Stranger Things loves indulging in '80s nostalgia, but the casting of Paul Reiser as Dr. Owens was a clever case of the show using recognizable references to mislead the audience. Since debuting in 2016, the Duffer Brothers’ hit Stranger Things has fused horror, sci-fi, and coming-of-age dramedy in a series that feels both nostalgic and fresh even after 3 seasons.
With a superb multigenerational cast, convincing effects, and unpredictable writing, Stranger Things has turned the small-town mystery of Hawkins, Indiana into one of Netflix’s most popular productions. It’s understandably tough for the show to constantly call back to the '80s via pop culture references ranging from John Carpenter to Madonna while simultaneously staying innovative. But Stranger Things character Dr. Owens shows that the show can pull off this tough balancing act.
Introduced in Stranger Things season 2, shortly before the arrival of Eleven’s much-maligned lost sister Kali, Dr. Owens seemed like a minor villain, but soon turned out to be much more than that. Stranger Things is famous for borrowing from '80s pop culture, so when the series cast Aliens villain Paul Reiser as Dr. Owens, a government scientist working in Hawkins Lab who claims he has the best interests of Will, Joyce, and the Byers at heart, viewers were understandably suspicious. Anyone familiar with Reiser’s turn in James Cameron’s classic sci-fi action horror sequel Aliens, a huge influence on Stranger Things, will know better than to trust the actor when he plays a knowledgeable, seemingly sweet, company man.
But instead of merely referencing Reiser’s earlier role as Burke by having him play another seemingly kindly villain, Stranger Things used the same approach it did when referencing Stephen King’s IT and approached a seemingly familiar character from a new perspective. Season 2 of Stranger Things flips the audience's expectation on its head by having Owens turn out to be a well-meaning hero who genuinely does want to help the protagonists. His claims to have their best interests at heart are entirely genuine, and it’s his casting that is a sneaky misdirect, rather than his dialogue. It’s a rare twist that requires the audience to know and love their '80s horror/sci-fi to be misguided, so it’s perfect for Stranger Things.
When Cameron cast Reiser as duplicitous company man Burke in Aliens, he was relying on audiences viewing the actor as a trustworthy and warm presence thanks to his critically acclaimed turn in Diner. The trick worked and Reiser’s character is up there with Michael Fassbender’s uncaring android David as one of the franchise’s most iconically slippery, creepy characters. As such, Stranger Things’ canny reversal of this casting trick is both an effective misdirect and a tribute to Cameron’s clever casting. In Stranger Things, the seemingly evil character turns out to be benign, a trick that relies on the audience recognizing his earlier role (or at the very least, the common trope), just as in Aliens the seemingly friendly figure turns out to be evil. Thus, Aliens' trick of misleading audience expectations is passed on a generation.