The Wild Card

So much of the discussion around Steve was about his love life and nothing else that I’m honestly glad he was given a career that fit him instead of that being an afterthought. I feel like we saw more about what he’s doing in the epilogue than most of the other characters. I’m also glad that his friendship with Dustin has deepened, and that he’ll have a core group of friends that he’ll grow and change with.

As a Stancy fan, do I wish we’d gotten some closure scene between him and Nancy? Absolutely. But I’ve also thought throughout this season that the triangle was more about Jonathan’s insecurities than anything to do with Steve and Nancy’s actions or feelings. And I’m good knowing that they’ll be in each other’s lives from now on.

While Stancy would have been wonderful to see onscreen again because of the chemistry between the two characters, I also felt they needed to mature individually into different versions of themselves after all they’d gone through (and in my mind potentially reconnect romantically in their 40s like Joyce and Hopper). I also find it interesting that despite their obvious differences, they’re the two characters in their group who don’t go to or complete college.

Finally, what I wouldn’t give to see a show about Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Jonathan in Philly. Dustin and Lumax can be guest stars.

I appreciate the show freeing Jonathan and Nancy from their relationship. I know the writers said those characters needed their “independence,” but I saw it more as them being given their freedom. Freedom from defining themselves and each other by their shared trauma alone.

Likewise, as much as I would like to see Stancy come out of this, another part of me would also like to see Steve freed from the boxes he’s been put into: namely being this dumb, lovelorn himbo who hasn’t gotten over Nancy.

This season has made it clear that among a bunch of geniuses, he’s been the one tagged as the dumb one by Dustin, and not a leader to follow by Jonathan. Now they’re following his plan, and the narrative has established they’ve been wrong about him due to their own insecurities and grief.

Dustin and Jonathan have also berated Steve for chasing Nancy, and I keep wondering why. Is it to show that he’s lying when he calls Nancy a “friend,” or show that those characters are wrong again and he’s come to terms with his love being unrequited?

She is trying to use Kali and potentially Eleven/Jane’s blood to breed a new army of child soldiers for the U.S. military. Season 3 and 4 took us away quite a bit from the domestic threat, focusing instead on the Russians. But since Brenner’s return, we’re back to seemingly a much more generally anti-military POV. We’re back in Hawkins Lab and to the idea that even if you vanquish the supernatural evil, you still have the human evil to face, whether that’s the Russian government or the U.S. government. And that seems much more difficult to defeat.