Jamie Campbell Bower is too good an actor to keep him buried under latex.
There are a number of Stranger Things cast members who gave standout performances in the shows fourth season we see you Sadie Sink but its possible none were better than the one given by Jamie Campbell Bower who delivered a star making turn as Vecna the gnarly villain who was revealed to be the shows ultimate big bad. While that was indeed Bower buried under latex to play the Freddy Krueger inspired menace it was not those scenes that made the performance so strong.
No where Bower really blew the doors off the joint was in the flashback scenes set inside Elevens memory where a still human pre Vecna Henry Creel a.k.a. One worked as an orderly at Hawkins National Laboratory steadily gaining Elevens favor before tricking her into short circuiting the device that suppressed his powerful psychokinetic gifts. The climax of the seasons seventh episode where Bower gives a long, almost hypnotizing monologue that reveals not only the answers to the shows biggest mysteries but also the depths of Henrys malevolence showed Stranger Things at its best a series with the ability to terrify mesmerize and thrill the viewer all at the same time.
And while Millie Bobby Brown is also doing great work as Eleven in that scene it mostly works thanks to Bowers unhinged yet precise performance. Sure, gross-looking Vecna is fine but Bower in the flesh blue eyes ablaze as he attempts to convert Eleven to his side before ultimately settling on trying to murder her now that is a villain worthy of Stranger Things massive audience. And thats why if the Duffer Brothers the shows creators and showrunners want to make its fifth and final season as strong as it can possibly be they need to bring back not just Vecna they need to bring back Bower as Henry as well.
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