This post contains spoilers for Stranger Things 4, so look away now if you’re not yet up to date.
OK, sure, Eddie was a great character. He was. But the guy is dead, and it’s time we all moved on and started focussing on someone who’s so far been tragically ignored amid the chaos of Stranger Things 4.
I’m talking, of course, about Agent Harmon (Ira Amyx), pictured here looking serious and sporting what can only be described as an enviable moustache:
Credit: Netflix
I know what you’re thinking: Who’s Agent Harmon again?
Well, the long answer is he was one of the agents introduced in Season 4, episode three and tasked with the protection of Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) at the house in California while El (Millie Bobby-Brown) attempted to regain her powers.
The short, and more important answer, is that he literally saved the world.
OK, let’s recap. A man of few words, Agent Harmon’s contribution to the plot initially seemed to be sitting on the coach and watching golf along with his companion, Agent Wallace (Kendrick Cross). It seemed like he was going to be an obstacle to the boys’ escape attempts, maybe some deadpan comedic value at best.
Then, midway through episode four, the house was attacked by Lt. Col. Sullivan’s (Sherman Augustus’) men, with Agent Wallace immediately being shot when he answered the front door.
And Agent Harmon suddenly turned into James Bond.
Seriously, that’s no exaggeration. He turned into James Bond. Armed with just a tiny pistol, Agent Harmon single-handedly took on an entire army squadron, most of whom were armed with machine guns and none of whom were any match whatsoever for his elite agent skills.
Look, here’s a shot of him in action:
Credit: Netflix
And another one. Action:
Credit: Netflix
More. Action:
Credit: Netflix
Needless to say, the fans couldn’t get enough of it.
We counted, and Agent Harmon takes down at least four soldiers in that scene, and that’s only the ones we actually see him dispatch on camera.
“I shoot. You run,” he mutters towards the end of the sequence, like the complete badass he is, before finally getting hit with a stray bullet as the boys flee the house towards Argyle’s (Eduardo Franco’s) waiting pizza van.
As awesome as that scene undoubtedly is, though, it’s what comes next that really cements his place in the show’s history books.
At the start of episode five, we see a pale-faced Harmon bleeding out in the back of the pizza van. He doesn’t have long left. But is a man like Agent Harmon going to go out without at least saving the entire world first?
You’d better believe he isn’t.
Using the last of his strength, Harmon produces a pen from his pocket and tells the boys to call “NINA”.
Credit: Netflix/Mashable composite
Later, as they bury Harmon in the desert, they find a phone number concealed inside.
Credit: Netflix
That phone number, which the boys quickly realise calls a computer, is what leads them to the desert location where Eleven is being kept, allowing them to turn up in the nick of time and rescue her from Sullivan’s men, which in turn allows her to go into that ice bath, help Max (Sadie Sink), and save both Hawkins and the world from Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).
All thanks, in short, to Agent Harmon.
Argyle probably says it best after they’ve buried the man, holding a pizza box that he plans to turn into a makeshift headstone:
“I’ll just write: ‘Here lies unknown hero agent man. Saved Argyle, Jonathan, Will and Mike from certain death.”
Never forget.
