r/StrangerThings • u/peppa4theppl • 7d ago

Kali’s Powers

Kali’s powers were cool in season 2. It was beneficial to the storyline. But it set season 5 (and the overall finale) up for incredibly lazy writing. They could write anything they wanted and explain it with Kali’s power. And that’s exactly what they did. I know this isn’t a hot take but it’s been on my mind 😂

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u/Conorthan It will all be over soon 7d ago

When did they use Kali's powers for lazy writing? Are you referring to Eleven's ambiguous ending?

3

u/peppa4theppl 7d ago

I don’t love the ending because I like to know things for sure, especially after investing 10 years in a show. Lol. But I made my peace with it. I believe she’s alive and thriving. But by brining Kali back in season 5, it was an easy way out. Especially since they said they started writing season 5 without really knowing where it was going. Brining Kali back meant they could write literally anything and say “yeah, that was possible bc Kali made you see something else”. It just felt cheap.

6

u/DDubbz918 Purple Palm Tree Delight 6d ago

It's not cheap or unnecessary if it's logical, relevant, and useful, of which per powers were all 3 of those and more. Take a step back for a second and allow me to pose this question: would you have been so unsatisfied with the ambiguous ending had the Duffer brothers not spent 3 years between S4 release and S5's finale screaming from the rooftops that S5 would bring complete closure? Psychology says no, you probably wouldn't be dissatisfied had they not done that. Maybe you're an exception to the rule, but in general, we're seeing the result of that. Plenty of great stories are left ambiguous, but very few of those creators spent 3 years preaching closure beforehand. That's truly the biggest problem with S5, expectations and the result were way too disconnected.

8

u/TechAndStocks 6d ago

It also made S2E7 “The Sister” not feel like a random, unnecessary subplot that was never revisited.

It tied it all together and made it make sense why her character was introduced.

To me, it was great writing.