The second part of Stranger Things’ final season has hit Netflix – and many fans have expressed the same complaint about its biggest character.
Unexpectedly, a major driver of plot this season has been Holly Wheeler, played by the 14-year-old British-born actor Nell Fisher. Holly, the little sister of Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer), was kidnapped to the Upside Down by the demon Vecna, and in the latest batch of episodes managed to escape with help from Sadie Sink’s Max and Jake Connelly’s Derek.
But some fans have complained that the increase in Holly’s screentime has impacted their affection for the show overall, particularly as it has meant reduced appearances by many long-time cast members.
“I think a lot of the issues with Stranger Things 5 could be solved by dropping the Holly/Derek storyline and coming up with literally anything else,” wrote one person on X. “Too many characters, ages don’t make sense, using up valuable screen time.”
Another person wrote: “Listen I love you #StrangerThings but I simply do not f***ing care THIS much about Holly Wheeler – particularly when some of the original main cast is getting little to zero screen time … I mean what are doing here?”
Another fan asked: “Look, no offense to Holly but why is she getting more screentime than the main kids…”
Over on Reddit, many Stranger Things fans have been asking the same questions.
“Why is Holly given so much screen time?” asked one user. “Eleven is sidelined and got nothing. Not just El, but also Hopper, Joyce, and others. I would go as far to say that it’s a plot issue that does not put your old [main characters] in the centre of the plot.”
Others have also theorised that Holly’s sudden significance to the show might be laying the groundwork for a Stranger Things spin-off series that entirely revolves around her character.
“For four seasons, Holly was [in the] background by design,” reads one Reddit post. “Now, in the final season, she’s abruptly elevated with real narrative weight and noticeable screen time, with almost no buildup … Core characters who carried the show for years are having their arcs rushed or compressed, while Holly is getting focus that feels completely out of proportion to her history in the series … This doesn’t feel like a show wrapping up what it started. It feels like Netflix hedging its bets and planting future pieces while the current story is still unresolved.”
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The show’s crew, however, have stated that Holly’s increased presence on the series was purely story-driven, as opposed to due to outside factors.
“Centering Holly not only gives us a new character to explore and root for, but is also very thematic because, in many ways, this show has always been about childhood, about the vulnerability of innocence, but also the superpower of innocence,” director Shawn Levy told Netflix’s in-house site Tudum. “We’ve all watched these kids grow up and have this very visceral connection to the kids of Stranger Things.”
The first two segments of Stranger Things’s final season are streaming on Netflix, with its super-sized finale arriving on 31 December.
In his review of the season’s first batch of episodes, critic Nick Hilton wrote that the series remains “fun and immersive”, but expressed worry that it would stick the landing come its finale.
