Stranger Things season 5, the end of a series that is more important than what most of us think. And man, the years pass so fast that it scares you. I remember many reasons why I started watching the show 10 years ago. The 80’s vibe, the references to that era, this group of children going up against supernatural enemies. It was like watching a live-action adaptation of a Stephen King book. After all, “Stand by Me” is one of my favourite movies. And Stranger Things was just like that. But the main reason is that the beginning of the show reminded me of Elfen Lied. For those who aren’t familiar, Elfen Lied is an anime about a girl created through an experiment (if I remember correctly), who escapes from a secret army facility using her telekinetic powers. Does the story ring a bell? Sure, it does. In fact, after a while, the Duffer brothers confirmed that the character of Eleven was based on Elfen Lied. Having this in mind, I loved the first season, and I was eager to see how the show would evolve. So, after 5 seasons, was it worth it? Are my expectations fulfilled? Let’s dig in a little deeper.
The truth is that the next seasons seemed to me a bit off. Fun to watch, but nothing special. New characters that I couldn’t connect with, and the writing started to tire me out. I think the Duffer brothers tried to exploit the lore of the show in a way that wasn’t natural and felt forced. Like I said before, watching seasons 2 and 3 was fun, but the hype for me was gone. Fortunately, season 4 drew me again to follow the show. And that’s because, at last, we had a cool villain with an interesting backstory. In my opinion, Vecna is one of the best supernatural “bad guys” you will see in such tv shows. And the actor who is portraying him is more than suitable for the task. A great choice. The hype was back once more, and season 5 climbed higher on my most anticipated list.
Entering the last season of Stranger Things, I didn’t know what to expect. My expectations weren’t very high, and all I wanted was a decent end. Additionally, I wasn’t very fond of Netflix’s idea of splitting the season in 3 parts. The first one, the second one and the 2-hour finale. So I tried to stay patient for all the parts to be available, or at least close, to avoid waiting for too long. In the meantime, I was skipping most of the spoilers on the internet.
Season 5 starts a couple of years after the end of the previous season. The Army has been settled on Hawkins, controlling the portals to the Upside Down, while our heroes try to stop Vecna once and for all. But the problem is that they still don’t know his plan, and they don’t know where to find him. Moreover, Doctor Kay (played by Sarah Conn…. sorry, I mean Linda Hamilton) wants to find and capture Eleven for experimentation purposes, run by the Army.
I won’t get into many details, and I will try to explain the main story as simply as possible. There are two basic plots. The main plot is that Vecna needs twelve kids to act as vessels for his powers, to bring the Mind Flayer to our world, and destroy it. The secondary plot involves the military. They want to capture Eleven and use her blood to make others like her. A plot that is mostly needed for the drama at the end. But let’s take things in order.
New Entries
In the main plot, we have a new key character. Mike’s and Nancy’s sister, Holly, is the first kid to be abducted by the Demogorgons, and she is imprisoned in Vecna’s mind. She plays a crucial part in finding where Vecna is and the escape of Max, who was also inside Vecna’s mind. I liked Holly’s addition to the main story very much; her acting was great, and she had wonderful chemistry with Sadie Sink. The first part of season 5 was based on her, and in my opinion, she did a magnificent job.
As I mentioned before, Linda Hamilton entered the cast as Dr Kay, a savage woman working in the army’s secret program for making more psychic kids like Eleven. An interesting addition, nonetheless, but I wanted to see more of her. Also, I have the feeling that we didn’t get any closure with her character. However, this is a problem for the whole military ark.
The WOAH scene
Unfortunately, season 5 didn’t have many scenes that would blow your mind in awe. It has many good scenes, but not something that will make you jump out of your seat. Except one. The first time that Will takes control of Vecna and snaps his leg to save Max is truly impressive. The build-up is great, the agony is at peek and the result is so satisfying that a big “F*** you” can come out of your mouth towards the screen and the main villain.
Will’s come out monologue
Let’s be honest. Stranger Things is a Netflix show, so it was more than certain that we were going to have strong woke elements in the series. And I’m not talking about Robin, who is one of the coolest dudes. I’m referring to a guy who wants to come out and doesn’t know how to do it. Talking about myself, I’m not very keen on such characters and putting them in shows for no particular reason is a bit blase. This is also what I feel for Will’s ark regarding his sexuality. It was unnecessary and completely indifferent to me. But as a scene, it didn’t bother me. And I think I didn’t bother because of the acting. Noah Schnapp does an excellent job, and I believe this scene shows us the calibre of the actor he can be. Maybe he can relate to Will’s character and deliver this monologue so well. Overall, my opinion is that he did great throughout the whole season, and this scene proves it.
Old School set
Stranger Things is a series that heavily utilizes CGI. It’s a fantasy show afterall. However, there is a scene with Nancy and Jonathan, who are trapped in an office that is melting. Most of it is made with practical effects, and the outcome is astonishing. The scene is so tense and believable that you really worry about the characters. Try to find backstage videos on how they created the whole thing. Pretty impressive and a nice idea.
Was the ending appropriate for Netflix’s biggest blockbuster?
How many series endings have you watched? And how many of them satisfied you? Exactly. It’s difficult to leave everyone happy, especially when we are talking about a viral blockbuster like Stranger Things. It wouldn’t be easy. But the Duffers truly delivered. Even though they didn’t close all the plot holes. The whole nerdy gang had fitting emotional closures, with one of the best scenes in the season, the D&D table at the end of the last episode. Very well written, touching, nice metaphors for everyone, and the sceptres passed to the new generation. Truly great. Also, the plot twist for Eleven leaves us with a question mark over our heads. I think it’s cool. In addition, the speech of Dustin ending with “The Trooper” of Iron Maiden, and the older guys of the gang hanging out on the roof are also great scenes. So many things that I am sure you can relate to, whatever your age.
What made me wait for the finale with scepticism
In our time, almost everything is sterile. Bad guys usually are misunderstood persons that something bad happened to them when they were young and altered them. The theme of forgiveness is very common, and the actual revenge is missing from modern titles, which I hate. When I saw the backstory of Henry in the mines, I was afraid that his character might have a redemption moment at the end. But thank God, the Duffer brothers made the right choice and gave Vecna the finishing blow he deserved. The decapitation of him by Joyce was a very tense and brutal scene, and all the flashbacks and memories from the previous seasons, while doing it, added even more satisfaction to his death.
Other things that I liked
It’s more than obvious that the creators of the show pay tribute to the 80’s era in multiple ways. Alien vibes, horror elements, music themes, sci-fi fantasy, wormholes, kaijus and other planets, references to movies of that period. Everything was there, and it was relieving and nostalgic to watch. Moreover, the addition of flashbacks in many episodes made the whole atmosphere even more nostalgic. Except for the above, visually, the episodes were a pleasure to watch. Dark themes, colourful areas, many sceneries and places sprang from a fairytale. Most of the time, you have something new to notice on your screen. In addition, even though the acting is not top-notch, it does the job, with some actors like Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink and Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna, standing out and showing their potential. Especially Bower, does a great job playing Henry as well. Spooky, mysterious, angry, cunning at times. The range of this guy is huge.
Things that felt wrong
If you are still here, you would believe that Stranger Things season 5 is the best season ever in a series. On the contrary, I think it has many flaws and situations that can frustrate you. There are some things that the creators could not avoid, like the age of the actors. The main gang of Will, Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Eleven were very young when this journey started. Now, the actors are quite over their 20’s, but they still have to pretend they are teenagers. It’s not something that you can’t get along with, but it’s really odd the first time you see it.
However, the problems of season 5 don’t include the age of the actors. One of the issues I found very annoying was the ongoing exposition. There were times when I couldn’t stand it, and I was finding myself just scrolling on my phone. Especially when someone from the team had a plan for a situation. It was unbearable. And I don’t think that this happens only in season 5. It was happening from the beginning of the show. It’s just that the exposition this season went out of hand.
Another thing that annoyed me a lot was the drama between two characters, usually in critical moments. I’m talking about the fight between Steve and Dustin while searching for the “generator”, the unnecessarily long dialogue between Max and Holly before returning to their bodies, the breakup of Nancy and Jonathan while the room around them was melting (which I didn’t understand at first that was a breakup). Why did they have to break the tension of great scenes with conversations that we didn’t care about? I have to include the above in the weaknesses of the show.
Finally, in the drawbacks, I have to add the too many characters the show had. I understand that the Duffer brothers wanted to finish the series with a new gang of teens playing D&D in the basement, having their own adventures, reminding us how the show started. So a new group of kids was needed. But twelve? I find it too many. Especially when the original gang had only five members; six if you count Max in season 2. Some of the other characters that I also think were not needed are Erica, Kali, Mr Clarke (the school teacher at the end), Vickie, and Murray. I don’t know, but the cast felt overpopulated sometimes.
Conclusion
I could write a lot more thoughts I had throughout season 5, as I haven’t mentioned Joyce, Hopper, and many others. But the most important are the ones I wrote above. Did it satisfy me with its ending? Totally. And not only the ending, but the whole season as well. I had a great time sitting on my couch and binge-watching the episodes of Netflix’s most successful show. It’s truly the end of an era, and it’s a great privilege to see the conclusion of a tv series that became a pop culture phenomenon. Sure, it has its flaws. But in the end, all that matters is the feeling that leaves you after the final credits with the lovely artwork. And that feeling is that you gone through a wonderful journey, watching some nerds who went from playing D&D in the basement of their home to fighting demons, travelling through wormholes and going up against psychic aliens on foreign planets. Peak sci-fi fantasy.
