Stranger Things loves doing fake-out deaths. At the end of Season 1, Eleven disappears after defeating the Demogorgon, devastating all of her new friends. What actually happens is that she takes a mini-vacation in the Upside Down before returning to Hawkins and moving in with Hopper. And the surrogate father takes after his daughter because, at the end of Season 3, Hoppers seemingly sacrifices himself to destroy the portal the Russians are building to the Upside Down. Of course, he doesn’t actually bite the bullet, ending up in Russia, where Joyce and Murray find him in Season 4. Eleven and Hopper get that kind of treatment because they’re main characters, but not everyone is that lucky.
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Barb gets the short end of the stick in the first season, being at the wrong place at the wrong time and dying in the Upside Down. Even all these years later, people still talk about how dirty the Duffer brothers did her. But Barb has taken a bit of a back seat because another character gets put in an even worse spot. Fortunately, the show finds a way to bring them back in the finale, albeit in an easy-to-miss moment.
Stranger Things Season 4 Is an All-Hands on Deck Situation
Life in Hawkins isn’t so bad at the start of Stranger Things Season 4. The Mind Flayer is gone, so all the kids return to their everyday lives. Lucas decides to join the basketball team, while Dustin and Mike join a club, Hellfire, which plays Dungeons & Dragons and participates in other non-traditional activities. Eddie Munson runs Hellfire, and he is the rebel of all rebels, standing up to the man at every opportunity. Unfortunately, that attitude comes back to bite him when strange things start happening around Hawkins, and people blame him for them. Dustin stands by his friend, though, even telling him the truth about the Upside Down.
By the end of the season, Eddie is part of the crew and agrees to travel to the Upside Down to help defeat Vecna. He and Dustin decide to create a distraction by putting on a rock concert, which attracts all the Demobats to their location. To ensure Dustin gets out alive, Eddie stays behind and sacrifices himself. Dustin is naturally devastated, and by the time Season 5 kicks off, he’s not ready to move on.
Eddie Is Still a Major Part of Stranger Things in Season 5
Despite everyone being focused on taking down Vecna once and for all, Dustin continues to be distracted by the pain he feels over Eddie’s death. He spends the beginning of Season 5 lashing out at his friends and pestering people who believe Eddie deserved what he got. However, after taking a nasty beating from some bullies, Dustin finally gets his butt into gear and joins the effort to end the threat to Hawkins. Steve is happy to have him back, and they put aside their differences and team up during the fight against the Mind Flayer.
When the dust settles, everyone returns home, and Dustin hits the books, becoming the valedictorian of the Hawkins High class of 1989. Reaching that milestone is huge for him, as it presents him with one last oppurtunity to honor his late friend. After giving a speech, Dustin snatches his diploma from the principal and flips him off, just like Eddie said he was going to do when he walked across the stage. Dustin finds a healthy way to channel his anger, and it helps him not only with his friends but also with the kids who used to pick on him.
Stranger Things Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.
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