I’m Really Looking Forward to These 5 Things in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5

After 3 agonizing years of waiting, Stranger Things is finally on its way back to our screens for its swan song. The fifth season of the veritable pop culture phenomenon is back this fall with two new volumes, due out November 26th and December 25th, with the grand finale debuting on New Year’s Day. The holiday season is going to be chock-full of Demogorgons, Dungeons & Dragons, and Dustin. Just as all holiday seasons should be.

When we last left our intrepid heroes, Hawkins was aflame due to near-apocalyptic levels of devastation wrought by Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). Kids, teens, and adults all reunited after spending most of the season apart — save for Max (Sadie Sink), who fell victim to Vecna and was hospitalized in a comatose state. As for everyone else? Well, Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Habour) finally gave into all that will-they/won’t-they tension, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) suffered the loss of Eddie (Joseph Quinn), Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Johnathan (Charlie Heaton) were having doubts about their relationship (great news for Steve/Nancy shippers), Will (Noah Schnapp) was struggling with his crush on Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and poor Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) was waiting for Max to wake up. Oh, and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) got her powers back. But with all that up in the air, what in the Upside Down is going to happen next?

5

Gimme More Jopper, STAT

The chemistry David Harbour and Winona Ryder have is the stuff of television legend. What started out as two characters with a shared, rocky past just trying to find a missing boy slowly grew into an electric, magnetic (pardon the pun) kind of sexual tension that would do Mulder and Scully proud. No, seriously. Did you see that kiss? It was so good that cheers could probably be heard ’round the world. The two just click. Every new development in their lives made them more and more suited to one another. From Hopper taking on a parental role in Eleven’s life, to Joyce finally getting her feet under her and opening herself up to love again (RIP Bob), the connection between them just seemed inevitable. Fated, even.

Now that they’re firmly together, what’s next for Jopper? It goes without saying that both of them getting out of the season alive sure would be nice — especially after all they’ve been through together, what with their supernaturally-inclined kids and all. Give me conflict, give me bickering, give me cheesy dates at Enzo’s (if it’s still standing), and adrenaline-fueled hugs, and all that delicious Jopper tension we know and love. Few things would be more satisfying than seeing Joyce and Hopper as the power couple we all know they are, joining their kids in the fight against Vecna and kicking a lot of ass. And if they hold hands and kiss a little while doing it…well, that’s just good television.

4

Give Will Something to Do

Will had a hard Season 3. And 4. Will was the centerpiece of Stranger Things and the mystery of the Upside Down for so long, but recent seasons have seen him become less and less relevant to the mythos of the show as Eleven’s importance has taken over. And while it was nice to see Will deal with some regular teenage problems (unrequited crushes are tough, and so is being queer in the ’80s), it’s hard not to miss when his connection to the Upside Down was a big deal.

Will’s story in Season 5 will undoubtedly involve said connection to Vecna’s world. Why was he taken in the first place, and why did the Upside Down continue to have such a hold on him after he was rescued? Did Vecna allow all of that to happen, and did Will himself procure any powers from that experience that we just haven’t seen yet? There’s a lot to explore when it comes to Will and the Upside Down, and it would be very cool to see him do that alongside Eleven. The two pseudo-siblings working together seem like such a no-brainer at this point. And as for his personal life: manifesting nothing but love and support for him as his friends and family find out who he is. He deserves to have a good coming out experience after all the Upside Down trauma.

3

More Upside Down Lore

By now, audiences are very familiar with the basics of the Upside Down: it’s a mirror image of the real world, but in a hostile, apocalyptic environment overrun with supernatural creatures that have a thirst for blood. Vecna found himself in the Upside Down after Eleven basically blasted him out of reality and molded it to his whims. And oddly, the entire alternate world below ours seems to be permanently stuck in the year 1983. But so many questions remain.

It’s basically a guarantee that a lot of those questions will be answered by the time Stranger Things takes a bow on January 31st. It would be so satisfying to know how and why alternate dimensions can be created, whether it was Vecna that created the creatures or if they already existed, and why the Upside Down is stuck in 1983. The universe below Hawkins seems hostile, but is it possible it’s only hostile because Vecna is in control of it? Could the Upside Down be a peaceful place? (Probably not.) The lore of it is so fascinating, and finding out even a fraction of the answers to some of the questions remaining would be a nerd’s total dream.

2

No More Solo Eleven Side Quests

Stranger Things has an odd habit of splitting Eleven off from the main group of characters around mid-season. This is usually done to enhance (or even bring back) her powers, and the show suffers for it every single time. Not only is it hard to watch Eleven be tortured repeatedly, it’s frustrating to see the plot ground to a halt while the show once again cycles through establishing whether it’s pain or love that makes her powers the most potent. The backstory revelations are always welcome, of course, but so many of those moments would have been more impactful with Eleven’s friends by her side, rather than her finding certain things out while locked in a bunker with only Papa for company.

Season 5 would seriously benefit from keeping Eleven with the core group of kids. Audiences fell in love with the rag-tag nature of Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will’s friend group — sorry, party — and the addition of Eleven and Max to that really made the whole show sing. And while splitting up is obviously inevitable when it comes to fictional adventures, it would be nice to see Eleven even have one of her friends at her side when that happens. The relationships she’s formed are integral to her character and her powers, and exploring the nature of both seems like an amazing way for Eleven to gear up for the final battle with Vecna. Please, no more sending Eleven on solo side quests. She needs her friends!

1

One Word: Max

Seriously, is she okay? When viewers last saw Max, she was in a comma after being effectively killed by Vecna and brought back to life by Eleven. She woke up in Lucas’ arms with nearly all of her limbs broken and no ability to see. This came after a season of Max being psychologically tortured with memories of Billy’s death by Vecna. The girl just couldn’t catch a break.

Max is truly the heart and soul of the group. She’s smart, funny, and incredibly (even dangerously) brave. She even used herself as bait to lure Vecna into a trap in the vague hope that they could kill him before he killed her. With Max having experienced both the Upside Down and a weird psychic connection with Vecna, it really seems like she’ll be one of the keys to defeating him in the end. Hopefully a big one. It would be so heartwarming to see Max and Eleven work together after becoming so important to one another. There’s just one thing though: Max needs to be okay. Other characters can die (hopefully they won’t, but let’s be real — this is Stranger Things), but not Max. She’s been through too much! Max deserves a happy ending more than anyone else, okay? She’s earned it.

Keep Reading: 5 Totally Bold Predictions For Season 5 of ‘Stranger Things’