'Where Was She?': Stranger Things Actress Absent From Season 5 Says Filming Would Have Helped Her Obtain Health Insurance During Cancer Battle
Stranger Things actress Jennifer Marshall, who played Max's mom Susan, has called out her character's absence in the show's final season — and said that being able to film scenes would have helped fund her own cancer treatment.
Updated:
Jan 8, 2026 3:29 pm
Posted:
Jan 8, 2026 3:28 pm
Stranger Things actress Jennifer Marshall, who played Max's mom Susan, has called out her character's absence in the show's final season — and said that being able to film scenes would have helped fund her own cancer treatment.
Marshall appeared in a recurring role during Stranger Things' second season, where Max (played by Sadie Sink) was originally introduced. Marshall then reappeared in the series' fourth run, but was unable to complete filming due to ill health.
The actress and former military veteran publicly announced in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. By the time it came to film Stranger Things' fifth and final season, however, the actress now says she had been in remission.
Jennifer Marshall at Stranger Things' third season premiere in 2019.
"I had cancer, I get it," Marshall wrote in a post on Instagram. "But I was in remission during the shooting of season five. Shooting would have helped me obtain my health insurance through the union.
"It would have helped me not only financially, but would have been a mental and emotional uplift after battling cancer for almost two years," Marshall said. "Either way, no one is entitled to a role, cancer or not. My heart remains grateful, and I will always give those involved in the decision-making the benefit of the doubt."
Of course, Stranger Things season five featured Marshall's on-screen daughter Max in hospital — something that could have provided the perfect reason for the show to feature her mom once again. Other actors playing parents of the main cast also made guest appearances, too.
Ultimately, however, Susan never returned — and it sounds as if Marshall herself still isn't sure why.
"Maybe they had too many characters, idk," Marshall wrote, saying that she thought about Susan's whereabouts every day. "Obv Susan Hargrove is THE WORST MOTHER EVER LMAO."
Somewhere that Susan definitely won't return is in Stranger Things' mythical secret final episode, which only existed in theory form within the minds of some fans unhappy at how Netflix's series ultimately panned out. Yesterday, the so-called Conformity Gate theory was dealt a huge blow by Netflix when the streamer released a flashy trailer for unrelated TV shows and movies — rather than anything related to Stranger Things, as some fans were expecting. And today, the official Stranger Things social media account appeared to officially settle the matter, by .