‘Stranger Things’: Did Nancy & Jonathan Break Up? How Volume 2 Addressed the Love Triangle
What To Know
- Stranger Things Season 5 finally forced Nancy and Jonathan to address their relationship tensions in Volume 2.
- Did the longtime couple call it quits or only make their bond stronger?
- Plus, find out how Nancy really feels about Steve.
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2.]
While the stakes of Stranger Things Season 5 are much bigger than romance, that doesn’t mean fans haven’t been waiting to see how the love triangle between Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and Steve (Joe Keery) would play out.
But did Volume 2 provide the answers or outcome viewers were hoping for? Nancy’s current relationship status appeared fuzzy by the end of Episode 7. As the latest batch of episodes began, Nancy finds herself in the Upside Down with Jonathan, Steve, and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo).
When Dustin determines that the center of the fleshy border surrounding Hawkins is actually located at Hawkins’ lab, the group sets out to investigate. Tensions are flaring among the party, though, as Steve and Dustin have their own beef at the same time, while Nancy and Jonathan have unresolved annoyances.
Despite Steve’s insistence that he and Nancy pair up for the investigation, Nancy puts her foot down and makes him stick to his usual team-up with Dustin, while she and Jonathan set out for answers in the building.
Netflix
Nancy and Jonathan’s underlying tensions come to a head amid their investigation in the lab’s upper floors, where they discover a concerning melting of the structure, suggesting something is amiss.
While Nancy is initially resistant to discussing their relationship problems, when she shoots into the sky, hitting what is determined to be dark matter, there’s an explosion, and she and Jonathan fall through the ground into a room below, putting them in a life-or-death situation that forces words out of her.
The couple takes refuge on a table as they try to avoid drowning in the melting matter filling up the room and blocking their exit. Realizing this might be their only chance to speak honestly before death comes for them, Nancy and Jonathan are honest about their annoyances with one another, including her decision to skip seeing him for spring break and his not wanting to go to Emerson College.
They address the Steve factor, and she swears they’re only friends, noting that he once told her he wants six kids. They laugh over that fact, and Nancy points out that Steve’s great, but he knows what he wants and she doesn’t. She wants time to figure it out, even if time is running out.
Jonathan ultimately shows Nancy the engagement ring he’s been carrying and admits he’d thought it would help fix things, but he’d been avoiding popping the question because he knew deep down it wouldn’t resolve their issues.
He proposes that they don’t get married, but when their near-death experience comes to an end with them making it out of the room and being saved by Steve and Dustin, it’s unclear where Nancy and Jonathan stand.
Have they broken up? The unproposal feels like a promise to not make plans, but has their relationship gone from romantic to platonic? The only indication of this possibility is the lack of a kiss, but the pair declares their love for one another, so it remains to be seen.
One thing seems clear, though: It would appear that Nancy isn’t about to set her sights on Steve, meaning that the love triangle debate appears to have come to a close. How will it fare heading into the finale? We’re eager to see.
Let us know your theories in the comments section below, and stay tuned for how things turn out when Stranger Things‘ finale airs on New Year’s Eve.
Stranger Things, Season 5 Finale, Premiere, December 31, 2025, Netflix
