Hawkins, Indiana. A basement. Four boys and a game of Dungeons and Dragons: A game that tells a story of its own. This story ends where it began.
“Stranger Things 5″ began its roll-out just before Thanksgiving and concluded with an emotional series finale on New Year’s Eve.
Ringing in 2026 was a bittersweet event for fans of the show. Although it has run its course and its characters’ stories have all resolved, letting go is hard, especially when anticipation for the next season of the show has been a familiar feeling for the past nine years.
It’s a cultural-reset. A uniting phenomenon. A world built so intricately and vividly you can hardly believe it’s fictional — well, alternate dimensions and demogorgons aside.
For an audience that has seen the main “Stranger Things” actors go from teenagers to parents, any ending for the show would’ve been a tearjerker..
A gap of three years stood between seasons four and five. Although some of the anticipation was bound to subside, it inevitably returns the second that the neon-red letters and eerie keyboard of the title sequence starts.
It’s both nostalgic and new. For the one to two hour-long episodes, it’s everything to the audience.
When season four concluded with Hawkins adorned with ashes, I thought the following episode would open with a state of crisis, standing apart from the rest of the openers. However, it followed the formula of the previous premieres, with a time jump and the characters mostly carrying on with their lives.
It was quieter than what I expected. Regardless, volume one felt like the most impactful of the three this season.
With every season, the cast of the show grew. A larger cast increases the chance of someone’s performance falling short, but that just never was the case.
From original stars like Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, to season four and five’s villain, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), every scene was moving, not only due to the writing, but also their seamless delivery.
Noah Schnapp’s performance this season is also worth noting, as his character, Will Byers, navigates a more responsible, powerful role.
Though cliché in some moments, it always worked. It always had you in it, feeling every fear, plot twist and epiphany with them.
This season, Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher), the youngest sibling to Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard), took the spotlight. Though her plot was captivating, it often overshadowed other characters who audiences have bonded with since the earlier seasons.
Though crucial, the actors and writers aren’t the only part of the crew who are vital to creating this intricate world. The true immersion can be accredited to the work of the special effects and makeup department, as well as the set designers and cinematographers.
Each of these details, stacked onto flawless editing and a peak soundtrack, creates the final, unforgettable product. Season four may be known for its iconic use of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” but the finale has perfect needledrops of Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”
In season one, the characters weren’t monster-hunters with a drive to survive. They were just regular people who didn’t understand their supernatural town.
Now, in season five, they’re professionals. While fighting for their lives and strengthening their survival skills, the characters grew as people, too.
Fan-favorite Steve Harrington’s (Joe Keery) development is one of the most notable, growing from a popularity-seeking bully into a paternal role.
Like the rest of the ensemble, his growth was gradual and sensical, attributed to the show’s strong writing in not only plot-driven, action-packed, spine-chilling scenes, but personal, heartfelt ones as well.
The mysteries and mayhem that riddle Hawkins may have been what drew viewers into “Stranger Things,” but it’s the characters and dynamics that give the show its charm that keeps viewers invested after all these years.
The show’s soul is the theme of friendships’ importance in an unlikely, life-or-death scenario.
While I do love the direction that the finale took, the episodes leading up to it, particularly five through seven – volume two – revealed some pacing issues in the writing.
Had the episodes progressed in a more dramatic way, it could’ve provided the edge-of-our-seats climax that audiences craved.
I was honestly caught off guard when the climax of season five was over. I was waiting for a twist that kept the action going for a few minutes, since volume two felt like it didn’t have enough build-up.
The overall ending was predictable, but in a way that felt satisfying and whole. To add twist after twist after everything has finally been figured out would be an injustice to the simpler psychological-horror, mystery, cliche-80s appeal that the series opened with in season one.
This season served to tie loose ends and provide explanations for the inexplicable that has struck Hawkins from 1983 to 1987.
Every plot in “Stranger Things” has always been spelled out. Having the ending be more ambiguous leaves room for the audience to believe in continuations that won’t be brought to life on screen.
The final-battle’s action may have fallen a bit short, but the emotions that followed were at an all-time high.
As said by creator Matt Duffer, “it’s a coming-of-age story. Ultimately, that’s what it’s supposed to be. That’s what the show always was.” The ending every character was supposed to have is exactly what they were given.
Although “Stranger Things” has officially ended, the universe will live on in an expected spin-off. Fans can also say goodbye to the series with the recently-announced behind the scenes documentary, coming to Netflix Jan. 12th.
The final episode was never about monsters or the final fight or the upside down or even The Abyss. It was about the people on the other side: “The Right Side Up.”
Rating: 4/5