“It’s not scary anymore!”
Define “not scary”. What constitutes as “horror” varies from person to person. I find dreams about not finishing university scary. I get them frequently, and they make me uneasy because part of me still feels like I rushed through my 6 years and didn’t put in the proper effort. I don’t wake up in cold sweats, but that doesn’t mean that being in a school with an unfinished assignment doesn’t put me on edge.
Horror’s hard to pull off. It’s one of the hardest genres, as you have to tap into common fears while grounding your characters and worlds dramatically. That’s a mastery of two genres, and even seasoned pros struggle with balancing the two aspects. It’s true that many classic horror stories were made cheaply, but they also became big from a combination of accidental success and working with insane challenges. If you want proof, look at Jaws.
When people claim that Stranger Things isn’t scary now, I think they’re lamenting how it ran for close to 10 years, and how much of its core audience aged and moved on. As someone who was 26 years old when it started, a lot has happened to me personally since then: I became an uncle, my younger brother got married, my Zaidy died and I went in-and-out of jobs. The only constants were that I’m a courier, and that I live with my parents. Oh, and this blog.
9 years is a long time for a show. Considering Stranger Things became an accidental, overnight success, it was inevitable that expectations would be high. So I get how people would feel like it’d stop “being scary” eventually. But I disagree, as fear is subjective. And since my issue with the first season involves being unable to see the big baddie half the time, thanks to piss-poor lighting and budget limitations, later seasons might actually be scarier. Because I can see what everyone’s up against now.
This is a common complaint that people throw out. I get it: the show started with a small cast, and later seasons added to that. Factor in Season 2 beginning the trend of introducing a new character that’s killed in the finale, it feels like the Duffers were adding too many people. It was Game of Thrones all over, except with an original project. So yes, there’s potential for bloat.
Nevertheless, I think adding more characters has been an asset. Contrary to popular opinion, Stranger Things wasn’t meant to be a one-off. The Duffers made it clear that they were planning several seasons, and it was inevitable that recurring side-characters would get upgraded over time. That Erica, first introduced in Season 2 as Lucas’s bratty younger sister, became part of the main cast in Season 3 was beneficial to her development, as she’s less-irritating now. This is also true for Holly, who up until Season 5 was simply Mike and Nancy’s little sister.
“The cast has gotten too big!”
This is a common complaint that people throw out. I get it: the show started with a small cast, and later seasons added to that. Factor in Season 2 beginning the trend of introducing a new character that’s killed in the finale, it feels like the Duffers were adding too many people. It was Game of Thrones all over, except with an original project. So yes, there’s potential for bloat.
Nevertheless, I think adding more characters has been an asset. Contrary to popular opinion, Stranger Things wasn’t meant to be a one-off. The Duffers made it clear that they were planning several seasons, and it was inevitable that recurring side-characters would get upgraded over time. That Erica, first introduced in Season 2 as Lucas’s bratty younger sister, became part of the main cast in Season 3 was beneficial to her development, as she’s less-irritating now. This is also true for Holly, who up until Season 5 was simply Mike and Nancy’s little sister.
As for the not killing off characters, I’m not sympathetic here. Not only is Stranger Things not Game of Thrones, but it should never be Game of Thrones. That show had plenty of deaths, but it was also shamelessly violent and edgy. Plus, it went off-the-rails in its final season, as it ran out of books to adapt. By having Stranger Things keep its roster intact over 5 seasons, the writers got to explore different pair-ups and dynamics. It’s not like Steve and Nancy was the same as Steve and Dustin.
Besides, senseless deaths don’t always mean good storytelling. Having seen many classic 80s films, I assure you not all of them, even horror films, were needlessly gory. Much of the drama came from elevating grief, family trauma and personal insecurities boiling over through tension and stress, something this show has captured successfully. None of this could’ve happened without the cast being recurring.
I can see this complaint, and I’d be lying if I said I disagreed. When you consider later seasons, especially compared to earlier ones, it’s easy to see this. Especially since in-between Seasons 3 and 4 there was a pandemic, and in-between Seasons 4 and 5 there were two strikes. The passage of time marches on without Stranger Things getting bigger with each season. That said, I don’t agree with this complaint. Why?
Besides, senseless deaths don’t always mean good storytelling. Having seen many classic 80s films, I assure you not all of them, even horror films, were needlessly gory. Much of the drama came from elevating grief, family trauma and personal insecurities boiling over through tension and stress, something this show has captured successfully. None of this could’ve happened without the cast being recurring.
“The show has gotten too big!”
I can see this complaint, and I’d be lying if I said I disagreed. When you consider later seasons, especially compared to earlier ones, it’s easy to see this. Especially since in-between Seasons 3 and 4 there was a pandemic, and in-between Seasons 4 and 5 there were two strikes. The passage of time marches on without Stranger Things getting bigger with each season. That said, I don’t agree with this complaint. Why?
Because Seasons 4 and 5 had more story to tell. Season 4 in particular ventured outside Hawkins and focused on California and Soviet Russia. Because the world is bigger than a small town in Indiana, it was inevitable. Season 5 may not have been as big in narrative scope, but it felt it in emotional scope. That alone justified longer episodes.
Outside of that, a show getting “too big” isn’t really its fault. Considering Stranger Things’s biggest crime was becoming popular, it was bound to happen. After all, it has a fanbase! A passionate, loud fanbase! Why not embrace that? I would!
I watched a video on Season 4 recently that mentioned Stephen King and his rule about cutting 10% of your story. It’s ironic, since his stories are often way too long-winded, but the point rings true as a writer myself. However, is it possible that this show did that? It’s easy to complain, but harder to write. And as we’ve seen with Chris Stuckmann and Shelby Oaks, it’s especially easy to complain about horror if you’ve never dabbled in it. Something to think about.
Outside of that, a show getting “too big” isn’t really its fault. Considering Stranger Things’s biggest crime was becoming popular, it was bound to happen. After all, it has a fanbase! A passionate, loud fanbase! Why not embrace that? I would!
I watched a video on Season 4 recently that mentioned Stephen King and his rule about cutting 10% of your story. It’s ironic, since his stories are often way too long-winded, but the point rings true as a writer myself. However, is it possible that this show did that? It’s easy to complain, but harder to write. And as we’ve seen with Chris Stuckmann and Shelby Oaks, it’s especially easy to complain about horror if you’ve never dabbled in it. Something to think about.
“Season 5 dropped the ball!”
My last issue involves the actual finale. I think people were projecting their own expectations here, and that’s unfair. Especially with the gross backlash surrounding Will coming out moment, a revelation that wasn’t shocking to anyone paying attention to Will’s character trajectory. Considering how difficult it was to be gay in the 80s, Will took a risk by coming out to his friends and family. That they were accepting speaks not only to their growth, but also to how attached they are to Will.
Outside of that, little moments being harshly-criticized seem completely disconnected from reality. Nancy and Jonathan breaking up is an amicable separation that happens when people love each other, but know their relationship is unhealthy. Dustin and Steve reconciling their friendship, while corny, was equally powerful. And yes, some of Volume 2 of Season 5 was slow, no doubt. But that doesn’t make it not interesting or impactful. Not everything has to be in-your-face action, especially with character growth.
As for the big battle feeling “like a Marvel movie”, I’m unsure what people expected. This wasn’t only built up to, but dragging it out would’ve ruined it. So it wasn’t. Even the fight with Vecna followed the rule set by The Incredibles: if you don’t need to extend your action scene to make your point, don’t. Like how most of that movie’s action set-pieces were a few minutes long, yet were effective, so too was the fight with Vecna. Especially since Vecna, for all his creepiness, was a pathetic man-baby.
Outside that, I don’t know what else to say. People have been making this season out as another Game of Thrones or Dexter, and think that cheapens the character writing and plot beats. Is it as good as Season 4? No. But it’s also not the disaster detractors have been making it to be. And it’ll age well because of what it did right, which is be satisfying.
So yes, that’s my take. Expect another ranking list soon, assuming nothing goes wrong here.
So yes, that’s my take. Expect another ranking list soon, assuming nothing goes wrong here.
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