Stranger Things for sure knows how to give fans emotional punches when they are least expecting them. More specifically, we are talking about Season 5, Episode 4 (titled “Sorcerer”). The background of it is that the military is raging above Hawkins as the Upside Down threatens to swallow everything whole.But that's the moment Robin Buckley, aka Rockin Robin, delivers a monologue of sorts (because Will Byers isn't actually speaking enough to make it a dialogue) in the tunnels as their buddies march on. At the center of that now-iconic speech is Tammy Thompson. Turns out she was Robin’s first girl crush and the catalyst behind one of the season’s defining moments.So Stranger Things Season 5 circles back to “Tone-deaf Tammy” but with more weight than any of us could have predicted, right? Who was Tammy Thompson on Stranger Things? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostWe first heard Tammy’s name in Stranger Things Season 3, by the way, when Robin had described her as “a muppet giving birth” when she sings. By Season 4, the show had brought Tammy onscreen and positioned her as Hawkins High’s resident National Anthem assassin. Tammy was the well-meaning yet completely tone-deaf student who had some big Nashville dreams!Julia Reilly plays Tammy, the girl who had Steve Harrington blushing and Robin combusting on the first day of history class in 1983. She used to rescue worms during recess and even punched a bully in the lunch line, but she was totally oblivious that she’d become Robin Buckley's formative crush.In Stranger Things Season 5, Tammy is probably off in Nashville chasing her singing career, but her impact on Robin is still very much alive. Why does Tammy matter to Robin and Will?In season 5 Episode 4 (which is the last one of its first four episode drop), Stranger Things weaponizes nostalgia as it does. We see Will suffocating under the weight of trauma and secrecy, but Robin helps him achieve self-acceptance. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostWe need to be mindful that Robin opens up about Tammy because she wants to share some “tee-hee” memory with Will (who had seen her with her girlfriend Vickie in previous episodes), but to reveal that being herself once felt dangerous. Tammy wasn’t actually “the answer.” Robin, though, believed that if Tammy loved all of her, she could stop being terrified of who she really was.The crush itself wasn’t the heartbreak either, but it was the fact that Robin had abandoned herself to fit a world that didn’t understand her. She soon realized that she didn’t need Tammy, but herself. Will understands that.RELATED: The Duffer Brothers break down Will's superhero transformation in Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1, saying 'it felt right'Just a few Minutes later, fans see Will unlock the “sorcerer” abilities hinted at in the episode title. The show draws a line from Robin’s speech to Will’s breakthrough. He finds power through identity. And that's how Tammy Thompson becomes part of the chain reaction that helps Will step up to be who he really is!Stranger Things Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.NEXT UP: This Season 5 fan theory about Jonathan feels like a spoiler