Naima Estime ’28
Charlotte Nguyen ‘28
EE Staff Writers
Stranger Things is a popular Netflix sci-fi and horror series set in the 1980s in a fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. This show focuses on a group of teenagers and supportive adults as they uncover terrifying, supernatural mysteries tied to parallel dimensions. At its core, the story revolves around a tight-knit group: Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, Max Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, and Eleven, along with Johnathan Byers, Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, Jim Hopper, and Joyce Byers. This begins as a missing-person case then quickly evolves into saving Hawkins from submerging into the Upside Down.
Season 5 of Stranger Things recently came out on Netflix in 3 parts: episodes 1-4 on November 25, 2025, 5-7 on December 25, and the series finale episode 8 on December 31st. Filmmakers, Matt and Ross Duffer, spent what felt like eternity for viewers, coming up with the perfect ending for a 10-year long series. They worked to make sure that each character had a proper ending in an effort to leave the Stranger Things fan base pleased. But many argue whether the Duffer Brothers achieved this goal.
The journey starts on November 6, 1983, when the group discovers the truth about a young boy named Will’s disappearance and where he was taken to: the parallel dimension Upside Down. A year passes after Will’s return, but his connection to the Upside Down’s shadow particles lead to the creation of the Mind Flayer. Will is forced to act as eyes and ears for this new monster as it tries to harm the world above; but luckily Will and his friends are able to defeat this threat and free Will of control. Eventually, summer comes and with the opening of Starcourt Mall, secrets are revealed about the reopening of the Upside Down. The group discovers the true villain of the Upside Down, Vecna, as Eleven dives deep into her past. Targeting vulnerable civilians, Vecna opens a massive rift between the Upside down and the world above, aiming to merge them together once and for all.
Coming off from Season 4, Season 5 follows the party as they discover if they have truly defeated Vecna, or if this is just the beginning of his plans. The group works to uncover the truths of the Upside Down, while creating a final plan to kill Vecna once and for all. With Eleven on the run from the government, the group travels back and forth between Hawkins and the Upside Down only to find out that Vecna has come back stronger with a plan to end the world. Branching off of Will’s kidnapping in the first season, Vecna targets “weak-minded” children as vessels with the goal of using their minds to combine the Abyss and Hawkins as one. Vecna soon realizes that children are not as weak minded and naive as he once thought. Throughout the season, Will discovers new parts of his identity, such as “wizard”-like powers that will ultimately become the key to defeating Vecna.
As excitement built, fans wondered how this last season would end. Many hoped for the defeat of Vecna, with limited deaths of their beloved characters. Season 5 ended lightheartedly, leaving the group of 5, now graduating adults, to find their calling and heal from the tragedies they have dealt with. Stranger Things directors, Matt and Ross, left the viewers to decide Eleven’s fate for themselves. While many suspect she perished along with the Upside Down, others hope that she was able to escape and build a life for herself away from the prying eyes of the government.
While the finale delivered an emotional and relative hoping ending, we interviewed many fans to see what their true thoughts of the finale were. One fan rated the season finale a 6/10, calling it “cringey” and criticizing the writers ending to the story saying that “there [should have been] more plot twists and more to Venca’s backstory”. Another fan rated it an 8/10, praising the suspense and the buildup but not liking the ending to most of the characters.
However, sophomore Renee Zhang rated the season a 4/10. “The ending was really bad and rushed,” she thought. Renee believed that “with the amount of suspense and build up the show had created, [she] expected a better ending. “People on TikTok created better endings than what the writers wrote. It flopped”.
Another student at Trumbull High School, sophomore Riley Weir, rated the finale a 6/10 saying that “[she] liked the ending but there were a lot of unanswered questions. The season felt a bit of a drag and the lead up was a lot. People on TikTok definitely point out the flaws of the show.” With controversial reviews of the show, fans felt that even if the ending was disappointing, they still enjoyed the journey along the way.
For many fans, the end of Stranger Things was more than just a finale of a show, it was the closing mark to a chapter they have grown up in. After years of following and growing up with the characters, viewers had high expectations of the ending. With a strong connection to Hawkins and the characters, fans hoped for an ending that felt just as intense as the journey along the way.
Unfortunately, a large group of fans were unhappy with the lighthearted finale, craving more mysteries and tragedy along the journey to defeating Vecna. Through TikTok, fans came up with the Conformity Gate Theory, believing that a 9th episode would be revealed on January 7th, 2026 to cover remaining plot holes fans had noticed. Supporters of this theory believed that the second part of season 5 was only an imaginary story in Vecna’s mind, and that this idea would truly be revealed in this 9th episode. The Duffer brothers and the Stranger Things team ultimately left this interpretation open to the audience, allowing fans to draw their own conclusions.
Feature Photo Courtesy: Netflix