THE STORY – In 1980s Indiana, a group of young friends witness supernatural forces and secret government exploits. As they search for answers, the children unravel a series of extraordinary mysteries.
THE CAST – Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Linda Hamilton, Priah Ferguson & Jamie Campbell Bower
THE TEAM – The Duffer Brothers (Showrunners/Writer/Director)
It’s finally here. The conclusion of one of the biggest television series of our time has arrived, capping off an already tumultuous season. “Stranger Things” has officially ended its three-part final run, closing the book on a significant chapter in TV history. The obvious question remains: did The Duffer Brothers land the plane, or is this the disastrous send-off many have been dreading? The answer is complicated. It’s slightly better than much of what preceded it this season, though that isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.
The frustrations that plagued the disappointing final season are not meaningfully eased by this over two-hour long mega finale, even if it offers a handful of gratifying moments that function as proper bookends for characters audiences have spent nearly a decade emotionally invested in. Episode eight, titled “The Rightside Up,” continues the season-long effort to locate and defeat Vecna, this time pushing the fight beyond the Upside Down and into the Abyss, a barren wasteland that is as visually uninteresting as it is dramatically inert. The stakes are positioned as higher than ever, or at least intended to feel that way, as this represents the final opportunity for Mike Wheeler and company to vanquish the evil that has plagued Hawkins and set things right for the group and their loved ones once and for all.
The first hour is pure spectacle, leaning hard into the series’ worst tendencies as its ambitions continue to balloon. Not that this season has been lacking in excess, but the finale still finds room for more fake-out deaths and fleeting character interactions, an inevitable consequence of an absurdly massive ensemble. These moments are intercut with storylines that beg the question of why the writers’ room is spending time on characters like Linda Hamilton’s Dr. Kay, the season’s human heavy, who longs to be as imposing an antagonist as Matthew Modine’s Dr. Brenner once was. Her disgruntled goons, tasked with hunting down Eleven and Hopper, amount to little more than narrative seasoning, existing solely to facilitate action beats that keep the plot moving. It all unfolds exactly as expected, safely spinning its wheels until it arrives at a kaiju-scale boss fight that only serves to remind viewers how much smaller, intimate, and better this series once was.
It’s the finale’s forty-minute epilogue that aims to leave a lasting impression. The Duffer Brothers know how to close a season on an emotional note, but here the emphasis is squarely on the idea of finality itself. There’s an acknowledgement that growing older often means moving on from people, relationships, and phases of life that once felt inseparable. The sentimentality is heavy, amplified by watching actors who have essentially grown up together cry on screen over the end of it all. In doing so, the show blurs the line between genuine emotion emerging from the scene and a kind of serialized Stockholm syndrome that sets in when a long-running series comes to an end. The question lingers: are the tears earned by the storytelling, or are they simply a response to knowing that this chapter is closing?
Once that emotional wave recedes and some distance is applied, cynicism is hard to suppress. The series’s backdoor piloting has never been more obvious. The choice to inject ambiguity into the fate of a core character, even when framed as a coping mechanism for trauma, feels lazy and unearned. It’s difficult not to feel frustrated, even nauseated, by this decision and several others that defined season five.
Creative priorities throughout the season feel similarly misguided. Why Holly Wheeler becomes such a central focus while characters like Jonathan Byers are left awkwardly lingering on the sidelines is baffling. Matters are only worsened by the fact that several supposed centerpiece characters, built around calculated “insert audience cheer” moments, are brought to life by performances so distractingly weak that it becomes painfully clear who among the ensemble will go on to bigger and better things. Jamie Campbell Bower stands out as a notable exception. His performance elevates what is otherwise a watered-down antagonist, making Vecna feel larger than life through sheer commitment and ice-cold precision. It’s a reminder of how effective this series could be when strong acting is aligned with its material.
When the credits roll on “Stranger Things” and David Bowie’s “Heroes” kicks in, there’s no emotional swell, just a quiet acceptance that it’s over. It feels less like heartbreak and more like closure, paired with the realization that it’s time to move on to whatever comes next. If anything, the series leaves behind a renewed appreciation for non-eventized television. After years of chasing big-budget, cinematic spectacle, the industry seems to be slowly pivoting back toward more traditional structures. Shows like “The Pit,” “Landman,” and “The Bear” suggest a return to the kind of television that held audiences for decades. “Stranger Things” was mostly a fun ride, but much like “Game of Thrones,” the urge to revisit it anytime soon, or maybe ever, simply isn’t there.
THE GOOD – “Stranger Things” ends on a somewhat satisfying note, leaving many characters with endings that feel right, even if some are unearned.
THE BAD – It’s the culmination of a final season that was messy on every front, cementing the end of an era while leaving little to no desire to ever revisit it.
THE EMMY PROSPECTS – Outstanding Drama Series
THE FINAL SCORE – 5/10
