Dr. Sam Owens is a major character in the second and fourth seasons of Stranger Things. He is a minor character in Season three.
Biography[]
When Dr. Martin Brenner's fate was left unknown after the events of Season 1, Dr. Sam Owens was appointed the Director of Operations at Hawkins Lab where he mostly spent his time investigating and preventing the Gate to the Upside Down from spreading.
Season 2[]
One day, Joyce Byers was alarmed when she was informed by the school of a weird drawing made by Will. She brought him to the Hawkins National Laboratory for a checkup with Owens. After taking some tests, Owens assured Joyce that his readings were normal. He then asked Will several questions about his zombie drawing, making light of Will's imagination. Owens stated that Will's fascination with zombies was normal. Owens saw them out before returning to the lab.
The day before Halloween, Will had an appointment with Dr. Owens to check his health due to him having more episodes. After a small chat to make him comfortable, Owens asked Will about the episode at the arcade, who was unaware that their conversation was being recorded and monitored by lab personnel. As Will tried to explain to Owens about feeling an evil force, Will's brainwaves started to increase activity. When Owens asked him about the evil's desire to kill, Will revealed that it intended to kill not him, but everyone else.
However, when the session ended, Owens told Joyce and Hopper that Will was experiencing extreme PTSD which was getting worse due to the "Anniversary Effect" but stated that Will will get over it eventually. He also assured them that he was on their side and advised to trust him.
Later, back in the lab, Owens sent Teddy into the room with the Gate to burn the vines seeping from it.
Will was hospitalized at the lab after his severe convulsion and was brought to Dr. Owens. When Will woke up, he seemed to have no memory of Bob. Owens tested Will's memories and found that he couldn't recognize him, Hopper, Bob or the events regarding him saving Hopper, but could only recognize his best friend, Mike and his mother, Joyce. He also remembered that the soldiers hurt him when they burnt the tendrils. Owens prompted to test a theory by burning a tentacle to observe Will's reaction. But Will responded in pain. Owens then concluded that there was a hive mind virus that connected all the hosts and that, Will was somehow connected to it.
Owens then took Hopper to show the extent of the Gate which has grown into a network of tunnels and revealed to him that there was a complication for which the burning was stopped.
At a meeting between Owens and several other scientists, they discussed the reason behind Will's brain being altered by the shadow monster. The doctors all argued that it was impossible for them to save Will and suggested to start the burning to control the spread. Owens refused and let Will use the photos of his map to locate a place that the shadow monster was trying to hide from him.
As Dr. Owens sent some soldiers to investigate the location Will revealed, he and Hopper surveyed from the control room. However, in the Upside Down-infected tunnels, the soldiers were horrifically massacred by a group of Demodogs. They also witnessed the Demodogs uniting and heading towards the lab. Before they could do anything, the Demodogs reached the lab and attempted to break through the glass. Dr. Owens sounded the alarm, warning everyone at the lab, and took Hopper with him through the stairs to escape. As the Demodogs began to close in, Hopper took Joyce, Mike, Will, Bob and Owens to a security room, where they were trapped due to a power outage. After Bob successfully restored the system, Dr. Owens decided to stay behind, and guided Hopper, Joyce, Mike and Bob out of the lab.
Later, Hopper returned with Eleven back to the lab in order to close the Gate and found Dr. Owens badly wounded by the Demodogs. He was patched up by Hopper who revealed that he had been protecting Eleven for a year and convinced Dr. Owens to help her lead a better, happier life.
A month later, after the Gate had been closed, Hopper met Dr. Owens at a bar. Owens provided him a forged birth certificate for Eleven, which stated that she's now officially Hopper's daughter, named as "Jane Hopper", though he reminded Hopper to wait another year to be safe. However, Hopper ultimately managed to convince him to give Eleven a night out to go to the Snow Ball with her friends.
Season 3[]
Sam Owens came to interfere with the Russians at Starcourt mall along with the government.