In volume two of Stranger Things season five, Max *finally* woke up from her trance. This took her 18 months (and it took us three and a half years to see it). We saw Max’s teary reunions with her friends, right down to her ex-boyfriend’s friend’s sister’s ex-boyfriend’s co-worker. Yet, plenty of Netflix viewers were a bit confused as to why we didn’t see Max’s mother. Did anybody bother to text her that her daughter isn’t in a coma? Was she not even a little bit concerned about the hospital being overrun by monsters and the military and explosions? Thankfully, Sadie Sink has addressed what is actually going on with Max’s mum in Stranger Things season five.
they added so many unnecessary plots but max her mom is still not there like does she even know max is awake ?.£! pic.twitter.com/xJ1yNXi5M5
— mo (@amydunnes) December 26, 2025
In an interview with Variety, Sadie Sink was asked whether she had given much thought to where Max’s mother has been, and how she’s dealt with her daughter being in a coma. She explained: “It’s kind of common for the parents on the show – you just don’t know where they are, except for Karen Wheeler. My theory is that Max’s mum must have disappeared or died at some point in the rift at the end of season four, because it goes through the trailer park. We kind of gloss over that day now.”
Remember, in the gap between seasons three and four, Max and her mother Susan Hargrove moved to the Forest Hills Trailer Park where Eddie and his uncle lived.
Who else cried?
(Image via Netflix)
This extra information would make Max’s story in season five of Stranger Things even sadder. She’s struggled so much to escape Vecna and get home. She’s tolerated listening to the same Kate Bush song approximately 157,680 times. But then she discovers Vecna (indirectly) killed her mum more than a year ago? Urgh, I can’t take it.
Max’s mother’s death is only Sadie Sink’s headcanon, and hasn’t been confirmed as a factual event of Stranger Things. But if cast members worked under the assumption that Susan died or disappeared when Vecna opened the gate, then it seems likely they didn’t film any scenes which contradicted this. We probably won’t see Max reunite with her mum in the Stranger Things finale.
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Featured images via Netflix.
