Stranger Things has featured a handful of pointless subplots over the years, but the show’s forthcoming season 4 can still save one of the show’s worst diversions. Debuting in 2016, Netflix hit Stranger Things began life as a small-town mystery mixed with sci-fi and horror elements. The show was an instant word-of-mouth hit for the platform, and thanks to a great cast and strong writing, the last three seasons have seen Stranger Things grow into a pop culture phenomenon.
The show is also partially responsible for the current wave of 1980s nostalgia on both the big and small screens. Stranger Things gained acclaim thanks to its Amblin Entertainment-style adventures, gory horror, and intriguing central mystery. However, throughout its three seasons, Stranger Things hasn’t been without some weak subplots. Like any long-running series, it has featured some obvious filler episodes in addition to unexpected story diversions that received a mixed reception, with probably the most famous example being El’s lost sister in season 2.
However, no Stranger Things subplot has proven as pointless as Jonathan and Nancy’s stint working for small-town paper The Hawkins Post. The series can still remedy this issue in the upcoming fourth season, fixing both the season 3 subplot and another season 4 issue in one move.
Nancy and Jonathan’s Hawkins Post Jobs
At the beginning of Stranger Things season 3, things finally seem to be looking up for Jonathan and Nancy. Thanks to their earlier adventures, they have now secured #Justice4Barb, solidified their status as a couple, and even ended up reaching an understanding with Nancy’s ex Steve. However, despite the duo being established as a rare stable pairing in the world of Stranger Things, their time at the Hawkins Post saw Jonathan ignore Nancy’s persistent harassment by co-workers and even tell her to do the same. It’s an out-of-character moment that doesn’t fit with the Jonathan established in prior seasons of Stranger Things, and the scene feels designed to lead Nancy to rely on her mother for support.
Said mom soon provides a rousing speech about female empowerment, a recurring theme of the show's third season. The only problem with this subplot is that said mom is Karen Wheeler, who was most notable for indirectly leading to Billy’s Mind Flayer possession by almost having an affair with the high schooler. Despite Karen never being a particularly heroic character, Stranger Things attempted to give her a moving moment with her daughter and devolved Jonathan in the process. The scene goes against both Jonathan and Karen’s established characters, but that’s not the only problem...
Tom and Bruce’s Death Plot Hole
Tom and Bruce, the editor-in-chief and sleazy columnist of The Hawkins Post respectively, were the two worst perpetrators of Nancy’s workplace harassment. This Stranger Things subplot had the potential to work, as Tom is an effective representation of subtle workplace misogyny in his dismissal of Nancy's contributions to the paper, while Bruce plays a foil to this, acting as a more openly boorish, mean-spirited harasser. However, before the show could seriously address Nancy’s quandary, the harassment storyline becomes redundant as Tom and Bruce progress to attempted murder.
The pair chase and almost kill both her and Jonathan while under the Mind Flayer’s control, and in the ensuing hospital sequence, both men are beaten to death by the kids and eventually liquified into the monster. While one of the gorier scenes in Stranger Things season 3 - or the show in general - this triumphant moment sees Nancy and Jonathan briefly reunited by a common cause, only for the pair to be separated again by the season 3 ending. However, it’s also the last that Stranger Things viewers hear about the local paper, with no answer offered as to what happened to the rest of the staff.
What Happened To The Hawkins Post?
It’s already a little egregious that the once-grounded Stranger Things expected season 3 viewers to accept the denizens of Hawkins were too distracted by a funfair to notice a monster rampaging through the woods, or that the town’s many missing people don’t raise any red flags. However, the fate of the Hawkins Post is one of Stranger Things' biggest plot holes yet. Two of the paper’s leading members, the editor-in-chief and columnist, were killed by their interns and turned to goo. So what happened to the paper in the aftermath and did their co-workers notice? Are they still showing up to work? Reporters are exactly the sort of people who would interrogate such a mystery.
It’s a subplot whose story is never properly resolved, and the more Stranger Things viewers unravel the question of how the public didn't notice the Hawkins Post disappearing overnight, the more season 3’s far-fetched events seem hard to suspend disbelief for. Stranger Things has always been a series that featured sci-fi and horror elements, but it’s primarily a relatively grounded small-town mystery and drama, so this storyline makes it impossible for the show to maintain that element unless viewers are to believe Hawkins has the least inquisitive population - and by extension, newspaper staff - on earth.
Stranger Things Season 4 Can Save The Paper
Jonathan and Nancy’s stint at the Hawkins Post didn’t add up to much in terms of character or story, but season 4 could address this in a way that also answers the query of whether the Byers will return to Hawkins. The newspaper subplot seems pointless in hindsight, but a job at the now-reopened paper could give the Byers - or at the very least Jonathan - an excuse to return to town in Stranger Things season 4.
This would explain how the central group reunites and save the romances of both Mike and Eleven and Jonathan and Nancy. Not only that but a new newspaper owner - maybe one who wants to report on the frequent absurd goings-on in the town of Hawkins instead of ignoring them - could be a lot more believable and engaging. A story that sees Jonathan and Nancy conflicted over what elements to cover up and what to reveal could also give these Stranger Things supporting stars the roles they deserve in the series.