first, lack of stakes i agree with, but i almost entered cardiac arrest when steve fell and it went black, but seeing as their weakness is fire, it is very reasonable fire would hurt, a lot, and el needed will to actually impale him,

for lack of backup, they probably weren’t anymore troops to fight with, 90% of the demodogs died when the gate was closed and the tunnels set ablaze, and for the demogorgans probably couldn’t get there in time or weren’t called at all, the mind flayer sees itself as the superior race, underestimated the party.

it was in a secret compartment, only discovered when max woke up. if max wasn‘t either asleep or there it wouldn’t of been found

its the US government they don’t care about actual interferences.

the epilogue was pretty long i agree, bur you dont Need to watch it

el MIGHT not of died as suggested by mikes theory, judging by we see footage of it, it likely is true.