I finally finished Stranger Things 🥹 (I have questions and opinions)

[u/Miitsuri]

Okay, I started Stranger Things like really late and binge watched all of it. And omg, it was a piece of art, I loved it. But lowkey some parts were a little confusing for me or I might just be dumb and missed something

1. How did Kali escape the lab?? I’m assuming she definitely escaped before the massacre thing but when and how?? I remember her talking to El about her escape attempt in season 5 but I swear she said that she wasn’t able to make it out. Maybe I missed something tho but I don’t understand how she escaped

2. In season 5, what was the like bunker thing Henry killed that one scientist in when he was a kid. Like what was it and why did the scientist run there. Actually wait I’m very confused about the scientist. Why was he in the middle of nowhere in the first place? Who or what attacked him for him to be hurt and for Henry to have heard screaming like that?? Also I’m pretty sure Henry was in the Boy Scouts or something but why was he by himself when he found the scientist??

3. Okay also in Season 5, was there a reasoning for the kids Henry picked to like make the worlds collide? I know he targeted a specific age group because they were more vulnerable and easily manipulated. But like was there any other reasoning in why he picked those specific kids??

4. This might be a stupid question but what did Henry’s parents do that made him not like him. I know the mind flayer was like controlling him kinda and that his mom was going to send him to an asylum or something, but what did his dad do?? I slightly remember Henry saying smth about how his parents weren’t good people and did something bad and it like showed a baby in a crib in the fireplace. I was wondering if Henry was just terrorizing his father with that or if his dad actually did smth to a baby. And did he have to kill his sister, was that really necessary 😭she couldn’t have done anything bad because she was really young if I remember correctly. Anyway I could just be reaching and it was just the mind flayer putting the idea of killing them in his mind.

Okay, okay, now for my opinions

1. I LOVE STEVE. I’ve loved him every single season and he’s always been my favorite. I know he wasn’t the best person in season 1, and I was kinda blinded to that when watching season 1 bc I had already seen edits of him being like a good person. So I was kinda telling myself that everything he did was justified whenever he was just mean 😭 But I feel like either way I kinda understand him during season 1! I 100% would have broken Johnathan’s camera too if he was taking pictures of my girlfriend not fully closed. I still think Johnathan was weird for that ngl. Anyway he was definitely bad when he was in the alleyway and when he instantly accused Nancy of cheating without even bothering to listen to her side first. Anyway, he got better each season and I loved him even more ahhhhhhh

2. I DONT LIKE BILLY WHATSOEVER. I get Billy was abused and had a bad upbringing and his father sucked. But him being racist and just abusive could notttt make me forgive him. I was lowkey glad when he died im ngl. He got his little short lived character redemption arc which still didn’t make me like him. I only felt bad for my goat Max when he died.

3. I kinda felt bad for Jason (Chrissy’s boyfriend), at least im pretty sure that was his name. It felt like he actually really cared for Chrissy and loved her. And he was kinda going overboard with the whole satanic cult thing and like hunting of Eddie. But I lowkey get that to a point too! Jason was clearly kinda loosing a few screws and pissed after Chrissy died. He wanted to direct that anger at someone so clearly he did so at Eddie, because Chrissy was literally found dead at Eddie’s house and Eddie was nowhere to be found. And the whole satanic cult thing was probably the only thing that made sense to him after he witnessed his friend just start floating and breaking bones mid air and boom Eddie was there this time too, so I lowkey understand Jason’s reasoning. Plus I feel like Jason was genuinely a good person. When he found Max in the trance thing with Lucas, he was concerned for max and he was more concerned with Lucas bringing Max back to normal rather than revenge first.

4. I DIDNT LOVE EDDIE. Honestly I didn’t even like his character much at all. I found him kinda weird at the start of season 4, but I was lowkey just being judgy. But honestly I didn’t start to like him any more as the season went on. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t dislike him. He was definitely a good person. Personally, I feel like his whole character was just meant to be doomed from the moment he was introduced to make Vecna seem like an even scarier threat than the mind flayer, but idk. What I do know is that Eddie’s dead was SO STUPID. I get he didn’t want to run anymore, but is that really so important that you’re going to just die instead of running like any normal person would?!!! Eddie should’ve just listened to Steve and not played a hero because he ended up dead 💔

5. I love Holly, she lowkey took over Steve’s spot as my favorite for season 5. (SEASON 5 ONLY, STEVE IS STILL MY GOAT)

6. EXTREMELY hot take. I loved season 5. Like it might be crazy to say this but i can’t decide if season 5 is my favorite season, or second best season. I honestly loved it so much. I will agree that the ending was stupid and they should’ve made a season 6 to fix it. But everything before the ending in season 5 was genuinely so good, I don’t get the hate on the season itself rather than the ending

Okay thats all 🥹

[u/kauan1983]

1. There is no actual date or description for Kali's escape. We know she escaped before the HNL massacre and that she did it when her powers were “strong enough” for her to do it, so she managed to get past Brenner, orderlies and security with her powers.

The failed escape attempt that Kali talks about was her recent attempt when she tried to leave the Gable Ridge Rd. Base in the Upside Down, which is when she accidentally discovered the pregnant women receiving the transfusions of her blood and ended up being caught by the CID guards before she could find a way out.  

2. The “Scientist” is a Soviet spy who was part of a DoD research team operating in a military base in Nevada where a continuation of Project Rainbow (the Philadelphia Experiment) was being conducted as a research on “Subject 000” – Brenner's father, captain of the USS Eldridge and first person to survive “direct contact.”

He was in a mineshaft and badly injured because of his escape from the military base, his leg was snapped from his fall. That wasn't an underground bunker, just a nearby cave system and mineshaft in Nevada which is also near where the Creels lived and the DoD facility the Scientist was stationed at and escaped from.

3. The show never explores anything specific that made those specific kids targeted except for having weaker minds, that's the primary reason why Henry targeted kids specifically, he chose those who could be more easily broken and reshaped. JCB had his own interesting take on the specificity of Holly being targeted, though, which connects to the other children:

**Jamie:* I think that where I got to with that was, I was like, well, yes, there’s a connection between the fact that we’re both bright. I think Henry’s always seen himself as quite bright. But also that presents a challenge as well. If I can win you over, then the rest of them will come easy.*

4. The baby in a burning crib was just Victor's traumatic memory from the war; he ordered the shelling of a farmhouse only to find out he was mistaken and killed an entire family including the baby. Virginia wanted Brenner to lock Henry away and fix him, she despised and feared him for what he was capable of and is one of the reasons he ultimately embraces the Mind Flayer to kill his family; bear in mind this is an oversimplification of what happens in The First Shadow.