There is one storyline in particular that feels unnecessary, as it doesn’t serve an important role and could have easily been avoided.

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The most unnecessary part of season 4 has to be the military team looking for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). It seems like this storyline serves two purposes: it allowed Eleven to escape Project Nina and it gave the show a way to kill Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine). However, these plotlines could have still happened, even if the military wasn’t on the lookout for Eleven. While season 4 of Stranger Things connects storylines, this one felt like too much.

In the season 4 episode “Papa,” Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan (Sherman Augustus) and his team arrive at Project Nina, and in an epic scene, Eleven kills Brenner and escapes for good. When Eleven tells Brenner, “Now I know the truth. It’s you. You are the monster," it’s one of the most memorable Stranger Things season 4 quotes. Eleven then uses her powers to end Brenner’s life. While this is an important scene and it makes sense that Eleven kills Brenner, as she realizes that he manipulated her for years, this could have been achieved without the military plotline. Since Eleven spends much of season 4 with Brenner, she has plenty of opportunities.

One memorable part of this storyline is when Will (Noah Schnapp), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), and Argyle (Eduardo Franco) show up in Argyle’s Surfer Pizza van. They are thrilled to reunite with Eleven and they all drive back to Hawkins. This could happen without the military chasing Eleven as well, as Eleven’s friends could simply drive to Project Nina, find Eleven, and take her back home.

Paul Reiser’s Stranger Things character Dr. Sam Owens is compelling, as he seems both good and evil at the same time. There are moments when he’s on Eleven’s side and seems to want to protect her, but he sometimes seems to have ulterior motives, making fans unsure if they can completely trust him. While Owens is a great character, the members of the military team are pretty forgettable, and they don’t feel necessary at all.

One of the best parts of Stranger Things season 4 is when Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman) find Jim Hopper (David Harbour), and since so much is going on in this supersized season, it doesn’t make sense to add yet another plotline with Eleven and the military. It’s enough to watch Eleven try to get her powers back and to relive her worst and most terrible memories, learning the truth about Henry Creel/001/Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). The military complicates an already complex and well-crafted group of episodes.

Most of all, the military storyline is probably meant to convey that there are some people who don’t trust Eleven because she’s strange, different, and possibly a threat. However, Stranger Things is always about characters who celebrate their uniqueness and what sets them apart from others. Since this is already a significant and sweet theme of the show, the military plotline doesn’t need to drive it home.

Most of all, Stranger Things fans want to see the characters together, having fun and solving the evil in Hawkins. If there are too many narrative threads that separate the characters from each other, viewers aren’t going to be happy, and that is the main issue with the military going after Eleven. It also feels unnecessary because it seems unlikely that the military would actually capture Eleven and win, so after a while, it doesn’t seem like there is much point to watching this unfold. The stakes are never high enough to make it an interesting and exciting storyline. It’s clear that Eleven will always be the victor here.

Stranger Things season 5 should be shorter, according to the Duffer Brothers, and fans look forward to what is certain to be another incredible season. Hopefully the show will stick to the main characters who fans love and focus on the storylines that feel important.

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