oliver 🏳️‍🌈

first let's start with characters that are confirmed/implied dead: (some of these i don't have much comments on but are still relevant)

Sara Hopper:

Sara's death is extremely important to Hopper's story throughout the show, its the main reason he continued to look for Will despite finding his "body." It's also a main reason he's so protective of Jane. Her death was definitely necessary.

Benny Hammond:

Truthfully no real notes for Benny's death, he was the first person to protect El and he was killed for doing so, it just establishes how much danger El and anyone who protects her is really in. His death was necessary.

Barbara "Barb" Holland:

Barb's death while sad is completely necessary as with Hopper its a huge source of character development from Nancy, she suffers from survivor guilt bc of Barb's death. As she couldn't protect Barb in this instance she forces herself to become a protector to others in future seasons.

Bob Newby:

Bob's death was devastating I don't think I can comment on its necessary/unnecessary-ness bc I don't remember the after math of it very well 😭 (sorry 🫠)

Alexei:

Just killing the new guy to kill the new guy, at this point no main character has died (though i could be mistaken). Last season they introduced Bob in the same season they killed him, same here with Alexei. It's fine that they killed him i guess but nothing comes from it... its just murrelexi angst-

Billy Hargrove:

Super necessary death. Billy was an asshole he was only redeemed in his last moments when he saved El. Otherwise he was a terrible person and having him sacrifice himself was crucial to Max's characterization as her depression and guilt over his death in season 4 makes her more vulnerable to Vecna.

Chrissy Cunningham:

This death was necessary bc it helps in staging Eddie to be a suspect for the murder and forces him into hiding and gives us the whole Jason plot.

Fred Benson:

This death was necessary bc it again furthers Nancy's guilt and helps the hawkins group in figuring out what really happened and what is actively happening to Max.

Patrick McKinney:

Repeat of above points but it helps in Jason's delusions of turning the whole town on Eddie for satanic worship. (Sidenote i wish they would've kept this theme bc why are they cheering dustin for wearing a hellfire shirt when he graduates?)

Martin Brenner:

Absolutely necessary, Jane finally having peace knowing her abuser is dead is crucial.

Jason Carver:

Not necessary or unnecessary in my opinion if he hadn't died he would've just taken Andy's role in S5 so not much would've changed.

Eddie Munson:

This death is necessary in the way it affects Dustin but that's about it. It almost makes me wish they wouldn't have introduced him at all if they were just going to kill him. Steve's death could've easily filled this role for Dustin and it would've narratively been the same. Also Dustin would've probably been with the party instead of the older teens in S5 that way. (Which he should've been since the duffers literally said they were going back to S1 groups (Stoncy, Jopper, Party) but I guess they're just liars...)

Kali Prasad:

Kali absolutely should not have died. They bring back a woman who sees no good in being alive, feeling like she has no way out other than death and instead of proving her wrong they kill her? Are we serious? They also just completely turn the audience against her this season. In season 2 it was easy to ignore her bc a lot of people didn't like her episode she's featured in but now people straight up turn her into a villain when she is simply a depressed woman who has never experienced a normal childhood, she believes she can't live a normal live after everything she's gone through. She is not evil for suggesting suicide as the only way out for Jane and her, she is merely desperate for escape, as so many depressed people are. In the process of turning Kali into a villain they also demonize people with depression. I'm sure the duffers weren't thinking the audience would call her evil and a traitor but they did, bc of how Kali is portrayed her and by letting die in the end it is sending a terrible message to any audience members suffering from depression or suicidal ideation. So many times depressed people are told it will get better soon or just hold on a little longer but when it comes to depression this strategy of comfort doesn't work it instead feels manipulative and oftentimes only makes the depressed person feel an obligation to stay alive only for the other person not for true self fulfillment. This is happening with Kali the "pessimistic" attitude she carries is because she cannot believe in the comforts of a better life. She believed that dying was better than living a life on the run constantly in fear. By killing her off the duffers proved her right, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, she could only be truly happy when she died, what message does that send to people with depression? I understand they wanted the ending to be "realistic" but it would've been a much better message had Jane and Kali ran away together proving her wrong and in turn giving audience members who suffer from a similar thought process some hope in their own struggles. Truly tone deaf on the duffers part. Also its not great optics to kill the one brown woman on your show duffers...

Henry Creel/Vecna/001:

He definitely needed to die for the story to end, maybe someone would argue this but I doubt it.

Jane "El" Hopper:

Absolutely not. For some of the same reasons as outlined above with Kali, but Jane doesn't kill herself because of depression she does it to save her friends, its sacrificial. Hopper gives her a whole monologue about why she deserves to live, she has been through so much she deserves to live to prove herself wrong but they basically just tell Hopper to suck it and kill her anyway. Jane's death is a message on the cycle of abuse. It shows us that the abuse she suffered could only end by her dying. Such bullshit. Not to mention the duffers were just extremely misogynistic in her storyline in s5 with her being constantly sidelined, Hopper talking to her about having children of her own when she has never once expressed wanting that and only having her be an extension of other people (Kali, Hopper and Mike) not her own person. They emphasized her relationship with Max being of huge importance to her last season (she remembers max saying "Not Hopper, not mike, you" and "there is more to life than stupid boys") season 5 they basically drop this relationship El has barely any reaction to Max waking up and they have no real meaningful interaction when they were so close last season and Jane literally restarted Max's heart... Killing off Jane was the only way the duffers could make her ending realistic, they thought she could only be dead or married to Mike. Mind you in season 5 she was 16 she left the lab when she 12, she had lived a "free" life for 4 years. The only way they thought she could have a good resolution is by killing her or forcing her to be with a guy who can't even say he loves her in her final moments. Jane deserves better than death and Mike. Even in Mike's optimism for her fate, this being best case is not great. Jane was isolated from all of humanity and taken from her mother to be turned into a weapon, after 4 years of freedom being forced to isolate and leave everything she loves behind really?? If Kali had lived with her they could've left together and maybe I wouldn't hate this ending so much but her fate just feels blatantly misogynistic to me. In no world should they have killed Jane.

Now that all the confirmed/implied dead characters are out of the way let's move onto all the (alive) major adults in the series:

Murray Bauman:

I don't think he needed to die. I understand not liking the character or the actor and therefore not wanting him around as there are definitely some scenes where he feels useless but overall I don't think he's a completely disposable character, in s3 and 4 he greatly helped in the Russian plots (which may seem useless in a point I'll bring up with Hopper but that's for later.) He also was a major player in bringing the team items they needed while hawkins was in lock down in s5 and he took out the helicopter that was disrupting Jane's powers. Though I definitely understand the frustration that someone like him was able to stick around since season 2 while Jane gets killed I don't think he needed to die by any means.

Joyce Byers:

She didn't need to die and she didn't. There would've been no reason to kill her it would've just been for shock value.

Scott Clarke:

He didn't need to die and he didn't. However I do think he should've been involved in the whole UD business sooner. Like learning that so much of what he's teaching has been helping the party, that's really sweet.

Jim Hopper:

Here's where we get controversial, I think he should've died in season 3. His death would've been a lot more impactful had he actually died there also it might've actually given Jane more of a motive to sacrifice herself as she would likely blame herself for his death. In season 4 his plot is so boring I'm sorry russia plot can rot idrc. Then in S5 he's suicidal, it might not be obvious but he went onto crawls with a bomb attached to him as a "safety net." That is not normal. The narrative continues to frame him as sacrificial but he really wants to die, the only reason he does not kill himself outright is because he knows he could not justify leaving Jane. If he had died in season 3 he wouldn't have to go through this depression arc and constantly trying to sacrifice himself. Also Hopper not dying makes his epilogue ending kind of unfinished? Sure he is engaged to Joyce but we never see his grief for Jane and we have no idea how he was able to get his job as Chief back. He was considered dead how did he explain that to the government? I think it would've made a lot more sense if Hopper had died in season 3 overall. With that being said Hopper is one of my favorite characters so don't assume I'm just saying this cause I hate him or something bc I don't.

Dr. Kay:

Yeah she should've died. I don't understand why some random nobody soldiers died but not her. Sure someone else would've followed in her footsteps but I really didn't like her 😭

Sam Owens:

I don't think he's dead? I don't think he needed to die but I wish he would've played some role in season 5.

Karen Wheeler:

She didn't need to die and she didn't. I don't think there would've been any real reason to kill her off? Would've just been angst for the Wheeler siblings. I think she earns her spot in surviving as she protects Holly, points Nancy and Mike to Mr Whatsit being Henry, and protects rovickie and lumax.

Ted Wheeler:

He was such a nothing burger character he definitely could have died and it wouldn't make much difference.

Now onto the (alive) teens/now young adults:

Argyle:

Yeah he didn't need to die and he didn't. There would've been no purpose in killing Argyle.

Robin Buckley:

Yeah no way in hell do they kill Robin. Killing the one lesbian character in what is already a pretty underdeveloped sapphic relationship would be terrible optics.

Jonathan Byers:

Okay okay don't hate me but I think he could've died in a meaningful way and I wouldn't have hated it. In s4 and 5 he basically loses all his character and is defaulted to weed and being Nancy's bf, it feels really useless. I think it would've been really sweet and please don't shoot me if he and nancy would've died after their i love yous like sue me but that would've actually been emotional and a good send off for him.

Vickie Dunne:

Yeah no she wasn't going to die and didn't need to. Killing her off when she already had so little depth outside of her relationship to Robin would be such a disservice to queer audience members. People are already calling this show queerbait bc of byler not happening, which is a fair point but even on top of that the wlw relationship is not greatly developed if they killed Vickie that would be in such bad taste.

Steve Harrington:

Okay he doesn't need to die by any means but I think he could've. His death would've effected everyone in the party and the older teens. His death maybe would have given the show actual stakes.

Nancy Wheeler:

Now I don't Nancy should die but she definitely could have. I think if Nancy had died after the I love yous scene it would've been a great send off. I also think she could've in the big fight, it felt kind of unbelievable that she got of it unscathed? Like holy plot armor, this is more so a critique of how easy the battle was but I think she could've died at either of those points and I wouldn't have hated it. Otherwise I am glad she's alive but she definitely could've died in a meaningful way.

Now the party/teens/kids:

Will Byers:

He didn't need to die and didn't. Though I do wish he would've gotten some damage from the final battle, the continued imagery of eyes and how people theorized he would lose an eye and mike an arm just for that to not happen? Also the fact that he was able to restrain vecna but when people were hurting the mind flayer he felt nothing? that's such lazy writing. I did not love Will's ending at least he's alive but I wish he would've gotten Some kind of damage from the final battle. Also I'm really annoyed they didn't go into Will being possessed more this season it was clear he was in Henry's mind (by saying Milvads had milkshakes when we saw in season 3 it didn't, him calling the children vessels and the way he looked at Mike as if he had been caught after saying that.) But then nothing came of it.

Dustin Henderson:

I'm glad he didn't die, he didn't need to. I have no other thoughts for him really i enjoy his contribution and I like his ending. My one gripe with his character is that I wish he would've been with the party more this season as the duffers literally said they would be going back to season 1 groupings. I wish Dustin would've been with the party for more than 3 scenes.

Max Mayfield:

She didn't need to die and she didn't which made me very happy. After being inside vecna's mind for so long she deserved a happy ending. I do wish we would've seen more to her ending outside of Lucas but that's my only complaint.

Erica Sinclair:

She didn't need to die and I would've pissed me off if she did. The duffers don't even care about her enough to include in the epilogue bc "no one cares" like bitch I care. She should've been a dm for the younger kids, her not being including just annoys me. If they would've killed her off that would've left a real sour taste in my mouth.

Lucas Sinclair:

In no world does he need to die. It would've been nasty especially seeing as they've sidelined him so much this season. Lucas deserved so much more this season, he felt like such a nothing burger character it was so disappointing.

Holly Wheeler:

Yeah she didn't need to die. I do however wish she didn't take up so much time from the main cast.

Mike Wheeler:

Controversial but I think Mike could've died and i wouldn't have hated it. He is the only party member that I could actually believably be okay with dying. I thought it was going to be implied that Mike was going through the Vecna trance when he was zoned out while Nancy was talking to him and you hear a faint chime of a clock when he snaps out of it, also the fact he notices that book in the hospital. I thought that would all lead somewhere but it didn't and it just led to a really kind of depressing ending for Mike where he still has a picture of his dead girlfriend on his desk and the painting next to him.