Discover Top Posts Tagged with #stranger things s5

Season Five Analysis

Now that the final poll has concluded about the worst fumbles of Season five, link at the end

However, there was a theme of why the season failed, and it was not the fact that Byler didn't happen.

So it all comes back to the themes that are shown at the end, what the audience is left with as the credits roll. And the themes that we are left with are, to simply put it, horrible as well as destroying the storytelling as a whole.

Part One: the messages of....

1) Suicide is the only way, being reduced to a pointless sacrifice.

The winner of the poll was the handling of Jane's character and her *maybe* death by a sacrifice that does not make much sense if you think deeply about it, but the fact that they phase her death as a way of killing the magic of childhood. That was the goal with the end of the first season; however, you have now developed them into a person who had been in people's lives for four years. Jane had family and friends who all loved her. For me, her death was not a tear-jerker; it was a what the fuck moment. It did not make sense; you showed the audience that if you don't feel like you belong or are having trouble finding your identity, it is easier for you to die. That is the main message from Jane's death, also having her, from vol 2 onwards, being called Eleven, not even El.

2) Forgive your abuser

This is, unfortunately, a very common trope in a lot of media. Okay, what happened to Henry as a child was sad, but he chose to continue on the path of distraction and murder. You can understand the person's motives and not excuse them. Henry had kidnapped Will and essentially sexually assaulted him (impregnating Will with a demodog), Murder over a dozen children/teens (all of them victims of abuse, maybe not Fred but still), whether or not Henry was in charge or the Mind Flayer was. Will just forgives him with no real reason other than that Henry was once a child. Maybe it was because Will saw what could have happened to him if the Mind Flayer had taken over him, but they did not go deeper into why.

Part Two: Destroying Your Storytelling and Characters.

Bring back a character just to kill them in the worst way.

Kali didn't need to be brought back; in the end, she was a prob for the story, for her return had no positive impact. She was brought back to die and to give reason for Jane to kill herself. Why? Because the stakes were so low, Karen and Ted were ultimately shown to be fine after nearly being torn apart by a Demogorgon. And no one died or was badly hurt in vol 2 or at any point in the final. Who died? Two abused females, one a person of colour and another held captive nearly 3/4 of her life. Both were just what the fuck.

2. Reconning so much, changing rules, no real character depth

I know Holly's age didn't get many votes, but it was the beginning of the end. Holly was not a big character in the past season; now she is almost the main character. They were always going to have to recast, as the original twins were too odd to play a seven/eight year old. So much of her story should have been used for her other characters (mainly Mike). Adding so many new characters draws attention away from the ones that we have connected with and not even explaining why others are absent.

Changing the rules of the upside down, it had been shown to have no water with the empty swimming pool and empty lake. So the tank magically having water in it makes no sense. The air being more breathable with no explanation. The reveal of the wormhole was not explained and seems pointless.

Now, the bad things about the characters: the actors did their best with what they had, and there are some great character moments. Some of the best acting moments from vol 1 are from Natalia in the bathroom at the hospital, Maya's speech about accepting yourself, Caleb trying to protect the children in the tunnels, Finn talking to Nell (Holly) in the hallway, and David and Winona trying to protect their characters children. In vol 2, Gaten's emotions as Dustin fighting Steve, Charlie comforting Noah after the horrible forced coming out scene. The only scene I enjoyed and was committed to in the final was David as Hopper thinking he killed Jane. The actors really tried their best, and what do the scenes have in common? They are emotional, impactful and have you on the edge of your seat, and the Duffers fucked that up in so many ways, which brings me to the last point I will bring up...

The anticlimax of the final season

I can understand that, due to time passing, it would be harder to do a quick time jump with how old the teens were (they were at least closer to age than most shows and movies). But an apocalyptic setting would have been amazing even if it was just in Hawkins.

Bringing back the Mindflayer as another weird flesh monster just for them to kill it about ten minutes in, in a way that doesn't make sense if we really think about it. Then killing Henry (I don't mind that Joyce did the final blow), but suddenly after that Will and the twelve children are okay after it had been shown that the hive mind was active.

Not leaning into the psychological horror of Vecna's powers and mind control. And they did not; only two people get Vecna'd: Will (we don't see it) and Hopper, one of the best things in the final. So much of season 5 was boring, anticlimactic or confusing. Some of the only good things were the attack at the Wheeler house and the last 20-30 minutes of Vol 1, also Dustin and Steve fight in Vol 2, plus Robin's speech. They was not skates or fear for characters.

There is the list analysing the main failures and fumbles of season 5, which does not mention Byler or Will coming out (only a little about acting).

Feel free to comment more down in the comments. I love decisions.

💬 3 🔁 5 ❤️ 26 · Here is my final poll about the worst fumbles of s5 that the duffers did. In this poll we have the winners of the last fou