Before Stranger Things ends with season 5, the hit Netflix series needs to do the one thing it’s been avoiding ever since it premiered — and it would surely shock everyone. Stranger Things season 5, set to be released at some point in 2025, will finally conclude the iconic sci-fi mystery nearly a decade after it began. The stories of Eleven, Mike Wheeler, and the rest of the Hawkins gang will reach a definitive conclusion, presumably with the threat of the Upside Down under control at last.
In its first four seasons, Stranger Things has had a bumpy road. Its first season was hailed as some of the greatest television ever produced and helped to make Netflix the cultural staple it is today. But from there, the series has been a mixed bag. Season 2 felt a little samey, season 3 was a huge dip in quality, and season 4 was a refreshing return to form. If season 5 is going to really surprise audiences, then it needs to do something that the show has always avoided.
Stranger Things Season 5 Can Only Be Truly Shocking If It Kills A Main Character
The Entire Main Cast Has Survived For Four Seasons Of Life-Or-Death Scenarios
The only way that Stranger Things season 5 can really shock its audience is if it kills off a main character. In four seasons of life-threatening encounters with supernatural monsters and parallel dimensions, the entire main cast has managed to survive every single time. It doesn’t feel like they’re in real danger, because they always pull through. This has become a common criticism of the show. Even Stranger Things’ star, Millie Bobby Brown, has criticized the Duffer brothers for refusing to kill their darlings.
When Stranger Things season 5 concludes, I would like to see Netflix do multiple new stories in this universe, starting with one set in the 1990s.
Brown joked that the cast was getting too big, so the writers would have to start killing off characters. She made this criticism in jest, but she has a point. The ensemble has gotten way too big, because the writers keep adding new characters without retiring any of the old ones. And it feels like they’re playing it safe by keeping everyone alive. At a certain point, the stakes don’t feel so high anymore. Season 5 needs to finally kill someone off.
Stranger Things Has Gotten Too Good At Killing New & Supporting Characters
The Show Never Kills Any Of The Mainstays
Stranger Things has killed off plenty of characters, but they’re never mainstays who have been around since season 1; they’re always newcomers or supporting players. Characters like Bob Newby, Billy Hargrove, and Eddie Munson have showed up late, made a big impression, and died triumphantly — it’s starting to get predictable that all the new characters will go that way. It feels like Mike, Eleven, Nancy, Steve, and the like are all safe. Stranger Things season 5 can bowl audiences away by committing to killing at least one of them.
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Inspired by 80s pop-culture and elements of Stephen King's works, Stranger Things is a supernatural action-drama TV series set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.
When a young boy goes missing, his group of friends stumbles upon a young girl with telekinetic powers who recently escaped from a mysterious facility. They soon realize that she may be their only chance at stopping an impending doom that threatens to engulf Hawkins whole.
English (US) ·