willel

[willel]

How it started vrs How its going Stranger Things, S01E01 vrs S5 Teaser

[willel]

El dying in season 5 would make no narrative sense

Tbh the only thing Stranger things could do, that could come close to ruining the show for me is if El dies. Especially if it came in the form of self sacrifice.

(It’s actually the sole reason I changed my mind about getting my stranger things tattoo before the show ends.)

I also feel similarly about Max or Will dying, but not to the same extent that I feel with El. The feeling I share about all three of them is that their death would be disrespectful to their character and their arc.

I’ve heard people say when it comes to Will getting a happy ending that “he has suffered enough.” Which I whole-heartedly agree with. But when people who feel that way, say they think it would make more sense for El die than Will, I get overwhelmingly frustrated.

Will has suffered far more than anyone ever should. Hes been through enough, and deserves to live the rest of his life feeling nothing but joy.

El hasn’t had a life yet. She’s become more and more of a person as the seasons have gone on, but she’s never been free before. She’s never not suffered.

People seem to have this idea that El dying would be some kind of “full circle” moment. Like it’s a payoff of some kind. Since El sacrificed herself at the end of season 1, it would make “narrative sense” for her to die at the end of the last season. (As an autistic person with a formal education in screenwriting, this phrase being used specifically makes my blood boil.)

A character cannot end a story in the same place they began. Stories are built around conflict, movement, and change. There are multiple variations of story structure that are commonly used and taught. (The heroes journey, Save the Cat beat structure, the story circle model, etc.) but one aspect that never changes is that the main character does not end the story the same way they began. (There are some cases where a character stays relatively the same, but the story in that case is one focused on testing the characters established self.)

Stranger Things has a clear story structure to each of its seasons, but it also has structure to how the seasons progress as a whole. It’s a big picture story, with smaller arcs within it. Season 1 is the only one that works as a standalone season for this exact reason.

It seems like people are under the impression that El is a sacrificial hero, but that’s not her story arc. A sacrificial hero arc relies on the hero’s sacrifice, lining up with them finally reaching the climax of their personal transformation. Usually, this transformation includes them growing from a person who would not have sacrificed themself for others, into someone who found new meaning in the people they are saving.

El ended season 1 as a self sacrificial hero. She started scared, lost in an unknown and found people she was able to form a connection with, so much so, that she was willing to end her own life to allow them to continue to live theirs. That is a satisfying self sacrificial hero arc. But when season 2 came out, a new arc started. That wasn’t an appropriate character arc for her anymore.

Ever since the first episode of season 2, El’s character arc has been building her away from that archetype. Every new season takes a few more steps towards her new individuality, and a freedom to live. These steps always get pulled back a bit, causing her to unwillingly fall into that hero role. But everytime it does, she ends the season with just a little bit less of the weight of responsibility.

El’s character arc has not been building towards her death. She already did that. There is no reason for her to end the show in the exact same place she ended season 1. Her “narrative sense” (Personal transformation) isn’t coming full circle and trading her life for anyone else’s. Her personal transformation is her choosing her own life, over being a hero.

El finally gets permission to live.

[willel]

Now I'm thinking about the final steps of healing and processing

And how her season 4 fighting outfit was costumed to resembled her hospital gown in the lab

And her season 5 outfit...

Head to toe grey sweats. Even the bandana hanging around her neck.

She processed the the trauma of Brenner. Now she's coming back for 001.

She's closing it out once and for all.

"Let's end this, kid."

[willel]

If STRANGER THINGS Season 5 aired in the 1980s x

[willel]

These new teasers make me think about S2 again.

I'm even more sure if the demodogs had managed to get to Will, they wouldn't have killed him, but definitely everyone else

[willel]

Note to self, stop being lazy and finish that gifset

Also, find new higher quality source material

[willel]

what can i say? it‘s the prettiest shot from the ST5 teaser.

[willel]

Hmmm I need to find more El fanart

[willel]

Do you think we'll get a Beyond Stranger Things for S5? That thing they did for S5 sucked

[willel]

Two reasons I find the idea of killing off Jonathan in S5 deeply off-putting:

Killing Jonathan when Will is in his mid- to late teens and living with a grieving mother and vulnerable sister, and with no more show left…just seems like a great way to turn him into the New Jonathan, someone with a lot of responsibilities and a lot of guilt who will avoid dealing with his own problems indefinitely. I think this is really hard to reconcile with any kind of romantic relationship for him at the end of the show, tbh. I can see the show trying to spin this as a positive: that Will is grown-up and responsible and not plagued by supernatural beings and accepted by his family/friends and “empowered.” But it would be disturbing if they did so.

If we treat Hopper as a preventative against the above outcome—a father figure who will take over, relieving Will from the fate of parentification—that is maybe even more offensive. Hopper, Joyce, Will, and El are rehabilitated into a standard nuclear family (with Will’s sexuality rendered acceptable by the approval of a conventionally masculine straight older man), but Jonathan, who is too old and too damaged, does not enjoy any such benefits and has his contributions to the family erased because they’re embarrassingly non-standard. Fuck that!

[willel]

Come, give me your hand. What's done cannot be undone.

[willel]

I love my daughter and her fancy little pinky

[willel]

[willel]

And ill never go home again

[willel]

Im out of my flop era rejoice

[willel]

So interesting to think about how this will be the first time Will has encountered the demogorgon since that week in the upside down. He’s not really conscious in s2 with the demodogs. And even with the mindflayer and vecna, encountering these things once again. And it always links back to the week he was taken that changes him forever. Idk something about the anniversary effect, which they seem to be hinting at in their synopses.

I was gonna mention the same thing in a previous ask. How this is the first time Will will see something demogorgon like since his kidnapping.

But then I reconsidered. He did come face to face with the Mind Flesher in S3. And well. We saw his reaction there. Trembling uncontrollably. I'm surprised he was able to get up and focus when they needed to run.

Then again, I guess he's used to running from Upside Down creatures.

But maybe being face to face with a demogorgon will be different for him. Immediately hit him with bad memories.

Hm. Makes me think about the anniversary situation.

in 1984, the anniversary effect was literal. The Upside Down came for him again and took hold.

In 1985, there wasn't much, but he did have to move away from his childhood home around that time.

1986, we don't know what happened around the anniversary. Maybe S5 will cover it?

1987 is when most of S5 will take place, right? So I guess this will definitely be covering the anniversary.

[willel]

The tree and Will having a connection to it (and whatever memory with it) has been in these promos one way or the other so consistently. It really is interesting

More like, I feel like this is the only flashback they're comfortable showing that isn't a direct spoiler