(Credits: Netflix)

Over the one-decade existence of Stranger Things, we have seen that every time Hawkins is on the verge of collapse, people turn to Eleven. And why not? After all, she can flip vans with her mind, crack monsters in half, and bleed power from her nose.

But if you look a little closer, it is not just Eleven who holds things together. It is also Nancy Wheeler, the girl with the plan, the facts, and the shotgun.

From the beginning, Nancy was never the obvious hero. She was a sophomore in floral blouses, hanging out with the popular crowd and worrying about college applications and boys. But the moment Barb disappeared in season one, something shifted. She stopped being a side character in someone else’s life, started paying attention, and she never stopped.

Nancy has always been a go-getter. While her peer ladies were enjoying trips to the mall, perms and all the attention from boys, she was learning how to use guns and sharpening her detective skills. And when the town panicked, she went investigating.

She grabbed a gun, crawled into the woods with Jonathan, and walked into the Upside Down before most people even believed it was real.

The moment Nancy stopped being a side character

As a matter of fact, very few people know that she was the first person to go to the Upside Down and return safe, unaffected and alive. That moment, teenage Nancy, terrified but focused, setting bear traps in the forest, was the first time we saw what she was capable of. She was never just another high school girl but already the strategist this group didn’t know it needed.

Across every season, Nancy has remained the person who takes the lead. She is the first to ask the right questions and the one who follows the thread while others scramble to figure out what’s going on. Her short-lived stint at the Hawkins Post may have been a trainwreck, but her instincts were spot-on. She smelt something off in the town long before the Mind Flayer showed its face again. That is the true journalist in her: a smart and wary person, unwilling to let things slide.

Gun-girl Nancy to the rescue

By the time we get to season four, the transformation is complete. She is no longer the girl crying in her room about Steve. She is the shotgun-toting Nancy, leading a raid into the Upside Down in a bulletproof vest, barking orders like it is her second job. And let’s be honest, it kind of is.

Even when everyone is falling apart, she holds the line. When Max nearly dies at the hands of Vecna, Nancy is the one piecing the signs together. When the group splits up across different states, Nancy stays grounded and focused. She is the calm in the eye of the storm, and the team follows her not because she’s loud, but because she’s right.

That is the thing about her; she does not have powers, but she has clarity. Eleven reacts, Steve protects, Dustin theorises, but Nancy thinks. She weighs the options, sees the gaps, and makes the call. And most of the time, she is the one who is right. If anyone’s ever going to outthink Vecna or find a way to stop the Upside Down from swallowing Hawkins whole, it is going to be her.

What makes her character even more important is that she is not cold. She feels everything. The grief of losing Barb, the guilt, the weight of being the one who always has to be strong, but she does not let it get in the way. She carries it quietly and keeps moving forward. She’s the kind of leader who doesn’t need a speech to inspire people; her actions are enough.

The pain, the poise, and the quiet pressure

We see her breaking for a second when Jonathan does not make it to Hawkins for spring break in season four. But our career-oriented, empowered woman of the 1980s keeps her cool and focuses on work. Despite the fact that she misses Jonathan, she keeps her cool and saves the town again.

And while we are busy talking about power and plans, we need to talk about the emotional glue that holds this group together. Nancy and Mike are the anchors of this entire story. They are the ones who remind the others what they are fighting for: family, safety, and each other. Their scenes together are rare but honest, mirroring each other. If the group splits again, you can bet it’ll be those two who pull it back. By this time, everyone knows well that the Wheeler House is the official hangout spot.

Nancy Wheeler watches and adapts, and when it’s time, she acts with more precision and courage than anyone else. In a town full of chaos, she is the steady hand you want leading the charge.

So when the final season rolls around, and the world starts cracking open again, do not look to just Eleven to fix it. Look for Nancy, because Hawkins isn’t going to survive without her steady guidance.