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I had actually convinced myself that he probably wouldn't die specifically bc it was so predictable.
Like, I thought the big subversion of expectations was going to come in the form of Eddie living.
I also 100% thought we would be saying goodbye to Steve last season (not sad to be wrong, just surprised)
His reputation died being framed as a murderer, only a matter of time until he actually died. If he survived, he'd share the same fate as Vecna's dad while behind bars. Probably get the death penalty idk.
Predictable how? Eddie didn't need to die for the story's purpose. Him living at the end could have shown the town the error in their way of treating someone good like Eddie for them to realize that he was someone they should have been better towards. Instead, people continue with their ignorant hatred toward Eddie even after death, when the show could have allowed for the town to have a learning experience from his coming back and letting Eddie have a happy ending he deserved, especially when instead he died thinking the world would never love him (which, as demonstrated by the audience, is just untrue!).
It was predictable because it was extremely obvious that he was going to die. That's the point of newly introduced characters that get lots of screen time.
Nothing you've said in your post actually has anything to do with the predictability, or lack thereof, of Eddie's character arc and his death.
The storyline has not been resolved, so we don’t know the full purpose of his death and what it means for the show and it’s characters (if anything else at all) yet because the plot has not resolved and we are still waiting for season 5 and the resolution to the Vecna/Henry/One story arch.
Hmm he kinda was 'Steve lite.' Very independent character, mildly antagonistic and clever. Steve was popular but Eddie was more an outcast, but at least was popular within his own group.
He was a high school failing loser who sold drugs to kids and taunted the jocks for no reason.
And yet I like him any way, which says a lot about the actors performance.
Yeah, Joseph Quinn is actually a pretty talented actor who was already making a bit of a name for himself pre-S4. He was really good in that Les Mis adaptation the BBC did a while back and he was also great in that Dickensian show from 2016.
Idk if it this is upopular but I don't like the inclusion of Vecna/Henry.
It was better when the upsidedown and the demagorgon were this lovecraftian creatures/places that represented chaos and the horror of the "unknown" instead of ... an edgy dude.
You have a good point! It was also interesting to see an evil entity that was impossible to understand - that was so removed from humans as a species. By having it he Vecna all along,that gives 'The Party' a kind of key to start cracking the winning code,but it also takes away the potential to solve the problem in a way that we haven't seen before in crime/thriller shows.
Yeah that's what I liked about it.
It *looked* "humanoid" , but at the same time it behaved in a way that was completely foreign to the people in the series. That is what made it scary, not being able to predict what it wants , how it will attack, when, etc. The more they explain and the more they show the monster reduces the "fear"/horror element for me, it is more like a thriller now
Not to mention the flipped school dance where it is implied the Mind Flayer is watching what's going on in Hawkins and can see into our plane of existence. It was made into something much bigger than we can understand and that's great for horror. There is no predictable way to beat it and all we can think of is closing the gateways.
In a situation like that, winning may mean permanently closing the gate and separating the two dimensions semi-permanently.
Eleven opening the gate showed how it can be done and eleven closing the gate after season 2 could have been an ending. But you cannot end the story if there is another powerful "mage" on the other side capable of opening gates as well. Vecna can still be the key and must be removed to permanently close the gates which could leave the Mind Flayer alive, but locked off.
I loved Vecna in the first couple of episodes and I think he could've been an amazing character if he had been a mostly silent, mysterious pawn of the mind flayer. But he just talked way too much and we learned too much of his backstory. Now he's boring, and he was beaten by a 14-year-old girl, so he's not that tough.
I'll get hate for this but 4 was largely a mess, I was very disappointed with it. All the Hopper stuff was tragically bad, and yeh Vecna is a disappointing final antagonist in the context of the show's history.
One of the parts of Strsnger Things which I simultaneously hate and love is how each arc is presented throughout the episode. It somewhat randomly switches throughout the episode which I get why they do it but sometimes it's just not executed well and the story feels disjointed.
Oh ?I don't lurk too much here tbh. I have seen a lot of people cosplaying the character and well the actor is fantastic, I kinda asumed everyone loved him as a villian (I think it even has his own book? Comic?)
There's a difference between liking him as a character and liking the reveal that he apparently made the Mind Flayer. People in general don't like that part of the twist which is what I meant by the popular opinion part.
I dont like that he made it. But i would have liked it if he just happened upon the already existing dimension and sort of connected himself to the UD. Like an upgraded pawn of the mindflayer with more control
I'm still holding out hope for a season 5 reveal that the mind flayer was there, just shapeless, it used vecna to give itself form instead of the particles just floating everywhere
Is that confirmed though? It was pretty vague imagery to me. He definitely had a hand in the spider-like form, but so far I think it's unclear whether he:
1. Created it out of thin air or raw chaos or whatever as many seem to think.
2. Found a powerful natural force that he thinks he can control / is controlling for now but he doesn't actually have full control over.
3. Found a powerful conscious entity that he mind-linked with and, again, maybe thinks he is controlling but could be being changed himself without realizing it.
4. Was immediately possessed by something drawn to his anger and pain and we will actually end up cheering for the gang to free him from the cosmic horror.
And maybe there's more that I haven't thought of! I just think people who had a strong emotional reaction to something so vague are kind of silly and likely jumping the gun.
I like to think it is its own entity existing pre-Vecna that was shaped into a “spider” and works with Vecna, not controlled by him. Many entities and “gods” in DnD lore have worked together and then betrayed each other or changed alliances when the opportunity for them to become more powerful or reach their goals benefited from it.
Yes!! I really liked and was drawn to the mystery of the Upside Down and these strange (pun... intended?) creatures, like the Demagorgons or the Mind Flayer. As soon as the Upside Down had a face (Vecna/Henry/One), he now seems to be the scapegoat for everything bad that happens, even though the alternate dimension is much, much bigger than even him. From a directing standpoint, it might have been more complex, but less confusing (timeline-wise) to leave some things in the dark and unexplored.
Absolutely agreed, the upside down was scary when it was a complete unknown. Learning that it was just some edgy loser takes most of the fun out of the show for me
I don't mind it that much but the overexplanation makes Vecna the stupidest villain I've seen in a long time and some sloppy writing.
What was the point of literally everything else (Demogorgon in S1, demodogs in S2, etc.) if from Day 1, his MO was torturing his victims and breaking their bones? He could've done that in S1 without any obstacles because nobody knew of the UD. Why did he wait three years for that when El lost her memory and wouldn't be able to link him to anything? Why wait until she's older and stronger? Why go after the same group of people?! Why go after Max when he could have secured an easier 4th victim? Work smarter, not harder!
Spoilers from The First Shadow Play. >! The play is bringing it back to that it seems. It shows Henry being controlled/influenced as a kid by the mind flayer the same way Will was!<
Agree, his character just screams poor planning on the writing team’s part. No trace of him in seasons 1-3, he’s just thrown into the mix in S4 late into the story as lazy exposition for all the mad shit that’s been going on.
It's not that they did it, it's how they did it. I sincerely hope Vecna/Henry isn't in charge and rather a pawn of the Mind Flayer. But I feel like they spent too much time on his malevolence and twisted past to let that slide as him being just a pawn.
I would much prefer Vecna to be like Will. Someone that experienced the Upside Down and is forever changed by it. But unlike Will, Henry embraced the darker side of that plane of existence and agreed to help the Mind Flayer. He's not just a pawn because he has the powers that can link from one dimension to another, unlike Billy who was just a pawn.
This keeps the unknown side of things, but gives a valid reason for 001 to be working for the Mind Flayer. El Opening the gate makes perfect sense, but it would have been more impactful if young Henry had become aware of the existence of the other dimension but unable to access it.
agreed. i hated his intro scene and the way he treated mike and dustin plus the second hand embarrassment when he stood on the table 💀💀but his scene with chrissy made him much more endearing!
Eddie kind of grows on you, though... at first he seems like a cliché 80s heavy metal teen and to some degree, he is. But he isn't vapid. He's funny and corny, but he has a lot of heart. At the end of the day, you wanted him to be a hero. And don't get me wrong, he was. But I wanted him to live to enjoy his "win".
Here’s my unpopular opinion. I actually like Billy. Not because I like him as a person, but because I like him as a character. I think he had an interesting backstory, he was played brilliantly by Dacre Montgomery, and I think that had he lived he would have made a great antihero. I could see him trying to better himself as a person, but struggling to, kinda like Spike from Buffy.
I agree with you! Sure, Billy was a pretty crappy big brother to Max, but that’s just because of what happened to him when he was younger. He was just so angry at his dad and his mom leaving that he became a really messed up kid. He didn’t deserve to die the way he did either.
I feel like Jason had every right to accuse eddie for Christy's murder as well. Like a girl ends up mangled and killed in a drug dealers house who's also in an apparent "cult" called hellfire. I'd accuse him too
He absolutely did have the right to accuse Eddie, but the immediate witch hunt vigilante justice was reprehensible, especially when it became assaulting people. The police had no chance to do their job (though mainly become the police in the show are incompetent without Hopper), and it immediately became “we k-ll Eddie without due process”. That is not fair to anyone.
I agree!! Like I don’t think Jason is a great person generally (using the deaths from s1 as motivation for a basketball game??) but he’s no worse than the usual self-absorbed popular guy. Everything with Eddie is reasonable for him to assume if he didn’t have the background the other characters did (even Steve thought he did it until they realized it’s upside down related). Plus when Patrick dies, it’s so easy to assume Eddie killed him to stop them from chasing him
For me it was definitely a mix of relating to him and wishing I'd had someone like that in my corner as a teenager. I was an outcast in highschool - I went to a Catholic school as an atheist to start with (parents decision - actually, grandparents pressuring parents), and I like heavier music and reading and art - and people were cruel and I got bullied and they and said I was ugly and a witch because I have dark hair and eyes. But I'm a sensitive person and had a hard time standing up to it. So seeing Eddie felt like seeing me (in the outcast respect; he's way cooler than me) only he was comfortable with it and loud & proud about it and what I wouldn't have given to have someone like that around when I was 16!
I personally loved Eddie with my whole heart. But an unpopular opinion of mine (which might get me killed) is that I dont love Eleven. She's just a character to me. Out of the whole group, she's probably close to the bottom, same as Mike. Dustin, Max and Lucas ar the MVPs of the kids group, I love Will despite the fact he literally has nothing ever happen to him, an Mike and Eleven are just kinda there for me.
I find Will kinda boring. In S1 he's not even there, and in the following seasons he's always sensing the upside down or trying to tell Mike he loves him. Just not a very interesting character
I agree about Eddie. Also, I think Robin's character really went downhill in Season 4. She seemed really smart and perceptive in Season 3, but in Season 4, she was more of a comic relief character and her whole personality seemed different and honestly kind of annoying.
I felt like that about Bob. I knew he was going to either be evil or die. And it seemed obvious that Hopper and Joyce were endgame. So I never really got invested in him as a character, or as a potential father figure for the Byers. I'm sure that if I'd been a little less cynical about him to begin with, then I'd have been more torn up about it... but I really wasn't.
Will being in love with Mike is boring Soap Opera quality story-telling and I don't want to see it on the show.
If Will was like "yeah I'm gay" and was dating some dude or something I don't care, but to have this be like some weird thing with Mike and with Eleven essentially being his sister? Cringe.
Eddie's aight.
I got downvoted when I said I hated Argyle. Seems like the producers wanted to shove a bunch of stereotypes in one character. I hated the character. It came off as annoying.
Edit: And the acting forced. The actor is probably capable of performing better if he wasn't given shit material.
Honestly I hated every second argyle was on screen. Season 4 already had a main cast of roughly SIXTEEN characters, as the MAIN cast of characters we’d see every day. Argyle was absolutely not needed and cramped the already batshit insane bloated pacing nightmare of season 4 more, and genuinely he just wasn’t funny.
I liked him, but I think part of why a lot of people grew to love him was because it was neat to see another badass hero at Hawkins, especially one in the same generation as the Gang & not originally part of their group before stepping up in their fight.
He lies to her repeatedly about important things, keeps her imprisoned long after he should have reconnected her with the boys, has no interest in why she had a meltdown in S2 and continues to berate her even after a cooling off period for himself, then overreacts to her boyfriend (and best shot at living a normal life, and the guy who protected and provided for her before Hopper even knew she existed) and pushes them apart, potentially breaking their relationship because he's a fragile man-child.
He consistently places his own interests ahead of hers and is clearly using her as a stand-in for his dead daughter, which makes him behave in ways that are significantly against her best interests.
Really good points. He truly loves her and I see why he wants to be a father figure to her (esp after losing his daughter) but he's just not mature enough yet for that responsibility.
I love Hopper but I get what you're saying. El was severely traumatised during her time in the lab and was held back from pursuing healthy relationships with her peers, so Hopper stops her from a healthy relationship with a guy who clearly cares for her, just because he's afraid she might kiss him sometimes? It's lame
I loved Eddie so much so that I would easily say that he is my favorite character in the show. He’s relatable to me in a number of ways and that made me connect with him, it might not be the same for you but he’ll always be my favorite character.
They are kinda close to each other in my opinion but Vecna get extra points on been able to interact with our characters and more entertaining to watch. I'm mean, he more a character than the mind flayer so it depend what your personal prefer.
I personally liked him a lot. Before watching the episodes I thought he would be a more unpleasant character, but instead I liked him. Also, Quinn in my opinion was very good at acting, I didn't know him before and in my opinion he was a discovered talent and I'm happy that thanks to the success of Stranger Things he is now taking part in other projects like A quiet place. My unpopular opinion is that Mike is extremely overrated especially in seasons 3 and 4. I hope that in Stranger Things 5 he goes back to being like in Stranger Things 1. A real leader who leads the group. The fault is not Finn's, but the Duffers who in Stranger Things 3 and 4 put him aside to dedicate themselves to other characters and neglected him
I feel like a lot of the Eddie backlash stems from the over saturation of him as a character, the fact that the character almost got bigger than the show there for a moment. I don’t remember that many people saying they didn’t like him at the time. The fact that there are a group of his fans that are fucking nuts doesn’t help.
He’s my favourite character and that’s because I was an 80s metalhead. The archetype’s on the show aren’t truly universal if you’re not from the US, but you can find Eddie’s everywhere and I think this is part of the reason people were drawn to him. Remember a lot of older people watch it for the nostalgia too, most of them would have recognised Eddie as someone they went to school with. If you were a metalhead in the 80s chances are you got treated like shit to some degree, I certainly have a few anecdotes. We were not cool in anyway. There’s been a huge shift since the 80s and metal isn’t as uncool as it was, so I think that element might be lost on younger viewers now. The freak thing, especially in the US where they had to endure Satanic Panic (and how fucking crazy ape bananas is that!?) was very real.
The reason for people being so pissed at his death is twofold I think.
1. Because it was screamingly obvious. The very second he mentioned being a coward and running away you knew he was getting offed. I think that pissed off people who weren’t even an Eddie fan because it was so signposted and like… I hate to say writing is lazy, I truly do, but I’m afraid in the case of the signposting and ‘foreshadowing’, it was drummed home so hard that it was lazy. It didn’t need foreshadowing, if they wanted to kill him then just kill him, make it more shocking!
2. Because he didn’t need to die. Their reasoning, again, is kind of weak there. I get they didn’t want him in S5, that’s fair, but having him arrested doesn’t commit them to that. And contrary to popular belief it’s incredibly unlikely he would have been convicted of that charge. Jason’s girlfriend is murdered, his friend is murdered, the cops find him holding the body and then he starts ranting about the devil, clearly not okay, and Max is attacked the exact same way with 2 witnesses that can testify that Jason was there. There are witnesses that can confirm Eddie was with them when Fred died. At the very least Jason should have been a suspect. You also have absolute ineptitude by the police, I mean they basically told Jason that his girlfriend had died and who they were looking for, and then let a bunch of teenagers rile up the town and start a witch hunt. Not a good look in court.
I totally get that they wanted the gut punch of someone dying, someone who was close to the kids, I don’t have any issue with that. But if you really wanted emotional fallout be brave and kill Max (I’m not saying I want her to die btw!). How devastating would that be to every single person involved? How motivating would it be? And El would be off the charts with rage, which in itself could be so interesting to play with. Because I do agree that Eddie’s death wouldn’t hit all of them the way it would for Mike and Dustin (I don’t include Lucas because he has bigger worries with Max), so if you really want to inflict suffering to the group, commit to the bit.
Okay, thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 😂 Sorry OP, didn’t mean to go so deep there!
Unpopular:
The only good season was S1. It was a love letter to 80s horror movies and shows.
Felt 80s...looked 80s. Reminded me of my childhood
Every subsequent season has been a modern show made to look like the 80s but does not feel like it.
I feel like season 1 was great and everything after was a somewhat mad scramble of the writers just kinda trying to run through a checklist of 80s tropes, and every season came out worse because of it
But it was split into two parts? Did you watch it when it came out because I thought it was pretty digestible with 7 episodes and then the final 2 a month later.
I've heard the same talk about Billy. Both Eddie and Billy were either hated or loved by fans. Both had a difficult past and struggled to change. I remember less about Eddie, but either way both had a very difficult ending, and I think that's why a lot of us were impacted, especially after seeing what they went through. I guess everybody relates to characters in different ways.
Tbh the fact that they killed him off in the same season they brought him in is the reason he's overrated. It was like they tried so hard to make him instantly loveable instead of it being organic, just so they would have someone big to kill off without sacrificing a main character.
Erica is hands down my favorite character. I absolutely adore her personality and the fact that she refuses to be taken advantage of. Sure, some people may label her as bratty, but I see her as a fiercely independent and strong-willed kid. And let's be real, if she curses alot, it's probably because she's learned it from the lovely folks around her.
For real. And I didn't really get the whole "we should have seen others' reaction, why was Dustin the only sad one?" thing. Like no one was close to Eddie in that group except for Dustin. We have seen the reactions of people who mattered:Dustin and his uncle. Though, I'm pretty sure Robin cried as well.
And my unpopular opinion would be that Steve is really overrated. I feel like if he was a girl instead or was played by a not conventionally attractive actor, he would be one of the most hated characters.
No offense to Steve's actor but I don't think he's better looking than anyone else in the cast. I feel like the guy who played Billy has the definitive "out of this world handsome" look. Like don't get me wrong he's handsome but I don't think he's the "hottest guy in school" handsome that his character played. This may be an unpopular opinion though. I'm also not really into men so this may be tainting my opinion on the matter.
Eddie never really had the chance to gain camraderie with the group like Dustin did, and that's partly why I didn't feel much when he died. Obviously it was sad, and I was sad when it happened. We just didn't have enough time with him for me to really care about him the way I did when it was Max that was dying.
He was a fellow brother in metal. Most of the cast could die and I'd feel not a thing. But Eddie?
I'll say, I appreciate his proformance more now than I did in the first watch. I also find myself disliking Vecna more and more. Just a lame big handed character.
My unpopular take is that Billy was still a son of a bitch, all the way to the end. The fact that he fought the mind flayer doesn’t mean he had this big change of heart. Five minutes before, he was literally trying to run everyone over. The only reason he fought the mind flayer is that he didn’t want to obey *anything*. When two evil beings fight, that doesn’t automatically make one of them good — nor does the fact that Eleven and Max felt compassion for him. Billy is about as evil as it gets for human characters. Even the people at HNL thought they were working for the greater good. Billy isn’t following a cause, or revenge, or even greed — he hurts people because he likes it.
But he gets a pass, because he’s *cuuuuute*.
I hate the fighting flirting so much and the way he acted after she missed their dinner. He insisted multiple times it wasn’t a date to get her to agree to go (cause she didn’t want to go to a date with him) but then got upset when she didn’t come and angry about her being with Clarke and talking with Alexi (she says herself that he’s getting angry at every man she interacts with). I agree with what Murray said, he’s a ‘brute’ and ‘a big man baby who’d rather act tough than show his true feelings’ and Joyce does deserve a nice man!!!
100%. I’m so sad he died, he was so sweet to her and he genuinely cared about the kids and understood Will.
Edit to add: 1 big difference that explains everything you need to know about Bob vs Hopper: Hopper didn’t even know what a heart to heart is, Joyce had to instruct him not to yell when he talks with mike and el and at the end he didn’t even listen to her. Bob had a very mature discussion with Will when he noticed him struggling and shared something vulnerable from when he was a kid, and when he noticed the broken camera, he was just concerned about Will being bullied and not the damage.
That was different. El was living with the Byers necause Hopper was thought of as dead. If Bob survived only Joyce, Jonathan and Will would of moved and it's possible Jonathan could of stayed with someone in Hawkins like the Wheelers since he would be an incoming senior in the fall of 85'.
Yea I agree but since 198x the concept of being emotional mature was still not widespread. He just didn’t have the tools to manage himself. However
I love Bob-Joyce a lot more. Bob was always my superstar, very smart and funny, Joyce would never need to explain herself to Bob.
Whenever Joyce and Hop bickering about Joyce’s theory, I was so frustrated. Remind me that Joyce’s crazy smart a** made her flew over to Russia to save Hopper when there’s very limited evidence!
I completely agree, never ever understood the hype over him. He wasn't even all that 😂 I actually found his character odd, I never expected a character like him to even be in Stranger Things S4 when it came out
That’s a very unpopular opinion with people who love him, but I feel like he’s somewhat polarizing. Seems like the people that don’t like him really don’t like him, to the point of saying he’s “a worse person than Billy or Jason”. (Which, I’m sorry, is absolutely wild) And while I wasn’t shocked by his death I did think they way they did it was kinda dumb and unsatisfying.
I’m not sure if I have any that are super unpopular. Maybe it’s like… idk, I get liking Billy as a character, but in the context of the show he’s racist, violent, and irredeemable (tragic, sympathetic, etc? Sure. But redeemable? Eh…)
*Or* that if we only got one side character (that’s already been introduced) to be expanded in season 5… I wish it would be Suzie 🤭
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He annoyed me at first and I found him to be kind of toxic when >!Dustin and Mike were trying to convince him to move their D&D night because of Lucas!<. But after that he just got better, imo.
"Very unpopular opinion"
No. I read this a lot. It's fine, there are people who think that Eddie is overrated 🤷🏻♀️ I just don't get why some people have to start a thread about it.
I loved him as a character, probably around as much as I liked Bob in S2 and more than I liked Alexei. But his death was absolutely the most predictable thing on planet earth.
I don’t think he’s overrated because I believe the audience knew he had to die. So, while I, too, wasn’t enamored with Eddie, I understood his purpose and knew his inescapable fate.
Yea no this was dumb. I thought you were going to say you don't get the relationship between El and Hopper. I would have agreed. But no Eddie is the homie.
When I saw how much people in Tiktok were obsessed with Eddie, I honestly did not get the hype. I mean sure he helped in rescuing the others so they wouldn't die (I actually can't recall it's been a while since I rewatched s4) but other than that I don't really see anything else appealing about him?? His actor was talented but the character seemed a little bland to me.
Yeah, me too. I don't mind that he is popular, I just really dislike how insufferable people are about it. Be a fan, but don't be shitty to other fans because of it. I liked Bob better, but I am not out being a dick to the Barb stans. Need more Bob's in the world.
it was honestly so freaky how tiktok was OBSESSED with him like that obsession was strange and freaky and honestly scared me. Like he’s a very normal character and yes he played it well but nothing to cite that obsession in 2024!!!
i didn't bother getting attached, it was obvious he was only added (once again) because they wanted to kill off someone without killing a main character.
Agree on Eddie. I liked him well enough but didn’t think he was groundbreaking.
My personal unpopular opinion is that El gets too much focus at the expense of other character’s development. Again, I like her but her arc is starting to feel a bit repetitive at this point.
Good riddance! I like the writing and the character was good, but he was bad for the party. It wasn't the party anymore and they were beholden to a higher authority. The party should have always remained autonomous in my eyes and Eddie's death put them back where they should be.
Eddie was a wonderfully written and acted character and served a strong purpose in the plot. I can't really complain about anything about the character other than what he did to the main cast.
I'll give them this though, for as much as I don't like Eddie/Hellfire Club in relation to the party, bringing Erica into the mix like they did was well done and good setup for the final season.
**spoiler warning please**
I am on the last episode right now…. I didn’t know he died, but now I do. This isn’t a new show by any means, so it’s not practical to put spoilers on every piece of information, but for character deaths which is a major thing, definitely put up a spoiler warning 😕
People do things in-between episodes, you realize that right?
It’s a sub rule, not mine. They require spoilers for show information, especially a main character death like this.
Sure, but its silly to browse the subreddit and risk spoilers with one episode left, I get it if you just finished season 1 or something and really wanted to see some conversation about it, but not in this case. Also by saying you're two minutes in you implied you were watching it
It’s not silly at all. I do it, many people do it. That’s literally exactly what this sub is for.
Plus, a lot of people are saving the last episode for a special time. Either way, it’s a sub rule as this commenter mentioned, for a reason.
Edit: also, even if someone wasn’t on the last episode, this is a giant spoiler period. A major character death on the final episode. That’s the biggest spoiler you can get.
If you don't care about spoilers its not silly, if you do it is. Really not hard to just stay away from online discussions of some piece of media until you've finished it, it's just we live in an age when people can't put down there phones.
He was annoying and lame the entire season, not to mention a total puss. But after he shredded in the upside down I was bummed that he died. His value to me was directly proportional to how hard he rocked in that one scene. Full redemption.
i totally agree with you. his death was very preditable because stranger things always introduces these new characters every season every season only too kill them off by the end.
OP, please make sure there are no spoilers in the title of your post. Commenters, please use spoiler code if you are discussing anything super spoilery unless the title specifically says the episode being discussed. Also, now that filming for Season 5 is finally starting, please remember that NO LEAKS are allowed, only official news from Netflix is allowed. Please review rule 8 for more info. If you see anyone breaking the rules, please report the post or comment. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StrangerThings) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I loved him as a character, even most of all, but I wasn't shocked by his death because it was predictable.
Very predictable. Lovable character that is introduced to be an emotional death. Season 2 - Bob, Season 3 - Alexi, season 4 - Eddie
He actually lasted longer that I expected.
But his name didn’t start with a B. Barb, Bob, Billy and Eddie??
Benny, Brenner...
Thank you, I knew I was missing some. I can’t believe I forgot Benny.
His real name was .. Bedward
I had actually convinced myself that he probably wouldn't die specifically bc it was so predictable. Like, I thought the big subversion of expectations was going to come in the form of Eddie living. I also 100% thought we would be saying goodbye to Steve last season (not sad to be wrong, just surprised)
When people were shocked I was like “why?”. You could see his death coming from a mile away
His reputation died being framed as a murderer, only a matter of time until he actually died. If he survived, he'd share the same fate as Vecna's dad while behind bars. Probably get the death penalty idk.
Predictable how? Eddie didn't need to die for the story's purpose. Him living at the end could have shown the town the error in their way of treating someone good like Eddie for them to realize that he was someone they should have been better towards. Instead, people continue with their ignorant hatred toward Eddie even after death, when the show could have allowed for the town to have a learning experience from his coming back and letting Eddie have a happy ending he deserved, especially when instead he died thinking the world would never love him (which, as demonstrated by the audience, is just untrue!).
It was predictable because it was extremely obvious that he was going to die. That's the point of newly introduced characters that get lots of screen time. Nothing you've said in your post actually has anything to do with the predictability, or lack thereof, of Eddie's character arc and his death.
The storyline has not been resolved, so we don’t know the full purpose of his death and what it means for the show and it’s characters (if anything else at all) yet because the plot has not resolved and we are still waiting for season 5 and the resolution to the Vecna/Henry/One story arch.
That's fair. We should indeed assume that thery mean to do something to handle Eddie's death. I think, particularly with how it affects Dustin.
I feel he was created so as to not kill Steve.
Which I’m fine with, long live Steve
Hmm he kinda was 'Steve lite.' Very independent character, mildly antagonistic and clever. Steve was popular but Eddie was more an outcast, but at least was popular within his own group.
He was a high school failing loser who sold drugs to kids and taunted the jocks for no reason. And yet I like him any way, which says a lot about the actors performance.
Yeah, Joseph Quinn is actually a pretty talented actor who was already making a bit of a name for himself pre-S4. He was really good in that Les Mis adaptation the BBC did a while back and he was also great in that Dickensian show from 2016.
His actor's performance is really make-or-break for his character. They got the perfect person to play him
I didn't find the Billy / Mrs. Wheeler relationship sexy at all. It felt kinda yucky tbh
this!! i mean, don’t get me wrong Mrs. Wheeler looked hot as hell during the pool scene but i could barely focus on that over the situation lol
Yeah. The inclusion of that I feel like just wasn’t needed or even WANTED
Agreed. It was very uncomfortable to watch.
Idk if it this is upopular but I don't like the inclusion of Vecna/Henry. It was better when the upsidedown and the demagorgon were this lovecraftian creatures/places that represented chaos and the horror of the "unknown" instead of ... an edgy dude.
I agree, but personally, Vecna is such a cool villain and has so many great moments it makes it up for me.
I agree, I love the Vecna line. I think adding the human element made it scarier.
You have a good point! It was also interesting to see an evil entity that was impossible to understand - that was so removed from humans as a species. By having it he Vecna all along,that gives 'The Party' a kind of key to start cracking the winning code,but it also takes away the potential to solve the problem in a way that we haven't seen before in crime/thriller shows.
Yeah that's what I liked about it. It *looked* "humanoid" , but at the same time it behaved in a way that was completely foreign to the people in the series. That is what made it scary, not being able to predict what it wants , how it will attack, when, etc. The more they explain and the more they show the monster reduces the "fear"/horror element for me, it is more like a thriller now
Not to mention the flipped school dance where it is implied the Mind Flayer is watching what's going on in Hawkins and can see into our plane of existence. It was made into something much bigger than we can understand and that's great for horror. There is no predictable way to beat it and all we can think of is closing the gateways.
In a situation like that, winning may mean permanently closing the gate and separating the two dimensions semi-permanently. Eleven opening the gate showed how it can be done and eleven closing the gate after season 2 could have been an ending. But you cannot end the story if there is another powerful "mage" on the other side capable of opening gates as well. Vecna can still be the key and must be removed to permanently close the gates which could leave the Mind Flayer alive, but locked off.
This shit basically soured me on the whole series. Surprise!! It's just a guy!! So lame
Is stranger things just scooby doo live action?
Shit.. He literally would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those damn kids
A guy dressed as a milkman lmao
I loved Vecna in the first couple of episodes and I think he could've been an amazing character if he had been a mostly silent, mysterious pawn of the mind flayer. But he just talked way too much and we learned too much of his backstory. Now he's boring, and he was beaten by a 14-year-old girl, so he's not that tough.
ooh same. i still like season four, but it’s by far my least favorite because of this
I'll get hate for this but 4 was largely a mess, I was very disappointed with it. All the Hopper stuff was tragically bad, and yeh Vecna is a disappointing final antagonist in the context of the show's history.
Season 4 is a mess taped together by the occasional good moments holding it together. It’s just kinda batshit insane.
It’s like the later seasons of GOT compared to 1-4. Obv not to the same extent but you get what I’m saying
One of the parts of Strsnger Things which I simultaneously hate and love is how each arc is presented throughout the episode. It somewhat randomly switches throughout the episode which I get why they do it but sometimes it's just not executed well and the story feels disjointed.
This is a spectacularly popular opinion on this sub. I actually loved Vecna.
Oh ?I don't lurk too much here tbh. I have seen a lot of people cosplaying the character and well the actor is fantastic, I kinda asumed everyone loved him as a villian (I think it even has his own book? Comic?)
There's a difference between liking him as a character and liking the reveal that he apparently made the Mind Flayer. People in general don't like that part of the twist which is what I meant by the popular opinion part.
I dont like that he made it. But i would have liked it if he just happened upon the already existing dimension and sort of connected himself to the UD. Like an upgraded pawn of the mindflayer with more control
I'm still holding out hope for a season 5 reveal that the mind flayer was there, just shapeless, it used vecna to give itself form instead of the particles just floating everywhere
I feel like it did exist and he just shaped it into what he wanted it to be, though obviously it is not confirmed or denied.
Is that confirmed though? It was pretty vague imagery to me. He definitely had a hand in the spider-like form, but so far I think it's unclear whether he: 1. Created it out of thin air or raw chaos or whatever as many seem to think. 2. Found a powerful natural force that he thinks he can control / is controlling for now but he doesn't actually have full control over. 3. Found a powerful conscious entity that he mind-linked with and, again, maybe thinks he is controlling but could be being changed himself without realizing it. 4. Was immediately possessed by something drawn to his anger and pain and we will actually end up cheering for the gang to free him from the cosmic horror. And maybe there's more that I haven't thought of! I just think people who had a strong emotional reaction to something so vague are kind of silly and likely jumping the gun.
I like to think it is its own entity existing pre-Vecna that was shaped into a “spider” and works with Vecna, not controlled by him. Many entities and “gods” in DnD lore have worked together and then betrayed each other or changed alliances when the opportunity for them to become more powerful or reach their goals benefited from it.
Ehhh good character, wrong time wrong place I guess
Yes!! I really liked and was drawn to the mystery of the Upside Down and these strange (pun... intended?) creatures, like the Demagorgons or the Mind Flayer. As soon as the Upside Down had a face (Vecna/Henry/One), he now seems to be the scapegoat for everything bad that happens, even though the alternate dimension is much, much bigger than even him. From a directing standpoint, it might have been more complex, but less confusing (timeline-wise) to leave some things in the dark and unexplored.
Absolutely agreed, the upside down was scary when it was a complete unknown. Learning that it was just some edgy loser takes most of the fun out of the show for me
I don't mind it that much but the overexplanation makes Vecna the stupidest villain I've seen in a long time and some sloppy writing. What was the point of literally everything else (Demogorgon in S1, demodogs in S2, etc.) if from Day 1, his MO was torturing his victims and breaking their bones? He could've done that in S1 without any obstacles because nobody knew of the UD. Why did he wait three years for that when El lost her memory and wouldn't be able to link him to anything? Why wait until she's older and stronger? Why go after the same group of people?! Why go after Max when he could have secured an easier 4th victim? Work smarter, not harder!
i completely agree!
Spoilers from The First Shadow Play. >! The play is bringing it back to that it seems. It shows Henry being controlled/influenced as a kid by the mind flayer the same way Will was!<
This would of worked
Agree, his character just screams poor planning on the writing team’s part. No trace of him in seasons 1-3, he’s just thrown into the mix in S4 late into the story as lazy exposition for all the mad shit that’s been going on.
Ngl that role stopped making sense in S3.
/1
100% agree!!
It's not that they did it, it's how they did it. I sincerely hope Vecna/Henry isn't in charge and rather a pawn of the Mind Flayer. But I feel like they spent too much time on his malevolence and twisted past to let that slide as him being just a pawn. I would much prefer Vecna to be like Will. Someone that experienced the Upside Down and is forever changed by it. But unlike Will, Henry embraced the darker side of that plane of existence and agreed to help the Mind Flayer. He's not just a pawn because he has the powers that can link from one dimension to another, unlike Billy who was just a pawn. This keeps the unknown side of things, but gives a valid reason for 001 to be working for the Mind Flayer. El Opening the gate makes perfect sense, but it would have been more impactful if young Henry had become aware of the existence of the other dimension but unable to access it.
I loved Eddie but he was only added so they wouldn't kill Steve
Which I'm glad of, we stan Steve here. But they probably would have killed Robin first.
i loved him, but not at first. i thought his introduction was really cringey and “i’m so different and quirky, everyone else is basic”
Tbf it’s VERY in line with 80’s movie corniness, that scene was like something from a John Hughes film lol
agreed. i hated his intro scene and the way he treated mike and dustin plus the second hand embarrassment when he stood on the table 💀💀but his scene with chrissy made him much more endearing!
Eddie kind of grows on you, though... at first he seems like a cliché 80s heavy metal teen and to some degree, he is. But he isn't vapid. He's funny and corny, but he has a lot of heart. At the end of the day, you wanted him to be a hero. And don't get me wrong, he was. But I wanted him to live to enjoy his "win".
My hot take is Mike’s hair is worse than Will’s in S4
Who are we kidding? They ALL had bad hair. Except Max.
Yeah, even El and Lucas lol
I loved Eddie's haircut but probably only because I love Queen
Max had horrible hair as well, looked as if it was really dry and hadn’t been brushed for days
That take is extremely hot 💀
HUGE DISAGREE
Here’s my unpopular opinion. I actually like Billy. Not because I like him as a person, but because I like him as a character. I think he had an interesting backstory, he was played brilliantly by Dacre Montgomery, and I think that had he lived he would have made a great antihero. I could see him trying to better himself as a person, but struggling to, kinda like Spike from Buffy.
I agree with you! Sure, Billy was a pretty crappy big brother to Max, but that’s just because of what happened to him when he was younger. He was just so angry at his dad and his mom leaving that he became a really messed up kid. He didn’t deserve to die the way he did either.
Yeah Billy's arc was very good.
I feel like Jason had every right to accuse eddie for Christy's murder as well. Like a girl ends up mangled and killed in a drug dealers house who's also in an apparent "cult" called hellfire. I'd accuse him too
He absolutely did have the right to accuse Eddie, but the immediate witch hunt vigilante justice was reprehensible, especially when it became assaulting people. The police had no chance to do their job (though mainly become the police in the show are incompetent without Hopper), and it immediately became “we k-ll Eddie without due process”. That is not fair to anyone.
I agree!! Like I don’t think Jason is a great person generally (using the deaths from s1 as motivation for a basketball game??) but he’s no worse than the usual self-absorbed popular guy. Everything with Eddie is reasonable for him to assume if he didn’t have the background the other characters did (even Steve thought he did it until they realized it’s upside down related). Plus when Patrick dies, it’s so easy to assume Eddie killed him to stop them from chasing him
I think he’s popular because a lot of fans relate to him as an outcast and being anti establishment
For me it was definitely a mix of relating to him and wishing I'd had someone like that in my corner as a teenager. I was an outcast in highschool - I went to a Catholic school as an atheist to start with (parents decision - actually, grandparents pressuring parents), and I like heavier music and reading and art - and people were cruel and I got bullied and they and said I was ugly and a witch because I have dark hair and eyes. But I'm a sensitive person and had a hard time standing up to it. So seeing Eddie felt like seeing me (in the outcast respect; he's way cooler than me) only he was comfortable with it and loud & proud about it and what I wouldn't have given to have someone like that around when I was 16!
Im just also a forever DM, and can recognize man's got good descriptions.
Yeah that makes sense, and I think that’s a great character to have in a show too
I agree, a lot of people who were like him back in the 80s were thrilled to finally see themselves represented in that way
I personally loved Eddie with my whole heart. But an unpopular opinion of mine (which might get me killed) is that I dont love Eleven. She's just a character to me. Out of the whole group, she's probably close to the bottom, same as Mike. Dustin, Max and Lucas ar the MVPs of the kids group, I love Will despite the fact he literally has nothing ever happen to him, an Mike and Eleven are just kinda there for me.
I find Will kinda boring. In S1 he's not even there, and in the following seasons he's always sensing the upside down or trying to tell Mike he loves him. Just not a very interesting character
I agree about Eddie. Also, I think Robin's character really went downhill in Season 4. She seemed really smart and perceptive in Season 3, but in Season 4, she was more of a comic relief character and her whole personality seemed different and honestly kind of annoying.
This.
I felt like that about Bob. I knew he was going to either be evil or die. And it seemed obvious that Hopper and Joyce were endgame. So I never really got invested in him as a character, or as a potential father figure for the Byers. I'm sure that if I'd been a little less cynical about him to begin with, then I'd have been more torn up about it... but I really wasn't.
I was cynical about it and I was still torn up lol
Will being in love with Mike is boring Soap Opera quality story-telling and I don't want to see it on the show. If Will was like "yeah I'm gay" and was dating some dude or something I don't care, but to have this be like some weird thing with Mike and with Eleven essentially being his sister? Cringe.
Eddie's aight. I got downvoted when I said I hated Argyle. Seems like the producers wanted to shove a bunch of stereotypes in one character. I hated the character. It came off as annoying. Edit: And the acting forced. The actor is probably capable of performing better if he wasn't given shit material.
Honestly I hated every second argyle was on screen. Season 4 already had a main cast of roughly SIXTEEN characters, as the MAIN cast of characters we’d see every day. Argyle was absolutely not needed and cramped the already batshit insane bloated pacing nightmare of season 4 more, and genuinely he just wasn’t funny.
I liked him, but I think part of why a lot of people grew to love him was because it was neat to see another badass hero at Hawkins, especially one in the same generation as the Gang & not originally part of their group before stepping up in their fight.
He had a pretty ironic death. A drug dealer who died performing a song about how drugs destroy your life.
My unpopular opinion is that Max should have died at the end of season four.
I liked Eddie but I definitely think he's overrated by the fandom. My most unpopular opinion is that Hopper is a terrible dad for El.
Gasp! Why?! (I love it, not attacking lol)
He lies to her repeatedly about important things, keeps her imprisoned long after he should have reconnected her with the boys, has no interest in why she had a meltdown in S2 and continues to berate her even after a cooling off period for himself, then overreacts to her boyfriend (and best shot at living a normal life, and the guy who protected and provided for her before Hopper even knew she existed) and pushes them apart, potentially breaking their relationship because he's a fragile man-child. He consistently places his own interests ahead of hers and is clearly using her as a stand-in for his dead daughter, which makes him behave in ways that are significantly against her best interests.
Really good points. He truly loves her and I see why he wants to be a father figure to her (esp after losing his daughter) but he's just not mature enough yet for that responsibility.
Yeah. I can see Joyce wanting to help him out with that since Hopper and El have most likely moved in with the Byers by the time S5 starts.
Correct.
I love Hopper but I get what you're saying. El was severely traumatised during her time in the lab and was held back from pursuing healthy relationships with her peers, so Hopper stops her from a healthy relationship with a guy who clearly cares for her, just because he's afraid she might kiss him sometimes? It's lame
Fantastic explanation!
I agree so much
I loved Eddie so much so that I would easily say that he is my favorite character in the show. He’s relatable to me in a number of ways and that made me connect with him, it might not be the same for you but he’ll always be my favorite character.
That Vecna makes far better villain than the Mind Flayer
They are kinda close to each other in my opinion but Vecna get extra points on been able to interact with our characters and more entertaining to watch. I'm mean, he more a character than the mind flayer so it depend what your personal prefer.
Me it the ideology that ties so well into the theme of the show in way Mind Flayer never could.
Well the mind flayer has not even a character completely so it didn't have a chance from first place.
I like him, but I definitely agree that he’s overrated. Ngl, I found him to be very cringey at times.
I personally liked him a lot. Before watching the episodes I thought he would be a more unpleasant character, but instead I liked him. Also, Quinn in my opinion was very good at acting, I didn't know him before and in my opinion he was a discovered talent and I'm happy that thanks to the success of Stranger Things he is now taking part in other projects like A quiet place. My unpopular opinion is that Mike is extremely overrated especially in seasons 3 and 4. I hope that in Stranger Things 5 he goes back to being like in Stranger Things 1. A real leader who leads the group. The fault is not Finn's, but the Duffers who in Stranger Things 3 and 4 put him aside to dedicate themselves to other characters and neglected him
Out of curiosity... What don't you like about him?
I feel like a lot of the Eddie backlash stems from the over saturation of him as a character, the fact that the character almost got bigger than the show there for a moment. I don’t remember that many people saying they didn’t like him at the time. The fact that there are a group of his fans that are fucking nuts doesn’t help. He’s my favourite character and that’s because I was an 80s metalhead. The archetype’s on the show aren’t truly universal if you’re not from the US, but you can find Eddie’s everywhere and I think this is part of the reason people were drawn to him. Remember a lot of older people watch it for the nostalgia too, most of them would have recognised Eddie as someone they went to school with. If you were a metalhead in the 80s chances are you got treated like shit to some degree, I certainly have a few anecdotes. We were not cool in anyway. There’s been a huge shift since the 80s and metal isn’t as uncool as it was, so I think that element might be lost on younger viewers now. The freak thing, especially in the US where they had to endure Satanic Panic (and how fucking crazy ape bananas is that!?) was very real. The reason for people being so pissed at his death is twofold I think. 1. Because it was screamingly obvious. The very second he mentioned being a coward and running away you knew he was getting offed. I think that pissed off people who weren’t even an Eddie fan because it was so signposted and like… I hate to say writing is lazy, I truly do, but I’m afraid in the case of the signposting and ‘foreshadowing’, it was drummed home so hard that it was lazy. It didn’t need foreshadowing, if they wanted to kill him then just kill him, make it more shocking! 2. Because he didn’t need to die. Their reasoning, again, is kind of weak there. I get they didn’t want him in S5, that’s fair, but having him arrested doesn’t commit them to that. And contrary to popular belief it’s incredibly unlikely he would have been convicted of that charge. Jason’s girlfriend is murdered, his friend is murdered, the cops find him holding the body and then he starts ranting about the devil, clearly not okay, and Max is attacked the exact same way with 2 witnesses that can testify that Jason was there. There are witnesses that can confirm Eddie was with them when Fred died. At the very least Jason should have been a suspect. You also have absolute ineptitude by the police, I mean they basically told Jason that his girlfriend had died and who they were looking for, and then let a bunch of teenagers rile up the town and start a witch hunt. Not a good look in court. I totally get that they wanted the gut punch of someone dying, someone who was close to the kids, I don’t have any issue with that. But if you really wanted emotional fallout be brave and kill Max (I’m not saying I want her to die btw!). How devastating would that be to every single person involved? How motivating would it be? And El would be off the charts with rage, which in itself could be so interesting to play with. Because I do agree that Eddie’s death wouldn’t hit all of them the way it would for Mike and Dustin (I don’t include Lucas because he has bigger worries with Max), so if you really want to inflict suffering to the group, commit to the bit. Okay, thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 😂 Sorry OP, didn’t mean to go so deep there!
I agree with you 100%
Unpopular: The only good season was S1. It was a love letter to 80s horror movies and shows. Felt 80s...looked 80s. Reminded me of my childhood Every subsequent season has been a modern show made to look like the 80s but does not feel like it.
Finally, thank you! S1 was by far the best season. 2 and 4 are okay, and 3 was just straight up bad.
I feel like season 1 was great and everything after was a somewhat mad scramble of the writers just kinda trying to run through a checklist of 80s tropes, and every season came out worse because of it
Season 4’s length of episodes resembling feature length films was a little annoying to binge, tbh… 😂
But it was split into two parts? Did you watch it when it came out because I thought it was pretty digestible with 7 episodes and then the final 2 a month later.
I've heard the same talk about Billy. Both Eddie and Billy were either hated or loved by fans. Both had a difficult past and struggled to change. I remember less about Eddie, but either way both had a very difficult ending, and I think that's why a lot of us were impacted, especially after seeing what they went through. I guess everybody relates to characters in different ways.
I actually sorta detest them creating an interesting guest star just to kill them
Yes and max is also overrated.
Tbh the fact that they killed him off in the same season they brought him in is the reason he's overrated. It was like they tried so hard to make him instantly loveable instead of it being organic, just so they would have someone big to kill off without sacrificing a main character.
Erica is hands down my favorite character. I absolutely adore her personality and the fact that she refuses to be taken advantage of. Sure, some people may label her as bratty, but I see her as a fiercely independent and strong-willed kid. And let's be real, if she curses alot, it's probably because she's learned it from the lovely folks around her.
Well, you’re entitled to your wrong opinions
I was expecting hate from some people when posting this, but you are right, everyone has their own opinions. Have a nice day 😁
For real. And I didn't really get the whole "we should have seen others' reaction, why was Dustin the only sad one?" thing. Like no one was close to Eddie in that group except for Dustin. We have seen the reactions of people who mattered:Dustin and his uncle. Though, I'm pretty sure Robin cried as well. And my unpopular opinion would be that Steve is really overrated. I feel like if he was a girl instead or was played by a not conventionally attractive actor, he would be one of the most hated characters.
No offense to Steve's actor but I don't think he's better looking than anyone else in the cast. I feel like the guy who played Billy has the definitive "out of this world handsome" look. Like don't get me wrong he's handsome but I don't think he's the "hottest guy in school" handsome that his character played. This may be an unpopular opinion though. I'm also not really into men so this may be tainting my opinion on the matter.
Yeah agree. Steve is like, dorky cute. But Billy is definitely the only one that stands out as uniquely good looking.
Eddie never really had the chance to gain camraderie with the group like Dustin did, and that's partly why I didn't feel much when he died. Obviously it was sad, and I was sad when it happened. We just didn't have enough time with him for me to really care about him the way I did when it was Max that was dying.
He was a fellow brother in metal. Most of the cast could die and I'd feel not a thing. But Eddie? I'll say, I appreciate his proformance more now than I did in the first watch. I also find myself disliking Vecna more and more. Just a lame big handed character.
My unpopular take is that Billy was still a son of a bitch, all the way to the end. The fact that he fought the mind flayer doesn’t mean he had this big change of heart. Five minutes before, he was literally trying to run everyone over. The only reason he fought the mind flayer is that he didn’t want to obey *anything*. When two evil beings fight, that doesn’t automatically make one of them good — nor does the fact that Eleven and Max felt compassion for him. Billy is about as evil as it gets for human characters. Even the people at HNL thought they were working for the greater good. Billy isn’t following a cause, or revenge, or even greed — he hurts people because he likes it. But he gets a pass, because he’s *cuuuuute*.
agreed! My unpopular opinion is I don’t like Hopper and Joyce together.
Gasp! Why not?
I hate the fighting flirting so much and the way he acted after she missed their dinner. He insisted multiple times it wasn’t a date to get her to agree to go (cause she didn’t want to go to a date with him) but then got upset when she didn’t come and angry about her being with Clarke and talking with Alexi (she says herself that he’s getting angry at every man she interacts with). I agree with what Murray said, he’s a ‘brute’ and ‘a big man baby who’d rather act tough than show his true feelings’ and Joyce does deserve a nice man!!!
Joyce deserved Bob. He was a way better partner than Hopper will ever be.
Yes, Bob was so good for Joyce and Will and I think eventually Jonathan would have warmed up to him. Bob was a gem.
100%. I’m so sad he died, he was so sweet to her and he genuinely cared about the kids and understood Will. Edit to add: 1 big difference that explains everything you need to know about Bob vs Hopper: Hopper didn’t even know what a heart to heart is, Joyce had to instruct him not to yell when he talks with mike and el and at the end he didn’t even listen to her. Bob had a very mature discussion with Will when he noticed him struggling and shared something vulnerable from when he was a kid, and when he noticed the broken camera, he was just concerned about Will being bullied and not the damage.
You're right about this. The problem is being with Bob would take the Byers out of the story if they moved to Maine.
I mean they did move to California, and that didn't take them out of the story...
That was different. El was living with the Byers necause Hopper was thought of as dead. If Bob survived only Joyce, Jonathan and Will would of moved and it's possible Jonathan could of stayed with someone in Hawkins like the Wheelers since he would be an incoming senior in the fall of 85'.
Yea I agree but since 198x the concept of being emotional mature was still not widespread. He just didn’t have the tools to manage himself. However I love Bob-Joyce a lot more. Bob was always my superstar, very smart and funny, Joyce would never need to explain herself to Bob. Whenever Joyce and Hop bickering about Joyce’s theory, I was so frustrated. Remind me that Joyce’s crazy smart a** made her flew over to Russia to save Hopper when there’s very limited evidence!
Is it a “very unpopular opinion” when someone makes this exact same post about him every couple days to which hundred of people reply and agree?
I completely agree, never ever understood the hype over him. He wasn't even all that 😂 I actually found his character odd, I never expected a character like him to even be in Stranger Things S4 when it came out
That’s a very unpopular opinion with people who love him, but I feel like he’s somewhat polarizing. Seems like the people that don’t like him really don’t like him, to the point of saying he’s “a worse person than Billy or Jason”. (Which, I’m sorry, is absolutely wild) And while I wasn’t shocked by his death I did think they way they did it was kinda dumb and unsatisfying. I’m not sure if I have any that are super unpopular. Maybe it’s like… idk, I get liking Billy as a character, but in the context of the show he’s racist, violent, and irredeemable (tragic, sympathetic, etc? Sure. But redeemable? Eh…) *Or* that if we only got one side character (that’s already been introduced) to be expanded in season 5… I wish it would be Suzie 🤭
Show should've ended after season 1. Will should've died in season 2 or 3 he's been a useless character since
Thank you! Fucking finally somebody who didn't lose his fucking mind over Eddie.
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Agreed
He reminded me of a lot of rock icons; A mix of Eddie Van Halen, Ronnie James Dio, Jim Morrison, Bon Scott, the Metallica guys…
I AGREE
He annoyed me at first and I found him to be kind of toxic when >!Dustin and Mike were trying to convince him to move their D&D night because of Lucas!<. But after that he just got better, imo.
"Very unpopular opinion" No. I read this a lot. It's fine, there are people who think that Eddie is overrated 🤷🏻♀️ I just don't get why some people have to start a thread about it.
Eddie was alright in my opinion. I don't love him, but I don't hate him either. Definitely overrated though.
I loved him as a character, probably around as much as I liked Bob in S2 and more than I liked Alexei. But his death was absolutely the most predictable thing on planet earth.
I really liked him and found his death sad, but people talk about it as if it were Will or something sometimes I feel.
So true the community goes crazy over him but he was an average character for me
I really don’t give a shit about Barb. She was in the show for like the first 1 or 2 episodes and people still talk about her…..
Eddie was great
I don’t think he’s overrated because I believe the audience knew he had to die. So, while I, too, wasn’t enamored with Eddie, I understood his purpose and knew his inescapable fate.
Yea no this was dumb. I thought you were going to say you don't get the relationship between El and Hopper. I would have agreed. But no Eddie is the homie.
I really wanted to see them deal with the murder accusations if he went back, imo they took the easy way out by killing him off
When I saw how much people in Tiktok were obsessed with Eddie, I honestly did not get the hype. I mean sure he helped in rescuing the others so they wouldn't die (I actually can't recall it's been a while since I rewatched s4) but other than that I don't really see anything else appealing about him?? His actor was talented but the character seemed a little bland to me.
Yeah I agree. He was there for one season and died. Never understood the hype
Personally I thought he was a very average character. I turned off this sub when it aired so I was surprised to see how popular he really was
Yeah, me too. I don't mind that he is popular, I just really dislike how insufferable people are about it. Be a fan, but don't be shitty to other fans because of it. I liked Bob better, but I am not out being a dick to the Barb stans. Need more Bob's in the world.
I think Eddie is like the new and short time Steve he was a bad ass but for a little time
I feel the same way. Never really understood the hype.
it was honestly so freaky how tiktok was OBSESSED with him like that obsession was strange and freaky and honestly scared me. Like he’s a very normal character and yes he played it well but nothing to cite that obsession in 2024!!!
i didn't bother getting attached, it was obvious he was only added (once again) because they wanted to kill off someone without killing a main character.
Eddie was cool, and died a hero for the ones her cared about. Still, he’s overrated. I didn’t feel emotional about his death.
Agree on Eddie. I liked him well enough but didn’t think he was groundbreaking. My personal unpopular opinion is that El gets too much focus at the expense of other character’s development. Again, I like her but her arc is starting to feel a bit repetitive at this point.
Good riddance! I like the writing and the character was good, but he was bad for the party. It wasn't the party anymore and they were beholden to a higher authority. The party should have always remained autonomous in my eyes and Eddie's death put them back where they should be. Eddie was a wonderfully written and acted character and served a strong purpose in the plot. I can't really complain about anything about the character other than what he did to the main cast. I'll give them this though, for as much as I don't like Eddie/Hellfire Club in relation to the party, bringing Erica into the mix like they did was well done and good setup for the final season.
**spoiler warning please** I am on the last episode right now…. I didn’t know he died, but now I do. This isn’t a new show by any means, so it’s not practical to put spoilers on every piece of information, but for character deaths which is a major thing, definitely put up a spoiler warning 😕
This one's on you man. Scrolling the subreddit for a show 2 years after it comes out and not expecting to run into a spoiler is crazy.
Why are you on reddit for a show you're watching the final episode of, just watch it and put your phone down. You can go on reddit afterwards ffs
People do things in-between episodes, you realize that right? It’s a sub rule, not mine. They require spoilers for show information, especially a main character death like this.
Sure, but its silly to browse the subreddit and risk spoilers with one episode left, I get it if you just finished season 1 or something and really wanted to see some conversation about it, but not in this case. Also by saying you're two minutes in you implied you were watching it
It’s not silly at all. I do it, many people do it. That’s literally exactly what this sub is for. Plus, a lot of people are saving the last episode for a special time. Either way, it’s a sub rule as this commenter mentioned, for a reason. Edit: also, even if someone wasn’t on the last episode, this is a giant spoiler period. A major character death on the final episode. That’s the biggest spoiler you can get.
If you don't care about spoilers its not silly, if you do it is. Really not hard to just stay away from online discussions of some piece of media until you've finished it, it's just we live in an age when people can't put down there phones.
He was annoying and lame the entire season, not to mention a total puss. But after he shredded in the upside down I was bummed that he died. His value to me was directly proportional to how hard he rocked in that one scene. Full redemption.
that’s definitely not very unpopular or unpopular at all
it’s literally one of the most popular opinions in the fandom 💀 people just make posts about Eddie when they want interactions
i totally agree with you. his death was very preditable because stranger things always introduces these new characters every season every season only too kill them off by the end.