‘Stranger Things’ needs to kill someone off already: Nancy and Jonathan should have died in season 5 episode 6
In the long lead up to Stranger Things Season 5, fans feverishly wondered which of their favorite characters would meet their demise in the Netflix hit’s grand finale. Would Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) finally perish at Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) hand? Would fan favorite Steve (Joe Keery) die a hero’s death like Season 4 standout Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn)? Would Hopper (David Harbour) bite the dust and actually stay dead for once?
**Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5 Episodes 1-7, now streaming on Netflix**
Well, it turns out that no one has died yet in Stranger Things Season 5. Sure, a ton of people could still perish in next week’s grand finale, but the Duffer Brothers have been uniquely merciful to their sprawling cast of characters so far. Will was able to tap into his “Sorcerer” powers just in time to save Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Robin (Maya Hawke) from Demogorgons. Mrs. Wheeler (Cara Buono) rose from her hospital bed to rescue the gang from the Demodogs Vecna sent after Max (Sadie Sink) in her comatose state. Heck, even Mr. Wheeler (Joe Chrest) managed to evade the Grim Reaper in his one-on-one with a monster this season. (He’s simply offscreen in a coma.)
However, the two characters who really lucked out in Stranger Things Season 5 so far have got to be Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 5 “Shock Jock” ends with Nancy stupidly shooting at a strange cosmic display in the hopes that it might bring the flesh wall encompassing the Upside Down’s Hawkins down. Instead of precipitating the end of the world — as Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) warns Steve it will — this only seems to screw Nancy and Jonathan. The two lovers are trapped in a room being melted in real time thanks to chaotic matter. When they try to stave off the inevitable by clambering onto a desk, the couple finally opens up about all of the minor and major problems riddling their long-term romance.
Photo: Netflix
The most touching and interesting Nancy and Jonathan scene in ages crescendoes with him revealing his desperate plan to propose to her to save the relationship. Facing certain death, he instead asks Nancy if she will not marry him. She accepts and they seem to accept their grim fate.
Then Nancy drops the ring and it pings across the now solid floor. They are saved.
Folks, I’m sorry, but Nancy and Jonathan were goners. They did something stupid and were about to suffer the consequences. They dredged up every bitter thought they each were suppressing and achieved a type of romantic grace that only literature’s most tragic lovers ever enjoy. But then — for some reason — they were saved? Nancy and Jonathan should have died in Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 6!
The fact that the Duffer Brothers concocted such a beautifully-affecting death scene for these two characters only to chicken out at the end really sums up my biggest pet peeve with Stranger Things in general. Stranger Things is a show that riffs on Stephen King and Steven Spielberg, remixing those storytellers’ greatest hits for the Netflix generation. But what King and Spielberg’s work had, that the Duffers’ show doesn’t, is real bite. The danger was real, the deaths stuck.
Heading into Stranger Things‘s grand finale next week, I have no doubt that someone will die. The show is heavily hinting that Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) will sacrifice herself alongside Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), but I’m guessing that Hopper will take her place. (I mean, the man keeps trying to kill himself this season so maybe it will finally happen for him at the end.)
Stranger Things doesn’t have the guts to hit us where it really hurts. The only major players who ever die are supporting characters introduced for a season-long arc or random background soldiers. None of the major players are ever in any real danger, which means there’s never any real reason to fear the monsters of Stranger Things.
