Stranger Things 5: A Tragic End to an Extraordinary Dynasty

Netflix

Stranger Things Season 5 Poster Credits: Netflix

Netflix was looking to make itself a streaming empire. So when Matt and Ross Duffer approached the service with an idea for an 80s-based show starring Winona Ryder, they simply could not pass up the opportunity. As soon as its first season aired in 2016, Stranger Things became a global phenomenon. Premieres packed with adoring fans and critics praised the show for being something that had never been done before. Although people have their opinions about each season, the show has remained largely successful in revenue and popularity.

All of this hype was meant to reach a pinnacle with the release of the show’s fifth and final season, airing this past holiday season. However, the season inevitably fell flat for a multitude of reasons, leaving fans with a bitter taste of the series as a whole. Within this article, we will be discussing aspects of the final season that personally dissatisfied my viewing experience, as a longtime fan of the show. I will also be gearing away from my typical writing style, as I wish to properly convey my honest review without worrying about a certain writing voice.

Let’s dive in. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

3. Suspense and Stakes

The fourth season of the show ended with an apocalyptic shot of the Mind Flayer towering over Hawkins, with our main characters facing the fractured town they inhabited. The main villain, Vecna, had just completed his mission of opening 4 gates to the Upside Down by killing 4 Hawkins teens, with the final death being that of Max Mayfield (a main character). The residents of Hawkins left their houses to find ash-like spores falling through the air. Their streets had been split by a glowing red portal. Thunder and lightning loomed in the atmosphere. Nothing could recover from this catastrophe, right?

Wrong. Following the initial opening of Season 5, which shows a flashback of Will Byers being chased by a demogorgon, the show opens with bright, sunny shots of Hawkins residents living their lives. Robin Buckley, after acquiring a position at the local radio station, narrates what viewers are seeing while encouraging residents to simply continue on with their normal lives, despite being under military occupation. Those giant portals that split streets? Covered by sheet metal and being sled on by local children. The spores in the air that, at one point (Season 2), were proven to be toxic to humans? Never mentioned again. The show falls back onto the happy, nostalgia-based beginnings that it resorts to in every season. It seems that the writers of Stranger Things (cough, cough Matt and Ross Duffer) simply do not know how to start a season of their show without complying with a pre-existing formula. They could not handle the stakes that they themselves set.

This theme of low stakes continues throughout the remainder of the season in multiple scenarios. One of the main attributes of this is that NO ONE DIES. There have been numerous instances of characters being perfectly poised for a beautiful, meaningful conclusion. But, ever so coincidentally, some magical coincidence pulls them from Death’s grasp—for example, Nancy and Jonathan. Following the most confusing breakup in television history (“I hate the Clash.” “Oh yeah? Well, I donated your favorite sweater, lied to you about applying to college, and dissociate every time you share your thoughts”), the two have accepted their fate in the mysterious goo that traps them and prompts their confessions. But, magically and conveniently, the goop hardens and allows them to escape. Not only do the characters face danger with all things considered, but the goop is never brought up again! Steve Harrington also faces a similar fate, literally hanging off the side of the Radio Tower, letting go, cutting the screen to black, then miraculously being saved by Jonathan. Even Karen and Ted Wheeler, who were brutally attacked by a Demogorgon, did not succumb to their injuries. And I’m not saying that there has to be death to make a good show, but after a press tour of the creators saying that “no character is safe” and “there is no plot armor,” it is justified to be disappointed.

My point is fortified by the final and most impactful “death” in the series: Eleven. This death was devastating because Eleven, as a character, seems to never catch a break. I love Eleven. I think that her inability to find peace due to a government that wishes to abuse her powers is tragic, and she has been one of my favorite characters throughout the series. But the writers couldn’t even solidify her death. They had to “leave it up to viewer interpretation,” which seems to be a common thing in the press tour of ST5. Might as well just give viewers the check for writing the show, because obviously y’all couldn’t tie up the loose ends. Eleven deserved a concrete, beautiful ending to her story. Not a half-written, choose-your-own-adventure excuse of a sequel series setup.

Continuing in the low-stakes theme, we must mention the final battle. Not only was the final battle incredibly brief, but fans can agree that it was anticlimactic. Somehow, the main characters can defeat a GIANT, INTERDIMENSIONAL MONSTER WITH FLARE GUNS AND POKING ITS BELLY. And, to make it even better, there are absolutely no deaths, let alone injuries. What happened to “it’s going to be a dark Christmas,” Duffer bros? The only character that had some sort of impactful death was Kali, who I believe was only brought in to tie up the horrible plot hole they started with her backdoor episode in ST2. Moreover, she wasn’t even killed by the main antagonist. She was killed by the secondary antagonist’s employees! I will give credit where credit is due. The scene where Hopper is tricked by Vecna into “shooting” El was genius. But guess why it was genius….because it actually provided some stakes and suspense to what we were doing!

2. Needledrops

I am a sucker for a good needle drop. Music is honestly the way to my heart. This is why I sobbed like a baby to the first chords of Purple Rain when it was played during the finale. But when I thought about my beloved power ballad’s use in the show, it didn’t really make sense to use it in the scene. I get it, Prince’s estate is stingy about the song’s use. And many will argue that the song is perfect for Mileven and Eleven’s death, because El is associated with the color purple and met Mike in the rain. But one could argue that there is a far better pair of characters that the song could’ve been used for. Yet, I am not going to get into that tangent at this time. Just know that I acknowledge and support what could have been. Iykyk.

Following Purple Rain, we immediately transition into Landslide. At this point, we are really reaching for the tears of viewers. This is ultimately proven when following Landslide, we go right into Heroes for the end credits! I almost think we blew the budget for the writing department on these songs and the casting of Linda Hamilton. Although Heroes is one of my favorite songs of all time, it has been proven controversial for this setting for a reason that I will develop shortly.

1. Plotholes

When a creator instructs viewers to go back to previous seasons and pay attention to every detail, one would expect them to refer to these details, especially after commenting in an interview that “All your questions will be answered.” However, viewers got the exact opposite of this, as we were only left with more questions (which will probably be answered in a cash-grab spinoff series). To demonstrate the sheer amount of plot holes within this season, I will now go into an itemized list.

1. Where is Suzie?
2. Where is Vickie?
3. What happened to the military involvement in Hawkins?
4. Why did Joyce and Hopper never acknowledge that (according to the stage play) they went to high school with Venca?
5. How are Nancy and Hopper not considered war criminals?
6. Why did Max act like everything was normal when she came out of a 2-year-long coma?
7. Where are the bats, demogorgons, and demodogs in the final battle?
8. Does Will feel the pain of Vecna as he’s dying?
9. Why was the dial at the radio tower grey?
10. What is the random liquid that almost killed Nancy and Jonothan?
11. Where was the acknowledgement of Will’s painting?
12. What did Will see when Vecna filled his mind with memories that forced him to come out?
13. Why did Will talk about getting milkshakes at Melvalds?
14. Where are Karen Wheeler’s scars?
15. Where is the Turnbow family?
16. Where does the magical rock come from?
17. Who opened the door to kidnap Will in ST1?
18. Why November 6th?
19. Why did the van scene in ST4 take 12 hours to film?
20. Did production really forget Will’s birthday?
21. Who was the traitor mentioned in the Duffer Brothers’ interviews?
22. When the kids were rescued from Venca’s lair, where did the dust that flew out of their mouths go?
23. Why was there an excessive amount of merchandise for a mixtape that said “For Will”?
24. Why did they market the rubber chicken so heavily?
25. Snowball to avalanche?
26. Why did Max graduate with the rest of the party?
27. Why didn’t Mike say he loved Eleven when his whole plotline in ST4 revolved around his new ability to say he loved her?
28. Crazy together?
29. Why is everyone suddenly cool with Hellfire?
30. Vecna lives flashlight?
31. Why is the Upside Down air not toxic anymore?
32. Why does Will believe he has a chance with Mike after the 18-month gap?
33. Why 12 kids?
34. What happened to El and Max’s relationship?
35. Why are Max and Will suddenly best friends?
36. How have the walls in the Upside Down never been noticed before?
37. Why Hawkins?
38. How did Russia get Mindflayer particles?
39. What is the goop?
40. How did El recognize Will when searching for him in the Upside Down during ST1?
41. Why was the number 7 so important in promotions?
42. Why was everyone in the graduation scene sitting like Venca?
43. Why was there a blank sign in the graduation scene?
44. Why were people breaking the fourth wall in the graduation scene?
45. Why do all of the Wheelers have the same haircut?
46. Why did the order of the D&D books differ from show to social media post?
47. CONFORMITY GATE???

(list ends for the sake of sanity)

Most of these questions have since been answered by the Duffer Brothers with the explanation of “It happened off-screen.” Further, a lot of these are also just technical questions, which is a bit questionable to ask when literally facing a world with interdimensional travel. But still, the Duffer Brothers keep digging themselves into deeper holes with their inadequate responses. Also, following the release of the documentary, it has been acknowledged that a lot of these questions were asked during production, but they decided to exclude an explanation. The documentary also shows that the writers not only didn’t have the finale written once they started filming the episode, but they also used ChatGPT to help write it.

Writing so bad that the fandom went into mass psychosis and convinced itself that there was a secret, hidden episode. I mean, come on, when a show that only plays Heroes when a fake death happens (Will in ST1, Hopper in ST3) plays the song at the end of its mediocre finale, of course fans are going to be hopeful that there is something more than what they just witnessed.

Thank you for reading my article. It has been a long 2 weeks of mourning my favorite TV show, especially due to the lack of the masterpiece it could have been. I honestly hope that Stranger Things is never touched again by Netflix and left to the fans, but that is silly to hope for in the world of reboots and sequels. Dare to dream, no?