Stranger Things fans are debating the "very odd" decision to focus so much of season 5 on Holly Wheeler: "They just sidelined the main cast"

With Stranger Things now over, fans are looking back at the highs and lows of season 5, from the show's most burning questions left unanswered to the truth behind Eleven's fate (you can read all about it in our Stranger Things season 5 finale ending explained). One particular character is getting a lot of heat online, as some viewers think that she got too much screen time, sidelining the main cast.

"Did you feel Holly really needed to be one of the main characters in the last season?" asked one fan on Reddit, adding: "Most of the screen time was usually taken by the OGs, which I always loved and wanted to watch. Did the shift from the older kids to now younger ones made sense to you or do you think show could've ended just fine with the same focus on the older cast?"

The post has prompted almost a thousand comments at the time of writing, with most of them arguing that, although Holly star Nell Fisher did a great job, her extended presence on screen felt forced. "I think the Duffers wanted to bring the S1 vibes with a new set of kids not realizing they just sidelined the main cast to tell this new story to connect the show as a whole," wrote one user.

"The storyline should have been about El and/or Will contacting Max and helping her escape from Vecna's mind. Adding essentially two new mains to an already bloated cast was a mistake. No shade on the kids though, they did a great job," added another one, with a third agreeing: "Her entire storyline could've been just wrapped into Max finding her way from Vecna's mind and Holly could be totally removed from the storyline."

For a lot of the fans involved in the online conversation, Max was the most affected by Holly's sudden leading role. "Holly should have been a secondary character to Max. Holly should have had a smaller role compared to Max and the show should have explored more through the lens of Max," opined a Redditor.

"It came at the expense of our main cast," wrote another one, who said Holly's focus was "very odd."

"We could have had much more interactions between our main cast and given members of the main cast more to do," they continued. "I don't think Steve and Eleven have ever properly interacted. Same with Eleven and Robin. Same with Nancy and Max. I would like to have seen Nancy and Lucas interact a bit more, and Nancy and Dustin as well."

"I actually like Holly. But the problem was it took away from the main characters in the final season. When we've seen newer characters before like Max and Billy they joined the main cast. But Holly's story was just her own with a bit of Max involved," agreed another.

Despite her bigger role in the final season, Holly won't be starring in her own spinoff, as some suspected. The Duffer brothers confirmed recently that the Stranger Things spin-off in the works will feature a brand-new group of characters, with a new world and mythology. "It's obviously not Holly and the kids or anything like that. It's something much smaller than that," Ross Duffer explained.

The complete Stranger Things series is available to watch on Netflix now. For more, check out our guide to the best Netflix shows, and keep up with new TV shows.