Patrick McKinney, portrayed by Myles Truitt, was a recurring character in the fourth season of Stranger Things. He was a talented and popular basketball player attending Hawkins High School; in 1986, shocking events sent his life spiraling out of control.
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History
Background
Patrick was born sometime between 1967 and 1968. Patrick's father subjected him to verbal abuse, and likely also physically abused him; he was berated and called "an embarrassment to [his] family" when discovered to be drinking alcohol, and on another occasion, appeared at school with a black-eye.[3][1]
Upon attending Hawkins High School, he joined the basketball team and befriended Jason Carver, Andy, and Chance. By 1986, Lucas Sinclair joined the basketball team; Patrick formed an acquaintance with him, but did not become especially close.
1986
On March 21, Patrick played in the championship game for Hawkins High School and later celebrated with his friends at Benny's Burgers, which had been converted to a party place following the death of the owner. The following morning, news of the mysterious death of a teenager was broadcast on TV, which Patrick watched. Patrick's friend Andy made a joke during the broadcast, which Patrick found distasteful.
Later, Patrick joined the mission of the Basketball Team to hunt down Eddie Munson, who was blamed for the murder of Chrissy, Jason's girlfriend. In the car, Patrick experienced a sudden nosebleed. When attending Chrissy's funeral, he noticed a grandfather clock appear in a corner of the room. These are both part of Vecna's curse, which Patrick had been inflicted with.
Later, Patrick and Jason found Eddie trying to flee across Lover's Lake. They swam to catch him, but Patrick suddenly stopped. He fell into the water, only to levitate up. His bones snapped and his eyes gouged inwards before his corpse fell onto the group. Patrick was killed by Vecna, which caused a gate to open at the bottom of Lover's Lake, the location of his death.
Legacy
After Patrick's death, Lucas tells Max Mayfield that Patrick had come to basketball practice one day with a black-eye and said that he had fell, which was a presumably a lie. Lucas told Max he knew it was something more than that and he felt guilty for turning a blind eye, just because he didn't know Patrick that well.[1]
Jason was also heartbroken by Patrick’s death, as it inspired him to take his hunt against Eddie further. He then believed Eddie had satanic powers and was a vessel for Satan and decided they had to kill him to ensure his murder spree was stopped. Even after hearing the truth from his former teammate Lucas Sinclair that Vecna is the sole responsible for the deaths of Chrissy and Patrick and incriminated Eddie for them, Jason's stubborness, lack of sleep, grief over Chrissy and Patrick and hatred and prejudice against Eddie and Hellfire stopped him from believing Lucas and he interfered in Lucas and Max Mayfield's plan to kill Vecna in the Creel House.
When Vecna temporarily took the life of his final victim, Max, the gates at each of the murder sites expanded throughout Hawkins and met at the Town Square. One of these gates was the one at Lover's Lake, where Patrick was killed. The opening of the gates also resulted in the deaths of at least twenty-two civilians, including Jason.[4]
In 1987, after Vecna attacked the Wheeler family but left Karen, Ted, and Holly Wheeler alive, Lucas used the examples of Patrick, Fred, and Chrissy to explain how Vecna always completely finishes the job, implying a hidden purpose to leaving the Wheelers alive.[5]
Three days later, Lucas, his teammates of the Party and their older allies infiltrated the other dimension known as the Abyss to face Vecna and the Mind Flayer and prevent them from eradicating mankind. Through their collective efforts, especially those of Eleven and Will Byers, they were successful in neutralizing the Mind Flayer and Vecna, the latter of whom was viciously decapitated by an enraged Joyce Byers. This act avenged the murders of Patrick, Fred and Chrissy at the hands of Vecna as well as those carried out by the lifeforms of the Abyss under Vecna and the Mind Flayer's control, as in the case of Eddie Munson and countless others. The Abyss' connection to Hawkins and the rest of Earth was severed with the destruction of the Upside Down, which served as a wormhole between the two worlds, ending the supernatural horrors of Hawkins once and for all.[6]
Personality
Patrick seemed like a nice kid. He was friends with Jason Carver, Andy, Lucas Sinclair and the rest of the basketball team. He didn’t approve of Andy making jokes about the dead Hawkins student and immediately called him out for it. Patrick was sort of an "older brother" for Lucas since they could relate on most things, reassuring Lucas after the police came to Benny’s. When it came to his friends, he would do anything for them, such as when he and Jason hunted and chased Eddie Munson at Lover's Lake, when they thought he had murdered Chrissy Cunningham. However, his good nature would sometimes waver, such as when he beat up members of the Corroded Coffin.
Relationships
Patrick and Lucas had a friendly relationship. They had friendly conversations such as Patrick comforting Lucas when the police came to Benny’s, but never became close. Lucas would later admit to his ex-girlfriend Max Mayfield of his guilt, wishing he had paid more attention and helped Patrick through whatever psychological struggle he was going through that later drove to his brutal demise at the hands of Vecna.
Despite being friends and teammates, Patrick does not like some of Andy's attitude, such as him joking about the murder of the Hawkins student.
Patrick and Jason were not only teammates but appeared to maintain a close friendship off the court as well - so much so that Patrick immediately asked if Jason was okay after was warned about Chrissy’s murder and also trusted Jason enough to follow him in pursuit of Eddie Munson for the death of Jason's girlfriend. Jason cared about Patrick and was horrified by his death, taking his body back to shore in grief. Witnessing Patrick’s death seemed to be the catalyst which caused Jason to truly believe Eddie had occult powers and had transformed his vigilante posse into an angry mob at the town meeting to catch Eddie and avenge Patrick.
Appearances
| Season Four appearances | |||
| The Hellfire Club | Vecna's Curse | The Monster and the Superhero | |
| Dear Billy | The Nina Project | The Dive* | |
| Papa* | |||
*Patrick's corpse can be seen in "The Dive" *Patrick appears in a flashback in "Papa"
Behind the scenes
His character was officially revealed on June 9, 2021 via the show's official social media accounts along with several other new characters.[7]
Gallery
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For this subject's gallery, see Patrick McKinney/Gallery. |
Trivia
- Patrick seems to be the only curse victim who didn’t have Ms. Kelley as his counselor.
- Unlike the callous Andy, Patrick seemed to be the most empathetic of Lucas’ teammates, as he appeared visibly shaken by the news report that a fellow Hawkins student had died and scolding Andy for speculating that it could be Chrissy, something that her own boyfriend Jason ignored until confronted with the revelation.
- Patrick’s death can arguably be seen as an even bigger turning point for Jason Carver’s character than that of Chrissy Cunnningham; when asked at a convention, Mason Dye stated his belief that Jason may have been convinced of Eddie’s innocence had he not also been present for Patrick’s murder. As it stands, Dye feels that was the moment Jason convinced himself Eddie possessed abilities courtesy of the occult - and that even though Jason may know the theory isn’t rational, it is the only way for him to make sense of what he witnessed. [8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The Dive"
- ↑ Dr. Owens's files in "Papa"
- ↑ "The Monster and the Superhero"
- ↑ "The Piggyback"
- ↑ "The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler"
- ↑ "The Rightside Up"
- ↑ Official Instagram post revealing new season 4 characters.June 9, 2021
- ↑ https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTReuo8X2/?k=1