‘Stranger Things’ season 5’s telling omission is one small comfort

Stranger Things season five is taking its sweet time to get to us, but it is on the way. The show in which we’ve literally gotten to see characters grow up is nearing its end, and we’re not sure they’re all going to make it out alive. But one might.

Stranger Things 5 is currently in production after a break of more than two years, which included movie and TV industry strikes last year and scheduling conflicts. The series follows the dark and mysterious happenings centered in the town of Hawkins, in which a portal to another dimension has allowed mysterious and dangerous entities to wreak havoc upon the town’s inhabitants. The only ones who do know what’s behind it all is a small group of kids, a handful of young adults, and three actual adults, plus American and Russian intelligence. Okay, so maybe a fair few people know about it.

The majority of the town, however, including many parents of the kids, knows nothing, because if they did, they would have moved their children far far away. One such parent is Mrs. Henderson (Catherine Curtin), Dustin’s mother who has been a recurring guest character in the series since season two. Curtin, however, was not called back for the fifth season (due to scheduling conflicts) which gives rise to the idea that of all the deaths that are likely to come our way, Dustin is safe.

I smell death on the air

Many have posited that the season finale will see a fair few deaths, which is a fair assumption given how many people have been killed off so far. (RIP Eddie!) Many believe that Eleven will have to sacrifice herself to finish Vecna off once and for all, with others saying that Will is also a strong contender for the chopping block given his connection to the Upside Down since season one. Of course, many feel no one is safe, but the case against Dustin’s death lies solely on the fact that his mother isn’t in this season.

Many feel it would be very weird for Dustin to die and for his mother not to be present in the season. If Dustin were to die, you would think his mother would appear, even as a cameo, to punctuate the sadness of his passing. Look, we aren’t saying that Dustin dying is completely off the table; we’re just saying it’s unlikely at this point. Who knows? We could be proved wrong. We will only know for sure when the show returns to Netflix late next year. Please just let it actually debut then! We can’t wait anymore!