Upside Down and Downside Up
(This review contains SPOILERS for the entirety of Season 5, including the finale for Stranger Things)
The Netflix hit show has concluded after almost a decade of its run on the streaming platform and what a joyful ride it has been. Going into this final season I was eagerly anticipating to see where this story would go and how everything would wrap up, especially after the masterpiece work the Duffer Brothers put into Season 4 to build up hype and expectations. After watching all 8 episodes and having time to sit on it, I am definitely satisfied and pleased with how everything ended. Season 5 of Stranger Things had its great moments and some serious pacing issues but the sum of its parts lead to a conclusion that tied everything together neatly even thought if it played it safe.
Season 5 takes place about a year and a half after the conclusion of the fourth season which teased an epic battleground for Hawkins to come. Although the fallout of that doesn’t quite build up to what we had in mind, the presence of the military quarantining the town and the Hawkins gang rallying together to locate and take out Vecna does present a suitable backdrop for the coming episodes to take place in. I enjoyed seeing most of our characters now all working together out of their radio station base, which was refreshing from last season where everyone was split up doing their own individual things. It gave the last season a little more focus and synergy that they needed by having having all the characters on one central mission against one main antagonist…at least for the most part.
The two other storylines involving Mike and Nancy’s sister Holly and the military subplot with Linda Hamilton could have been shortened up or completely eliminated. One of the frustrating aspects of the show is just how big it is gotten with its main cast, do we really need to be adding new characters and storylines when we are in the endgame? I enjoyed the aspect of Holly exploring Vecna/Henry’s mind (Camazotz) and coming across Max to help rescue the kids, but this could have been shortened or refocused in certain areas to give more attention to the Hawkins gang. Linda Hamilton was an utter waste of a character, coming in to mainly serve as a wild card of conflict but frustratingly taking away from the central story. I understand needing to incorporate how the “cycle of violence” continues, but we didn’t need a big name actress in a minimally developed role to do this. There is enough going on with Venca/Mind Flayer/Henry etc. to serve as adequate conflict for our characters. These two storylines lead to some significant pacing issues.
Episode 3 and 4 were easily some of the best of the season in terms of pure horror and spectacle on screen. The return of demogorgons and demogdogs, the “Home Alone” esque trap and mouse game, and the final one shot showdown massacre with the return of Vecna were all an excellent payoff and from the build up that occurred in Volume 1. Will getting powers and taking out the group of demogorgons was a series high and with the reveal of Kali (Eight) being back in the fold, we were provided ample hype going into the latter 4 episodes. However, Volume 2 offered significant pacing and prioritization issues. Some of the events in these episodes may have been necessary but their placement in the narrative was baffling. Does Max really need to give Holly a pep talk on being brave for 10 minutes when time is of the essence to escape Vecnas mind? A place that she had gotten caught and stuck on before!! Did Will need to come out to his friends right before they were going to stop Vecna from merging the planets? Did we need the military The spacing of these moments grinded the seasons to a halt that made me worried whether they would pull off the season finale with so much to wrap up.
Thankfully the finale focuses up on its central characters and has them all in one place after the same goal for both spectacle and emotional farewells. The first hour of the finale prioritizes taking out Vecna and preventing “The Abyss” from taking over Hawkins. I did enjoy the reveal that the Upside Down is actually a portal/wormhole into another world as it certainly did up the stakes for the last episode and what these characters are fighting for. I also appreciated that they brought back in the Mind Flayer as the main central antagonist for the show and that Vecna/Henry is a part of the Mind Flayer that chose evil instead of redemption. Props to Jamie Campbell Bower for the incredible nuanced and layered performance in showing a tortured man who had the choice of redemption but instead chose the path of evil even when he was manipulated. The Mind Flayer since season 2 has always been this effervescent and ethereal being that loomed heavy over our characters. This final form I appreciated, but could have gone for more details of it being included throughout the show.
One thing I would have hoped for from this final encounter was that it was longer. A common complaint I have seen is that Vecna and the Mind Flayer went out too easily and too quickly and I certainly agreed. I could have gone for that final battle being much longer and drawn out, showing the danger and peril our characters were facing as they came against the endgame. More demogorgons and demodogs would certainly have added to the threat and although I was not rooting for any major character deaths, having one would have definitely made this final threat feel more powerful and imposing than it actually ended up being. Seeing Eleven and Will work together to thwart Vecna was a good choice and having Joyce be the one to actually fully hack off Vecna’s head alongside a montage of how much pain and damage these events have caused the group brought a great element of emotional catharsis. While this entire sequence should have been longer, at the end of the day I am glad that they prioritized the character relationships and farewells in the second half more to do justice to heart and soul of this show.
The epilogue employs a Return of the King style of conclusion in making sure to give each and every character a meaningful sendoff as they close the book on this story, and it definitely pulled on the heartstrings. These characters but also these actors are saying goodbye to their childhood, their youthful innocence, and facing with the realization that this is really the end of it all. You feel the impact these relationships and characters have had on another from the older generation promising to meet up once a month (which in reality we know that would never happen), to the final scene taking place where it all began with the Dungeons and Dragons campaign in the basement. It was a wise choice to show in the future briefly where each character ends up that helps bring closure and fulfillment to all the pain they have endured and felt. While I never actually cried, I was definitely feeling the tug of the heartstrings and felt the weight of the past decade of storytelling that took place. No matter how big Stranger Things got, it was the characters and relationships that kept us coming back and had us invested. They sometimes lost sight of that over its ambitious run but they stuck the landing in bringing it back to where it needed to be.
The fate of Eleven is supposed to feel “ambiguous” as the audience is left with a pessimistic and optimistic version of what could have happened to her, and they will always choose to believe the optimistic version. Personally, it feels like a “have your cake and eat it too” moment but having her be off on her own did make the most sense. The cycle of violence would continue and characters and Mike and Hopper did need to move on forward with their lives even if it was going to be hard. Although I do think the details of her escape seem convenient and the more you think about it, there are plot holes galore but at the end of the day it is what the characters want to believe and what it means to them that matters.
Along the way, the show did grow to veer into becoming too big and too ambitious particularly when it came to the cast of characters and some of the lore builds. Seeing the large cast of characters expand with Robin, Eddie, Holly, etc. was welcome but did take the focus off of some of our central protagonists. Pair that with the fact that the Mind Flayer was the central antagonist, then Vecna, then the Mind Flayer and Vecna again shows that maybe not all the details were thought through quite as nice as you would have liked. These elements took away from our central relationships and this shows particularly in the end where I felt nothing between Eleven and Mike’s goodbye yet certainly felt the chemistry between Lucas and Max. Certain relationships didn’t get much development in favor of new arcs and stories that were welcome yet distracting.
But in reflection of the whole show in light of the final season and the last episode, I do believe the Duffer Brothers did a great job and stuck the landing. Where it always excelled was in the small moments, the relationships between characters, the throwback to an era of youthful innocence, the dreams for a better future, and the battle against pure evil. These past 5 seasons were an absolute treat to watch and I will look back fondly on this era of television. There will certainly be nothing like Stranger Things and in a mountain of shows getting cancelled or having unfulfilling endings, I am glad that we got a genuinely heartfelt and satisfying conclusion.
(B) Heartfelt
Raj Reviews 