Dungeons & Dragons Framework Weakened Stranger Things Season 5

Collider says the series' long-running Dungeons & Dragons fixation contributed to the storytelling problems in Stranger Things Season 5, which the article describes as emotionally cathartic but uneven and, to some, possibly the weakest season. The piece argues the season leans heavily on expository dialogue across eight feature-length episodes, with scenes in which characters routinely stop to outline plans — roughly every 15 minutes — creating a repetitive pattern of plan, implement, fail, overcome and regroup.

That approach, the article says, began as a useful framework in Season 1 but grew into a storytelling habit: even characters who never played D&D, such as Robin, Steve and Joyce, adopt campaign-style reasoning, and lines like Dustin's reference to a "shield generator" reflect the same logic.

The Duffer Brothers reportedly had to respond to viewers who wondered if the whole show was one big campaign, insisting that was never the case. The author also contends that constant D&D analogies limit worldbuilding and character development: entities like Vecna, the Mind Flayer and the Abyss are defined by their tabletop counterparts rather than explored on their own terms, and central figures such as Holly remain archetypal "Holly the Heroic" plot drivers.

Key Topics

Culture, Stranger Things, Dungeons & Dragons, Vecna, Mind Flayer, Duffer Brothers