How Season 5 lost its mystery
One of the biggest problems a lot of people have with Stranger Things is how, starting in season 3, the show has lost its mystery element. From the beginning, the audience is in the know on the big secret of the season. We know that the rats are turning into the Mind Flayer and that the Russians are behind Starcourt Mall and its stuff. Season 4 tried to regain that mystery element to… varying degrees of success. In many ways, it’s a major upgrade from season 3.
Season 5 once again loses its mystery. It attempts at one with hiding the face of Mr. Whatsit, but it is so terribly obvious that he is Henry. This poor subplot shows that… maybe this last season does not need a mystery to solve like the others did. That would make sense since the last season is meant to wrap everything up. But by losing a mystery to solve, the show loses suspense. And this suspense is not filled by another aspect of the show. The audience is treated as observers to the plot, world, and characters, rather than growing and living alongside of them.
I think one of the biggest ways the show fails to utilize suspense is by showing how the Byer house was attacked in episodes one and two. By showing the complete series of events from start to finish the audience is able to question how the parents survived, scrutinize the ways Holly and her mom defend themselves, how the demogorgon is both violent and shows restraint, etc. By including this sequence in full detail, we lose a lot of the anticipation we would feel alongside the cast, as well as the confusion we would feel with Holly as she wakes up in a completely different place.
I consider the latter to be the most jarring, at least from my initial watching of the show. We aren’t allowed to wonder what happened to Holly and her family. We aren’t allowed to think, for even a brief second, that Vecna really did save Holly. We don’t get to worry alongside Nancy and Mike if their parents (or only their mother? That’s the only person they’re worried about…) are alive.
TLDR: suspense is lost by showing Holly’s kidnapping.