By the time ‘Stranger Things’ season 5 reaches Volume 2, the story builds directly off what Volume 1 set in motion, turning into a race against Vecna that forces every character to come together for one final push to save Hawkins and finally uncover the truth behind the Upside Down.
The story begins to heat up but it still feels so slow, especially in Episodes 6 and 7. Significant time is spent on unnecessary conversations and setup.
Nearly every episode falls into the same routine — the group gets together to make a plan to stop Vecna, Robin throws in a few random dick jokes and then the plan fails. In the next episode, the crew essentially does the same thing all over again. After a while, these scenes stop feeling meaningful and make the story feel repetitive.
And it’s not just me who feels this way. According to SeriesGraph, Episodes 7 and 8 have some of the lowest ratings across the entire series. A lot of this is attributed to how scattered the writing feels.
Important moments are rushed and low impact scenes last too long. The last season felt rushed and the Duffer Brothers didn’t consider a lot of factors into the show. They spent over $400M on the final season and could have been just as good with a smaller budget.
The finale itself shifts gears into more meaningful moments. In the final fight, Eleven sacrifices herself, but the way it’s shown leaves room for doubt, making her fate feel more like a matter of perception than something fully confirmed. El may still be alive somewhere far, far away.
Aside from the emotional farewell of Eleven, the main group of kids graduate; Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Max. Afterwards, they spend the final scene playing Dungeons and Dragons in the Wheelers’ basement to close out their chapter.
Still, the problem areas of the season are hard to ignore. By the end of the series, there are a lot of plot holes that never get answered.
Where were the demogorgons in Dimension X during the final fight? Where were the main character deaths that the Duffer Brothers promised? Where did the military go after Eleven supposedly sacrificed herself?
The plot armor is heavy, and it lowers the stakes in moments that should feel terrifying.
One of the most controversial scenes comes when Will comes out as gay. The moment itself should have been powerful, but the way it’s staged takes away from it.
There are way too many people in the room. Instead of an intimate moment with his family or a close friend, the scene includes characters like Hopper, Kali, Murray, Steve, Nancy and others. It feels crowded and awkward, undercutting a personal moment for Will.
The Nancy and Jonathan scene is another example of confusing writing. The two finally talk and confess their secrets while being stuck in a situation where they thought they were going to die.
Jonathan admits he feels stuck and unsure about his future. Nancy listens, but instead of responding clearly, the scene ends without a clear resolution. Jonathan pulls out a ring and initiates an “unproposal” to break off their relationship before their fate. Shortly after, they hugged and told each other “I love you”, leaving viewers confused on whether they broke up or not.
The melting substance around them hardened, permitting their survival. This made the situation between them very awkward and would have been so much more dramatic and emotional if their characters were cut off in the moment.
The script feels sloppy in places, and there are moments where it honestly feels like the writers forgot their own rules. At times, I found myself wondering if they even watched earlier seasons while writing this one.
The writing got so messy that many fans, including me, genuinely thought we were being tricked. There was a real belief online that the finale wasn’t real and that something else was coming. People were waiting for a secret Episode 9 or “Conformity Gate” to drop on Jan. 7 to explain everything. That alone says a lot about how convoluted the final stretch felt.
Despite all of this, I still think the ending mostly works. The Duffer Brothers clearly care about these characters, and that shows in the final moments. The issue isn’t the idea of the ending, it’s the execution.
The characters end up in the right place emotionally, even if the road there is messy. The story closes with togetherness, growth, change and nostalgia, which is what ‘Stranger Things’ was always about.
The finale isn’t perfect and won’t please everyone, but the final moments still feel like a real goodbye to the series.
