able to rescue Eleven and escape from Colonel Sullivan and his forces in time. Later, they tried to book a flight to Hawkins to save their friends from Hawkins, but when that failed, Jonathan and Mike worked together in building a sensory deprivation tank so Eleven could use her powers to fight Vecna in Max's mind. And as El fought Vecna, Jonathan and Mike kept watch over her before she was able to defeat him. Two days later, Jonathan and Mike returned to Hawkins together where they reunited with their friends and loved ones before working together to rebuild Hopper's cabin. Tommy H and Carol Perkins Tommy and Carol were bullies of Jonathan. They picked on Jonathan after Will's disappearance and helped Steve destroy Jonathan's camera after they realized Jonathan took pictures of them during the party at Steve's house. When Steve assumed Nancy cheated on him after seeing her with Jonathan, Tommy and Carol wasted no time in making abusive graffiti of Jonathan and Nancy. After Jonathan and Steve's fight, resulting in Jonathan's arrest, Tommy and Carol continued to bully and laugh at Jonathan and how angry he was during his fight with Steve and how he's in jail. Unfortunately, this caused Steve to disown Tommy and Carol as his friends and to make amends with Jonathan and Nancy for their cruelty. A year later, Tommy and Carol don't interact with Jonathan, but Tommy still makes fun of Jonathan as he taunted Steve on how Jonathan and Nancy have been skipping class together lately. Murray Bauman In 1984, Jonathan met Murray Bauman when arriving at his warehouse with Nancy to confess that Hawkins Lab was responsible for the death of Nancy's best friend, Barbara Holland. After working together to make Dr. Owens's recorded confession sound like a chemical spill killed Barbara, Murray noticed Jonathan's feelings for Nancy and encouraged him to embrace them, which he did. The next day, Murray asked Jonathan how was the "pull-out", causing Jonathan to choke up on his drink, confirming Murray's suspicions that Jonathan and Nancy slept together. In 1985, Murray still was on good terms with Jonathan as he gave him and Nancy the keys to his house so they and the kids can be safe from the Mind Flayer. In 1986, Jonathan remained on good terms with Murray when he visited his family in Lenora Hills, California. While eating dinner with his family and Murray, Jonathan who had been smoking weed with Argyle earlier, passed off his high state as being stressed out, but Murray could tell Jonathan had been smoking weed and did not rant him out to his mother. Tom Holloway Jonathan was hired by Tom Holloway to be a photographer for The Hawkins Post. Jonathan was not treated with disdain by Tom or any of his other co-workers as they focused their bullying on Nancy for being the only female journalist at the Post. Jonathan hated the way Tom and his co-workers were treating his girlfriend, but he didn't do anything about it as he feared it get him fired as Jonathan wanted to help support his family. However, Jonathan helped Nancy investigate Mrs. Driscoll's story about "diseased rats." When Tom did not approve the story and Nancy decided to get more evidence, Jonathan reluctantly went along with her to help. However, when Tom found out that Jonathan helped Nancy look for proof for Mrs. Driscoll's rat story, he fired Jonathan as a result. This left Jonathan upset on losing his job and his means to support his family, nearly damaging his relationship with Nancy. When Jonathan and Nancy learned about the Flayed, along with the kids, and tried to visit Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital, Tom, possessed by the Mind Flayer, tried to kill Jonathan and Nancy, with the help of Bruce Lowe. Tom fought Jonathan and nearly killed him with scissors until he felt Bruce's pain of getting hit by a fire hydrant by Nancy. This allowed Jonathan to kill Tom by stabbing him in the neck with the scissors. After Tom's and Bruce's bodies melted away to form a monster, it was stopped by Eleven from killing Jonathan's girlfriend, Nancy, where it left to become part of the Mind Flayer's avatar. Argyle After moving to Lenora Hills, California with his family, Jonathan met Argyle and because they were both considered to be outsiders at Lenora Hills High School, the two became close friends. Argyle introduced Jonathan to weed as a way to release stress from college and his relationship with Nancy. He also helped Jonathan and his younger siblings carpool to school since Jonathan's car broke down. When Argyle observed Nancy isn't coming to Lenora Hills for spring break alongside her brother, Jonathan denied Nancy was ditching him and poking holes at his flawed plan to go to Emerson College alongside her. However, Jonathan trusted Argyle enough to actually reveal he got an acceptance letter for Lenora Hills Community College, where Argyle was going, and that he had no intentions of leaving Lenora. Argyle told him he shouldn't have lied to her, and soon caused the both of them to become overwhelmed and smoke "Purple Palm Tree Delight". Later, Jonathan got an idea to ask Argyle for his help in taking him, Mike, and Will across the country back to Indiana to find Eleven and save their friends in Hawkins. When Argyle has a panic attack in the desert after burying the agent, Jonathan shook his reluctant friends and told him to calm down, reminding him of Purple Palm Tree Delight. Argyle relaxed and walks back to his van, apologizing for his outburst, which Jonathan told it was okay. Will reprimanded Jonathan for letting Argyle smoke more weed, but Jonathan does not have any better ideas. When Argyle wanted to make a headstone for the deceased Agent Harmon, Jonathan, despite understanding his motive, did not think it would be a good idea as it would give away their names. However, after finding the number to locate the Nina Project, Jonathan and Argyle, along with Mike and Will, traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah to seek Suzie Bingham's help in locating the facility, with Jonathan telling Argyle to be on his best behavior as Suzie's family were Mormons. Later, while traveling through Nevada to locate the facility, Jonathan started to grow frustrated, thinking they were lost until Argyle found tire tracks and identified them belonging to military vehicles, allowing them to rescue Eleven in time. After that, Jonathan and Argyle worked together in building a sensory deprivation tank at Surfer Boy Pizza so Eleven could use her powers to fight Vecna from Nevada where the two kept watch over her, along with helping her as she fought Vecna. Two days later, Jonathan and Argyle traveled to Hawkins together and joined the rest of their friends in rebuilding Hopper's cabin.
Jonathan:
•"Sometimes, people don't really say what they're really thinking. When you capture the right moment, it says more."
•"I saw this girl, you know, trying to be someone else. But for that moment it was like you were alone."
•"Being a freak is the best, alright? I'm a freak."
•"Nobody normal ever accomplished anything meaningful in this world."
•"In the grand scheme of things, it's just a little blip."
- Gwen Ihnat
- Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green) The previously unknown Jennifer Aniston was the breakaway star from the breakaway hit that was Friends — and the only one to earn an Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy for her performance on the show.
- David Schwimmer (Ross Geller) David Schwimmer was always the most serious friend, and his post-Ross career has carried that torch. Before he even landed his gig on Friends, he founded the Lookingglass Theater in Chicago in 1988 with some fellow Northwestern grads.
- Courteney Cox (Monica Geller) Courteney Cox was the friend with the greatest name recognition at the start of the series. She'd already made quite a splash as Michael J. Fox's girlfriend on NBC's Family Ties in the late '80s, as well as the girl Bruce Springsteen dances with in 1984's "Dancing in the Dark" video.
- Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) Before the Friends reunion, Matthew Perry hadn't been seen on TV since 2017 when he played Ted Kennedy in the Reelz miniseries The Kennedys After Camelot.
Oct 28, 2023 · Stranger Things season 5 promises to give Jonathan Byers a bigger role after being underserved in season 4. Pre-vis teasers confirm that Jonathan will be more heavily involved in the upcoming season, possibly reconciling with Steve.
- 2 min
Apr 30, 2023 · Friends ended years ago, but what exactly happened to Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Monica, and Phoebe? We break down the series finale for you. Friendship never ends, but the TV show did.
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Dec 22, 2021 · But Charlotte faced a crisis when music mogul Simon, now 62, suggested Jonathan dump her because he thought she would hold him back. However the BGT runners-up stuck together and despite losing...
