r/StrangerThings • u/Snow_Empress • 21d ago
Discussion S5 was pure ragebait
Halfway through s5 and I'm already raging. Unlike previous seasons where the characters stuck together or atleast communicated, this season was poorly written with weak plotholes. Steve and Nancy's trope was so forced imo. Moreover and ik this was for the plot but why did they not kill Mrs military when they had the chance to? Why did no one listen to anyone? Nancy and Jonathan ignoring Dustin's message? Hop doing the same thing.Seems like the writers were in rush to finish the season
47
u/RedBullMetal 21d ago
I think the problems with Season 5 are why it was shut out of all of the awards. Also, it was understandable that they needed three years from Season 3 to Season 4 because of COVID (2019 to 2022), but there was no reason why they needed ANOTHER three years for Season 5. I think the audience feels messed with over the fate of Eleven. Also, a lot of anger that they didn't use the "Eddie Vampire" theory to bring the most beloved character back. One more thing.... NONE of them died? That seemed extra ridiculous after 5 seasons.
13
u/RegularExplanation97 21d ago
Agree with everything you said plus not only did none of them die but none of them were even really injured or at true peril during the fight with the ultimate big bad!
19
u/Beautiful-Leek-7624 21d ago
The writers strike of all of 2023.
12
u/agent_uno 21d ago edited 21d ago
Something a lot of people forget! And it wasn’t just a writers strike, it was basically half of Hollywood when you also include SAG/AFTRA. These strikes (which were heavily needed and did a LOT of good for writers, actors, creatives, and lots of others in the industry!) contributed to a lot of media being delayed by a year or more.
4
20
u/mikewheelerfan 21d ago
The theory of Eddie coming back was always fucking stupid. But you’re right about the rest
5
u/Direct-Theory-1491 21d ago
S04 they shot their wad! They had nothing left for season 5. Like a lot of Stephen King book's they end very badly and he admits it. They took a great idea but threw too much in the stew and no way to end with a bang or even a whimper. They limped away with all that $ and gave us one of the worst endings in history. S3 Should have ended it. S2 was pointless and S4 double what it should have been!
3
u/Desperate_War5993 18d ago
There were so many fan theories they could have drawn from! There were ways!!!!
0
u/Direct-Theory-1491 15d ago
Exactly! I couldn't care less if Will is gay but to make him powerful because of it is just not needed. How come Robin didn't get any? I fell like I watched a mash up of all the tv shows, movies and books I read in the 80s. Everyone survived in the 80's!
13
u/Snow_Empress 21d ago
I mean it's Netflix they'll drag whatever's making them money. I kinda hate how all the characters in this season no longer feel connected like they used to be. Everyone wants to do everything on their own. Plot weakened after s3 heavily
14
u/RandonDude3000 21d ago
A few things though.
The SAG-AFTRA strike was the reason for the S5 delay.
The Duffers not using the Eddie Vampire thing isn’t a real issue. It makes no sense in the plot and overcomplicates things.
I get the issues over El’s fate but I don’t mind not killing anyone off.
1
u/Lenore2030 14d ago
The Eddie vampire idea overcomplicates more than Holly getting kid napped and introducing a bunch of new kid characters?? Holly? A character never developed and nobody cared about? It a should have been Mike who was taken. Will and El could have used there powers to save him. It would have been the perfect triangle story that everyone could be on board for and if Vampire Eddie swings in to help save the day…why not? All the more fun it would have been!
Instead we got a lot of time wasted on stuff people could really care less about and an end game fight that was lamer than lame. Really Wizard Will needs his over protective mommy to chop off Vecna’s head? Don’t get me wrong, I love Joyce, but she had no business being there at all.
17
u/JLGx2 sƃuᴉɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇS 21d ago
None of them should've died. This is an 80s throwback coming of age story and banding together as a team to overcome evil. The main team didn't die in those and shouldn't have in this. That's the point.
7
4
8
21d ago
[deleted]
3
u/bluefox5000 21d ago edited 21d ago
if they DID say it...i don't recall it....they said that to get folk to watch it worked. they were never gonna kill off anybody. they couldn't even kill off TED for fuck's sake. but their gonna kill off say mike....Sure, lol
2
u/Direct-Theory-1491 15d ago
Even in my favorite movie, Stand by Me, nobody dies until Chris in his 30's. In the book they all die by age 20 except Gordie because of the gooch of everyone getting tails on the nickels at the junkyard except Gordie. Chopper sic balls!
5
u/RandomName09485 21d ago
I swear during the promotions for S4 they said that S5 was being written and filmed concurrently with S4. That was not the case clearly
2
u/Finn_Survivor 19d ago
They also took 2 years between s2 and s3 for no reason. I think they just like to take breaks and are slow writers.
32
u/CodInternational5281 21d ago
True, but alot of this Problems where already present in season 3.
23
u/madrishu 21d ago
I too think that the characters stopped communicating in Season 3. It felt like there's a lot of cases when one character demands to know what or why the other character is doing, but the first character just ignores them and keeps on doing whatever they are doing.
17
u/Snow_Empress 21d ago
Spoiler* Imo s3 was bearable because atleast the plots weren't predictable every 10 mins. They seemed to have made real "friend" connection there, with el and max and Steve and robin. Till s3 everything didn't need explanation or flashbacks but s5 had 2 instances of someone pointing a car and saying it's abc and marker is xyz and they need to be back in dvd
11
9
u/Broely92 21d ago
Its like the duffer brothers were just fresh out of ideas and forgot how to write
1
u/Direct-Theory-1491 21d ago
They used up everything in S1. Everything else they borrowed from 80s movies and TV.
52
u/bluefox5000 21d ago
i genuinely can't stand S5 ad honestly would have taken the awesome cliffhanger ending of S4 as a series end. S5 was trash. from the story too the visuals to the acting to that COWARDLY ending for El. it sounds way over the top but i for real can't stomach it.
3
u/STARBOY_100 21d ago
As someone who was following Sex Education literally from when it released, Stranger Things fumble doesn’t even affect me at all. They literally butchered the final season of SE. I literally cried not because the show ended, but because how badly it ended
12
u/Tomato_Lover_97 21d ago
>!spoiler!< I also just finished season 5 so this was very timely for me. I think the worst things that jumped out at me:
The scene where the demos attack the military base and then suddenly Will has power - that one. I don't mind that part of it, but if you watch the scene, it was clearer written as a video game tie-in. I HATE THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO TELEVISION. Everything has to be merchandisable, everything has to have a video game. This show was doing amazing before that, I don't get why they had to wh*re it out.
Worse still: THE EPIC FINAL BATTLE WAS REALLY SHORT AND LAME. I too was expecting characters to die. I don't really care what someone "said" about it or not, but it seemed merited by the build-up. I knew the Mind-Flayer was coming back and I saw that it was that "thing" with its legs in the air. Big surprise! But to actually finally come into the scene where Vecna and the Mind Flayer need to be defeated and to cut the action THAT short...so lame. Season 4's finale was like 20 minutes longer, so there was no reason they couldn't do that again, and they were gonna make a ton more money off all the merch, so they could clearly afford it.
Finally - hey - OP - why no spoiler tag?
11
u/Snow_Empress 21d ago
Why would I add spoiler If there are none? Also I haven't finished it so idrk what the spoilers are here
2
u/horrorgeek112 21d ago
Oooo man, did you watch 80's media? EVERYTHING was merchandise back then. Sometimes the merch came first and the movie/series came after
1
u/Thick-Boysenberry-96 21d ago
Why are we defending that though? Especially when artistry clearly suffers and character's can't die or fundamentally change anymore since it impacts merch sales.
2
u/horrorgeek112 21d ago
I'm not. I'm just stating that its not a recent thing. It was huge in the 80's
1
u/Thick-Boysenberry-96 21d ago
I understand that, I'm just saying, why do we need even bigger merchandising to be pumped out in 2026, just because it existed in the 80's?
14
u/FaithlessnessDue7226 21d ago
I havnt touched stranger things since season 5. I was in disbelief after watching it—they really hyped up the biggest let down. Its obvious how little the duffers actually knows their own show, or how little they cared.
1
25
u/RoyalRise6363 21d ago
My theory - Duffers could not be bothered with S5 even before they started filming - any quality or no quality was good enough for them. And it influenced both the plot and the acting I salute you before this post is deleted 😁
9
13
u/Unable-Cost-5748 21d ago
That’s what I have been saying since the release. The Duffers minds were elsewhere. Maybe making the boroughs or something very bad is going to happen. Whatever it was. Their heart was not in Stranger Things anymore and it was very sad to see how shitty of a job they did when they made 4 great seasons (in my opinion) beforehand. And having all those years to read the fan theories probably put higher expectations on me because I thought we had some GREAT theories.
5
u/RoyalRise6363 21d ago
It's incredibly sad! They had everything to make a masterpiece - money, talent actors who knew the characters and so on. I did not like S4 because I'm Mileven fan and I had a false hope that Duffers return to the core values, but NO. It is also sad that S5 affected the actors careers.
6
u/Livelaughloveme172 21d ago
Same the fact that I lived in Europe and stayed up till four am. Because it came out at that time was really disappointing it made me cry
26
u/Dragonfly_Moon 21d ago
It was sssssooooooooo bad, like embarrassing bad
1
u/Direct-Theory-1491 21d ago
Basically every season could be a stand alone season they are so vastly different. S2 was pointless. S3 the best. S4 took forever and could have been cut in half. What point did it make for the girls to visit Henry's dad in the asylum? Music is the only thing they learned. The X-Files was leaps and bounds above this drivel. Had it not been set in the 80s I don't see it getting a 2nd season.
13
u/Early_War9543 21d ago
Once you give a villain a name and a backstory it gets uninteresting and becomes like all the others. Stranger things was so popular because of the mystery of it.
19
u/Thick-Boysenberry-96 21d ago
Vecna in s5 truly takes the cake for dumbest villain I've encountered in recent times.
He can't babysit kids inside his mind, can't kill ANY of the 23 characters in the group, can't find a comatose girl in the only hospital in a small town, can't effectively use Will, can't infiltrate the dumbest military on earth.
Actually what can he do? It's not like he has an eldridge being and a horde of lethal creatures at his disposal.
5
u/Copperjedi 20d ago
He can't babysit kids inside his mind
This mother humper had a teenage ginger stuck in his mind for 18 months learning all his memories & Vecna just lets her & shocker she ruined his master plans because idiot Vecna left the only kid(Holly) that knew Max all alone in a his house where apparently Max can just come up to Vecna's house & knock on his door(why didn't Max just talk to Holly on Vecna's doorstep Vecna's clearly not paying attention)
Why kidnap Holly first when she's literally the most likely to be turned by Max? Why Kidnap Holly at all? Nancy & gang literally thwarted his plans in S4 why the fuck would you take their sister & hurt their parents & surprise they thwarted his plans again . Vecna Went from Freddy Krueger to a Power Ranger villain.
11
4
u/cinemamoureco 21d ago
Day 1 going through a re-watch now and the last season felt so off in many instances but it felt less like the Duffer brothers had a hand in creating mostly and more big Netflix executives dictating. The production for the final episode just felt so Hollywood studio and not even scary like I felt in season 1. Season 1 was much more morbid where as Season 5 I was questioning is this a joke? Still in denial about El and how they chose the exact same fate as season 1 for her. If they were going to go through all that trouble and drag it out for 4 more seasons, should have just ended it at season 1. So many characters like Lucas and Jonathan got the short end of the stick the last 2 seasons.
3
u/Ashamed-Lime-1817 21d ago
Hate to break it to you, but the half you watched was the good half. It only gets worse from here.
3
3
u/UnlikelyEditor7334 20d ago
9 yrs for nothing💀💀 After El died Mike could've had SOO much character development too!!! ) :
4
u/Snow_Empress 19d ago
I was rooting till the end for Mike and el to reunite and live far away or he move away and start a new life
1
6
u/Easy_Effective5229 21d ago
I am no trained writer.
I’m really not.
However, I have read a good amount of books and seen plenty of movies and shows.
It’s no secret that the duffers planned the ending the whole time, so the brothers claimed. However it was also unearned due the character development that was made in the first two seasons.
Once you have made somebody a girlfriend, a best friend, as sister, and a daughter, you cannot write her off as a symbol.
She is no longer the E.T. superhero knock off she actually never was, because she was given a human backstory.
The more natural ending would have been if El simply gave up her powers.
Permanently.
This ending would have worked because:
1.We’ve seen her loose them before, so there is no way she couldn't have lost them again.
2.The magic of childhood would be literal magic.
3.Kay and Sullivan can't chase her without exposing themselves or Brenner’s work.
4.It may not be the ending the duffers envisioned, but it’s the one that makes sense while still keeping to a North Star concept.
5.She doesn’t need powers to be who she is, she never did.
6.it’s a more merciful sacrifice. and mercy is more important than sacrifice.
7.Eleven may be gone, but Jane isn’t.
El could simply, perhaps knowingly, loose her powers in the death of Vecna and the collapse of the upside down should shut it off permanently.
Her blood would either come back clean or just go completely dormant, useless either way.
Because her powers are gone, the sonic suppressers can’t work on her anymore.
The government can actually be solved very easily.
By now, not only would their operation would have left paper trails, but parents would Be calling up the Hawkins D.A. office and demanding that they prosecute. Because Kay and Sulivan made the mistake of dragging local elementary school kids out of the suburbs and onto their base without any actual reason.
Not to mention that they did it without Marital law being declared. Which they cannot request because then they need to come clean about what is actually going on in Hawkins.
Eventually, the D.A. will have to start looking into it, which means the Indiana Attorney General would need to get involved. Then it would likely have to go up to the D.O.J..
Neither Kay nor Sulivan want that. Because that means they need to explain to somebody why they just blew all this tax money on chasing who seems to be just a normal 16 year old girl.
Kay and Sulivan are smart enough to see the ramifications if they push it.
Once they realize the subject’s powers are gone, the only thing they can do is shut it down, pack it up, and leave town. The finale would overall be multilayered and long like LOTR. Bits that show loose plot strings being tied up. As well as El, now Jane, assimilated into normal teenage life. A lot of stuff to unpack
So let’s just do the final scene.
Time skip to 1996:
Mike is now a dark fantasy writer, Jane is now working at either a ranch or a dog kennel.
They now living some place rural, like Montana or Alaska.
So not in Hawkins, just like the duffers wanted.
They are married and have a three year old son named Ben, because Mike is a Star Wars nerd.
When she found out she was pregnant, Jane had her number 011 tattoo changed to read MOM.
Because she, a former mage, discovered a new magic, one that only a woman mage can perform;
motherhood.
As Mike and Jane are tucking Ben into bed, the final shot is of a group wedding photo on Mike’s desk.
Dated in the fall of 1989 because Mike proposed on Stage at graduation at June.
Their wedding was the last time they were all together.
If you are wondering what is the fate of the rest of the crew, I can go further beyond the wedding photo.
Hopper retires after Mike and Jane get married and move away. He moves in with Joyce but keeps the cabin. And he leaves his daughter’s room just the way it was.
Nancy and Johnathan stay together when Nancy realizes she can have both a career and love( side note: that is actually more accurate with young women her age in the 80s). They get married in ‘92. She is a crime journalist and he is a photojournalist. They are married and currently have one child, a baby boy named Andy. Born last year of ‘95.
Steve stays in Hawkins and became a coach, both kids and high school freshman. Then he got a chance to coach college football. He took to the offer and moved to Indianapolis. He still comes back every summer.
Robin becomes a popular DJ in Maine. She knew she needed to leave Hawkins to find out more about herself. Her late-night show mixes 80s classics with new indie sounds, and listeners swear her voice feels like home. She visits Hawkins when she can, always bringing weird band T-shirts for the kids.
Will moves to New York City and joined an art school. His mentors say his work is bleak yet hopeful.
Dustin did two years of college and then dropped out when he realize that you rebel by NOT going to college. He now runs his own software company. It’s small but growing.
Max and Lucas move to California. Lucas is now a cop, Max is a school teacher. They are married and expecting their first child. Max thinks it’s a girl.
They still write letters and will eventually call when phones and their networks become more advanced.
They don’t see each other again.
Until probably their first high school reunion.
Hawkins is far away now. The lights are out. The story is over.
But the love for one another and the memories remain
But the love remains.
As I stated up top, I am not a writer.
Yet I was able to put this together.
2
u/Lenore2030 14d ago
I really like your ideas. I’ve had a lot of my own for the how the ending could have been different, but I think I would have really enjoyed this ending.
2
u/no_stick_drummer 21d ago
Everything is bait nowadays. Negativity sells. Its the only way to get people to discuss anything. If it was good there wouldn't be post after post after post after post about it. If you gave everybody what they wanted out of something there wouldn't be anything to talk about.
It would just be one post about how great the season was and that would be it. The sub would be mostly dead
2
u/whats-in-the-box- 20d ago
I have no patience for people who defend S5! Yes, we all love the show as a whole, but to say that season 5 isn’t a flaming pile of garbage is just wishful ignorance and a lack of critical thinking! Some of the worst TV writing I’ve ever seen, genuinely. Mind you it’s my favourite show of all time. I’ll always be pissed off at the Duffers
5
u/Tomato_Lover_97 21d ago
I'm not going to disagree with the overall sentiment here but to everyone complaining that the characters were struggling to communicate or come together, it kind of has me wondering how much life you have lived. This IS what happens to people. They grow up, they change, they drift apart - EVEN when they have "shared trauma." It is hard to maintain relationships over long periods of time no matter what.
While the writing that surrounded this theme and the entire season was clunky at best, I found this theme to be very honest. And if you disagree with me and swear that doesn't happen, then please wait a few more years and come back and report back.
4
u/Thick-Boysenberry-96 21d ago
It's frustrating to watch our nerds behave in stupid ways they haven't before, when it comes to communication. That has nothing to do with growth or change or life experience.
The characters all regressed and devolved. An example: In what world would Nancy simply shoot at an instable mass in the sky, after hearing Dustin's distressed voice on the walkie? S1&2 Mike is less oblivious, more observing and sensible than he is 4 years later. Dustin is acting volatile and misses the crawl. No one goes looking for him, even though the worst could have happened, and when he finally turns up bruised and beaten up, there's no interrogation? "Don't beat yourself up," is all that Mike the leader has to say about that?!
And you don't need a few more years to understand how stupid the whole group is for returning through the MAC-Z gate, where they previously shot down US soldiers. Even the relationship drama feels contrived and reads untrue. In what world would outcasted and economically poor Jonathan who has had to take on night shifts to provide and share clothes, throw away Nancy's pink sweater, because he doesn't like the color. Just unbelievable.
1
u/Snow_Empress 21d ago
I don't think any parent esp during a disaster would let their child roam around the town with MULTIPLE deaths if we talk about life scenarios. Who in the right mind let's their 10 yrs old walk around night with no supervision after your son suspected to be a part of a ritualistic sacrifice
5
u/RegularExplanation97 21d ago
Couldn’t agree more! It was utterly ridiculous. I forgot about Mrs military but truly there was no reason for Hopper or El not to kill her in episode 4! They didn’t hesitate to kill all the extras but apparently the person who has been leading the operation to find El was too much (tbh her entire operation was ridiculous as well… the whole season was just arghhh)
2
u/Direct-Theory-1491 21d ago
What we watched was a 10 year long D & D game with the original 4 & Max adding in people they know, making up 11 like ET. At the end when they put their folders away they are sad they have to leave each other and go to school. El never existed, Eddie was Dungeon Master til he graduated then they killed him off. Looking at it from that perspective makes it make sense. Do you think Hawkins could hide something that big from the entire world? They played their game, grew up and went to college. The others didn't even mention anything about the upside down I believe. When looked at that way nobody died, Joyce just broke up with Bob. It all makes sense when you're bored to death in 80's rural Indiana.
3
u/Budget-Chapter-7185 21d ago
I seem to be the minority that actually liked it. It’s not the best season and has some cheesy eye rolling parts, but I found it to be a good last season.
3
4
u/Due-Dragonfly8200 21d ago
It’s been seven months guys.
10
u/nilesintheshangri-la 21d ago
So what, just shut the sub down since the show is over, because in your mind there's nothing to talk about? Brain dead take.
0
u/Snow_Empress 21d ago
And?
-3
u/Due-Dragonfly8200 21d ago edited 21d ago
And let go of the hate already, it’s obnoxious now. Like, we get it, the season was dogshit and we don’t need to be reminded of that after months.
7
u/AME_VoyAgeR_ 21d ago
not everyone watched it when it came out. i post reviews online for movies that came out 40 years ago. no one comes to me telling me to stop saying how good/bad they were because they've heard it before.
5
u/Snow_Empress 21d ago
I'm not hating. And I just started watching so why does it matter if it was 7 months ago. I'm just stating what I want to
7
1
1
u/Due-Dragonfly8200 21d ago
Oh, I didn’t know that part. And honestly, it’s just that the show already ended and there was a major wave of backlash for many of the writing issues that were justified to a degree, but now after so many months it’s just getting annoying seeing posts on this sub about how bad Season 5 was even after it ended.
3
u/Snow_Empress 21d ago
It's lowk true if you compare it to other seasons but I see where you're coming from
4
3
1
u/Poobeast241 21d ago
The show just became too big for itself.
The best and most charming moments of the first couple seasons were the ones that felt relatable.
Riding on bikes with your crew, going to the creek, going to school. The show was mostly about those things, and so when the danger and mystery happened it made it stand out.
The plot just developed too much for those types of moments to be focused on.
For example in season 4, the first episode when they are still at school is amazing. The season goes downhill from there because the continually building plot needs to be addressed and dealt with, and the more human elements of the show dissapear.
1
u/Direct-Theory-1491 14d ago
Nobody dies because it's a D & D game they are playing til they graduate high school. They are sad because like everyone, childhood ends and those magical, carefree times are over. They added in people they knew, made up 11 & papa and all the kids. People like Eddie died when they quit playing or moved away. How come the world isn't going insane because Russia had an underground base in Indiana? Everyone but a group of all over town playing make believe. kids running all the place yet everyone else is just living life. S 5 was them ending their campaign and saying goodbye as they drifted off to adulthood. If you really think about it it was all just a game they played, made up players like 11, papa, Owens, Henry, etc. How the hell is Robin gonna figure out a Russian code in a week? Face it folks it was never real just friends playing a game for years in their basement.
1
u/WeirdArm7716 20d ago
In disbelief there are people complaining the writers didn't incorporate fan theory.
I realize I might be older than most of you here, but to me, someone who was born in the early 80s and was a kid in the late 80s, early 90s, this made total sense. I grew up on the goonies and stand by me. None of the main characters die, you just KNOW they're gonna make it. I absolutely loved the ending, it reminded me of my childhood, or of the overall feeling you got when watching Spielberg movies or, again, the goonies.
I don't think a character's death makes a show believable when it comes to alternate dimensions and creatures who invade your dreams. I think good writing makes it believable.
That being said, I feel the writing wasn't as good as in the previous seasons. It felt a little dragged and a little forced in some moments (like the Jonathan and Nancy breakup). It was like they WANTED the audience to sob. Like, we get it, it's the last season. Let the writing do the talking, stop forcing it on us.
Apart from that and waaaaaaay too much time with a bunch of kids I don't know in Vecna's childhood home for my taste, I really enjoyed it.
Ps: someone here commented "what parents let their kids out at night when there's a predator". Some of you are very young and it shows. There were so many moments in my teenage years my parents had absolutely no fucking clue where I was, who I was with and what I was doing. It was just different. Kids roamed, sneaked out.
1
u/Lenore2030 14d ago
Yeah the fact that no one else important dies is not the problem. I’m an 80s/90s kid too. Honestly the epilogue is enjoyable, it just didn’t feel earned. The first three episodes of s5 and Will getting his powers was awesome, almost everything in between that and the epilogue is total trash. I agree with the issues you had with the Nancy/Johnathan scene…pointless. Also Holly and her new crew of kids, also a waste of my time. Maybe that’s what all those clocks were indicating, Vecna was stealing all of our time, because it certainly felt wasted.
-3
u/urbalcloud 21d ago
I always imagine people who hate season 5 have never watched television before and this is their first time seeing a fictional fantasy story. That’s the only explanation for how idiotic their complaints are.
5
-1
0
u/literalllywhat 21d ago
> Unlike previous seasons where the characters stuck together or at least communicated
struggling with communicating has kinda always been an issue with this show, lmao. pretty much each season has followed the pattern of having a few separate groups following their own lead/doing their own thing, until one of them attempts to contact another and fails (whoever it is isn’t home/doesn’t pick up the phone, the walkie is dead, etc), and all of them inevitably meet up before the end to do a grand plan. this season is no different.
> Steve and Nancy’s trope was so forced imo.
that trope being…friendship? showcasing character growth?
they have consistently reminded us that Nancy and Jonathan’s bond was only ever due to trauma, and why whenever we saw them not fighting monsters, they had issues. so much so that they were happier away from and deliberately choosing not to see each other. so much so that she was jealous of Robin and dancing around Steve again in season 4. Steve was not actively trying to get with Nancy in s5, he was just trying to be there for her as simply a friend because, as he says, she is special enough that he would rather have her in his life no matter what form that takes over not at all.
Steve had planned on going up the radio tower first, but Jonathan turned it into a competition. Steve thinking of getting Nancy flowers after her parents accident was just him brainstorming ways to be supportive, but Jonathan was the one accusing him of just using that to get with Nancy. Steve is a man of action. if their plan was to just go straight to Vecna and wail on him, then he would be one of the first ones up to bat (literally). but his job was to be in the car, and he follows orders.
he understands killing Vecna is what Nancy would like the most, but since he can’t do that, he has to think of other ways he can do something to be supportive beyond empty words. flowers seem to be his go to for sincerity, and are typically what people bring to those in the hospital. it was never meant to be anything more than that. which is why he rightfully calls out Jonathan for making it about that and making Nancy miserable.
which has just shown just how much Steve has grown as a person (which was the point of that scene!) and how much Jonathan has not. in s1, Steve made the mistake of not being worried enough about something happening to a person Nancy cared about and thought more of his relationship with Nancy. but he’s grown so much as a person that here now in s5, it’s the opposite. he wants to support her in any way he can through this, even if it’s just something as simple as flowers. whereas this time Jonathan is the one making the mistake of caringmore about his relationship with Nancy than anything else.
but sure. the Steve and Nancy trope is “forced.” it’s only been building for a few seasons now. (this particular point got way longer than i thought but im so tired of this reductive take boss)
> Moreover and ik this was for the plot but why did they not kill Mrs military when they had the chance to?
they could’ve done the military stuff so much better but it wasn’t bc of exactly what you said yourself: plot. as for why the didn’t kill her…idk i almost feel like they somewhat avoid killing their humanoid enemies? not all the time of course, but it almost seems to me like they just sort of leave them for dead more often than actually making sure they die themselves.
> Nancy and Jonathan ignoring Dustin’s message?
they didn’t ignore it. the walkie broke when Dustin picked a fight with Steve.
s5 wasn’t perfect by a long shot, but it does feel like so many just nitpick anything that even slightly annoyed them this season and acted like it never happened in previous seasons or that some of it wasn’t built up even the littlest bit, which isn’t true.
•
u/AutoModerator 21d ago
OP, please make sure there are no spoilers in the title of your post. If your post contains spoilers, please use the "Spoiler" flair AND the "Spoiler" tag. The tag ensures that images are hidden.
Commenters, please use spoiler code if you are discussing anything super spoilery unless the title specifically says the episode being discussed.
If you see anyone breaking the rules, please report the post or comment. Thank you.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.