Stranger Things: Season 5 — A Review

January 1, 2026, marked the beginning of a new year for everyone, but also the end to the famous ten year show Stranger Things. Throughout holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve, the Duffer Brothers launched the fifth and final season of their monumental show into three volumes. The first volume was released on Thanksgiving, the second during Christmas, and the third during New Year’s Eve, each having high expectations after the success of season 4. 

The first volume was a huge success with the final episode of the volume, season five episode four, earning an IMDb rating of 9.4/10. Even before season five, the show received consistent overall good scores (see Figure 1). Before season five, the show had only one episode under 7.8/10–season 2 episode 7, which had a score of 6/10–and multiple 9s, peaking at 9.6/10 in season 4 episode 7.  

(Graphic source: IMDb)

Therefore, after the first volume’s success, fans were excited for Volumes 2 and 3 of season 5. However, after the release of Volume 2 on Christmas Day, the show took an unexpected turn. To begin with, Volume 2 significantly dropped in ratings as the first two episodes of the volume received scores of 7.9 and 8, which are relatively low for the show, with the third episode receiving an all time low of 5.6. Why? A large amount of the criticism stemmed from viewers’ dissatisfaction when a major protagonist of this season, Will Byers, confessed he liked boys. Will is a central character who changes from a vulnerable and bullied child, into a brave and cougouse young man. What makes him a vital member to the group is the fact that he has a strong connection to the main antagonist of the show Vecna. The show had been building up to this coming out scene since season 1, making this scene finally pay off for fans. However, the low rating of the episode cannot be entirely attributed to the “coming out” scene as another central character, Robin Buckley. Robin is a quirky teenage girl who had been mentoring Will all season, and had been giving him relationship advice. In the seventh episode of Season 3, Robin confessed to another central character, Steve Harrington, that she liked girls, which received a score of 8.7/10. Steve is a main character who evolves from a popular, high school bully in Season 1 into a brave protector of the main group of children, which is why he becomes known as the “babysitter.”

Another large reason for the criticism received in Volume 2 is due to the lack of action in episode 7. It was supposed to be the penultimate episode of the season, with fans hoping for a large fight or cliffhanger ending. Since the episode lacked these traits and focused more on setting up the finale, fans were disappointed. Other reasons could include the poor timing of Jonathan and Nancy’s break up, along with Mike and Eleven getting sidelined. Jonathan and Nancy had clearly been going in the direction of a breakup, with fans wondering if the two would break up and if Nancy would date fan favorite Steven Harrington, who had been in love with Nancy since season 1. Fans were excited to see what would happen, but were ultimately disappointed when the scene occurred as it felt out of place. In terms of Mike and Eleven, the two were supposed to have big roles this season, with fans wondering what the fate of the two would be. Fans were excited to see Mike’s leadership role in the first 4 episodes, as they felt he was a good mentor and needed a bigger role, after being what many called “sidelined” in season 4. However, fans were upset that this leadership role was significantly diminished in the second volume, along with the finale. We agree with these reviews, and like most other people, we had expected the final episode of volume two to set up and introduce the final, dramatic battle of Stranger Things. We liked the idea of a wormhole connecting the story’s town to an abyss with the main villain Vecna and the monsters connected to the mind flayer. However, Will’s coming out scene did not set up the final battle with as much tension as we had expected. The scene feels out of place for such a dramatic episode, and we hoped for a more action-packed conflict than Will solving his fears of liking boys. 

We also didn’t enjoy the timing of Jonathan and Nancy’s breakup. We don’t believe a breakup was even necessary, but if they were supposed to breakup, we believe the breakup should have occurred after the dramatic fight so that the audience would feel the crew were as close and stronger together than ever before taking on Vecna to save the world. With high expectations of this episode, due to the success of previous episodes and setting up the finale, season 5 episode 7 did not satisfy our desires of a tension, action-packed sequence that would set up the final fight in the final episode. Hence, many rated the volume of episodes as an all time low.

Finally, Volume 3, the finale, was released on New Years Eve. It held just one block-buster episode with a runtime of 2 hours. Unlike the rest of the show, the finale gave viewers the option of watching the episode live in theaters or at home on Netflix. Watching the finale in theaters helped give the audience a sense of community which enhanced the episode by making it feel as if they were watching a whole movie. The final episode ended up receiving a score of 7.8, and received a lot of mixed reviews from viewers. Some reasons that likely contributed to the low rating were the shortness of the final fight, along with the absence of monsters, specifically the demogorgon. We had expected a long, action-packed fight between the protagonists and Vecna, however the fight did not meet these expectations. Additionally, demogorgons, which were grey monsters with long limbs, claws, and a distorted mouth in the shape of a venus flytrap, were seen throughout the entire show, especially during the first and second volume of the final season. Considering they were such a vital part to this season, fans expected tons of them to be present in the final battle. However, they were nowhere to be seen in the final fight, which only lasted a surprising twelve and a half minutes. Overall, we enjoyed how the Duffer Brothers finished the stories of each character, but we were hoping for a longer and more intense final fight compared to what we got. Moreover, the finale lacked major character deaths, which was also slightly underwhelming. We had expected a main character such as fan-favorite Steve “the hair” Harrington or Will Byers to die, but none ended up dying apart from Eleven, who fans argue did not actually die. We felt that although the finale had some strong parts, it ultimately was a disappointment due to the lack of excitement and intensity that the other season’s finales possessed.

Despite the show having what some are calling, “the perfect ending,” there are still quite a few debatable topics. One of the most debated questions concerning the Stranger Things finale is whether the character Eleven is alive or dead. Her death is ambiguous and meant for the viewers to decide, with strong evidence pointing to both sides. On one hand, the scene strongly suggests that she has died. Not only was her sister Kali severely hurt, making it unlikely that she could use her powers, but Eleven’s death would end the cycle, showing her symbolic growth throughout the story. Her death would also provide a complete conclusion to her character, ending her role as the one saves everyone else. On the other hand, there is strong evidence showing that Eleven may have survived. For example, Mike realized the government was using Eleven’s kryptonite, making it impossible for her to use her powers to talk to Mike, indicating that she had to be out of range for her powers to work. Also, Eleven’s nose was not bleeding, another key indicator that Eleven was already gone, and that what the group saw was an illusion conjured by Kali. While there is convincing evidence for both sides, we believe that Eleven is in fact still alive and hidden in a safe place where no one can find her. This outcome allows the group to grow up, and eventually pass their adventures on to the next group of kids, which highlights the show’s theme of coming of age.     

Looking ahead, the future of Stranger Things is uncertain. Although the creators stated that the main story has come to an end, the great popularity of Stranger Things makes it likely that there will be new content in future years. A spin-off has been confirmed to be in the works, following new characters and a completely new time period, giving the fans a fresh story while still having the same Stranger Things tone every fan loves. In addition, the uncertainty of the fate of some characters, specifically Eleven, opens the door for future projects down the road. Although the show managed to wrap up the stories of characters, it also posed many new questions for fans to ponder, hinting that the world of Stranger Things is far from over.