The long wait for Stranger Things Season 5 is nearly over, with the first four episodes of the final season debuting for fans with a Netflix subscription on November 26 in the 2025 TV schedule. The Upside Down is encroaching on the rightside up, and official trailer footage indicates that danger is coming to the Wheeler household. Ted Wheeler has managed to stay mostly oblivious of the Upside Down despite his two oldest kids being mixed up in it, and when CinemaBlend spoke with actor Joe Chrest ahead of the final season, he defended Ted as a much better dad than he’s gained a reputation for.
With the exception of some moments with Holly, Ted has seemed like a fairly uninvolved father. While that’s been good for Nancy and Mike when it comes to issues like investigating monsters from other dimensions and hiding a government fugitive in the basement, it’s also given him a bad rap among fans for his parenting skills. When I noted to the actor that Ted isn’t necessarily known as dad of the year after the first four seasons, Joe Chrest said:
It’s interesting that so many people, probably the lion’s share of the people, feel like Ted is a bad dad, and I kind of disagree. I think he probably would have regrets, but I feel like he reminds me of a lot of dads that I know. My dad always found time to be involved in everything, but he could have easily gone the way of Ted. These dads that work really hard, and I think that’s why he’s sacked out all the time.
A fair amount of Joe Chrest’s scenes in Stranger Things have involved Ted Wheeler sleeping in his recliner, to the point that Mike even described the chair as “where [his] dad sleeps” when showing Eleven around in the first season. According to the Looking for Alaska vet, however, the hard work that happens off screen can be why Ted is always napping, and not because he’s a bad father. Chrest went on:
You can see he provides well for his family. We live in one of the nicer areas of Hawkins. [laughs] They seem to have everything that they need, and keep Karen in her Jazzercise classes and such.
Whether or not Karen has been satisfied with her status as a homemaker in the ’80s, Ted has kept the family in good condition. If you look at the series through his eyes, Mike never could have sheltered Eleven back in the day if the Wheelers hadn’t had that nice big basement. Nancy might not have a phone of her own or the means to load up her closet with firearms.
Even in Season 4, Mike’s trip to California and Nancy’s college plans might never have happened without their dad providing well. There’s more than one side to every story, and I have to admit that Joe Chrest was making some good points about Ted’s side. He continued:
But I think Ted is a good dad, and I get a lot of letters and stuff that people say it’s a bonding thing in their family. They love Ted. They get their dads interested, and [dads] love Ted and feel like he’s kind of like a spokesman. There was something I said in Season 1. It was like,’ What’d I do?’ I’m kind of yelling, and everybody abandons me at the table. So many fathers will say, ‘That’s exactly how I feel all the time.’
Ted asking “What’d I do?” at the dinner is arguably one of the character’s most iconic moments, with family members storming off one by one while he enjoys his chicken at the table. Joe Chrest also pointed out that “You don’t want to be a helicopter parent,” and to his credit, it’s not Ted’s fault that Mike and Nancy lie about their Upside Down-related shenanigans. The actor also cited how Ted is a bit more of an involved parent to Holly, who is set to have a larger role in Season 5 with Evil Dead Rise‘s Nell Fisher taking over the character.
As for what’s in store for Ted in the fifth and final installment… well, Joe Chrest of course didn’t spoil what’s to come, but a lot may depend on what happens at the Wheeler house that seemingly has a terrified Karen and Holly hiding in a bathtub, as teased in the first trailer. Find out with Volume 1 of Stranger Things Season 5, which releases on Wednesday, November 26 at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix, followed by Volume 2 on Christmas Day and the series finale on New Year’s Eve.