Steve and Dustin cannot die in 'Stranger Things 5'

In Stranger Things 5, Volume 2’s trailer, we see Dustin and Steve call back to an iconic friendship moment between the pair. In Stranger Things 3, Dustin and Steve end up trapped in an elevator controlled by nefarious Russians along with Erica and Robin. Inside this elevator, they find a mysterious crate. Steve insists on being the one to open it and tries to get Robin, Erica, and Dustin to back away. But Dustin won’t leave his side. “If you die, I die.” He says. And it was kind of a funny joke at the time, in Stranger Things 3… But now, in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2’s trailer, we kind of hate this Dustin and Steve call back to talking about death.

In the trailer, Steve tells Dustin, “If you die, I die,” echoing the words that Dustin said to him so long ago. And Dustin returns them, “If you die, I die.” GULP. Please, no deaths for either Steve or Dustin, thank you. Ironically, as we were rewatching the season, we said that if it were us, we’d pay off the “If you die, I die” open thread by having Steve and Dustin die together… But we didn’t MEAN it.

On the bright side, this truly intense invocation of their friendship suggests that Steve and Dustin have found their way through the rough patch we saw them in during Stranger Things 5, Volume 1. Dustin’s grief over Eddie and Steve’s inability to figure out how to help him drove the pair to fight and be cruel to one another, and it left them miserable, both separately and together. The gulf between them truly broke our hearts.

We feel excited to see how the pair heal and find their way back to the friendship that is so important to both of them. But we DO NOT feel excited that this reconciliation means that death could be on the horizon for Dustin and Steve. How about, Steve, you don’t die, and Dustin, you’d die either, and we call it a day on Stranger Things 5 and death.

Vecna, do not touch Steve and Dustin. Thank you for coming to our Ted Talk.

Stranger Things 5, Volume 2 releases on Christmas—that’s December 25 at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET. It better not leave Steve and Dustin’s deaths under our tree. This release will include episodes five through seven.

Stranger Things 5, Volume 1 is now streaming.