Stranger Things S5 Review: I guess I’ve seen stranger things…

Spoiler Warning!

Since its release in 2016, Stranger Things has become a massive cultural phenomenon. Created by Matt and Ross Duffer for Netflix, the show follows a group of kids living in the 1980s, who discover an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down; as the story goes on, the cast attempts to survive amidst the opposition of the US government, foreign spies, and, most prominently, increasingly terrifying supernatural threats. Praised for its lovable characters, horror aspects, and nostalgic feel, Stranger Things has gained immense popularity in the past decade, attaining a total of 1.2 billion views according to Variety and even becoming Netflix’s most viewed show according to IMDB.

As expected, given its widespread acclaim, the first teaser for Stranger Things’ final season was met with a great amount of excitement from fans upon its release. Three years of production had built up to this moment, and viewers were excited to finally see an ending to the beloved show.

I was one of the fans who waited impatiently all week for S5 Vol 1 to drop, and binge-watched all four episodes as soon as it did. Unfortunately, while I did greatly enjoy the beginning of S5 and felt that it had a lot of potential, I felt that as the season progressed, it became a confusing, unsatisfying, and overall disappointing conclusion to the series.

Volume 1 was really enjoyable, and it felt like it was setting up the best season of Stranger Things yet. I was blown away by how the show managed to make such a large cast of characters seem to naturally and cohesively interact with each other, while still giving their individual personalities justice; it was also impressive how the show balanced preserving old character dynamics (Mike and Will, Robin and Steve, etc…) while still introducing new and interesting ones (Max and Holly, Robin and Will, etc…). Furthermore, I really enjoyed the new characters added (especially “Delightful” Derek). They were all very lovable, and their plotlines and arcs remained my favorite parts of season five.

Moreover, I adored how threatening the show made Vecna in this volume. Whether I was watching his eerily sweet “Mr. Whatsit” persona or his final look during episode 4, I was constantly on edge whenever he was on screen. I felt as if the mysteriousness of his motives and the contrast between his forms properly upped the stakes of the finale, building suspense for Vol 2.

However, the great setup of Vol 1 only made it more disappointing when Vol 2 and 3 came out, feeling very messy, rushed, and overall inconclusive. My biggest issue with this season from this point onwards was definitely the lack of stakes. Although character deaths aren’t inherently necessary to progress a plot, I still feel as if the season could have benefited from one or two more of them, or at the very least, more injuries and/or obstacles. This would’ve kept suspense up until the finale, helped the characters (and audience) understand the full severity of the situation at hand, and avoid many of the plot holes found in the season. After Vol 2 and 3, I found myself left with more questions than answers because of this hestitance to inconvenience anyone. For example, there were several instances where Vecna could’ve easily killed off certain characters, but he simply didn’t without explanation. All of this culminated in a feeling of unsatisfaction and boredom during the final episode. I knew there wouldn’t be anything that would go majorly wrong, and so I was never really scared at any point of the final ending.

Other gripes I had with Vol 2 and 3 were the repetitive plot points and strange pacing. There were times where the show quickly hurried through really important scenes while spending way too long on unimportant ones: for example, the show repeatedly devoted great chunks of time overexplaining plans and concepts with props, while simultaneously rushing through scenes involving Vecna’s memories and the final battle. This unbalanced pacing unfortunately also led to some main characters being completely sidelined or forgotten in the second half of the season (most notably Mike and Joyce).

The final battle had its merits. The design of the Mind Flayer, a spidery, Lovecraftian horror, created a very visually appealing and intimidating final antagonist. Additionally, Vecna’s death was very impactful and satisfying because of the final montage edited in. Still, these aspects weren’t enough to redeem the final battle for me. The run time was too short (around 13 minutes), which resulted in the victory feeling far too easy and therefore underwhelming.

The epilogue was also a mixed bag. I enjoyed the graduation scene, which summarized the central ideas of friendship, change, and resisting conformity . And, admittedly, despite my gripes with the show not killing off enough characters, it was still nice seeing some of them living their happy endings, such as Steve becoming a baseball coach or Dustin becoming valedictorian. However, it largely fell flat in concluding the show’s themes, especially in regard to Eleven’s ending. Eleven’s arc was finding acceptance and love from a group of people that truly cared about her, as well as slowly realizing her own self-autonomy and strength. Regardless of whether she lived or died, it was still unfair that despite her trauma, she was robbed of a life with her friends while everyone else got a happy ending. In a show about embracing outcasts, challenging the norm, and the power of found family, her cliche (and possibly avoidable) sacrifice thematically seemed out of place, especially when there were several surviving characters with arcs more fitting for an ending like her own.

Overall, S5 unfortunately felt like a messy, unsatisfying, and underwhelming ending to a beloved series, due to pacing issues, a lack of stakes, and thematic inconsistencies. There were definitely good aspects, such as new characters and visual appeal, and Volume 1 is pretty strong when put in a vacuum. Unfortunately, despite this potential, there wasn’t enough to redeem the season as a whole.