After countless epic D&D battles, monster-hunting missions, and dimension-spanning chaos, the beloved Netflix powerhouse, Stranger Things, comes to an end after nearly a decade of entertaining people across the world. This series has absolutely shattered the records with approximately 8.46 billion viewing minutes in its debut week for Volume-1 of season 5 alone. And amidst the wait for Volume-2, this record continued to grow and even caused Netflix to crash from the sheer amount of people visiting the site to see what would happen in Hawkins. I witnessed this crash myself, but beyond a systematic error, it holds truth to the hearts this celebrated series has captured.
I want to preface this article by stating that this is all purely my opinion on everything Stranger Things. I also want to state that this article will contain multiple spoilers for Stranger Things (all seasons) and the play Stranger Things: The First Shadow. If you are planning on watching the show, please refrain from reading this because I won’t shy away from speaking on the seasons, the play, and every piece of media connected to this topic. If you do not care about spoilers or have watched the entirety of the show, enjoy the following contents of my take of this legendary creation.
At the end of season four, a large ensemble was reunited back in Hawkins after their separate journeys to fight against Vecna/Henry Creel/001. The entire town was split into four after Vecna had tried to break into Earth by sacrificing Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson, Patrick McKinney. In the final episode, we see that Max Mayfield was under Vecna’s Curse and even died at one point, but was eventually saved with the help of Eleven’s powers. Alongside her “death”, Hawkins split in four, losing many of its innocent citizens and once again, falling in a deeply devastating state. The ending shot of season four had fans on the edge of their seats from seeing the smoke and particles swallow up the environment surrounding them. The final battle was happening soon.
So, why was season five so disappointing?
Before we get into just how this season failed its audience, I want to talk about the strong suits that it wheeled.
The first volume, released the day before Thanksgiving, was immaculate with its strong plot and character development. Every single cast member was locked-in with their acting which made the story build up to the epic conclusion of Volume-1. Having been able to witness the journey and growth of these characters, over the five seasons, has allowed us to know them personally and connect with them in a way that elevates our experience. For example, in season five, Mike actually interacted with Will and the rest of the party too for that matter. He truly lived up to his reputation as the “heart” of the group as Will stated. Getting to see Mike finally return back to the leader role started to heal the downsides that season four created.
Now, we must talk about the ending of volume one.
Will Byers has powers!
Will is, without a doubt, a central character to this show. Since the start, at the tender age of 12, he was constantly tormented by the dark nature of the Upside Down and bore so much pressure with his everlasting connection to something so deceptive and purely evil. So to see him take charge, channel all his pain, and emerge as this mighty, powerful person was incredibly gratifying. Furthermore, that particular scene where he transforms was incredibly well done. We see these flashes of images that encompass his journey, his past, his relationships, and his evolution, tied together with Robin’s emotional monologue in the background. Pure perfection!
Jamie Campbell-Bower, Nell Fischer, and Caleb McLaughlin deserve a shoutout for their incredible performances as well. Every one of the actors deserve all the flowers coming their way because they truly brought these characters alive for us to see.
After Volume-1, you would think this series was bound to be a cinematic masterpiece…one for the ages. But unfortunately, Volume-2 turned out to be quite upsetting with so much left unanswered, contradicted, and empty. Before season five was released, the Duffer Brothers stated every single event in the show is important to the entirety of the story. Lucas Sinclair even states in the Volume-1 of season five, “I don’t believe in coincidences.” Ironically, the writers of the show can’t even follow their own words.
The finale was deemed so horrible that fans came up with their own ideas for an alternative ending, going so far as to say the ending in the show was fake. Some of these ideas are actually quite interesting and would have surely been a better fit than what we had to see.
Before the Volume-1 was even released, the Duffer Brothers told fans that they should observe every miniscule detail in the show because all of their questions were to be answered. Therefore, fans looked into everything. They slaved away looking at color theory, number theory, the history of the 80s, original scripts, movies that the Duffers recommended watching before the release, and so the list continues.
But all their work fell through.
The sheer amount of plot holes and unaddressed issues created by the Duffer brothers made fans, including myself, absolutely hate the turn out.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Will. But why didn’t he die when the Mind Flayer was defeated if they had a connection? How did the military just fully disappear in that short of a time? How did Max graduate after being in a coma for over 18 months? Why was the painting that Will made for Mike never brought up? How did all of the characters get off scott free when they literally killed government personnel? Why was the Upside Down stuck on November 6th, 1983? Why were there no demogorgons in the Abyss?
But there are three things that I absolutely hate to my very core about the last season of Stranger Things.
One: why did the Duffers create a whole entire play about how the adults in the series know Henry Creel yet never address the connection between them. The entire point of the stage production was to showcase the life of Henry and the origins of how everything started in Hawkins, but never did Joyce or Hopper mention any recollection of going to school with him when they were younger. From what I have seen, all the Duffers have to say was that this realization was made off-screen which is simply unacceptable. Something that important cannot and should not be added with such recklessness and ease. This addition could have transformed into a compelling addition to the storyline of the tv show, but was instead a rushed, invaluable addition.
Another point that made me extremely angry was the failure to incorporate Patty Newby into the finale.
For those that don’t know, Patty Newby is the sister to Bob Newby, the love interest for Joyce who dies from a demo-dog at the end of season two. Her character essentially leaves a gaping hole in the narrative of Stranger Things because without her, Henry Creel would likely have gone down a different path, one that would have been far away from the cursed hands of Dr.Brener. Patty Newby and Henry have a romantic relationship which allows us to see a humane side of Henry. And while their relationship eventually comes to an end as they diverge to different paths, Patty plays a huge role in Henry’s life and therefore, changes the trajectory of the play. If the Duffer brothers actually took her character into consideration, there could have been a plethora of better narratives to base the ending on.
Lastly, Mike’s personality and character growth is completely thrown out the window.
As previously stated, Mike Wheeler is said to be “the heart” of the group. Leading the party to success and being the brave paladin that he is supposed to be. And while the writers stuck by these words in Volume-1, they clearly forgot its significance in Volume-2. At the climax, Eleven tells Mike that he is the only one who truly understands her–which is absurd! Mike never once fully understood what Eleven was going through. If anyone did, it would be Will. Mike lost all the qualities of his character that made him great. The writers simply turned him into an insignificant plot point that only has any importance because his girlfriend has superpowers.
While that was a lot of negative takes on Stranger Things, I want to conclude on a positive note. I want to reiterate that the contents of this article are purely my opinion. And while there are multiple flaws to this new season with so much potential for improvement, the overall concept itself from season 1, of this alternate dimension, is very unique, making this show worthy of such high appeal. Furthermore, we still have the four well-crafted seasons that gave us so many incredible characters with such memorable personalities. And as someone who grew up watching this show and seeing the overall cultural significance it has in the world of entertainment, it still holds great value to me, as I’m sure it does for many people.
