The end of Stranger Things is right around the corner on the 2025 TV schedule, and there’s a lot I'm excited about when it comes to the final four episodes we have left. But there's something about the upcoming ending I want to talk about. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to see Nancy and Jonathan get engaged.
Let’s get into it as we count down to Vol. 2 being less than two weeks away. SPOILERS for Vol. 1 ahead.
Vol. 1 Teases Jonathan Proposing To Nancy, And The Vibes Are Off For Me
In case you didn’t catch it, during one of the Stranger Things 5 Vol. 1 episodes (specifically in The Turnbow Trap episode), we find out that Jonathan has been gifted a cassette tape from Murray that’s actual contents are an engagement ring. When the ring is revealed, there’s some back and forth from Murray and Jonathan about whether it’s the right time. I wish I could infiltrate their comms to tell Jonathan to absolutely not listen to Murray and forget about asking Nancy to marry him right now, because I’m not at all into this being wrapped up in the current storyline.
For one, the Stranger Things kids have been trauma-bonding for as long as Hawkins has had an Upside Down, and at this point, I’m much more invested in them saving their small-town Indiana town than any endgame couple making sense. But Nancy and Jonathan being one being pushed right now is especially bothersome to me because both her parents are currently in the hospital, and her sister is missing. If Jonathan thinks that proposing to Nancy in between all that makes any sense, I might throw something at my TV.
At This Point, I’m So Over Nancy’s ‘Love Triangle’ And I Hope The Show Clocks That
My theory is that because fans have been so obsessed with Nancy and Jonathan vs. Nancy and Steve, the creators think we need some closure about who Nancy “chooses” by the end of the series, but I was watching the new season thinking, “Are we really still on this?” It was fun in the beginning, but it’s been almost a decade since Stranger Things started, and it’s getting old. I’d rather learn more about these characters and see how this Upside Down saga concludes than play Team Steve and Team Jonathan. I think the only couple I'm actually invested in going into the finale is Lucas and Max, especially since they have an actual romantic storyline of him playing the song over and over for her in hopes she'll get out of a coma.
On the other hand, I’ll be a-okay if Nancy is single by the end of the show, I think mostly because it feels like Stranger Things has been playing this love triangle game for so long that they’ve become too intrinsic to their characters for them to work on their own. It feels like the show is running on autopilot when it has scenes like that moment where Steve and Jonathan raced up that radio tower rather than providing any additional depth to these characters. It doesn’t feel genuine anymore to still be harping on what’s going on with them when it’s just not as interesting as it used to be. Even Nancy seems over them both.
I get it, having an engagement ring definitely adds some drama into the mix just prior to the finale. Like, will someone else find it? What conversations will it spark? Sure, I really hope that the show makes me care about Nancy and Jonathan if they do plan to get hitched, but for now, it’s not something I’m excited for when I catch the next episodes of Stranger Things with a Netflix subscription on December 25 for the next three episodes, and again for the New Year’s Eve finale.
