Argyle (Stranger Things): the California pizza delivery guy, Jonathan's friend, and the desert van
Character · The pizza delivery guy · Seasons 4 and 5
Argyle is the most laid-back character in Stranger Things: the Surfer Boy Pizza delivery guy, Jonathan's California friend, the one who drives a painted van across the Nevada desert thinking about something else. Arriving in 1986, he becomes, without meaning to, the driver of Eleven's rescue mission, turns a pizzeria into a lab, and brings everyone back to Hawkins. This page brings together everything: who he is, what he did, the van, the pizzeria, and what season 5 does with him.
The essentials
- Name: Argyle, high-schooler in Lenora Hills, California
- Job: delivery driver for Surfer Boy Pizza
- First appearance: season 4 (March 1986)
- Vehicle: the delivery van, painted with waves and surf
- Ties: Jonathan, Will, Mike, Eleven
- Played by: Eduardo Franco
- Status: alive; goes back to California after taking the group to Hawkins
Contents
Played by
Eduardo Franco
It is Eduardo Franco who lends his face to Argyle on the show.
Image: Stranger Things series, via assets.teenvogue.com.
Who is Argyle?
Argyle is Jonathan's best friend in Lenora Hills, the small California town where the Byers settled after Starcourt. He delivers pizzas for Surfer Boy Pizza, a chain with an absurd slogan, drives a van covered in painted waves, smokes more than he should, and talks with a slowness nothing can hurry. For Jonathan, who spent three years carrying his family, he is a breath of air.
Nothing, in the first episodes of 1986, suggests he will have a role. He is the comic relief, the friend who shows up at the wrong time. Then the army attacks the Byers house, a soldier collapses in his van, and Argyle, without asking a single useful question, starts driving. From there, he does not stop.
What makes him endearing is that he understands nothing and helps anyway. He buries a man in the desert, crosses two states, and turns a pizza-dough freezer into a sensory-deprivation tank because someone asked him to. Argyle is the proof you can save the world without knowing you are doing it.
He is also the counterpoint of all of season 4. While in Hawkins Eddie is hunted by a militia and Max counts the hours before the clock, Argyle lives in a world where the worst problem is a pizza delivered cold. When that world meets the other, on the Nevada road, Argyle does not change: he keeps driving, talking slowly, and helping. The show never asks him to become a hero. It asks him to stay himself, and that is exactly what Jonathan, Will, and Mike needed that day.
For fans, Argyle became one of the most cited characters of the season, on a par with Eddie, with whom he shares the status of a newcomer instantly adopted. The two never cross paths. It is one of the missed meetings of the show.
Surfer Boy PizzaThe pizza chain where Argyle works is a set in its own right in season 4: the van, the uniform, the recorded voice on the phone line, and above all the empty Nevada restaurant, where Eleven dives into a freezer filled with salt water to face Vecna from a distance. For one night, a pizzeria became the most important lab in the show.
In the shop: a piece from the show's universe that goes with this file, chosen by us.
In the shopMen's Stranger Kittens T-shirt39,90 €See the product
Argyle season by season
March 1986Lenora Hills
Argyle goes everywhere with Jonathan, including the rink where Eleven humiliates Angela, and the Byers house when Mike comes to visit. The night of the army attack, he parks his van in front of the house as the bullets whistle. A wounded agent, Harmon, collapses in the back. Argyle starts driving.
March 1986The desert
With Jonathan, Will, and Mike, he drives across Utah and Nevada. The agent dies leaving them a phone number; Argyle buries him in the desert, with a pizza box as a tribute. The group calls Suzie, Dustin's girlfriend, who locates Project NINA from Utah. Argyle keeps driving, without asking where.
March 1986The pizzeria
Eleven, out of the silo with her powers, has to reach Max's mind before it is too late. She needs a deprivation tank. Argyle offers the nearest Surfer Boy pizzeria, its dough freezer, and its bags of salt. He builds the tank with Jonathan and Mike while Eleven gets ready. That is where she faces Vecna from.
1987Season 5: the return
Argyle takes the group as far as Hawkins. Then he goes home, to California. His season 5 is brief: he did what he had to do in 1986, and the show lets him leave toward his pizzas and his sun. He will see neither the quarantine, nor the Abyss, nor the final battle. For a character who arrived in the story by chance, it is a coherent exit: Argyle never looked for Hawkins, Hawkins came to him, and he delivered it safe.
What defines him
He talks slowly, reacts slowly, drives slowly. And he is the only one who never panics, because nothing ever goes fast enough to worry him.
Painted with waves, full of pizza boxes. It crosses two states, hides a dead man, and serves as an ambulance. The most useful vehicle of season 4.
He understands nothing, and he follows. Argyle trusts Jonathan, then Eleven, without ever asking why.
A freezer, bags of salt, water: Argyle builds a deprivation tank with what he has. The most decisive DIY job on the show.
Key moments
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The rink
Argyle watches Eleven hit Angela with a skate, and comments on the scene like a game. The first time you understand he will never be scared.
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The start
The army fires, a soldier collapses in the van, and Argyle starts driving without a word. His only fast decision of the season.
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The grave in the desert
A pizza box on a mound of sand, a few words, and the van that drives off. The gentlest moment of season 4.
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The freezer
He opens the pizza dough bin, pours in the salt, and says it should be fine. Eleven dives in and saves Max.
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The return to Hawkins
The painted van arrives in a town cut in two. Argyle looks at the red sky, and asks if that is normal.
Another piece from the selection: a piece inspired by Argyle.
In the shopSurfer Boy Pizza Lego van50,90 €See the product
Their ties
| Person | What he or she is to Argyle | The key moment |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Byers | The best friend, the one he teaches to breathe | The evenings in Lenora Hills |
| Will Byers | Jonathan's little brother, whom he takes along without discussion | The van |
| Mike Wheeler | The boy who wants to go fast, in a van that cannot | The crossing of Utah |
| Eleven | The girl for whom he builds a lab in a pizzeria | The freezer |
| Agent Harmon | The stranger he buries with respect | The grave in the desert |
Not to be confused
| People often say | In reality | The landmark |
|---|---|---|
| Argyle grew up in Indiana | No: he comes from Lenora Hills, in California | Surfer Boy Pizza |
| Argyle dies in season 5 | He survives and goes back home | His departure after the battle |
| Argyle has powers | None; he has a van and a freezer | The Nevada pizzeria |
| Argyle is Jonathan's brother | His best high-school friend in California | No family tie |
A rarer confusion: Argyle is not Eddie Munson California-style, even if both are the newcomers of season 4 and the comics of their group. Eddie dies a hero in the other world; Argyle will never see him. He is the only main character of the season never to have set foot in the Upside Down.
Our Argyle products
Argyle and his van have become one of the favorite motifs of season 4 fans: T-shirts and posters inspired by Surfer Boy Pizza and the Nevada road. We pick every piece ourselves, and claim nothing beyond our passion for the show.
To complete the reading: a piece inspired by Argyle.
In the shop44 mm Surfer Boy Pizza van pin9,90 €See the product
Frequently asked questions
Who is Argyle in Stranger Things?
Argyle is Jonathan's best friend in Lenora Hills, California, where the Byers live in 1986. A delivery guy for the Surfer Boy Pizza chain, he drives a painted van that becomes the vehicle for Eleven's rescue mission across Nevada, and turns a pizzeria into a sensory-deprivation tank.
What is Argyle's role in season 4?
The driver, without meaning to be. When the army attacks the Byers house, he starts the van with Jonathan, Will, Mike, and a wounded agent in the back. He buries the agent in the desert, drives to Nevada, and builds with a dough freezer and salt the tank from which Eleven faces Vecna.
What is Surfer Boy Pizza?
The California pizza chain Argyle delivers for. His van, his uniform, and his phone line set the rhythm of season 4, and it is in an empty Surfer Boy restaurant in Nevada that Eleven dives into the freezer to reach Max's mind.
Does Argyle come back in season 5?
Briefly. He takes the group as far as Hawkins after the Nevada events, then goes back to California. His mission is done in 1986; the show lets him leave toward his pizzas.
Does Argyle have powers?
None. That is what makes him a character apart in season 4: he understands nothing of what is happening, asks no questions, and helps anyway. His only equipment is a van, a freezer, and bags of salt.
Who plays Argyle?
Eduardo Franco plays Argyle in seasons 4 and 5. The images on this page come from the show and its promotion; they remain the property of their rights holders.