Stranger Things have made a habit of introducing young viewers to musical hits from the 1980s, featuring songs by The Clash, Kate Bush, and many more. Metallica is the latest band to join the list of legendary bands, with “Master of Puppets” witnessing another surge of popularity.
For the second volume of Season 4, fan-favorites Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn) are given the vital task of keeping the demobats distracted while the rest of the gang tries to kill Vecna (Jamie Bell) before he completes his plan.
Though simple on paper, the Hellfire Club members take the most unconventional route imaginable – using music to attract the demobats to one location.
As a result, fans are treated to one of the most iconic scenes in the show’s history as Eddie stands atop his trailer, strumming and plucking to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.”
Clips had already circulated around the internet before the trailers for Volume 2 dropped. Many were curious about what song he would play while a few guessed the song based on Quinn’s finger movement.
Once the scene played out, fans were in an uproar to cheer for the high school pariah.
Praises were thrown around for Quinn’s overall performance, and fans’ sentiments strengthened when the scene came on. A few others noted how the song had only been released two weeks before the events of the season, making Joseph Quinn’s character one of the most beloved in the series.
Joining the positive sentiments were the artists themselves, who took to Instagram to shower the sequence and performance with praises. Metallica wrote:
“The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include “Master of Puppets” in the show, but to have such a pivotal scene built around it,” they wrote. “We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away… it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?”
“It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”
While Joseph Quinn’s performance already earned him a spot in many fans’ hearts, they were even more impressed when it was revealed that the actor opted to play the majority of the scene himself.
Quinn ended up doing the majority of the guitar sequence on his own, while the showrunners kept a stand-in guitarist on the side for the song’s solo.
“When I read the scripts, the next morning I went out and bought a guitar and manically started learning “Master of Puppets,” Quinn revealed. “On the day, me and Gaten just got up on top of the camper van, and just got into it. It was very fun. I played most of it.”
