Sean Gallagher
2026-01-09 14:29:00
After over a three-year wait between seasons, Stranger Things returned with a fifth and final season, broken up into three parts. But was the show worth the wait? Let’s find out.
Season five of Stranger Things takes place around a year after the events of the last season, with the town of Hawkins now under a strict military quarantine, but life seemingly continues as normal. There may be metal plates covering up the rifts to the upside down, but that doesn’t seem to bother folk. But when Vecna returns for one final Hail Mary to conquer the world once and for all, our heroes will have to venture into the Upside Down one last time to rid the world of the evil once and for good.
Now, I’m someone who has really enjoyed Stranger Things over the years. The mix of suburban tall tales, horror, fantasy and nostalgia ticked a lot of boxes that helped make it a global phenomenon. So naturally, the stakes were very high to get it right for the last season. Unfortunately, I do think this season struggled, thanks mainly in part to that extended hiatus between seasons and some iffy writing.
But I will say this. I think the extended epilogue in the final episode was a great send-off for these characters. Once evil had been vanquished once and for all, we caught up with the characters from the show 18 months after the showdown happened, on graduation day for Mike and his friends. It was surprisingly touching and emotionally satisfying, with appropriate closure, some bittersweetness, such as friends not having the time to see each other as much as they drift into adulthood, and some nice payoffs, such as Hop and Joyce getting hitched, and Dustin giving a “screw the system” speech on the podium. Instead of going to a graduation party, the heroes from the class of ’89 elect to spend their night playing one last game of DnD together, putting their campaign away and leaving the basement, only for a new generation in the form of Mike’s sister, Holly, and her friends to descend into the basement to start their own campaign. It was honestly really good, touching and a nice payoff for fans of these characters. It was also well-written, with the dialogue and character beats coming off really polished and genuine. More importantly, I thought it stuck the landing overall and closed out the show on a high note.
I wish I could say that about the season as a whole, though. Maybe it’s due to the extended hiatus between seasons four and five, but the show felt like it was going out of its way to over-exposite everything to the audience, sometimes multiple times an episode and for things that had happened this very season. Nothing felt organic or believable when it came to the writing this time, which is surprising, as we’ve come to really enjoy the show for its story over the years, but it’s seemingly gotten too big for its own good. A lot of the writing felt clunky or lazy, perhaps shackled by Netflix’s oft-discussed Second Screen mandate, but regardless, it resulted in a really rough time with the script. I felt bad for Maya Hawke’s Robin, who was largely relegated to being “exposition Robin”, who would explain things to her friends and us either over the radio or using props to illustrate a plan or concept. That latter bit happens so often that it feels like self-parody at times.
It felt like the writers were making up rules and lore on the go in Stranger Things 5, so much so that some aspects of the show felt needlessly confusing. You mean the Upside Down isn’t another dimension but the tunnel between space and time? Why? Why mess with a good thing? Then there’s major gaps in logic and rationale, such as why no demogorgens were defending the Mind Flayer in their supposed home turf (don’t forget, it’s a hive mind afterall), or why Max wasn’t running for the portal when she knew it could close on her at any second, where/what the macguffin in the suitcase is that gave Henry his powers. It feels incomplete and rushed, half-baked. It also feels like scenes are missing, such as when Hop and El were escaping from the military base in the Upside Down, only to pull up to their friends in a car, or how/why the military let everyone go at the end. Did the military just go, “Ah shucks, better luck next time, pack it up, let’s get out of here?”, because that feels wildly out of character for them.
The VFX this season also felt stretched. Most of season five takes place in the Upside Down or the Abyss, which isn’t the most visually engaging setting in fantasy to begin with, but there was something that felt flat and fake about it this time around. I think a noticeable issue was the lighting, making those parts of the show feel very much like a low-budget production shooting on greenscreen more times than not and creating an inconsistency between seasons. I’ve seen other critics mention the difference between the lighting on Max in the Upside Down, and they’re not wrong. Just look at the difference between seasons four and five below. There’s other things that come to mind, such as the green screen at the top of the radio tower, and with a reported budget between $400 and $500 million, I just don’t understand how the show ends up looking less polished, considering the amount of time and money given to this season.
I was also a bit let down by the lack of stakes. Much like the Battle for Winterfell in season eight of Game of Thrones, the end of Stranger Things did give the impression that everyone had plot armour on. Only Kali, returning from season two, met her end, but none of our regulars died in the final battle (I personally think El survives thanks to us seeing the footage of her on her journey, as apart from simply hearing about it). While I’m glad they all made it, it did make for a scenario that didn’t feel as dangerous or high-stakes. We had some fakeouts, and I think we had some potential to have those really pay off if they happened for real, but the show opted to keep the core group intact and safe in some way, shape or form (assuming El survives, which is what the show strongly implies).
I don’t think that Stranger Things 5 was a trainwreck. I just don’t think it was a great season of television. It was choppy and felt unfinished. Despite the bumps on the road, the show does stick the landing, giving a worthy sendoff for these characters. It’s a shame the season didn’t have the same quality as previous seasons, but I don’t think the unevenness bogged the show down to unwatchable levels or anything. It was good, fine at best, but it ranks as my least favourite season of the batch. But unlike Game of Thrones’ final season, where the quality became the sole talking point, I don’t think Stranger Things season 5 will be what defines this show; it’ll be the characters and nostalgia that will be what’s remembered.
