A ‘Stranger Things’ Star (Whose Fate Is Up In The Air) Isn’t Sure If He’s Returning For Season 5

The last time we saw Dr. Sam Owens in season four of Stranger Things, he was handcuffed to a pipe in a bunker in the middle of the dessert. Hate it when that happens. Did he make it out of there, like Huell escaping the DEA Safe House, or is he still trapped below ground Not even the actor who plays him knows for sure.

“I literally don’t know,” actor Paul Reiser told E! News. “The Stranger Things writers’ room tweeted out, ‘Hey, everybody, send us your thoughts for next season. What would you like to see’ And I wrote in, ‘Can Dr. Owens live Would that be possible'” He’s just asking for a friend. The Mad About You and Aliens star added that this secrecy isn’t unusual for the Kate Bush-loving Stranger Things co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer.

“When I first met them four years ago, I said, ‘Am I a good guy or a bad guy'” he recalled. “They go, ‘We don’t know.’ And I went, ‘You don’t know or you just don’t want to tell me’ They go, ‘No, we don’t know.’ And so they don’t tell me.” Reiser is staying optimistic, telling E! News, “I’d appreciate it if Dr. Owens comes in, in like a superhero cape, and saves the day.”

Considering everything she’s been through, Eleven could use a father figure in her life who isn’t a former-drunk cop who was tortured in a Russian prison. Free Dr. Owens!

Stranger Things season five does not currently have a premiere date.