Stranger Things season 5 needs to not overthink its villain

Yet, the series has a habit of producing a latest creature feature each season, depicting the Upside Down as a place with seemingly unlimited potential to do damage. It’s part of the reason each season has felt different yet unequivocally connected. Still, at this late stage in the game, when the board has seemingly been set and the die cast, the Duffer Brothers should avoid overthinking their grand finale.

My concern is that another even bigger and badder villain will be introduced. After all, The Upside Down, while easily manipulated by Vecna, isn’t of his making. It’s an alternate dimension with endless possibilities that Vecna has learnt to harness and use for his own gains. Ergo, something altogether scarier could be using Vecna to its own ends.

Fitting though that may be in the ever expanding lore of the series and its offshoots, like the stage show, to introduce a new villain now at the end of the show would, in my opinion, hinder the narrative rather than help it. It muddies water which is already murky to begin with.

Stranger Things’ lore has a serpentine quality to it; at times it feels convoluted and confusing. Adding yet another new villain into the mix would create twists that detract from the story rather than add value.

Unfortunately, due to the Duffer Brothers’ lack of commitment when it comes to killing off beloved, key characters, they may feel the need to unnecessarily embellish the story.

Flipping the script right at the end would certainly prove that they’re not afraid to bare their teeth if it's demanded of them. Having been jokingly called out by Millie Bobby Brown for being “sensitive Sallies”, the Duffer Brothers may feel they have something to prove. Both to themselves, the cast, and the fans. But in doing so, therein lies another issue: loss of impact.

Season 4 was easily the most chilling yet, leaning heavily into the horror elements of the sci-fi horror subgenre. The way in which Vecna has weaponised trauma to kill has significantly impacted both the characters of the show and its fandom. Not least of all because Eleven, although she wasn’t aware of it initially, helped provide Vecna with such a deadly position of power in the first place.

This connection between Eleven and Vecna, two characters which symbolise the beginning of the Upside Down’s control over Hawkins, neatly wraps up the show. It provides a full circle moment that would fittingly draw Stranger Things to a close.

Thematically, keeping Vecna as the major villain also adds a personal aspect to the showdown we’re all eager to witness. Vecna nearly killed Max, and did, albeit indirectly, kill Eddie. This monster has taken much from the characters and is likely to demand even more still; thus, the need to avenge fallen friends only serves to strengthen the finale.

Of course, by choosing to keep Vecna as the big bad, the stakes have to be raised somehow. Vecna, as scary as he is, can’t remain stagnant when Stranger Things is aiming for a big finish. Ultimately, Vecna needs more dimensions to his character – this can’t all be for the love of killing or the thrill of revenge. Those are emotions that fed the fire, but what was the spark that made him who and what he is?

I also believe that Vecna’s defeat shouldn’t be how Hawkins is saved. Obviously, fans want closure after all the years they’ve invested; however, for Vecna’s death to automatically save Hawkins and defeat the Upside Down is too neat. Even if Vecna dies, the Duffer Brothers need to ensure that the Upside Down lives on, even if Hawkins is saved and we, the viewers, never see its haunting beauty again.

Vecna’s potential has not yet been fully realised. To squander that so close to the finish line would far remove Stranger Things from the aspects of the show that made it so powerful to begin with: its organic atmosphere and believability.

Stranger Things season 5 Volume 1 (episodes 1-4) premieres on 26th November; Volume 2 (episodes 5-7) will air on Christmas Day (25th December); and the finale (episode 8) will debut on New Year’s Eve (31st December).

Stranger Things seasons 1-4 are available on Netflix now. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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