One of the show's most idiosyncratic characters, Maxine Mayfield makes a memorable appearanceweird stuffin Season 2. She quickly becomes friends with the boys and accompanies them on their adventures. Despite being relatively new, she's not shy about voicing her opinions whenever she can.
She is very outspoken, assertive, and articulate, which means that Max Mayfield's best quotes are some of the most memorable on the show. Most of the time she's making fun of the boys, defending Eleven, or explaining something only she knows. Being an outsider, her experiences are completely different from anyone else in the party, which sets her apart.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Season 4 of Stranger Things.
Updated June 11, 2022 by Amanda Bruce:In Season 4 of the show, Max should have been a full member of the party, but the events of Season 3 distanced her from the group. Despite this, Max's experiences become a focus of events in Hawkins, finally making her appear less of an outsider to the group as everyone gathers around her. It also gives you the opportunity to have lines that are less fun and more introspective.
Max accepts that there are things she doesn't understand
"I'll just stop assuming I know anything."
Max discovers a completely alien world when he moves to Hawkins. While her family struggles with many problems, she finds herself in the midst of alternate dimensions and monsters, and that draws most of her focus into the show's second and third seasons. The more she learns about Upside Down, the more questions she has.
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In Season 4, Max isn't as confident as she was when she first moved to Hawkins, but she still questions everything around her. Max is quick to admit that she really doesn't understand when everyone is looking for answers in Season 4, and it's refreshing given that many of the group members on Stranger Things jump to conclusions very quickly.
Max admits he enjoys spending time with Lucas
"And I like talking to you, Stalker."
When the boys find out who Max is, Lucas and Dustin fall in love with her. Max begins teasing Lucas about being his stalker, which becomes his nickname for him. Lucas is particularly fond of Max and wants Mike to accept her at the party. He tells herover the head down, and eventually they get to know each other pretty well between their jokes.
Max takes a liking to Lucas and appreciates his strange wisdom. They find their little partnership within the group and spend a lot of time talking. Lucas opens up to her and says he enjoys talking to her, probably the first time he's been so vulnerable about his feelings. She replies that she also likes to talk to him.
Max scares the party
"You should have seen their faces!"
Max's introduction to the partyIt's an iconic moment in the series. She initially rejects the guys' advances after they are impressed by her high score at Dig Dug. Later, Dustin and Lucas invite her to go trick-or-treating with them, but she seems more offended than grateful by the offer.
Despite this, Max shows up on the street that night. She scares the boys as she masks and steps out of the shadows with a fake knife. Lucas screams - according to Max like a little girl - and Max laughs at his reactions. It's the first time she's really trying to connect with the group.
Max is great at sarcasm
"I didn't know it was an honor to trick or treat with you."
Before Max is accepted into the party, the boys vote on whether or not she should join. Only Lucas and Dustin really care about Max's introduction to the party; Mike and Will don't care.
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Lucas and Dustin approach Max in the hall and inform him that she has invited them to trick or treat. She replies with a sarcasm they don't understand. They assume that she will be grateful for her chivalry. "That's presumptuous of you," she tells them before leaving, setting the tone for their interactions for much of Season 2.
Max thinks up his own title for the party
"I could be your Zoomer."
After being accepted by Dustin, Lucas, and Will, Max is desperate to feel welcome by Mike, who by unspoken agreement is the head of the group. However, he doesn't like getting close to her very much, no matter how hard she tries to be friendly to him.
She tries to convince him how she can be an asset to the party, but he refuses to listen to her. Mike explains everyone's roles: Mike is the paladin, Will the cleric, Dustin the bard, Lucas the ranger, and Eleven the wizard.Terms, but Max makes up one of her own: "I'll be your zoomer," she offers, showing off her skateboarding skills. It might not be a term Mike recognizes, but it's one that shows how unique Max is compared to the four boys.
Max explains relationships with eleven
"Yes, well, friends lie. The whole time."
The most important rule in the party is that friends don't lie. Elf takes this seriously. She uses this rule to defend Mike in season 3 when he is clearly lying to her. She doesn't know why he's lying, but she doesn't care. Max encourages her to break up with him.
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Thinking Mike isn't lying, Eleven asks Max what she thinks about the situation. She explains that friends lie all the time, an opinion based on her experience with Lucas. Lucas and Max seem to be apart more often than they are together, and that almost seems to be the route Eleven and Mike will take until they work things out.
"I just felt like it was a little bit derivative in parts."
Max asks Lucas to tell her the truth about the party's history andWill's strange behavior in season two. Finally, without asking the other group members for permission, Lucas tells Max all about the disappearance of Upside Down, Eleven and Will.
Suffice to say, Max doesn't believe him. In fact, your scathing comments about its "story" reflect the criticism the show has received. "I mean, I've had some problems. I just felt it was a little derivative in places. I just wish it had a little more originality, that's all.” It's one of the show's few meta-moments.
Max's title is justified
"I told you. zoomers."
Max proves his reputation as a zoomer when he takes over Billy's car and drives the boys, including Steve, to the entrance of the Upside Down.Steve is badly beatenafter a date with Billy, and Max is excited after getting his brother to leave her alone with their friends.
Max obviously doesn't have a driver's license, but she's a Zoomer, so she's the only logical choice to drive in his mind. Steve wakes up after being knocked unconscious and almost faints again to see a kid driving a car. He's also delusional, so the scene is one of the funniest of the season and is referenced in season 4 when she offers to drive, but Steve proclaims that she'll never be allowed to drive again.
Max's trauma puts a wedge in their relationship.
"There are things worse than ghosts."
As the group speculates about the possibility of Hawkins being haunted in Season 4, the group is open to the possibility, but also willing to take on another Upside Down monster. Max is the only one to mention that ghosts aren't the worst thing to worry about.
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Max ends up living with the metaphorical mind of Billy ever since he sacrificed himself for the Mind Flayer. This special spirit keeps her isolated from her friends as she refuses to deal with her feelings about what happened and shuts out all of her friends.
Max opens Eleven's eyes to female friendship
"There's more to life than dumb boys, you know."
Max and Eleven's friendshipis one of the best things about Stranger Things Season 3. At first, the two girls are suspicious, especially after their introduction in Season 2.
Eleven doesn't know what it's like to have a boyfriend and she just got used to people caring about her. After spending so much time only with men, she's grateful to have a boyfriend like Max, who also appears to be experiencing female friendships for the first time. She opens Eleven's eyes and shows her that there's more to life than Hopper and Mike.
Max encourages Eleven to be independent
"We make our own rules."
Eleven and Max are spending more and more time together after breaking up with their friends. Max goes shopping with her, helps her choose clothes and introduces her to Wonder Woman.
When Eleven tries to defend Mike for lying to her, Eleven's notions of friendship begin to falter. She used to believe that friends don't lie to each other, but if friends can lie, then the dynamic of the party can now be changed. Max tells Eleven that they can make their own rules. You don't always have to listen to the guys.
Max encourages Eleven to be themselves
“You just try things on until you find something that feels like you. Not Hopper, not Mike – you.”
The defining quality of Max and Eleven's friendship is that they can be themselves. It's just them, and they have no one to judge them or make them uncomfortable. Max also helps Eleven discover her own identity.
New to society, having spent most of her childhood in the lab, Elf is now free to be herself. Max encourages her to choose who she wants to be regardless of what her boyfriend or Hopper thinks or tells her. After using Hopper's old washcloths for so longMax takes Eleven shoppingso she can create her own look that symbolizes her search for identity.
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