Spoilers ahead for “Stranger Things.”
At long last, a journey of almost a decade has come to an end (for now). Those who grew up with the show watched their favorite little nuggets—that is to say characters—grow up too. “Stranger Things” season five was released with some level of pomp, with episodes split between three release dates and the finale premiering in theaters and TV screens on New Year’s Eve. This phenomenon is now over, leaving fans with a mixture of reactions.
Season five begins about a year and a half after the conclusion of season four. The audience dives right into the action. Hopper (David Harbour) conducts “crawls” in The Upside Down, searching for Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). It is during one of these crawls that a demogorgon attacks the military occupying Hawkins then takes young Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher). We eventually learn that Holly’s imaginary friend named Mr. Whatsit is Vecna, who holds Holly captive in his memories. Max (Sadie Sink), who also has been imprisoned in “Camazotz” since she entered her coma, finds Holly, and they plot their escape.
Will (Noah Schnapp) realizes that Vecna plans to continue taking kids, so the group tries to rescue them. Demogorgons manage to take the kids, but Will controls the demogorgons through the hive mind to save his friends. Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) discovers that the Upside Down is a bridge connecting Hawkins and another world called the Abyss. Vecna planned to use the kids as vessels to bring these worlds together.
Through one of their crawls, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Hopper find Eleven’s lab “sister” Kali (Linnea Berthelsen). Kali explains to Eleven that the government restarted the project which gave them powers, which is why the military is after them. At the end of the season, the group of misfits manages to destroy the Mind Flayer and Vecna, triggering a bomb in the Upside Down. Eleven sacrifices herself, dying when the bomb detonates.
The main issue that arose from this season was timing. Potentially meaningful scenes took place at the wrong times, were drawn out or even cut too short. The Duffer Brothers presented a much larger story than was feasible to tell, which resulted in too many individually-amazing plot lines and story arcs packed into one season. Run time was long regardless, but not long enough to appropriately tell the story. Despite how long and complex the season’s plot was, many were still left wanting more.
Meaningful character development was instead packed into long monologues in the middle of moments of action, leaving viewers confused. Will’s acceptance of his sexuality, with the help of Robin (Maya Hawke), was anticipated and well-supported throughout the season, only for him to come out to a room of people ready for battle, some of whom he had just met. A poignant moment anticipated by so many could have been much more meaningful at a different point of the story.
The “unproposal” of Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) was confusing rather than meaningful. In a moment when we feared for their lives, a fitting heart to heart turned into their relationship ending. In the chaos, many questioned whether they were broken up or were merely contemplating death.
The existence of a wormhole, with the Upside Down acting as a bridge, not a separate realm, was also frustrating. Once again it works well with the plot, however it seemed like the world we were familiar with abruptly expanded. In setting up the final “biggest and baddest” boss, important time was taken away from a season that was supposed to be a conclusion.
The ending also left some questions, many of them intentional. The uncertainty of Eleven’s survival is fun to theorize upon, despite the setup being somewhat clumsy. We get to know Vickie (Amybeth McNulty) much more this season, only to have her conclusion be a passing comment from Robin in the final scenes. We don’t learn what happened to her and Max after they were found by the military during the finale. At some point, the mystery just becomes oversight.
Overall, though, longtime fans will be satisfied with how things came to an end. To some extent, the season was nostalgic, and we were able to see all the characters we love in one last battle together, complete with witty banter and the dialogue that we love. Even newer characters with less time in previous seasons, such as Kali, were integrated into this conclusion. Many of these characters met an ending straight out of one of Mike’s Dungeons and Dragons campaigns—peace and happiness.
With a run time of around ten hours, there is plenty of action to enjoy for those desiring a dose of Hawkins. With spin-offs on the horizon, this won’t be the last we will see of this world anytime soon!