Stranger Things 3 was arguably the biggest TV release of the year. And obviously when Robin came out, ending any possibility of her and Steve dating, it was a pretty major TV moment.
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But apparently the cast of Stranger Things actually had to fight pretty hard for the couple NOT to date, according to Vulture.
Yep, the couple we all shipped throughout the whole season. The couple that never was. It was Maya Hawke that decided the couple should never happen. We could’ve had a Strobin romance, but instead Maya Hawke decided to pitch a whole new concept to the Stranger Things team.
Maya Hawke (yep, Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke’s talented Hollywood lovechild) revealed in a Wall Street Journal interview that her and co-star Joe Keery had to push back against the director’s idea to have a romance between the two characters in the show.
“Throughout filming, we started to feel like she and Steve shouldn’t get together, and that she’s gay,” Hawke explained to the Wall Street Journal. “Even when I go back and watch earlier episodes, it just seems like the most obvious decision ever.”
Apparently Matt and Ross Duffer, who are the show runners for Stranger Things, were huge fans of the idea and ultimately incorporated into the script.
“The Duffer brothers and I, and Shawn Levy, had a lot of conversations throughout shooting and it wasn’t really until we were shooting episode four and five, I think, that we made the final decision,” she said.
Maya also spoke about how happy she is that Robin’s story will be able to help “fall in love with girls who love girls and boys who love boys.”
Having Robin come out not only gave the show the LGBTQI representation it was missing, but it was also incredibly important to see a character come out without it being her major defining characteristic.
When Robin comes out, it’s just a small detail of her story. The Stranger things team managed to do a really good job of not using her sexuality as her major personality trait.
“Sometimes we can have empathy for people on screen that we wouldn’t normally have empathy for in real life,” Maya said about the importance of LGBTQI representation in TV and film.
Because of this small detail, we ended up with a friendship between Steve and Robin that didn’t just turn into that typical enemies-turned-lovers plot twist in every TV show ever. The platonic relationship that flourished between Steve and Robin is honestly more important than any cheesy TV romance.
Although I’ll forever be a little bit sad that Robin and Steve never had a cute 80s romance, I’m glad Maya Hawke fought for this addition to her character profile. Robin + whoever the hell she wants forever.
Who needs boys when you’re decoding Russian secrets? NOT ROBIN.
