On New Year’s Eve, fans across the nation packed theaters, and many more watched at home as the Stranger Things finale was released, marking an end to nearly ten years of the popular Netflix show.
Overall, I think Stranger Things is an excellent show. The show has been groundbreaking in terms of visual effects and set design, and I can confidently say the writing was fantastic… if only for the first couple seasons. Season 1 of Stranger Things is without a doubt one of the greatest single seasons of any show. A truly astonishing accomplishment.
But on a more personal level, Stranger Things has been there since I, and many others, were in middle school. We grew up with these kids. We felt like we were a part of their story. For many, it was heartbreaking to see their story end.
However, I think that most of us were hoping for a different ending. I’m not saying that the ending they chose for Season 5 was horrifically bad. It was just… mid. Kind of lame. Let me explain.
When a show has four seasons of buildup, you expect the ending to be nothing short of an epic conclusion. And the last few episodes of Season Five were anything but. This was especially strange, since the first half of Season 5 was arguably quite strong. Demogorgons invaded the real world, wreaking havoc on citizens. Vecna basically took out an entire military battalion all by himself. Will discovered his powers.
But then, in the second half of Season 5, all the tension dissipated. The penultimate episode, in particular, was quite horribly paced. They told us the world was ending, but I certainly didn’t feel it. The characters displayed no sense of urgency. Instead, the plot was filled with pointless scenes and the dialogue was filled with random jokes.
And the exceptional writing of Season 1 was nowhere to be found in Season Five. All of the characters felt like hollowed-out versions of themselves because of a combination of poor dialogue writing and way too many characters. Hopper and Joyce, in particular, who used to be such deep and strong characters, felt strangely distant. In fact, all of the characters felt strangely distant. It’s as if the final battle came and went, and all of the characters we’d grown up with were just… observers. Along for the ride. The extremely quick ride.
The final battle was a huge letdown. Besides the epic shot of the massive monster facing off against the tiny speck of Eleven, the battle was a flop. It was way too quick, and it made no sense. How did the kids scale that huge cliff in a couple minutes? And where were all the Demogorgons and bats? If Vecna had been orchestrating this whole thing since Season 1, why was he defeated in like… six minutes? And then what about the Mind Flayer?
I think the big problem was the introduction of The Abyss. The Upside Down was one of the unique things that set Stranger Things apart from the get-go. For four seasons, they built up the Upside Down’s aura, revealing it to be a toxic, dark, evil place full of monsters and death. But then, in the last season, it turns out to just be a bridge to The Abyss? Why? Also, all of the characters walk through the Upside Down as if it isn’t toxic or dangerous one bit. Why? All of its aura vanished in Season 5.
The Abyss was a horrible idea. It would have been better for the final battle to have taken place in the Upside Down… or better yet, in the real world. Imagine a three-army battle between the main characters, the military, and Vecna’s swarm of Demogorgons, dogs, and bats, laying waste to Hawkins and devastating civilian life. That would have made us feel like the world was really ending.
Instead, we got a six-minute battle in a brand-new place (The Abyss) against a brand-new monster (whatever that thing was), that lacked the terrifying and haunting nature of any of the previous seasons. Consider this: Season 1 created 100 times more intensity, suspense, and scariness with a single Demogorgon than Season 5 did with everything at its disposal.
That just goes to show that, if you don’t have good writing, you don’t have anything at all.
I could go on and on… including the lack of impactful and emotional character deaths and the lack of resolution to so many plot points (Russia? Doctor Owens, anybody?), but I’ll just conclude with this. Season 5 doesn’t change how amazing the first couple seasons were. The Duffers chose a safe ending for their story, and while I don’t agree with it, it can’t be changed, despite all the ConformityGaters out there who want it so desperately.
So, goodbye Stranger Things. Sorry it had to end with a harsh review, but, well, friends don’t lie.
