It looks like the Duffer Brothers are going to stick the landing after keeping viewers waiting for three long years. There is only one episode left of Stranger Things, a series that began filming during Barack Obama’s second term as president. It has been part of the cultural backdrop for over a decade and its narrative is now one day away from concluding. There are a lot of expectations bound up in that conclusion. There are also a lot of plot threads that need to be tied together or deliberately let loose.
Early in episode 5, Dustin refers to one of the triple-climax plot lines in Return of the Jedi. He, Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy are like Han Solo and the Ewoks of Endor who need to deactivate the shield generator so the assault on the reconstructed Death Star can proceed. This moment seemed like more than just a throwaway reference to one of the most famous science-fiction movies of all time. Instead, it foretold a possible triple-climax at the conclusion of season five. The gates need to be sealed; Vecna must be destroyed; and the powers of Jane, Will, and Kali need to be explained. These various goals would likely need to involve different parties in different locations, but by the end of episode 7, all the protagonists are in the same space and going to the same place.
Part of me hopes the action is resolved quickly and most of the final episode is dedicated to explaining why the military is using the blood of psychic children to create Manchurian candidates in the first place. It’s the Cold War, right? A commentary on the folly of mutually-assured destruction? The nature of the psychic powers and what that implies for adolescent identity formation is still an interesting angle that may not be adequately resolved, but will fuel speculation and fan theories for years to come. It recalls the “what happens on Monday?” hypothetical of The Breakfast Club. In a few days or weeks or months, what will happen to these characters? Are they forever connected by the shared trauma of these events, or do they move on and grow up? The more I think about the show, the more questions like these come to mind and the more it seems like it will be difficult to resolve the coming-of-age narrative with the sci-fi horror explanations of what actually happened in Hawkins. They’ve had three years, though. I still have hope in their ability to pull it off.
Given that this is the end of the series and there has usually been a notable character killed off in each season, it is fair to consider who might be on the chopping block this time. After patching up their falling out, Steve and Dustin re-commit to the fight against Vecna and exchange the lines “I die, you die; you die, I die.” If this becomes prophetic, then it is way too heavy of foreshadowing. It’s a good red herring, though. It made me squirm.
Will finally comes out to the whole crew, which was touching and well handled. Note that he doesn’t say he’s gay, just that he’s “not into girls.” As I mentioned in my thoughts on the first four episodes of this season, it seems like Will’s ability to integrate his identity and share that transition with his social world is the key to how he will ultimately wield his powers. Yes, he can tap into the hive mind (i.e., heteronormative society) but he is not of it. He’s aware of how it affects him, but it does not control it. I may be wishing too hard on this star, but there does seem like plenty of room to explore this idea in the final episode.
There hasn’t been much grey area in Jane Hopper / Eleven’s development as far as desires go. She and Mike have had their ups and downs but nothing else has indicated that she is questioning who she likes or loves. Her adolescence is marked by the need to integrate herself socially and emotionally into world where she is an escaped experiment. She’s found solace in her peer group and has been accepted and adopted by adults like Jim and Joyce. Most recently, an erstwhile friend has reemerged: Kali from Chicago. All three of these parties are fighting for their part of Eleven, and all are at cross purposes. The boys of Hawkins want her to save the world with them, Hopper wants her to stay safe and survive, and Kali wants her to sacrifice herself while saving the world. She seems least likely to follow Kali’s lead, even if it will make the world safe for everyone else. It’s too much, too soon, and her connections to the established characters are too strong.
Aside from the resolutions of the character arcs mentioned above, I’m also curious about what is in that goddamn briefcase. In the scene where Holly and Max are exploring Henry Creel’s memory, they see him kill a government worker and open his steel briefcase. Whatever he learned from the information inside it has traumatized him enough that he wants to merge oblivion’s abyss with the world of Hawkins.
In a perfect world, the explanation for how Henry Creel became Vecna should be explained in terms of how this trauma stunted his development. It’s not just that he beat the guy to death with a rock. There’s something he learned that made him unable to adjust socially, cognitively, physically, emotionally, and psychologically to the world he knew. I have high expectations for a satisfying explanation of this aspect of his character, and I am crossing my fingers that the Duffer Brothers will deliver.
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