Thomas "Tom" Holloway, portrayed by Michael Park, was a recurring antagonist in the third season of Stranger Things. He was a journalist and the Editor-in-Chief of The Hawkins Post.
In 1985, Tom became the boss of Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler as they started working at the Post. However, Tom treated Nancy with cruelty and disdain as he did not hold women in high regard, despite having a wife and a daughter. After his daughter, Heather, became possessed by the Mind Flayer, she allowed Tom and his wife to be possessed as well. After becoming Flayed, Tom fired Nancy and Jonathan to keep them from investigating a story related to the actions of the Mind Flayer. Later, Tom, along with his co-worker Bruce Lowe (who also became possessed) tried to kill Nancy and Jonathan at the Hawkins Memorial Hospital as the two came to see the Flayed Doris Driscoll, only for Tom to be stabbed in the neck by Jonathan. Shortly after his death, his body was melted to become a part of the hospital monster.
History[]
Background[]
Tom Holloway was a journalist and the owner of The Hawkins Post, the newspaper for the town of Hawkins. He married a woman named Janet and they had a daughter named Heather. Sometime before the summer of 1985, Tom hired Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers at The Hawkins Post. However, due to his team of journalists being mostly male, Tom, along with Bruce Lowe mocked Nancy for being a girl with the dream of becoming a journalist.
1985[]
In 1985, Nancy started bringing up a story involving a woman named Doris Driscoll who said rats were consuming her fertilizer. As always, Tom and his colleagues denied it and teased Nancy. Later, Nancy and Jonathan started investigating this report, even though Tom warned them against it.
Heather brought her boyfriend Billy Hargrove over to the Holloways', and Billy and the Holloways had dinner together. Billy's stepsister Max Mayfield and her friend "El" briefly interrupted their dinner, believing something was wrong with Heather. After they left, Heather attacked Janet, and when Tom went to see what happened to Janet, Heather hit him with a bottle of wine.
When Tom and Janet regained their consciousness they were tied up and gagged in a mill, Brimborn Steel Works. Soon they were horrified as a monster attacked them. The monster was made of molten rodents and controlled by the Mind Flayer, a sentient creature from another dimension. Tom and Janet, like Billy and Heather before them, had become "Flayed"; possessed by the Mind Flayer.
Later, Bruce was also Flayed; presumably, Tom had brought him to Brimborn Steel Works.
Nancy and Jonathan arrived at the Hawkins Memorial Hospital to see Mrs. Driscoll, who had become Flayed as well. There, they were shocked to see that Driscoll had escaped; and that the people in the hospital wing had been killed by Tom and Bruce. The men hunted Nancy and Jonathan through the hospital and attacked them several times. However, Nancy eventually killed Bruce by bludgeoning him with a fire extinguisher; connected by the hive mind which connected the Flayed, Tom was weakened as well, and Jonathan killed him by stabbing scissors into his neck.
Tom and Bruce melted into biomass, which then met and merged to form a grotesque creature. The creature then proceeded to attack Nancy before El smashed it out a window with her telekinetic powers. Then the creature melted and traveled through the drains until it merged with the larger creature created with rodent biomass, and soon after the biomass of Tom and Bruce merged into it, the other Flayed, including Janet, Heather and Driscoll melted into biomass and joined it.
Personality[]
Tom was a man who always looked for a good story to be published for the newspaper. However, he was a sexist as he treated the women working at The Hawkins Post, especially Nancy Wheeler, with disdain. Ironically, despite his sexism, he cared deeply for his wife and daughter. After becoming one of the Flayed, Tom slowly started losing aspects of his personality and tried to kill both Nancy and Jonathan Byers when the two went to the hospital to see Doris Driscoll.
Relationships[]
Familial[]
Tom and his daughter Heather seemed to have a good relationship. When Heather became one of the Flayed, Heather apologized to her dad before knocking him unconscious. When ungagged, Tom pleaded with his daughter to stop what she was doing, believing she was being manipulated by Billy Hargrove. However, his pleas were ignored and his daughter allowed him to be possessed by the Mind Flayer.
Tom had an adequate relationship with his wife, Janet, but it is seen that he can be sharp with her, as seen during dinner. When Janet fell to the floor unconscious, after being drugged by Billy, Tom rushed to his wife and urged Heather and Billy to call 911.
Non-Familial[]
Tom seems to have a good relationship with his employee, Bruce. He and Bruce enjoyed making fun of Nancy Wheeler for being a woman and working at The Hawkins Post, though Tom did not harass Nancy as much as Bruce did. After they both became flayed, Tom and Bruce worked together to attempt to kill both Nancy and Jonathan Byers when they both came to visit Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital when they were flayed. When they both got mutilated by the two teens, their bodies were melted by the Mind Flayer and merged to form a hideous monster to finish Nancy, only to be stopped by Eleven.
Nancy was hired by Tom to work at The Hawkins Post. Despite her being around the same age as his daughter and her hard work, Tom treated Nancy awfully for trying to be a journalist. When Nancy picked up a report on "diseased rats" and presented it to Tom, he dismissed the story and ordered Nancy to stop pursuing it. However, she disobeyed him by trying to look for proof, only to find Mrs. Driscoll ferociously eating fertilizer. As a result, Tom fired both Nancy and Jonathan. When the two tried to visit Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital, Tom, who became possessed by the Mind Flayer, attempted to kill Nancy and Jonathan, with Bruce's help. When their bodies melted and combined to form a monster, it almost killed Nancy until it was stopped by Eleven, leaving it to become part of the Mind Flayer's avatar.
Jonathan was hired by Tom to work at The Hawkins Post as the photographer for the Post. Tom, however, did not treat Jonathan awfully, just like he does with Nancy. When Jonathan helped Nancy look for proof for Mrs. Driscoll's rat story, Tom fired Jonathan as a result. When the two tried to visit Mrs. Driscoll at the hospital, Tom, who became possessed by the Mind Flayer, tried to kill Jonathan and Nancy, with Bruce's help. Tom fought Jonathan and tried to kill him, while Bruce took care of Nancy. Tom gained the upper hand and was about to kill Jonathan with scissors until he felt Bruce's pain when Nancy hit him with a fire extinguisher. This allowed Jonathan to kill Tom by stabbing him in the neck with the scissors. After Tom's and Bruce's bodies melted away to form a monster, it was stopped by Eleven from killing, Nancy, where it left to become part of the Mind Flayer's mantle.
Family tree[]
note: family trees are only visible on desktop.
Janet Holloway † |
Tom Holloway † | ||||||||||||
Heather Holloway † | |||||||||||||
Appearances[]
Season Three appearances | |||
Suzie, Do You Copy? | The Mall Rats | The Case of the Missing Lifeguard | The Sauna Test |
The Flayed |
Quotes[]
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Gallery[]
For this subject's gallery, see Tom Holloway/Gallery. |
Trivia[]
- Tom takes his coffee with two creams and two sugars.
- He is the second character on the show to be named Tom; the first being Tommy H.