Ten years of planning vs one day of thinking, because it really was that easy.
Or, a guide on how to bring Eddie Munson back while still keeping the plot exactly the same as what we've seen in s5, if that narrative was really the hill that the Duffers wanna die on.
(Call me delusional, but I cannot be convinced that they didn't scrap the Kas plot line because they were butthurt that fans figured it out. It's so obvious and fills so many plot holes/inconsistencies. )
!! spoilers for every episode below !!
The Crawl:
Nothing much changes about this episode. Steve and Dustin still bicker, Dustin still gets beat up at Eddie's grave, ect. However, some lines get included about Eddie's body. More specifically, the lack thereof.
A small mention of how Hopper couldn't find Eddie's body when he looked for it during a crawl could just further cement Dustin's grief. After everything that happened, Dustin still has to talk to an empty grave because they think some demo-monster hauled it off and ate it. Which, of course, could make Steve see all of the beating and bullying that Dustin is putting himself through as needless. The grave is empty, there's no reason to protect it, right?
The Vanishing Of Holly Wheeler:
The only thing that would change about this episode would be a few lines between Hopper and El, and maybe a little bit of vague discussion from the military.
Hopper could tell El that she needs to be careful because there's something else in the upside-down. It's new, it's huge, and it can fly. But also, it's too fast for him to get a good look at. They need to keep their eyes up, just in case.
When El and Hop are hiding from the military, one of them can be heard saying something along the lines of "maybe it was just the flying freak" because that's their favorite name for things apparently.
The Turnbow Trap:
The biggest change would come at the end of episode three, when Holly gets chased by two people instead of just one. When she looks up after taking her fall, she sees Max and Eddie.
Maybe she gets even more scared, because obviously she's heard everyone in town call Eddie a murderer.
Sorcerer:
Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Johnathan are in the upside-down and someone says they have a bad feeling. Realistically, it would probably be Nancy as she's the one who's shown to be super perceptive. I think it could be interesting if it's Steve, since he's the one that's been brushing things off or taking them at face value. Either way, Dustin dismisses the worry because he's so focused on his new idea. Him telling them that their feeling of "being watched" is probably just a response to being back in the upside-down again. It would be significant moment to show how Dustin has become a little reckless and uncaring in his grief.
On the last shot of them in the upside-down for vol.1, we get a wide shot of them walking out of the church to go to the lab. In the background there's a sweep of something that looks like large wings, maybe a side view of red eyes.
Meanwhile, in Henry's mindscape, Dustin's voice cut's into the cave as Max is explaining how she heard Kate Bush and looked for a way out. Eddie tells Holly that it doesn't just have to be music for you to get out and that he knows this because he can sometimes hear voices from the real world. Except, his aren't normally right there; it's Dustin's voice casting an echo into the upside-down from the right-side-up near wherever his body is. And, when he saw his window open, his body was being controlled by Vecna to attack the military.
Shock Jock:
At the beginning of the episode, Will is worried for Dustin and Johnathan. He's not sure which creature he tapped into, but he knows that he saw them through the eyes of some monster in the upside-down. The problem is that they have to locate Dustin before they can reach him. Cue: Erica's plan with Mr. Clark.
Dustin and Steve still get to have their moments of fighting, Dustin still begs Steve to stop putting himself in danger. The story of their grief plays out the exact same. The blame, the guilt, the realization that Steve would have done the exact same thing and that's why Dustin is pushing him away.
During the scenes of looking through memories, it becomes obvious that Eddie is acting weird. He seems to flinch away at every mention the three of them getting back home from Max. It creates the first idea that Eddie is going to stay behind and play the hero again.
Escape From Camazotz:
In the upside-down, the group is trying to leave the lab and get home when the vampire version of Eddie attacks them.
In the mindscape, they're right there, with Max and Holly's windows to the real world open; when Max realizes that Eddie isn't trying to open his own. He tells her that he can't run away again, that he needs to stay and help the other kids get out.
They're arguing and losing time in the process. Then, Eddie's window opens to the sounds of shouting. He see's Vecna using his body to attack Steve while Dustin, Nancy, and Johnathan fight off a small swarm of demobats.
It draws a parallel back to the night of his death and the night Chrissy died. He realizes that what he did that night was still running away from what his life would be like post upside-down. Staying here would be the same. So, he runs toward the danger to save his friends instead of "taking the easy way out."
In the scene where Max wakes up, it cuts back and forth between two scenes. Lucas, Max, Robin, and Vickie trying to hide from the demodogs; and Steve being the first to rush in and fight off the vampire version of Eddie. Dustin is in shock. One, because this monster is wearing Eddie's face. Two, because he just begged Steve to stop throwing himself into danger.
Between the swarm of bats attacking the group, Dustin can see the vampire's claws about to dig into Steve. Them suddenly, it stops. It starts wringing around like it's in pain before it throws it's head back and the gray smoke of the mind flayer shoots out.
Eddie's awake. He's back.
The Bridge:
Nothing in this episode would have to change except some dialogue choices from Dustin and altercations that would actually make their plan easier.
During the scene where everyone is getting ready, Eddie is searching around for something he can wear that would protect his skin during the final battle. (Because while he still has the wings and such, he's no longer able to take on as much physically since he's not possessed by the mind flayer anymore.)
Dustin would see Steve feeling insecure, like he's worrying about being sidelined by Eddie or something. This could simply be fixed by Dustin saying something like "all of my best friends" or even going as far as to just call Steve his "first best friend." Anything that alleviates Steve's insecurity and also letting us know that he feels threatened by Eddie. It's all just an opportunity for more friends, really.
While planning, they tell Eddie that they are going to need his advantage of flying to help get the kids out faster. Maybe they want him in the air so that he can be lookout if something goes south. It doesn't change the plan, just gives a chance to make things easier.
The Rightside Up:
The most obvious thing being: Steve and Eddie connect, mirroring their talk in the woods. This would also give Jonathan the screen time to actually connect with his family instead of centering his whole plot around his relationship.
Eddie caught Steve, and now they're ready to talk about how in the end: Steve felt guilty over Dustin's grief because he knows that he would have made the exact same call. It's came thing that's implied to us through the season, but it would be nice to hear Steve say it out loud and to acknowledge just how similar the two are. It would also only make both of them feel closer to Dustin, like they're finally overcoming the only obstacle in their friendship with him.
When they have the big fight with the mind flayer, Eddie would have been a huge help since the plan was to "attack from above." It also would have been extremely tense to watch, considering that viewers had already seen Eddie die once and would have created great anticipation if he was the bait.
Finally, we see in the epilogue that?? Suddenly the town is just cool with Hellfire and Eddie's legacy?? Meaning that the military probably made up some sort of lie. (They did from the beginning of season 5, Robin talks about it at the beginning of ep.1. This means it would have cleared up the plot hole of why everyone would believe Eddie was a murderer if they also believed it was fallout of a natural disaster.)
They could simply write it off as a quick "it was linked to a natural disaster / part of military testing gone wrong and we had him in witness protection until we could clean it up, since he was framed for murder. Same as why everyone thought Hopper was dead." Because really, what reason would they have not to? El is gone and (in this scenario) Eddie is no longer connected, why not make up something and send him on his merry way?
And if Hopper is allowed to go back to being chief of police (definitely from some pulled strings by the government,) Eddie could certainly get any physical changes from his time as a vampire removed.
(I headcanon that he would ask to keep the fangs/teeth because he's a dork like that.)
In the epilogue, they could put that Eddie finally got his GED and got the hell out of Hawkins.
Personally, I think he'd probably run a music shop close to wherever Dustin is going to college. He gets to visit with the other "older kids" crew and helps Johnathan pick the soundtrack for his movie.
There you go, Duffers. It really was that easy.
