Stranger Things 4, part 1 perfectly set up the finale, but the last episodes have to fix the show's death issue if season 5 is going to succeed.

WARNING: Spoilers for Stranger Things 4, part 1

Stranger Things season 4 has proven to be one of the show’s most popular, but if season 5 is going to be a success, then the Netflix series needs to overcome its death problem. Ever since its conception in 2016, Stranger Things has dominated popular culture through its nostalgic sensibilities and charming cast. Season 4 has proven to be no exception, with its repeated use of Kate Bush’s 1985 song, “Running Up That Hill,” proving enough to give the artist a global resurgence with the track reaching number one in the charts and becoming one of Spotify’s most-streamed songs.

Before the show’s fifth and final season, Stranger Things season 4 has been divided into two chapters, with the first seven episodes being released in one go and the final two feature-length episodes coming out over a month later. The ending of season 4, part 1 provided a cliff-hanger for a number of the residents of Hawkins. With Nancy stuck in the Upside Down and Eleven’s “friendly porter” revealed to be Number One/Vecna, the final two episodes are shaping up to be some of the show’s best.

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Despite Stranger Thing’s clear success, however, the season 4 finale will need to overcome the show’s biggest problem if it is to ensure that its final season works. This issue is rooted in how the show has handled end-of-season deaths, most notably the fact that it has consistently avoided them for its main cast. With this trend establishing the central group as untouchable, the previous finales have lacked a sense of peril as audiences come to expect the characters’ near-guaranteed safety. A well-written and meaningful death in Stranger Things 4, part 2 would perfectly set up the stakes for the show’s final season, creating a genuine level of threat in which nobody is truly safe.

For all the show’s horror-inflected sequences and convincing villains, the Stranger Things finales consistently lack peril. This is a product of the show’s reluctance to put its main characters in a situation where they risk dying, instead substituting a sacrificial minor character to die in the place of one who would leave a larger impact. This was the case with Bob in season 2 and Billy in season 3, both characters who undoubtedly had a lasting impact on their respective seasons but were sufficiently removed enough from the central group to provide their deaths without major emotional fallout for the viewer.

This was confirmed by the season 3 finale with Hopper’s fakeout death. With Hopper locked inside the exploding Russian reactor, Stranger Things had the opportunity to show that its main characters were at risk and could, indeed, be killed. Unable to leave the season on such a somber note, the series finale revealed that Hopper was still alive, reaffirming the show’s central problem. With the audience safe in the knowledge that nobody of consequence dies in Stranger Things, the show has set an unfortunate precedent in which its finales lack a genuine sense of peril, no matter how high the stakes are.

The ending of Stranger Things season 4, part 1 left the show with the chance to move away from this trend. It still seems unlikely that Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will or Eleven will be the first major character to leave the show for good, but the part 1 cliff-hanger ending left many characters in a suitable position to become the show’s first major death. Attacked by Vecna’s bats when first entering the Upside Down, Steve is suffering some serious wounds and his blood loss could prove deadly the longer it is left untreated. In a move similar to The Walking Dead’s surprise character deaths, the previous seasons have developed Steve into a clear fan-favorite, making his death one way to add a real sense of peril to the final season.

Related: Why Eleven Forgot Her Memories Of Number 1 & Hawkins Lab

An alternative route would be to see Max as the first Stranger Things main character to be officially killed off. As the star of one of season 4’s highest-rated episodes, “Dear Billy,” Max is another character to whom there is a clear fan attachment. Max’s previous interactions with Vecna put her in a position where she has a better understanding of the Stranger Things main villain than any of the other central cast, potentially pointing towards a move of ultimate sacrifice in the season’s finale.

This being said, season 4 has set up a few characters who seem to assume the conventional choice for a Stranger Things end-of-season death. Just as was the case with Bob and Billy in previous seasons, season 4 has seen both Robin and Murray grow closer to the Hawkins inner circle, the former with Steve and Nancy and the latter with Joyce. If the previous seasons are anything to go by, the death of one of these characters seems the most obvious exit, once again affirming the indestructibility of the show’s main characters. 

The best way to increase the stakes for Stranger Things’ last season would be to mark a major death in the season 4 finale. Be it Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper, or Joyce, the show has a multitude of characters who have been there from the beginning and whose departure would be felt across the show’s core group of kids. Opening Stranger Things season 5 with the fallout of such a dramatic twist, Stranger Things would be able to raise the stakes higher than ever before, with the audience aware that nobody is truly safe.

Shaking this level of repetition between the series will be key to the success of Stranger Things 5. The Duffer Brothers wrote both seasons 4 and 5 in close succession, ensuring that there is a level of flow between the two. Vecna’s reveal at the end of season 4, part 1 may have teased him as the show’s ultimate villain and it is this level of continuity that should continue into its final episodes. The Stranger Things season finales have come to be defined by a character’s death, and only by proving that its central heroes are not indestructible will the show be able to create a true sense of peril as it comes to a close.

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