Steve Harrington was never a bad person
Obviously Steve has the best character development in the show as a whole but I really want to talk about the completely missable moments along with the blatantly obvious scenes before he decides to change.
First off he doesn't target Jonathan at all, we never see him bully or use his King status to hurt others. He actually defends Jonathan when Tommy jokes he killed Will:
This isn't something an 80s douchebag would do, he would laugh along or ignore what his friend said as to not seem caring or at the least sympathetic towards a very easy target for bullying or a joke like that.
He invites Barb, who clearly doesn't fit with the rest of the group to his party and makes sure she can find the bathroom after cutting her hand. This part really irritates me because Nancy pulls Steve into the blame of Barb dying but he had no part in telling her to go home or knowing what she was doing. She was Nancy's friend, not his. Her throwing guilt at him was unnecessary but that's a rant for a different day.
When he finds out about Jonathan taking pictures he makes sure its true. He doesn't jump to conclusions or trust the people around him without checking its true and he was right in being annoyed at this. Jonathan took none consensual pictures of his girlfriend but what I find really interesting is the way he acts after breaking the camera.
That is not the face of someone who likes what they just did. He instantly regrets it and leaves straight away, it comes across as if he thought he needed to do this to prove a point to his friends and himself that he is right and Jonathan is wrong.
Later on he freaks out because his parents are going to find out about the party because of Barb going missing and Nancy is angry with him for this reaction. Totally justified as her best friend is missing and his first thought is himself. However, he apologises very quickly and tries to make her feel better about the whole situation.
He knows she has a crush on Tom Cruise and asks if she wants to go see a movie with him in it to distract her from everything bad that's going on. She declines and he understands but is still concerned about how she was acting so goes to her house that night to check on her.
Note, he is the one who drives there with Tommy and Carol also in the car meaning he had no intention of staying or doing anything beyond checking on her. Except he then finds Jonathan in her room.
Not something you want to find after the week you've had and the fact you know this is the same boy who creeped on you and your friends.
Now, I believe that he got back into his car, told them what he saw and they used his current state of mind to influence what happens next. He is devastated, literally heartbroken and so Tommy takes that and uses it to hurt Nancy and Jonathan.
He is truly upset here and he is surrounded by people who would rather use that to be nasty than comfort him. Nancy wrongfully slaps him. In no situation is that warranted.
She doesn't tell him what really happened so he snaps, he gets more angry because that pain twists and Jonathan is the root of it. So he says some very nasty things, a literal slur (which some people completely ignore) and then ends up in a fight. A fight that he loses.
This then prompts him to realise his friends actually use him instead of care about him and he ends up at the Byers.
In conclusion, I genuinely feel that Steve was never a bad person but instead surrounded by bad people. Along with pressuring parents and probably a lack of good influence in his life. It just took Nancy for him to fully break away from the people he had around him since he was much younger.
People have constantly used his wealth and popularity for themselves and not because they actually care about him. This is further shown by the fact Billy is placed pretty much exactly in his place, same friends and lack of positive influence at home included. But that's a whole other point to discuss.
It has been well discussed the clear moments of Steve being a good guy but I've seen a lacking in some of the ones I mentioned. This doesn't devalue his development, it just proves that he always had the chance for change but it took some serious push to get him to.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk I guess
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