Thinking how the Duffers had always planned on killing El off, how they thought the show wouldn't do well and were still willing to go through with El's sacrifice. Even if it meant they couldn't make any more seasons. Despite how young she was at the time and what she endured at a very young age, yet when they were proven wrong, greenlit for another season, and how the audience had grown such an attachment to her character.
You'd think they would change their minds, write a different ending for her character. Especially after being given the chance to produce five seasons, give her character development, growth, gain friends, find a small family of her own, and overcome her pain and trauma. Especially with how much she had endured since the events of S1.
S5 had us fooled into thinking she would have a happy ending, fooled us into believing she had found hope after Mike had that talk with her on the rooftop. She was at her lowest too, believing that there wasn't going to be a happy ending for her. But as the season progresses we see her battle those thoughts, especially when Kali comes back into the picture. We also see a confrontation between El and Hopper, how he begs her to live for him.
El chose to live, she chose to leave the upside down with her family. She went against Kali's plan because she believed she could have a life. But that was destroyed the moment Dr Kay intervened, El didn't want to die, she was forced to choose a quick painless death over what could possibly be described as torture.
What makes it worse is that the Duffers didn't see El as a person but an obstacle for the other characters development, they believed she was in the way of the characters having their own happy ending.
They described El as the magic of childhood, they said that there was no story where El could live a life with the party outside of the supernatural aspect of the show. As if her character was a burden right from the start.
Even if El had survived, and Kali's plan had worked it doesn't make it any better. Her ending doesn't become anymore less tragic. She has no way of contacting the people she loves, she is alone and is simply existing not living. She gained and lost everything in the span of four years, four years after being confined for twelve years of her life. On-top of all the other BS she was forced to endure.
Everyone she has come into contact with has either died or become a fugitive in the government/military eyes. She is destined to live an isolated life when it is clear she has only wanted a normal life with her family, friends, and her boyfriend Mike. Millie made it very clear that she didn't like her character's ending and honestly no one should accept it either. It's a disservice to El, to Millie and all the hard work she has put into that character. It's mounted to nothing.
I couldn't even enjoy the last 30 minutes, I couldn't even soak in the characters last interactions either. I was so devastated and was hoping to see that El would be alive and that Mike would find her again but we didn't get any of that.
El Hopper is such a special character to me, a character that I've grown to love since I started watching the show late back in 2019. There are many reasons why I adore her character and how much I relate to her but I won't go into those reasons. But I'm generally devastated. I had no other issues with the last episode, it could've been perfect if they had let Mike and El have a happy ending. Because clearly the only one who hasn't moved on is Mike and from what we've seen in the past he probably will never take Hopper's advice.
