Stranger Things Star Wants Answers: Where Was Max’s Mom in the Finale?
After Stranger Things dropped its final season, Jennifer Marshall, who plays Max Mayfield’s mom, asked fans why her character was missing from the finale — a prompt that has reignited debate over the show’s closing chapter.
Stranger Things wrapped, but one glaring absence has fans (and me) scratching our heads: Max Mayfield's mom never shows up in the finale. Even the actor who plays her is asking what happened.
The Instagram prompt
Jennifer Marshall, who plays Max's mom Susan Hargrove, popped onto Instagram after the final season dropped to point out the obvious: Susan is nowhere to be found in Season 5, including while Max is in the hospital. Then she threw it to the crowd and asked for theories.
"Okay folks! It's over... but where was she? What kind of mother isn't there for her child while she's in the hospital? Give me all your theories..."
Fans fill the gap the show didn't
Reaction landed in two buckets. Some viewers were frustrated the show just... left Susan out, especially given Max's condition. Others tried to square it with the character's past, pointing back to Susan's alcoholism in earlier seasons as a possible in-universe explanation for her absence.
Marshall adds some real-world context
In a follow-up video, Marshall shared that she was battling cancer, and by the time Season 5 was filming, she was in remission. She also explained that coming back for the final season would have helped her keep her Screen Actors Guild health insurance active. That last bit is a very real, very unglamorous industry wrinkle that rarely makes it into the conversation.
Quick recap
- Jennifer Marshall (Susan Hargrove, Max's mom) does not appear in Stranger Things Season 5, including during Max's hospitalization.
- After the finale, she asked fans on Instagram to theorize why Susan is missing.
- Fan responses ranged from criticizing the creative choice to citing Susan's established alcoholism as a possible story reason.
- Marshall later said she had been battling cancer but was in remission during Season 5 filming, and that a return could have helped her maintain SAG health coverage.
Where the show left things
Season 5 closes out Netflix's flagship sci-fi series that started back in 2016. The finale landed on New Year's Eve and got a mixed response. For a minute, fans floated the idea of a surprise extra episode; that rumor fizzled out.
Bottom line: whether this was a creative decision, a logistical snag, or both, leaving Susan offscreen in Max's most vulnerable moment is a strange choice. Marshall's posts don't answer it, but they do put a human angle on why she hoped to be there — and why fans are still talking about it.