10 years ago, Netflix released the first season of a show that would become their most watched series. The show began with the disappearance of the young boy Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), resulting in a search party consisting of his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder), older brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and friends Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin). While searching for Will, the three friends meet a young girl named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) who has telekinetic powers and quickly becomes part of their group. While on the hunt to find Will, the group discovers an alternate dimension filled with evil monsters called The Upside Down. A decade ago, the world was introduced to Stranger Things, an 80’s themed horror show that took the world by storm.
Now, after five seasons and 10 years, Stranger Things has officially reached its end, with the release of Season 5 occurring throughout the holiday season. Volume 1, which included episodes one through four, was released on November 26, the day before Thanksgiving. Christmas Day brought the release of Volume 2, which included episodes five through seven, and in true Stranger Things fashion, the finale, episode eight, was released on New Years Eve.
Critical reception of season five has been mixed, with some praising it and some calling it the worst Season of the show. One thing is for certain, while it definitely doesn’t stand up to some of the other Seasons, it is still really good.
Volume 1, which consists of the episodes, “The Crawl,” “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” “The Turnbow Trap,” and “Sorcerer,” kicks off with the main party hunting down Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) who they had previously fought in Season 4. The military has put Hawkins under lockdown, with them having a portal into the Upside Down. The military scientist Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) is hunting down Eleven, along with her unit. Meanwhile, Dustin is struggling with the loss of Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) in Season 4, and he is severely bullied.
The first Volume of this season is very strong, with some very intense moments. The house of the Wheelers is attacked by a demogorgon, with Holly (Nell Fisher) being kidnapped, and her parents being severely injured. The team tries to find Vecna, but he is nowhere in the Upside Down. Will discovers more about his strong connection to Vecna’s hive mind, and Holly finds Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), who has been in a coma since Season 4, in Vecna’s mindscape.
However, the highlight of this first Volume is in Episode 4, “Sorcerer” when Will’s powers are revealed. After Mike suggests to him that he might be a “sorcerer,” Will channels Vecna’s hive mind as the main characters, who are trying to save other kids who are being kidnapped by Vecna, are about to die. Vecna gets the kids, but not the party. Will’s eyes turn white and, in a Vecna-like fashion, he lifts the demogorgons into the air and snaps their bones, killing them all. This got me very excited when it first happened, and it was cool for Will to fully realize his potential after being just scared of and used by Vecna in past seasons.
The first volume of Season 5 was Stranger Things at its best, humorous, intense, and very entertaining; however, Volume 2 was not as great.
Volume 2 consists of the episodes “Shock Jock,” “Escape from Camazotz,” and “The Bridge.” These definitely had their highs and lows. It was very exciting seeing Max and Holly escape Vecna, especially when Will used his powers to control Vecna briefly. However, the new idea that The Upside Down was a portal between Earth and another dimension called The Abyss is somewhat confusing and changes everything the audience previously thought about the show. The first two episodes were pretty intense still, but Episode 7, “The Bridge,” slowed down the pace and resulted in potentially becoming the worst episode in the season, with most of the episode being devoted to the party getting organized and prepared for the final battle.
Then we come to the end of the season, the grand finale, Episode 8, “The Rightside Up.” There was definitely a lot of anticipation for this episode, as it was ending a huge show with a massive fanbase. As with anything at this magnitude, there will always be people who don’t like it. In total, this episode has a very mixed reception, with some saying it is a great, emotional end; with others saying it is a horrible end that doesn’t do service to the show. I thought it was very good, but it definitely had a few shortcomings.
In Episode 8, the crew drives into The Upside Down to accomplish their mission: kill Vecna, save the kids, and destroy The Upside Down with a bomb to prevent The Abyss from ever coming to Earth again. The episode is very intense, with battles against Vecna as well as the United States Government, leading to many close calls with death for several characters, (can we talk about that close call with Steve?!)
The final battle in The Abyss did disappoint many, as it was short (7 minutes), featured zero demogorgons, and ended pretty easily. However, the battle ended greatly, as Will’s mom, Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), got to strike the final blow on Vecna while showcasing flashbacks of the trauma he inflicted on each member of the party.Then, everyone escaped The Upside Down as the bomb was counting down, but they were caught by the government. Therefore, Eleven, knowing she would forever be hunted for her powers, went into The Upside Down and was swept away in the explosion. It was a shocking moment, with the death of one of the show’s most important characters.
Later in the episode, the audience sees what happens 18 months later as Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max graduate high school. Mike has been suffering with the loss of Eleven, but Hopper tells him he should move on and accept her choice. Finally, the show ends with one final Dungeons and Dragons game with the party in Mike’s basement. Mike explains where each of them will go in their lives. It also teases that Eleven may have survived earlier and may be living a peaceful life far away. Each party member tearfully leaves the basement and the game, and Mike leaves the basements shutting the door behind him, ending a significant part of their (and our) childhoods.
In the end, it was a decently satisfying, emotional ending, that, despite not being perfect, did it’s best. Stranger Things Season 5 had its highs and lows, but is ultimately, as with this whole show, very great.
