In the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, a story begins that no one could have predicted. What started as four boys playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in a basement became one of the most popular series on Netflix.
Stranger Things, created by Duffer Brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, is a science-fiction TV show revolving around a group of kids who uncover a series of supernatural mysteries in their town. One of the boys, Will Byers, goes missing, and his friends — Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, and Dustin Henderson — make it their mission to find him. During their search for Will, they encounter a mysterious girl named Eleven with supernatural powers and slowly discover how complex and dangerous their friend’s disappearance truly is. I should warn you that the rest of this article contains spoilers from both earlier seasons and the final season. If you plan on watching the show, I recommend saving this article until after you’ve finished it.
When Stranger Things first aired in July 2016, the Duffer Brothers originally intended for the story to end after one season. The show was pitched as a limited series, with Eleven’s death planned for Season 1. However, Ross Duffer later explained that they recognized the possibility of future seasons, which is why they chose to keep Eleven alive and continue the series. Although the first season was well written and could have been a good, mysterious end to the story of Eleven and the Upside-Down, many fans of the show argue that the lore behind Stranger Things would seem incomplete without the later seasons. The show’s detailed story, emotional character arcs, and overall complexity make it difficult to imagine just one season.
One of the reasons as to why Stranger Things has gained so much popularity is its strong character development. In a show with such a complex plotline, it is easy to neglect the characters and put full focus on developing the lore. However, fans of the show have watched the main characters grow up and face challenges beyond the supernatural aspect. From watching Eleven and Mike navigate the ups and downs of their relationship to witnessing Robin come out to Steve and find acceptance, the show highlights meaningful moments of growth, trust, and friendship. This part of the show makes it much more relatable, which is unexpected given that it centers on kids fighting monsters from an alternate dimension.
Another key element to the show’s success is its brilliant and well-written story. What starts as a child’s disappearance unfolds into a larger story with different dimensions and man-eating creatures. The slow reveal of such a complicated story about the Upside-Down world in each season made it easier for fans to follow, and the delivery of the story in the past seasons was great.
Finally, what has kept fans around the globe invested in the show is its long run over nearly a decade. As season three of Stranger Things was released in 2019, fans expected the next season to be released in a year. During the filming of Season 4 in 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Duffer Brothers to shut down production temporarily. When the season was finally released in 2022, it was split into two parts: Volume one premiered on May 27, and Volume two followed on July 1. This was not the last time that a season of Stranger Things had to be delayed, though; due to a Hollywood writer’s strike in 2023, the Duffer Brothers were forced to postpone the release of their final season until late 2025. Although most of the show’s delays were unintentional, they only heightened fans’ anticipation. In many ways, fans grew up with the series, giving it a special sentimental value.
Like Season 4, the final season was released in parts: Volume one was released on November 26, while Volume two premiered on Christmas, and the finale arrived on Netflix and in theaters on New Year’s Eve. Some fans liked the staggered releases, as Kaitlyn Nidhan ’27 states, “in my opinion, it made the wait worth it and built up suspense.” Others like Ameena Khan ’28, however, state the opposite: “the excitement and adrenaline I had for what would happen would slow down between the waiting periods for each volume.”
Fans had waited nearly a decade for answers to their questions: Would Vecna be defeated? Who would survive, and who wouldn’t? Unlike the previous seasons, Nidhan states, “Season 5 provided the closure we’ve been needing over the last 10 years.”
Where We Left Hawkins
In Season 4 of Stranger Thingss, we watched as the town faced a new threat — a terrifying one that had never been seen before. The new antagonist of the Upside Down is Vecna, who was revealed to be Number One in Dr. Brenner’s experiment; he is also known as Henry Creel. Before this, the only subjects of the experiment that we knew of were Eleven and her sister Kali, also known as Eight. This changed the course of Stranger Things; we learned that Vecna was banished by Eleven and how Eleven was connected to the Upside Down. By the end of the season, Vecna successfully opened the gate between his world and Hawkins, leaving the town in danger and ending the show on a cliffhanger.
Voices and Reactions of Season 5
Stranger Things started with a playful, homey feeling, with each following season becoming darker. But Season 5 is different. With the constant chaos and seriousness of the situation in Hawkins, the show has now turned to horror.
Surprisingly, the Duffer Brothers did not start Season 5 from where the viewers were left hanging. The first scene shows the group a few months after the last scene in Season 4.
Here is a rundown of the main characters: the D&D group is still in high school; Steve and Robin work at a radio station; Joyce and Hopper are helping Eleven train for her mission to find Vecna in the Upside Down; and the Byers are living with the Wheelers. However, all of them are still part of the deliberate mission to find Vecna in the Upside Down. For the past four seasons, the main person we see Vecna controlling is Will. However, in this season, Vecna goes after someone new — Holly Wheeler. Holly has only been known as Mike Wheeler’s little sister, but now we see her character take on a significant role.
You may ask, what is her connection to Vecna? At the start of the season, Holly mentions a man named Mr. Whatsit who is always there to comfort and protect her. As a little kid, the Wheelers assumed he was just a figment of her imagination. Later, it is revealed that he is not an imaginary friend but another identity for Vecna. As a reminder, Vecna is now also known as Number One, Henry Creel, and Mr. Whatsit. Shortly after, Vecna takes Holly and twelve other children to a house within his mind, warning them not to leave. At first, no one understands why, but slowly, from this point, everything begins to unfold.
Fans once believed the Upside Down was simply an alternate dimension where Hawkins was frozen in time. It was thought that Eleven banished Henry into this space, where he met the Mind Flayer and became Vecna. However, while Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan search the Hawkins Lab in the Upside Down for the missing kids, Dustin discovers something that shatters everything we thought we knew: the Upside Down is not a dimension of its own — it’s a bridge.
The Upside Down is a wormhole, connecting their world to another realm called the Abyss. Eleven did not send Henry to the Upside Down; rather, the Upside Down was created as a result of her sending him to the Abyss.
Vecna did not kidnap twelve kids at random. He took them to use as vessels to merge the Abyss with the real world and close the Upside Down forever.
While the group’s main mission is to stop Vecna and the season remains serious, there are some heartwarming moments as well. Will learns that he can use Vecna’s possession of him to his advantage, turning Vecna’s own powers against him. One tactic Vecna uses to harm his victims is exposing their secrets, which frightens them and weakens their minds. To prevent Vecna from gaining control, Will comes out as gay to the entire group. However, not all moments labeled as “heartwarming” fully fit that description. Eleven reunites with her sister Kali, though whether Kali truly intended to help Eleven or harm her remains debated. Nancy and Jonathan also face a near-death experience, during which they appear to break up, yet fans were left unsure whether the scene truly marked the end of their relationship. Some of these moments gave fans answers to questions they had been waiting for. As Nidhan notes, “We finally found out what happened to Kali and her friends, we finally got Will’s coming out scene, and Jonathan and Nancy’s breakup scene.”
However, there were also several storylines that were abandoned and never revisited. “We never knew what happened to multiple characters, or why some of them turned out the way they did,” Nidhan explains. Still, she acknowledges that “they left enough unanswered to keep the fandom alive.” At the same time, some fans noticed that some characters and plot points had too much focus. Ameena Khan ’28 said, “Season 5 overexplains everything and also spends a lot of screen time on Henry’s backstory. I didn’t feel like it was necessary, and it just made him seem less frightening.” She later added, “It literally just felt like the only people doing something were Will, Eleven, Dustin, and Nancy. Everybody else was just there to be there.” It’s clear that while fans recognize some advantages to leaving certain storylines unfinished, there were also drawbacks, leaving many with mixed feelings.
Finally, we’ve come to the moment we have all been waiting for: the defeat of Vecna. After many years of torment from Vecna, anticipation for the final battle was at an all-time high. However, for many viewers, the final battle felt underwhelming.
Khan described the finale as “so disappointing,” pointing out that it “took like five minutes to defeat the Mind Flayer and Vecna,” which was far from what fans expected after five seasons of buildup. She also pointed out the absence of Demogorgons, Demobats, and Demodogs, which made the final battle feel less intense than fights in earlier seasons. Nidhan agreed, stating that the fight felt unsatisfying. “After building up the defeat of Vecna for two seasons, I didn’t think that it would only be a five-minute fight,” she said. In their view, the outcome simply did not meet viewers’ expectations.
The Last of Stranger Things
Overall, Season 5 stood apart from the rest of the show, setting a serious vibe, delivering long-awaited answers for fans, revealing the truth about the Upside Down, and, most importantly, bringing the story to a conclusion. We finally learn what happened to Kali and her friends and see Will step fully out of his shell — not only in embracing his sexuality, but also as a once-fearful kid shaped by trauma from a young age. We also watch the younger kids graduate and grow into adulthood, while the older ones reconnect after the reign of Vecna ends. Along the way, Mike offers a theory: that Kali used her powers to make everyone believe Eleven was gone, but he wishfully believes she escaped and is living her best life somewhere with three waterfalls, a fantasy location of theirs. Whether this is truly Eleven’s fate is left for fans to decide.
The final season of Stranger Things delivered many of the moments viewers had been waiting for, though it fell short in certain areas. Regardless, fans are saddened to see the never-ending journey finally come to an end.
Stranger Things started with a playful, homey feeling, with each following season becoming darker. But Season 5 is different. With the constant chaos and seriousness of the situation in Hawkins, the show has now turned to horror.