I was watching the documentary yesterday and originally Joyce was going to go with El, Hopper, Kali and Murray into the lab but it was scrapped. I think this would have been so much better than what we got tbh because El really needed a positive mother figure there with her, someone who could recognize the pain and trauma both her and Kali have gone through and make them believe in a better life. She'll inspire Hopper to have a change of heart over the way he has been treating Kali.
Have her be in the same room as Hopper when Vecna puts him in the trance, have Joyce also in a trance where she is haunted by Will's disappearance and her neglect over Jonathan and then she is shown the moment where Hopper planned to kill himself like when Hopper saw what the girls were planning. This will push Joyce to confront Hopper over his suicidal tendencies, a conversation that was absolutely crucial for them to have but just didn't happen. If Joyce had been at the lab, she would have confronted both of them over their suicidal plans and show them that there is more to live for. Give Eleven and Kali someone that believes in them because as Joyce says when someone believes in them, they can do great things. Giving them enough motivation to live, to see this plan through and stop Vecna, to give them worth that the bad men in their lives have denied from them. Joyce would have given them a future to believe in and we were truly robbed of seeing that. It would have pushed Eleven to live, to allow Hopper to accept Kali as part of this family and for her to keep living, it gives Joyce and Hopper's relationship the necessary angst it needs and it would have added more tension to those scenes.
I think it would have been great if we even got a hint at the history between Joyce, Hopper and Henry in from their days in high school where they slowly begin to remember and piece together what happened after those memories were stolen from them. Have Joyce address the play that she was working on and tie everything back to those events, to offer clarity on the person Henry was before the mind flayer had fully corrupted him and made him into who he was.
As much as I love the Joyce and Will pairing, it was getting tiresome by the finale and Joyce was paired up with Will to the point of sheer negligence of Jonathan. Joyce's arc at the beginning of this season was her overprotectiveness over Will and learning to shed some of that and allow him to do more things on his own. From the moment he unlocks his powers and becomes a sorcerer, Joyce begins to realize there's a hidden strength in her boy that she didn't even realize he had and starts to believe in him, that he has what it takes to fight back against the hive mind and take advantage of that connection he has to Vecna.
We could have seen Joyce and Mike bond over their love for Will and wanting to protect him and in a way have Joyce entrust that care onto Mike to protect Will when they go up to the abyss. It would have done more to emphasize more on Mike and Will's relationship and have Joyce take that weight off her shoulders and allow Will to go into this battle on his own. As he said after his coming out, he wasn't afraid anymore and this would have taken such a bigger meaning if it was Mike who is the one to stay with Will rather than Joyce. As much as I loved the coming out scene with the whole party, it could have been so much more intimate by having Will come out to both Joyce and Mike, two people who went to the ends of the earth to protect Will in the same way he did for them
Joyce was the key to resolving the emotional conflicts at the lab and it would have made sense for her to have those conversations with Hopper and El that were very much needed after the near death experiences both of them faced. Maybe actually go for it and have Hopper actually shoot El for real in his trance and have him and Joyce both resuscitate her like they did with Will in S1. It would have been a heartbreaking parallel that strengthened their relationship. It would have added more stakes to the finale and showed the lengths both her and Hopper would go to keep her alive.
When El goes to the abyss to fight Vecna, have Joyce go with her and that moment with the axe can still happen. It would make sense for Joyce to step up and join Eleven in the conflict in her last fight. Hopper and Kali would stay behind to handle the military and work out their own issues.
But overall, this is the arc that I wish Joyce went on. I felt Winona Ryder was incredibly sidelined this season and not given much to do, even in the finale. Having her in the lab would have left more of an emotional impact because not only would Hopper need to be confronted by his own suicidal tendencies but also give El and Kali more of a reason to live after all of the trauma they've faced. I fear Joyce would have been more sympathetic to the situation and allow her to still remain paired with Hopper and El while choosing to let Will go on his own. It would have been such a crucial progression in Joyce's character arc and would have given her more of an emotional weight to carry in the last episode than being Will's emotional support mum. But that's just my opinion.
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