Stranger Things' Biggest Problem Likely To Get Even Worse in Season 5
At some point, the show became oversaturated with different characters and storylines.
There is a good old tradition in Stranger Things: every season, a new lovable character appears only to get brutally killed off in the end.
Sometimes, however, the show steps away from its tradition: for instance, it chose to keep Max Mayfield, introduced in season 2, alive (at least we hope she lives after that disastrous season 4 finale that put her in a coma).
Slowly, the initial ensemble of the Hawkins gang became so big we rarely see the entire group all together. In fact, the show has to jump from storyline to storyline to even try and keep up with everyone.
And given that season 5 has already welcomed Terminator star Linda Hamilton to the cast, the show is not going to stop introducing new characters, even though the fifth chapter is confirmed to be the final one.
"The size of the cast became problematic by Season 4, even in Season 3. It seems the Duffers are simply obsessed with adding new characters to create new conflicts and new dynamics," noted Redditor jm17lfc.
"Most of the main cast only has well-defined relationships with 2-3 other main characters at most."
It's true that many main characters have had very little interaction (if any at all). Still, Stranger Things can't stop adding new characters to the show, and even tremendous fan love can't save them from being killed off (yes, we're talking about Joseph Quinn 's Eddie).
Moreover, should the Duffers decide to bring him back (thanks to that very fan love), it will only worsen the series' problem of having too many characters. Someone is bound to be left with too little screen time — and we know much how fans hate that.
At this point, all we can do is hope that the Duffers will do justice to fan favorites, from Steve Harrington to Max Mayfield. However, given that we're in for a final ride, we might want to prepare ourselves for painful farewells.
Due to the ongoing writers and actors strike, the production of Stranger Things has been put on hold. It's hard to say when season 5 premieres.