Heading into the final season of Stranger Things, we all anticipated that there would be more than a few shocking and heartbreaking deaths. While the show might have been afraid to kill off major characters in past seasons, the thought was that the gloves would come off with this being the final season. Unfortunately – or fortunately, for some fans – that has not been the case.
Throughout the first seven episodes of the season, not a single named character was killed. There were some moments in which it looked like certain characters were goners, but in the end the only characters in real danger proved to be nameless background players.
That said, while the episodes might not have killed off any key characters from the core ensemble, there was one particular death scene that has stayed with me.
The Demodogs death scene in Stranger Things season 5 episode 6 was brutal
At the end of episode 6, “Escape from Camazotz,” Vecna sent a pack of Demodogs into Hawkins to kill Max. After using Will’s mind to find her location in the real world, the Demodogs stormed the hospital and set out to find Max.
Just when it looked like the Demodogs were going to succeed in their mission as they closed in on Max, who had been taken from her hospital bed just in time by Lucas, who was now huddled with Max, Robin, and Vickie in the laundry room, the tables turned. The pack of Demodogs heard a clanging in the distance and raced over to the dryer where the noise originated.
Within the dryer was an oxygen tank which exploded just as the Demodogs arrived, taking all three Demodogs out in the process. The quick thinking by Karen Wheeler helped save Max, Lucas, Robin, and Vickie from the Demodogs and reminded us again why Karen is the baddest bitch around.
There was just one problem with the scene, one that broke my animal-loving heart.
Before the oxygen tank exploded and took out the Demodogs, Stranger Things chose to lean into the ‘dog’ part of Demodog by having the creatures pause, cock their heads, and make a dog-like noise that truly was reminiscent of a “ruh-roh” from Scooby-Doo just as the dryer exploded, killing the creatures.
The moment was likely intended to be humorous, but ended up being just plain cruel. Yes, the Demodogs are monsters and this particular pack had literally killed a pair of military guards and intended to kill Max. I’m not saying they didn’t need to be stopped, but the show didn’t need to humanize the creatures so to speak only to then kill them in gruesome fashion.
They could have simply had the Demodogs look into the dryer as it exploded, but instead they chose to use that brief moment before their deaths to lean into the dog-like quality of the creatures. There was no need to play up the creatures’ dog-like side moments before killing them, and doing so just felt cruel and unnecessary.