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Ray Carroll, portrayed by Pruitt Taylor Vince, is a minor character in Season 2 of Stranger Things. He is a former orderly at Hawkins National Laboratory.

History[]

Background[]

Ray Caroll served three tours in Vietnam working under the MASH units until he was honorably discharged by the Army Medical Corps. He then started work in 1969 as an orderly at the Hawkins National Laboratory under Doctor Martin Brenner. He seemed to be in a high position in his workplace, and was shown to be in charge of electroshock treatments.

In 1974, Terry Ives broke into the lab, forcing her way in with a gun. She searched the facility for her missing daughter, Jane Ives. She eventually found her daughter in a room where she was playing with Kali Prasad, another test subject, but was captured before she could retrieve her daughter.

Brenner ordered Terry to be strapped to a table and forced to undergo electroshock therapy. He ordered Ray to set the voltage up to 450 and then proceeded to electrocute her until her brain was damaged, leaving her in a semi-catatonic state.

Ray was also apparently in charge of maintaining order with the test subjects and was briefly shown electrocuting Kali with a cattle prod.

Eventually, Ray retired from his work and moved to Illinois, where he lived with his two daughters.

1984[]

Ray was watching television one evening in November 1984. He was suddenly interrupted by Kali’s Gang, who had broken into his home to seek vengeance for what he had done to Eleven’s mother. While the others ransacked his home of valuables, Eleven and Kali confronted him. Ray briefly did not recognize the two, until Kali showed him a vision of their younger selves to remind him who they were.

Kali then proceeded to beat Ray with the butt of her pistol, before Eleven threw him into a wall with her mind. Ray pleaded for his life, explaining that he was only doing what Brenner told him to do. When this failed, he attempted to bargain with them in exchange for Brenner, whom he claimed to be alive despite apparently being mauled to death by the Demogorgon the year before. This offer also failed, as Eleven could simply find Brenner if she so wished. With encouragement from Kali, Eleven began to strangle Ray with her powers, choking him to death. Before she could kill him, Eleven noticed a photo of Ray and his daughters on the floor, and ultimately couldn’t bring herself to kill him.

His two daughters in question had already phoned the police, and Kali desperately tried to convince Eleven to finish him off. She then attempted to shoot Ray herself, but Eleven used her powers to throw her gun out of the window. The group escaped the residence, leaving Ray and his daughters unharmed.

Appearances[]

Season Two appearances
MADMAX Trick or Treat, Freak The Pollywog
Will the Wise Dig Dug* The Spy
The Lost Sister The Mind Flayer The Gate
Season Three appearances
Suzie, Do You Copy? The Mall Rats The Case of the Missing Lifeguard The Sauna Test
The Flayed E Pluribus Unum* The Bite The Battle of Starcourt
Season Four appearances
The Hellfire Club Vecna's Curse The Monster and the Superhero
Dear Billy The Nina Project The Dive
The Massacre at Hawkins Lab Papa* The Piggyback

*Ray appears in via flashbacks in Dig Dug, E Pluribus Unum and Papa.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • He worked at Hawkins National Laboratory and was present when Terry Ives underwent electroshock therapy.
  • He probably knew what he was going to do with Eleven's mom was wrong, but had no choice as he was ordered by Brenner to do it.
  • He claimed that Dr. Brenner was still alive, which turned out to be true.
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