The power couples of 'Stranger Things,' ranked — from the Wheeler parents to Joyce Byers and Hopper

Karen and Ted, Nancy and Mike's parents, are married and have three children, and that's most of what you can say about their relationship. Their marriage seems to be relatively thin, as made evident by Karen entertaining having an affair with Billy Hargrove in season three.That being said, there is some kind of affection there — it's seeing Ted, knackered out from work with their youngest daughter Holly sleeping on his lap, that ultimately convinces Karen to not go through with having an affair with Billy. Still, it's hard to believe that Karen and Ted are passionately in love, and they're far from being a power couple. They can barely keep track of their children.No ill will to Jonathan and Nancy — they're just mostly boring by the time that season four rolls around, and clearly going through some troubles in their relationship. While their investigative inclinations and synergy brought them together, Nancy shone much brighter when paired up with Steve, Robin, and Eddie in season four than she did with Jonathan. It's evident that distance, and the anxiety of arranging their college life, has put some strain on Jonathan and Nancy's relationship. Furthermore, season four teased a possible rekindling of Nancy and Steve's previous relationship. For now, Jonathan and Nancy are far from true power couple status at this point in time.Dustin and Suzie's relationship pulled through in a major way in the season three finale, when Suzie's ability to recite Planck's constant allowed Joyce and Hopper to unlock the safe with the gate shutdown keys. Their synergy also shone through in season four, when Suzie hacked into Dustin's school computer system to change his Latin grade. While Dustin brags about Suzie to Mike in season four, we've still barely seen the two interact. Still, the couple's ability to work together in crucial moments — well, mostly Suzie's ability to pull through in crucial moments — as well as their killer duet skills makes them at least a bit of a power couple. If they were able to share more screen time together, perhaps they'd rank higher on this list.This is a bit of a controversial placement, but hear me out — Eleven and Mike have some stuff to work out. Over the course of the series, Mike has become more and more sidelined, feeling almost like an afterthought to his extremely powerful girlfriend Eleven. While Will insists that Mike is the heart of their group, he's felt further and further from the show's emotional center as Stranger Things has progressed. Season four brings more relationship tension, with Mike unable to vocalize that he loves Eleven, and Eleven unable to tell him about the difficulties of her life in California. There's some resolution when Mike's love confession in the season finale helps Eleven to power through Vecna's hold, but it feels more like a starting point. For Mike and Eleven to work, they need to learn to communicate better.Lucas and Max saw perhaps the most growth in season four of Stranger Things, proving their ability to work through their feelings even while grappling with Vecna. After getting together at the end of season two, they underwent some turbulence in season three before apparently reconciling. Still, by the time season four scrolls around, they've broken up, with Max isolating herself in the wake of Billy's death. Over the course of the season, Lucas is supportive of Max as she fends off Vecna's curse. The couple shares one of the most sensitive moments of the entire series, planning a movie date through handwritten notes while waiting for Vecna to prey on Max in the Creel house during the season finale. And even after Max falls into a coma after temporarily dying by Vecna's hand, Lucas remains at her bedside, keeping her company.Despite the fact that they didn't really solidify their getting-together until season three (and did so under relative duress, having just escaped Russian captivity), Joyce and Hopper's relationship reached power-couple stage long before they locked lips. Hawkins' two most supernaturally involved adults (not a high bar) showed by season three that they were able to work remarkably well together. Hopper's apparent death, however, obviously threw a wrench in things — that is, until Joyce received word that he was alive in Russia and dropped literally everything to attempt to rescue him. Still, by the time that Jopper finally shared their first kiss, it felt like they had earned it. Joyce and Hopper pretty regularly kick ass on Stranger Things, and went through no small degree of hell to get back together.Okay, Robin and Vickie aren't together yet. However, a moment in the season finale showed some promise, revealing that Vickie had almost as much of a tendency to ramble as Robin. More importantly, it revealed that Vickie had broken up with her boyfriend, who Robin saw her with at an Army surplus store. After seeing Robin pine after this girl during the first episode of the season — and agonize over whether or not Vickie could possibly be into women as well — we want her to get this win.

The power couples of 'Stranger Things,' ranked — from the Wheeler parents to Joyce Byers and Hopper

6. Karen and Ted Wheeler mostly seem to be united through their children.

5. Jonathan and Nancy are clearly going through some kind of rough patch, whether they want to admit it or not.

4. Dustin and Suzie work well together — they're just barely together.

3. Mike and Eleven have some work to do.

2. Lucas and Max came closer together once again in season four.

1. Joyce and Hopper's season four kiss was a long time coming.

Bonus: Robin and Vickie, who might actually have a shot.

The power couples of 'Stranger Things,' ranked &mdash; from the Wheeler parents to Joyce Byers and Hopper

6. Karen and Ted Wheeler mostly seem to be united through their children.

5. Jonathan and Nancy are clearly going through some kind of rough patch, whether they want to admit it or not.

4. Dustin and Suzie work well together — they're just barely together.

3. Mike and Eleven have some work to do.

2. Lucas and Max came closer together once again in season four.

1. Joyce and Hopper's season four kiss was a long time coming.

Bonus: Robin and Vickie, who might actually have a shot.

The power couples of 'Stranger Things,' ranked — from the Wheeler parents to Joyce Byers and Hopper