Heading into Stranger Things 5, Dr. Kay had some big shoes to fill! The previous two figureheads at the Hawkins National Lab, Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine) and Dr. Sam Owens (Paul Reiser), were incredibly instrumental in shaping this story.
Now, Dr. Kay, played by Linda Hamilton, steps into the story at the most pivotal moment.
Terminator star Linda Hamilton stars as Dr. Kay in Stranger Things 5
When I first heard Hamilton, who famously starred as Sarah Connor in the Terminator movies, was joining the cast of Stranger Things 5, I was so excited. We've seen a lot of big '80s stars like Winona Ryder, Sean Astin, and Robert Englund in Stranger Things, but Hamilton is up there with the biggest.
In the season premiere, "The Crawl," We're first introduced to Dr. Kay in the new military base in the Upside Down. Unlike her predecessors, Dr. Kay appears to be leading a coordinated effort between the military and other departments of the government. She is still running experiments on the Upside Down tentacles and creatures.
In fact, when we meet Dr. Kay for the first time, she is doing a live dissection of sorts on something from the Upside Down. She gets an update from one of her subordinates on "the girl." It's clear they are still looking for Eleven, and she's spearheading that operation while also trying to get to the bottom of whatever is happening in the Upside Down.
Is Dr. Kay a villain or hero? The jury is still out
As of the season premiere, we still don't know Dr. Kay's true motivations for wanting Eleven. Clearly, she thinks Eleven is the reason all of this is happening, just like Col. Sullivan (Sherman Augustus) in Stranger Things 4.
Hamilton recently revealed some information about her character in an interview. Here's what she said, via Marie Claire:
"She has an agenda. She’s the head doctor/scientist for the military, she’s trying to stop the madness in her own way, and she’s a force to be reckoned with.”
Clearly, though, they have to realize that Eleven can't be the cause of this. They have to know about what happened in the Rainbow Room and Henry Creel, right? The issues is that Eleven has powers, and she's not just going to turn herself over to work with them.
Based on Dr. Kay's vibe, she doesn't quite seem the Dr. Brenner or Dr. Owens type, either. She seems to be a little bit more willing to sacrifice anyone and everything to get her goal. Who puts a military base inside the Upside Down? You're just asking for the monsters to eat you.
I don't think Dr. Kay is the season's big bad or anything like that, but I have a hard time believing that she'll ever be one of the good guys. I also wouldn't be surprised, with as much time spent in the Upside Down as it seems she's spent, I think that there's a chance she could already be under the control of Vecna and the Mind Flayer. For Vecna, why wouldn't he want to control the person who is tasked with finding Eleven.
Unfortunately, whether Dr. Kay is good or bad, I don't think there's a good chance that she will make it out of Stranger Things 5 alive.
Hopefully, we get to see more of Dr. Kay in Stranger Things 5 Vol. 1 and see where her true intentions lie.