While Stranger Things season 5 will have its work cut out when it comes to effectively wrapping up the Netflix hit’s sprawling story, the show can avoid one major season 4 pitfall when the series finally returns to screens. Stranger Things season 4 fixed many season 3 mistakes that plagued the show back in 2019. The awkward broad comedy and wild tonal shifts of season 3 were replaced by a darker atmosphere and sharper character writing in Stranger Things season 4, which still managed to balance occasional moments of levity with believable drama and surprisingly harsh horror sequences to critically acclaimed effect.
However, Stranger Things season 4 was not without flaws of its own. Stranger Things season 4’s interminable Russia-set subplot lasted far longer than it needed to, with Joyce and Murray’s attempts to liberate Hopper from a Siberian labor camp feeling interminable compared to the rest of the season’s fast-paced storytelling. Back home in Hawkins, the story of the kids trying to uncover Vecna’s origins was much more compelling, but Stranger Things season 4 still struggled to ground Jason’s seemingly pointless Satanic panic subplot, a goofy side quest that would have let more at home in the flabbier, sillier season 3.
Fortunately, Stranger Things season 5 is unlikely to repeat the biggest fault that season 4’s writing fell afoul of. The decision to split up the central cast across no less than four locations cost Stranger Things 4 dearly, resulting in the disjointed storytelling of the Satanic panic subplot and the padding of Hopper’s painfully slow escape. The final season of Stranger Things now has the whole gang back together in one location again, and it would be a fool’s errand to split them up as season 4 did. While the adult characters naturally end up staring in plots that don’t involve the show’s kids (until each season’s finale brings them together) and the subplots of teenage characters like Robin, Stranger Things fan favorite Steve, and Nancy don’t always overlap with the stories of younger characters like Max, Will, and Eleven, this does not mean that Stranger Things season 5 should spend as long breaking up its central cast as season 4 did.
Why Stranger Things 4 Split Up The Heroes
Stranger Things season 4 always had to split up its sprawling cast, even before COVID-19-related filming restrictions resulted in the show’s creators changing their plans during production. For one thing, Murray and Joyce always needed to get Hopper back from Siberia and the duo was never going to bring Will, Eleven, and Mike along for the ride. As a general rule, the adult characters would also have never joined the kids on an adventure, as proven when Joyce lets Eleven’s Stranger Things season 4 showdown with Angela occur far from her supervision. The kids of Stranger Things, like the latchkey kids of the 80s in general, are typically given free rein to roam and have been since the inception of the series, resulting in them having stories of their own that only occasionally intersect with the plots of their parents and guardians.
Meanwhile, the Hawkins kids needed some distance from Eleven to force Max to face down Vecna alone and to showcase the heroism Dustin and Lucas had in Stranger Things season 1 before they could rely on El’s powers. Robin, Steve, and Nancy needed to be separated from the rest of the cast to give Eddie’s tragic Stranger Things season 4 story life-or-death stakes as it became clear that they were dealing with a genuinely lethal villain who they couldn’t stop without Eleven's assistance. Speaking of, Eleven needed space to regain her powers and end the long-running Dr. Brenner plot, meaning Stranger Things season 4 was initially justified in breaking up the cast.
What Went Wrong Stranger Things 4’s Split Stories
Jonathan, Will, and Mike didn’t really need to be split up from everyone else, and it showed in their comparatively weak, padded Stranger Things season 4 subplot. The group got some character growth, but their story relied far too much on the individual actor's strong performances without much happening in terms of plot, and stretched patience as a result. While the detour to Susie’s family in Salt Lake City was funny enough to power a Stranger Things spinoff, this scene alone wasn't enough to make six episodes of the group’s aimless road tripping feel urgent or compelling.
Why Stranger Things Season 5 Will Keep The Gang Together
As proven by the Stranger Things season 4 finale, even the entire group’s best efforts could only stall Vecna instead of killing him, and even this almost killed Max, did kill Eddie, and resulted in widespread disaster. If the group is to take the villain down, they need to all work together from the same place. Now that everyone from Robin to Dustin, to Hopper, to Eleven is all finally back in one town along with the weakened, but very much alive Vecna, the final season can wrap up this plot without dragging its feet as season 4 did. Not only that, but Will predicted that Vecna would use Eleven’s powers against her in Stranger Things season 5, and it would be far harder for the villain to pull off this plan if Eleven had the support of her friends and family by her side.
How This Will Help Stranger Things 5
Stranger Things season 5 keeping the group together will finally pay off the Steve/Nancy/Jonathan love triangle, give Mike and Will an actual plot function, and allow Eleven to rely on the support of the people she has spent so long trying to protect. While there were a few sweet moments in Stranger Things season 4 that allowed other characters to showcase their own strength (particularly Max’s viral first face-off against Vecna and Dustin’s poignant tribute to Eddie in the season finale), cutting Eleven off from the rest of the cast throughout the season limited the heroine’s exposure to the bravery of her Hawkins friends. Now that Eleven has been reunited with the surviving Hopper, Stranger Things season 5 can let her and the rest of the show’s heroes take on Vecna as a unit instead of attempting to tell four stories at once. Stranger Things season 5 can show that the series can tell one cohesive story as well as pay off plot strands that have lasted since the show’s pilot, something season 4 promised but ultimately fell short of pulling off successfully thanks to its scattered cast.