| “ | I’m gonna pull out all the stops. You know why? ‘Cause at the end of the day, that’s all the voters will remember. | „ |
| ~ Larry Kline |
Larry Kline, portrayed by Cary Elwes, is a recurring antagonist in the third season of Stranger Things. He is a greedy and corrupt mayor who allowed the Russians to make experiments on Hawkins in order to get money. He was arrested due to his unfair dealings favoring Starcourt Industries (and, in truth, his secret treasonous cooperation with Soviet operatives).
What Makes Him a Hate Sink?[]
- He sold land to the Soviet Union allowing them to make experiments in order to open a portal to the Upside Down, which led to the deaths of 33 people who got flayed by The Mind Flayer and melted their bodies in order to create a vessel for him. While he is not aware of his existence and did not intended anyone to be killed, this was still a selfish and reckless decision, done purely out of greed.
- He opened the Starcourt Mall under the pretense of trying to help the citizens when in reality he only opened the Mall to serve as a hideout for the Russians to make their experiments and also showed no care when the citizens protest against him due to the Mall closing many of the shops in Hawkins where they were working, calling their workplaces pops-and-moms, being completely apathetic towards them.
- He tells Hopper to get rid of the revolting citizens, and when Hopper tries to decline the request, he threatens that he will fire him from his job.
- When Hopper visited him again in order to find out who was the mysterious man that visited him (Grigori) he lied that he does not know him. After he tells him that he knows about the crimes that he has done in the past such as partaking illegal substances and cheating on his wife Winnie with his secretary Candice, he immediately tries to counter Hopper's argument by mentioning that he has also done some questionable things such as taking illegal drugs and drinking on his job, and while he is right, it shows that he is a massive hypocrite who refuses to acknowledge his faults as a person, trying to blame others instead of taking accountability.
- An unnecessarily cruel moment was him mocking Hopper's dead daughter, stating that he does not care about her. This angers Hopper to the point where he starts to brutally beat him up.
- He tried to cowardly escape from Hopper when he interrogated him. Unfortunately, he failed to do so.
- Later when he goes to his home along with Hopper and Joyce, he tries to escape again only to be caught by Hopper and tied to a bed.
- He does not care about his wife as he cheated on her with his secretary and there is no indication that he cares about his secretary either.
- While he tells Hopper about the Russians doing experiments in Hawkins and about their base, it was only to save his own skin. It also shows that he only works with them for pragmatic reasons.
- While he organized a festival of 4th July holiday for his citizens it was not out of respect or to make them happy but because he wanted to boost his own campaign and make them forget that opening the Mall caused many of the citizens to lose their jobs showing how egotistical he is.
- When he notices Hopper and Joyce he informs Grigori about their presence in order to kill them. While they do not get killed, this indirectly led to Alexei's death and it is his fault for that.
- While he does get beaten up multiple times in very brutal ways such as Jim smashing his head into a door and trying to cut his finger or Joyce punching him in the face and kicking him in the groin or Grigori chocking him it is not played for sympathy and he deserves it because of his selfishness and how his actions led to many deaths.
- He is also very smug and enjoys provoking his enemies making it even more karmic.
- His incarceration and being demoted from his position as a mayor are played for satisfaction and were well deserved due to his crimes.
- Unlike Grigori, who has cool fighting scenes, he has no evil is cool moments being just a greedy mayor, who mocks other characters and is completely unsympathetic.
External Links[]
- Larry Kline on the Villains Wiki
- Larry Kline on the Stranger Things Wiki
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 Hate Sinks
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