Okay so, I don’t know why this is speaking to me now but rewatching this specific scene, where Jonathan says to Nancy at the end of season 4 after both of them going through their respective season’s ordeals,
“Sorry I wasn’t here.”
He says this not because Fred died (so similar to how Barb did), not because he wanted to be there with her during Spring Break, not because he wanted to follow her journalistic hunches straight into Vecna’s childhood home, not even because Vecna tried to come for Nancy and could’ve killed her the same as the others, but because he felt guilty he wasn’t there when the Upside Down, and the entities that had taken Will, came for the people of Hawkins, with Nancy included.
It’s not that Jonathan wouldn’t have cared if Vecna or anything from the Upside Down had hurt or killed Nancy, of course he would, but Nancy in mourning? Nope. Nancy with her detective brain leading her into danger? Not willingly. Nancy being forced to confront the feelings of guilt she’s never been able to address or overcome during her entire relationship with Jonathan? Hell no.
Jonathan, bless his soul, has sadly dedicated his whole life to one thing; protecting his family and by extension, himself from the hurt of being helpless to save them. Nancy he cared for, she had similar goals to him, but she’s not a priority to him now, and frankly, she never really was.
I think this scene jumped out to me so much because he says this semi unprompted while he and Nancy are in the middle of an awkward silence together, and the response he gets is not necessarily one I think he expects either:
“To be honest, I’m kind of glad you weren’t.”
And that begs the question, what did Nancy mean by that.
She has her quick cover, but it’s clear that she meant what she’s been saying for the last two (yes, two, because it didn’t just start in season 4) seasons, that when Nancy needs Jonathan, he isn’t there.
In season 3, we first see it when Jonathan and Nancy start having arguments about work, Jonathan not supporting or defending Nancy with their sexist bosses, Nancy’s hunches jeopardizing her and Jonathan’s jobs when Jonathan needs the opportunity more than she does, etc. etc. etc.
But we see it, the same as they both admit even then:
“I guess we just don’t understand each other anymore.”
“I guess not.”
And going into season 4, we see the same thing. At the start of the season, Nancy is complaining to Fred about Jonathan not coming to Hawkins for Spring Break and not committing to going to the same college as her in the Fall so they’d be together again, and she’s clearly annoyed and when she has a journalistic hunch, she only has her friend Fred to follow her (which she sadly later regrets).
Meanwhile Jonathan is complaining to Argyle that he doesn’t want the same thing as Nancy but he doesn’t know how to tell her. He doesn’t want to keep lying to her but he doesn���t want to tell her the truth and risk her giving everything up to be with him (which he wouldn’t do for her, can you imagine him leaving Will behind for Nancy?). And it’s absolutely fine that Jonathan is realizing that he doesn’t want the same thing anymore and that the relationship isn’t working anymore, but Argyle said it best:
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Not lie!”
So when Jonathan says in this episode that he’s sorry he wasn’t there with Nancy while her and the kids and Robin and Steve are dealing with Vecna, and Jonathan and Will and Argyle and Mike are tracking down Eleven and running for their lives from the shady government ops guys, is he really telling the truth?
Would he rather have been with Nancy, following her hunches, letting her lead them into danger to find the truth, and being there for her when her guilt overwhelmed her?
Would he have rather done any of those things which he has a history of not doing, than be where he was, protecting and being with his family and the one friend he’s had that he could have alongside his family while out of harm’s way up until this point?
I don’t know that he would.
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VH - The Thorn in Villains' side
“Wake up, you creature of the night, and despair !”
“Nooo, sleepy, beddy-bye -”
“I said wake up !”
Vampire Hero opened an eye, blinked and yawned. He didn’t look at Villain at once. That was the courtyard itself that caught his attention. He was in the middle of it, tied to a pillar. All around him were huge spikes of metal, as if he was in the center of a gigantic metal flower. They all were curved at different angles. You couldn’t step amid them without being scratched, at least. In a sense, that was pretty. Villain themself was on a balcony, their hands on the balustrade, dominating the scene.
“Kids”, he whispered with leniency. “What they do these days.”
“Shame”, said Villain who hadn’t heard him. “You interest me. I thought we could talk.”
Vampire Hero yawned again for all answer.
“Is it insolence ? Or is it the pain of having been under the sun for all day ?”
“Pain ? Why ?”
“You vampires can’t bear the sun.”
“Oh, I understand the confusion. No. Do you know how some birds fall asleep immediately when you cover their cage, because they think it’s the night ?”
“I suppose ?”
“Well, I work the other way around. I have a sunbeam on my face, I get sleepy. It doesn’t hurt me; I just take a nap.”
Then his tone shifted abruptly:
“All day long ? You mean I’ve been here for more than a day ?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
His voice was now icy. Villain had a delicate little cough.
“I admit I didn’t know about sunlight. What about silver, then ?”
“That would work on vampires, yes.”
“You’re in luck. All these spikes are covered with silver. If you want to free yourself, you need to get through them.”
Vampire Hero hissed in annoyance:
“Ugh. Any particular reason why ?”
“Unless you want to rot in here forever.”
“No, I mean. Let me get this straight. You’ve made all these spikes so I could walk over them for a couple of minutes ? It just seems kinda wasteful.”
“If you want to talk about waste, time’s ticking. Why won’t you have your little dance right now ? You have two minutes before reaching me.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Vampire Hero slipped out of his bonds and stepped forward. He whistled.
“That’s quite the thorn forest you have there. Gasp ! Curses, even. What’s a poor vampire to do ?”
He slowly turned his head toward Villain and smirked:
“Hey, watch this.”
He extended his hand and casually patted the flat side of the spike.
“Oh no”, he said in a toneless voice, while staring at Villain. “I’m doomed. Ouch. Argh. And such.”
Slowly he smiled, revealing his razor-like teeth.
“Do you see it ? Do you begin to see it ?”
“See what ?”
“Your mistake.”
“Show off”, whispered Villain.
“Possibly, yes. At least I’m not ordering useless death traps on a whim. I’ve always made sure they worked first.”
“Death traps ? You are a hero.”
“Now, yes.”
Vampire Hero took a couple of steps among the spikes, decided it was quite enough, jumped, caught the guardrail and climbed the balcony. He hadn't avoided all of them, far from it, but when he landed on his feet, his face was emotionless. There was maybe a twinge of exasperation. He stood still in front of Villain. They both stayed quiet for a moment.
“What are you ?” finally asked Villain.
“A vampire hero.”
“No you’re not. You don’t fear silver or sunlight and you had death traps. You’re neither. What are you ?”
“I am pissed off. I want to be home every night and you’ve prevented me to do it.”
“Why ?”
“I'm married. Just know you’re very lucky I am what I said. I’ll let you live. Reluctantly.”
Villain barely reacted when he pinned them against the wall, whispering in their ear:
“Now then ! You’ve made me lose time. You owe me a drink.”
*
Vampire Hero is now a recurring character. His job is to troll current villains. Click on the Vampire Hero Masterlist or Tag for more snippets with him.
Or back to Hero x Villain Masterlist.
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