For years, ‘Stranger Things’ has thrilled audiences with heart, nostalgia, and terrifying monsters. However, even the biggest fans acknowledge that the series has been perpetuating one bad storytelling habit season after season, and that is the use of fake deaths. Characters that seemed to be killed would resurrect later. So, the audience learned not to take any significant death seriously.
It became predictable. It weakened the stakes. And it turned big emotional moments into cheap stuff. However season 5, volume 1, is the first indication that the show has finally grown out of this habit. The first part of the last season does much more than carry on with the Hawkins saga; it rectifies one of the biggest flaws of the show.
Goodbyes In Season 5 Vol. 1 Felt Real And Not Just For Shock Value
Season 5, episode 4, “Sorcerer,” delivers one of the most emotional scenes between Hopper and Eleven in the show’s entire run. Suddenly, the audience is dragged directly back to the same tension. Hopper is in a vest of explosives and is ready to die in order to save his people. It felt like a setup for another ‘Stranger Things’ death to be undone later. However, this time something was different.
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The show does not prolong the suspense, and the truth is revealed in a few minutes: Hopper is not dead. And more to the point, the twist is not cheap. It works because it is not a fake death left in for shock value. Hopper’s emotions were real. Eleven’s fear was real. And the viewer’s interest does not melt into frustration. The show respects its viewers enough not to dangle a tragic moment only to reverse it in volume 2.
The twist, that it is Kali in the containment unit, rather than Vecna, is clever, surprising, and unpredictable in the best way. The Duffers have finally decided to go with real storytelling rather than empty shock value. And it is a relief. Fans have been fooled too often: Will was supposedly dead in season 1, Eleven vanished only to reappear, Hopper was supposedly obliterated in season 3, and even Steve was almost killed by bats in season 4.
The show has conditioned viewers to roll their eyes whenever a character dies. However, season 5’s decision to tell the truth soon is an indication of a massive change in the way the story intends to approach its emotional hits. No cliffhanger manipulation, or stretched-out grief. Just honest storytelling. And that mere shift makes volume 1 more emotionally charged than the series has been in years.
‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Raises The Stakes For Hawkins
Some fake deaths could’ve been fun. However, they became a formula after four seasons. It became a loop: kill a major character, shock the audience, then disclose that the character is alive. ‘Stranger Things’ had established a tradition of causing emotional havoc without any actual repercussions. In the process, it eliminated any actual danger of the Upside Down.
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The story becomes meaningless when the danger is hollow. Season 5 finally rectifies that error. There is no time to kill off characters and then revive them. And the show appears to know that. Volume 1 has actual tension, actual fear, and actual danger. Better still, the lack of fake-out deaths contributes to the emotional core shining once again.
Hopper and Eleven’s bond feels richer than ever. Will and Vecna’s relationship is more sinister and unpredictable. The urgency of the final battle feels earned. It is the first time in years that the viewers are not manipulated into caring. They care because the storytelling requires them to care. And ironically, the show is even scarier without the fake deaths. The fans are aware that by the time season 5 volume 2 and the series finale come around, the show will not have the time to reverse any significant deaths.
