The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4, now streaming on Netflix.
Possibly the biggest television event this year was the return of Stranger Things. Season 4 of the Netflix series has garnered much praise in its comeback after a nearly three-year separation from the previous season. However, in the acclaim, there were also some negative comments. Along with critiques of plot holes and questionable writing one big problem was the unnecessary push for the love triangles primarily between Johnathan, Nancy and Steve and more recently Mike, Eleven and Will.
The trope of the love triangle is one that has bogged down many story arcs for different pieces of media as well as lifted some up. The additional bit of drama and deep look at the varying ways characters influence each other can bring about interesting developments in how the story progresses. However, where shows tend to fail with this trope, is by making the prospect of love more important than any other aspect of the story, doing the characters involved a great disservice.
Nancy, Steve and Jonathan have had huge shifts in their relationships over the four seasons of Stranger Things. In all of this time, however, the idea of their love triangle was more an afterthought given that the relationships were always clearly defined; Nancy was with Steve then they broke up and Nancy got with Jonathan. The relationship between the three characters wasn’t really explored except for the first season where Steve was Jonathan’s bully and Jonathan obviously had unacknowledged feelings for Nancy.
However, the melodrama of the love triangle has been brought to the forefront in this latest season of the show. Season 4 of Stranger Things saw Nancy and Steve working together while Jonathan and Nancy struggled with keeping their relationship going after being in different states for so long. This plot makes Nancy seem uncharacteristically indecisive. Where Season 4 ends suggests even more drama with the love triangle is coming, as all three parties are back in Hawkins.
The fifth and final season of Stranger Things has a lot of set-up to make it something truly great. However, now it seems like the love triangles of not just Jonathan, Nancy and Steve but Will, Mike and Eleven are going to be a big part of the season as well. The final season has many more immediate problems; Vecna and the Mind Flayer, the open portal to the Upside Down and Max in her coma, and while setting aside screen time for character connections and development is important, the will-they/won’t-they aspect of the relationships will get old quickly.
A solution to this problem would be to have the characters define their relationships early on to not drag out the melodramatic storyline. However, if resolved too quickly, audiences may question why any time was spent on it at all. And if resolved too late, the entire season will feel dragged down by the unnecessary plot of person A not knowing whether to be with person B or C until it’s thematically appropriate. The fact of the matter is, the trope of the love triangle brings more problems than it’s worth and to have it be such a big story plot going into the final season of the show is a strange choice given the character development necessary to have the storylines resolve satisfyingly.
At first glance, the drama that comes from a love triangle seems harmless. There is nothing out of place with a character finding multiple partners that they could fall for. Where the eyes of the audience start to roll is when the drama of the relationship becomes more important than the characters involved. While the connections between the characters we love are important, it is also vital to make sure that they feel like a complete human apart from the relationship they are in as well.
Season 4 of Stranger Things is now streaming on Netflix.