Stranger Things Season 5 Is The Last Chance To Redeem The Show’s Biggest Failure

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Season 5 of Stranger Things faces a huge challenge: wrapping up all the storylines and character developments from the past four seasons in a way that fans will love. Stranger Things has been a defining show for streaming over the last ten years, and it’s crucial that the creators, the Duffer brothers, deliver a strong finale. As we saw with Game of Thrones, a disappointing ending can ruin the legacy of even a great show, so there’s a lot riding on this final season.

The Duffer brothers have made some good decisions, especially revealing Vecna as the true villain of Stranger Things from the beginning. This reframes the entire series as a battle against his invasion from the Upside Down. Vecna’s powers have also allowed the show to explore themes of grief and its consequences, which Season 5 can continue to do. However, there’s still one unresolved plot point from earlier seasons that isn’t connected to Vecna, and it needs to be addressed.

“The Lost Sister” Is Still Stranger Things’ Biggest Mistake

You know, thinking about Stranger Things Season 2, it’s pretty clear what the Duffer brothers were aiming for. They really wanted to dig deeper into Eleven’s backstory and abilities, and they did that by introducing Kali, another survivor from Hawkins Lab. That episode focused a lot on her, and it felt like they were setting her up as a kind of anti-Eleven – a Magneto to Eleven’s Professor X, if you get my drift. Kali and her group were totally different from the core kids, and she was driven by a serious need for revenge against Dr. Brenner and anyone else connected to the lab.

Season 2, episode 7 of Stranger Things, “The Lost Sister,” had some interesting concepts. The creators, the Duffer brothers, attempted a storyline similar to Luke Skywalker’s training in The Empire Strikes Back, using the character Kali to mentor Eleven. They also wanted to broaden the show’s scope beyond the town of Hawkins. However, many viewers didn’t enjoy this episode, finding its different style and focus jarring. As a result, Kali’s character hasn’t been prominently featured since, though there’s a small reference to her in Season 4.

Season 4 of Stranger Things cleverly echoed the plot of “The Lost Sister,” but with much stronger execution. Similar to that episode, Eleven went on a journey to find a guide who could help her unlock even greater powers. The season also split the characters up, sending some, like Joyce, Hopper, and Murray, as far as Russia. However, unlike “The Lost Sister,” these separate storylines felt connected to the main events in Hawkins, creating a unified and consistent narrative. The result was a truly impressive season.

Can Stranger Things Season 5 Fix The Show’s Kali Mistake?

While Season 5 isn’t the absolute end of the Stranger Things story – an animated spin-off is planned – it will still center on the characters we know from Hawkins. The Duffer brothers, the creators of the show, are hoping to work on movies, making Season 5 their final opportunity to really deliver on everything they’ve built. Season 4 showed they were back on track, but they also need to properly address the character of Kali and bring her back into the story.

What part will Kali play in the story? She could easily become a villain, maybe even joining the “Cult of Vecna” that was hinted at in the first episode of Season 4. That would make sense for her character, as she’s often been Eleven’s opposite – a force of conflict. However, drawing from the X-Men parallels that Stranger Things has used throughout the series, Kali could also end up helping Eleven, just like Magneto sometimes allies with the X-Men against bigger dangers.

It’s certain that the final season of Stranger Things needs to resolve all remaining storylines, and Kali’s story is a major one. Ignoring her would essentially admit she was a failed plotline. It would be much more rewarding for the creators to find a way to include her in the conclusion.

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2025-11-26 04:40