Yes, I see what you mean. So far, this season is a bit pale and rushed in comparison to season 4 (which was my favorite), and I think that some of the charm from the earlier season might have been lost along the way.
But as for Holly, I think it's so distracting that she suddenly aged twice as fast as children would. The actor playing here is 14, if I remember correctly. Isn't Holly supposed to be 7?
Also, why even spend so much time on Holly in the final season, in the first place? That took away so much screen time from Mike, and other major characters. One of the biggest missteps in Season 5 for me.
"On playing a more mature version of Mike returning to his strategist roots, Finn said, 'It was awesome to step back into that role… to go back to his roots as a kid.' He spoke about the universal theme beneath Mike’s journey. 'In the end, you always come back to your core beliefs and what you think is right… there are all these different roads you can go down, but what are the things that truly matter?' Season 5, he said, returns Mike to that essence. 'It was a reintroduction of those beliefs that Mike holds so dearly.'
Watching 5.1, I can see where he's coming from; an unexpected benefit of Holly suddenly becoming a main character to the point that she sidelines Eleven is that we're able to see Mike as a loving and protective older brother, he's active in the gang's plans, and memorably he puts himself between the children and the Demogorgons without a weapon. But then we get to 5.2 and...what happened? Mike is yet another casualty of Will and Holly's importance to the story being massively speedrun. He doesn't even get a moment like he did in the S4 finale where he is crucial to saving El's life in her fight with Vecna. And will the finale be able to finish strong, for his character as well as the show on a whole?
Yes, I see what you mean. So far, this season is a bit pale and rushed in comparison to season 4 (which was my favorite), and I think that some of the charm from the earlier season might have been lost along the way.
But as for Holly, I think it's so distracting that she suddenly aged twice as fast as children would. The actor playing here is 14, if I remember correctly. Isn't Holly supposed to be 7?
Also, why even spend so much time on Holly in the final season, in the first place? That took away so much screen time from Mike, and other major characters. One of the biggest missteps in Season 5 for me.
"On playing a more mature version of Mike returning to his strategist roots, Finn said, 'It was awesome to step back into that role… to go back to his roots as a kid.' He spoke about the universal theme beneath Mike’s journey. 'In the end, you always come back to your core beliefs and what you think is right… there are all these different roads you can go down, but what are the things that truly matter?' Season 5, he said, returns Mike to that essence. 'It was a reintroduction of those beliefs that Mike holds so dearly.'
Watching 5.1, I can see where he's coming from; an unexpected benefit of Holly suddenly becoming a main character to the point that she sidelines Eleven is that we're able to see Mike as a loving and protective older brother, he's active in the gang's plans, and memorably he puts himself between the children and the Demogorgons without a weapon. But then we get to 5.2 and...what happened? Mike is yet another casualty of Will and Holly's importance to the story being massively speedrun. He doesn't even get a moment like he did in the S4 finale where he is crucial to saving El's life in her fight with Vecna. And will the finale be able to finish strong, for his character as well as the show on a whole?