Did the Duffers do “Stranger Things” justice with its conclusion?

The Netflix show “Stranger Things” recently released the final fifth season. The first of three volumes released on Nov. 26, 2025 at 5p.m. PT. The first volume consisted of four episodes: “The Crawl,” “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” “The Turnbow Trap” and “Sorcerer.” “Stranger Things” fans across the world were very excited and hyped for the season, and the hype did not disappoint. 

The season was filled with many emotional and action packed scenes. Levi Grossman ‘27 said, “My favorite scene was when Will revealed his powers and killed the demogorgans. It was filled with a lot of action and it was cool to see Will get powers.”

In my opinion, the emotional weight and constant action are what make volume one of season five so strong. The volume does an excellent job balancing tension, nostalgia and character development. Rather than focusing only on defeating the Upside Down, the story places a heavy emphasis on how the characters continue to grow and change. 

Each episode builds suspense while also giving emotional moments to characters. The suspenseful tone helps raise the stakes, reminding viewers that their beloved characters are vulnerable to the monsters of the Upside Down. The volume uses emotional scenes to strengthen the action, making major moments feel genuine and not rushed. The volume also develops new characters. Holly Wheeler in particular stands out more than in previous seasons, playing a larger role and leaving a strong impression on the audience.

Overall, volume one serves as both a continuation of the story and a setup for the rest of the season. It captures the emotional and stressful scenes fans love, while also pushing the characters into new situations. This strong start sets high expectations for the remaining volumes.

VOLUME 2 – GABE’S REVIEW: 

Volume two of season five of Stranger Things was overall decent, though it had both strong moments and some weaknesses. While the season was entertaining, parts of it could have been written more effectively. One of the most intense scenes was when Max and Holly were trapped inside Vecna’s memories and tried to escape. Although the concept was exciting, the pacing during this scene felt very slow, especially while they were walking through the memories. Dylan Elder ‘27 said, “I found Max and Holly’s exit very slow and found myself screaming at the screen for them to get out.” 

This made the moment less intense than it should have been. However, Max’s return at the end of the scene was iconic and easily one of the best moments of the volume.

Another standout moment was the reunion between Steve and Dustin after months of fighting and separation. This scene was extremely heartwarming and felt necessary for both characters as it showed how strong their bond still was. Also, one of the most talked about scenes was Will coming out. It felt poorly executed. While the scene itself was important and meaningful, having so many people present took away from its emotional impact. Additionally, the scene lasted much longer than some major moments in the finale, such as the battle against the Mind Flayer, which deserved more focus. Overall, volume two had powerful ideas but with the collision of uneven writing and pacing it prohibited us from viewing its effective outcomes which could’ve added on to the plotline. 

VOLUME 3 – HENRY’S REVIEW: 

On New Years’ Eve of 2025, the Duffer Brothers released the finale to their and Netflix’s ten-year-old hit show “Stranger Things.” I had the privilege to experience the finale in theaters at the Regal Edwards Alhambra Renaissance theater in Alhambra, CA. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the first volume of the final season and I was almost cemented in the mindset that the Duffers would conclude one of my favorite series well. When I watched volume two, my confidence in them dropped. The writing got elongated and unproductive, the group of main characters grew with every passing minute and the stakes seemed to drop faster than the Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom ride at Six Flags. 

In between volumes two and three, my expectations were low but there were sparks of hope with every new fan theory I’d see while doomscrolling. “Actually, we’re all under Vecna’s mind control,” I’d claim while attempting to not let my love of “Stranger Things” slip away.

But then the day came, on New Year’s Eve I walked into theater six in Alhambra, sat down in seat E7 and sipped on my cherry ICEE as I waited for the lights to dim and watch one of my favorite shows wrap up. 

But my theorizing didn’t pay off. The Duffers let me down. The now majorly inflated main cast took action and stormed into the Upside Down and later the Abyss to defeat Vecna and the Mind Flayer in maybe an hour. Amidst this hour it felt like even more plot holes opened up, including a route to possibly humanize and redeem Henry Creel and separate him from the evil Vecna but they didn’t do anything with that and just had Joyce drop a lazy f-bomb as she decapitating a gargling Vecna. 

Most of my issues with the finale and season five at large, are how they managed to kill the stakes that season four rose up so well. In season four, they painted a portrait of Hawkins and showed how the town at large felt about the ominous murders that the audience as well as “the gang” knew was Vecna. Season five beginning with an 18-month time skip played into this as well as the whole military occupation sideplot felt half-done and never sold itself as a strong oppositionary force that our characters would actually have to worry about.

I believe everything after the “final battle” was really well done however, Prince’s “When Doves Cry” playing as they made their victorious escape was great, El staying behind was beautiful, with the first chord of “Purple Rain” absolutely wrecking me and conveying the actual weight of the scene, something the season had struggled doing so far.

The final time jump to 18 months after the battle was also great, with Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” setting the tone for the epilogue to the story. And strangely, this epilogue had some of the best emotional writing of the show, which greatly confused me after watching season five where nothing felt real. Mike and Hopper’s talk at the memorial was perfect. Hawkins High graduation of ‘89 was perfect. Steve, Jonathan, Nancy and Robin’s rooftop sendoff was perfect. And Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Max’s final Dungeons and Dragons game had me tearing up.

The way they ended all of our beloved character’s storylines was masterful among season five’s mid tier writing. Mike explaining how all of the gang’s stories will continue on in D&D terms was beautiful and truly poetic. As the audience leaves the characters in the same environment we met them for the first time. 

When the door to Mike’s basement closed and David Bowie’s “Heroes” started playing, tears jumped to my eyes. It was all over. All in all, while it was my pick for the weakest season of “Stranger Things,” I still enjoyed my time with it and look back on it more favorably than not. While it killed all of the stakes the seasons prior had built up so carefully and masterfully, at the end of the finale I was still super emotional over its ending, which is something done right at least.