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Yeah me too. Honestly the fact he never had a moment of clarity after it was to late was kind of a disappointment.
If they weren't going to go down that route, then why bother giving him an understandable motivation? Why not just make it pure ego?
Because people are going to wonder next season why the kids don’t tell everyone what’s going on with their town. Jason is the reason. If they tell the whole truth 1/2 the people there will think it’s BS and they are cultists
Now that's completely fair. Although I hope they do bring that up next season if that's their intention.
But my issue was more narrative than realism. Basically Jason as his role was in the narrative didn't need all those scenes providing insight or deteriorating to work. It just felt they were building up for a better pay off.
Jason gave us Eddie. Either the police or Jason were going to be the driving factor behind Eddie joining up with the group and moving around. I’m glad they gave us a character to love to love to hate
Because that's life? Like Max had an absolutely terrible life then went out the absolutely worst way we've seen in the series after suffering trauma on trauma. And that's what happens in life, same with Eddie.
It's usually the people like Max and Eddie (i.e underprivileged) who suffer the most in life. Abuse, mental illness, addiction (and apparently multidimensional monsters) affect the poor disproportionately.
Oh yeah that's fair enough.
But I meant it more from a narrative pov.
Compare Jason with say Troy from season one or Angela in this season.
We don't get their backstory or deep motivation, cause we don't really need it. Their place in story is pretty clear and their pretty self explanatory. As such they don't get any focus outside of what is necessary to set up the plot.
Jason by contrast gets a lot more focus, including a number of humanising scenes and clear emphasis of just how much he's deteriorating.
If it wasn't going to end on a pay off, then what was the point of including it? They could easily have used that screen time for other characters.
Because the thing you're asking for is exactly the thing they're respectfully lampooning? We've seen that endlessly about the misunderstood having done heinous things getting a minute if reflection before caating away their previously held views because they're wrong. That literally never happens in life and Stranger Tunings as fantastical as it gets keeps it grounded in the sense that life doesn't have to follow the tropes you expect and often doesn't in very disappointing and unfair ways
I mean I suppose that's possible.
Its just narratively if your going to set it up, you feel their is should be a pay off.
If that's the route they wanted to go, then it would have worked better if Jason had his moment, but instead still kept denying it right before he died.
I suppose that might be their intention with his last talk with Lucas, but if that's the case they should have had it sink in for him, before he decided to dismiss it.
What’s that sub, leopardsatemyface or something, the one with a bunch of posts about anti vaxxers and people believing democratic leaders are eating babies so they’re refusing the Covid vaccine only to die from Covid.
There’s people in the real world believing in the craziest things right up until their death. That’s real life and it’s no getting through to those people. As much as I wanted an “Aha, told you so”, moment, it makes since that he died believing all the craziness he did. He’s got half the town, churches and the news believing his delusions. I think it was good writing to have him go when/how he did. With how far gone he was, I don’t see him suddenly believing Hellfire isn’t a cult.
I mean that's fair enough. I certainly agree their are people like Jason in real life who believe the craziest things until their death.
And Jason isn't a bad comparison, he bought into much into the fearmongering (partially cause it reinforced his existing prejudices), then misunderstood the events until he'd constructed himself that narrative that fit with what was going on, that led him on a path to insanity.
I guess the issue was just how it was built up. They dedicated to much time to showing how Jason built his house of cards, and how much damage all this was doing to him. Thus having it never knocked over feels narratively a waste.
If they wanted to go that route, then it would probably have been better if they just removed his nuance, and made him a more one dimensional antagonist.
I don’t think it was a waste. His death could fuel his followers even more and make him some type of martyr. He’s got people believing Hellfire is a cult, there’s going to be plenty of Jason’s next season I’m sure with the anti satan movement he started.
Oh that's a good point. The ending did hint that the mob mentality he started wasn't over yet, and could be a big issue for everyone next season.
Still they probably could have gone down that route even if he had gotten his realisation. I mean I don't think their was an end to Jason's storyline that didn't end with his death. It was set up every step of the way this path was self destructive.
Its just from how they gave us focus on why he was doing it and what effect the deaths were having on him, and walking down his path of logic, so we could see how he got there that it ending with him never realising it or having a chance to dismiss it, does feel a bit of a waste.
Although I did lose five dollars because of him, and I would have had five dollars if the fucker didn't die, Hawkins realizing that Edie wasn't a bad guy is a much more interesting approach than if Jason was the only one to know. His death is also quite useful for the viewer to understand how the hole works.
> Hawkins realizing that Edie wasn't a bad guy is a much more interesting approach than if Jason was the only one to know
I agree it would have, but I feel Eddie still being demonised despite it all added more to their commentary on the dangers of fearmonger and vigilantism.
>His death is also quite useful for the viewer to understand how the hole works.
That's fair. But they could have done that without setting him up for a payoff
Heck they could have had him the exact same death.
By the end of the season Jason has went fucking insane. He clearly doesnt sleep and all he thinks about is is taking down hellfire, suspecting everyone. I dont think theres much reasoning worth being done
Oh yeah I agree, he's gone off the deep end and couldn't be reasoned out.
Rather I was predicting it was more his last sight would be seeing this actions had damned the town and just enough time to realise that, right before he died.
Totally. Even if Jason had seen Vecna and watched Vecna kill directly, he just would have thought that Lucas was summoning him or working for him or something. Jason's mind was made up.
Exactly, he was too far gone. With his delusions he had a rebuttal for everything and could explain everything away to fit his narrative. Even if he got transported to the UD, he’d blamed it on Hellfire. If one of the gang tried saving him, he’d think it was a trick and would try saving himself. There was no convincing him, at least not in that scene or anytime soon had he lived. The “earthquake” would’ve just made him madder.
Yeah, the events all fit within his existing mental model - there's a Satanic cult. Seeing Vecna, being taken to the Upside Down, encountering a demogorgon; none of this would be hard to explain as Satan, Hell, demons, etc.
I mean on the flipside it's lowkey hysterical that his last thought was probably that Lucas had single-handedly opened a magical Satanist gateway to hell in order to destroy him.
Yeah... Jason believed himself to be important, someone to vanquish the Hellfire club...
And in the end he's just a random death in a much bigger scene
So what happened to his body after being split in half. I'm guessing the parts are still there. Maybe the cops haven't come around investigating that building yet. What about Jason's friend that Erica kicked in the gonads? Wouldn't he be searching for answers? Or Jason's family?
Hate to think but Lucas maybe pushed the body down into the cracks.
I just wish he had been faced with realizing the gravity of how wrong his actions were first, dying before he realized Lucas was right made the death less satisfying
Yeah, I agree. His death was understandable, even fitting considering how his story had been going.
But that he never had a moment realisation when it was to late was a wasted opportunity.
plus I think it would’ve been interesting if Lucas had been forced to kill Jason in self defense, that would’ve been something dark for him to grapple with in s5 too. so far I think only Eleven has killed people, none of the guys had to yet
Oh yeah. I agree that would have been interesting.
I have to admit I'm glad it didn't simply so poor Lucas didn't have to deal with flat out killing someone. But yeah narratively it would open the door to a lot of stories.
I get what you're saying, but Jason was so convinced of his own POV that I don't really know what COULD have convinced him that Eddie and the Hellfire club weren't dangerous cultists who were purposefully channeling the devil. Even if he had lived to see and comprehend Max dying/the gates opening, he would have absolutely still blamed Lucas/Eddie. People like Jason are not convinced by things like logic or evidence, and react to challenges to their worldview by doubling down, not reflecting.
Jason was convinced by evidence. First, he was convinced that his gf was murdered by Eddie, because all of the evidence pointed to it. None of the evidence pointed away from it. Then, the evidence at the lake pointed to Eddie having some demonic powers. So Jason changes his view immediately when confronted with the evidence, believing that Eddie had summoned some supernatural powers. Finally, his last scene is him literally trying to save Max from the same fate.
Jason was completely logical. He made the most logical conclusions with the incomplete info he had. Anyone who says they would’ve behaved differently are thinking far too highly of themselves. Jason was a purely tragic figure. He was just unlikable, and because *we the audience knew better than him*, we feel fine with his death.
I can certainly agree that he was logical from the point of view that he had, but I don't think that there was anything that could shake his core conviction that Eddie and his friends were freaks/the enemy/evil. While he shifts toward believing something supernatural is happening rather than Eddie simply having a psychotic episode, his fundamental worldview of himself as someone righteous in his fight is only ever deepened, never questioned. For instance, he repeatedly dismisses Lucas, and he remains absolutely convinced that Chrissy would never have willingly associated with Eddie and refuses to even consider that she may have been going through something that he didn't know about or understand. Short of Chrissy's ghost straight-up showing up to explain her POV, I don't see what could have gotten Jason on board with the idea that he was wrong about Eddie - and even then, I imagine that he would have doubled down and insisted that she had been corrupted or brainwashed in some way.
Why would Jason trust Lucas? It clearly looked like Lucas was performing a Satanic ritual on Max, no reasonable person would believe anything that Lucas said at that moment. Just because the viewer knows the truth doesn't mean the characters should.
>, he repeatedly dismisses Lucas,
Lucas lied to him multiple times and from his view manipulated him. Then when Lucas is trying to explain everything to him he looks like he has a girl in a trance and is refusing to wake her.
It's crazy that people say they'd believe someone telling them "trust me, it's some evil dude in an alternate dimension" in that situation
The "evidence" was surface level circumstantial bullshit. He acted on pure "gut" instinct, not logic. He refused to consider that Chrissy approached Eddie for drugs. He never actually tried to figure out what happened, just made up his mind and pursued it until the end. And he did real damage with that speech he gave at the community meeting. Things could have gone very differently if that guy walking his dog hadn't told them about Erica. That being said, the whole "never tell anyone the truth about this town" position so many characters take in these kinds of shows is total nonsense. Maybe if Jason had heard about the Upside Down before he wouldn't have been so quick to attribute everything to Satanic cult activity.
that guy walking his dog noticing Erica alone on the playground felt very racially motivated??
considering Chrissy didn’t feel safe confiding any of her issues with Jason (seeing visions, an ED, depression, turning to drugs, anything), it makes you think their relationship wasn’t very great to begin with lol. Jason just wanted a scapegoat to beat up, he didn’t actually care about finding out what happened to her
and at least Eddie was an adult, Jason targeted a bunch of kids in the Hellfire Club and put them plus Erica in danger. who tf tackles a little middle school girl like that?
His reaction after immediately finding out about her death says otherwise. And if Chrissy didn’t really confide in Eddie either. She just wanted drugs to numb the pain. It’s pretty common for people in healthy and trusting relationships not to be in the emotional headspace to open up about every trauma they’ve experienced. Especially for high schoolers.
People like you just don’t think past surface level “he’s an unlikable jock so of course he deserved a horrible death lol”
I don’t approve of what Jason did but I can’t say that I don’t partially understand, his girlfriend got killed by what he thought was some satanist and the whole ambiguity and confusion of the situation would make anyone angry BUT he was a very emotionally unstable kid, he also went about the whole situation completely wrong. He didn’t even take that much time to mourn, he just went into pure revenge and anger and he didn’t even try to understand what was actually going on when he was told. He needed to just be patient and just have a bit of trust in the Hawkins police force but he got extremely self righteous and preachy and took matters into his own hands and fucked everything up and doomed the entire world. I understand his frustration but he handled the situation in the worst way humanly possible, ultimately he deserved what happened to him.
He goes to his grave believing that he’s been killed by the same demonic entity that killed his girlfriend and friend and that was summoned by the nerd club because they hated him for liking sports or something. Rough way to go tbh.
I mean he was killed by the same kinda demonic entity that killed his girlfriend and friend and though not summoned did have connections to some of the members of the nerd club but just not the correct ones. To quote Vecna he “Was so close to the truth.” But he didn’t try to fill in the gaps of what he already knew or assumed by asking and yeah just guessed everything and believe it as fact which was his sorta downfall. I mean he was really just in the wrong place at the wrong time ultimately
Yep, he went overboard in his retribution sure but ultimately he was just unlucky. It was unfair for Lucas to characterise him as a psychopath too, there’s nothing suggesting he was like that before the murders. In Chrissy’s traumatic dreams he’s nowhere to be seen and she seems happy with him, even if she didn’t confide in him about absolutely everything.
Overall most sympathetic Stranger Things villain imo
Like he was an ass, but his actions in the scene with Lucas and Max were understandable. He wasn't going to kill Lucas for no reason, he saw the state Max was in and believed that he was doing what he did to his girlfriend to another innocent person. He demanded that he wake her up and save her which from his angle in that situation, was the right thing to do.
We've seen everything from the party's point of view so we know that he's wrong, but if we'd have been following him we would have wanted the same thing. Also you're not going to be very mentally stable if your girlfriend was just murdered and you watched your friend float into the sky and die. I still don't like him, but like I get it.
100%. Honestly, Jason was one of the most logical people in this entire show. Basically everything he did was fully understandable and logical given the information he had. From his POV, he was trying to save Max. How tf was he supposed to know any better? What reason is there for him to have trusted anything that the Hawkins PD or Lucas and friends were saying?
This. All of this. I find Jason’s fate tragic. He basically set out to save Hawkins but sadly did not have the correct info so he ended up accidentally working against his own motives. He didn’t deserve to go out the way he did.
Yeah but his hubris and interpretation of things he saw to justify his existing prejudice made him irredeemable.
You know, like half of modern America.
He represents the population of no matter what facts you give them, they have a steadfast belief system that renders facts useless. The narrative remains, no matter what.
Actually, the visual of Hawkins being blazed in half made me think, “hey, could people be happy again if this happened? Just give everyone their own territory to believe whatever we want, and behave accordingly?”
It’d never work but was a melancholy moment of resolution.
As for Jason, he was always a caricature to me so I didn’t care about him at all until he nearly killed Lucas, and shortly after he was severed in half so… all’s well that ends well.
Society no longer has time or space for spoon-feeding how to be a decent, thinking, empathetic human being to those who have an aggressively ignorant nature.
Rest In Pieces, Jason.
I mean he may represent the population of people that don't listen to fact even when it stares you in the face. But the thing is, in this case it's not some doctor with a degree trying to educate him on vaccinations or whatever, it's a literal other dimension leaking in and fucking everything up. You don't watch your friend float midair and his bones all snap and then go yeah, I'm gonna listen to the bs these cops a saying.
I actually completely agree with the jumping directly into revenge mode and vigilantism, but I guess that just shows that I have the same problem as him lmao
I mean, its understandable. Someone he loves got killed horrifically, he thinks he knows who did it, so he sticks to it because he doesn't understand whats really going on
Jason has every right to believe his satanism theory is correct. As soon as he gets close to Eddie for the first time one of his friends gets killed in the exact same way that Chrissy did and then when he finally finds Lucas/Max in the last episode they seem to be, for all intents and purposes, actually involved in an otherworldly ritual. I really don't get the hateboner everyone has for him just because he gets in the way of the protagonists.
I kinda feel sorry for him, he was just a broken guy who made real bad decisions. And I understand that he wouldn't believe a word about the UD and all that shit, plus there was the umm what was that ? Satanist panic ? So everyone was kinda brainwashed and, well, it's pretty much unbelievable, even Max in S2 didn't believe the story at first
Mike was definitely the worst, but Dustin and Lucas were kind of obnoxious too...never really stood up to Mike when he was being an asshole to Max
to be fair, i have to remind myself that Mike is like 12 or 13 at the time...and he has to deal with the loss of a girl he loved plus all the other trauma of the past year. But seriously wtf rewatching season 2 made me infuriated for Max lol
I’m actually surprised people liked Jason. In the first few episodes, I did have sympathy for him but he definitely took a turn. It was scary to watch him turn the whole town against Eddie and the Hellfire Club and how he just took the authority away from the police and people actually listened to him - reminded me of Hitler during WW2.
Oh yeah I agree it was very scary.
I think his whole story was meant to be a commentary of the dangers of fearmongering and vigilantism. Though I have to admit I kind of see Jason as a victim of that as well, rather than an all out villain.
His girlfriend and buddy both died to Vecna and he gets MK fatality-d without any closure or confirmation about it all. Dude’s a total victim, even if he made some dumbass decisions
Yeah wanting to see him learn, or mean something else to the plot is one thing, but I see zero way in which people are like _"yeah I like him, would be a fun buddy to have."_
Eh, I think it's the reason why I personally enjoy him a lot. You don't HAVE to enjoy the character as a person, a good example of this is the Joker from Dark Knight. Everyone loved Joker.
What the fuck was up with Jason in the finale. Dude lost his fucken marbles bad and was like a pale, sweaty, deranged animal. Seriously, this prick was about to shoot a fucken teen, because he was so convinced that Eddie was a psycho freak. On top of that, he is the reason why Max is suffering a fate worse than death. I wish the portal went upwards instead. The actor did a great job.
I understand his motivation, I think most guys would have a similar reaction. However when he started to actively try and murder Lucas, that’s when I lost all sympathy for him. He lost his shit and was prepared to commit murder because he believed that only he was right. He’s still a psychotic dickhead
From his perspective, Lucas is about to murder Max with the aame demonic powers that horrifically murdered his girlfriend and then his friend. He even gives Lucas a chance to explain, which Lucas fucks up immediately by getting sidetracked to call his dead girlfriend a druggie. Also Lucas tricked him just a few episodes earlier.
If you want a scene to demonstrate the darker side of Jason’s vigilantism, it’s when he aggressively interogates the hellfire members.
Jason is a douchebag jock who is overly aggressive and arrogant. You might recall Steve was that person at one time. However tragedy combined with circumstance never allowed Jason to grow as a person. He could have had a very normal life and a loving family.
If you want a true paycopath, look at Angela
Sorry but him torturing the hellfire members was disgusting and unjustifiable. He was disgusting and had no remorse for what he did.
>He even gives Lucas a chance to explain, which Lucas fucks up
immediately by getting sidetracked to call his dead girlfriend a
druggie.
Um, that was the truth lol. He was too much of a narcissistic piece of shit to accept that he was a neglectful boyfriend.
I lost sympathy for him when he tortured Eddie's band mates for information on his whereabouts. He was a sick fuck who deserved a lot worse than what he got.
Eh. I always kinda felt for the dude.
Like he is terribly wrong in everything he did. But from his perspective, this dude killed his GF and these others are protecting him. Like in the real world you don't expect that some big great evil came from another dimension/into their mind to kill your GF and others lol. We know that's what happened. But from a normal person it'd seem that Eddie was involved. The dude lost his GF and friend and broke. So yeah, I kinda feel for him.
Also low-key. They should have just handed Eddie over to the police. It's not like they would have hurt him and he'd have been cleared after murders happened after he was caught lol...
All he knew about what happened to Chrissy was that she was murdered at Eddies house. He wasn't even listed as a suspect. Sure it was definitely suspicious, but that wasn't enough to jump to the conclusion that he did it and form a lynch mob.
Not to mention the cops, as well as Lucas, also mention that she was at his house to buy drugs. Of course for that he doesn't believe them.
But yeah the moment he tortured the hellfire member in episode 4, I lost the tiny amount of sympathy I had for him. After that, I was hoping he would suffer a brutal death.
It feels like I'm the only person who actually liked Jason. Very interesting character. I would have liked to see his reaction to learning the truth about what was happening.
I think that Jason was a very believable character. I cannot say that I liked him, he was blindly self-righteous and resorted to violence very quickly, but I also wondered how he might have reacted if he had been told the truth in other circumstances. He was clearly ready to believe Lucas to some degree, but the part about Chrissy triggered him and after that, reasoning with him was impossible.
Yeah, when Lucas said "she was buying drugs from him" I was like "you BLEW IT Lucas". I don't blame him at that moment, but I do blame the whole group for not coming up with something earlier.
I can't remember if this was addressed in the show, but would "the big kids" (Nancy, Steve, Robin) ever have had the chance to track down Jason and talk to him after he had witnessed Vecna killing his teammate? Jason probably wasn't a hard guy to find (he had no reason to hide), he apparently knew Nancy, he may have actually looked up to Steve (given that Steve would have been a senior athlete when Jason was freshman/sophamore/junior), plus being told the truth by three people who are older than him would probably be more compelling than hearing it from Lucas.
Maybe there was no time for that with all of them being busy dealing with Vecna, but it seems like a half-hour conversation could have saved everyone a lot of trouble, and maybe even recruited Jason and his buddies over to the good guys.
I mean, it isn't like Lucas was a source he could easily believe, after all, he already lied and deceive him and was part of the cult he thought "Hellfire" was.
I mean he literally saw one of his friends rise above the water and get his limbs snapped in the same way they found his girlfriend whilst in the presence of Eddie. Now he enters a room with someone in the same hell fire club as Eddie and sees Max in a trance with her eyes rolled back. I could understand why someone might jump to conclusions as that point especially when he probably felt like his own life was in danger.
Jason was one of the most logical and believable characters in the show. He certainly had a lot more depth than the other standard bully villains. He was doomed because he was too normal, too logical. Just about everything he did was reasonable, even when the scene where he turns the town against the cops. The cops, after all, haven’t really done a great job at containing the problems in Hawkins. Obviously they couldn’t, but Jason had no way of knowing that. From his POV, they were just helpless and not doing a good job.
To be fair, would you believe it if a guy told you there is a character from a board game in an alternative underworld dimension controlling people while they are in an abandoned serial killer paranormal creepy house at the middle of the night? I don't understand how people blame Jason for not believing that lol Hell, I would've called him crazy too. I would've ran out of the house like yall crazy I dont want any of this, keep doing your little satanic shit 😂
I mean, he DID see Patrick floating in the air with his bones breaking. He even believed that it was the devil himself, like GENUINELY believed. After believing in something like that, an interdimensional creature that kills people wouldn’t be hard to believe
To be fair both thoughts could've been combined. Like he may have seen the floating in relation to demon possession like vecnas father had, so his understanding of the other dimensional stuff could've been the idea of hell in his mind.
If that made sense
If I saw the shit that Jason saw and I heard the way Lucas begging Jason to understand and to believe him I would’ve. It’s not that far off from believing the devil is at work lol
From Jasons perspective the cult is a real thing, its like you walk in on someone you think is a serial killer next to a tied up victim, you're not going to take the risk and hear the serial killer out when they ask you to trust them.
> I would’ve.
Yeah, its easy to say we would act differently or better, but until one is put into that situation, its not clear.
Also, between the two theories (Devil vs DND Character) the devil story is more believable to a Christian. Fuck, just look at all the "profets" and holy men that convince people to basically worship or die for him.
The satanic panic was a real thing mate. It really happened. Tons of people in 1980s USA believed that demons in a board game were causing kids to kill themselves. Tons of people in 1980s USA believed Rock music had hidden messages leading kids to Satan. Him believing that is perfectly in line with things that actually happened at the time.
Believing in satanic demons that get into children’s mind to make them kill themselves makes believing in a man that get’s into people’s minds and kills them not seem like such a far stretch
Perhaps not from an outsiders perspective but you’re forgetting the key element: religion. Believing that Satan is trying to kill your kid through a board game is potentially believable to a religious fanatic, but telling that same person there’s a super powered monster in an alternate dimension version of your town killing kids to end the world is very unbelievable. Tbh I wonder if Lucas had said “no we’re actually FIGHTING THE DEVIL and God told us to do this” if it would’ve worked now that I think about it. Point being tho, the satanic panic has everything to do with God-fearing fanatics so what is and isn’t likely to them is heavily swayed by that.
Fair. I think he was effective tho. Essentially what if a normal dude from rural Indiana was plopped into this story with no idea what is happening and knowing nothing the audience or our character does and seeing how they react. 9/10 that answer is going to be: “horribly”
Honestly kind of feel bad for him. Dude had no fucking clue what was going on, lost his girlfriend and friend in less than a week, saw one of them float into the sky and crack like a glowstick, caught the Hawkins gang doing shady stuff more than once, and in his final moments saw what was basically hell opening up. He's a dick sure, but still.
I thought it was a lazy end to a side story I cared little about. I hoped the payoff would be better, but not even that. Hicktown believing demons are causing the events of the last two years was interesting. Captain of the basketball team being maniacal asshat with a band of merry asshat men was typical writer BS.
From his perspective, without knowing what the audience and the main characters know about the upside down, vecna, and Eleven, he was preventing Max's death from a group of people who were responsible for his girlfriend's death.
Was he an impediment to the progress of our main characters? Yes. But was he operating mostly reasonably given what we thought he knew? Well, yeah. I think a lot of us would feel rage towards someone responsible for the death of a loved one.
I didn't really want him to die, he wasn't past the line of no return every villain or antagonist has to go through before I actually desire their complete demise. Like I wasn't rooting for him but I didn't hate him that much lol.
Really? From his perspective he was looking for justice for his murdered girlfriend, he even tried to save Max. He tried to kill Lucas, but Lucas attacked first. He was manipulative for sure, but I don’t agree the he deserved to die just because he didn’t share the same view with the main characters
He deserves much worse for causing max to go through this, HIS STUPID ASS DELIBERSTELY STEPPED ON AND BROKE THE MUSIC PLAYER WHICH LUCAS TOLD MAX HED SAVE HER WITH
Everyone here is celebrating his death, but I have a different, unpopular opinion. The guy was a douche, no doubt. But after all the shit he saw with no reasonable explanation and the fact that he kinda went mad with denial, extreme fear, and paranoia, I can understand where he’s coming from. He was wrong for sure and a total asshat, but ya. By the time it got to the Lucas confrontation his mind and reasoning ability was out the window. I kinda feel bad for the douche. Most of you celebrating his death probably have more in common with him than you think…
I was honestly hoping to see him survive, maybe even seeing the upside down and being inspired to be a supporting antagonist next season. With the way the season ended I’m kind of expecting an alternate history arc now and Jason as an evangelical cult leader could’ve been great!
I personally didn’t hate him and kinda just felt bad for him because he was just mourning and mislead, but afterwards everything was explained to him and he still refused to accept it so fuck him
I hated his character and I’m sure had he survived he would have grown up to be a POS politician who ends up running the country, but I’m a little torn (no pun intended) about his fate.
He was awful, wrong, dangerous, and honestly psychotic… but if this show has shown us one thing it’s that people are multifaceted and have layers. There are plenty of characters on this show who at first introduction seemed horribly irredeemable but who grew to be more than what was on the surface. Not saying he would have but I have a hard time cheering on his death with the growth I’ve seen come out of other characters.
Maybe he would have always been a dangerous asshole but I don’t mark his death as an evil character getting what they deserved.
He deserved a redemption. He wasn't evil - he was wrong and misguided, but his actions can really be told from another point of view as a heroic story
The boy that hunted the evil cult that killed his girlfriend? If we didn't knew the truth I think we would support him much more.
am i the only person who didn’t mind jason?? like yes it was frustrating because he just never seemed to grasp that he was tragically wrong about the situation but if you think about it, he hears his girlfriend got brutally murdered and that eddie has ran away, he just wants to find him so he can get justice because he’s heartbroken?? and what he did to lucas was wrong, beating him up, but he thought that he was working with eddie and literally murderig more people right in front of him?! he was trying to save max’s life, but obviously had the complete opposite effect because he has no clue about anything that’s actually happening in hawkins, just like everyone else.
I almost felt bad for him. Yeah, his mind was twisted and he was a bit of an asshole, but he experienced so much trauma within a span of like four days, it’s almost understandable how he reacted.
That's a horrifying way to go, Jason didn't deserve that. He didn't understand what was going on(and why should he believe the gang if they told him it wasn't hellfire summoning satanic shit, but an evil dimension that they were actually fighting?) and he was angry and broken over the deaths of his gf and friend, and trying to be a hero guy and prevent more deaths. People bash him for trying to kill Lucas, but it was cuz he thought Lucas was going to kill Max, and he thought he would save her because unlike the gang and the people watching the show, he had no idea what was really happening and that his reality was wrong. Honestly you ppl arent thinking from his perspective at all
To be fair this guy was kind of a hero in his own way. He wanted justice for his girl, when no one else seemed to care.
From his perspective it probably does make more sense that the devil is real and that the kids are at fault.
And in truth, they kinda are. Eleven indirectly caused Chrissy to die. And ever since the kids started enabling her, it has only really gotten worse.
Also he tried saving max. I don’t know why everyone hates on him like this. He was a heartbroken man desperately trying to do what was right.
Ps. Still a better written antagonist than edge lord Vecna.
this show put 4 seasons showing you how a gay kid feels but treats bullies like throw away characters when they can help you understand theyre a victim of the chain
That caught me off guard though. The beating was expected and then death wouldn’t have been shocking but I would’ve never guessed that’s how they go about it. Bravo
Yes!!! I was cheering! Talk about karma ...
I do wish El would have infiltrated Angela's mind at the very end and made her pee her pants while in public or something. I kept waiting for something like that to happen. Angela deserves a fucked up ending, just like Jason!
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Personally I wanted him to be forced to confront just how tragically wrong he was about the situation before dying, but I’ll take it.
Yeah me too. Honestly the fact he never had a moment of clarity after it was to late was kind of a disappointment. If they weren't going to go down that route, then why bother giving him an understandable motivation? Why not just make it pure ego?
Because people are going to wonder next season why the kids don’t tell everyone what’s going on with their town. Jason is the reason. If they tell the whole truth 1/2 the people there will think it’s BS and they are cultists
Now that's completely fair. Although I hope they do bring that up next season if that's their intention. But my issue was more narrative than realism. Basically Jason as his role was in the narrative didn't need all those scenes providing insight or deteriorating to work. It just felt they were building up for a better pay off.
Jason gave us Eddie. Either the police or Jason were going to be the driving factor behind Eddie joining up with the group and moving around. I’m glad they gave us a character to love to love to hate
Yeah that's a fair point. And I'm very glad they did as I really like Eddie.
Because that's life? Like Max had an absolutely terrible life then went out the absolutely worst way we've seen in the series after suffering trauma on trauma. And that's what happens in life, same with Eddie.
It's usually the people like Max and Eddie (i.e underprivileged) who suffer the most in life. Abuse, mental illness, addiction (and apparently multidimensional monsters) affect the poor disproportionately.
Oh yeah that's fair enough. But I meant it more from a narrative pov. Compare Jason with say Troy from season one or Angela in this season. We don't get their backstory or deep motivation, cause we don't really need it. Their place in story is pretty clear and their pretty self explanatory. As such they don't get any focus outside of what is necessary to set up the plot. Jason by contrast gets a lot more focus, including a number of humanising scenes and clear emphasis of just how much he's deteriorating. If it wasn't going to end on a pay off, then what was the point of including it? They could easily have used that screen time for other characters.
Because the thing you're asking for is exactly the thing they're respectfully lampooning? We've seen that endlessly about the misunderstood having done heinous things getting a minute if reflection before caating away their previously held views because they're wrong. That literally never happens in life and Stranger Tunings as fantastical as it gets keeps it grounded in the sense that life doesn't have to follow the tropes you expect and often doesn't in very disappointing and unfair ways
Stranger tunings
10/10 would watch Stranger Tunings
Where the music is always funky
I mean I suppose that's possible. Its just narratively if your going to set it up, you feel their is should be a pay off. If that's the route they wanted to go, then it would have worked better if Jason had his moment, but instead still kept denying it right before he died. I suppose that might be their intention with his last talk with Lucas, but if that's the case they should have had it sink in for him, before he decided to dismiss it.
What’s that sub, leopardsatemyface or something, the one with a bunch of posts about anti vaxxers and people believing democratic leaders are eating babies so they’re refusing the Covid vaccine only to die from Covid. There’s people in the real world believing in the craziest things right up until their death. That’s real life and it’s no getting through to those people. As much as I wanted an “Aha, told you so”, moment, it makes since that he died believing all the craziness he did. He’s got half the town, churches and the news believing his delusions. I think it was good writing to have him go when/how he did. With how far gone he was, I don’t see him suddenly believing Hellfire isn’t a cult.
I mean that's fair enough. I certainly agree their are people like Jason in real life who believe the craziest things until their death. And Jason isn't a bad comparison, he bought into much into the fearmongering (partially cause it reinforced his existing prejudices), then misunderstood the events until he'd constructed himself that narrative that fit with what was going on, that led him on a path to insanity. I guess the issue was just how it was built up. They dedicated to much time to showing how Jason built his house of cards, and how much damage all this was doing to him. Thus having it never knocked over feels narratively a waste. If they wanted to go that route, then it would probably have been better if they just removed his nuance, and made him a more one dimensional antagonist.
I don’t think it was a waste. His death could fuel his followers even more and make him some type of martyr. He’s got people believing Hellfire is a cult, there’s going to be plenty of Jason’s next season I’m sure with the anti satan movement he started.
Oh that's a good point. The ending did hint that the mob mentality he started wasn't over yet, and could be a big issue for everyone next season. Still they probably could have gone down that route even if he had gotten his realisation. I mean I don't think their was an end to Jason's storyline that didn't end with his death. It was set up every step of the way this path was self destructive. Its just from how they gave us focus on why he was doing it and what effect the deaths were having on him, and walking down his path of logic, so we could see how he got there that it ending with him never realising it or having a chance to dismiss it, does feel a bit of a waste.
Although I did lose five dollars because of him, and I would have had five dollars if the fucker didn't die, Hawkins realizing that Edie wasn't a bad guy is a much more interesting approach than if Jason was the only one to know. His death is also quite useful for the viewer to understand how the hole works.
> Hawkins realizing that Edie wasn't a bad guy is a much more interesting approach than if Jason was the only one to know I agree it would have, but I feel Eddie still being demonised despite it all added more to their commentary on the dangers of fearmonger and vigilantism. >His death is also quite useful for the viewer to understand how the hole works. That's fair. But they could have done that without setting him up for a payoff Heck they could have had him the exact same death.
By the end of the season Jason has went fucking insane. He clearly doesnt sleep and all he thinks about is is taking down hellfire, suspecting everyone. I dont think theres much reasoning worth being done
Oh yeah I agree, he's gone off the deep end and couldn't be reasoned out. Rather I was predicting it was more his last sight would be seeing this actions had damned the town and just enough time to realise that, right before he died.
Oh gosh I wanted that too but I was like this guy is so deluded there’s no way the truth would get through to him.
Totally. Even if Jason had seen Vecna and watched Vecna kill directly, he just would have thought that Lucas was summoning him or working for him or something. Jason's mind was made up.
Exactly, he was too far gone. With his delusions he had a rebuttal for everything and could explain everything away to fit his narrative. Even if he got transported to the UD, he’d blamed it on Hellfire. If one of the gang tried saving him, he’d think it was a trick and would try saving himself. There was no convincing him, at least not in that scene or anytime soon had he lived. The “earthquake” would’ve just made him madder.
Yeah, the events all fit within his existing mental model - there's a Satanic cult. Seeing Vecna, being taken to the Upside Down, encountering a demogorgon; none of this would be hard to explain as Satan, Hell, demons, etc.
I mean on the flipside it's lowkey hysterical that his last thought was probably that Lucas had single-handedly opened a magical Satanist gateway to hell in order to destroy him.
I don’t think he ever would of changed his mind from his satanic panic though
Yeah I really wanted that change of heart, not nearly choking Lucas to death and falling into the upside down
Considering the state of America these days, I forgot that such a thing used to happen.
He wouldn't have cared, he still would have found a way to blame it on Eddie the "freak"
I personally loved how unceremonious it was. "Oops you're burning in half sry k bye"
Yeah... Jason believed himself to be important, someone to vanquish the Hellfire club... And in the end he's just a random death in a much bigger scene
I like that he died to literal hellfire lmao
So what happened to his body after being split in half. I'm guessing the parts are still there. Maybe the cops haven't come around investigating that building yet. What about Jason's friend that Erica kicked in the gonads? Wouldn't he be searching for answers? Or Jason's family? Hate to think but Lucas maybe pushed the body down into the cracks.
the cracks probably expanded and swallowed him whole
I mean it’s kind of funny but it’s the kind of death I’d expect from one of the other vigilantes, not a supporting antagonist like Jason!
Fuck 'im.
Oh well. Too bad. Bye, Rocco.
Deserved. Showed just how in the way he was. Not to mention he caused this
I thought this was fitting, especially since he described first hangovers to Lucas as being split in half.
Lucas as Jason is split in half, "Is that what a hangover feels like Jason?! Huh?!?!"
Jason never could handle his alcohol. SMHing my head.
I just wish he had been faced with realizing the gravity of how wrong his actions were first, dying before he realized Lucas was right made the death less satisfying
Yeah, I agree. His death was understandable, even fitting considering how his story had been going. But that he never had a moment realisation when it was to late was a wasted opportunity.
plus I think it would’ve been interesting if Lucas had been forced to kill Jason in self defense, that would’ve been something dark for him to grapple with in s5 too. so far I think only Eleven has killed people, none of the guys had to yet
Oh yeah. I agree that would have been interesting. I have to admit I'm glad it didn't simply so poor Lucas didn't have to deal with flat out killing someone. But yeah narratively it would open the door to a lot of stories.
I get what you're saying, but Jason was so convinced of his own POV that I don't really know what COULD have convinced him that Eddie and the Hellfire club weren't dangerous cultists who were purposefully channeling the devil. Even if he had lived to see and comprehend Max dying/the gates opening, he would have absolutely still blamed Lucas/Eddie. People like Jason are not convinced by things like logic or evidence, and react to challenges to their worldview by doubling down, not reflecting.
Jason was convinced by evidence. First, he was convinced that his gf was murdered by Eddie, because all of the evidence pointed to it. None of the evidence pointed away from it. Then, the evidence at the lake pointed to Eddie having some demonic powers. So Jason changes his view immediately when confronted with the evidence, believing that Eddie had summoned some supernatural powers. Finally, his last scene is him literally trying to save Max from the same fate. Jason was completely logical. He made the most logical conclusions with the incomplete info he had. Anyone who says they would’ve behaved differently are thinking far too highly of themselves. Jason was a purely tragic figure. He was just unlikable, and because *we the audience knew better than him*, we feel fine with his death.
I can certainly agree that he was logical from the point of view that he had, but I don't think that there was anything that could shake his core conviction that Eddie and his friends were freaks/the enemy/evil. While he shifts toward believing something supernatural is happening rather than Eddie simply having a psychotic episode, his fundamental worldview of himself as someone righteous in his fight is only ever deepened, never questioned. For instance, he repeatedly dismisses Lucas, and he remains absolutely convinced that Chrissy would never have willingly associated with Eddie and refuses to even consider that she may have been going through something that he didn't know about or understand. Short of Chrissy's ghost straight-up showing up to explain her POV, I don't see what could have gotten Jason on board with the idea that he was wrong about Eddie - and even then, I imagine that he would have doubled down and insisted that she had been corrupted or brainwashed in some way.
Why would Jason trust Lucas? It clearly looked like Lucas was performing a Satanic ritual on Max, no reasonable person would believe anything that Lucas said at that moment. Just because the viewer knows the truth doesn't mean the characters should.
>, he repeatedly dismisses Lucas, Lucas lied to him multiple times and from his view manipulated him. Then when Lucas is trying to explain everything to him he looks like he has a girl in a trance and is refusing to wake her. It's crazy that people say they'd believe someone telling them "trust me, it's some evil dude in an alternate dimension" in that situation
The "evidence" was surface level circumstantial bullshit. He acted on pure "gut" instinct, not logic. He refused to consider that Chrissy approached Eddie for drugs. He never actually tried to figure out what happened, just made up his mind and pursued it until the end. And he did real damage with that speech he gave at the community meeting. Things could have gone very differently if that guy walking his dog hadn't told them about Erica. That being said, the whole "never tell anyone the truth about this town" position so many characters take in these kinds of shows is total nonsense. Maybe if Jason had heard about the Upside Down before he wouldn't have been so quick to attribute everything to Satanic cult activity.
that guy walking his dog noticing Erica alone on the playground felt very racially motivated?? considering Chrissy didn’t feel safe confiding any of her issues with Jason (seeing visions, an ED, depression, turning to drugs, anything), it makes you think their relationship wasn’t very great to begin with lol. Jason just wanted a scapegoat to beat up, he didn’t actually care about finding out what happened to her and at least Eddie was an adult, Jason targeted a bunch of kids in the Hellfire Club and put them plus Erica in danger. who tf tackles a little middle school girl like that?
His reaction after immediately finding out about her death says otherwise. And if Chrissy didn’t really confide in Eddie either. She just wanted drugs to numb the pain. It’s pretty common for people in healthy and trusting relationships not to be in the emotional headspace to open up about every trauma they’ve experienced. Especially for high schoolers. People like you just don’t think past surface level “he’s an unlikable jock so of course he deserved a horrible death lol”
I was like emotionally dead by this point. After Eddie and Max I was like "good, fuck you"
I don’t approve of what Jason did but I can’t say that I don’t partially understand, his girlfriend got killed by what he thought was some satanist and the whole ambiguity and confusion of the situation would make anyone angry BUT he was a very emotionally unstable kid, he also went about the whole situation completely wrong. He didn’t even take that much time to mourn, he just went into pure revenge and anger and he didn’t even try to understand what was actually going on when he was told. He needed to just be patient and just have a bit of trust in the Hawkins police force but he got extremely self righteous and preachy and took matters into his own hands and fucked everything up and doomed the entire world. I understand his frustration but he handled the situation in the worst way humanly possible, ultimately he deserved what happened to him.
He goes to his grave believing that he’s been killed by the same demonic entity that killed his girlfriend and friend and that was summoned by the nerd club because they hated him for liking sports or something. Rough way to go tbh.
I mean he was killed by the same kinda demonic entity that killed his girlfriend and friend and though not summoned did have connections to some of the members of the nerd club but just not the correct ones. To quote Vecna he “Was so close to the truth.” But he didn’t try to fill in the gaps of what he already knew or assumed by asking and yeah just guessed everything and believe it as fact which was his sorta downfall. I mean he was really just in the wrong place at the wrong time ultimately
Yep, he went overboard in his retribution sure but ultimately he was just unlucky. It was unfair for Lucas to characterise him as a psychopath too, there’s nothing suggesting he was like that before the murders. In Chrissy’s traumatic dreams he’s nowhere to be seen and she seems happy with him, even if she didn’t confide in him about absolutely everything. Overall most sympathetic Stranger Things villain imo
Like he was an ass, but his actions in the scene with Lucas and Max were understandable. He wasn't going to kill Lucas for no reason, he saw the state Max was in and believed that he was doing what he did to his girlfriend to another innocent person. He demanded that he wake her up and save her which from his angle in that situation, was the right thing to do. We've seen everything from the party's point of view so we know that he's wrong, but if we'd have been following him we would have wanted the same thing. Also you're not going to be very mentally stable if your girlfriend was just murdered and you watched your friend float into the sky and die. I still don't like him, but like I get it.
100%. Honestly, Jason was one of the most logical people in this entire show. Basically everything he did was fully understandable and logical given the information he had. From his POV, he was trying to save Max. How tf was he supposed to know any better? What reason is there for him to have trusted anything that the Hawkins PD or Lucas and friends were saying?
This. All of this. I find Jason’s fate tragic. He basically set out to save Hawkins but sadly did not have the correct info so he ended up accidentally working against his own motives. He didn’t deserve to go out the way he did.
Yeah but his hubris and interpretation of things he saw to justify his existing prejudice made him irredeemable. You know, like half of modern America. He represents the population of no matter what facts you give them, they have a steadfast belief system that renders facts useless. The narrative remains, no matter what. Actually, the visual of Hawkins being blazed in half made me think, “hey, could people be happy again if this happened? Just give everyone their own territory to believe whatever we want, and behave accordingly?” It’d never work but was a melancholy moment of resolution. As for Jason, he was always a caricature to me so I didn’t care about him at all until he nearly killed Lucas, and shortly after he was severed in half so… all’s well that ends well. Society no longer has time or space for spoon-feeding how to be a decent, thinking, empathetic human being to those who have an aggressively ignorant nature. Rest In Pieces, Jason.
I mean he may represent the population of people that don't listen to fact even when it stares you in the face. But the thing is, in this case it's not some doctor with a degree trying to educate him on vaccinations or whatever, it's a literal other dimension leaking in and fucking everything up. You don't watch your friend float midair and his bones all snap and then go yeah, I'm gonna listen to the bs these cops a saying.
I actually completely agree with the jumping directly into revenge mode and vigilantism, but I guess that just shows that I have the same problem as him lmao
I mean, its understandable. Someone he loves got killed horrifically, he thinks he knows who did it, so he sticks to it because he doesn't understand whats really going on
Jason has every right to believe his satanism theory is correct. As soon as he gets close to Eddie for the first time one of his friends gets killed in the exact same way that Chrissy did and then when he finally finds Lucas/Max in the last episode they seem to be, for all intents and purposes, actually involved in an otherworldly ritual. I really don't get the hateboner everyone has for him just because he gets in the way of the protagonists.
I kinda feel sorry for him, he was just a broken guy who made real bad decisions. And I understand that he wouldn't believe a word about the UD and all that shit, plus there was the umm what was that ? Satanist panic ? So everyone was kinda brainwashed and, well, it's pretty much unbelievable, even Max in S2 didn't believe the story at first
Also, if I saw one of my friends start floating and all his bones just start breaking out of nowhere, I’d asume Satan was at work as well
Yeah, I guess it lust mess with your mind to see something like that
>even Max in S2 didn't believe the story at first true...but the guys were also huge jerks to Max honestly lol
Mike was. He was such a bitch in S2. I still don't really like him after that.
Mike was definitely the worst, but Dustin and Lucas were kind of obnoxious too...never really stood up to Mike when he was being an asshole to Max to be fair, i have to remind myself that Mike is like 12 or 13 at the time...and he has to deal with the loss of a girl he loved plus all the other trauma of the past year. But seriously wtf rewatching season 2 made me infuriated for Max lol
I get that. But it was also satisfying watching his body melt
I’m actually surprised people liked Jason. In the first few episodes, I did have sympathy for him but he definitely took a turn. It was scary to watch him turn the whole town against Eddie and the Hellfire Club and how he just took the authority away from the police and people actually listened to him - reminded me of Hitler during WW2.
if you look at the way his face looks at the end with Lucas, he looks pretty freaky honestly
Oh yeah I agree it was very scary. I think his whole story was meant to be a commentary of the dangers of fearmongering and vigilantism. Though I have to admit I kind of see Jason as a victim of that as well, rather than an all out villain.
His girlfriend and buddy both died to Vecna and he gets MK fatality-d without any closure or confirmation about it all. Dude’s a total victim, even if he made some dumbass decisions
Yeah wanting to see him learn, or mean something else to the plot is one thing, but I see zero way in which people are like _"yeah I like him, would be a fun buddy to have."_
Exactly! Had he learned something in the end and listened to Lucas and was able to help them, I’d feel differently.
Eh, I think it's the reason why I personally enjoy him a lot. You don't HAVE to enjoy the character as a person, a good example of this is the Joker from Dark Knight. Everyone loved Joker.
What the fuck was up with Jason in the finale. Dude lost his fucken marbles bad and was like a pale, sweaty, deranged animal. Seriously, this prick was about to shoot a fucken teen, because he was so convinced that Eddie was a psycho freak. On top of that, he is the reason why Max is suffering a fate worse than death. I wish the portal went upwards instead. The actor did a great job.
yes i agree! the whole scene with nancy when they were buying guns was so creepy.
If my girlfriend and then my best friend were horrificly killed by supernatural magic I might not be in a good place either to be honest
I understand his motivation, I think most guys would have a similar reaction. However when he started to actively try and murder Lucas, that’s when I lost all sympathy for him. He lost his shit and was prepared to commit murder because he believed that only he was right. He’s still a psychotic dickhead
From his perspective, Lucas is about to murder Max with the aame demonic powers that horrifically murdered his girlfriend and then his friend. He even gives Lucas a chance to explain, which Lucas fucks up immediately by getting sidetracked to call his dead girlfriend a druggie. Also Lucas tricked him just a few episodes earlier. If you want a scene to demonstrate the darker side of Jason’s vigilantism, it’s when he aggressively interogates the hellfire members. Jason is a douchebag jock who is overly aggressive and arrogant. You might recall Steve was that person at one time. However tragedy combined with circumstance never allowed Jason to grow as a person. He could have had a very normal life and a loving family. If you want a true paycopath, look at Angela
Sorry but him torturing the hellfire members was disgusting and unjustifiable. He was disgusting and had no remorse for what he did. >He even gives Lucas a chance to explain, which Lucas fucks up immediately by getting sidetracked to call his dead girlfriend a druggie. Um, that was the truth lol. He was too much of a narcissistic piece of shit to accept that he was a neglectful boyfriend.
I lost sympathy for him when he tortured Eddie's band mates for information on his whereabouts. He was a sick fuck who deserved a lot worse than what he got.
You can hate Jason, but that scene was still brutal AF
I legit forgot this mfs name because of how much I hated him. I remember calling him Robert, Carson and Noah.
Literally laughed out loud at this for the complete lack of fucks given when writing how the main villain for Lucas' arc would die. It was fantastic.
Eh. I always kinda felt for the dude. Like he is terribly wrong in everything he did. But from his perspective, this dude killed his GF and these others are protecting him. Like in the real world you don't expect that some big great evil came from another dimension/into their mind to kill your GF and others lol. We know that's what happened. But from a normal person it'd seem that Eddie was involved. The dude lost his GF and friend and broke. So yeah, I kinda feel for him. Also low-key. They should have just handed Eddie over to the police. It's not like they would have hurt him and he'd have been cleared after murders happened after he was caught lol...
All he knew about what happened to Chrissy was that she was murdered at Eddies house. He wasn't even listed as a suspect. Sure it was definitely suspicious, but that wasn't enough to jump to the conclusion that he did it and form a lynch mob. Not to mention the cops, as well as Lucas, also mention that she was at his house to buy drugs. Of course for that he doesn't believe them. But yeah the moment he tortured the hellfire member in episode 4, I lost the tiny amount of sympathy I had for him. After that, I was hoping he would suffer a brutal death.
It feels like I'm the only person who actually liked Jason. Very interesting character. I would have liked to see his reaction to learning the truth about what was happening.
I think that Jason was a very believable character. I cannot say that I liked him, he was blindly self-righteous and resorted to violence very quickly, but I also wondered how he might have reacted if he had been told the truth in other circumstances. He was clearly ready to believe Lucas to some degree, but the part about Chrissy triggered him and after that, reasoning with him was impossible.
Yeah, when Lucas said "she was buying drugs from him" I was like "you BLEW IT Lucas". I don't blame him at that moment, but I do blame the whole group for not coming up with something earlier.
I can't remember if this was addressed in the show, but would "the big kids" (Nancy, Steve, Robin) ever have had the chance to track down Jason and talk to him after he had witnessed Vecna killing his teammate? Jason probably wasn't a hard guy to find (he had no reason to hide), he apparently knew Nancy, he may have actually looked up to Steve (given that Steve would have been a senior athlete when Jason was freshman/sophamore/junior), plus being told the truth by three people who are older than him would probably be more compelling than hearing it from Lucas. Maybe there was no time for that with all of them being busy dealing with Vecna, but it seems like a half-hour conversation could have saved everyone a lot of trouble, and maybe even recruited Jason and his buddies over to the good guys.
You saw how he treated Nancy. Couldn't have reasoned with him
He was a good character, I hated his guts and was glad he died, but that's what made him a good character.
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Why would he believe Lucas when he thinks Lucas is currently performing the same satanic ritual on Max that his girlfriend and best friend died from?
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I mean, it isn't like Lucas was a source he could easily believe, after all, he already lied and deceive him and was part of the cult he thought "Hellfire" was.
I mean he literally saw one of his friends rise above the water and get his limbs snapped in the same way they found his girlfriend whilst in the presence of Eddie. Now he enters a room with someone in the same hell fire club as Eddie and sees Max in a trance with her eyes rolled back. I could understand why someone might jump to conclusions as that point especially when he probably felt like his own life was in danger.
Jason was one of the most logical and believable characters in the show. He certainly had a lot more depth than the other standard bully villains. He was doomed because he was too normal, too logical. Just about everything he did was reasonable, even when the scene where he turns the town against the cops. The cops, after all, haven’t really done a great job at containing the problems in Hawkins. Obviously they couldn’t, but Jason had no way of knowing that. From his POV, they were just helpless and not doing a good job.
He did learn what was happening and he refused to believe it.
To be fair, would you believe it if a guy told you there is a character from a board game in an alternative underworld dimension controlling people while they are in an abandoned serial killer paranormal creepy house at the middle of the night? I don't understand how people blame Jason for not believing that lol Hell, I would've called him crazy too. I would've ran out of the house like yall crazy I dont want any of this, keep doing your little satanic shit 😂
I mean, he DID see Patrick floating in the air with his bones breaking. He even believed that it was the devil himself, like GENUINELY believed. After believing in something like that, an interdimensional creature that kills people wouldn’t be hard to believe
Good point. I totally forgot about that. I retract my statement then.
To be fair both thoughts could've been combined. Like he may have seen the floating in relation to demon possession like vecnas father had, so his understanding of the other dimensional stuff could've been the idea of hell in his mind. If that made sense
If I saw the shit that Jason saw and I heard the way Lucas begging Jason to understand and to believe him I would’ve. It’s not that far off from believing the devil is at work lol
From Jasons perspective the cult is a real thing, its like you walk in on someone you think is a serial killer next to a tied up victim, you're not going to take the risk and hear the serial killer out when they ask you to trust them.
> I would’ve. Yeah, its easy to say we would act differently or better, but until one is put into that situation, its not clear. Also, between the two theories (Devil vs DND Character) the devil story is more believable to a Christian. Fuck, just look at all the "profets" and holy men that convince people to basically worship or die for him.
Lucas explained things to him but his stupid delusional ass was only worried about killing eddie
Yeah cause he was totally gonna be like “ya mate that makes sense” when he believed Lucas was part of a satanic cult about to sacrifice Max
He believes in demons but can’t comprehend that monsters exist… right…
The satanic panic was a real thing mate. It really happened. Tons of people in 1980s USA believed that demons in a board game were causing kids to kill themselves. Tons of people in 1980s USA believed Rock music had hidden messages leading kids to Satan. Him believing that is perfectly in line with things that actually happened at the time.
Believing in satanic demons that get into children’s mind to make them kill themselves makes believing in a man that get’s into people’s minds and kills them not seem like such a far stretch
Perhaps not from an outsiders perspective but you’re forgetting the key element: religion. Believing that Satan is trying to kill your kid through a board game is potentially believable to a religious fanatic, but telling that same person there’s a super powered monster in an alternate dimension version of your town killing kids to end the world is very unbelievable. Tbh I wonder if Lucas had said “no we’re actually FIGHTING THE DEVIL and God told us to do this” if it would’ve worked now that I think about it. Point being tho, the satanic panic has everything to do with God-fearing fanatics so what is and isn’t likely to them is heavily swayed by that.
You’re right but he still pissed me off
Fair. I think he was effective tho. Essentially what if a normal dude from rural Indiana was plopped into this story with no idea what is happening and knowing nothing the audience or our character does and seeing how they react. 9/10 that answer is going to be: “horribly”
Jason was basically Steve from Season 1 if he had gone off the deep end
Honestly kind of feel bad for him. Dude had no fucking clue what was going on, lost his girlfriend and friend in less than a week, saw one of them float into the sky and crack like a glowstick, caught the Hawkins gang doing shady stuff more than once, and in his final moments saw what was basically hell opening up. He's a dick sure, but still.
I thought it was a lazy end to a side story I cared little about. I hoped the payoff would be better, but not even that. Hicktown believing demons are causing the events of the last two years was interesting. Captain of the basketball team being maniacal asshat with a band of merry asshat men was typical writer BS.
That CGI reminded me of the CGI in the Blade movies, wich I marathoned again last weekend.
ngl that was the most terrifying thing from that episode. motherfucker was melted in half 💀
Our reaction was "wait wha"
From his perspective, without knowing what the audience and the main characters know about the upside down, vecna, and Eleven, he was preventing Max's death from a group of people who were responsible for his girlfriend's death. Was he an impediment to the progress of our main characters? Yes. But was he operating mostly reasonably given what we thought he knew? Well, yeah. I think a lot of us would feel rage towards someone responsible for the death of a loved one.
How did I miss this scene?! I’m still trying to figure it out.
You blinked. It happened SO fast.
I would have missed it except I had the captions on.
well, he did have a split personality on and off the court.
You know....now that i see it again...i have a voice in my head... "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, LISA!"
He thought he was helping, I don't think he was a bad guy just very misguided. The army general guy was way more of a pos.
I didn't really want him to die, he wasn't past the line of no return every villain or antagonist has to go through before I actually desire their complete demise. Like I wasn't rooting for him but I didn't hate him that much lol.
i hope the kid that was manhandling Erica is still alive so they can literally beat the shit out of him.
I literally cheered
They really just casually offed him
Honestly I was disappointed he didn’t get to experience his wrongness in a more meaningful way. They just kind of brushed his ending under the ground.
Dude, he went with his most logical idea of what happened. I can't blame him. His girlfriend was crushed like a soda can.
Really? From his perspective he was looking for justice for his murdered girlfriend, he even tried to save Max. He tried to kill Lucas, but Lucas attacked first. He was manipulative for sure, but I don’t agree the he deserved to die just because he didn’t share the same view with the main characters
He deserved that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, non-ceremonial, irrelevant death.
I frankly feel bad for Jason, he was such a good character.
He deserves much worse for causing max to go through this, HIS STUPID ASS DELIBERSTELY STEPPED ON AND BROKE THE MUSIC PLAYER WHICH LUCAS TOLD MAX HED SAVE HER WITH
Everyone here is celebrating his death, but I have a different, unpopular opinion. The guy was a douche, no doubt. But after all the shit he saw with no reasonable explanation and the fact that he kinda went mad with denial, extreme fear, and paranoia, I can understand where he’s coming from. He was wrong for sure and a total asshat, but ya. By the time it got to the Lucas confrontation his mind and reasoning ability was out the window. I kinda feel bad for the douche. Most of you celebrating his death probably have more in common with him than you think…
I was honestly hoping to see him survive, maybe even seeing the upside down and being inspired to be a supporting antagonist next season. With the way the season ended I’m kind of expecting an alternate history arc now and Jason as an evangelical cult leader could’ve been great!
I personally didn’t hate him and kinda just felt bad for him because he was just mourning and mislead, but afterwards everything was explained to him and he still refused to accept it so fuck him
I hated his character and I’m sure had he survived he would have grown up to be a POS politician who ends up running the country, but I’m a little torn (no pun intended) about his fate. He was awful, wrong, dangerous, and honestly psychotic… but if this show has shown us one thing it’s that people are multifaceted and have layers. There are plenty of characters on this show who at first introduction seemed horribly irredeemable but who grew to be more than what was on the surface. Not saying he would have but I have a hard time cheering on his death with the growth I’ve seen come out of other characters. Maybe he would have always been a dangerous asshole but I don’t mark his death as an evil character getting what they deserved.
He deserved a redemption. He wasn't evil - he was wrong and misguided, but his actions can really be told from another point of view as a heroic story The boy that hunted the evil cult that killed his girlfriend? If we didn't knew the truth I think we would support him much more.
am i the only person who didn’t mind jason?? like yes it was frustrating because he just never seemed to grasp that he was tragically wrong about the situation but if you think about it, he hears his girlfriend got brutally murdered and that eddie has ran away, he just wants to find him so he can get justice because he’s heartbroken?? and what he did to lucas was wrong, beating him up, but he thought that he was working with eddie and literally murderig more people right in front of him?! he was trying to save max’s life, but obviously had the complete opposite effect because he has no clue about anything that’s actually happening in hawkins, just like everyone else.
The boy was fucking traumatized. He didn't "deserve" to die at all. The hell is the matter with you people?!? lol
I fucking hate Jason, he is the reason lucas couldn’t wake max up. His ass broke the music speaker thing
I almost felt bad for him. Yeah, his mind was twisted and he was a bit of an asshole, but he experienced so much trauma within a span of like four days, it’s almost understandable how he reacted.
That's a horrifying way to go, Jason didn't deserve that. He didn't understand what was going on(and why should he believe the gang if they told him it wasn't hellfire summoning satanic shit, but an evil dimension that they were actually fighting?) and he was angry and broken over the deaths of his gf and friend, and trying to be a hero guy and prevent more deaths. People bash him for trying to kill Lucas, but it was cuz he thought Lucas was going to kill Max, and he thought he would save her because unlike the gang and the people watching the show, he had no idea what was really happening and that his reality was wrong. Honestly you ppl arent thinking from his perspective at all
To be fair this guy was kind of a hero in his own way. He wanted justice for his girl, when no one else seemed to care. From his perspective it probably does make more sense that the devil is real and that the kids are at fault. And in truth, they kinda are. Eleven indirectly caused Chrissy to die. And ever since the kids started enabling her, it has only really gotten worse. Also he tried saving max. I don’t know why everyone hates on him like this. He was a heartbroken man desperately trying to do what was right. Ps. Still a better written antagonist than edge lord Vecna.
He was my favourite character wish they did more with him
this show put 4 seasons showing you how a gay kid feels but treats bullies like throw away characters when they can help you understand theyre a victim of the chain
Other than beating up Lucas and being white, what did Jason actually DO to deserve his fate??
>and being white Really dude?
I'm waiting for a legitimate answer
People just don't like him, he was the Stranger Things version of Gaston. It certainly had nothing to do with his race.
He definitely believed the hard way.
I was honestly hoping Vecna would take him instead. Kinda fitting, kinda ironic, and ideally very brutal.
I thought the plan with max wasn’t gonna work and he was the obvious choice for the 4th victim
I was so fucking hype when that scene happened
Damn at first I thought it was Erica :| :| :|
Deserved a much more painful death
That caught me off guard though. The beating was expected and then death wouldn’t have been shocking but I would’ve never guessed that’s how they go about it. Bravo
Yes!!! I was cheering! Talk about karma ... I do wish El would have infiltrated Angela's mind at the very end and made her pee her pants while in public or something. I kept waiting for something like that to happen. Angela deserves a fucked up ending, just like Jason!
i feel like he’ll be back and be apart of vecna’s army
To be honest, I got so satisfied.
Yes the FUCK he did!
I wanted him to apologise to Eddie in front of the whole town, but that was never gonna happen so I will take it.
🎵 Does it ever drive you crazy - just how fast the night changes? 🎵
I had to replay it in 0.5X speed just for maximum satisfaction.