Dacre Montgomery left Stranger Things in season 3 since his character arc as Billy Hargrove was designed to be a two-season arc as seen in the series.
Stranger Things is the hit teen sci-fi thriller series which first premiered on the paid subscription video-on-demand streaming service in 2016.
With its cult following awaiting the fifth and final season of the series, fans are looking back at previous seasons and memorable characters that are no more.
One of the earliest and most impactful characters that viewers had to say goodbye to was Australian actor, Dacre Montgomery, who played Billy Hargrove.
Montgomery made a surprise exit during the season three finale, only to make another dramatic cameo appearance in the fourth episode of season four in the series.
Stranger Things’ surprise season 5 announcement
Stranger Things returned to Netflix with season four in May 2022. The wait was almost three years as the last season of the hit Netflix series was released in July 2019.
The delay was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the restrictions and regulations continually changed, only increasing the delays even more.
However, after the split-cour season four was completely available, with the last two episodes of the extended nine-episode season four were released in July 2022, the series surprised fans when it was revealed that Stranger Things is returning with one finale season in 2023.
Why did Dacre leave Stranger Things?
Billy Hargrove was introduced to the story in Stranger Things during the second season of the series. He was introduced as Max Mayfield’s older stepbrother.
In the first season of his introduction, he was the mean older brother who was abusive to Max and her new group of friends as he disapproved of their friendship.
By season three, he was the major antagonist as he was possessed by the Mind Flayer and recruited the residents of Hawkins to join his army.
Only in his last episode during the season finale could Eleven appeal to Billy during their showdown, who sacrificed himself by being killed after realising that he could not break away from the Mind Slayer’s control.
As such, Dacre did not leave the series, instead, the writers of the show had created a character arc for him which was designed as a two-season arc, and which would have ended in the death of whichever actor had assumed the role.
It seems that the only oversight that the series had was how beloved the character was amongst fans.
This is similar to season four’s Joseph Quinn who played Eddie Munson and the reception that fans had after his heroic death during the season finale episode.
Dacre Montgomery asserts amicable departure from Stranger Things
Dacre Montgomery has always established that he was aware that his role as Billy Hargrove was a two-seasons character.
As such, the actor was emotional during his last days on set, which happened to be with lead, Millie Bobby Brown, as they shot their epic food court showdown.
He shared his experience with the New York Times, stating, “We constructed it this way from the beginning. I knew it was coming in that this was going to be the outcome.”
Going on to add, “I think because I was on my way out, I was given an amazing opportunity to do a wide array of things. I’m very grateful.”
Dacre Montgomery returns for a cameo appearance
Probably one of the most appreciated and surprising cameos in season four of Stranger Things is that of Australian actor, Dacre Montgomery.
He returned to the world of the story during the much-anticipated graveyard scene which was part of the promotional rollout of the series’ fourth season.
Billy returned when Max attempted to read the letter she wrote to her brother, which actually turned out to be an illusion by Vecna as he attempted to possess Max at the graveyard.
Dacre Montgomery’s Stranger Things return cameo shot remotely
One interesting detail about the cameo appearance of Billy Hargrove in season four, episode four of Stranger Things was that it was shot remotely.
This is as Montgomery was in Australia, and due to the restrictions at the time, they could not coordinate a schedule which would allow him to fly to shoot the scene.
Therefore, he was in a soundstage, and he was being directed via Zoom. Following his appearance, he took to Instagram to share images of the behind-the-scenes actions on how it all happened.