Stranger Things Season 5 Can Still Fix The Story That Didn't Really Work

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 4.

Stranger Things season 5 can address the questionably needed Satanic Panic subplot of season 4 by proving that the storyline had a point with one clever twist. In Stranger Things season 4, Jason (and half the town of Hawkins, although they soon forget it once he is dead), was whipped up into an anti-"Satanism" frenzy that consists mostly of the basketball captain and his friends attempting to attack fellow teenagers. Their fear of a deadly cult with sinister intentions was never really fleshed out or utilized much in the season, but Stranger Things season 5 could justify this subplot.

The Satanic Panic subplot of Stranger Things season 4 built up slowly across the episodes of vol 1. Initially, Eddie’s reaction to Chrissy’s horrible death made Jason suspicious while, later, Patrick’s murder at the hands of Vecna understandably led Jason to assume that something seriously messed up was going on in Hawkins. Having already decided to blame Eddie due to his outsider status, Jason doubled down on this approach by riling up an angry mob at a town meeting and heading out in search of the Hellfire club’s .

However, in Stranger Things season 4 part 2, this subplot fizzled out. Although Jason confronted Lucas, the mob he inspired was nowhere to be seen, and the news didn’t even mention his death in the finale’s closing scenes. Jason’s impact on the show seemed to be as small as another hated new season 4 character, Angela, although Stranger Things season 5 could fix this subplot’s apparent pointlessness. If Vecna uses the town’s fear to terrify and demoralize the populace, he can divide and conquer the people of Hawkins by convincing them that anyone who understands the Upside-Down (or even just anyone who is a little bit different) is the problem and the cause of the town’s many mysterious deaths. This would force the heroes to fight both their townspeople and the powerful monstrous being at once, thus fulfilling the empty promise of Stranger Things season 4’s Satanic Panic subplot.

Why Stranger Things Season 4’s Satanic Panic Subplot Went Nowhere

Since Jason was alone when he attacked Lucas and had only one loyal friend ing him on the mission, it is fair to assume that the anti-Satanism hysteria he cooked up in the town hall meeting didn’t inspired much commitment. Jason’s gruesome season 4 finale death, however, could be spun into a tragic loss by the media in Stranger Things season 5. This would reignite the town’s fear of the Hellfire Club and make it all but impossible for the show’s heroes to stop Vecna.

Since Vecna feeds off fear, cruelty, and all-round bad vibes, the town’s fear of Satanism perfectly compliments his plan. If the people of Hawkins continue to blindly fear anyone different from them, Vecna can operate out in the open with impunity, safe in the knowledge that they will blame each other for the death toll and not him. This would make the heroes of Stranger Things season 5 lose hope, which in turn will make Vecna even stronger and make his plan easier to pull off, thus justifying the show’s weakest season 4 subplot.

More: Vecna & Mind Flayer Connection Fully Explained

Want more Stranger Things season 4 articles? Check out our essential content below...