First off, yeah, this episode is huge in scale and highly entertaining, and yeah, this show is afraid to kill off main characters. Now that the obvious is addressed because I think most will agree with that, I can't help but be like what, with the amount of people who wanted Max dead this episode to show "high stakes". Let us just introspect on that.
For anybody who has been following her character arc and the theme of it, it would have been absolutely ridiculous to drag her character through the mud and survive as a metaphor for her starting to escape the grasp of Depression... if she episodes later gets killed anyway in the exact same way that represented her Depression and the impending doom and what made her stronger. It would have been pretty ridiculous to not even let her reunite properly with Eleven, her best girl friend, who was a core part of the memories that saved her in the first place, and who has been missing in her life. And it would certainly be ridiculous for the character of Eleven's, to kill off her only girl friend who is helping her feel more normal, and who she has been needing the entire time this season, as seen in how she couldn't make new girl friends and lacked something to relate to even when she had Mike and Will.
To have killed her off would have robbed the show for all of that going onward, for what purpose? The purpose of "upping the stakes"? Just showing they can kill off bigger characters in general?
Then there's stuff like that if Max had died, she would've just ended up in the exact same position as Billy with him being killed during a brave sacrifice, so there would be zero progression between their situations, and Max would've been just a copy of what happened to him and Vecna would be right that they're the same, for no actual reason in the show, because Hawkins would've still suffered the same fate. I don't think Eleven would've gotten over that either, her only girl friend dying in front of her unable to save her, and then she's supposed to what, fight the biggest battle yet at the same time next season and if she does win, she'd no longer have anybody to relate to as the "human girl"?
The way they handled it, Max still clearly suffers serious consequences that are pretty dark but unlike Billy who didn't have any close friends, Max is still alive, saved and show that there was a purpose to all the progress she made and a continuous way forward with Eleven. I cannot see how killing her off would've been for anything other than the writers trying to prove a point and shock the viewers just for the sake of it.
With all of that being said, I can agree that somebody important does need to meet an end in the final season for the show to make a more significant impact, and this season probably would have benefited from it too. Eddie was another cool 1-season character, he had a very predictable arc with him no longer running away, and he still managed to die without seemingly making that big of an impact on what happened. So it would've been a harder punch if somebody else and more important hadn't made it out. I get that. Critiques can be made, we can acknowledge so-far every main character has been safe and that it is an overall issue as to making the threats seem more impactful.
But honestly, I think it is hard to deny that it makes sense why they have kept all the people alive they've kept alive so far. Also because it doesn't get too heavy with funerals before the final big battle, and this season finale was a bomb of action either way. Epic, cinematic, a roller coaster, perfect set-up for a season 5 plot without taking away from season 4 standing solid in its own story. I think it is also a much safer bet that at least one main character may die during the last season, where characters like Steve, Will, Murray would be more set up to meet their heroic end because if it happened here, it wouldn't be as significant and we'd lack actual stakes for the final battle because we all know most of the others are as safe as can be. We'll see what they do with the character most at risk and then we can judge I guess.
10/10 season finale, the plot made sense, super epic, had an amazing time with Vecna and all the stuff this season.
For anybody who has been following her character arc and the theme of it, it would have been absolutely ridiculous to drag her character through the mud and survive as a metaphor for her starting to escape the grasp of Depression... if she episodes later gets killed anyway in the exact same way that represented her Depression and the impending doom and what made her stronger. It would have been pretty ridiculous to not even let her reunite properly with Eleven, her best girl friend, who was a core part of the memories that saved her in the first place, and who has been missing in her life. And it would certainly be ridiculous for the character of Eleven's, to kill off her only girl friend who is helping her feel more normal, and who she has been needing the entire time this season, as seen in how she couldn't make new girl friends and lacked something to relate to even when she had Mike and Will.
To have killed her off would have robbed the show for all of that going onward, for what purpose? The purpose of "upping the stakes"? Just showing they can kill off bigger characters in general?
Then there's stuff like that if Max had died, she would've just ended up in the exact same position as Billy with him being killed during a brave sacrifice, so there would be zero progression between their situations, and Max would've been just a copy of what happened to him and Vecna would be right that they're the same, for no actual reason in the show, because Hawkins would've still suffered the same fate. I don't think Eleven would've gotten over that either, her only girl friend dying in front of her unable to save her, and then she's supposed to what, fight the biggest battle yet at the same time next season and if she does win, she'd no longer have anybody to relate to as the "human girl"?
The way they handled it, Max still clearly suffers serious consequences that are pretty dark but unlike Billy who didn't have any close friends, Max is still alive, saved and show that there was a purpose to all the progress she made and a continuous way forward with Eleven. I cannot see how killing her off would've been for anything other than the writers trying to prove a point and shock the viewers just for the sake of it.
With all of that being said, I can agree that somebody important does need to meet an end in the final season for the show to make a more significant impact, and this season probably would have benefited from it too. Eddie was another cool 1-season character, he had a very predictable arc with him no longer running away, and he still managed to die without seemingly making that big of an impact on what happened. So it would've been a harder punch if somebody else and more important hadn't made it out. I get that. Critiques can be made, we can acknowledge so-far every main character has been safe and that it is an overall issue as to making the threats seem more impactful.
But honestly, I think it is hard to deny that it makes sense why they have kept all the people alive they've kept alive so far. Also because it doesn't get too heavy with funerals before the final big battle, and this season finale was a bomb of action either way. Epic, cinematic, a roller coaster, perfect set-up for a season 5 plot without taking away from season 4 standing solid in its own story. I think it is also a much safer bet that at least one main character may die during the last season, where characters like Steve, Will, Murray would be more set up to meet their heroic end because if it happened here, it wouldn't be as significant and we'd lack actual stakes for the final battle because we all know most of the others are as safe as can be. We'll see what they do with the character most at risk and then we can judge I guess.
10/10 season finale, the plot made sense, super epic, had an amazing time with Vecna and all the stuff this season.
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