Stranger Things star speaks out after being forgotten in series 5 finale amid cancer diagnosis

An actor who appeared in the second and fourth season of Stranger Things has spoken out after being left out of the fifth and final season amid a cancer diagnosis.

Jennifer Marshall, who featured as Max's mom Susan Hargrove in the hit Netflix show, was nowhere to be seen for the hugely-anticipated ending.

Stranger Things started nearly a decade ago, with long-running storylines finally coming to a conclusion in the explosive final episode airing on New Year's Eve.

And while narrative arcs for characters such as Eleven were wrapped up, there were some characters that didn't even feature in season five at all.

With Max really put through the wringer in the final batch of episodes, fans certainly found it odd her mom didn't show up to support her at all, with one writing: "So you’re telling me for TWO YEARS this girl’s in the hospital and not once do we see her mom visit? Where was Max’s mom the whole season?"

Marshall has previously addressed her absence from season five on Instagram.

Responding to one fan writing: "Lady WHERE THE HELL are you WHILE MAX IS IN A COMA?!" She responded: "If I only knew..."

Now Marshall has opened up further on the heartbreaking health struggle she was going through at the time.

She wrote on Instagram: "I had cancer, I get it. But I was in remission during the shooting of season five.

"Shooting would have helped me obtain my health insurance through the union. Maybe they had too many characters, idk but obv Susan Hargrove is THE WORST MOTHER EVER LMAO."

The Instagram post also featured a video addressing how often she thought about where Susan could have ended up in season five, which she answered: "Every day. Not all day, every day but every day."

Many fans flocked to the comments section of the Instagram post to wonder why Marshall was not featured in the final offering of Stranger Things.

"I was wondering about that. Figured there would be a hospital scene with you at some point," one person said, while a second noted: "F**ksake. Justice for Susan Hargrove."

LADbible Group has previously reached out to Netflix and representatives of Jennifer Marshall for comment.

While Marshall was not involved in the finale of Stranger Things at all, one actor who was involved perhaps said it all with the now-infamous ending.

Back in November 2025, just before season five of Stranger Things hit Netflix, Millie Bobby Brown was asked by the YouTube channel Hugo Gloss if she was 'happy' about her character's ending.

Sitting alongside co-star Noah Schnapp, the 21-year-old pulled an awkward face before nodding and simply saying: "Mm-hm."

I mean, is that a face that tells a thousand words?