This review will contain spoilers.
After almost a decade, Netflix’s hit show “Stranger Things” has come to an end. For more than three years, fans waited anxiously for another season. They rewatched the entire series in anticipation. They halted their Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve to tune in as soon as possible.
And, ultimately, they were disappointed.
The first of the three volumes that made up the fifth season was released on November 26, providing a satisfying introduction to this new chapter of “Stranger Things.” It drops viewers in the middle of a Hawkins that they have never seen before, with the military stationed at the town’s border and a giant metal Band-Aid dividing the town. The beloved cast is reunited and audiences were generally content with this first volume. Not to mention, in a long-awaited turn of events, the fifth season finally reveals that Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) possesses supernatural powers.
Volume Two, however, leaves much to be desired. Our heroes are left in a confusing place, plot- and character-wise. Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers, portrayed by real-life couple Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton, share an equally sentimental and confusing scene in which they end their relationship. Will comes out to his friends in a painfully long and unrealistic scene. With only one episode remaining, fans worried that the loose ends would be left untrimmed.
In the time between the release of Volumes 2 and 3, fans took to the Internet to share theories. One theory, known as “Conformity Gate,” gained a lot of traction. In a pre-release interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Duffer Brothers had urged fans to pay attention to detail and fans did just that. Discrepancies in the episodes became glaringly obvious. Colors switched from scene to scene, characters referred to each other by odd nicknames and other details simply didn’t match up. Fans believed that Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), the main antagonist of the season, had used his power to trap Hawkins in some sort of mind trick. One TikTok comment said, “Either the Duffers are going to pull off the best finale in history or the biggest letdown.”
And letdown it was. Viewers even went so far as to compare the final episode of “Stranger Things” to the infamous “Game of Thrones” finale, another conclusion that left fans wanting more. Once the characters finally reach Vecna’s lair, the scene is barren. Confusingly, none of the monsters introduced in the previous four seasons (demogorgons, bats or dogs) are featured. His lair transforms into a Mind-Flayer-shaped creature, although it is unclear whether it is the large creature from Season 2. It only takes the team about 15 minutes of the two-hour special to kill Vecna. They tell the audience that the stakes are high and then immediately show them otherwise, dominating the final battle. The villain is dead with almost an hour left of the episode. It remains hard to imagine why the writers chose this odd, ineffective pacing. How could they possibly have beaten their greatest enemy that quickly? What could they possibly do with the remaining 54 minutes?
In true ‘80s fashion, “Stranger Things” ends with a cliché. The Duffers play, “Where are they now?” and visit the cast two years in the future. The adults get engaged. The hero is believed to be alive. The older kids go off to college, agreeing to see one another annually. The kids graduate. It’s all wrapped up in a nice little green and orange bow. Of course, there is something comforting about the ending. Don’t we want to see our favorite characters, the ones we grew up with, the ones we love, safe and happy?
The Duffer Brothers had a distinct vision when they pitched the show. The main cast was composed of child actors, but the show was not for children. The audience is adults. The audience is grown, and the audience can handle an ending that isn’t simple and spoon-fed. Viewers don’t revisit the show because it makes them content. They visit because it makes them feel something real, something deep: grief, fear, nostalgia, hope. It seems that, in the concluding episode, the show had forgotten itself.
The finale of “Stranger Things” is the definition of “fan service” at the expense of the plot. It is always hard to end something that brings so much joy to so many different people. It’s hard to satisfy everyone, and this is why: if you aim to satisfy all, you really appeal to none.
Freshman Sarah Henches is the Features Editor. Her email is shenches@fandm.edu.