Stranger Things actress Jennifer Marshall, who played Susan Hargrove - Max Mayfield’s (Sadie Sink) onscreen mother - in Seasons 2 and 4 of the Netflix
breakout show, has revealed why fans didn’t see her in the show’s final season. And the reason is deeply personal. The end of Season 4 saw Max left in a coma. In season 5 she was, for the largest part, confined to a hospital bed. While Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) was shown keeping vigil by her side, one could not help but notice one glaring absence – Max’s mother. The omission sparked several questions online – which have not been addressed by Marshall herself. Taking to social media after the finale dropped, Marshall shared her disappointment about not being called back for Season 5, especially as the timing coincided with her recovery from cancer. “I had cancer, I get it,” Marshall wrote, adding, “But I was in remission during the shooting of Season 5. Shooting would have helped me obtain my health insurance through the union. Maybe they had too many characters, idk but obv Susan Hargrove is THE WORST MOTHER EVER LMAO. #strangerthings #strangerthings5 #cancer #cancersucks #butwhy.” The post gained traction fast, prompting Marshall to clarify her intent in an email to Variety. She stressed that the message was never meant to be bitter or accusatory. “I just made the reel as a funny thing and it blew up,” Marshall wrote to the publication adding that she holds no ill will toward anyone and just wished things would have gone a different way. The actress and cancer survivor added she was surprised to not be called back but could not confirm why that decision was made. However, she expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be in the earlier seasons. Marshall first made her cancer diagnosis public in 2022, revealing that she was undergoing treatment while filming Season 4 of the series. By the fourth episode, she said, the effects of treatment were visible enough that she required a wig after losing her hair. At that time she also revealed she had confided in certain people including Sadie, who played Max and that her “kindness and compassion” overwhelmed her. Beyond Stranger Things, Marshall’s credits include The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, Sugar, For All Mankind, NCIS: Los Angeles and Reacher.
