Stranger Things 4 Made Death Matter Again, But Can Season 5 Go Further?
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Stranger Things season 4 volume 2.
While Stranger Things season 4 proved that the Netflix hit could still use death well on some major occasions, there is still a lingering question over whether the show's final outing, season 5, could get even more effectively brutal. Since its inception, Stranger Things has had a strained relationship with character deaths. When the show began life in 2016, the subdued, darker Stranger Things season 1 was not afraid to kill off a lot of major characters without much fanfare.
Or at least, so it seemed at the time. When Stranger Things season 1 revealed that the devastating mid-season death of Will Byers was actually just a short-lived fake-out, this surprise soon proved to be a sign of things to come. For example, theStranger Things season 1 finale appeared to kill off Eleven in tragic self-sacrifice, only for her to reappear in the second season. Even Dr. Brenner, who was seemingly eaten by a ravenous Demogorgon, cropped up in season 4 with the character having somehow gained only a superficial scar from his skirmish with the ten-foot-tall inter-dimensional monster.
Related: Stranger Things 4's Jason Ending Was Great, But This Plot Hole Isn't!
Stranger Things seasons 2 and 4 continued to exacerbate this issue, with only minor new characters like Bob and Alexei (or villains like Billy) being killed off for good. Billy’s tragic season 4 return proved that these deaths did have a dramatic impact on the surviving characters, as did Joyce's grief over Bob's death. However, these demises were still notably never doled out to characters in whom the show's viewers were deeply invested. Stranger Things season 4 changed that and, while the fourth outing still
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