Stranger Things Season 5 Sparks Debate Over Heavy Focus on Holly Wheeler: “Main Cast Gets Sidelined”

With the conclusion of Stranger Things, fans are reflecting on the highs and lows of season 5, including the unanswered questions and the fate of Eleven. One character, in particular, has sparked debate online, as some viewers feel she overshadowed the main cast with her increased screen time.

“Did you think Holly really needed to be one of the main characters in the last season?” one fan posed on Reddit, noting that the original characters typically dominated the screen. “Did the shift from the older kids to younger ones make sense to you, or do you think the show could have wrapped up just fine with the same focus on the older cast?”

This post has generated nearly a thousand comments, with many arguing that while Nell Fisher, who plays Holly, performed well, her presence felt forced. “I think the Duffers wanted to recapture the Season 1 vibe with a new set of kids, not realizing they sidelined the main cast to tell this new story,” one user remarked.

“The storyline should have centered on El and/or Will reaching out to Max and helping her escape from Vecna’s mind. Adding essentially two new main characters to an already crowded cast was a misstep. No shade on the kids, though; they did a great job,” another user added, with a third agreeing: “Holly’s entire storyline could have been condensed into Max’s journey from Vecna’s mind, and Holly could have been completely removed.”

Many fans in the discussion felt that Max was particularly impacted by Holly’s prominent role. “Holly should have been a secondary character to Max. Her role should have been smaller, allowing the show to explore more through Max’s perspective,” one Redditor suggested.

“It came at the expense of our main cast,” another user commented, describing Holly’s focus as “very odd.”

“We could have had much more interaction among the main cast and given them more to do,” they continued. “I don’t think Steve and Eleven have ever really interacted. The same goes for Eleven and Robin, and Nancy and Max. I would have liked to see more interactions between Nancy and Lucas, as well as Nancy and Dustin.”

“I actually like Holly, but the issue was that her role detracted from the main characters in the final season. When we saw newer characters like Max and Billy, they became part of the main cast. But Holly’s story felt more isolated, with only a bit of Max involved,” another fan agreed.

Despite her larger role in the final season, Holly won’t be getting her own spinoff, as some had speculated. The Duffer brothers recently confirmed that the upcoming Stranger Things spin-off will introduce a brand-new group of characters, along with a fresh world and mythology. “It’s obviously not Holly and the kids or anything like that. It’s something much smaller,” Ross Duffer explained.

The entire Stranger Things series is currently available for streaming.