Jonathan or Kali (or both) will die. I think there may be 2 other characters who do show death flags (Murray and El) but those two have the most potential right now. Ppl are worried about Steve and Dustin, but I think they wouldn’t pull that crap with Steve after Dustin’s arc, and Dustin can’t die since they have an animated series coming out, and having a main character who you know will die may leave a bad taste in peoples mouth when watching it.
Byler WILL happen, but will be a plot twist that saves the whole world. Catradora did it, and Netflix may do it too! Also while there’s a lot of Byler doubt, don’t forget Netflix has nothing to lose at this point. The disjointed release dates may have been an attempt to get the more conservative viewers to buy merch before ‘the gay’ happens.
Watch me be wrong for both of these, especially number 2 lol
Alright I usually do not do breakdowns/speculation in the middle of a show's airing, but with the discussions arising with vol 2, I felt like I wanted to write something for those Stranger Things fans who may already be writing off the show. And yes I'm a lesbian, so I have opinions on the queer rep. side, but I will say while Byler is cool, I'm not a diehard fan as those people who just immediately jumped to episode 7 (which hello at least watch the other episodes first?!?!?!).
As usual here's my breakdown:
The Good
The Coming Out Scene
Byler
Also, obviously spoilers for Stranger Things 5 Vol. 2.
The Good
Firstly the Jancy scene was such a cool way to do a break up scene. In all honesty, I was not really a huge fan of Jancy since season 4 as they lost all that spark and were just constantly fighting, and when season 5 came around I predicted that they would not end up together since they don't look happy with each other despite reuniting. The moment Jonathan had a ring, that was his last ditch effort and I was like oh no it is either a break up or he's gonna die. Some people really did think that Nancy would say yes, but geez when I saw him bring out the ring, I was like no I saw this happen in real life, there was no way this is going to fix their relationship. And you know what, it didn't and I'm happy they had an amicable break up. Steve and Nancy's was a shitshow, but it was good to have a break up that had a good resolution.
Secondly, the end for the Steve and Dustin arc was so good! I was a little worried the payoff was going bad since there is a lot happening in this season, and their friendship is one of their favourites from this show. It also is a good way to tackle a death of a beloved character. One thing I always felt off about this show is some characters who were just introduced for a season never got a proper send off (think of Bob from season 2, or Alexei in season 3). The only ones that had a real impact was Billy and Barb (Billy being introduced in season 2 and was a brother, and Barb was a crux of Nancy's arc in season 1 & 2). Dustin processing this grief was a good way to deepen he and Steve's friendship, but also give the audience a chance to grieve.
Thirdly, some highlights:
Karen GODDAMN Wheeler! I said she had final girl energy in vol 1 and it was such a good pay off!
Holly's whole arc.
Mr. Clark! Cinematically good to bring him in, he was the reason the kids had hope to keep finding Will.
Max has returned!!! Honestly Lumax has always been a fave of mine, and the actors do a good job in selling their relationship :)
The Coming Out scene
While yes thematically it makes sense, Will needed a role and the fact he can actually incapacitate Henry for some time in the physical world... he was super needed in this plan. HOWEVER, the way the coming out scene was handled is so corny and inpersonal. Season 4 and Season 5 Vol 1 handled it perfectly as it was Will coming to terms with the reality of being gay and Robin being queer makes sense in helping him become more comfortable... but what I got from Robin's speech was to tell people you can trust first, to take a chance. Sure Robin didn't know Steve TOO well, but she felt that they went through a lot at that moment (the first time she's experience the Upside Down) that she can share anything as it wouldn't be as bad as the Russians. In my opinion, Will should have gathered The Core group from Season 1 (The Party, Joyce, Jonathan, Steve, Hopper, El, Nancy), Max and Robin to tell them. Erica, Mr. Clark, Kali and Vicky should not have witnessed this as it is quite personal and has no impact on them. And even then, the group setting was a little forced, it should have been sprinkled throughout the episode. I get they are short in time, but it felt so out of place and I felt it was off as a lesbian who has also been out to the world for a while. My sibling also noticed and said it was out of place and checked on my opinion, all I said was I saw it coming and it makes sense, but it was out of place. I personally think it should have went something like this:
Joyce and Jonathan find out first when they return. Most likely Hopper would be in the room too, and shows he usual indifference lol.
Steve and Nancy next, with Robin supporting him for this one.
THEN as Will knows he needs to help in the finale, he tells The Party (including Max and El). Which he then reasons not being scared and ready to help out.
And, when the finale comes out, if Henry messes with his fears and he sees visions of other people not accepting, some of them being his friends/family, he knows it is all fake since he know the ones that matter care about him to NOT do this.
Anyways, at least he's out lol.
Byler
OKAY, so firstly people are already writing off the season, which I say there is one more episode, so don't write it off entirely until then but...
If the Duffers are really going the 'Mike is Will's Tammy' route, then YIKES. Not only is this shitting on the queer people they've basically queerbaited with Mike, but also does not deliver on the crux of the show - giving the middle finger to 80s stereotypes. There are 2 ways you can see this evidently: The types of characters and relationships. Let me list it out for you:
Characters:
The Party - nerdy kids who are constantly bullied and are not afraid of liking interests such as Science, D&D, nerd culture... etc. And for a small town like Hawkins, being more sporty is more 'desirable'.
Nancy - Independent headstrong woman who hates the patriarchy
Jonathan - Sensitive introverted teen
Eddie - Metalhead and D&D DM
Robin and Will - queer individuals
Joyce and Hopper - divorced single parents
El/Jane - sheltered and socially stunted teen
Steve - Literally the TYPICAL stereotype when we meet him, but he only becomes likeable when he breaks his stereotype, has his character arc and becomes a babysitter lol
Relationships:
Joyce/Hopper - 2 divorced single parents
Max/Lucas - interracial relationship
Dustin/Suzie - science vs religion (and it still works!)
Steve/Nancy/Jonathan - this love triangle has shown to be problematic on both sides, and shows a non-linear version of romance that may end up with Nancy just being with none of them
Robin/Vickie - lesbian relationship
BUT I would want to highlight that Robin and Vickie were not originally in the plan, only came in because Maya Hawke saw Robin as a queer character instead of Steve's love interest. HOWEVER, in the queer spot I'm assuming it would have been Will and Mike. The amount of lead up from season 1 to season 5, there are so many hints, clues, and deep moments between these 2 characters that it does not make sense with Will's feelings being unrequited. In fact, I'm actually still holding out hope that something will happen or be implied in the final episode. Thematically it'll make the most sense, and also there are so many things left unaddressed (the painting, the state of Mike/El's relationship, the weird flirting/moments between both Mike and Will). I'm predicting there would be some plot twist where it'll need to be Mike who reaches out in the last second to help Will return to his body.
But, I'm no stranger to how companies treat queer relationships, so it may have been drawn out to this end due to backlash from higher ups, causing there to be stuff written out of the episodes where Will was sidelined for, he kept talking about what Vecna showed him, but we unfortunately never got to see that (which is also why the coming out scene felt so left field). Also the first 2 episodes felt shorter than Vol. 1 episode duration average, which means it was all plot due to the time limits so everything was going at breakneck speed. Some needed scenes were mostly likely recorded but left on the cutting room floor... or were moved to the last episode!!!! Just keeping holding on until the end ppl!!!
So as you can see, I am still processing, but do not strike out the show yet until its finished, it not queerbaiting until the definitive end.
ALSO for those people who say that Byler doesn't need to happen for Will's character to be groundbreaking... hahaha, you are ALL wrong. Characters like Will have existed in media for some time now! We are no longer in the early 2000s where a character coming out as gay is groundbreaking, that's already happened. If Will character is meant to mean something, it'll need to be controversial! Since I am more of an animation queer rep person, Korrasami from The Legend of Korra was so big when it came out because a queer relationship between 2 girls (who are also main characters) has never been implied to be the canon ending before! Which got further confirmed through the bisexual background, them going to vacay together in basically heaven, and the official comics afterwards confirming their relationship with a full page kiss. And that rep led to more groundbreaking rep - Steven Universe's gender/queer diverse cast and underlying transgender story (and also the first gay wedding on US animated TV), Owl House's confirmed bi character and queer relationship, Adventure Time's lowkey sapphic love story throughout series, Nimona's story about gender fluidity and their Oscar nomination!!!, and one VERY key representation - CATRADORA in She-Ra. And I highlight this as people thought it was never going to happen as it was a prexisting and POPULAR IP that had a cult following, and they made a sapphic kiss the crux for saving the world! AND PEOPLE THIS IS ONLY QUEER ANIMATION REP, NOT LIVE ACTION!!!! Shows like Wynnona Earp, The 100 (which still is a yikes for me but controversial regardless), Legends of Tomorrow, Warrior Nun, Atypical, Sex Education, Sense8, Heartstopper and more already show facets of queer rep. Stranger Things would only be counted as groundbreaking is IF they make the childhood friends to lovers slow burn development of Mike and Will relationship actually happen. As it is the first MAINSTREAM show to confirm this, but also one of the few gay male relationships that involve the main characters.
Anyways, that's my two cents, I've gotten some of these breakdowns from other people I read in passing, I just collated them with my own to help quell those with Byler and Stranger Things doubt lol.
And hey, if they fumble the bag with Byler and any of the other relationships in an unsatisfying way, we shall riot together at the start of the year. Or most likely binge watch a Byler compilation together lol.
Also if you are thirsting for queer content, a lot of the shows I mentioned are good watches (or compilations of Bubbline for Adventure Time lol). Just be warned that Warrior Nun got cancelled because of 'budget' (but the confirmed sapphic relationship in a religious show also was a huge factor in it's cancellation), but honestly the cinematography is soo good for anyone who likes that.
Feel free to debate in the comments, I feel a lot of you may have opinions on vol 2 whether you care about the queer rep or not.
Bruh seeing all the chaos and panic from Bylers are reminding me why I originally went offline for some social medias… don’t make me add reddit and tumblr to that 😭
But fr I get people are doubting and crying in the club but please wait until after the season is done! I’d rather all this chaos is justified rather than people jumping the gun.
Also stop aiming hate comments and review bombing shit, it’s not helping and may scare ppl from engaging with queer storyline’s again.
