“Jancy” for the Win

Jonathan Byers, played by English actor Charlie Heaton, competes with Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) for the love of Nancy (Natalia Dyer) in the television series “Stranger Things.” Jonathan, however, holds obvious rank over Steve in many ways. He’s artistic; an amateur photographer aiming to move to New York and make something of himself, an obvious improvement over Steve’s laughable writing skills shown through his university application essay in episode one of season two.

Jonathan also cares for Nancy when she’s drunk, taking her home and making sure she’s safe, leaving without any ill intentions after Steve puts his feelings over her safety and abandons her at a party. He’s also an amazing older brother to Will, and fights to find the truth behind the Upside Down and the disappearance of Nancy’s best friend Barb unlike Steve who attempts to shove the disappearance and death under the rug as though it never happened, leaving Nancy to deal with her feelings and recover alone.

Jonathan has faults, like any human, such as trust issues from his father leaving. But these trust issues only come to show that his trust in Nancy is so much more important, and that in giving this trust he’s putting even more of himself on the line than someone without the bad experiences he’s dealt with. Steve, however, eats away half of an episode lecturing Dustin on how you should be vacant and uncaring when trying to get a girl. Jonathan, in even this one sense, outclasses Steve by far.