‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 has set up Vecna as the main antagonist, but it’s safe to say that Hawkins high school basketball captain Jason has taken the spot for the most-hated character. 

Played by Mason Dye, Jason is the quintessential jock, someone who uses the sacrifices of those in Hawkins to try and get his team to win. However, it is only after his girlfriend, and cheerleader, Chrissy dies that Jason really starts to unravel. 

He buys into the American paranoia that Dungeons and Dragons is a gateway to satanism and starts blaming Eddie Munson for the murder. This focuses his attention on the Hellfire Club, which Eddie presides over. Despite it just being a group of people playing board games, Jason and his friends escalate the situation, threatening violence. 

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Lucas, who plays for the basketball team, but has friends in Hellfire, like Dustin, finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Dustin, meanwhile, tries to help Eddie hide while the entire town accuses him of murder. 

Jason and company nearly catch Eddie but he slips their grasp throughout, until one member tracks down Erica, Lucas’ sister and Dungeons and Dragon player, at the Creel mansion. 

This leads Jason there, right when Max and Lucas are in the midst of their plan to take down Vecna. Threatening Lucas with a handgun, Jason sets off a chain of events which results in Max’s music player being broken while Vecna has control of her mind. 

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Naturally, Kate Bush’s song ‘Running up the Hill’ can’t come to Max’s rescue and snap her out of the state, and by the time Eleven battles Vecna inside Max’s mind, Sadie Sink’s character is pushed to the brink of death. She’s left in a coma, and technically, Jason’s interruption allows Vecna to open the gates between Upside Down and the normal world. 

Lucas, however, knocks Jason out during their conflict, and when the gates open, the basketball player is sliced in half, leading to satisfying character death in the series. 

Fans took to Twitter blaming the character for ruining the plan to take down Vecna, and even blaming him for Eddie’s death indirectly. Some have also pointed out that Jason aiming a gun at a black guy, or his teammate tackling Erica, who’s much younger, are racially motivated acts.