It is no secret that Stranger Things, a five-season series on Netflix, has the internet in its grasp. However, many fans, including myself, are becoming increasingly disappointed with how the storyline has played out. Here is my list of grievances with season five:
- Johnathon’s lack of characterization.
Jonathan Byers has always been a boring character to me personally, but he is especially insufferable this season. It seems like his entire personality has been reduced to fighting Steve over who the “better option” for Nancy is. The radio tower scene was so corny, especially because of how grown they are. I remember in season one when Johnathon and Joyce had this entire arc dedicated to them fighting over Will’s funeral, and the audience was able to actually see the emotion and purpose behind Johnathon’s involvement within the story. As of right now, he serves no purpose to further the plot and is generally useless to the narrative.
- Noah Schnapp’s acting.
The Duffer Brothers have done an amazing job at acknowledging Will’s character. Throughout the previous seasons, Will has always been on the sidelines and was only relevant when it was tied to Vecna. I enjoy what they have done with his self-discovery and Robin’s involvement in that as well. However, Noah Schnapp’s acting was terrible. For being someone who actively grew up in the entertainment industry and depicting Will since 2016, you would think he would be able to at least express emotion convincingly on set, which is clearly not the case. Noah’s acting feels so forced, and as a viewer, I cannot put myself in the shoes of Will simply due to the lack of depth in his portrayal.
- El and Hopper’s dynamic.
In previous seasons, Hopper and Eleven’s father-daughter relationship has brought many viewers to tears. Their interactions are heartfelt, deliberate, and truly show the complexity of their dynamic. In season five, I wish I could say the same. There are too many sentimental scenes between them that feel inauthentic, like something we’ve already seen before. There was no build-up to emotional moments, and the scenes that were supposed to be powerful felt almost copied and pasted. For example, when Hopp randomly decided to wear a bomb strapped to his chest and was prepared to take his own life if he was confronted by Vecna in the lab. Logically, this decision makes no sense, as we have seen Vecna be consumed by flames, thrown off multiple stories of a building, and eat gunshots like it is nothing. For Hopp to think that a bomb would kill Vecna is either extremely idiotic or a ploy for the writers to bring tension to the scene, which is completely unnecessary. Overall, there is nothing new or interesting between the two of them, and all of their scenes together are very repetitive and bland.
- There are no stakes.
From the start of the first episode, there have been no breaks for any of the characters. With so much going on, you’d think most of it would have substance, but of course, there seems to be absolutely no stakes at all. I think this feeling that the season has no stakes stems from the fact that we kind of just jump into the middle of what the characters are doing instead of building up to and walking through their planning process. The entire season is about finding Vecna and killing him, which is the same thing as season four.
- There is a lack of emotional depth.
Disregarding the terrible acting, the characters themselves seem to be emotionally numb throughout the first four episodes. Every interaction between the characters seemed so distant and unlike how they acted during the previous seasons. For example, Steve genuinely did not care that Dustin was unresponsive for the majority of the crawl operation, and when they finally made contact (after Dustin showed up completely beaten), Steve didn’t appear to care about anything other than the fact that Dustin wasn’t there to help him track frequencies in the car. This makes zero sense due to the fact that Dustin and Steve were inseparable and had an almost brotherly kind of relationship. A more extreme example of the lack of emotional depth this season was Mike’s reaction to his parents being on the brink of death. We did not see him shed a single tear, express any anger, or even show sympathy at all. He sat in the hospital waiting room, completely fine, as his parents were in critical condition and were fighting for their lives. I did not understand why things felt disconnected, but I realized that because the characters were feeling so little, I also felt so little when watching.
- The plot itself is not original.
Alongside the awful acting, there truly is no original plot. Again, the idea of finding Vecna and killing him is the same concept as last season, and they don’t tell us how they intend to distinguish it from season four. For four episodes to play out and only one iconic scene at the end of the fourth episode to occur genuinely baffles me. The storyline of Mr. Whatsit and Holly is incredibly boring in my opinion, and is not impressive writing in comparison to previous seasons.
In general, Stranger Things is a very engaging franchise and has captured the attention of millions of people around the world. However, the playthrough of season five has been incredibly underwhelming, and at the end of the day, viewers can only hope that the conclusion of the series meets their expectations.
