Joe Chrest has played Ted Wheeler since season 1 of Stranger Things. You may not know much about Nancy, Mike and Holly’s father because he doesn’t really do anything, but he’s been around. And now we all want to know: is he dead or alive?
At the start of Season 5, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) sent her demogorgans to fetch Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) from House Wheeler. He took her to the Upside Down, but not without a fight. Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) tried to demonstrate with a broken wine bottle and Ted Wheeler grabbed her golf club. He definitely wasn’t as successful as Karen, who still failed.
But both parents tried to fight to protect Holly. More so than when Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) faced the Upside Down alone while their parents were left in the dark. Along with Holly, the two men mobilized and it took them to Hawkins Hospital.
In season 5 vol. 1, we saw Mike and Nancy visit Karen in the hospital. They didn’t do the same for Ted. In the flight. 2, Karen saves the day and she is included in the final moments. Ted wasn’t there. So the question is: Is Ted Wheeler still alive right now or do his children hate him so much that they don’t care about him and his well-being? Because we didn’t even get a verbal nod to Ted.
At least Karen is still a badass
Buono has played Karen Wheeler since season 1 but she has been an involved parent. She always asked where Mike was going, tried to be there for Nancy, and always took care of Holly. Ted was sleeping on the recliner. But Karen really progressed in a big way in season 5.
At first, she tried to fight a demogorgan alone. At the end of season 5 vol. 2, she took out a group of demodogs to save Max (Sadie Sink), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Robin (Maya Hawke), and Vickie (Amybeth McNulty). Karen blows them up and goes back to the team even though she can’t even talk. So she made sure the children were safe, even though the Wheeler children were not involved at the time.
It’s pretty incredible and it was incredible that Karen had that moment Stranger Things. However, it made me wonder where Ted was. He was left in critical condition and the last time we saw him he was fighting for his life. So will we get our answer in the jam-packed series finale on New Year’s Eve? Or will we end up heading into the unknown after-Stranger Things world without knowing what happened to Ted Wheeler?
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the series finale, but know that I’ll be wondering if Ted is alive or dead.
(Featured image: Netflix)
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