How strange.
“Stranger Things” actress Jennifer Marshall has called out Netflix for not including her character in the hit show’s fifth and final season, shot while she was recovering from a startling battle with skin cancer — especially because the job would have made her eligible for health insurance.
“I had cancer, I get it,” the actress, 44, wrote on Instagram alongside a short clip on Tuesday. “But I was in remission during the shooting of season five.”
Jennifer Marshall at the 90th anniversary of the Hollywood Christmas Parade on Nov. 27, 2022. Getty Images
Jennifer Marshall and Sadie Sink as Susan and Max Hargrove in Season 2 of “Stranger Things.” NetflixShe added, “Shooting would have helped me obtain my health insurance through the [actors] union.”
Marshall, who played the often-absent mother of Sadie Sink’s character, Max Hargrove, in Seasons 2 and 4 of “Stranger Things,” went on to question where her character was during the events of the show’s shocking final episodes.
“Maybe they had too many characters, idk but obv Susan Hargrove is THE WORST MOTHER EVER LMAO,” she added.
Jennifer Marshall called out Netflix for not having her appear in the final season of “Stranger Things” amid her cancer recovery. Jennifer Marshal/Instagram
Jennifer Marshall in Season 2 of “Stranger Things.” NetflixThe Navy veteran and TV star publicly announced that she was diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma in a Facebook post in October 2022, after the fourth season of “Stranger Things” aired that May and July.
Marshall was first diagnosed with Stage 1 cancer, found in her foot, in January 2021, and she completed filming Season 4 while undergoing treatment.
Marshall went on to question her character’s mysterious absence further in her short Instagram clip.
Sadie Sink’s Max in a coma at the end of “Stranger Things” Season 4. Courtesy of Netflix
Sadie Sink in Season 5 of “Stranger Things.” ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection“How often I think about where TF Max’s mom was during season five lmao,” she wrote, before replying in the video: “Every day. Not all day, every day but every day.”
The “NCIS” actress previously called out Susan Hargrove’s Season 5 absence while her daughter lay hospitalized in a coma for nearly two years before waking up and graduating from high school 18 months later.
“Okay folks! It’s over … but where was she?” Marshall wrote in another Instagram post after the final episode of “Stranger Things” was released on New Year’s Eve.
Jennifer Marshall and Sadie Sink during Season 2 of “Stranger Things.” Netflix“What kind of mother isn’t there for her child while she’s in the hospital?” she wrote. “Give me all your theories.”
Marshall has since clarified that playing Max’s mom was the “opportunity of a lifetime,” even though she would have been “ecstatic to return” for the final season.
“It would have helped me not only financially, but would have been a mental and emotional uplift after battling cancer for almost two years,” she told People in a statement Wednesday.
Jennifer Marshall at a sneak preview of “Stranger Things” Season 3 in Los Angeles on June 29, 2019. Getty Images for SAG-AFTRA“Either way, no one is entitled to a role, cancer or not,” Marshall added. “My heart remains grateful, and I will always give those involved in the decision-making the benefit of the doubt.”
The Post has reached out to Netflix for comment.
Sink, meanwhile, shared her own theory about her on-screen mom’s whereabouts during a chat with Vulture.
Sadie Sink on opening night of her Broadway show “John Proctor Is the Villain” on April 14, 2025. Getty Images
Sadie Sink as Max Hargrove in the final season of “Stranger Things.” NetflixWhile some fans speculated that Susan Hargrove was working off-screen to pay for her daughter’s mounting medical bills, Sink had a much darker theory.
“It’s kind of common for the parents on the show: You just don’t know where they are, except for Karen Wheeler,” the “Whale” star, 23, told the outlet.
“My theory is that Max’s mom must have disappeared or died at some point in the rift at the end of Season 4,” she added, “because it goes through the trailer park.”






