When Maya Hawke joined the cast of Stranger Things 3 as Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington got a new best friend—and fans of the show got a new favorite character. Stranger Things 4 brings Robin even more closely into the plot, pairing her up with Nancy Wheeler in an investigation into the Creel killings. Not only does this give Robin somebody new to interact with in the story, but it also highlights aspects of her behavior that were either not present or conveyed more subtly in her earlier performance.
In a video on her YouTub channel, psychotherapist Georgia Dow reviews several key scenes from Season 4 in which Robin exhibits what she believes to be typical symptoms of ADHD. This is expressed in moments where an overwhelmed Robin speaks incredibly rapidly, vocalizing every thought that comes to her, and seemingly missing the non-verbal cues that Nancy is becoming irritated.
“The thinking part of your brain kind of turns off, and with it, your ability to filter out when you should speak and when you shouldn’t,” says Dow. “And other people’s reactions, you’re not reading them as effectively as you would when you’re really calm… That talking, and all those exuberant hand gestures, that’s a way of burning off adrenaline, that anxiety that she might feel.”
However, there are other instances where Robin is able to pick up on some of the subtleties in her interactions with Nancy, like when she detects a hint of jealousy at how close she is with Steve. Because she has no filter, she directly tells Nancy that their relationship is platonic, and even goes so far as to ask whether she is being too “annoying.”
Dow points out that while Robin is aware that some people might be annoyed by her, she doesn’t take it personally, because she’s used to it. “She has the amount of self-awareness to know that sometimes she doesn’t have that much self-awareness,” says Dow.
Robin also demonstrates the traits of a “super feeler,” such as when she is able to correctly read the situation at the institution well enough to launch into a monologue that eventually gets her and Nancy access to Victor Creel.
“That ability of social engineering is a huge skill,” says Dow. “As long as she’s calm enough to pay attention.”
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