Written by Simranpreet Kaur, Staff Writer
With Stranger Things recently concluding, many viewers new and old are beginning their critiques on whether or not the new season was up to standards with the previous four. With new information, plot holes, and discontinuities between scenes, many viewers are starting to believe that season five really may not be the end. What is going on with Stranger Things? Why are viewers of the beloved show so disappointed in the end and what are some of the reasons for that? Read on to find out.
Episode five, ”Shock Jock”, is what kicks off the second volume of the season. In this episode, the main antagonist, Vecna, grows his power by kidnapping 12 children from Hawkins who had been made targets prior. Dustin discovered Dr. Brenner’s old notes that connect to a worm hole that is in the upside down, and Will discovers that he can harvest Vecna’s powers through his physical link with him. He also discovers that he must be physically close to the gate in order to use his abilities. While this is all happening, Max and Holly try to navigate in Henry’s mind through his memories in an attempt to find a way out. The episode ends with the military pressing further in Hawkins with their attempt to detain any other children that could possibly go missing.
In episode six, “Escape from Camazotz”, Lucas, Robin, Vicky and Max’s unconscious body are all in the Hawkins hospital’s basement being chased by demo dogs (adolescent demogorgons). Fortunately, Mrs. Wheeler saves them all by exploding a fire extinguisher into a laundry machine. It kills the demo-dogs, and Max finally wakes up from her coma. Max wakes up because Will saved her and Holly while they were in Vecna’s mind about to be home free; they were stopped by Vecna but were saved by Will’s linked powers. Meanwhile, Nancy and Jonathan, who are in the Upside-down at Hawkins lab are being trapped in the melting lab which results in them finalizing their relationship on good terms. In chapter 7, The Bridge, the Hawkins group all meet up at the WSQK radio station where they try to come up with a plan to defeat Vecna. They come up with the plan called “The Bridge”, trying to construct a physical device to amplify the connection between Eleven and the abyss. Eleven and Collie are reunited and Khali reveals that Henry’s blood is also the same blood that they have and that is how they got their powers. Max, still weak from her two year coma, has important information on the Abyss and understanding what it is. The episode ends with a completed plan and part of the group climbing the radio tower to wait for the collision of their two dimensions.
During episode eight, “The Rightside Up”, the finale of stranger things season five and stranger things the show take place in this singular two hour long episode. The episode begins with a battle between the Abyss and Eleven, where the true form of the Mind Flayer is revealed. She does so while engaging in a reality-bending duel with Vecna that challenges her both physically and mentally. While this battle begins, Hopper, Joyce, and the other teens use the military’s abandoned weapons as a defense against the tides of Demogorgons and intertwined vines. In an emotional climax, Eleven realizes that the only way to end this fight and ensure the gate stays closed is through a final sacrifice. She contacts Mike through her abilities and she says her final goodbye to him as the explosions set up in Hawkins lab destroy the Upside down and Eleven forever. Or so we thought. As the season nears its end with a time jump a few months later, the teen Hawkins Party prepare for graduation and the older now fully adult Hawkins group reminisce on their time spent together making plans to see each other in the near future.
The original Hawkins party all resort to playing one last game of D&D in Mike’s basement and Mike reveals his theory that Eleven is still alive but has gone into permanent hiding to avoid military discovery. The group end the journey with their faith in Mike’s theory and one last goodbye to their childhood as they leave the basement. Holly and her friends rush past Mike as he leaves, taking over the basement and beginning their own campaign, Mike looks one time behind him and closes the door to the basement.
Despite the gripping emotional impact the ending had on millions of viewers around the world, many are left unsatisfied and disappointed. People largely took issue with multiple key plot points being forgotten and many unresolved characters and issues never being addressed. Some of the many popular complaints are the discontent seen between Season 4 and Season 5 as many major discoveries from the fourth season are never seen in the fifth. This made viewers think that the writing quality has diminished or that the Duffer Brothers (the directors of Stranger Things) forgot major facts in their own show. The usage of music being an outlet to escape Vecna possession was never brought back up, and the possessions themselves were never shown, only told of (with the exception of Max).
Other major plot holes from season five itself are the monsters from the upside down. They are not present in the final battle. Their only purpose seemed to be to be minions to kidnap the children for Vecna. This discontinuity is weird in itself because these monsters have always been the main issue in the four seasons prior, not to mention we never get to know what happened to characters like Susie, Dustin’s girlfriend, or Murray after the events of the Hawkins final battle. The final battle is also quite anticlimactic as there is no real fighting happening and it’s a short three minute battle between Eleven and Vecna. Also within the ending itself Eleven‘s ultimate sacrifice is also popularly controversial; many viewers accept her sacrifice as her imminent death while others believe that she is still alive as to Mike’s theory. Ultimately, the problem is mostly in the writing; only one of the five confirmed deaths happened, and the claim that this finale was in plan since the first season is dubious to most fans.
Because of this lackluster conclusion, many viewers have been speculating that there is going to be a secret episode nine release.The basis of the finale was great, however the characters’ final arcs and the story’s final plot points have not been wrapped up. We yet do not know if this was intentional or not because it has been rumored that the Duffer Brothers are planning on creating a spin-off TV series that would in more ways than one connected to Stranger Things. Others speculate that these points being unfinished is due to the fact that one of the writers of the seasons prior was Ross Duffer ex-wife.Due to the divorce she is not a part of the writing process which may explain why the writing is mediocre this season.
Although Stranger Things volume two and the finale is surrounded by controversy, it certainly was better than nothing. The characters and plots and stories have become world-known and are idolized and beloved to many people everywhere. Overall, the ending of the Stranger Things marks an end to an era; it was born before the pandemic and endured it just as we did. Even if the show did not end the way people expected it to, it will still remain fondly in the hearts of those who watched it back when season one first premiered.