Will Stranger Things Ruin NYE Like it Ruined Christmas?
Yes.
Imagine that was the entire blog? That would probably still leave you feeling more fulfilled than watching Volume 2. My first blog in almost 2 years and I can still tie it all together better than the Duffer brothers. But we’re not here to talk about me, we’re here to talk about the massive let down Volume 2 was, for the *CORRECT* reasons.
Yes, like Joyce getting the answers she needs in season one from Will, I will guide you all to the light. Now before we get into the grading of Volume 2, I want you to understand that I am a BIG Stranger Things fan. Hopped on the wave back in 2016 and never looked back. I happen to be a huge fan of season three (which I know I am in the minority on.) However, even I could not defend the atrocity that was Season 5 Volume 2.
The grade for Volume 2 is an F, but why is it an F? What went so horribly wrong that everyone, and I mean everyone is mad about it? Am I grading it an F because I am one of those grown-ups on the internet mad that two characters did not get into a relationship to form “Byler” (Mike and Will for those who don’t know.)
No. And I’d like to add it’s a little weird the depths people went to with theories to try and convince themselves that would happen. Am I grading it an F for the opposite reason, that it is so terrible and I am so mad because Will decided to come out to his friends in the final episode of Vol. 2?
No. Do I think it needed to be a main focal point when they are about to go to battle for the FATE OF THE WORLD? No. But it isn’t even close to what makes Volume 2 so bad. The only reason episode seven is getting review bombed is because of these two sides of the fanbase not getting their ways. And unfortunately, they are missing the point… THE OTHER TWO EPISODES WERE TRASH AS WELL! I keep teasing that I will get into why Volume 2 was so bad and yet here we are and I haven’t explained anything yet. Maybe my writing style is actually similar to the Duffer brothers. (Ha get it, since that’s kind of the plot line of Volume 2 with nothing happening as we wait endlessly through three episodes.)
First Reason Why Volume 2 Failed: The Month Gap
In my personal opinion I do not think any TV show should take time off mid-season. All it does is give your fans time to come up with a million different theories on where things are going, to the point where you have to OVER deliver. Here’s an example: the elevator scene where Lucas is saving Max in the hospital.
For a month people speculated online “how would Lucas get them out of this situation with a demadog charging at them full speed?” Turns out all Lucas had to do was kick a BULLETPROOF demadog and it was enough to knock it out of the elevator and save them. Give me a break. Obviously, this is bad writing which is apparent throughout the entire volume, but the point is when you give people time to get over hyped with a month-long break and then you under deliver on some of the biggest scenes, you are already digging yourself a hole into the upside down that you won’t get back from. It also doesn’t help when you go on a press tour and tell your entire fanbase that “It’s going to be a dark Christmas” (completely overhyping them by the way) and the only thing dark about these three episodes were everyone’s reactions after the fact. Is it starting to make sense why the disappointment was larger than the deep space they introduced?
Second Reason: Ditching Your Main Characters
For as good as Volume 1 was, the Joyce Byers scenes were really bad. In Volume 2 they became unwatchable. People are all like “oh, what happened to the Joyce Byers from season one and two who wouldn’t take any shit.” Um, how about the Joyce Byers from last season who flew across the globe to rescue Hop from evil Russians and Demagorgans? But now all she can do is come up with a plan that makes no sense or say “Will you’re my son.” I mean what are we even doing here.
Not to mention the lack of Eleven and Hopper in Volume 2. I mean I feel like we barely see Hop at all, and the only time we do is when he’s in the background being suspicious of Kali. The Lost Sister was considered the worst episode of Stranger Things for a reason. We do not need her in a main plotline. She should be there to help Eleven, not coerce her into staying in the Upside Down. (She should’ve remained lost am I right?) The backbone of the show is built on Hop doing cool over the top badass shit, and Eleven being right there with him saving the day. But, instead we have Karen Wheeler saving the day… KAREN WHEELER! Who shouldn’t have even survived the Demagorgan attack in Volume 1!
Third Reason: You NERFED Your Big Bad Guy
To simply put this, Vecna is fucking cool. And when you have a really cool villain like Vecna, HE SHOULD BE ON THE FUCKING SCREEN. No, it should not be Henry, or Mr. Whatsit, or 001. It should be VECNA. We had enough of his backstory in season four, this entire season should have been Vecna. I mean think about when we finally saw him in the finale of Volume 1. He came out like the final evolution of a Pokémon. (For those who don’t know Pokémon, think Charizard. Everyone knows Charizard.) So badass. Literally killing everyone with ease. HE PUT HIS VINES THROUGH SOMEONES FACE! THAT IS FUCKING AWESOME! He had everybody shook, and then in Volume 2 the duffers just decided we weren’t really going to see him anymore?
Even if they wanted to do the kid storyline this season with Holly, Derek, and the others, why not just use Vecna instead of Henry and make the stakes even higher? Have Vecna kidnap them as nobody can do anything about it. It would make Volume 2 actually menacing, giving the fans “a dark Christmas” like the Duffers envisioned. Aside from Max’s return in episode three of volume one, the best scenes in season five have had Vecna, NOT Henry. In no order they are; Vecna returning in episode four, Will becoming a sorcerer due to VECNA’S RETURN, Henry turning back into Vecna when he realizes Max and Holly are trying to escape, and Will going into Vecna’s mind to save Max and Holly. We needed more Vecna. We deserved more Vecna. And when we did not get more Vecna, the episodes turned to doo doo.
The Fourth and Final Reason: It Has Become Game of Thrones Adjacent
The Duffer Brothers had the blueprint on what not to do, and they did it anyway. Game of Thrones was the most colossal failure we have ever seen for a series finale, and Stranger Things is saying “hold my beer.” Let’s compare the two shall we.
| Game of Thrones Final Season | Stranger Things Final Season |
| Shortened season, larger budget, episodes perceived as mini movies. | Season not shortened, larger budget, episodes perceived as mini movies. |
| A bunch of fluff episodes where nothing happens, infuriating the fans. | A bunch of fluff episodes where nothing happens, infuriating the fans. (Vol. 2) |
| Nerfed the big bad guy (The Night King) | Nerfed the big bad guy (Vecna) |
| No major deaths in high stakes scenarios, (literally only killed off Jorah Mormont in the battle against the white walkers) | No major deaths in high stakes scenarios… yet. But it is the end of the world and we have more characters than ever before. The complete opposite of what this season needed. |
| Ditch their main protagonist and have other people be heroes. (Arya Stark kills the Night King instead of Jon Snow… don’t even get me started.) | Ditch their main protagonist and have other people be heroes. (Will getting powers is cool, but Karen Wheeler saving the day while Eleven is sidelined is blasphemous.) |
| Use an entire season to prepare for war, which is exactly how the previous season left off, only to not get to the war in the current season and make us wait for next season two years away. (This is not Game of Thrones this is House of the Dragon.) | Use the entire season to prepare for war (Vol. 1 and 2) which is exactly how the previous season left off (Finale of S4) only to not get to the war in the current volumes and make us wait until the series finale. |
| Worst ending of all time… | To be determined… |
The only thing saving Stranger Things from going full blown Game of Thrones is the fact that Volume 1 was so good. After over three years of waiting, they came in and knocked it out the park. The action was great, the story was great, but then for whatever reason they threw it all away in volume two. I genuinely feel if they would’ve swapped Volume 1 and 2 they would be in a much better situation. Obviously, it would be tough to do with the Max and Holly scenes but can you imagine if we got all the fluff originally and were pissed, and then Christmas Day we end off with Vecna killing everyone at the army base, and Will having powers? The vibes would be astronomical.
Sadly, the vibes are now below Hawkins. The Duffers need to overdeliver on the finale, which if I was a betting man, (I am) I would bet on that not to happen. (I tend to lose a lot of my bets, maybe I’ll be wrong?) Hopefully Vecna wins and creates a new world, that will at least be better than whatever they have in store for us. It’s like that TikTok edit/ Taylor Swift song says “I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending.”
