Mayor Kline in Stranger Things: Larry Kline, the corrupt mayor of Season 3, and Cary Elwes
Character · Mayor Kline · Season 3
Larry Kline sold the town: the mall, the lots, the permits, everything went through him, and the money came from Moscow. The mayor of season 3 is the face of ordinary corruption in a Cold War season, and he is played by the hero of “The Princess Bride.” Here is who he is.
The essentials
- Name: Larry Kline, the town mayor in 1985
- His crime: helped Starcourt and the Russian base along for money
- His moment: the July 4 party, which he hosts while the monster closes in
- Played by: Cary Elwes
Contents
Who is Kline
In the summer of 1985, the town has a mayor who loves cameras: Larry Kline, tanned, smiling, who had Starcourt built against the wishes of the downtown shopkeepers, and who organizes the biggest July 4 party in the town's history. What the town does not know is that the mall is a cover for a Soviet base, and that the mayor took money to see nothing, and to buy back the necessary lots.
The Hawkins T-shirt, the town he sold.
In the shopMen's 3/4-sleeve baseball Chief Hopper Hawkins Police T-shirt44,90 €See the product
Hopper and the mayor
Hopper has known him a long time and despises him. When he understands that men in black are circling the mayor, he comes to question him in his office, then, getting no answer, hits him and breaks a finger. Kline talks: the Russians, the land, the money. It is Hopper's most brutal scene of the season, and the most argued-over: the police chief who tortures an elected official, for the right cause.
| Episode | The mayor |
|---|---|
| 1 | Opens the July 4 party; the shopkeepers protest |
| 3 | Receives Hopper; lies |
| 4 | Questioned, beaten, confesses the Russians and the land |
| 8 | Arrested for corruption, on the finale's news |
The July 4 party
Kline wants his party: fireworks, a fair, speeches. It happens, and that is where Grigori kills Alexei, and from there that the group leaves for Starcourt. The mayor himself gets through it on borrowed time: Grigori came to see him in his office, and he understood the Soviets no longer needed him. The TV news in the finale announces his arrest for corruption. The show does not even give him a scene: he disappears in a headline, like everything he sold.
Cary ElwesThe actor from “The Princess Bride” and “Saw” was chosen for his smile: Kline had to be a man you like before you hate him. His scene with David Harbour, in the office, was shot as a duel between old enemies. Kline ends up arrested, not dead.
What he stands for
Season 3 is the season of the mall that kills downtown, and Kline is its craftsman: he embodies 1985 America selling its land to the highest bidder, without asking where the money comes from. That the money comes from Moscow is the irony of the season: the patriot mayor, at the July 4 party, was paid by the enemy.
Why the character matters
Because he is the only politician in the show, and he is rotten. Every other authority is a scientist or a soldier; Kline reminds you that the small town also has its own culprits, with no lab and no uniform.
The Hopper figure, his interrogator.
In the shopLego Hawkins party mini figures (set of 4)39,90 €See the product
Kline, episode by episode
-
The mall
Kline had Starcourt built by selling the land and touting the jobs; downtown shopkeepers protest in front of city hall.
-
The visit from Hopper
Hopper, there to demand a permit, finds out the mayor knows everything about the land sold to the Russians; he hits him to make him talk.
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The betrayal
Kline hands Hopper and Joyce over to Grigori, who is waiting at the Hess farm.
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The July 4 party
He presides over the festivities while the flesh monster gets ready, and flees when everything collapses.
-
L'arrestation
Three months later, the papers announce his arrest for corruption; the town changes mayor.
The 80s politician, according to the Duffers
Cary Elwes, the hero of The Princess Bride, was announced in April 2018 to play Kline, described by production as “a classic 80s politician, more concerned with his image than with the people of the small town he governs.” The character has the hair, the tan, and the slogans of the period, and a mistress he hides from his wife. He is not a science-fiction villain: he sold the town for a mall, without knowing what his buyers were digging there.
That is what distinguishes him from Grigori. Kline did not want to open a door to the Upside Down; he wanted a ribbon to cut and voices. The show uses him to say what Starcourt does to Hawkins even before the monster arrives: the death of downtown, the closed shops, the shopkeepers angry in front of city hall.
Kline and Hopper: the interrogation scene
The mayor's most memorable scene is also the one where Hopper crosses a line. Come to city hall with Joyce to understand why Hawkins's magnets have lost their magnetism, Hopper ends up hitting Kline, crushing his fingers in a drawer, and threatening to expose his mistress. Kline talks: the land was sold to foreign buyers, and a man, Grigori, is watching them.
Season 3 makes Hopper a brutal cop, in a Hawaiian shirt, who settles scores with his fists; Kline is his most comic victim, and the most deserved according to the show. But it is also Kline who, for revenge, hands Hopper and Joyce to the Russians. The ridiculous mayor is the one through whom the hunt starts.
Kline in three dates
-
1984
He sells Hawkins land to the builders of Starcourt, and to their foreign backers.
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June 1985
Shopkeepers protest in front of city hall; Hopper questions him in his own way.
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July 4, 1985
The party, the flight, then the arrest announced three months later.
A comedy mayor in a season of monsters, whose ordinary corruption opened the door to everything else.
The Season 3 poster.
In the shopChief Hopper Hawkins Police hoodie59,90 €See the product
TakeawayThe 1985 mayor, the man behind Starcourt. Paid by the Soviets for the land. Interrogated and hit by Hopper; confesses. Arrested for corruption; played by Cary Elwes.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Mayor Kline in Stranger Things?
Larry Kline, the town's mayor in 1985, who facilitated the building of Starcourt and the Russian base for money.
What does Hopper do to the mayor?
He questions him, hits him, and breaks a finger to make him confess: the Russians, the land, the money.
What becomes of Mayor Kline?
He is arrested for corruption after the battle of Starcourt: the TV news in the finale announces it.
Who plays Mayor Kline?
Cary Elwes, the hero of “The Princess Bride.”
How was Kline presented at his announcement?
As “a classic 80s politician, more concerned with his image than with the people of his town,” a role given to Cary Elwes in April 2018.
What does Hopper do to Kline in the town hall?
He hits him, crushes his fingers in a drawer, and threatens to expose his mistress, until Kline confesses the land sale and Grigori's existence.
Did Kline know the Russians were digging under Starcourt?
He knew the land buyers were foreign and that a man, Grigori, was watching them; the show does not show that he knew about the machine or the gate.
Does Kline come back after Season 3?
No. Arrested for corruption after July 4, 1985, he disappears from the story, and the town has another mayor in the later seasons.
Does Kline have a family?
A wife, from whom he hides a mistress: it is that affair Hopper threatens to reveal to make him talk.