Note: this article contains spoilers for Season 5 of “Stranger Things,” including the finale.
SUMMARY (SPOILERS AHEAD!)
The Hawkins crew is making a desperate attempt to stop Vecna as the Upside Down merges with their world, using knowledge from Brenner’s journal about “Exotic Matter” to find a weak point in the dimensional bridge. Then, after the crew defeats Vecna, a heartbreaking death occurs, sealing the dimensional rift forever. Later, a bittersweet future where the crew moves towards adulthood, with a new generation taking over.
LIKEABLE MOMENTS
The Final Dungeons & Dragons Game
When the series was coming to an end, the original group, Max, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Mike, played one last game in the basement. The moment was a lovely touch as it showed the start and finish of the whole series. Showing off a sense of closure and nostalgia, as the group grows up into adulthood, leaving behind the game that brought them all together. It was evident during that scene that you can still be brought together by something that brings you comfort and closure with one another, along with being with the people who help you through a tough situation and being each other’s support system.
Hopper & Mike’s Connection
After the Eleven’s sacrifice, an emotional scene that features Hopper comforting Mike at a memorial, telling the heartbroken dungeonmaster not to blame himself for Eleven’s choices. This scene highlights Hopper’s growth as a father figure, as well as showing the growth between Mike and Hopper’s beef with each other. Emphasizing that Hopper realized that he, himself, shouldn’t also blame himself for Eleven’s death, and that he and Mike can remember Eleven as the greatest person that came into their life.
“Walk-’Em-Down” Karen Wheeler
Cara Buono, who plays Karen Wheeler, has been a fan favorite throughout the whole season. Everyone began to love Karen more as she defended Holly in the most satisfyingly fearless way, saving the group from Demo-dogs, as well as supporting Nancy, encouraging her to keep fighting for her stories and convictions. She became an oblivious parent to one of the most unexpected heroes in the show. Her character growth was the most wonderful thing to watch, as the older her kids get, the more protective she becomes. Showing off the true nature of a mother rather than just having her in the background.
The Rooftop Goodbye
This scene, when the older teens (Robin, Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve) make a pact to meet up on a rooftop, was very emotional to me. This scene is poignant, a “coming-of-age.” It is a very powerful and emotional scene, especially when many of the kids who watched “Stranger Things” are possibly the same age as the older groups. This scene showed an amazing side to older teens, that it’s okay that you’re not sure what to do with your adult life, and that you are allowed to be afraid for the next chatper but you can still push through with people who understand and support you.
DISAPPOINTING MOMENTS
“First Shadow” Plot Holes
One of the most disappointing things about this season was that there were too many plot holes. The most confusing plot holes of all are related to the Broadway show, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” which debuted in late 2023. In case you have never heard it, the play gives the origin story of Henry Creel, which involves a younger Joyce, Hopper, and Bob Newby. Even though the play wasn’t made by the Duffer Brothers themselves, it was directed by Stephen Daldry, but they did co-create the original story. Regardless, the Duffers have confirmed that the plot of the play is considered canon, meaning that it is a fully recognized part of the “Stranger Things” story. Now, the reason it is super confusing is that it was created as the original story of Henry Creel, yet the storyline does not make sense based on the TV show. If it followed up on the TV show, then how come Joyce and Hopper do not recognize Henry if he attends high school? It was mentioned numerous times that Vecna was known as Henry Creel, so how could they have forgotten their classmate? Another confusing question is, how could Henry be declared dead but still attended high school? Now, it’s understandable that he could have gone under a new name, like “Joey” or “Billy”, but he is only referred to as Henry Creel. This raises more confusion since he’s supposed to be dead. Lastly, there is the timeline and age confusion. In the TV series, he killed his family in 1959, making him 12 years old, but in the First Shadow, he is aged up to 15 years old. Now, this can be easily explained as an error, yet it still confuses the fans. There are also confusing elements with established protagonists; in the play, Joyce and Hopper track a series of unusual events very similar to what happens in the first season of the TV show. However, none of it seems familiar to either one of them. And ultimately, the finale does little to make these events really matter when it comes to Henry’s character development.
Underwhelming Final Battle
During the ultimate showdown with Vecna’s death, it came to many fans talked about how it felt too short and lacked the high-stakes intensity. The whole scene didn’t feel real enough, and came off as a high school play with a $100 budget. The editing was described as jarring, with the narrative often cutting away from tense moments. For example, Will’s coming out, the whole scene didn’t feel like it was actually him wanting to come out, but it was him being focused, so Venca doesn’t use it against him. The whole scene felt like the movie “It: Chapter Two” when Richie didn’t want Pennywise to use his secret against his friends. Overall, the whole scene of killing Venca didn’t feel like it could actually be real, but instead looked silly and somewhat unpleasant.
Lack of Death
Many fans would argue about the deaths, some wanting more or some wanting none, but I feel they should have killed two other important characters from the crew. It would bring more emotional impact and possibly make the ending way better. Personally, I think in Episode 6, titled “Escape from Camazotz”, Jonathan should have died in the melting room to create a more emotional scene after Nancy’s and Jonathan’s breakup. One other character that should have died would be Steve Harrington. Now, I do love the character Steve, but I think it would have made a more emotional scene since he was getting character development. He went from “Jerk” to “Helpless love puppy” to “Mother of six nuggets”. I do understand that if Steve died, then Dustin would fall into a major depression, but I believe Steve’s death will make him stronger and fight for what he believes in.
Conformity Gate Theory
If you have never heard of the “Conformity Gate” theory, it basically states that the last episode was actually a Quora dream world or illusion. Fans believed that Episode 8 was a “perfect” happy ending and alleged there would be a surprise ninth episode. This began on Reddit, with fans taking small visual moments from the show, translating them in hopes of unlocking hidden meaning. Many fans wanted to believe that the theory would come true due to a few errors, such as objects being the wrong color, like their graduation robes, or the dial changing from black to red, or even the fact that there was a message “JK 95” which many fans took to mean, “Just kidding, Episode 9, Season 5.” The whole episode, to many fans, felt like it was a “Truman Show”-style reality. Indicating that characters mimicking Vecna’s pose at graduation, or that Steve, played by Joe Keery, is teaching baseball instead of basketball, or even that Vickie just disappeared after the Upside Down. But I think what fans need to realize is that the last episode was poorly planned and very rushed just to get it done. It was a very lovely theory to have, but at the end of the day, it was never going to happened and fans need to realize that Eleven is gone and that she is never coming back. The ending wasn’t what fans wanted, and many felt like Joyce in Season 1, coming off as insane and crazy but desperately trying to get others to believe that there is truly a hidden episode.
Eleven’s Death Theory
While it is nice that Mike had a theory about thinking that Eleven could still be alive, thanks to Kali’s illusion, many fans are upset that her fate was purposefully vague – whether she dies or lives in isolation– which felt lazy to avoid making a definitive decision, resulting in a lack of emotional closure. It felt like a disappointment in her character development in the series was meaningless, as she is once again separated from her friends and Hopper, whom she fought to protect and be able to live a normal life, despite being a “weapon.” It was also criticized as some of the crew, besides Mike, had moved on a little too quickly, which just lowered the emotional stakes of her sacrifice. Overall, it felt that Eleven’s sacrifice didn’t seem genuine and that having us think to could be alive, but isolated, or dead in the black hole just feels like Millie Bobby Brown’s character did not get any justice by making Eleven’s death less emotional and making her a metaphor because the Duffer Brothers couldn’t agree on what to do with her fate.
OVERALL RATING
For an overall rating, I still enjoyed the TV show as it came to an end, and still recommend it, even though the ending wasn’t what I was expecting. It still is amazing, and it is a pleasure to be able to finish it for my eight-year-old self.
