After dealing with long delays due to the historic SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, Stranger Things has finally started production on the fifth and final season of the hit Netflix show. To celebrate the milestone, the show’s official social media accounts shared an image of the cast back together that had many fans running up the hill with excitement. While it was great to see the gang back together, some eagle-eyed folks were quick to notice that Eduardo Franco, who played Argyle, Jonathan’s best friend in California and employee of Surfer Boy Pizza, is missing from the group shot.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like an oversite. Franco recently sat down with Steve Varley to talk about his new movie Self Reliance. As the interview came to an end, the host brought up the cast photo and Season 5 of Stranger Things. When asked if he would be reprising his role as the California Stoner everyone has come to love, Franco had this to say:
I appreciate that. I mean, it’s nice to hear that there’s some sort of concern or something, you know what I mean? But I’ve never, I never got a phone call. So I think, yeah, I think that’s it.
The news comes as a shock to many Stranger Things fans who thought Argyle would be joining the original Hawkins gang in their final battle against the big bad Vecna, the demogorgons and the Upside Down. After all, the California kid got dragged into the mess when Jonathan, Mike, and Will piled into the Surfer Boy Pizza van with a dying FBI agent. He continued to risk his job by agreeing to drive them cross country to rescue El, and he is the reason she was even able to mind-fight Vecna in the first place.
Not only did Argyle play a critical role in the California crew’s storyline, but he’s also one of the only new characters to have survived Season 4 (unlike Eddie Munson who many hope isn’t really dead). As fans will recall, Stranger Things' latest season ended with the resident pizza delivery guy in Hawkins with the rest of the gang outside of Hopper’s destroyed cabin. Unfortunately, his return doesn’t seem likely now which has many fans, including myself, upset.
I for one, am extremely disheartened at the news since I was expecting to see Argyle grow even more in the final season. As a survivor of the Season 4 aftermath and someone who knows way too much about the Upside Down and the shady stuff that goes down in Hawkins, it seems weird for him to just disappear. Surely, his pizza job isn’t that important.
Hopefully, the writers have thought about this, and if he doesn’t appear in the season they’ll have a strong explanation for his absence. As for now, I’m holding out hope Franco is pulling an Andrew Garfield lying about being in Spider-Man, and pretending not to be involved in the show to surprise fans when his face graces our screens.
What we know about Stranger Things Season 5 seems to grow every day, and I’m sure that will continue as production really ramps up in Atlanta. It’s unclear when the final season will debut, but for now, fans can revisit Hawkins by streaming the first four seasons with a Netflix subscription. And maybe consider sharing your love for Argyle on social media. You never know, it might help him return to Hawkins.
