Spoilers Stranger Things Season 5 - SPOILERS

[Belen]

OK I think it’s awesome that they cast a Kiwi actress to play Holly this season. However, Nell Fisher is 14. She’s too tall and too mature to pull off a 7-year-old convincingly. Holly comes across as being more like 11 (the same age Will was when he was taken).

She is supposed to be 9-10. All the kids targeted were in that age range.

 

[The Soloist]

My main problem with the show right now is the copious amount of exposition in place of actual plot. Why show anything when you can simply explain the plot verbatim? I don’t usually care about that so much but this is laying it on thick.

I'm the opposite. exposition saves precious screen time. Why spend a full episode of Max running around in Henry's mind trying to get out, when she can tell her journey to Holly, in a few minutes. And it was interspersed with action scenes. Very well done. Max is a tertiary character, not a main character.

Knowing how much time to spend on a character, according to narrative importance, is almost a lost art these days.

 

[Deadstop]

She is supposed to be 9-10. All the kids targeted were in that age range.

They do lampshade that Holly’s age appears to have gotten a bit of a jump when Karen claims that Ted doesn’t even know how old she is. Love the actress, but weird that they recast and still went older than the character should be. Can’t really help it with the twentysomething teens by this point, but this was a fresh pick.

But yeah, as of episode 4, the military was scooping up ages 9-10 specifically (rather tight for a range). Vecna explained “why kids,” but why he would noticeably be targeting only fourth graders is unclear.

Since all the targeted kids seemed to recognize the “Mr. Whatsit” name, maybe it’s just that he started with Holly and branched out to her classmates.

 

[pukunui]

She is supposed to be 9-10. All the kids targeted were in that age range.

OK. Her birth year is 1980, which would make her 7, but I guess they’ve changed that.

 

[Belen]

OK. Her birth year is 1980, which would make her 7, but I guess they’ve changed that.

They must have because Mom and Dad Wheeler should not be in school together or in a school play with Henry Creel.

 

[pukunui]

They must have because Mom and Dad Wheeler should not be in school together or in a school play with Henry Creel.

They could have been senior students with Henry a freshman. Apparently that high school memory Max found is detailed more in the prequel play. In that, Dr Brenner confronts Henry on stage.

Apparently, the play explains the cave Max is hiding in as well, and it makes it seem like the mind flayer is actually controlling Henry.

It makes me wonder if the mind flayer is still in control, not Vecna. The Duffers were asked that in the interview I linked to earlier, and they gave a rather coy “you’ll have to watch to find out” answer.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Back on topic:
Do you think Dustin being bullied by the footballers because he wears the Hell Fire Club shirt, is an indirect reference to the Satanic Panic and general attitude against D&D players in schools during that time?

The whole Hellfire Club subplot is about the Satanic Panic.

 

[The Soloist]

The whole Hellfire Club subplot is about the Satanic Panic.

Yes, my memory of season 4 was sketchy when I wrote that. Should have taken another coffee before posting.