Final Season of Stranger Things A Mixed Bag

By Giovanny Sauceda

I think we can all agree that season 5 of Stranger Things wasn’t what we expected. When I say it wasn’t what we expected, I mean it was a bit of a letdown and didn’t live up to the hype after three long years of waiting. It felt like something was missing. So, let’s talk about it.

First, I would like to talk about the pros. I think we can all say we loved Derek’s (Jake Connelly) character; his character brought lots of humor and even had an amazing character arc of him starting out as Dipsh*t Derek and turning into Delightful Derek. I would love to give Jamie Cambell Bowers (Vecna) his flowers. He did an absolute amazing job with bringing his character to life, what a brilliant performance we saw. The finale was underwhelming, I think they really stretched it out and made it too long, but the one thing I loved about the finale was it ended with them playing D&D and the next generation playing it also. It was an emotional parallel leading back to the first episode of season 1 and Mike making up his theory about Eleven being alive really brought out so much emotion.

Now let’s talk about the cons. I think everyone can say that the writing and dialogue this season was the worst it’s been. There were so many unnecessary conversations, corny/cringey jokes, and overlapping exposition between the characters. Now let’s talk about Will’s coming out scene. The one thing I didn’t like was Will coming out to literally everyone, like why is everyone there when it should only be his mother and his close friends, it felt awkward.  Now the most important part of the entire show, the final boss fight. Sooo, before the season was released, the Duffer brothers had said there were at least six deaths happening. Spoiler alert, nobody died, well Eleven did so I guess that’s one death but still. Alright, back to the final boss fight, there were no demogorgons/demobats to be found. You’re telling me where Vecna is on his home turf, none of them came to help? Also, the Mind Flayer. After years of building up the Mind Flayer to be undefeatable, it literally took like less than 10 minutes to kill him, this all leads to the poor writing. This was all shown by the “One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5” documentary that was released by Netflix revealed how the finale wasn’t completely written and yet they were still shooting scenes, which says a lot about this season and how it felt rushed.

Don’t get me wrong about this show, despite all the controversy this season and how it felt like a major letdown, I still love this show, and it will always have a special place in my heart. 

Disappointing Writing In Stranger Things’ Final Season

By Lexi Groce

Have you seen the new season of Stranger Things? Did you like the new season or was it written poorly in your opinion? Personally, I kind of liked it. Yes, it took a lot of time to take Vecna down, and there were parts that could’ve gone by faster. The way they killed Vecna was not to creative but not bad. Another scene like Max and Holly taking their sweet time talking when Max could’ve been out the upside down in a second, and Holly probably could’ve made it as well.

Most people absolutely hated the ending and said, “The more budget the brothers had, the bigger the seasons got and the more poorly the writing got.” The brothers got lazy and let AI write the whole season instead of doing it themselves is a big topic for people. They say that AI is the reason it was poorly written. The way Els story arc ended had people in a choke hold. No one liked it nor agreed with it and thought it was all rushed and trashy. There are videos and pictures of El getting pulled out of the truck with the others, but she somehow escaped. Which is pretty confusing because the noise that causes her to be able to her power was on so there was no way she could’ve used her powers to knock out the guard. This is leaving people confused, and I guess we will never know until it is explained. Maybe it was an accident, and the brothers didn’t think it was through.

One thing that people didn’t get and was very unexplained was the red rock. People have questions like where did the rock come from and how did he know it would take over Henry. The rock is called an Abyss stone and was stolen by a scientist and hidden in the briefcase. The stone was a physical piece of Dimension X containing Mind Flayer particles that gave young Henry Creel (Vecna) his powers and connection to the Hive Mind after he touched it in a cave, linking him to the shadowy entity. The scientist learned about the stone because a rogue Soviet spy stole it from Dr. Brenner’s secret U.S. program, which was studying interdimensional travel after the USS Eldridge incident. Scientists inadvertently created the means of the stolen red rock for Vecna’s existence by trying to understand and harness the otherworldly energy from Dimension X.  

Just because all these people don’t agree with the ending doesn’t mean you have to fake not liking it. There are so many other people that loved the ending mainly because it was their childhood show and they everything about it. If you really do pay attention her leaving so the people would stop killing and torturing her friends and family was very nice and better, then fighting all those people off and risking getting a lot more people killed. But I do wish it ended a little different because it makes me sad that Hopper lost another daughter and El didn’t get to experience graduation. But what is your opinion on the ending? Did you like it? I think I’ll stick to watching the first 4 seasons because season five got on my nerves just a little bit. But I don’t hate it, it just made me feel sad that it was the end of my childhood show.

Is Stranger Things Really Over?

 By Hazel Hernandez Cornejo

The ending of Stranger Things left many fans unsatisfied, and I am one of them. After spending so many years watching these characters grow, the final season felt more like a pause than a true goodbye. In my opinion, Stranger Things should not have ended the way it did because there are still too many unanswered questions and too much story left to tell.

Stranger Things first premiered on July 15, 2016, and was created by Matt and Ross Duffer. Over the years, the show became one of the most popular series in the world. Viewers grew attached to characters such as Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Will, played by actors Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, and Noah Schnapp. This strong emotional connection is exactly why the ending feels incomplete to so many people.

Many fans believe the final season left major mysteries unresolved. The Upside Down, Eleven’s powers, and the future of several characters were never fully explained. Across social media, viewers continue to share theories suggesting that the story could continue through another season, a spin off, or even a movie. Some fans believe the creators intentionally left the ending open to allow the Stranger Things universe to grow.

My favorite character is Eddie Munson, who appears in Season 4. I like Eddie because of his bravery, loyalty, and how he stayed true to himself even when everyone was against him. His story was emotional and powerful, and his ending made the final season even harder to accept for many fans.

Although the Duffer Brothers have said they are proud of the ending, they have also hinted that the Stranger Things world is not completely finished. That alone is enough to keep fans hopeful.

In conclusion, Stranger Things may be officially over, but its story does not feel complete. With unanswered questions, passionate fans, and endless theories, the series still has the power to continue, and it should.