Dr. Owens in Stranger Things: who is Sam Owens, Brenner's successor on the good side
Character · Dr. Owens · Seasons 2 to 4
After Brenner, the lab could have produced another monster. It produced Sam Owens: a tired official, who listens to Joyce, looks the other way on Eleven and signs her a birth certificate. The only man of the state, in the show, to be on the right side. Here is who he is.
The essentials
- Name: Sam Owens, lab director from 1984 until it closed
- What he does: treats Will, protects Eleven, sets up the Nina Project
- His gesture: Jane Hopper's birth certificate
- Played by: Paul Reiser
Contents
Who is Owens
In 1984, the lab has a new director, sent by the government to contain what Brenner opened: the gate, under the building, which they burn every day without managing to close it. Owens sees Joyce and Will for exams, pretends to have it all under control, and quickly understands that he controls nothing. His difference from Brenner comes down to one word: he listens. When Joyce says Will is possessed, he believes her.
The Eleven T-shirt, the one he protected.
In the shopKids' Be an Eleven T-shirt24,90 €See the product
Season 2: Will and Eleven
When the demodogs invade the lab, Owens is wounded in the leg and saved by Bob, who restores the power before dying. A month later, he finds Hopper in a bar and hands him a birth certificate: Jane Hopper, born of Terry Ives, adopted. Eleven has an identity, and one instruction: stay hidden a year. Owens kept the promise Brenner would never have made.
| Season | Owens |
|---|---|
| 2 | Runs the lab; treats Will; Eleven's birth certificate |
| 3 | Absent; the lab is closed |
| 4 | Picks Eleven up in California; the Nina project with Brenner; held by the army |
| 5 | Does not appear; Dr. Kay's army has taken over |
Season 4: the Nina Project
In 1986, when Eleven is arrested in California after hitting Angela, it is Owens who picks her up and takes her to a former Nevada silo, the Nina Project, meant to give her back her powers. He has set up this project with Brenner, alive, which he hid from Eleven. When Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan's army arrives to kill her, Brenner locks Owens up to protect Eleven in his way. Owens survives the assault; the show leaves him there.
Paul ReiserThe actor, known for his comedies and for Aliens, where he played a company man who betrayed everyone, was cast against type: the Duffers wanted the audience to distrust Owens because of Aliens, the better to surprise them.
Between Brenner and Kay
The show has had three faces of the state. Brenner, who trained children. Kay, in 1987, who hunts them. And Owens, between the two, who tries to repair without having the means to repair. He is not a hero: he lies to Eleven about Brenner, and his project brings her back to her tormentor. But he is the only one who took her side when nobody was forcing him to.
Why the character matters
Because Owens proves that the lab was not doomed to produce monsters: an ordinary man, in the same place, did otherwise. That is the measure of Brenner's fault.
The Brenner figure, her predecessor.
In the shopLego Dr. Brenner mini figure14,90 €See the product
Season 3: the Starcourt cleaner
It is often forgotten: Owens is there at the end of season 3. After the battle at the mall, it is he who arrives with the American military to take back the Russian base under Starcourt, oversee the cleanup and make what must disappear disappear. The fire story served to the press, and the journalist who accuses the town, go through his office.
That lid role is constant with him: in 1984, he has the lab shut down and supplies Hopper with a birth certificate for Jane Hopper; in 1985, he erases the traces of the Russian gate; in 1986, he hides Eleven in a Nevada bunker. Owens is not a disinterested ally, he is the state that has understood you do not fight the Upside Down by making it public.
The Nina Project: what he agreed to
In spring 1986, Owens comes for Eleven in a California restaurant, a few hours after her arrest, and offers to get her powers back. He takes her to a Nevada bunker where Martin Brenner is waiting, whom she thought dead. The Nina Project consists of plunging Eleven back into her 1979 memories, through a sensory bath, up to the lab massacre, so she can recover what she had lost.
Owens therefore agreed to work with the man he had replaced, because he alone knew how. When Eleven wants to leave for Hawkins, Brenner holds her by force; Owens opposes it, and Brenner chains him to a pipe. Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan's men attack the base, Brenner is shot, and Eleven flees with Mike, Will, Jonathan and Argyle. The show does not show what becomes of Owens, left chained in the bunker, and he does not appear in the last season, where Dr. Kay has taken the place of the state in Hawkins.
The three doctors of the state, face to face
| Brenner | Owens | Kay | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period | 1970-1983, then 1986 | 1984-1986 | 1987 |
| What he wants from Eleven | A weapon, and a girl | A patient, then an ally | A capture |
| Her method | Isolation, the experiment, conditional affection | The secret, the protection, the compromise | Force, the sound transmitter, Kali's blood |
| His ending | Shot by Sullivan's men in 1986 | Chained in the Nevada bunker, outcome not shown | Ambush on the way back; the army leaves Hawkins before 1989 |
What he says to Eleven, and why she believes him
Owens is the only man of the state Eleven agrees to trust, and the show takes the time to explain why. In 1984, he treats Will without lying to Joyce, and offers Hopper a way to legalize Jane's existence. In 1986, when he comes to get her in a restaurant after her arrest, he promises her nothing: he tells her she is the only one who can stop what is killing in Hawkins, and that he does not know whether she will manage it.
That honesty is what distinguishes him from Brenner, who calls Eleven “my daughter” while manipulating her, and from Dr. Kay, who never talks to her. Paul Reiser, chosen precisely because the audience has trusted him since Aliens, plays that rectitude with the fatigue of a civil servant who has seen too much. When he stands up to Brenner in the bunker, it is the only moment the show gives him a gesture of courage, and he pays for it at once.
The Season 2 poster.
In the shop44 mm Eleven waffle pin9,90 €See the product
TakeawayBrenner's successor, who listens. Jane Hopper's birth certificate. The Nina Project, with Brenner hidden. Played by Paul Reiser, against type.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Dr. Owens in Stranger Things?
Sam Owens, the lab director after Brenner, who helps Joyce treat Will, protects Eleven and gets her a birth certificate in the name of Jane Hopper.
Is Owens a villain?
No. He lies to Eleven about Brenner in season 4, but he is the only man of the state in the show to take her side.
What becomes of Owens?
He survives the army's assault on the Nina project, in Season 4. The show does not show him again after that.
Who plays Dr. Owens?
Paul Reiser, a comedy actor also known for Aliens.
Does Owens appear in season 3?
Yes, briefly, at the end: he arrives with the American military to take back the Russian base under Starcourt and erase the traces.
Is Owens in season 5?
No. His fate after the Nevada bunker, where Brenner had chained him, is not shown, and it is Dr. Kay who represents the state in 1987.
Why does Owens work with Brenner in 1986?
Because Brenner is the only one who knows how to give Eleven her powers back. Owens accepts it, then opposes him when he wants to hold Eleven by force, and ends up chained in the bunker.