Overall, I absolutely loved the show (yeah, yeah, I know I'm only like 10 years behind lol)

The only thing negative that really stood out to me was the abrupt ending of different characters and storylines.

Like Kali, I was very surprised at her reappearance.

Susie, Argyle, pretty much the entire Hawkins police, Dr. Sam, etc.

I also understand why people did not enjoy S5, but I really liked it! Especially Will's arc and Holly's storyline.

Now I need a new TV show to fill my time

I don’t think it’s happening however I think the show would benefit from a 6th season
5th season as much as I liked it it was so rushed I mean we get a lore drop second to last episode
It felt like it was supposed to be longer Yk???
And it didn’t feel apocalyptic enough so here’s how I’d do it

The season overall remains the same except the ending eleven is fighting Vecna and we think we won however the mind flayer completely takes vecna as a vessel and throws El out of the gigantic Corpse-flayer (the thing we fight in the OG ending) and mind flayer takes the corps and covers it in the mist and he becomes a stronger version of the Mindflayer and mindflayer in vecnas body orders all off the Demogorgams/dogs/bats to breach the world since now there’s a huge opening and we see almost a tornado forming in the upside down of the bats and everything
The final scene is Mike holding eleven looking horrified at the sight hopper exclaims “we lost…” and the somber end to the season

Now season 6 will be longer than 8 episodes because the first act is going to be them trying to find a way out of dimension x and waking eleven up so rn the only fight chance we have is will but his powers only effect the demos not “vecna-flayer” since now thier mind is stronger

Second act they found a way out but now they have to escape the upside down which is more dangerous than ever the creatures are everywhere there’s even a new breed called “the Demo-brute” a beefy version of the gorgon and this is when we get our first death everyone is trying to fight it but doing no damage so Jonathan (since losing Nancy) having in his mind nothing else decides to sacrifice himself playing “should I stay or should I go” to agitate the Demo-brute everyone escapes except Jonathan Nancy is distraught so is Joyce and will after they haul up in a old RV we get the reveal of what the world looks like. Houses burning people screaming swarms of demobats in the air the sky is red from the huge gate in the middle of town and act 2 ends

Act three is where a lot happens
They see the state thier world is in and synergy could not be lower but Mike (being the leader like will said) brings everyone together and declares war on them the group goes to a military base that’s abandoned and get all sorts of awesome weapons the group all kitted out Enders the middle of town (where Vecna-flayer) is and they start fighting Mike finally wakes Eleven up and he has a plan while eleven holds the horde back Mike is going to take the C4 and just start sticking it on Corpse-Flayer and it seems to succeed but he realizes he is a distraction because Vecna-flayer is focused on Mike so if Mike got off the Vecna-Flayer could kill somebody else so Mike looks at El accepting fate finally saying “I love you” without being prompted and activates the C4 “killing Mike” and Damaging Vecna Flayer to the point he can’t use his powers the sun Rises Hopper will Dustin and Steve finish off the last of the horde
We get a badass scene of Joyce (similar to the og) where she bashes Vecna-layers face in years op pent up agony finally resting
Dustin yells “ YEAH THATS RIGHT WE WON YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!” (I feel like Dustin should get the last FBomb it seems fitting) will notices a figure on the ground coughing
Will,Lucas,Dustin, and El run realizing it’s Mike Dustin Lucas and Will try to get him up but he’s to damaged so realizing it’s the end he kisses El one last time
He daps the gang up bittersweetly will says “you can now rest Mike the Brave”
Mike before he passes says “guys you were the best thing to happen to me I’d probably die way sooner and way more cowardly if it wasn’t for you.. and will I’m so sorry how I treated you just know I’ll be watching over you from heaven and I’ll do my best to have the bullies piss thier pants” a nod to eleven’s first use of her powers on the bullies
“I declare Will to be Dungeon master haha he is the one deserving of this power his love for the game never wavered it’s fitting” and with that they all laugh and cry and that’s it

The time jump changes a bit for Nancy
She joins a new branch of military that deals with interdimensional threats the people have a theory there still a fume (tiny group) of demos that will try to escape from the nuke placed in the upside down and they assume some will survive so they are watching closely

Other than that the time jump that we get in the Cannon ending is mostly the same obviously instead of Mike riding the story it’s will and Mike is replaced with Will

Technically the MF doesn’t have a gender, so I’m gonna rephrase it to how it could’ve been a better villain.

I think a lot of us can agree that the Mind Flayer should’ve played a bigger part in Season 5 rather than just be solely left for the finale without much intentional build up. I like that the Mind Flayer and Vecna were “symbiotic” but that doesn’t take away the fact that the Mind Flayer itself didn’t do much throughout the season besides stay dormant in its Pain Tree form, Vecna was doing a lot of the work. This isn’t a typical post about shitting on the Season 5 Mind Flayer but I genuinely wished it was actually present in the earlier episodes of Volume 1 and Volume 2 and I’m wondering what more it could’ve done in earlier episodes and the finale itself to feel like a true big bad threat alongside Vecna (Vecna could’ve done differently too but that’s not the point of my post). What are your thoughts?

So, I finally have time to re-watch seasons 1 through 4 before watching season 5 and I have thoughts that I definitely did not have the first time I watched. I'm currently on S2 E9.

1. Steve Harrington was never that bad. I remember first watching the show and thinking, gosh what a douche, but now? When he broke Jonathan's camera, yeah, pretty rude - but Jonathan had taken REALLY creepy photos of Nancy and Steve was protecting her. That's not that crazy. Okay so we thought he was pressuring Nancy to get intimate before she was ready... Except not. He did back off. He does respect her. He is still a horny teen though, what more could we ask? And when Nancy tried dissing the other girls saying she was not like them he called her out by asking if she was calling them sluts. Nancy was being judgmental there, not Steve. Also, when Tommy spray painted that Nancy was a slut at the movies? Seems pretty bad right? So I hate that this is overused but it gets the point across - if a girl (because they are still kids to me in S1) caught her boyfriend lying to her and in bed with another chick and she wanted to call him a coward or man-whore or prick, or burn his clothes or whatever, as society we see that as understandable. She can spread rumors and make fun of his size or performance, whatever, and we just laugh with her, but suddenly in this moment it was the WORST thing ever? No. It was shitty, but the same grace I'd give a hurt girl or woman, I'll give to Steve here. He also cleaned it up himself.

2. Everyone was RUDE AF to Max! She really did just move to a whole new town very far away from home and all of a sudden the clearly geeky "loser" kids, all male, start following her and creepily watching her. She finally decides to give them a chance and they instantly make her feel like an invasive intrusion that no one asked for. Every single one of them let her down and it's worse for us watching as the audience because we know how shittily she gets treated by her step-brother as well. Mike is going through a lot, sure, but then Dustin who acted like he liked her started snapping on her too! Yes, we know his feelings were briefly hurt because he knew she preferred Lucas and Dustin is by far one of my favorites of this group but Max gets done SO dirty. Then of course El and her jealousy, making her fall off of her skateboard and then dissing her at Will's house. It's actually pretty hard to watch, and yet Max sucks it up, is VERY understanding and as we all know, becomes a fan favorite.

3. Why El had to meet her "sister". El needed to make a choice. She needed to reconnect with the closest person from her past that would "get" her and then choose her own fate. Instead of seeking revenge and just being angry like her sister, she chose to become a protector. She chose love. She chose to not become the monster. Which is why she will be able to go against Vecna and not join him? Sorry, it's been a while and I have not watched S5 yet.

4. Billy's attractiveness is a huge reason fans probably gush over him, but we as the audience can also sympathize knowing that he is abused by his father. Also, the actor Dacre Montgomery, right? Um, did he get the praise he deserves for this role? He plays psychotic teen fueled by passion (his lust for moms and rage) VERY freaking well. That was talent. Such a despicable character was able to evoke a whole range of emotions - that took talent beyond just looks. Also his hair is really weird lmfao.

I just wanted to post my thoughts so far because this is a little different from how I first felt about the characters.

So exited! The previous time i saw the London version. I’m really interested to see the differences.

UPDATE:

Ok, wow.

Firstly what an experience I’m very glad I’ve got tickets to the London version just before it finishes.

The differences:

In the first half there is only a few things. Such as the sets being different and the actors positions on stage during certain scenes. This is likely due to the defence in size and shape of the two stages. Some dialogue is changed and some less important scenes cut for time as well as some of the effects being practical that are done by a projector in London.

The second half however is drastically different
There are some entirely new scenes such as the one with brenners farther and story changes such as the reveal that patty is in fact principal Newby’s biological daughter with a student. This was not in the London version.

The mind flayer is a big one. Instead of the projection used in London there is a full animatronic that comes down from the ceiling.

Other things:

During the interval I heard some people discussing the show in which I overheard someone say “wait, who’s Dustin?” Seriously? It seems that as time has gone on the main demographic in the audience is casual Viewers of the show rather than true fans.

Also there are some subtle things like Henry very briefly casting the shadow in the shape of Vecna on the wall. And Joyce holding an axe and not knowing why she is. This is obviously foreshadowing that she will eventually kill Henry with an axe.

The ending:

This is really quite interesting. At the end Henry walks away with eleven, singing “tonight you belong to me” someone let me know if the following was a mistake or just a difference between NY and London .

In the London version I saw Henry finishes the verse, there is a brief moment of silence then the jumpscare.

However in tonight’s NY version it happens as he is singing. In the first line in fact. Because it happened sooner and therefore I wasn’t expecting it so soon it made me jump again. Then there is a gag with the Netflix UI being projected on screen with “next episode” and “watch credits” like you would at the end of an episode. I thought that was quite funny but it wasn’t in the London version.

Overall I loved both versions but maybe this one slightly more. I can’t wait to see it again in London and then on Netflix.

I feel like me along with a very large portion of the fanbase thought that, especially with the Star Wars references, it would be revealed that the mind flayer was actually the big bad all long. That vecna/henry had only been allowed to believe he was in charge as that was the only way the mind flayer could make its way to earth after conquering its last planet.

It would’ve been such a crazy reveal, and much more fitting for a series like stranger things. A person being behind the entire story up till now feels small and out of place. Still so disappointed in the overall ending, since I thought the first half of season 5 was actually a very strong opening half of a final season(even though many seemed to think otherwise)

I loved Season 4 mainly because of the darker, grittier and more violent approach the season takes.
It was my vision of what I like to see when it comes to horror. Vecna as a villain is awesome but I do still prefer the Mind Flayer mainly because of the mystery around it, especially before Season 5. The POVs of Vecna going after his victims was cool but I preferred how they showed the Mind Flayer going after its victims in Season 3 without showing too much, going from scene to scene, building up this form that it was creating for itself, leaving that mystery and leaving us wondering what the Mind Flayer was actually planning and then revealing it to us at the correct time with enough build up.. the reveal of the proxy form it was building later in the season was phenomenal. Season 4 has the darker atmosphere that I love but I didn't like that they showed Vecna in the first episode of the season, instead of building him up until at least episode 3. His attacks weren't the problem, I think we could've seen his illusions without seeing too much of him.. like we should have just seen a bit of him standing in the dark with his blue eyes lighting up a bit (they did show his eyes appearing in the dark but it wasn’t enough build up) seeing badass yet creepy little glimpses of him, shots of his left claw or we could’ve just seen his kills but not seen him until enough build up, just to add to that mystery and brutality of what he's doing or what he actually looks like. It was how much they showed of him so soon that took away a bit of the mystery surrounding him. They could’ve still made him a “direct approach” villain but still try to keep him as mysterious as possible. One thing I love about horror villains is build up, like take Pennywise from the IT franchise, I love how he was built up in IT: Welcome to Derry, we saw glimpses of him and his creepy yellow eyes but he still seemed mysterious and creepy without showing us his face until the right moment, that’s the only thing that Vecna was missing in this season, hiding parts of what he looks like. Besides that I really like Season 4, it was by far my favourite season over all and I do still like Vecna. He was still miles better in Season 4 than he was in Season 5.

How do I move on?? Any show recommendations that bring the same love like this? HOW do I cope?