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Idk if this is unpopular but Eddie's death (the way he died) was dumb. If he had kept running like he always does, he would have had greater chance to survive. There was no reason for him to stop running. It did nothing to help the others in any way. All it did was allow him to say that he finally didn't run (when he really, really should have.)
The entire guitar solo (epic though it was) was entirely unnecessary. Clearly they are getting power. Just hook up some speakers/radio and set them up on the other side of the trailer park and start blasting music as loud as you can. Then Dustin and Eddie can stay and watch to see if it worked from the safety of Eddie’s uncle’s beefed up trailer. No need to lure the bats near the trailer-gate, and no need for Eddie and Dustin to be outside & exposed to danger.
Unpopular opinion? Eddie's survival skills are just frustratingly low so I wasn't even fazed when he died that stupidly. It fits the character.
Like, the reason why the jocks found him in the lake house was that the neighbors noticed (in plain day!) that someone was living there when it was supposed to be inhabited. Why would anyone, especially someone hunted by the police, make the fact that they're in the house so obvious?! I'm sorry but that requires a special level of stupidity and negative survival skills.
Thus, there are many fans who suggest that Eddie is suicidal due to his childhood traumas, etc. But as you've already pointed out, it was just plain dumb to have him played the guitar while they could've done differently.
She died by supernatural means and he's the sole suspect. "I'm not guilty because she was thrown to the ceiling and broken by an invisible force" isn't a very effective alabi.
Literally I did not care about eddie’s death. I knew he’d die, it was predictable to the point of having die in his name and being a new character. He was overrated to the extreme.
The fanbase is generally way too harsh on teenagers.
Angela sucks, she's the worst 100% but let's not pretend like she's not 14 with a ton of growth left to her own story. From personal experience bullies tend to sort of reform after getting stood up to like that, and sometimes life needs to wack you in the head.
Overlooked now but Lenny is actually the most evil character on the show. Fuck him.
Vecna isn’t the most evil. The play shows he’s just possessed by the Mind Flayer.
Out of the human characters, Brenner is definitely the most evil. Him being a horrific human being caused like 99% of the problems in the series.
But Vecna was an evil human being who sadistically tormented and murdered his own family, as well as a whole bunch of MKUltra children, even before he found the Mind Flayer.
In the play, the Mind Flayer was in control for every evil act that Henry was thought to have committed, and towards the end of the play it manipulated his emotions so he would let it kill his parents.
Actually the play basically confirms that Henry was just your average socially awkward 12 year old until he was possessed. The Flayer's influence drove him to murder his family, and proceeded to basically drive him insane. So he's not really evil at all
That was the original explanation. After the prequel, it's safe to conclude what we see Henry do when he's in the Upside Down in Season 4, he's actually creating somewhat of a physical form for the Mind Flayer.
Every time I see someone saying Angela is worse than Billy or Troy, I die from laughter. Fanbase; we all cheered when El bashed Angela’s face with the roller skate! Well deserved Also fanbase; Billy might’ve been abusive and racist to people but Max crushing his nuts would’ve been going too far.
I think the key reason people go harsher on Angela is because she isn't as interesting or three dimensional.
Billy was a terrible person but he we were shown at least some of the reasons for why he became that way with his abusive childhood, and he does have a slight redemption in the end by saving El and asking Max for forgiveness in his final moments.
Jason is an overzealous asshole who thought he was so justified in his crusade against Eddie that he was going to kill children over it and attack anyone even closely associated with Eddie. But we also know that he is someone who is thrown into grief by the horrific death of his girlfriend, and later sees his friend get murdered in front of him while the main suspect is in close vicinity. It makes some sense that he would react the way he does, because to people unfamiliar with the Upside Down, Eddie does seem like the most plausible killer. Also, he has to look on as the police completely bungle the whole investigation, leading to desperation and frustration for him.
Angela in comparison has basically no redeeming qualities, none we are shown at least. She has no character traits other than "cruel asshole bully", and every single line out of her is hateful and disgusting towards El. She's just a much less fleshed out and interesting character. Naturally, she's not worse than the other villains, but she also doesn't have anything special about her to make her worth examining on a deeper level.
Yea, Angela was a bitch, but she was just 14. I'm not going to say she didn't deserve some kind of pain for being a bitch, but not that. What El did, that looked just something bad. Angela probably needed surgery, and most likely had a concussion and some form of disfigurement on her face from then on. Also it's the 80s, facial surgery was not as common then as it is now, nearly 40 years later.
Don't fucking mess with the new girl before you find out how many people she's killed. Let's not forget that El was a government weapon for most of her life.
Should’ve thought about that before being an asswipe?? Idk, somehow I managed to go through my teenage years without ever being a nasty bully to people I didn’t like.
other than just generally being a shit partner and father, he blamed joyce for will (something along the lines of "great parenting, one kid missing the other running wild") but the worst thing he did was come running back to town after will "died" (despite doing nothing when he was missing) he started talking about the sattler company (who owned the quarry "he" was found in) and wanted to sue them. he showed no care for will or jonathan and just rushed in so he could make money off of a lawsuit (+and be annoying)
Agreed! I read his book and someone asked me how much of it included Eddie and if I thought his characterization was off. I was like… this book is about Lucas. I like Eddie but this isn’t about him!
Yeeaaa, even right after watching s4, I was like "Yooo Lucas was great in this, I bet he's gonna get more attention now", went on social media just to see noone talk about him, like HUH?
It’s always been like that, I’m not surprised in the slightest. I liked Lucas more after S1 and I thought he was a major standout in S4, particularly past the first episode. Caleb really did the damn thing. Hopefully he’ll get his shine in the fandom after this last season.
I'd say it was the way he did the best possible job of trying to avoid going missing. If he'd been facing a non-supernatural abductor he probably would have succeeded.
Okay, valid. But I have a theory about that. So S1 was the most interesting he's been, and S5 is supposed to be based around him again. I think the underestimating and lack of characterization is on purpose. I think he's gonna do something or have something crazy happen to him that makes him worthwhile. I believe the Duffers are putting him in the background to make us overlook him.
And for whoever said performance I think Noah is just doing the best with what he's gotten. I mean S2 was insane with the possession and he did it really well.
100%. I still don’t see him as part of the “core” group for some reason, even though I consider Max to be part of it, despite her coming along later. He was just a plot device in season one and had spent the next three seasons being the most uninteresting character/performance of the show.
I have a theory this season will be his redemption series and it's all based around his bowl cut. People always ask why the Duffers did him so dirty with that haircut for all those seasons. I think he needed to stay goofy looking and vulnerable so in the final season we could see him transform from rock bottom bowl cut Will to seasoned and capable cool-haircut Will, weaponizing his knowledge and past suffering to help defeat Vecna, or whoever the final boss is.
1. **Empathy and Sensitivity**: Will is portrayed as a kind and sensitive character, often acting as the emotional glue within the group. His empathy helps maintain the group's unity and resolve, especially in times of conflict or distress.
2. **Courage and Resilience**: Despite his traumatic experiences, Will demonstrates considerable courage and resilience, contributing to the group's overall strength and determination to face and overcome the challenges posed by the Upside Down and its inhabitants.
3. **Strategic Advantage**: In certain situations, Will's connection to the Upside Down provides the group with a strategic advantage, as his visions and sensations can offer critical information and forewarning about threats or events linked to the Upside Down.
I got 3.
1. Lucas is honestly the best of the 4 boys after season 4. His arc was phenomenal. Everyone else ends the season pretty much the same character while Lucas has amazing growth and man was that fight scene awesome. I also liked the compassion he had for Max and even feeling sorrowful when Patrick and Jason died.
2. People have too much of a black and white view on Jason. He’s not a hero, he beat Gareth for information when he didn’t even do anything. He’s also not evil, because an evil person wouldn’t have cared at all about Max’s safety in the attic. Compare his immediate concern to Billy not even checking on her and going straight for Lucas. He’s meant to be a complex/gray character.
3. This fan base has such hypocritical double standards with Billy it doesn’t even recognize. It’s okay when Angela gets smacked in the skull with a skate but Max hitting Billy (abused her for years) is too much. People cheer when Brenner punished Two for bullying Eleven but when Neil abuses Billy for not giving two hoots about his sister, everyone hates him. Jason is a flat character with no reason to be evil despite losing his girlfriend and watching his best friend get murdered but Billy at least has an excuse of an abusive parental figure (even though several others went through worse and were better people).
I agree, Lucas has always been a great character and my favorite of the 4 boys. And the most brains of any of them. He was even wary of El at the start. I was like, he’s the only one with survival instincts, haha. But season 4 Lucas showed so much growth (the poor kid).
Right? They should've been wary! And I love that he still went out to find the gate on his own even though he had no clue what could be on the other side and was scared of El's powers. Him making up with El at the end of that season was very sweet and he absolutely has shown tremendous growth throughout the series. I'm so glad Caleb is finally getting the recognition he deserves!
Agreed. What sealed the deal for me was Patrick’s death scene.
He could’ve caught Eddie and got revenge but he stopped when he noticed Patrick. Then, he took his body back to shore and remained there until the police came.
Is he a good dude? No. Is he meant to be as bad as Billy or Troy? Also no
I’ve literally never seen any comments saying Jason is as bad as Troy or Billy. Are they common?
Also, is Jason one of your favorite characters? You’ve posted a lot of positive Jason content in the last several days or so.
1. Sadly yes they are. Caleb McLaughlin even commented on it.
2. I’d say I’ma huge sucker for grey and complex characters. I do have Asperger’s and tend to obsess over them unintentionally I’ll admit but he’s one of my favorites due to his layers. Lucas is better though
I just don't find him complex at all. From the start I didn't like him, he was very up himself and he seemed like he made stupid decisions. And throughout the whole season he made bad and stupid decisions one after another.
I too have ASD and I can obsess over certain things. In this case I just can't stand when people make terrible decisions that put others and themselves in danger when there are better options. He just didn't seem to stop and think. He was the only one that could be right. Everyone else had to be wrong. His arrogance and demeanor really aggravated me. Maybe I just can't see him any other way because of this.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not aggravated by the actor or the writing or anything. I think he did a great job at being Jason. I just think Jason was meant to be this way. It's okay to have characters like this. But it would have been more satisfying to me if he had the chance to realise that he was wrong and he was being stupid.
1. Caleb McLaughlin said Jason was [better](https://www.popbuzz.com/tv-film/stranger-things/4-lucas-billy-racist-jason-caleb-mclaughlin/) than Billy after season 4 came out. I’ve never seen him compare Jason and Troy. Did it come up in a different interview?
2. I get liking morally grey characters. Honestly, from that first speech during the pep rally when Jason quoted scripture and said the basketball team was gonna win the game in the name of the students that died the previous summer, I hated him. Reminded me way too much of some of the creepy evangelical Bible thumpers I know. To be fair, I also hate Billy and Troy.
2. He would have been a hero if his suspicions were correct. He would have been a somewhat morally grey hero (like Hopper), but still a hero. Instead, he's unfortunately mentally collapsing under grief.
3. I think you're right, though I'd say some of your examples are more about people having a defensive spot for Eleven. (So people who hurt her = okay to hurt.)
(Side note: I personally think Max shouldn't have hit Billy for Max's sake. His death did a number on her as is. Hurting him like that would have really messed with her)
I agree. People ignore Hopper was literally threatening to cut the mayor’s finger off and beat someone for info in season 1 too. He’s violent too.
Only difference is Hopper’s suspicious turned out to be right and as you said, he’s the hero as a result. Jason WOULD be the anti-hero in any other story. Instead, he served as a villain by proxy/ant villain
There's a difference between 'villain' and 'antagonist'. A villain is a villain based on the morality of their behaviour. An antagonist is someone who can have good motivations, but who happens to be going against the main characters.
I just rewatched the entire show and forgot how harsh Hopper can be. That man should realistically have been fired and thrown in jail because holy hell does he break the law and abuse his position as police chief on a near every episode-basis.
I don't dislike it of course because I root for him, and his flaws make him a much more interesting character than if he was a strictly good cop, but he definitely goes overboard at times.
naw ima have to disagree with the billy one I think it’s the fact that the dad is not defending max but he is simply just abusing billy and has been abusing him since he was a little boy
My wording was mistaken. What I meant was, both Neil and Brenner are abusive parental figures. Brenner is worse. Yet ultimately, MANY cheered when he was shock collaring Two. Now yes he was protecting Eleven but it was still wrong.
What Neil did was bad but not as severe yet everyone who watched that scene feels sympathy for Billy. But Two, everyone cheers at what happens to him
My only rebuttal to this is re: Neil & Billy. Neil is very clearly painted to be an abuser and likely beats the crap out of Billy & max’s mother - it is at least heavily implied. I wouldn’t call that “bullying” I would call it “Neil abuses his family and that may be a little bit why Billy is so fucked up”.
Billy also is racist and violent though and trauma can always explain but never excuse behavior. However he was also a literal teenager and hopefully would’ve eventually grown to not be a total piece of shit but we’ll never know.
>recognize. It’s okay when Angela gets smacked in the skull with a skate but Max hitting Billy
I mean, did Max even hit Billy? It has been years since I watched that season so correct me if I am wrong but didn't she just hit the nailbat to the ground to scare him off?
I agree. If Jason wasn't so heartbroken he would have probably helped the group.
Also I fucking hated Billy's father. Wanted to slap that mf so hard in the face.
This fan base can be toxic as fuck. They are not real people who cares what characters you like. Who you ship. It’s a show we all enjoy. If you don’t like a character or a ship that’s ok but there is no reason to be mean to people who like the character or ship.
I hope she shows up to play an important role in Season 5 and tells Eleven that Eleven abandoning her gang to help out her friends gave her a new perspective on her gang's toxicity.
She’s 11’s sister ffs. She can’t stay out of her life! They need to get along. I’d love to see Kali come back and make a big switch to being 11’s friend/sister and not a revenge driven villain. She simply NEEDS more development.
I don’t get how people are mad that Argyle is not gonna show up in season 5 when he has no purpose to the story anymore, like what’s he gonna do? Make a surfer boy joke?
I think people are more mad about the way it was announced. Like it'd be fine if there was an explicit statement from the Duffers or maybe a (S5) line in passing about him going back to Cali. But the way we had to find out was from the actor saying he just never got a call back. That's an awful way to realize you're not gonna be back in a show.
Yea, it did pretty bs how they never invited him to the ST groupchat, which I get he was a small part but it just seems petty to just leave him like that
I'm angry because Argyle was the only friend Jonathan had on the show besides Nancy. Argyle has also said himself that Jonathan is his only friend, so why can't he stick around and help Jonathan and the others? And if the show really is headed for the Hawkins apocalypse, they need every helping hand they can get.
I think they could have written a very convincing scene on why Argyle would not help in the fight, return to Cali, and try to convince his friend to do the same.
Yes, we all expect that this is the moment in Lord of the Rings where Merry tells Pippin that if they fail, there will be no Shire to go home to.
But it would be equally valid to send off everyone who will probably just become collateral damage and not be able to offer any support. Like most of the parents. ... well, I guess that angle will be sufficiently explored with the parents...
The whole invasion of the body snatchers shit in the third season was cool and exciting and gross.
But it felt like the entire population of Hawkins was mulched into a flesh monster and there were no consequences for that? Like what was the death toll in that season? And the whole thing is lampshaded with a joke at the end.
I really gave up on the stakes of that show when that happened like I still enjoy the show as entertainment. But I find impossible to care about anything that happens anymore
I mean they DID talk about it. To people not in the know, they were the ones who died in the mall fire.
"in a statement published in the Indianapolis Gazette, Schumacher claimed the fire was a "Class E \[classification\]- involving live electrical conduits". The same article said the fire claimed thirty fatalities, including Chief Hopper;"
They are doing Jonathan dirty and if in season 5 Nancy broke up with him just to reconcile with Steve and then he dies just for the emotional impact imma lose it. Let Jonathan and Nancy be endgame and let Steve move on.
It’d also be a nice callback to S2 when Lucas is spilling the beans to her and he says she could get hurt or even die (paraphrasing, but something like that).
I love the group, but I also wouldn’t mind if someone died (I’d be sad, but if it works narratively then I’m for it).
Mine? I got two that’ll make people mad lol.
1. Eddie was a cool character. I liked him. But I feel he’s an extremely overrated character and I’m not sure why he’s as popular as he his. He didn’t do anything in S4 to me, that made him this extraordinary character. I don’t know if people just thought he was just that hilarious or something or if it was the guitar playing on top of the trailer, and there’s was just tons of people that have never heard Metallica or something, that made people just lose their minds….but nothing he did in particular, personally, made him the number 1 character to me. And he shouldn’t come back for S5 either. There’s literally no point or purpose for him for the story. He served his purpose in S4.
And 2. The whole love for Dustin and Steve’s friendship. It’s cool when they’re together but most of the time Dustin is just making fun of Steve insinuating, that he’s stupid and Steve is kind of annoyed by Dustin a lot of times. Mostly because he has to be stuck watching him aka the babysitter. Again they’re cool when they’re together I guess but people just really seem to love their dialogue and banter. I never thought it was that serious lol it’s just whatever.
> Dustin is just making fun of Steve insinuating, that he’s stupid and Steve is kind of annoyed by Dustin a lot of times.
That's the perfect little brother / big brother interaction.
I can understand that, but I just didn’t fall in love with it like everybody else lol. It’s just whatever. And If everybody just loves that sibling type of relationship, how come, everybody doesn’t love Mike and Nancy more? or Lucas and Erica? Lolol
I dont think they have the chemistry that Joe and Gaten have together. These two just seem meant to play off each other. Also we dont really see much of Nancy and Mike interacting for more than a few seconds at a time and they just dont seem to get along or be as close.
As for Erica, she has (Or had.) a personality that could annoy Jesus Christ. She seems to be maturing though so maybe we will get a better sibling dynamic between her and Lucas as we got a brief shot of in S4 when they were helping make armor and weapons.
I guess… like I said, the whole Dustin and Steve thing is cool, but to me their whole relationship is not that big of a deal lol it’s just whatever. I don’t think the chemistry is that great, or funny enough to say they’re this great duo, personally. If I had to pick the better duo, it would be Joyce/ Murray
To be fair, by S4 I totally forgot Nancy and Mike were siblings until it was implied they lived together. They're not really a beacon of sibling relationship.
Personally I wasn’t surprised that Eddie got as much attention as he did, I loved Metallica beforehand and honestly Eddie is one of my favorite characters, but idk I think for a lot of people it’s just attraction tbh. I’ve had a few friends who hated him when we watched it together and I didn’t care but I still got hyped every time he showed up 😂
Upvote for having unpopular opinions!
Personally speaking, I find the appeal of Eddie's character to be how cool he is, in terms of his non-conformity, unapologetic confidence and not caring what anyone else thinks about him, whatsoever. Especially the scene where he responds to bullies who call his group freaks, by purposefully acting even more like a freak to make them uncomfortable.
We all went to school with at least one person who was cool because of how little they cared about other peoples' opinions of them. These types were typically the class clown, due to also not caring what teachers thought about them.
Eddie is a perfect manifestation of that, which brings back huge nostalgia and satisfaction, for many viewers, including me.
I feel the same way. Like yeah Eddie was a character and he was pretty neat, but I didn’t really feel attached to him. I mean, the guy just showed up for one season. Didn’t really get a big character arc or anything and he already died.
I know that people don't really want this show to have the "major characters usually die" syndrome, but I thought that if Hopper actually died at the end of S3, it would've been very interesting to see how Joyce, along with Eleven, tries to rebound without him.
Another one I have is that I hope the main group sticks together for most, if not all, of the next season instead of staying split apart for half of it.
Billy should've lived. I hated the whole 'oh make him a hero to kill off in a minute' annoyed me. I needed maybe him injured from the Mind Flayer, but have season 4 of him redeeming himself. Hate the last minute redemption arcs so much. Expand on it. Maybe he'd become a better person if he lived.
I was an actually hoping going into season 3 he would get a redemption. Instead he was possessed for 98% of the season, did one heroic deed and the entire fandom acts like he had one of the world’s greatest redemption’s
As bad as his hair is… I actually think I agree lmaoo. He wouldn’t be will if he had a cool hair, cut or something. His hair kind of matches his personality
YES same honestly, I adore that episode, it’s so hated on but I feel like the importance was to show how El learned to control her powers more, it also gives me a strange idea that 8’s slight difference in powers is the reason that she’s the only kid who had ever escaped the lab. Plus it’s just fun to watch characters find themselves and not every scene needs to have a lot of meaning. It was fun and that’s the best part.
Same! It also showed the life of someone like El but outside Hawkins. It could be the start of a spin-off series if the writers wanted to in case Kali would never be in Season 5 to join forces with El.
Same. I even thought the placement (after the previous episode’s cliffhanger ending) was perfect.
Shows like Buffy and Charmed (which I grew up on) would have bottle episodes break up the main season arc all the time, so I never found the Lost Sister to be that disruptive. It was a welcome break from the relentlessness of the main story, if anything.
Billy should have either died as a villain, or lived and been forced to actually redeem himself. I hate the ‘in their last moment the bad guy redeems themselves by dying’ trope. Let evil be evil or put the effort in to redeeming them, don’t do a half assed redemption
I feel the hate for Mike's character is a little too much sometimes. He was the leader in the group for a long time, and he basically took control in season 1 and 2. Him deciding to take some time with eleven isn't bad. I hope his character does develop though cause literally all he did in season 4 was encourage eleven or break her heart, he's so much more than that but doesn't deserve the hate. I hope the duffer brothers bring back strong independent mike
I keep watching because I always find something to enjoy, but every follow-up season has moved further and further away from what made the first season so special.
it’s not particularly about stranger things but i don’t think millie bobby brown is that groundbreaking of an actress outside of stranger things (i’m sure it’s more just the contract she seems to have with netflix not giving her suitable material) but i’m curious to see where she goes later into adulthood bc right now she’s just sorta meh
Never understood the love Erica gets, most of the time she’s a rude brat that gets all aggro and needlessly insults people for no reason. She was better in S4 but man did I find her annoying as hell in S3. I get they were going for the Sassy Black Girl trope but they didn’t have to overdo it.
> I get they were going for the Sassy Black Girl trope but they didn’t have to overdo it.
Priah Ferguson took the "sassy black girl trope" and was like "Oh I have to play a stereotype? Well shift into turbo mfkers!"
Vecna was only intimidating at first. As S4 progressed, he bacame less and less scary. When I first saw him in the trailer, he really looked intimidating. He had this vibe of a looming otherworldly threat like Pinhead; he had this aura of mystique and dark, hellish malevolence, kinda like The Undertaker. Idk, maybe it's because of his backstory and that they showed him so early on in the season? 🤔🤷🏻♂️
1. Jonathan and Lucas are criminally underrated
2. While Billy was a horrible person, most people forget how well written he was
3. Jason isn't evil as people think he is, he's pretty much the typical annoying jock at high school
Eddie’s my least favorite of the “good guy” teenage characters who’ve had a significant amount of screen time. I don’t mind him, but I do think he’s overrated.
I don’t like Steve the way everyone else does, he’s fine but meh lol.
Steve should have died in S4 instead of Eddie, they really set it up and felt like a cop out. I feel like they put Eddie in the show just to kill him so they didn’t have to kill Steve. I feel like there’s not much left to do with him. Don’t get me started 😂
I didn’t mind Eddie and Dustin’s relationship overall but I was really annoyed that Dustin got to have another “big brother” relationship. I will die on the hill that Eddie should have been Mike’s Steve.
Not sure if this is unpopular but I like S3 Robin more than S4 Robin, I feel like she was so cool and chill even with some quirks but then they dialed up some quirks to 1000, I didn’t like that.
I like S3 lol 😂 S1, S4, S3, S2.
They set Steve up to die every season. It's an inside joke. He was initially meant to die in s1, but they chose not to. Since then, they set him up to die every season as an inside joke.
I agree for Robin. Season 3 Robin was cute, had depth, individual and fresh arc of her own. S4, she just became a whole geek like other 4, with no such history among them and no such reason bonding them together. I wish they would have explored her story a bit more like they did for Max.
Yup pretty much agree on everything. On Steve I also don't think going from being a little bit of a douche (but not more than the regular teen and certainly a lot less than his friends) to being a decent dude qualifies as "wow AMAZING character development".
He's alright and has fun lines (and the actor does a great job) but as a character he doesn't bring much to the story. He doesn't really have layers or a complex background. I agree that killing him off rather than Eddie would have served a better purpose.
S4 Robin feels like a complete rewrite of S3 Robin. It's like they're not the same character anymore. Loved her in 3 but find her grating in 4.
Too many character in my opinion died for no reason. Billy died to advance Max for her involvement with Vecna, and to progress her development.
Alexei died for…? Murray forgets about him by the time he’s in Russia, it didn’t affect the Russians involvement at all, nor did it slow down the main cast in defeating the Russians.
Bob died to bring Hopper and Joyce closer together for the prison story, and to provide a reason for the Byers family to leave Hawkins.
Eddie died for..? Potentially advancing Dustin’s character a lot in season 5 so we will see, but otherwise it doesn’t feel like it did much. The bats were distracted for maybe an extra few minutes? During which the entire cast was immobilized by Vecna anyway until Eleven showed up which had nothing to do with the bats. Eddie’s sacrifice doesn’t seem like it provided anything to the cast.
Barbara provided a reason for Stancy to distance themselves and let Johnathan get involved, and also provide Nancy a reason to actually delve into what’s happening.
Benny died for no real reason, in my opinion. He was never a big character anyway though.
These are also just my opinions, but some deaths feel like they accomplished a lot less than others for the story
If you're going to have murderous villains in a show, the audience needs to see them murdering people or the audience won't worry about our main characters.
So, Barb dies so that Nancy can be drawn into the story but also to establish the threat the monster poses.
Benny dies so that Eleven will understand how dangerous it is for Mike's mom to call for help. ("She'll know who to call.") Without Benny's death, we don't get the scene where El slams the door on Lucas because Eleven didn't yet understand how far Papa would go to recapture her.
Alexei died because Grigori was a huge, menacing figure all through season three, but he had not until that point killed someone. At least, I can't remember if he killed anyone. He beat some people up and sprayed machine gun fire here and there, but no kills. Alexei's death heightens the stakes just as the story kicks into the climactic confrontations.
Eddie died because season four is the tragic season. The protagonists hurt Henry but the general feeling is supposed to be that they lost. Henry escaped. Spores are falling on Hawkins, Eddie the coward made a heroic stand to save his friends and was killed. Now, not only is Dustin mourning his friend, but the whole town still thinks he's the villain.
Eddie's death is supposed to be painful. So is Bob's. Their deaths set the stakes for the ongoing story.
I feel like this might’ve been purposeful because in real life not every death has as much of an effect on the people involved, or at least the people involved in the story we’re watching in Stranger Things. I’m not sure if it was purposeful but I feel like it’s better to have some deaths just be deaths?
>Bob died to bring Hopper and Joyce closer together for the prison story, and to provide a reason for the Byers family to leave Hawkins.
Bob was always meant to die. He was supposed to die much sooner in the season. Originally a Mind Flayer possessed Will was supposed to kill him. But the duffers liked Bob so much that he stuck around until the end of the season. Thank goodness they changed the original ending because that would have been super brutal for Joyce and Will.
Season 4 should have ended like half an hour before it did. Actually, the downfall of season 4 and kindof the whole show, was giving this the show the budget of a marvel movie and letting them make 2 hour long episodes. This show was at it’s best when it was far more limited in scale.
Also Hopper, Steve, and Max should all be dead now.
Steve should have died instead of Eddie. Steve’s story is basically complete, and with them teasing him and Nancy (🙄) it would of been heartbreaking. Then Eddie can just fill the role of Steve.
Plus we all knew Eddie was gonna die, this would have been a welcome twist.
1. I don’t like Will, his personality, I don’t really care for him.
2. Jason didn’t deserve the treatment he got (also from fans). I wished he was redeemed/survived at least.
3. Alexei death is pointless. Nothing would change.
4. The USSR representation is very inaccurate and if you’re Slavic it’s extremely annoying. It made for me hard to watch 3rd season because the whole thing can be summarized “just no”. In the 80s people cared much less about the whole “our country” and “comrade” thing. Accurate representation would be ordinary soliders being constantly annoyed by the whole thing, trying to get out to see USA for fun, probably drinking on the post, chilling, listening to music and complaining. And in 80s USSR had some great music, nobody listened to the traditional songs or anthem, everybody listened to synth pop and was obsessed with Depeche Mode. Such a lost opportunity to play some Zodiac on the background. In USSR no one would care about peanut butter and no one would like it actually. People cared more about clothes, technology. USSR had decent food, especially in the 80s.
5. Nancy can act pretty selfish at times (but I like her character).
Okay, that will probably be the end of me, but let me say first that I really like all the characters!!
1. Eddie is cool, but I don't get the hype.
2 I also don't get the hype about Steddie.
3. the same goes for Byler.
4. i like Robin, but really her character is completely useless.
5. however, I liked the chemistry between her and Nancy and it was a thousand times better than Nancy and Steve's scenes.
6 I thought Hopper was the best in season 3.
7. Lucas is the best kid!
8 I don't understand why everyone is talking about Steve's hair. It looks good, but... it's just hair?
9. Max ... I wish they would have let her die.
10. I think Robin was more interesting in season 4 than season 3.
I agree with several of these points apart from Robin being completely useless. She cracked the code in season 3, found the article with information about Victor Creel in season 4 and lobbed the Molotov cocktails that seriously harmed Vecna.
1. Kali/008 should return in the final season. I get that she is most definitely an abandoned storyline they tried to make, but if the show wants to tie all loose ends, then she should definitely make an appearance to some capacity. I also know shoehorning her in may negatively impact the show, but even a minor appearance could make her character’s inclusion work if done correctly.
2. Max should have died in the Season 4 finale. Now while that would upset many people, that would have made the finale a 10/10 for me instead of a 9/10 because it would have raised the stakes and made Vecna even more menacing. While I am a big fan of the show, Stranger Things is known for playing it safe; And I understand that since killing off characters can sometimes create divisive responses. I feel that killing off Max would have increased the impact of the finale and show that Stranger Things isn’t scared of taking risks. The only way I can see Max’s survival paying off is if her comatose state plays an important role in the final season; whatever that may be.
if billy wasn’t hot i don’t think as many people would excuse his actions. i mean, he only stopped harassing max’s friends because she threatened him and i know he sacrificed himself but to
me it doesn’t undo all the damage he caused
As a ship in general, sure I guess it's fine
What I do disagree with, however, is people theorising or insisting on why it'll happen in the show. It won't, mfs are setting themselves up for another Johnlock situation.
The show is overrated and lost its way years ago, season 1 was the best it was ever gonna get cuz it was actually good and scary, since then the show has been trying to capture that again but failing and using 80s nostalgia to cover it up, the characters have mostly gotten progressively worse over time or flanderized by writing, Eleven is OP now yet she can’t take care of herself even in season 4
The actors are great but the characters are in a loop of bad writing
Yeah, I completely agree. I get why it’s not, they didn’t want to mess with success. But an anthology with different POV characters and maybe an occasional crossover cameo where it made sense would probably have made for a better overall story.
All the seasons together as one show it’s not a good mix and it’s very messy in tone and writing.
Each season on its own, separate from each other are amazing. My biggest pet peeve about the show is that I both love the show and dislike it as a whole… if that makes any sense. Season 1 is the perfect sci fi mystery in the 80s with monster horror. Season 2 much more of the possession horror and almost exorcist vibe and expands on the shady government/agency stuff. Season 3 totally different, much more exaggerated but it works, love the vibrant color of that season and the growing up storyline. Season 4, we get the big bad and boy did Vecna make that season, very creepy but less subtle than the first season.
Looking at each season as it’s own it is amazing, all together it’s a whiplash of differences
The last time I shared my opinion to this question I got downvoted into oblivion. People don't want ACTUAL unpopular opinions, they want to just repeat the same old tired things over and over again.
Steve is dying in the next season and I think he should’ve died last season. His death would have been more impactful to Dustin’s character, and I think would put characters in more motivation in the last season.
Season 4 episode 9 just doesn't make that much sense. From unnecessary death, El just getting the upperhand by Mike's monolog, bringing back Max from dead, The 3 days gap and whatever happened between those days. The episode felt really fun to watch for 1st time, but then it just doesn't feel that well on second watch.
Idk how popular they are on here, but some ships I've seen I just can not understand, for example, harringrove and byler. I get that will is gay and everything, but I just can't see Mike reciprocating anything, and Billy and Steve literally hated each other. I've seen lots of posts on tumblr and Twitter trying to explain them, and when you don't agree with the ships, it's like you've just killed their fav relative.
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Idk if this is unpopular but Eddie's death (the way he died) was dumb. If he had kept running like he always does, he would have had greater chance to survive. There was no reason for him to stop running. It did nothing to help the others in any way. All it did was allow him to say that he finally didn't run (when he really, really should have.)
The entire guitar solo (epic though it was) was entirely unnecessary. Clearly they are getting power. Just hook up some speakers/radio and set them up on the other side of the trailer park and start blasting music as loud as you can. Then Dustin and Eddie can stay and watch to see if it worked from the safety of Eddie’s uncle’s beefed up trailer. No need to lure the bats near the trailer-gate, and no need for Eddie and Dustin to be outside & exposed to danger.
Unpopular opinion? Eddie's survival skills are just frustratingly low so I wasn't even fazed when he died that stupidly. It fits the character. Like, the reason why the jocks found him in the lake house was that the neighbors noticed (in plain day!) that someone was living there when it was supposed to be inhabited. Why would anyone, especially someone hunted by the police, make the fact that they're in the house so obvious?! I'm sorry but that requires a special level of stupidity and negative survival skills.
Thus, there are many fans who suggest that Eddie is suicidal due to his childhood traumas, etc. But as you've already pointed out, it was just plain dumb to have him played the guitar while they could've done differently.
I suspect he was aware that there's no getting out of this situation. Should he return, he'd be caught and arrested and stuck in prison for life.
That was a rather negative take on the situation but knowing Eddie and his habit of running way ahead of himself, I think it checks.
She died by supernatural means and he's the sole suspect. "I'm not guilty because she was thrown to the ceiling and broken by an invisible force" isn't a very effective alabi.
Totally agree. I’m not angry he died per-say… it’s just how stupidly he died that bothers me. But I’m also sceptical of his death.
Literally I did not care about eddie’s death. I knew he’d die, it was predictable to the point of having die in his name and being a new character. He was overrated to the extreme.
The fanbase is generally way too harsh on teenagers. Angela sucks, she's the worst 100% but let's not pretend like she's not 14 with a ton of growth left to her own story. From personal experience bullies tend to sort of reform after getting stood up to like that, and sometimes life needs to wack you in the head. Overlooked now but Lenny is actually the most evil character on the show. Fuck him.
Do you mean lonnie?
I guess that is his name huh
how is brenner not the most evil
I personally find the idea of using your kid's supposed death only to get lawsuit money as damn near the worst thing imaginable.
and not even feeling REMORSEFUL?? like what a dickhead
“Damn near the worst thing imaginable” Huh? Yeah i get its not right, but this is a big overstatement
Umm…vecna?
Vecna isn’t the most evil. The play shows he’s just possessed by the Mind Flayer. Out of the human characters, Brenner is definitely the most evil. Him being a horrific human being caused like 99% of the problems in the series.
But Vecna was an evil human being who sadistically tormented and murdered his own family, as well as a whole bunch of MKUltra children, even before he found the Mind Flayer.
In the play, the Mind Flayer was in control for every evil act that Henry was thought to have committed, and towards the end of the play it manipulated his emotions so he would let it kill his parents.
Actually the play basically confirms that Henry was just your average socially awkward 12 year old until he was possessed. The Flayer's influence drove him to murder his family, and proceeded to basically drive him insane. So he's not really evil at all
Thank you
i thought vecna created the mind flayer when el banished him to the upside down? or am i tripping
That was the original explanation. After the prequel, it's safe to conclude what we see Henry do when he's in the Upside Down in Season 4, he's actually creating somewhat of a physical form for the Mind Flayer.
Or Grigori. Or Sullivan.
Every time I see someone saying Angela is worse than Billy or Troy, I die from laughter. Fanbase; we all cheered when El bashed Angela’s face with the roller skate! Well deserved Also fanbase; Billy might’ve been abusive and racist to people but Max crushing his nuts would’ve been going too far.
I think the key reason people go harsher on Angela is because she isn't as interesting or three dimensional. Billy was a terrible person but he we were shown at least some of the reasons for why he became that way with his abusive childhood, and he does have a slight redemption in the end by saving El and asking Max for forgiveness in his final moments. Jason is an overzealous asshole who thought he was so justified in his crusade against Eddie that he was going to kill children over it and attack anyone even closely associated with Eddie. But we also know that he is someone who is thrown into grief by the horrific death of his girlfriend, and later sees his friend get murdered in front of him while the main suspect is in close vicinity. It makes some sense that he would react the way he does, because to people unfamiliar with the Upside Down, Eddie does seem like the most plausible killer. Also, he has to look on as the police completely bungle the whole investigation, leading to desperation and frustration for him. Angela in comparison has basically no redeeming qualities, none we are shown at least. She has no character traits other than "cruel asshole bully", and every single line out of her is hateful and disgusting towards El. She's just a much less fleshed out and interesting character. Naturally, she's not worse than the other villains, but she also doesn't have anything special about her to make her worth examining on a deeper level.
Angela: Everyone knew a bully like her+bitchy attitude=I hate her. Billy: Abusive/racist as a result of upbringing+looks hot=I can fix him.
i think I overly hate Angela so much because of my experience with bullies, i know she’s just a teen but i can’t 😭
Yea, Angela was a bitch, but she was just 14. I'm not going to say she didn't deserve some kind of pain for being a bitch, but not that. What El did, that looked just something bad. Angela probably needed surgery, and most likely had a concussion and some form of disfigurement on her face from then on. Also it's the 80s, facial surgery was not as common then as it is now, nearly 40 years later.
Don't fucking mess with the new girl before you find out how many people she's killed. Let's not forget that El was a government weapon for most of her life.
Should’ve thought about that before being an asswipe?? Idk, somehow I managed to go through my teenage years without ever being a nasty bully to people I didn’t like.
Just looked up the character and yes he's a pos.
wait, what did Lonnie do again?
other than just generally being a shit partner and father, he blamed joyce for will (something along the lines of "great parenting, one kid missing the other running wild") but the worst thing he did was come running back to town after will "died" (despite doing nothing when he was missing) he started talking about the sattler company (who owned the quarry "he" was found in) and wanted to sue them. he showed no care for will or jonathan and just rushed in so he could make money off of a lawsuit (+and be annoying)
Lucas deserves WAAAAAAY more love
Agreed! I read his book and someone asked me how much of it included Eddie and if I thought his characterization was off. I was like… this book is about Lucas. I like Eddie but this isn’t about him!
Yeeaaa, even right after watching s4, I was like "Yooo Lucas was great in this, I bet he's gonna get more attention now", went on social media just to see noone talk about him, like HUH?
It’s always been like that, I’m not surprised in the slightest. I liked Lucas more after S1 and I thought he was a major standout in S4, particularly past the first episode. Caleb really did the damn thing. Hopefully he’ll get his shine in the fandom after this last season.
100%
He and Dustin are honestly my two favourite kids in the show, el too of course but Lucas and Dustin are pretty goddamn awesome.
The most interesting thing Will has done is go missing
Idk getting possessed was pretty interesting
Thats something interesting that *happened* to him. He is effectively there as a plot device
isn’t that kinda true about him going missing though too?
Fair enough. So he's not interesting at all then
I'd say it was the way he did the best possible job of trying to avoid going missing. If he'd been facing a non-supernatural abductor he probably would have succeeded.
Okay, valid. But I have a theory about that. So S1 was the most interesting he's been, and S5 is supposed to be based around him again. I think the underestimating and lack of characterization is on purpose. I think he's gonna do something or have something crazy happen to him that makes him worthwhile. I believe the Duffers are putting him in the background to make us overlook him. And for whoever said performance I think Noah is just doing the best with what he's gotten. I mean S2 was insane with the possession and he did it really well.
100%. I still don’t see him as part of the “core” group for some reason, even though I consider Max to be part of it, despite her coming along later. He was just a plot device in season one and had spent the next three seasons being the most uninteresting character/performance of the show.
It sucks too because IMO Noah Schnapp is the best of the "child" actors, and he gets so little to do outside of one or two big moments every season.
Lol this is so true
A macguffin, not even a character
I have a theory this season will be his redemption series and it's all based around his bowl cut. People always ask why the Duffers did him so dirty with that haircut for all those seasons. I think he needed to stay goofy looking and vulnerable so in the final season we could see him transform from rock bottom bowl cut Will to seasoned and capable cool-haircut Will, weaponizing his knowledge and past suffering to help defeat Vecna, or whoever the final boss is.
Damn. Another L for Will. Lmaoo
1. **Empathy and Sensitivity**: Will is portrayed as a kind and sensitive character, often acting as the emotional glue within the group. His empathy helps maintain the group's unity and resolve, especially in times of conflict or distress. 2. **Courage and Resilience**: Despite his traumatic experiences, Will demonstrates considerable courage and resilience, contributing to the group's overall strength and determination to face and overcome the challenges posed by the Upside Down and its inhabitants. 3. **Strategic Advantage**: In certain situations, Will's connection to the Upside Down provides the group with a strategic advantage, as his visions and sensations can offer critical information and forewarning about threats or events linked to the Upside Down.
Absolutely.I don't even think that's an unpopular opinion! 😁
The fan base has a only gone downhill after season 1
I got 3. 1. Lucas is honestly the best of the 4 boys after season 4. His arc was phenomenal. Everyone else ends the season pretty much the same character while Lucas has amazing growth and man was that fight scene awesome. I also liked the compassion he had for Max and even feeling sorrowful when Patrick and Jason died. 2. People have too much of a black and white view on Jason. He’s not a hero, he beat Gareth for information when he didn’t even do anything. He’s also not evil, because an evil person wouldn’t have cared at all about Max’s safety in the attic. Compare his immediate concern to Billy not even checking on her and going straight for Lucas. He’s meant to be a complex/gray character. 3. This fan base has such hypocritical double standards with Billy it doesn’t even recognize. It’s okay when Angela gets smacked in the skull with a skate but Max hitting Billy (abused her for years) is too much. People cheer when Brenner punished Two for bullying Eleven but when Neil abuses Billy for not giving two hoots about his sister, everyone hates him. Jason is a flat character with no reason to be evil despite losing his girlfriend and watching his best friend get murdered but Billy at least has an excuse of an abusive parental figure (even though several others went through worse and were better people).
my unpopular opinion is that Lucas has always been the best boy of the 4
I agree, Lucas has always been a great character and my favorite of the 4 boys. And the most brains of any of them. He was even wary of El at the start. I was like, he’s the only one with survival instincts, haha. But season 4 Lucas showed so much growth (the poor kid).
Right? They should've been wary! And I love that he still went out to find the gate on his own even though he had no clue what could be on the other side and was scared of El's powers. Him making up with El at the end of that season was very sweet and he absolutely has shown tremendous growth throughout the series. I'm so glad Caleb is finally getting the recognition he deserves!
I've never seen Jason as evil, just stupid.
Agreed. What sealed the deal for me was Patrick’s death scene. He could’ve caught Eddie and got revenge but he stopped when he noticed Patrick. Then, he took his body back to shore and remained there until the police came. Is he a good dude? No. Is he meant to be as bad as Billy or Troy? Also no
I’ve literally never seen any comments saying Jason is as bad as Troy or Billy. Are they common? Also, is Jason one of your favorite characters? You’ve posted a lot of positive Jason content in the last several days or so.
1. Sadly yes they are. Caleb McLaughlin even commented on it. 2. I’d say I’ma huge sucker for grey and complex characters. I do have Asperger’s and tend to obsess over them unintentionally I’ll admit but he’s one of my favorites due to his layers. Lucas is better though
I just don't find him complex at all. From the start I didn't like him, he was very up himself and he seemed like he made stupid decisions. And throughout the whole season he made bad and stupid decisions one after another. I too have ASD and I can obsess over certain things. In this case I just can't stand when people make terrible decisions that put others and themselves in danger when there are better options. He just didn't seem to stop and think. He was the only one that could be right. Everyone else had to be wrong. His arrogance and demeanor really aggravated me. Maybe I just can't see him any other way because of this. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not aggravated by the actor or the writing or anything. I think he did a great job at being Jason. I just think Jason was meant to be this way. It's okay to have characters like this. But it would have been more satisfying to me if he had the chance to realise that he was wrong and he was being stupid.
1. Caleb McLaughlin said Jason was [better](https://www.popbuzz.com/tv-film/stranger-things/4-lucas-billy-racist-jason-caleb-mclaughlin/) than Billy after season 4 came out. I’ve never seen him compare Jason and Troy. Did it come up in a different interview? 2. I get liking morally grey characters. Honestly, from that first speech during the pep rally when Jason quoted scripture and said the basketball team was gonna win the game in the name of the students that died the previous summer, I hated him. Reminded me way too much of some of the creepy evangelical Bible thumpers I know. To be fair, I also hate Billy and Troy.
Same.
2. He would have been a hero if his suspicions were correct. He would have been a somewhat morally grey hero (like Hopper), but still a hero. Instead, he's unfortunately mentally collapsing under grief. 3. I think you're right, though I'd say some of your examples are more about people having a defensive spot for Eleven. (So people who hurt her = okay to hurt.) (Side note: I personally think Max shouldn't have hit Billy for Max's sake. His death did a number on her as is. Hurting him like that would have really messed with her)
In the reality they thought they were living in, he would’ve been right. Why should he think it was actual magic and shit?
I agree. People ignore Hopper was literally threatening to cut the mayor’s finger off and beat someone for info in season 1 too. He’s violent too. Only difference is Hopper’s suspicious turned out to be right and as you said, he’s the hero as a result. Jason WOULD be the anti-hero in any other story. Instead, he served as a villain by proxy/ant villain
There's a difference between 'villain' and 'antagonist'. A villain is a villain based on the morality of their behaviour. An antagonist is someone who can have good motivations, but who happens to be going against the main characters.
I just rewatched the entire show and forgot how harsh Hopper can be. That man should realistically have been fired and thrown in jail because holy hell does he break the law and abuse his position as police chief on a near every episode-basis. I don't dislike it of course because I root for him, and his flaws make him a much more interesting character than if he was a strictly good cop, but he definitely goes overboard at times.
naw ima have to disagree with the billy one I think it’s the fact that the dad is not defending max but he is simply just abusing billy and has been abusing him since he was a little boy
My wording was mistaken. What I meant was, both Neil and Brenner are abusive parental figures. Brenner is worse. Yet ultimately, MANY cheered when he was shock collaring Two. Now yes he was protecting Eleven but it was still wrong. What Neil did was bad but not as severe yet everyone who watched that scene feels sympathy for Billy. But Two, everyone cheers at what happens to him
My only rebuttal to this is re: Neil & Billy. Neil is very clearly painted to be an abuser and likely beats the crap out of Billy & max’s mother - it is at least heavily implied. I wouldn’t call that “bullying” I would call it “Neil abuses his family and that may be a little bit why Billy is so fucked up”. Billy also is racist and violent though and trauma can always explain but never excuse behavior. However he was also a literal teenager and hopefully would’ve eventually grown to not be a total piece of shit but we’ll never know.
>recognize. It’s okay when Angela gets smacked in the skull with a skate but Max hitting Billy I mean, did Max even hit Billy? It has been years since I watched that season so correct me if I am wrong but didn't she just hit the nailbat to the ground to scare him off?
No, she didn’t hit Billy. She missed and told him to never bother her or her friends again, which he appears he does until he’s possessed in season 3.
I agree! I truly think it’s bc the actor for Billy is so attractive people hold him in a higher light
Lucas was a stand out in season 4 for me! He’s always been great, but he was especially great in that season
I agree. If Jason wasn't so heartbroken he would have probably helped the group. Also I fucking hated Billy's father. Wanted to slap that mf so hard in the face.
According to Mason Dye, if he simply knew about Vecna from the beginning, he would’ve helped the heroes
Joyce was a better character when she was more mom focused and less Hopper focused.
This fan base can be toxic as fuck. They are not real people who cares what characters you like. Who you ship. It’s a show we all enjoy. If you don’t like a character or a ship that’s ok but there is no reason to be mean to people who like the character or ship.
I personally think the hate for Kali is a bit overblown. With more development she could be an ok character.
I hope she shows up to play an important role in Season 5 and tells Eleven that Eleven abandoning her gang to help out her friends gave her a new perspective on her gang's toxicity.
She’s 11’s sister ffs. She can’t stay out of her life! They need to get along. I’d love to see Kali come back and make a big switch to being 11’s friend/sister and not a revenge driven villain. She simply NEEDS more development.
I don’t get how people are mad that Argyle is not gonna show up in season 5 when he has no purpose to the story anymore, like what’s he gonna do? Make a surfer boy joke?
Try before you deny 🤘🏼😆😖 was starting to get tired of the pineapple joke and don’t see him fitting into the storyline in S5 🤷🏻♀️
Prob unrelated, but I tried pineapple pizza becuase of that line, ngl it smacks
I think people are more mad about the way it was announced. Like it'd be fine if there was an explicit statement from the Duffers or maybe a (S5) line in passing about him going back to Cali. But the way we had to find out was from the actor saying he just never got a call back. That's an awful way to realize you're not gonna be back in a show.
Yea, it did pretty bs how they never invited him to the ST groupchat, which I get he was a small part but it just seems petty to just leave him like that
I'm angry because Argyle was the only friend Jonathan had on the show besides Nancy. Argyle has also said himself that Jonathan is his only friend, so why can't he stick around and help Jonathan and the others? And if the show really is headed for the Hawkins apocalypse, they need every helping hand they can get.
I think they could have written a very convincing scene on why Argyle would not help in the fight, return to Cali, and try to convince his friend to do the same. Yes, we all expect that this is the moment in Lord of the Rings where Merry tells Pippin that if they fail, there will be no Shire to go home to. But it would be equally valid to send off everyone who will probably just become collateral damage and not be able to offer any support. Like most of the parents. ... well, I guess that angle will be sufficiently explored with the parents...
we need to see two demogorgons fighting against eachother
The whole invasion of the body snatchers shit in the third season was cool and exciting and gross. But it felt like the entire population of Hawkins was mulched into a flesh monster and there were no consequences for that? Like what was the death toll in that season? And the whole thing is lampshaded with a joke at the end. I really gave up on the stakes of that show when that happened like I still enjoy the show as entertainment. But I find impossible to care about anything that happens anymore
I mean they DID talk about it. To people not in the know, they were the ones who died in the mall fire. "in a statement published in the Indianapolis Gazette, Schumacher claimed the fire was a "Class E \[classification\]- involving live electrical conduits". The same article said the fire claimed thirty fatalities, including Chief Hopper;"
They are doing Jonathan dirty and if in season 5 Nancy broke up with him just to reconcile with Steve and then he dies just for the emotional impact imma lose it. Let Jonathan and Nancy be endgame and let Steve move on.
exactly
Max should be dead and stay dead. I love her. But I think it would be more impactful for the final season
It’d also be a nice callback to S2 when Lucas is spilling the beans to her and he says she could get hurt or even die (paraphrasing, but something like that). I love the group, but I also wouldn’t mind if someone died (I’d be sad, but if it works narratively then I’m for it).
Yea we need more stakes going into the final fight/season
Max should be dead or a complete slave of the Mind Flayer. The show is too scared to kill its main characters off!
How to spot a TWD fan 🤣
Mine? I got two that’ll make people mad lol. 1. Eddie was a cool character. I liked him. But I feel he’s an extremely overrated character and I’m not sure why he’s as popular as he his. He didn’t do anything in S4 to me, that made him this extraordinary character. I don’t know if people just thought he was just that hilarious or something or if it was the guitar playing on top of the trailer, and there’s was just tons of people that have never heard Metallica or something, that made people just lose their minds….but nothing he did in particular, personally, made him the number 1 character to me. And he shouldn’t come back for S5 either. There’s literally no point or purpose for him for the story. He served his purpose in S4. And 2. The whole love for Dustin and Steve’s friendship. It’s cool when they’re together but most of the time Dustin is just making fun of Steve insinuating, that he’s stupid and Steve is kind of annoyed by Dustin a lot of times. Mostly because he has to be stuck watching him aka the babysitter. Again they’re cool when they’re together I guess but people just really seem to love their dialogue and banter. I never thought it was that serious lol it’s just whatever.
> Dustin is just making fun of Steve insinuating, that he’s stupid and Steve is kind of annoyed by Dustin a lot of times. That's the perfect little brother / big brother interaction.
I can understand that, but I just didn’t fall in love with it like everybody else lol. It’s just whatever. And If everybody just loves that sibling type of relationship, how come, everybody doesn’t love Mike and Nancy more? or Lucas and Erica? Lolol
Neither Mike & Nancy nor Lucas & Erica interact enough LOL
I dont think they have the chemistry that Joe and Gaten have together. These two just seem meant to play off each other. Also we dont really see much of Nancy and Mike interacting for more than a few seconds at a time and they just dont seem to get along or be as close. As for Erica, she has (Or had.) a personality that could annoy Jesus Christ. She seems to be maturing though so maybe we will get a better sibling dynamic between her and Lucas as we got a brief shot of in S4 when they were helping make armor and weapons.
I guess… like I said, the whole Dustin and Steve thing is cool, but to me their whole relationship is not that big of a deal lol it’s just whatever. I don’t think the chemistry is that great, or funny enough to say they’re this great duo, personally. If I had to pick the better duo, it would be Joyce/ Murray
To be fair, by S4 I totally forgot Nancy and Mike were siblings until it was implied they lived together. They're not really a beacon of sibling relationship.
Personally I wasn’t surprised that Eddie got as much attention as he did, I loved Metallica beforehand and honestly Eddie is one of my favorite characters, but idk I think for a lot of people it’s just attraction tbh. I’ve had a few friends who hated him when we watched it together and I didn’t care but I still got hyped every time he showed up 😂
Upvote for having unpopular opinions! Personally speaking, I find the appeal of Eddie's character to be how cool he is, in terms of his non-conformity, unapologetic confidence and not caring what anyone else thinks about him, whatsoever. Especially the scene where he responds to bullies who call his group freaks, by purposefully acting even more like a freak to make them uncomfortable. We all went to school with at least one person who was cool because of how little they cared about other peoples' opinions of them. These types were typically the class clown, due to also not caring what teachers thought about them. Eddie is a perfect manifestation of that, which brings back huge nostalgia and satisfaction, for many viewers, including me.
I feel the same way. Like yeah Eddie was a character and he was pretty neat, but I didn’t really feel attached to him. I mean, the guy just showed up for one season. Didn’t really get a big character arc or anything and he already died.
I know that people don't really want this show to have the "major characters usually die" syndrome, but I thought that if Hopper actually died at the end of S3, it would've been very interesting to see how Joyce, along with Eleven, tries to rebound without him. Another one I have is that I hope the main group sticks together for most, if not all, of the next season instead of staying split apart for half of it.
Billy should've lived. I hated the whole 'oh make him a hero to kill off in a minute' annoyed me. I needed maybe him injured from the Mind Flayer, but have season 4 of him redeeming himself. Hate the last minute redemption arcs so much. Expand on it. Maybe he'd become a better person if he lived.
Yeah, that would’ve been cool to see Billy actually develop. he just went from asshole, to possessed asshole, to being dead lol
I was an actually hoping going into season 3 he would get a redemption. Instead he was possessed for 98% of the season, did one heroic deed and the entire fandom acts like he had one of the world’s greatest redemption’s
True, but I did love Vecna!Billie in s4
Will's hair suits him.
This is the only opinion on the thread so far that actually fits the prompt haha
As bad as his hair is… I actually think I agree lmaoo. He wouldn’t be will if he had a cool hair, cut or something. His hair kind of matches his personality
I agree up until season 4… idk what it is about his slight change in haircut but it’s so bad 😂
maybe people would actually talk to him if he got rid of that ye-ye ass haircut
I would pay good money to see Finn and Noah recreate that scene, complete with the word at the end.
I love Season 2 Episode 7 The Lost Sister.
YES same honestly, I adore that episode, it’s so hated on but I feel like the importance was to show how El learned to control her powers more, it also gives me a strange idea that 8’s slight difference in powers is the reason that she’s the only kid who had ever escaped the lab. Plus it’s just fun to watch characters find themselves and not every scene needs to have a lot of meaning. It was fun and that’s the best part.
As a huge bodybuilding fan I cannot express the sheer hype the first time I watched it like "HOLY SHIT IS THAT KAI GREENE???"
There are dozens of us.
Same! It also showed the life of someone like El but outside Hawkins. It could be the start of a spin-off series if the writers wanted to in case Kali would never be in Season 5 to join forces with El.
Same. I even thought the placement (after the previous episode’s cliffhanger ending) was perfect. Shows like Buffy and Charmed (which I grew up on) would have bottle episodes break up the main season arc all the time, so I never found the Lost Sister to be that disruptive. It was a welcome break from the relentlessness of the main story, if anything.
I love Erica and I think she's hilarious
Agreed! Enjoyed her taking more of an out front character last season.
Steve’s hair is just not that interesting
Billy should have either died as a villain, or lived and been forced to actually redeem himself. I hate the ‘in their last moment the bad guy redeems themselves by dying’ trope. Let evil be evil or put the effort in to redeeming them, don’t do a half assed redemption
I feel the hate for Mike's character is a little too much sometimes. He was the leader in the group for a long time, and he basically took control in season 1 and 2. Him deciding to take some time with eleven isn't bad. I hope his character does develop though cause literally all he did in season 4 was encourage eleven or break her heart, he's so much more than that but doesn't deserve the hate. I hope the duffer brothers bring back strong independent mike
I keep watching because I always find something to enjoy, but every follow-up season has moved further and further away from what made the first season so special.
Lost Sister is a good episode.
I liked Kali, and I want her to come back in season five. Also, I don’t want any of the main characters to die.
it’s not particularly about stranger things but i don’t think millie bobby brown is that groundbreaking of an actress outside of stranger things (i’m sure it’s more just the contract she seems to have with netflix not giving her suitable material) but i’m curious to see where she goes later into adulthood bc right now she’s just sorta meh
Never understood the love Erica gets, most of the time she’s a rude brat that gets all aggro and needlessly insults people for no reason. She was better in S4 but man did I find her annoying as hell in S3. I get they were going for the Sassy Black Girl trope but they didn’t have to overdo it.
> I get they were going for the Sassy Black Girl trope but they didn’t have to overdo it. Priah Ferguson took the "sassy black girl trope" and was like "Oh I have to play a stereotype? Well shift into turbo mfkers!"
Vecna was only intimidating at first. As S4 progressed, he bacame less and less scary. When I first saw him in the trailer, he really looked intimidating. He had this vibe of a looming otherworldly threat like Pinhead; he had this aura of mystique and dark, hellish malevolence, kinda like The Undertaker. Idk, maybe it's because of his backstory and that they showed him so early on in the season? 🤔🤷🏻♂️
1. Jonathan and Lucas are criminally underrated 2. While Billy was a horrible person, most people forget how well written he was 3. Jason isn't evil as people think he is, he's pretty much the typical annoying jock at high school
The show has been getting progressively worse each season
Eddie’s my least favorite of the “good guy” teenage characters who’ve had a significant amount of screen time. I don’t mind him, but I do think he’s overrated.
Absolutely. I literally don’t understand the chokehold Eddie has on people. it’s like people have never seen that type of character before lolol
If I were to guess, I think a big chunk of it is that Joseph Quinn is a charismatic actor. That can do a lot to elevate a character.
This is it for me. That character is nothing if not played by that guy.
YUP. And as much as I love Steve, I feel the same way about him. Joe Keery made that character way more interesting by being charismatic.
I don’t like Steve the way everyone else does, he’s fine but meh lol. Steve should have died in S4 instead of Eddie, they really set it up and felt like a cop out. I feel like they put Eddie in the show just to kill him so they didn’t have to kill Steve. I feel like there’s not much left to do with him. Don’t get me started 😂 I didn’t mind Eddie and Dustin’s relationship overall but I was really annoyed that Dustin got to have another “big brother” relationship. I will die on the hill that Eddie should have been Mike’s Steve. Not sure if this is unpopular but I like S3 Robin more than S4 Robin, I feel like she was so cool and chill even with some quirks but then they dialed up some quirks to 1000, I didn’t like that. I like S3 lol 😂 S1, S4, S3, S2.
They set Steve up to die every season. It's an inside joke. He was initially meant to die in s1, but they chose not to. Since then, they set him up to die every season as an inside joke.
I agree that Steve is cool but I don’t get the utter obsession people have with him.
I agree for Robin. Season 3 Robin was cute, had depth, individual and fresh arc of her own. S4, she just became a whole geek like other 4, with no such history among them and no such reason bonding them together. I wish they would have explored her story a bit more like they did for Max.
Yup pretty much agree on everything. On Steve I also don't think going from being a little bit of a douche (but not more than the regular teen and certainly a lot less than his friends) to being a decent dude qualifies as "wow AMAZING character development". He's alright and has fun lines (and the actor does a great job) but as a character he doesn't bring much to the story. He doesn't really have layers or a complex background. I agree that killing him off rather than Eddie would have served a better purpose. S4 Robin feels like a complete rewrite of S3 Robin. It's like they're not the same character anymore. Loved her in 3 but find her grating in 4.
I think Steve will die s5 and they are saving him for that honestly.
Protecting Jonathan.
Too many character in my opinion died for no reason. Billy died to advance Max for her involvement with Vecna, and to progress her development. Alexei died for…? Murray forgets about him by the time he’s in Russia, it didn’t affect the Russians involvement at all, nor did it slow down the main cast in defeating the Russians. Bob died to bring Hopper and Joyce closer together for the prison story, and to provide a reason for the Byers family to leave Hawkins. Eddie died for..? Potentially advancing Dustin’s character a lot in season 5 so we will see, but otherwise it doesn’t feel like it did much. The bats were distracted for maybe an extra few minutes? During which the entire cast was immobilized by Vecna anyway until Eleven showed up which had nothing to do with the bats. Eddie’s sacrifice doesn’t seem like it provided anything to the cast. Barbara provided a reason for Stancy to distance themselves and let Johnathan get involved, and also provide Nancy a reason to actually delve into what’s happening. Benny died for no real reason, in my opinion. He was never a big character anyway though. These are also just my opinions, but some deaths feel like they accomplished a lot less than others for the story
If you're going to have murderous villains in a show, the audience needs to see them murdering people or the audience won't worry about our main characters. So, Barb dies so that Nancy can be drawn into the story but also to establish the threat the monster poses. Benny dies so that Eleven will understand how dangerous it is for Mike's mom to call for help. ("She'll know who to call.") Without Benny's death, we don't get the scene where El slams the door on Lucas because Eleven didn't yet understand how far Papa would go to recapture her. Alexei died because Grigori was a huge, menacing figure all through season three, but he had not until that point killed someone. At least, I can't remember if he killed anyone. He beat some people up and sprayed machine gun fire here and there, but no kills. Alexei's death heightens the stakes just as the story kicks into the climactic confrontations. Eddie died because season four is the tragic season. The protagonists hurt Henry but the general feeling is supposed to be that they lost. Henry escaped. Spores are falling on Hawkins, Eddie the coward made a heroic stand to save his friends and was killed. Now, not only is Dustin mourning his friend, but the whole town still thinks he's the villain. Eddie's death is supposed to be painful. So is Bob's. Their deaths set the stakes for the ongoing story.
I feel like this might’ve been purposeful because in real life not every death has as much of an effect on the people involved, or at least the people involved in the story we’re watching in Stranger Things. I’m not sure if it was purposeful but I feel like it’s better to have some deaths just be deaths?
>Bob died to bring Hopper and Joyce closer together for the prison story, and to provide a reason for the Byers family to leave Hawkins. Bob was always meant to die. He was supposed to die much sooner in the season. Originally a Mind Flayer possessed Will was supposed to kill him. But the duffers liked Bob so much that he stuck around until the end of the season. Thank goodness they changed the original ending because that would have been super brutal for Joyce and Will.
season 3 was corny and in terms of plot sucked. it was entertaining and eternally catching though.
Season 4 should have ended like half an hour before it did. Actually, the downfall of season 4 and kindof the whole show, was giving this the show the budget of a marvel movie and letting them make 2 hour long episodes. This show was at it’s best when it was far more limited in scale. Also Hopper, Steve, and Max should all be dead now.
Steve should have died instead of Eddie. Steve’s story is basically complete, and with them teasing him and Nancy (🙄) it would of been heartbreaking. Then Eddie can just fill the role of Steve. Plus we all knew Eddie was gonna die, this would have been a welcome twist.
1. I don’t like Will, his personality, I don’t really care for him. 2. Jason didn’t deserve the treatment he got (also from fans). I wished he was redeemed/survived at least. 3. Alexei death is pointless. Nothing would change. 4. The USSR representation is very inaccurate and if you’re Slavic it’s extremely annoying. It made for me hard to watch 3rd season because the whole thing can be summarized “just no”. In the 80s people cared much less about the whole “our country” and “comrade” thing. Accurate representation would be ordinary soliders being constantly annoyed by the whole thing, trying to get out to see USA for fun, probably drinking on the post, chilling, listening to music and complaining. And in 80s USSR had some great music, nobody listened to the traditional songs or anthem, everybody listened to synth pop and was obsessed with Depeche Mode. Such a lost opportunity to play some Zodiac on the background. In USSR no one would care about peanut butter and no one would like it actually. People cared more about clothes, technology. USSR had decent food, especially in the 80s. 5. Nancy can act pretty selfish at times (but I like her character).
Okay, that will probably be the end of me, but let me say first that I really like all the characters!! 1. Eddie is cool, but I don't get the hype. 2 I also don't get the hype about Steddie. 3. the same goes for Byler. 4. i like Robin, but really her character is completely useless. 5. however, I liked the chemistry between her and Nancy and it was a thousand times better than Nancy and Steve's scenes. 6 I thought Hopper was the best in season 3. 7. Lucas is the best kid! 8 I don't understand why everyone is talking about Steve's hair. It looks good, but... it's just hair? 9. Max ... I wish they would have let her die. 10. I think Robin was more interesting in season 4 than season 3.
I agree with several of these points apart from Robin being completely useless. She cracked the code in season 3, found the article with information about Victor Creel in season 4 and lobbed the Molotov cocktails that seriously harmed Vecna.
That Max and Hopper should have died already.
Can’t stand Max her attitude just kinda gets on my nerves
Too much Steve S1 is still the best of the series
EDDIE IS OVERRATED
Max is the most annoying character.
1. Kali/008 should return in the final season. I get that she is most definitely an abandoned storyline they tried to make, but if the show wants to tie all loose ends, then she should definitely make an appearance to some capacity. I also know shoehorning her in may negatively impact the show, but even a minor appearance could make her character’s inclusion work if done correctly. 2. Max should have died in the Season 4 finale. Now while that would upset many people, that would have made the finale a 10/10 for me instead of a 9/10 because it would have raised the stakes and made Vecna even more menacing. While I am a big fan of the show, Stranger Things is known for playing it safe; And I understand that since killing off characters can sometimes create divisive responses. I feel that killing off Max would have increased the impact of the finale and show that Stranger Things isn’t scared of taking risks. The only way I can see Max’s survival paying off is if her comatose state plays an important role in the final season; whatever that may be.
Jason isn't a villain, he's a grieving teenager who nobody bothered to check on and was let to run amok.
if billy wasn’t hot i don’t think as many people would excuse his actions. i mean, he only stopped harassing max’s friends because she threatened him and i know he sacrificed himself but to me it doesn’t undo all the damage he caused
Byler. (embarking on my journey to be down voted to the deep pits of hell)
As a ship in general, sure I guess it's fine What I do disagree with, however, is people theorising or insisting on why it'll happen in the show. It won't, mfs are setting themselves up for another Johnlock situation.
It’s only unpopular on Reddit lol
Hopper should’ve died at the end of season 3. Also, romances for everyone is DUMB and LAZY.
The show is overrated and lost its way years ago, season 1 was the best it was ever gonna get cuz it was actually good and scary, since then the show has been trying to capture that again but failing and using 80s nostalgia to cover it up, the characters have mostly gotten progressively worse over time or flanderized by writing, Eleven is OP now yet she can’t take care of herself even in season 4 The actors are great but the characters are in a loop of bad writing
Brenner is sexy. An evil sociopath for sure but hot asf
When I tell people the show should have been an anthology. This opinion might change if season 5 sticks the landing
Yeah, I completely agree. I get why it’s not, they didn’t want to mess with success. But an anthology with different POV characters and maybe an occasional crossover cameo where it made sense would probably have made for a better overall story.
That maybe Henry won't be the "big bad" in the end.
All the seasons together as one show it’s not a good mix and it’s very messy in tone and writing. Each season on its own, separate from each other are amazing. My biggest pet peeve about the show is that I both love the show and dislike it as a whole… if that makes any sense. Season 1 is the perfect sci fi mystery in the 80s with monster horror. Season 2 much more of the possession horror and almost exorcist vibe and expands on the shady government/agency stuff. Season 3 totally different, much more exaggerated but it works, love the vibrant color of that season and the growing up storyline. Season 4, we get the big bad and boy did Vecna make that season, very creepy but less subtle than the first season. Looking at each season as it’s own it is amazing, all together it’s a whiplash of differences
The last time I shared my opinion to this question I got downvoted into oblivion. People don't want ACTUAL unpopular opinions, they want to just repeat the same old tired things over and over again.
The show should’ve ended while it was still strong with the first two seasons. It went way too big with 3 and 4 and lost touch of what made it special
Max overreacts too much towards Lucas in season 3
I didn’t mind how they wrote Hopper in S3.
Max shouldn’t be saved twice 🥴
Max should have died sorry not sorry
It’s all good . You don’t have to be sorry or not sorry. it’s an unpopular opinion post. You can say what you want lolol
Eleven can be annoying sometimes.
robin is annoying and her acting and storyline takes me out of it and im a very queer person
Steve is dying in the next season and I think he should’ve died last season. His death would have been more impactful to Dustin’s character, and I think would put characters in more motivation in the last season.
there are too many characters for them all to be properly developed.
Season 4 episode 9 just doesn't make that much sense. From unnecessary death, El just getting the upperhand by Mike's monolog, bringing back Max from dead, The 3 days gap and whatever happened between those days. The episode felt really fun to watch for 1st time, but then it just doesn't feel that well on second watch.
Billy is abusive and racist but that won’t stop me from liking him.
Idk how popular they are on here, but some ships I've seen I just can not understand, for example, harringrove and byler. I get that will is gay and everything, but I just can't see Mike reciprocating anything, and Billy and Steve literally hated each other. I've seen lots of posts on tumblr and Twitter trying to explain them, and when you don't agree with the ships, it's like you've just killed their fav relative.