After 10 years of Stranger Things, fans now have to say goodbye to the beloved series, a show that grew up with us. The final season was split into three parts and released on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Since then, Stranger Things has made history as being the most streamed series in Netflix’s history, beating out “Wednesday” and “Squid Game” with 1.2 billion total views. 

Despite the garnered views, Stranger Things has faced massive backlash for its finale, dubbed by fans as a crushing disappointment and landing flat in emotional moments. 

Bella and Olivia here! Come along with us as we break down all of our thoughts on Season 5 and explain why there’s so much buzz around it. 

Credit: Netflix

Bella: As people across the US prepared for Thanksgiving feasts, I excitedly awaited the drop of Volume 1 of Stranger Things. Surprisingly, Season 5 picks up 1 year later and everything has seemingly returned to normal. I thought this was a little abnormal; did people forget about the volcanic eruptions, the billowing smoke, or the massive portals spanning the ground?

Olivia: One huge plot-line in this season revolved around Holly Wheeler, what did you think? 

Bella: Although I enjoyed diving into the kids’ story, it felt like creating a new story that was unnecessary and sidelined main characters like El. So much screen time was on Holly Wheeler that it felt like she became the new main character.

Olivia: Now, let’s cut straight to the chase and unpack some of the issues with volume 2. 

Bella: I want to hear your thoughts on the long-anticipated Jancy (Jonathon + Nancy) breakup. 

Olivia: I don’t think I was the only one who was at first confused by the idea of an “unproposal,” and the Duffer brothers even had to go so far as to make an official announcement clarifying that they broke up. If that doesn’t say something, then I don’t know what does. 

Bella: One of the biggest hits from Season 4 was Kate Bush’s “Running Up that Hill”, did we see a similar moment in Season 5?

Olivia: In episode 6 (which I also thought to be the best episode of volume 2) we get another iconic moment of Max running, trying to escape, with our favorite singer Kate Bush playing in the background. But, I found myself shouting at my TV, begging Max to RUN FASTER!!!, as her “run” was nothing more than a light jog (keeping in mind she’s been trapped for two years!).

Bella: The Duffer Brothers have been teasing Byler all season, did we ever get any resolution?

Olivia: The only thing we seemed to get was the Duffer Brothers ragebaiting the entire internet: “no… best friends.” Will’s coming out scene also felt so awkward, making him come out in front of everyone (like why were Murray and Vicky there?) made the scene feel less intimate.

Overall, Volume 2 felt like a let down. It seemed as if nothing that important was happening (besides Max escaping), and the dialogue became boring and repetitive. Compared to the incredible dynamic the cast had in Volume 1, I wished there had been more interesting action and emotions in Volume 2. 

Bella: A two-hour long finale!? How about we tackle this one together?

Olivia: Oh yeah, there’s definitely a lot to be said about this finale episode. 

Although most save the best for last, the Duffer brothers seemingly saved the worst for last. The final showdown between Vecna and the group begins. This showdown lasts around 10 minutes. Magically, the demogorgons and insidious bats that played a huge role in the earlier seasons are gone. Many fans felt disappointed that the Mindflayer that had been built up in the past 4 seasons as the final monster was beaten so easily. 

It seems like they’ll all get their happy ending when the government shows up to take El. Uh oh! El goes through with her original plan and as the Upside Down blows up, she disappears with it. We all presume El is dead as the kids graduate from high school, until Mike comes up with the theory that it was all an illusion and that El is alive and somewhere in Iceland. 

Fans unwilling to accept this ending, instead created the Conformity Gate Theory that blew up on the internet. This theory states that the ending was all a hallucination made up by Venca, and the real ending would drop on 1/7/25. 

Olivia: In conclusion, I am partially satisfied with the ending of Stranger Things. I am disappointed by the amount of unanswered questions we were left with, and I wish the storyline had been more clear. The battle with Vecna and the mindflayer felt too short and anticlimactic given that it was the final battle we had been building to all season. While I am happy that almost every character survived (Steve didn’t die!), it did seem like nothing very surprising or dramatic happened, and I was expecting more plot twists. 

Bella: I think this is where I differ from you. I think that the show’s bittersweet ending fits it perfectly. Stranger Things was never about monsters or battles, it started as a story about a group of friends and ended that way. It was always meant to be a coming of age story just placed in a terrifying time. The last scene of the finale perfectly captures this as Mike leaves the basement, the place that held their memories about childhood. 

As all the characters move on with their lives, it’s a reminder that we should as well, and stop dwelling on the ending. Whether it was bad writing or just hate from the fans, Stranger Things showcases the uncomfortable reality of having to let go of characters that have been held so close and the consequences of when the storyline doesn’t match up with extremely high expectations of fans.

The Episode We Both Loved: Episode 4.Will gets powers! Shoutout to the Duffer Brothers for creating something in Season 5 the fandom can agree on. 

Shoutout to the forgotten characters: Let us now take a moment to remember those who have been lost to the overly complicated Stranger Things story line

• Suzy (she helped them defeat the Russians, and for what?!)
• Vicky (what happened to that Enzos date??)
• Ted Wheeler (poor guy, gets nearly killed by a demogorgon, and yet still nobody wants to check up on him)
• Derek’s Entire Family (are they still in the barn?)

Murray (drove them right into the hands of the military and disappeared with them)